BRICK – A township councilwoman was accused of deleting advertising from a former political associate’s personal business, but she wants an apology from her accuser for improperly using his social media account and impacting a campaign platform.
The deletion debate began during a recent Township Council meeting where Mike Bucca, a former Democrat who was involved with the campaign of current Mayor Lisa Crate, spoke during the public comment period. He accused Councilwoman Heather deJong of removing ads from the social media account of his online senior news publication business.
Bucca told the council, “I am here to talk about my company that serves Brick residents and every other town in New Jersey and a certain individual on the dais tonight that had access to my Facebook account to delete my ads.”
“That was a decision based on politics, wasn’t it?” Bucca asked. Earlier this year, Bucca switched political parties to Republican and recently joined the Brick GOP organization. His party affiliation change came after a disagreement with members of the Brick Democratic club.
“I want to know was that a township decision, a political decision, or what decision was it?” Bucca asked. “The councilwoman I am referring to, is not looking at me nor would she, nor does she need to. The truth is we are talking about erasing records, aren’t we?”
Bucca also asked, “why erase me? Why erase my new company when I decided to switch parties? Why hurt me? All of you know how much that hurt me. As a small business owner who is just trying to make it in this town and make it in Ocean County, I never wanted to harm anyone on this dais.”
The resident said his ideology and party had changed. “I’m a different person. That’s all I am but that council person sitting up there avoiding my contact knows exactly what I am talking about. Council President, are you willing to ask the councilwoman, Heather deJong, if she was acting on behalf the township of Brick or acting on behalf of Meals on Wheels (her employer) or of her personal accord when she deleted my ads?”
Council Vice President Vince Minichino ran that night’s session in the absence of Council President Derrick Ambrosino. “I am not going to have you here attack one of our council members,” Minichino responded. “You mentioned her name okay, that is a problem for me.”
“I am stating a fact of something that happened,” Bucca replied. “I want to know if it was an action of Brick. If it was not, I am okay with that.”
Minichino said, “those are your facts. I don’t have the facts.”
Bucca promised to provide his documentation to the entire council and the township’s attorney after having his attorney review it first.
“Mr. Bucca was improperly co-mingling his Facebook ad account with multiple businesses, including the Crate Team campaign. As a result, the Crate Team was getting Facebook notifications to approve advertisements that had nothing to do with our campaign. We thought we were victims of a phishing scam,” deJong explained to The Brick Times.
“Mr. Bucca made a mistake in his business practice and is trying to save face by blaming somebody else. If anything, Mr. Bucca owes us an apology for improperly co-mingling our Facebook account with other businesses he represents,” the councilwoman added.
In an e-mail to council vice president Minichino and Township Attorney Council Kevin Starkey, Bucca repeated his comments from the council meeting and that he had been “made aware by Meta/Facebook that advertisements for my small business were deleted by Councilwoman Heather deJong. In February 2025, I changed political affiliation to the Republican Party. These actions were taken by Councilwoman deJong in March 2025, as indicated by the timestamps on the attached Facebook logs.”
He added that “as a former social media manager hired by ClearEdge Consulting, this is the same account I used for the 2023 race for Brick Township Mayor and Council. Councilwoman deJong was granted access to this account for the sole purpose of the election of the Democratic candidates in 2023.”
Bucca said he considered this political retaliation. “I would have come forward sooner, but I feared further retaliation. I would like to know why this action was taken?”
He told The Brick Times, “I have not heard back from the Township on this matter.” Bucca called deJong’s claim as being false. “My ads were clearly labeled on my business advertising account which she had retained access to. There was never any commingling of businesses. Ms. deJong knows her claim is false because she is also a professional social media manager in her day job.”
“I have not had access to their Facebook page since 2024. For her to now demand that I apologize to her and her colleagues is appalling. It is an obvious attempt to damage my reputation and harm my business in order to politically protect herself,” Bucca added.
Bucca said, “I knew these people personally. I was in their homes; I spent countless hours working with them. One phone call, email, or text message could have resolved any confusion or concern about this situation. That is why this action is so shocking – and why the timing, coming immediately after I left the Democratic party in 2025, raises a serious red flag. This was not confusion. It was deliberate and the public deserves to know the truth.”
Township Business Administrator Joanne Bergin told The Brick Times that she had not received a copy of any complaint or documentation from Bucca. “If a complaint is made in regards to a sitting councilperson, that would go through the Ethics Information Committee.”
“Formal complaints should be filed through the Township Clerk. I am not a member and do not participate in that Committee,” she added.
Mayor Crate noted that Councilwoman deJong had responded to the accusation. “I have nothing to add and no action is being taken at this time.”
