I am glad that someone took up my suggestion from my last post and asked Gerry Scharfenberger whether or not he has taken a salary this year as a member of the Middletown Township Committee.
Scharfenberger has been misleading everyone about this issue since he first spoke about it at the Lincroft Village Green Association's Candidates Night, where he stated that gave up his stipend for the year and has been acting as a volunteer member of the Township Committee.
He even told reporters that after it was revealed after the election, that he was appointed by Governor Christie to a $95,000 a year job.
In this video clip from last nights meeting Gerry seems to be taken by surprise when Middletown resident Don Watson asked him if he had taken a paycheck from the Township this year. Scharfenberger became agitated and belligerent and he refused to answer the question, even going as far as asking the Township Clerk to note for the record that Mr. Watson's allegations were not true, that he never said that he gave up his salary for the year. Thanks to the magic of audio we know what Scharfenberger said and it is easy to hear the intention of what he was trying to state. You can listen again for yourself after watching the video.
13 comments:
Mike -
One would surmise that with all of the publicity surrounding this issue (the stories and editorials in the Press, the stories in the Independent and the Two River Times, and all of blogging about it) that most of the citizens in Middletown are aware of this issue.
Yet, how many of them were at the meeting tonight?
Specifically, how many voters who voted for Mayor Scharfenberger were there expressing their "outrage" over the whole issue of his taking the job with the state?
Being generous, perhaps there were 20 people at the meeting tonight, and perhaps 12 spoke about this issue. I would wager that none of them voted for the Mayor.
Granted, they spoke passionately, and seemed genuinely angry, but that doesn't mean more than the 12,000 who voted for the Mayor.
THEY did not show up tonight.
THEY did not avail themselves of the opportunity to express the "outrage" you seem to believe they are all feeling.
Does your band of two dozen like the way the Mayor handled this issue? I gather not. (I am not particularly happy with it either, but every politician makes choices in how they deal with the press and public when they make statements, and they don't always make the right decisions. They are human, after all.)
Would the job issue have made a difference in the outcome of the election? Even Sean Byrnes admits that it would not have.
So, you and your like thinking colleagues are faced with a certainly losing hand if you continue to raise this issue, especially since your group is peppered with would be committee members who would seem to have a conflict of interest of their own in trying to use this issue as a cudgel in an attempt to remove a political opponent from office.
You are welcome to try a recall petition, and welcome to engage in the next set of elections next Fall, but to continually raise this issue threatens to distract everyone from the issues that the Township legitimately faces. Issues that many, many residents would agree wholeheartedly on.
My advice? Fight for your agenda. Don't beat dead horses...
Jay,
he purpose of this post and other that will follow is to once again show that Gerry Scharfenberger has a pathological problem with telling the truth. It's not about whether or not Sean Byrnes lost his reelection bid.
If Byrnes had won, the same people that spoke at this meeting still would have gotten up to address the same issues which deal with honest, integrity (or lack thereof) and deceitfulness.
Gerry is a master of deceit and has a silver serpents tongue, people need to question always what come out of his mouth.
Just read the dictionary or a thesaurus.....Gerard Scharfenberger's actions certainly are defined under...deception,deceit,untruthful, trickery,cheating.double dealing,misleading,sham,duplicity,
duping,cunning,defrauding,fake,
counterfeit and more....
Lack of integrity is just that.
Character flaws are character flaws,end of story !
Anon at 8:55 -
You obviously believe that the Mayor lacks integrity - that's your right.
I would guess that you did not vote for him - also your right.
But the "character flaws" you note - while they were severe enough to influence your vote - were apparently insufficient to change the votes of the majority of the voters in the Township.
Mayor Scharfenberger was re-elected for a three year term, and will apparently serve on the Township Committee for that term, despite your personal opinion.
And THAT, is the "end of [the] story..."
Mike -
Okay, so your blog going forward is simply going to be sour grapes against Gerry Scharfenberger?
How does that speak to the issues you have raised over the past few months, like taxes? Are you committed to a better Middletown, or are you dedicated to posting rants against one member of the Committee?
