Kucinich to liberals: Vote or surrender to the ‘forces of nihilism’

From RawStory.com-

WASHINGTON – As Democrats fear a wave of losses in next Tuesday's elections, due in part to a lack of enthusiasm within their base, one progressive champion made an impassioned plea for liberals to head to the polls and and vote.

"We can get out there and make our voices heard, or we can let the forces of nihilism take over," Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) told Raw Story in an exclusive interview late Tuesday afternoon.

The Cleveland Democrat warned progressives that a Republican takeover of the House of Representatives – a likely scenario, according to election experts – could surrender the levers of power to "megalomaniacal neoconservatives who are more in need of mental attention."

"There's no question about it," he said. "We have to vote."

Kucinich, a seven-term congressman who seems to be in no danger, sympathized with liberals who are disenchanted with the Democratic Party, but insisted they must "work within the system" to achieve the results they want, arguing that tuning out wasn't a better solution.

"I would never try to minimize their concerns. I understand them," he said. "I wish we had broader options. I certainly don't like our political system, but I'm not prepared to walk away."

If there's anyone in Congress who shares liberal misgivings about the Obama administration, it's Kucinich. From health care to the economy to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, he has been outspoken about his criticisms. "But this election is a choice," he said.

Studies reveal that both of the major parties are unpopular with the public – some even say Americans still prefer Democrats – but polls consistently show that Republicans are far more likely to vote next Tuesday.

An NBC/Wall Street Journal survey last week found that Republicans are more likely to head to the polls on Nov. 2 than Democrats by a whopping 20 percentage points.

Kucinich, who ran unsuccessfully for the presidency in 2004 and 2008, said he doesn't envision any circumstance in which he'd run again in 2012.

"I don’t see it," he said. "I think anybody who runs against Barack Obama for the Democratic nomination would be handing the presidency to the other party on a silver platter."

Happy Halloween !!

Happy Halloween Everyone,

While your out trick-or-treating today beware of all the goons and thugs out there on the streets, we wouldn't want anyone to get hurt because of some idiots that would rather play tricks on people then partake in some treats.

Speaking of idiots, I just had to pass this one along. This morning around 4:30 am I was a woken by the sound of firecrackers outside my window, slightly down the street from my house. I got up to look outside and noticed that a number of my lawn decorations were out of place and a couple of my air-blown inflatables were laying on the ground. I went outside to see what had happened and found that the inflatables had been cut open with a knife and had a few tether strings cut. Fortunately for me nothing was missing. I have had numerous items stolen from my property over the years.

I call the police just to make them aware of the situation, they said that they had a couple of other reports of firecrackers going off and wanted to know if I wanted to file a report. I said it wasn't necessary and went back to bed a little agitated.

I temporarily fixed the inflatables with some clear packing tape to get through the day, but they will need to be sown up before they will be ready to next years display.

So the moral of this story is don't let a few Halloweenies spoil your day.

Anna Little: Teabagger for Congress

A friend forwarded this video to me, it's a "Little" tongue-in-cheek but worth watching before you vote on Tuesday.

Anna Little: Teabagger for Congress from Mondock Entertainment on Vimeo.

Saturday Morning Cartoons: Scrappy's Ghost Story

One more day til Halloween, so while your getting the costumes together and the candy ready for the Trick-or-Treaters take a minute and watch a cartoon to get you in the Spirit !

President Obama's Weekly Address 10/30/10: Working Together on the Economy

Ahead of the elections, the President says no matter what happens both parties must work together to boost the economy, and expresses concern about statements to the contrary from Republican Leaders.

Tony "The Fibber" Fiore Is At It Again: Letter To Shadow Lake Residents Is Filled With Falsehoods

Middletown's acting Deputy Mayor, Tony "the Fibber" Fiore is at it once again. You would have thought that after being caught fabricating portions of his resume that was submitted to the Township (which was presented for consideration for the Township Volunteer Bank) shortly after he moved here from Carteret, he would have learn his lesson. You can't make false and misleading statements about yourself or others and expect to get away with it.

In this latest case "the Fibber" authored and sent to resident of Shadow Lake Village (on his own dime supposedly) a letter accusing the lone Democrat on the Township Committee, Sean Byrnes, of begin an obstructionist against the rest of the Township Committee's efforts to dredge Shadow Lake and accused him of "...cutting secret deals to line the pockets of private contractors to pour chemicals into Shadow Lake that will never solve the problem...".

Fiore actually insinuated that Byrnes was a lair by including in this letter "Sean Byrnes says he wants to bring the Army Corp of Engineers into help the Township with Shadow Lake. There are a few problems with this. First, as State open waters, the NJDEP's permission is still required for the Army Corp to dredge the lake. Second, the Army Corp only dredges navigable waters-Shadow Lake is not a navigable waterway."

This letter makes Fiore out to be the buffoon and partisan politician that he is and demonstrates that Fiore and the Middletown Republicans are only out for themselves and not interested hearing from others on how to fix problems. You can see the letter for yourself >>>Here

In response to his colleague on the Township Committee, here is what Sean Byrnes has to say about Fiore's claims and accusations:

"... First, he suggests that I did not vote on dredging for Shadow Lake. That’s correct, because when the ordinance was voted on I was not yet elected to the Township Committee. His letter would lead you to believe I voted against dredging. This is not true. Second, he claims that the Army Corps of Engineers does not have jurisdiction here and cannot take on this project. Here, Mr. Fiore should have checked his facts. While the Corps has traditionally handled the maintenance of navigable waterways, they do now have a responsibility for Ecosystem Restoration. You can check this link on the web for more information:

http://el.erdc.usace.army.mil/ecosystem/index.html.

I don’t think these representatives would ask for a meeting if they did not have a program that might address the problems with the Lake.

Lastly, and most disturbing to me, Mr. Fiore contends that I am “lining the pockets” of a contractor to treat the Lake. For the record, this “contractor” has had a contract with the Township for 15 years. The Township, unbeknownst to me, reduced the scope of this contractor’s contract limiting his treatment of vegetation to the most Western portion of the Lake. This may explain the rapid growth of vegetation of the last few years. My request to him to submit a contract for 2011 designed to attack the vegetation growth was an effort to address this problem while we wait for dredging. While Mr. Fiore appears to oppose this treatment of vegetation, I believe it is necessary and his characterization of it as “pouring chemicals” into the Lake is misleading..."

Well then, so much for the final attempt at an "October Surprise" from Fiore and the Middletown GOP, they have shown once again with this letter, that they can not be trusted with telling the truth to residents and are desperate to retain as much power in town as possible.

It seems as though Sean Byrnes is the only one representing the best interests of Middletown, whether it be not voting to support this years budget that included a whopping 13.8% increase to the Municipal tax rate or here in this instance, providing a common sense solution to a problem that has been lingering under Republican rule for 3 years now.

Dear Fellow Middletown Residents Support Byrnes & Mahoney

The power of the Internet and email is amazing to me. I don't know who authored this letter but I have received it from nearly a dozen different individuals, some on my contact list and from others that I don't even know. From what I happen to know about Sean Byrnes's record and of Mary Mahoney, I would have to say that it is right on.


Dear Fellow Middletown Resident,

Someone you know has sent this to you as an effort to help make residents more aware of what has been happening behind the scenes of our local government, and why our property taxes are so high and continue to rise. Due to our Township Committee’s refusal to institute ways of making our local government more transparent, most residents really have no way of knowing the decisions the Committee has been making about how they spend our tax dollars. It has been that way for three decades and Mayor Scharfenberger and the Middletown Republican Party would like to keep it that way.

It is not only impossibly expensive, but it is just impossible to communicate the truth the traditional way- with signs, ads and direct mailings. There is simply too much important information that people need to know, and hopefully this email will serve that purpose. Thank you for taking a few minutes to read it. This election is pivotal for Middletown. Voters need to be able to make a truly informed decision, not just rely on distortions, misinformation and character assassinations.

