JACKSON, N.J. – It’s Christmas time in the Pollak house, but this year, there’s a little something extra underneath that tree.
Jackson Councilman Christopher Pollak, who campaigned on rooting out political corruption and denounced a controversial council pay hike, has drawn criticism after cashing his first paycheck under the very pay structure he once condemned.
It’s a paycheck he had described as “corrupt” and said was evidence of “rampant” political corruption in Jackson. Now that he’s getting the money, he has been as quiet as a mouse.
Pollak won his election in a landslide on Election Day and took office just two weeks later. A few days later, he was at the town hall looking for his paycheck; the one he had sharply opposed as a candidate.
Pollak, elected earlier this year after running on an anti-corruption platform, received a $2,667 payment for attending one council meeting in November, the first since taking office. The check reflects the new annual salary of $32,000 approved by the previous council—a 400% increase from the prior $8,668 salary set in 2006.
The paycheck was for an entire month, despite the councilman only serving one week in office.
During his campaign, Pollak frequently attacked the pay raise as evidence that Jackson’s elected officials were “filling their own pockets” and “enriching themselves.” However, since taking office, he has not called for a rollback of the increase or proposed restoring the former pay scale. He has had two chances to do so at public meetings.
That could happen at the next council meeting in January, or it might not.
While council members are legally entitled to compensation for their service, the decision to accept the higher rate has fueled accusations of hypocrisy from residents on local community pages.
Pollak has publicly criticized local coverage of the issue, targeting Shore News Network after residents on several Jackson community pages brought the issue to light. Pollak is now criticizing Shore News Network on TikTok for reporting the truth about his positions andcampaign, calling for the township to end its advertising and marketing agreements with the company.
“Chris Pollak wants to silence my free speech and he’s trying to exort me and our company to not tell the truth, and holding a government contract over our heads daily, making outlandish and slanderous claims,” said Shore News Network editor Phil Stilton. “Other newspapers also have agreements with the township such as the Asbury Park Press and Micromedia Publications, but the councilman is targeting us because he doesn’t want us to tell the truth. He says our coverage is all lies, but has yet to say exactly which factual report we published was a lie. He’s become quite the typical Ocean County politician. He’s going to fit right in.”
Stilton says that his company’s agreement with the township is clearly defined to include the publication of press releases, advertisement of community events, and to help the township boost its media presence and connection to the community through its subscriber base, which includes over 500,000 subscribers and reachers millions of people per month in the Central New Jersey region.
“Chris Pollak is, and always has been, delusional,” Stilton said. “For his whole adult life, he truly believed he was a real-life comic book superhero, wearing tights and running around New York City. His attacks on our business are nothing short of a government shakedown by another politically corrupt politician trying to hide his past from the public. Our contract with the township does not impede or supersede our First Amendment rights, nor does it allow anyone in government to influence our news coverage on a daily basis.”
Stilton warned that Pollaks recent comments and threats against the company have crossed the line against the company’s free speech rights.
“Pollak can take away our contract, it’s ok,” Stilton said. “But he will never stop us from reporting the truth about him and his nefarious, hidden political agenda or his extremely bizarre and unhinged past. I get it, he needs the money. His business is hurting, there’s a lockbox on the door, he just bought a new home and needs that cash bad, but he ran on a platform that demonized his peers for taking that same money. He should either give it back or end his fake outrage he’s generating to try to make himself some kind of internet political Jesus.
Jackson Township council members are part-time employees and do not receive healthcare benefits, in accordance with a directive issued under former Governor Chris Christie.
“If Chris is serious and wants to be taken seriously and not just another sham of a politician, he should be consistent,” Stilton added. “Otherwise, he needs to accept that he has become the very person he demonized just a few weeks ago. The council deserved that raise, but Chris should not flip-flop on this; he hasn’t even been in office a month, and he’s backing out of his campaign promises already.”
Stilton said if Pollak feels the company’s coverage has been defaming or libelous, Pollak should immediately exercise his right to file a defamation lawsuit.
“Everything Shore News Network published about this lifelong failure has been the truth, I welcome his lawsuit so the public can learn that it was all 100% factual, he can cancel a contract, but he can’t silence the truth and that’s what apparently irritates him the most,” Stilton said. “Shut up and vote already, be the man you said you are, repeal the salary ordinance. Stop trying to extort me into not talking about it. Vote no on our advertising contract, I don’t care. It changes nothing at all for our business. You won’t silence me. Smarter people have tried and failed in my 30-year career in the media. By the way, combat is not life. You never served. You never saw combat, your shirts are stupid and you should be ashamed to discredit people who actually served our country and saw combat.”
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JACKSON TOWNSHIP, NJ – A Jackson township councilman in New Jersey who has gained a large following on Instagram and TikTok over his viral videos criticizing township officials and local government continues to hide his past from the public after a 2020 accusation against him came to light earlier this year during his campaign.
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