Jay,
My blog has never been about and never was about sour grapes concerning any individual.
The motivation behind the blog was to have an outlet for my personal whims and to show the hypocrisy and utter distain shown by those that have controlled Middletown for over 3 decades, towards those that disagree or have a difference of opinion.
Until the past few years, when Democrats had been on the Township Committee, it was nearly impossible to get strait answer from any of those on the Committee, having watchdogs on the Committee change that.
Gerry Scharfenberger has put himself out there, front and center, of every issue in town. He always has a comment regardless if what he states it accurately or not. He has been found to be deceitful on many occasions, not just by me but by others that have seeked answers from him. He deserve all the scrutiny that he receives.
I will continue to focus on the issues that effect Middletown like taxes and standard of living regardless of who's on the Township Committee or who is Mayor.
If they say or do things that are contrary to the truth in anyway, I'll point it out.
End of story
Yeah, Jay,
How about the taxes. These liars could not tell the truth if their lives depended on that truth. Along with all the other false tales they tell.
The carpetbaggers should go back where they came from or the people of Middletown better wake up.This town gets more like NORTH JERSEY everyday.....just as down and dirty.
One thing is for sure,mortality has gotten rid of one of the engineers of this crap and Petey Boy is not immortal either but I suppose,the "budding lawyer" is right there in the wings just waiting to step up....he's already only a chair away.
Government in this town is a DISGRACE !
TC meetings in Middletown rarely garner more than a handful of attendees unless a big awards program is at hand and even then after the awards most of the people go home,couldn't care less.
Every time a taxpayer in Middletown writes a check to pay property taxes in this township and is unhappy. Just remember that this Republican majority is solely responsible for the incompetence in managing not only the finances in this township but the mismanagement of all of the affairs of the town.
NOBODY BUT THEM and their cunning,conniving cronies.
How's that,Jay,for spreading the responsibility around and not picking solely on poor ole' Gerry in his bamboozling chicanery as he endeavors to dupe the very people who voted for him.
Those who did not vote for him got just what they expected...NOTHING. That why the rest of you better not complain...you'll be getting just what you asked for or just what you deserve.
Jay,
You know very well a very large portion of the 12,000 who voted for Mr. Scharfenberger probably never attended a meeting, and the Republicans would prefer to keep it that way. That is why they refuse to televise the meetings. Also a substantial portion voted down party lines and with it being a very anti Dem year, voters did not distinguish between national issues and local issues.
To suggest that only 20 people showed up last night means others are not disgusted with the way the Mayor has continuously lied this past year is unbelievable.
There are obviously more than 9,500 who are just better informed and could see through the deceit.
I applaud those for continuing to expose the Mayor and all dishonest elected officials. To suggest this is sour grapes means you don't really care whether the people we elect to run our town can be trusted to do what is right. The Mayor has shown us time and time again he will say anything and do anything for self promotion. Fortunately I believe in Karma.
Jay,
Taxes are a big issue and can frequently reflect other issues in both government and politics. Other issues that are just as important as how much is being spent on taxes and often are drivers of taxes are: leadership, competence, honesty, judgement, representing contractors over the resident taxpayer, politics first and before good government, corruption and transparentcy.
I believe Jay is none other than the charlatan himself.If not,his twin !!
Jay @11/16 @ 9:30
What do you need to see how absent of character this person is...actually believe you are this person DEFENDING YOURSELF.
In possession of any common decency
you would save your face and leave the political scene in this township.It's plainly obvious common decency is not part of your resume' either !
You are going to COST not only yourself but your comrades on that dais....mark these words.
Every day as the truth comes out it proves what a farce you are and always have been. Maybe the Governor will have input on what you will do....a choice between saving his face or saving your own rump!
Then we can evaluate BOTH of YOU.
Thank you for posting this clip.
I felt as if I was watching Godfather II, with Scharfenberger in the role of Frankie Pentangeli. I can understand why this band of rats does not want to televise the Committee meetings.
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