Sean Byrnes is the only Democrat on the Township Committee. For those of you who don’t pay close attention to how our local governing body operates, Sean is widely recognized as the fiscal conservative on the Committee. This stems from his experience handling budgets for the U. S. Coast Guard during a time when the Coast Guard was repeatedly suffering reductions in funding. He has voted against the last 3 Middletown municipal budgets voicing frustration at the Township’s failure to shrink the size of local government and the absence of any Finance Committee to prepare a financial plan for the Township. Over his objection, each of the three years he has been in office, the majority has approved substantial increases in our municipal tax levy. The municipal tax levy in 2005 was $31,217,469, and it is $45,349,477 for 2010. That’s a 45% jump in the 6 years that Gerry Scharfenberger has been in office. There have been recent Township mailings going out to households (paid for with taxpayer dollars by the way) “spinning” the tax statistics to make them look better. The truth is that the numbers speak for themselves:

In 2010, a comparison of the 8 neighboring municipalities revealed that Middletown had the highest jump in the municipal tax levy.

Here are the numbers:



Although the Mayor has cited large snowplowing expenses and other factors as the cause for this substantial increase, the reality is that all of these towns faced the same financial pressures, but only Middletown has had to seek approval from the Local Finance Board for Emergency Appropriations in each of the last 3 years to allow Middletown to exceed its scheduled appropriations.

Committeeman Byrnes has recommended sweeping changes in how Middletown delivers its services, but as the lone Democrat, he cannot even get a second vote to allow discussion of his ideas. Here are some examples:

· He sought to force competitive bids for all engineering work related to roads and other larger projects in town, instead of hiring the same politically-connected engineering firm to do all Township engineering work over the last 35 years. This firm gets paid on average over $1,000,000 every year.

· He has recommended consolidating the maintenance personnel in the Parks & Recreation Department, Public Works Department and the maintenance personnel working for the Board of Education.

· He pushed for privatization of much of the Township’s leaf and brush pickup, which consumes a large portion of the Township’s workforce. The Committee reluctantly agreed to bid out a small portion of the Township and realized a savings of $100,000 when the bid was received.

· He has recommended partnering with local non-profits like the YMCA to provide non-essential services like cultural and recreational activities so as to eliminate excessive costs associated with full-time employees’ pay and benefits, including health benefits that extend into retirement years.

· He has asked his fellow Committee members for 3 years to create a Finance Committee like every other municipality and well-run organization, but they have refused. He suspects that his fellow Committee members fear bringing citizens into the financial planning for the Township, because it would reveal the dire shape of the Township’s finances and the poor decision making by the Committee which got the town into this situation in the first place. Also, those no-bid contracts, politically–appointed positions (with benefits) and other practices would finally be brought to light if the public became involved. He knows that Middletown is rich with talent and resources – very highly-qualified people who, regardless of party affiliation, would volunteer to examine the budget and make recommendations to the Committee on how to cut costs and save tax dollars. Numerous other towns, with budgets a fraction of the size of Middletown’s, utilize Finance Committees to help them make the best decisions. It is absurd that a township the size of Middletown does not. It is unnerving to think why that is so.

· He believes that the residents of Middletown need to be more engaged in the governing process and he has observed a disconnect between the residents and their elected officials. He has advocated for televising the Township meetings to allow broader access to the public, but the Mayor and majority refuse to do so. They don’t want anyone to really know what is going on. Why is that? Byrnes did however have some success with his request to have the resolutions posted on the town website. This means that residents are now able to see what is being discussed and voted on at the Committee meetings through the website. Prior to that, anyone who went to a meeting would have no clue what was being discussed. Televising or streamlining the meetings online would be a wonderful way for residents to be connected without having to leave home. Other nearby towns are doing it already at little or no cost and it has been very positively received.

· He has recommended placing the Township’s attorney on a fixed retainer to reduce expenses and add predictability to this line item. The majority has refused to limit the (politically connected) attorney’s expenses in this fashion.

· He has called for a Task Force to examine whether Middletown still needs a Sewerage Authority. There are seven Commissioners of the Sewerage Authority who are entitled to receive pay, pension and health benefits. (Remember, there are only 5 Committee members, who are responsible for the entire township). In addition, the Director earns a salary in excess of $100,000. The Sewerage Authority meets once a month for less than an hour. These members are all active Republicans, including a former Mayor, party Treasurer, party Vice Chair etc. Middletown has been substantially developed and Sean Byrnes believes folding the Authority into the Public Works Department would save hundreds of thousands of dollars in overhead. Efforts by Byrnes to investigate the merger of the Sewage Authority and Township Government have been opposed and blocked by Mayor Scharfenberger.

Both Sean and his running mate, Mary Mahoney, believe these sensible initiatives, if adopted, might have helped to avoid the large-scale tax increases of recent years. Sean and Mary stand by these recommendations. Together they will bring a conservative perspective to the Committee by examining how operations can be improved, by introducing management practices proven to eliminate waste and by improving the depth of research and analysis done prior to making important decisions.

Electing Mary Mahoney will bring strong organizational and leadership skills, currently lacking on the Committee. Her 18 years of experience in the business world honed these skills enabling her to challenge the Committee last year when they were poised to make another poorly planned investment at a time when they were already $5.5M in the red. She helped form a citizens’ group, hired their own engineer, proved the folly of the Committee’s majority leadership and won. In addition, in the past 10 years while raising her two sons Mary has been an active member of her community serving on several local boards dedicated to maintaining and improving the quality of life for residents of Middletown. Mary’s experiences with our local government have shown her that Middletown’s majority leadership is not representing the residents’ needs and vows to change this.

The Asbury Park Press has had this to say about Sean Byrnes :

“Sean Byrnes’ passion for cutting government spending and increasing transparency separate him from the field” (APP 10/18/09)

(He) “is bright, articulate and has an uncommon grasp of the issues” (APP 10/18/09).

Part of the problem is that without a second vote, resolutions cannot be discussed at Township Committee meetings. Sean’s ideas die on the vine, because no one will second them to allow discussion. This is partisan politics at its worst, and the taxpayers end up paying for it. Electing both Sean and Mary will force discussion of these and their other ideas that will help Middletown reduce waste and manage our tax dollars more efficiently. Once there is a discussion, there is also a public record of those discussions. We will gain transparency in our local government and make our elected officials accountable for their actions.

From the beginning of his term three years ago, Sean Byrnes has been pleading to step up the recycling program in Middletown. Recycling is an issue both the Byrnes and Mahoney families have always felt very strongly about and have been putting into practice for a long time. As Sean has explained at many Committee meetings, it will not only reduce expenses, it will bring in revenue as well. He has described how his own household of 7 people produces less than one can of garbage a week simply by recycling mixed paper and newspaper. No one on the Committee would listen. Now it is election time and the Mayor is campaigning about “his” recycling program. Another request Sean had made months ago was to have a property reassessment for the township. The rest of the Committee would not discuss it. Then, Mayor Scharfenberger introduces a resolution for a reassessment, once again taking credit for Byrnes’ ideas. To make matters worse, he uses taxpayers’ dollars to campaign via Township publications and robocalls sent to every household. This again is partisan politics.

Regardless of their party, voters understand the importance of maintaining balance on the Township Committee. We have not had much of that in recent years. In the last two years, the four Republican Committee members have never disagreed with one another. Over the course of hundreds of votes on resolutions, ordinances, and other matters, they have voted together, never disagreeing with one another. Elected officials should feel comfortable to vote their conscience. They clearly are answering to someone other than the people that elected them; one might suspect it is their local party.

