WEST MILFORD An opinion Web site recently closed itself down after a township councilman threatened to bring suit against its operator because of defamatory and slanderous content. Then another councilman publicly called for a resolution to censure a third. Now the board will be investigating one of its own. It was another day of politics in West Milford. This story starts shortly before the election of 2005. Someone started a Web site called FleecingWestMilford.com, which was a political opinion site with a right-wing flavor. It was a counterpoint to WestMilfordNow.com, another political opinion site with leanings to the left, that hung up its modem early in 2005. Sometime in late November/early December the FleecingWestMilford.com site began calling for an investigation into whether Democratic Councilman Robert Nolan was in violation of the Hatch Act. (In an opinion issued by the township attorney last week, Nolan is not in violation.) This law prohibits federal employees and some state and local employees who are paid with federal funds from being involved in politics. Nolan is the controller of Essex County Mental Health, a private, non-profit organization that does business with the state. At the same time, someone calling himself DemoCAT began agitating on the West Milford message board of nj.com for the same investigation. DemoCAT also sent several e-mails to The Messenger on December 5 and 6 which claimed complaints of the Hatch Act violation were being ignored by the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government. DemoCAT refused to identify him/herself and never explained why he/she was taking his/her complaint to the Foundation for Open Government, since Hatch Act violations wouldn’t come under its scope. Meanwhile, Republican Councilman Joe Elcavage asked the township attorney to look into the Hatch Act and Nolan. Elcavage described it as a “private request.” DemoCAT announced Township Attorney Fred Semrau was looking into the Hatch Act violation. This led to rumors that DemoCAT was, in fact, Councilman Elcavage and that he was involved in the FleecingWestMilford site. Elcavage vehemently denies he ever posted as DemoCAT or had anything to do with the FleecingWestMilford site. The Messenger is in possession of a copy of an email exchange between “fleecing” and Elcavage. Once Semrau issued his opinion that Nolan was in the clear, the Web site turned its attention to Democratic Councilman Jim Warden, posting two stories that incensed Warden and caused him to call his attorney (and brother) Jeff Warden. One story involved Jim Warden’s date during the township Christmas party. The Web site alleged there was inappropriate behavior, including lap dancing. Both Wardens called the story slander. Elcavage said although he has nothing to do with the site, he did read it and thought it was more a matter of “point of view.” “Elected officials are fair game,” he said, “and one person might be appalled at conduct that another thinks is acceptable.” Councilman Warden said the story was completely false and said, “This was a resident a respected business person they had no business going after. I don’t think we’ve seen this kind of stuff since Joe McCarthy.” The second story talked about a 1997 domestic violence charge brought against Warden. Warden said the charge was fabricated and that it was later expunged. On Tuesday, Jan. 3, Attorney Jeff Warden wrote an e-mail to the site threatening legal action. Within 24 hours, the Web site had shut down. The e-mail string reveals that the attorney’s threat, which was sent to the Web site, was then forwarded to DemoCAT, who in turn sent it to Elcavage, who unsolicited wrote to the attorney saying, “ the Web site you refer to is not owned, maintained or published by me.” Councilmen Nolan and Warden furnished the e-mail string to The Messenger as proof that Elcavage was in the loop and was possibly posting as DemoCAT. Attorney Warden investigated the Web site and discovered that it was registered to Tom Malone, who used to live across the street from Elcavage. Malone, however, moved to North Carolina a few months ago. When asked about Malone, Elcavage said that he ran a computer business and an internet service and had probably rented the site to someone else. The Messenger was unable to contact Malone. Elcavage had nominated Malone for an unpaid position as township constable an appointment that was renewed last week at the reorganization meeting, even though Malone no longer resides in West Milford. On Tuesday, Republican Councilman Bill Gervens said of the whole affair, “I have no knowledge of this Web site, have no idea what was on it and have no idea whether Joe would have been involved because I have no knowledge to base it on.” Elcavage told The Messenger on Tuesday he thought the whole thing was politically motivated and is a case of Warden and Nolan starting an election campaign early. But of the three councilmen, only Elcavage’s seat is up this year. He also said his personal suspicion is that the identity of DemoCAT may be Warden himself. Warden laughed at the notion. Then on Wednesday night at the council meeting, Nolan introduced a resolution to censure Elcavage for “conduct unbecoming a councilman.” Nolan and Warden presented the rest of the board with a sheaf of papers they said was evidence of Elcavage’s involvement with Web site. Several members of the public expressed outrage, but the board, led by Mayor Joseph DiDonato, ask Nolan to withdraw the resolution and give members a chance to digest the information. Gervens said “Whoever put that garbage on the Internet, you ought to hang your head in shame ... but it’s not proven who it is and we can’t condemn someone until all the facts are known.” Councilmen Phillip Weisbecker and Carmelo Scangerello both denounced the site’s content but likened the attacks to negative letters sent to local newspapers during election season. After a short break, Nolan agreed to withdraw the resolution and the board agreed to conduct an investigation into the matter. The whole escapade comes at an interesting time. Buried in the Federal Violence Against Women and Department of Justice Reauthorization Act, which passed on Jan. 5, is a new law calling for stiff penalties including jail time for anonymous internet communications that annoy, abuse, threaten, or harass. Depending on the outcome of the investigation, criminal charges could be filed.