TOMS RIVER – Bankruptcies, ethics complaints, arrest warrants, bad loans and tax liens are not the usual list of accomplishments you would expect to find listed on a school board candidate’s resume. But three candidates for the Toms River Regional School Board, Robert Onofretti, Bridget Maillard and Chris Raimann are an unusual team.
School Board Candidate Robert Onofretti’s biography shows a long history of financial and legal problems. In April of 2017, an arrest warrant was issued against him for failure to pay a court judgment. The warrant appears to be still open. He was sued for refusing to repay a $65,000 loan from his elderly uncle, Sal Onofretti. A court order was issued to seize his car and bank accounts as payment for the debt (March 2018). His bankruptcy (2008) included $125,000 in unpaid credit card debt. Less than a year ago, the Bank of New York foreclosed on his $725,000 house for defaulting on his mortgage (May 2019). The township of Toms River placed a tax lien against his house (October 2016). At the time of publication, the lien is still unpaid.
School Board Candidate Bridget Maillard filed for bankruptcy in November of 2017. The primary cause of the bankruptcy appears to be over $45,000 in credit card debt, including a $1,137 bill from Victoria’s Secret. The credit card debt was wiped out without repayment when the bankruptcy plan was confirmed in 2018. As part of the bankruptcy agreement, Maillard was forced by the courts to attend a credit counseling class with the Summit Financial Education Agency.
School Board Candidate Chris Raimann, a former school board member, lost his re-election bid in 2018 after he was charged with an ethics violation for leaking confidential documents to the Teachers Union. According to sources close to the Board, Rainmann’s behavior jeopardized the union negotiations and cost the district thousands of dollars in needless legal fees.
The puzzling question many are asking is: Why are people with so many legal and financial problems running for an office that pays zero salary?