Let’s get some balance on the Township Committee. Let’s give Sean Byrnes and Mary Mahoney the ability to introduce some of these cost-cutting ideas by electing them. Even if both are successful, it still leaves them in a minority, but it gives them the all-important ability to force discussion on issues like those mentioned above. And because 4 votes are required to approve any bonding for the Township, their presence would curb any excessive reliance on this borrowing power. This is vital since the total bond debt in Middletown went from around $48M in 2001 to over $75M today. The numbers speak for themselves, in just 10 years we have borrowed and are paying interest on an additional $27,000,000.

Sean Byrnes and Mary Mahoney do not have to try to destroy anyone’s character, distort facts or take quotes out of context and put their own captions under them. They just need to get the truth out there for people to see and judge for themselves.

This election should not be about local politics, it should be about creating a governing body that can reduce spending and provide much needed tax relief for our residents.

You can make a difference by making an informed decision and voting for Sean Byrnes and Mary Mahoney. You can help make a balanced local government a reality by forwarding this message to every Middletown resident you know.


For more about Sean Byrnes, Mary Mahoney and very interesting information about what has been going on behind the scenes of our local government, and where your tax dollars have been going, visit:

openmiddletown.com

Rush Holt To Kicks Off Get-Out-The-Vote Effort Tomorrow Night at Manalapan Office

Tomorrow at 6:30pm Congressman Rush Holt and New Jersey Democratic Chairman John Wisniewski will be at our Monmouth HQ in Manalapan to officially kick-off our Get Out the Vote Effort.

We've all worked tirelessy for the last three months here in Monmouth, and there's only 5 days left to ensure that every Holt supporter gets to the polls. We encourage you to join us to show your support for the congressman and the Monmouth Democratic Party.

For those of you who haven't been to our Manalapan Office yet. It's located in the Design Center Plaza on Route 9. The street address 345 Route 9 South.

Please RSVP via email or call our office at 732-431-0247. Hope to see you tomorrow!

Sincerely,

Andrew Overton

PS Take a look at Rush's call to action on his website: http://www.rushholt.com/gotv2010

--
Andrew Overton
Monmouth County Field Organizer | Rush Holt for Congress
c: 732.637.9884 | o: 732.431.0247 | f: 609.799.9173 | e: overton@rushholt.com
345 Route 9 South in Design Center Plaza
www.RushHolt.com | www.facebook.com/RushHolt

Meet the Candidates In Lincroft Tonight

Come out and hear ALL the candidates! Be an informed voter.

CANDIDATES NIGHT tonight,Thursday, October 28, at 7:30pm at Lincroft School. Questions asked of Middletown Township Committee candidates Sean Byrnes, Mary Mahoney, Gerry Scharfenberger, and Kevin Settembrino.

Email questions to :
info@lincroftvillagegreen.org or submit them at the event.

Moderated by the League of Women Voters.

Halloween Safety Tips

With Halloween just a few days away, it is important to keep in mind the following safety tips when preparing for that most spook-tacular day .

Trick-Or-Treating
• Make sure that an adult or older responsible youth accompanies young children.
• Plan and discuss the trick-or-treat route your children intend to follow, ideally a well-lit, well-populated course. Instruct your kids to stick to this route, and establish what tie they should return home.
• Write your child’s name, address and phone number on a piece of paper and slip it in a pocket or pin it to his/her costume, in case your child gets separated from the group.
• Review pedestrian safety rules with your children, including looking both ways before crossing the street and not crossing the street between parked cars.
• Tell your children to walk on sidewalks, not on the street; where there are no sidewalks, children should walk on the left side of the road, facing traffic.
• Teach your children to stop only at homes that are well-lit, and never enter a stranger’s home.
• If you’re driving your kids around to trick-or-treat make sure they get out of your car on the curb side, not on the traffic side of the road.
• Instruct your kids not to eat any of their treats until they get home. Be sure to wash any fruit and it into small pieces before giving it to your kids to eat.

Costumes
• Knives, swords, and other accessories should be made from cardboard or flexible material. Sharp toys present all sorts of dangers, including injuring your child if he or she trips and falls on it. Falls are the leading cause of unintentional injuries on Halloween.
• Trim trick-or-treat bags with reflective tape.
• Give your child flashlights to carry so they can be more visible to motorist.
• If your child is wearing a mask, make sure that it has large holes for the eyes and mouth. Also, avoid hats that will slide over your child’s eyes.

Other Halloween Fun
• Avoid giving treats that can be harmful to young children, including gum, peanuts, hard candies and small toys. Also, remember that many children have food allergies to peanuts and dairy products.
• When carving pumpkins, kids should not be allowed to use knives, its best to let children clean out the pumpkin and draw a face on it.
• If you set out jack-o-lanterns on your sidewalk or porch, be sure there is enough room for kids to pass through in groups without the danger of costumes catching on fire.
• Explain to your children the consequences of vandalism and other antics, such as animal cruelty. Both are unacceptable and punishable by law.

Video: Mary Mahoney Explains Why She Is Running For Middletown Township Committee

Mary Mahoney, Democratic Candidate for Middletown Township Committee and running mate of Democratic Committeeman Sean Byrnes, explains why she is seeking office. This video was take at the Byrnes and Mahoney Town Hall meeting that took place on September 27,2010.

Video: Sean Byrnes discusses Transparency and Televising meetings

Middletown Democratic Committeeman Sean Byrnes discusses transparency and the need to televise Township Committee meetings over the Township's public access channels during the Byrnes and Mahoney Town Hall Meeting that took place on September 27,2010 in Middletown.

Since this video was taken Mayor Scharfenberger has stated that he would not be in favor of televising meetings to the public at any cost because he doesn't see the value in it.

It's Your Town Newsletter Volume 2, Issue 23 10/18/10

It's Your Town newsletter Volume 2, Issue 23 is now available.

This edition of the newsletter chronicles the Middletown Township Committee meeting of Monday night October 18,2010.

The Oct.18th Committee meeting was the last regular meeting before the upcoming election(there will be a workshop meeting on Nov.1st). Discussions regarding shared services with the BOE, the dredging of Shadow Lake, televising Township meeting and the adoption of ordinances were just a few items worth reading about.

Read the newsletter >>> Here

As a companion to the newsletter, you can watch a few videos that I made last week from this meeting. The videos are about COAH, the dredging of Shadow Lake and televising meetings and can be scene by clicking on the hyper-links.

Tea Party Thuggery as Election Nears

By Michael Winship
Posted at Consortiumnews.com
October 20, 2010

ConsortiumNews Editor’s Note: Sadly but predictably, the two years of economic pain and the anger over the first African-American president are combining for a particularly nasty election as Tea Partiers see, within their grasp, their goal of “taking our country back.”

The 2009 phenomenon of armed protesters threatening to unleash violence against Washington over health-care reform has morphed into Tea Party candidates surrounding themselves with thugs determined to silence reporters and intimidate opposition voters, as Michael Winship notes in this guest essay:

One of the most memorable moments in television coverage of American politics came during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in 1968.

Out on the streets, anti-Vietnam war demonstrations were attacked viciously by law enforcement officials in what later was described in an official report as “a police riot.”

Inside the convention hall, tightly controlled by the political machine of the city’s notorious Mayor Richard J. Daley, CBS correspondent Dan Rather was attempting to interview a delegate from Georgia who was being removed from the floor by men in suits without ID badges.

One of them slugged Rather in the stomach, knocking him to the ground. As the reporter struggled to get his breath back, from the anchor booth, Walter Cronkite exclaimed, “I think we’ve got a bunch of thugs here, Dan!”

It was an uncharacteristic outburst from America’s Most Respected Newsman, indicative of just how terrible the violence was both inside and out and how shocking it was for a journalist to be so blatantly attacked while on the air by operatives acting on behalf of politicians.

As appalling as that 1968 assault was, thuggery is nothing new in politics; it transcends time, ideology and party.

