He’s back. The right hand man to former AC Mayor Don Guardian, Chris Filiciello has returned to politics.
Mr. Filiciello was recently hired to manage the campaign of Hirsh Singh, a candidate seen as light on experience, but well-connected to deep pockets filled with cash. Last Tuesday, the Ocean County Republican Organization endorsed Singh and gave him their “party line” ballot position.
Seth Grossman provides the ‘rest of the story’ on the Ocean County Establishment endorsement of Hirsh Singh for 2d District Congress last Tuesday.
Grossman is a leading candidate for the 2nd district Congressional seat in South Jersey.
Background on Chris Filiciello: Ocean County native who organized students to re-elect Republican President George Bush in 2004. After college, Filiciello worked several non-civil services jobs in the George Bush administration.
When Bush left office, Filiciello left Washington and returned to NJ. In 2009, Filiciello was hired as “Political Director” of the Ocean County Republican Organization. There he worked to get out the vote for Chris Christie, then Republican candidate for Governor.
In June, 2012, Filiciello’s Chris Christie/Ocean County Republican connections got him a job as “Research and Development Assistant” to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) in Atlantic City. While working there, Filiciello also managed the campaign of Don Guardian for Atlantic City mayor during 2013.
When Guardian was elected, Filiciello became his “chief of staff” for the next four years. During those years, Atlantic City was under state supervision, failed to balance its budget, and added some $300 million to its debt.
The high taxes to pay this money back crushed Atlantic City taxpayers, killed property values, and led to the 10 year tax break for casinos at the expense of everyone else in Atlantic County.
However, it let Christie make deals with Democrat union leaders like Steve Sweeney. It also delayed Wisconsin-like layoffs and give-backs with public employees when Christie was running for President.
Chris Filiciello managed Guardian’s failed re-election campaign in 2017.
After losing re-election, Guardian was immediately appointed business administrator for Toms River in Ocean County for a $175,000 salary.
Comments are closed.