But what’s even more disturbing in 2010 is how much of the public, especially many of those who count themselves among the conservative adherents of the Tea Party, is willing to ignore bullying behavior – and even applaud it – as long as the candidate in question hews to their point of view.

Here in New York State, of course, we have Republican gubernatorial candidate Carl Paladino, who combines the boyish charm of J. Edgar Hoover with the sunny quirkiness of Pol Pot.

So extreme are Paladino’s views, so volatile his temper, that even Rupert Murdoch’s right wing New York Post has endorsed Democrat Andrew Cuomo, which is a bit like the Vatican newspaper L’Osservatore Romano dissing the Pope and singing the praises of Lutherans.

Doubtless this is in part because Crazy Carl, as he is affectionately known to many, almost came to blows with the Post’s state political editor, the redoubtable Fred Dicker, shouting “I’ll take you out, buddy!” at Dicker.

The journalist had asked Paladino for evidence to back up allegations the candidate was making against Cuomo. Paladino claimed the paper was harassing his out-of-wedlock daughter.

The Post had to admit that Paladino is “long on anger and short on answers... undisciplined, unfocused and untrustworthy -- that is, fundamentally unqualified for the office he seeks.”

Okay, Paladino will lose, but in other parts of the country, Tea Party-supported candidates with a similar bullying, threatening attitude, or who seem to surround themselves with such people, are more likely to win.

Republican Allen West, endorsed by Sarah Palin and John Boehner, is leading in his race against incumbent Democratic Representative Ron Klein in South Florida’s 22nd Congressional District.

A retired Army lieutenant colonel, West resigned from the military, according to the progressive Web site ThinkProgress.org, “while facing a court martial over the brutal interrogation of an Iraqi man. …

“According to his own testimony during a military hearing, West watched four of his men beat the suspect, and West said he personally threatened to kill the man. According to military prosecutors, West followed up on his threat by taking the man outside and firing a 9mm pistol near his head, in order to make the man believe he would be shot.”

You can’t make this stuff up: Last week, NBC News reported that West has been communing with a notorious Florida motorcycle gang, the Outlaws, which the Justice Department alleges has criminal ties to arson, prostitution, drug running, murder and robbery.

And on Monday, West could be heard at a rally urging some bikers – also with Outlaw connections – to “escort” out a Klein staffer who was video-recording the event.

“Threats can be heard on the videotape,” said a reporter from NBC’s Miami affiliate. “West supporters forced him to get back into his car.”

The West campaign responded that “the latest attacks aimed at associating … Allen West with a criminal and racist gang are completely baseless and nothing short of a hatchet job.”

So what’s with the photograph of him glad-handing bikers who according to NBC brag about their association with the Outlaws? And why did West tell a supporter to back off when concern was expressed about “criminal organization members in leather” appearing at West’s campaign rallies?

Which brings us to Joe Miller, the Republican and Tea Party candidate for the United States Senate from Alaska.

On Sunday, at a Miller town hall, private security guards hired by the campaign – two of whom were moonlighting, active-duty military – took it upon themselves to detain a reporter pursuing Miller with questions, placed the reporter under citizen’s arrest and handcuffed him – then threatened to detain two other reporters who were taking pictures and asking what was going on.

The plainclothes rent-a-cops, complete with Secret Service-type earpieces and Men in Black-style neckties and business suits, come from an Anchorage-based outfit called DropZone Security, which also runs a bail bond service and an Army-Navy surplus store – with one of those anti-Obama “Joker” posters pasted to its window.

One-stop shopping for the vigilante militiaman in your life – kind of like that joke about the combination veterinarian-taxidermist: either way you get your dog back.

All of this would be funnier if not for the fact that this kind of hooliganism and casual trampling of First Amendment rights from people who claim to embrace the Constitution as holy writ is symptomatic of a deeper problem.

The anger of the electorate is understandable: politicians and politics as usual have given voters much about which to be mad; furious, in fact. But bullying is different. It comes from insecurity and fear, and lashes out with tactics of intimidation. To dismiss it as merely a secondary concern and say “I’ll take my chances” as long as the candidates in question agree with you is dangerous.

Scuffling with the press and others may seem minor, but it’s just the beginning. In states where there is early balloting, already there are allegations of voter harassment, primarily in minority neighborhoods.

The only way to fight back against bullies and thugs is to stand up and tell them to go to hell. To do otherwise is to give an inch and prepare to be taken for the proverbial mile. That way lies madness. And worse.

Michael Winship is senior writer at Public Affairs Television in New York City.

PENSION SCANDAL IN THE SHERIFF’S OFFICE: Acting Sheriff Golden Promotes Pension Fraud By Head Of Law Enforcement Division

FOR IMMIDIATE RELEASE
October 24, 2010
Press Contact: Jon Evans (732) 739 8888

Hazlet, NJ – This week, New Jersey Watchdog.org broke news casting another ominous cloud over the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office. The information, which has been verified, shows that in 2008, the previous Republican Sheriff allowed and participated in a scheme allowing a high-ranking Monmouth County Sheriff’s employee to blatantly violate pension laws giving him a full pension and a full County paycheck at the same time. Despite his knowledge of this fraudulent act, acting-Sheriff Golden continues to employ this person under the same arrangement.

Specifically, Monmouth County acting-Sheriff Shaun Golden has authorized Sheriff’s Chief Mickey Donovan to sidestep pension rules allowing him to collect more than $85,000 a year in retirement pay while at the same time still making an annual County salary of $87,500 for a total in excess of $172,000.00 per year. This “double-dipping” scheme is in violation of the New Jersey Police and Firemen’s Retirement System rules and regulations.

In May 2005, Donovan retired as a detective lieutenant from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and began collecting his annual $85,000 pension. In an August 21, 2008, memo it was announced, by then-Sheriff Kim Guadagno, that Donovan would be hired as the “new Chief of the Law Enforcement Division”. However, in order to avoid having to give back a pension, his title was changed and Donovan was hired and sworn in as “Chief Warrant Officer” on September 22, 2008. Although Donovan was hired as “Chief Warrant Officer,” permitting circumvention of the pension rules, in actuality, the position of “Chief Warrant Officer” was eliminated on September 16, 2008- a week before Donovan was hired to the fictitious position- under Sheriff’s General Order 98-20 setting forth the organizational structure of the Sheriff’s Office. As a result, Donovan was hired and continues to occupy a position that does not exist in the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office. Clearly, this scheme was concocted so that Donovan could continue to double dip at taxpayers’ expense. Donovan continues to be listed on the County’s web page as “Monmouth County Sheriff’s Chief” and is described as “the Chief of the Law Enforcement Division of the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office” and not as “Chief Warrants Officer.” On July 6, 2010, acting-Sheriff Golden signed an amendment to the organizational structure of the Law Enforcement Division, yet did not include the position of “Chief Warrant Officer” and there is currently no such position within the organizational structure of the Sheriff’s Office.

Democratic Sheriff Candidate Eric Brophy responded to the ongoing situation, “This continuing fraud cast upon the taxpayers of Monmouth County by sworn officers of the law is the most egregious example yet of Golden’s complete and utter mismanagement of the Monmouth County Sheriff’s Office. His complete disregard for the taxpayers of Monmouth County or for the laws and rules of this State is appalling. Someone who is charged as the Chief Executive Officer of a 600 person police agency must know the status and job titles of his division heads. If he doesn’t, then he has no business running such an operation. If he does know but disregards these acts, he is complicit in perpetuating this fraud and can no longer be trusted to hold the position. Monmouth County needs a Sheriff who will be responsible with taxpayer dollars and who not only talks about pension reform, but who actually ends abuses of the system. ”

For more details as well as evidence of all facts cited herein, visit New Jersey Watchdog Online at http://newjersey.watchdog.org/2010/10/19/1286/

NJPP Monday Minute 10/25/10: This is the time to go a little "batty"

It's almost Halloween, a time to celebrate the ghoulies and ghosties and long-leggedy beasties and things that go bump in the night. One of the most enduring symbols of fright night is the silhouette of a bat, wings spread in a wide scallop, backlit by an orange glowing moon. But, please kiddies, don't be frightened of these often misunderstood mammals (some of which actually do feed on blood). Bats play a critical role in the world's ecosystem. In some African countries, bats are sacred animals thought to be the physical manifestation of souls. In much of Asia, bats are symbols of good luck.

Bats are not so revered here, despite their tremendous contribution to the public weal, and New Jersey's bat population is dying off at an alarming rate.


This is the time of year many bats begin to hibernate. In New Jersey's most populated hibernation spot - Hibernia Mine in Morris County - fewer than 1,700 of almost 30,000 bats survived last winter's sleep, according to Mick Valent, Principal Zoologist for the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife. Worse, Valent said, many survivors showed signs of infection with a fungus that is rapidly spreading across the country.

The fungus is called "white-nose syndrome" and is named for the whitish powder that appears on the nose, ears and wings of infected bats. This disease has killed an estimated 90 percent of bats in the state--and that's very bad news, not just on Halloween.


Bats serve a vital role in the ecosystem as pollinators and seed-dispersers for countless plants. Without their pollination and seed-dispersing services, local ecosystems could gradually collapse as plants fail to provide food and cover for wildlife species. But perhaps their greatest contribution is in pest control. Bats consume about 3,000 insects per hour while feeding, and mosquitoes are a favorite food. Mosquitoes of course are carriers of some of the world's worst diseases such as malaria, encephalitis and the West Nile virus. In New Jersey West Nile virus is a recognized problem which threatens to grow if the mosquito population is not controlled. Fewer bats mean more mosquitoes, more mosquitoes mean more illnesses, more illness means lost work and school.

Bats also like to eat many species of moths that damage agricultural products, vegetation and of course the clothing we all wear. One moth can potentially lay 1,000 eggs at a time, making them the scourge of New Jersey farmers and wool sweater-wearing New Jerseyans alike.

The obvious public policy alternative to the natural pest control bats provide is increased pesticide spraying. Spraying is expensive and carries with it health and environmental risks. Much of the cost of spraying is borne by New Jersey counties with some help from the NJ Department of Environmental Protection through grants, but that amount last year was only about $1 million for the state's 21 counties to divide. The rest of the cost was borne by the counties.

Valent and other zoologists believe humans are to blame for the bats' demise here; that fungal pathogens were introduced into American bat caves by visitors who previously entered European caves and carried the disease back on boots or equipment that wasn't properly cleaned. While bats in Europe are not dying at the same alarming rate, scientists in the U.S. are working to figure out how to save their North American relatives. Valent is hopeful that common anti-fungal compounds might soon offer a cure.

So as you trick or treat, look to those black wings in the sky and beware the glint off of their sharp teeth. But be at least a little grateful and appreciate that those speedy little flashes zooming across the sky are important to us on more than just one night a year.

Letter: Time for Change in Middletown Township

The ongoing rhetoric from the man occupying the mayor's chair is enough to make an intelligent citizen "sick to their stomach" !
This official has no ideas of his own and the only "tool in his toolkit" is intimidation and broken promises.

The conduct displayed at township committee meetings is reprehensible as he attempts to control any dissent or differing points of view with the "five minute rule". The latest attempt to control the opinions of the public is the despicable township act of ordering removed,the informational sign for Candidates Night at the Lincroft School on October 28th from 7:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m..sponsored by the Lincroft Village Green Association and moderated by the League of Women's Voters. This could not be more insulting to the intelligence of the voters in this community. Is this just another attempt to control information damaging to this majority. What are they hiding from?

In my opinion this is more of the vicious, dirty politics gripping this township under the current Republican majority. The attempt at character assassination of the Democratic candidate distributed by this bunch of bullies on a mailer is atrocious. It certainly does tell us something about the authors and their fitness for office. They are not qualified to administrate in a town of 68,000 residents of diverse political persuasions

.Every one of those residents are entitled to representation and that's not happening under Scharfenberger and his comrades. Government in Middletown,under three decades of a Republican majority has become a dictatorship that only represents the Republican party faithful. That must change!!



Barbara R. Thorpe
Lincroft.N.J.

Saturday Morning Cartoons: Jeepers Creepers

How about a little bacon with your eggs this morning? Sit up at the table and enjoy an old Porky Pig cartoon before heading out on what's to be a great day.

President Obama's Weekly Address 10/23/10 : Letting Wall Street Run Wild Again

Pointing to the foreclosure crisis and the economy, the President cites passage of Wall Street Reform over the ferocious lobbying of Wall Street banks as a pivotal acheivement -- and condemns Republicans in Congress for vowing to repeal it.

Byrnes States In Video That Avaya COAH Plan Can Not Move Forward Until All Pending Legal Action Is Settled

During Middletown's recent Township Committee Meeting which took place on Oct 17, 2010, resident Jeffrey Blumengold was concerned about what was going on with the Avaya property in Lincroft. The property was included as part of the Township's COAH (affordable housing) development plans.

He wanted to know if anything could be done to stop the development of the sight if the builder was ready to start building the planned housing development that is slated for the property.

Towards the end of the video, Sean Byrnes can be heard saying that the Township could not allow any of the currently proposed COAH projects in town to move forward until all of the current court challenges are settled

Q&A With Middletown Candidates From RedBank.Com

This morning over at RedBankGreen.com, they published Q&A's from each candidate seeking office in Middletown this year.

The differences in the candidates answers are striking. Sean Byrnes and Mary Mahoney focussed their answers towards what needs to be fixed with a vision towards the future with details on how they would achieve their goals, while Gerry Scharfenberger and his running mate seem to have their heads in the sand waiting for the Governor and his "tool kit" to fix Middletown's problems.

One criticism, the pictures of the candidates are horrible and not flattering at all. Did the pictures need to be tinted green?

Below are Byrnes & Mahoney's answers with the links to Scharfy and his running mate:

BYRNES: FORM A FINANCE TASK FORCE

NAME: Sean F. Byrnes (Democrat, incumbent)

AGE: 47

OCCUPATION: Attorney

LENGTH OF RESIDENCE IN TOWN: 10 years

General Questions:

1. What do you see as the top three issues in town?

a. Constantly Increasing Taxes.

b. Poor Governance Structure

c. Marginal Transparency

2. What specifically are you planning to do to address those issues?

The Township’s steady tax increases are the product of poor planning and a refusal to make difficult decisions. We had an increase in our municipal tax levy in 2010 that exceeded 13%. By my calculation, our municipal tax levy has jumped approximately 45% in the last 5 or 6 years. We have no published, agreed upon plan for attacking the categories of spending that drive these increases. We need to create the Finance Task Force I have been calling for since my election 2007, include some of our extremely competent residents who have financial backgrounds and develop a written plan to bring our spending in line with our available revenue. This will mean a reduction in services, but so be it. We can do this without cutting the core services that our citizens need. Non-essential services will be reduced. I have recommended the following measures for the last two years, and I will continue to advocate for their implementation:

1. Competitively bid the engineering work for all construction and road projects rather than handing this work to the same firm every year.

2. Consolidate the all maintenance departments in Town (Board of Ed, Recreation and Public Works) into one entity.

3. Privatize a much larger portion of our leaf and brush pickup.

4. Re-negotiate garbage contracts to create incentives for recycling and reduce the number of pickup days, thereby achieving substantial savings.

5. Re-negotiate employee health benefit plans to create incentives for savings.

6. Evaluate consolidating the Sewerage Authority into Public Works.

7. Negotiate fixed retainer agreements with legal professionals working for Township.

8. Re-organize the Parks & Recreation Department to reduce its size and provide for more fee-based services.

In terms of governance, as the managers of a $65M budget, we need to organize our work effort and delegate work to Committees. Middletown has not Finance Committee, no Personnel Committee, No Negotiations Committee and no Property Committee. Each of the 5 members of the Committee is responsible for all areas of Township Government. While this may be true from a fiduciary perspective, when it comes to getting work done, we need to delegate work. A Finance Committee should be working this time of year, preparing a budget for 2011, preparing recommendations for how to cut spending and reaching out to the Board of Eduation to see how we can cooperatively save the Township money by sharing services. Unfortunately, without the committees, we react slowly to changes to our environment. Even though we knew the financial crisis that started in 2008 would produce a loss of revenue, we failed to implement budget cutting measures until well into the crisis. It took two years to conduct layoffs, and we have done little to restructure how our services are delivered. The austere budget environment that we find ourselves in will continue for years to come, and we will need to work twice as hard to meet the demands placed upon us. To do that effectively, we need a delegation of work to subcommittees that are constantly working toward solutions to the changing environment we find ourselves in.

On transparency, the dramatic change required by these difficult times cannot be achieved until our citizens engage and demand change. Unfortunately, participation by our residents cannot occur until we make information available to them. We need all areas of our budget process to be made transparent. We need to make it easy for residents to educate themselves about our budget process, our spending line items and our organizational structure. Residents must also have the ability to watch our meetings and keep abreast of our decision-making without actually attending those meetings. I have consistently advocated for televising our meetings, but the majority of our Committee oppose these efforts. In fact, the majority in Middletown passed an ordinance that forces anyone with a video camera into the last row of our court room. As elected officials we should welcome transparency. The greater the transparency, the greater the accountability.

3. What will be the challenges in getting these goals accomplished?

Despite advocating a consistent message of fiscal conservatism that includes smaller government, privatization and shared services, my status as the lone Democrat leaves me without the ability to secure a second vote to allow for discussion on some of these ides. Procedurally, I cannot introduce a resolution for discussion without a second. The Republican majority always vote together, regardless of the issue, so I have no ability to force votes on these ideas. At our reorganization meeting in January 2010, I proposed competitively bidding the engineering work and placing our attorney on a monthly, fixed retainer, but could not secure a second vote.

4. What expenditures, if any, do you see as ripe for trimming in order to keep the budget growth under the mandated two-percent cap?

Parks & Recreation is almost as $2.3M per year. Most of that money is salaries, yet from my perspective, most of the recreation provided in the Township is done through volunteers. I think alot of our expense in this area is for property maintenance and we need to look to accomplish more of that work through private contracts.

Health care expenses are out of control. We are currently self-insured and that arrangement has not worked. We need to negotiate into our collective bargaining agreements incentives for our employees to save. We also have an obligation to help our employees get healthier. Healthy employees have fewer medical problems, especially some of the more chronic diseases. We should reward employees who engage in health and fitness activities and give them the time to do so. We should also encourage the use of generic and mail order prescriptions. It is important to provide health insurance, but our current procedures give all employees and retirees incredible benefits regardless of whether that employee makes any effort to curtail costs. This has to change.

Public Works: I believe that we can move to a leaf and brush pickup that relies more heavily, but not exclusively, on private contractors. I have pushed for this in the last two years, and our Initial efforts along these lines have produced savings in just one section of town amounting to $100,000.

5. Do you see any potential sources of revenue that need to be tapped?

Yes, I believe we have an opportunity to partner with a recreational service provider like the YMCA to provide a full-service health center for our residents. (perhaps at the site of our existing swim club) We have 66,000 residents in this Township, and we can sustain such a facility. I don’t believe that as a Township, we should be in the business of running a health center, but I do believe we can look to State and County officials to assist us in providing capital toward a full-service health center that would provide a pool, fitness center, (possibly a hockey rink), gym and other amenities to our residents (and possibly for additional fees to non-residents). Once this facility was built, we would enter into a contract with a partner like the YMCA to run the facility. We would receive a permanent revenue stream from the operation of the facility. This arrangement has been pursued by Woodbridge and has worked very well.

6.What, if any, municipal services should be consolidated among towns?

In the short term, dispatch services, inspections, health department. In the long term, police, fire, roads and schools. There are multiple townships up and down the Bayshore that all have their own police, fire, and educational systems. I think consolidation in these areas is almost inevitable, but will take time.

7. What is one thing voters need to know about you, but may not?

I have pursued this position because I relish the challenge of moving us away from the partisan, inefficient bickering that has plagued the Township for decades toward a vision for Middletown’s future that harnesses the spirit of volunteerism in this Township and efficiently uses our deep financial resources to improve our capital assets and the services we make available to residents.


Middletown Questions:

1. Considering that this year’s budget wasn’t finalized until September, does the process by which the budget is develop need improving? Explain.

Yes. We have failed year after to year to have our spending plan approved and in place by January 1, 2010, using a worst case revenue scenario. At the same time, we should produce estimated spending plans for the following two years based on all available information. We should assume the worse and institute cuts that produce no increase in our tax levy. We should also be meeting regularly in the last quarter of the year with the Board of Education to set and deliver a common goal of no tax increase for our residents. If both governing bodies agreed to a 0% increase in taxes and promised to work together, with the help of the residents to deliver on that goal, I think it would create a groundswell of support and volunteerism.

2. After this year’s municipal tax increase, which exceeded the state-mandated cap of ? percent, what needs to be done to avoid a repeat?

Our larger Departments needs to be restructured. We must consolidate maintenance activities. It makes no sense to have multiple departments in the Township maintaining Township properties. We should convene a Task Force that includes health insurance experts from our community to prepare recommendations to reduce our health care expenses. Thereafter, we must negotiate those recommendations into our bargaining agreements. Our Parks & Recreation Depatment’s budget is excessive and needs to be cut. We should reach out to local neighborhoods and seek their assistance in the maintenance of smaller parks and fields. The maintenance of these properties in currently handled by full-time employees. We should pre-approve five engineering firms who could then bid on all engineering projects during the course of the year. This would save hundreds of thousands in my opinion. There are certain full-time positions that should be part-time or contracted out. We must insist that residents recycle. Moving paper out of the waste stream and into the recycling stream on a large scale would save hundreds of thousands of dollars.

3. What do you think the township should do with its swim club?

I think we should look to transform this facility into an all year health center. The City of Woodbridge built a large facility that has a pool, health service center and hockey rink. They contracted with the YMCA to run the facility once it was built, and the city collects a percentage of the revenue. Middletown is large enough to justify this type of project and a membership based arrangement with a discounted fee for residents (including substantially reduced fees for those who qualify) would produce revenue for the Township on a long term basis.

MAHONEY: BUDGET NEEDS BETTER PLANNING

NAME: Mary Mahoney (Democrat)

AGE: 56 (do you have to print that?) Yikes!

OCCUPATION: Worked for 18 years as a buyer and showroom manager in the garment center before retiring to raise my family. For the past 7 years I’ve worked at the Pottery Barn as a Design Studio Specialist and also as a Independent Sales consultant for Silpada Designs.

LENGTH OF RESIDENCE IN TOWN: over 24 years.

General Questions:

1. What do you see as the top three issues in town?

- Poor planning and execution. Township Committee reacts instead of planning long term. Produces waste and higher taxes.

- Ineffective and inefficient governing. No defined or specific responsibilities for committee members.

- Misplaced priorities. Many areas in Middletown are neglected such as the Bayshore area where flooding as not been fixed for over 20 years.


2. What specifically are you planning to do to address those issues?

- Improve transparency, so there will be more community involvement. Televise meetings at low cost. Town Hall meetings should concentrate on the business of running the township. Too much time is given to handing out awards. This should be done at another time.

- Improved efficiency by setting long term goals. Reorganize departments to consolidate and reduce redundancy.

- Fix the flooding issues in the Bayshore.

3. What will be the challenges in getting these goals accomplished?

- Getting the majority to cooperate and have a dialogue about new ideas. Taking the politics out of the governing process.

4. What expenditures, if any, do you see as ripe for trimming in order to keep the budget growth under the mandated two-percent cap?

- Consolidating and privatizing services to reduce expenses.

- Reduce the cost of professional contracts by going out to bid.

- Increase shared services with the BOE, neighboring towns and county.

- Privatize the management of the swim club.

- Shift the production of Middletown Matters into the Library budget (or sell advertising to pay for it) and televise the meetings for less money.

- Retire unused bonds.

5. Do you see any potential sources of revenue that need to be tapped?

- Improve and enforce recycling.

- Make the Art Center self sustaining and utilize it for events and functions to bring in revenue.

6.What, if any, municipal services should be consolidated among towns?

- 911 dispatch system.

7. What is one thing voters need to know about you, but may not?

- I’m not politically motivated and only want to do the right thing for the residents of Middletown.


Middletown Questions:

1. Considering that this year’s budget wasn’t finalized until September, does the process by which the budget is develop need improving? Explain.

- Yes. In December of 2009 there was an anticipated $5 mil shortfall. Yet the budget was not addressed. Since Feb., the Mayor claimed they had a plan, but there was no plan. The only committee person with budgeting experience is Sean Byrnes. He recommended setting up a Finance Committee because of the seriousness of the problem, but that was dismissed.

The majority does not share information with all committee members and that needs to stop. The budget process should start in June of the previous year. We should be working on the 2011 budget now.

2. After this year’s municipal tax increase, which exceeded the state-mandated cap of 4 percent, what needs to be done to avoid a repeat?

- Better planning and execution.

- Consolidating departments.

- Out sourcing field maintenance.

- Increase the surplus which will reduce taxes in the long run instead of borrowing from future budgets.

3. What do you think the township should do with its swim club?

- Privatize the management or sell it.

Here are the links to Scharfenberger and his running mates answers

There Will Be NO Televising Meetings While Scharfenberger Is In Office

Middletown resident Carol Stiglin is a senior resident of Shadow Lake Village who has difficultly getting out at night. She addressed the Middletown Township Committee Monday night Oct.17th and addressed the issue of televising Township meeting so that Middletown residents such as herself could watch proceedings via the local cable access channels.

She presented a petition to the Committee that contained 124 signatures of support on it. Stiglin said that those signatures are in addition to the previous petition that she presented to the Township Committee last year.

At one point during the meeting Monday night(which isn't captured on this video), mayor Gerry Scharfenberger stated that he didn't care if the cost of televising meetings cost $102,000 or 102 cents, if it cost the township any money to do so, he wouldn't support televising meetings!

So much for transparency and keeping citizens informed, I suppose it is better to robo call residents in the middle of the night to inform them of changing to the recycling ordinance than it would be to inform them via television.

Potential New Plan For The Dredging Of Shadow Lake Would Include the Army Corp of Engineers

In this video, Middletown resident Marilyn Michaels, presents information to the Middletown Township Committee about the new township tax rate and the potential use of the Army Corp of Engineers to develop a plan for the dredging of Shadow Lake that would include ideas to get rid of the arsenic laced dredged spoils from the bottom of the lake that would minimally impact to the surrounding area and be more cost efficient than potential plans now being discussed and considered by the major of the Township Committee at the recent Oct.17,2010 Township Committee meeting.

Marilyn Michaels lives on the edge of Shadow Lake and has recently been a leading voice behind its preservation and restoration.

Your Commentary Inspired Me

I was sent the following by a reader who was inspired by me to comment on some of the nonsense that Middletown's acting mayor Gerry Scharfenberger, wrote and submitted to the Asbury Park Press for the candidates feature which was posted online earlier today. Enjoy!

A Commentary on Scharfenberger’s statements in APP

I'm running for a seat on the Middletown Township Committee simply because I care deeply for the township (yeah…that’s why you gave us a 14% tax increase this year… ) and want to help shape its future. I have two children who have gone through or still attend Middletown’s public schools and want our community to be affordable ( a 45% tax increase in 5 years is “affordable?”), desirable and in possession of all of the fine qualities we now enjoy when they grow into adulthood.

One of the most daunting tasks elected officials in New Jersey face is how to cut property taxes (you have NEVER LOWERED TAXES AS AN ELECTED OFFICIAL). While Middletown Township spends far less per capita than any of our neighbors, it is imperative that we lead the way further in cutting spending and lowering property taxes. (If you haven’t found a way to lower our taxes in 5 years, you should thrown out of office!!!) Thankfully, the reforms that Governor Christie has proposed will give local governments the ability to cut the size of government and lower taxes that they don’t have now.

As residents of Middletown, we understand why we have been named one of the top 100 places to live in the country by Money Magazine. As residents of New Jersey, we also know that we are the state with the highest property taxes in the nation. We must immediately cut the size of government and find innovative ways to provide essential services. (Why haven’t you done this after five years?) This will take tough decision-making and creative ideas. I look forward to partnering with Governor Christie to return our state to a place where generations of people can afford to live (I can’t afford another term of Gerry!) and raise their families.

Friends of Amit Will Hold Rally In Freehold To Demand Justice On Oct. 20th, Update: Family holds rally over Marlboro man's death in jail

If you have been keeping track of the Amit Borestien case that has become a major issue for Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden and the Monmouth County Sheriff's Department, you may be interested in reading/watching the coverage of today's rally in Freehold.

Borestien was the 22 year old man who was taken into custody by sheriff officers over the summer and died while in custody 22 hours later, apparently from injuries sustained while being beaten by several members of the Monmouth County Department of Corrections.

News12 covered the rally in Freehold today and has posted it's story online with an accompanying video that unfortunately I can not post on the blog.

The one thing that I will say about the video is that Sheriff Golden, who is seeking to be elected to his first full term as Monmouth County Sheriff on November 2nd, did not present himself well while talking to the News12 reporter. He didn't seem very confident on what he was saying and fumbled through the brief segment.

You can watch the Video and read coverage from News12 >>>Here

APP Editorial: Return Pallone to Washington

Another sound editorial by the Asbury Park Press today endorsing the candidacy of Congressman Frank Pallone and his return to Washington D.C to represent the 6th Congressional District:

Veteran Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. has been a tireless advocate for issues important to the people he has represented in his 6th Congressional District for the past two decades. He has been a staunch supporter of measures to protect the environment, provide affordable health care and preserve the Shore's valuable tourism industry. He deserves re-election to a 12th term in the House of Representatives.

As chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, he helped craft the health care reform package. While it didn't go far enough in our view to ensure affordable, quality care for all Americans, many of the reforms, some now in place, were badly needed. Parents may now, for example, include adult children up to the age of 26 on their health insurance policies and pre-existing conditions soon will no longer be a bar to coverage. If re-elected, Pallone says he will concentrate on food and drug safety, strengthening the Medicare and Medicaid programs and improving health insurance coverage.

While the health care debate was front and center this term, Pallone has continued to work on other issues important to Jersey Shore voters. The House passed his Beach Protection Act this year. The legislation requires tough new beach water quality testing and public notification standards so that beachgoers are confident that the waters they are swimming or surfing in are clean.

Pallone also introduced bills to end interstate dumping of medical waste on our beaches and to create a Clean Ocean Zone off the coasts of New Jersey and New York in order to permanently prevent offshore drilling.

Republican opponent Anna Little, a former Monmouth County freeholder and current mayor of Highlands, won the GOP primary as a Tea Party candidate. She would work to repeal the health care reform package and believes all that is needed to put the health care system on the right track is more competition and tort reform.

Little supports replacing all federal taxes with the so-called Fair Tax — a national sales tax of 23 percent, she says. That figure is far lower than other objective estimates. The Fair Tax also is a misnomer. It would be more fair to wealthier Americans. While she is free with her criticism of the Obama administration, the issues portion of her website is largely devoid of specific, concrete policy proposals.

Jack Freudenheim of Plainfield, a technology jobs recruiter who is running as an independent, is a sincere centrist who is not ready for national office.

Faced with the choice between Pallone and Little, voters in the district, which includes all or parts of 28 municipalities in Monmouth County, 10 in Middlesex County and one each in Somerset and Union counties, should opt for the thoughtful, considered positions of Pallone instead of the often strident protestations of Little.

APP: MIDDLETOWN: Two Republicans and Two Democrats are vying for two seats

Today's edition of the Asbury Park Press includes the statements from the four candidates that are seeking election to Middletown Township's Township Committee, Sean Byrnes, Mary Mahoney, Gerry Scharfenberger and Kevin (whatshisname) Settembrino.

In their statements issued to the APP, Byrnes and Mahoney come across as having a firm grip on what they wish to do and accomplish once re-elected(elected) to the Committee. While Scharfenberger was content at trying to ride Governor Christie's coattails even though many of the Governor's policies and positions are detrimental to municipalities throughout the State, Middletown included. Kevin(whatshisname)Settembrino the carpetbagger from East Rutherford, who has only lived in town for 3 years, decided to use his statement attacking Sean Byrnes.

This article makes Sean Byrnes and Mary Mahoney look good compared to the other two, Mary and Sean focused on what they would do and the others focused on what others will do for Middletown.

It seemed as if Gerry Scharfenberger and the Settembrino guy used this column in the APP to play out a good cop, bad cop type of routine. Gerry by taking the high road praising Christie, while bad cop Settembrino throws mud by launching into an attack on Sean Byrnes rather than state his credentials and what his vision for the town would be if elected.

Scharfenberger and Settembrino's statements that were published here makes the Republican ticket for Township Committee look bad and doesn't give voters a real reason to vote for them. This was a big mistake on their part.

Neither one of them came close to matching the insightfulness or passion for the community as Mary Mahoney, when she ended her statement with this sentence:

"...If elected, I would work to build a government that responds to the needs of all people, and I would serve as a responsible steward of the precious tax dollars sacrificed by the members of this community."

The difference between Byrnes and Mahoney and Scharfenberger and Settembrino are very striking and really shows who has the best interests of the Middletown in mind. This round definitely goes to Sean Byrnes and Mary Mahoney.

If you haven't read the candidates statements yet in the Asbury Park Press, you can do so by clicking >>>Here

Letter: Wife of former mayor supports Byrnes & Mahoney

The letter below was written by Marianne Musella, wife of former Middletown Mayor Tony Mussella. It appears to day online at the website of the Independent.

By the sound of this letter, written by the wife of a former Middletown GOP insider, it doesn't bode well for Gerry Scharfenberger and his running mate Kevin Whatshisname, once you loose your base the game is over. It would seem that by the contents of this letter that is exactly what is happening, longtime Middletown GOPers are tired of the same old, same old that is going on down at Town Hall and are clamoring for change:

As a lifelong Republican whose husband was a former mayor of Middletown, I was ashamed to see the latest attempt to smear Sean Byrnes with a mailer, which apparently was sent to all GOP households. This letter went in the trash where it belonged. This may be politics as usual, but it offended me greatly.

Sean Byrnes’ character, integrity and record speak for itself, and he deserves to be re-elected.

I also support his running mate, Mary Mahoney, who I have found to be equally honest, hardworking and dedicated to serving the residents of Middletown.

The current leadership has shown that the taxpayer is not first. It is time our elected officials work for the residents and not a political party.

Please join me and support Byrnes and Mahoney for Middletown Township Committee.

Mariann Musella

Middletown

Sean Byrnes & Mary Mahoney Town Hall Meeting Oct. 20th

(click image to enlarge)

If you have not had the opportunity to meet Sean & Mary, there is still time. Stop in at the

American Legion Post No. 338

Hwy 36 Leonardo NJ, 07737

at 7pm this Wednesday, October 20

Township Committee Candidates Sean Byrnes & Mary Mahoney will be giving a presentation on the issues that directly affect Middletown.

An Unapologetic Apology From Scharfenberger Regarding Robo Call

It seems that the article in last Wednesday’s Asbury Park Press and the subsequent editorial that followed on Saturday was about all Gerry Scharfenbeger could take and must have prompted him to call at least one of the residents that was mention in the article.

Carol Stiglin reports that our mayor called her Saturday to offer his apology for the lateness of the robo call and tried to explain that a “glitch” was ultimately responsible for the timing of the call. When she questioned Gerry about it, he said that it was decided by the Committee to make the call around the same time as Middletown Matters was mailed to households so that they (the Committee) could reinforce the importance of recycling.

When questioned further by Stiglin about the need for the robo call, Scharfenberger immediately place blame on Sean Byrnes, his opponent in this year’s election, saying that Byrnes sent an email back in August stating that it may be a good idea to call residents and notify them of the change to the recycling program. According to Stiglin, she then stated to Scharfenberger that August may have been a better time to place calls to residents than in October, 3 weeks before an election. Stiglin then wanted to know if the Committee had agreed to the initial time that the calls were to take place, she said that Gerry replied “'it's just a quick notice…I just had a minute and went ahead and recorded it ”, which implied to her that Committee didn’t need to approve the call. Soon after this exchange they said their goodbyes and ended their conversation.

After learning this, I was interested in hearing from Sean Byrnes to get his take on being blamed as the source of inspiration behind the robo call.

Byrnes stated that he went back and looked at his sent emails in the Township email system and found an email from August. He stated that the Committee had received an email from Ted Maloney advising them of a message he intended to send regarding leaf and brush pickup, and that he intended to use the reverse 911 system. Included in the email was the text of what the message was to say, to which Byrnes responded as follows:

“…At some point, maybe not so close on the heels of this announcement, we should also do that for the recycling pickup. You may have done it already, but we will probably need to push this pretty hard to get the word out and start getting compliance...”

Committeeman Byrnes stated that he was unaware that the Scharfenberger planned to make an announcement last week about the recycling program, he stated that an email from Cindy Herschaft, the public relations officer, was sent to Committee members about an hour before the announcement started, advising them of the content of the call.

Apparently it would seem then, that Gerry Scharfenberger took Byrnes idea that was expressed in the email to Ted Maloney, saw an opportunity to use it to his advantage, hid the fact that he was doing it until just before the messages went out, and then tried to blame Byrnes when it didn’t work out. No wonder why he called Carol Stiglin to apologize, he finally got caught taking someone else’s idea and passing it off as his own. I would apologize for that also.

APP: Re-elect Holt to Congress

Here's some good news for the Congressman, Rush Holt, the Asbury Park Press today has endorsed his return to Washington in today's editorial. I'm also happy to endorse the Congressman's return to Washington D.C as my representative in Congress, I think that the APP got it right with this one:

The voters of New Jersey's 12th Congressional District are faced with as stark a choice in candidates as they have seen in some time.

The incumbent, Democrat Rush Holt, is, by any standard, a liberal standard-bearer and has been for the past dozen years he's been in Congress. Scott Siprelle, his Republican challenger, formerly a managing director at Morgan Stanley and now head of Westland Ventures, a Princeton-based investment firm, is so far right as to be off the charts.

Holt, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, is an eminently decent, bright man who has represented his district well and should be returned to Washington. Holt, who was assistant director of the Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory and taught at Swarthmore College before entering Congress, helped create the New Jersey Technology Center to build jobs.

Holt's support for the health care reform bill will help stop insurance companies from putting lifetime limits on what they will pay for care, prevent them from denying coverage for pre-existing conditions and expand coverage to the uninsured. He voted for legislation making certain that property taxes can be deducted from one's income taxes. And his support for the environment is long-standing.

Siprelle offers little more than current GOP/Tea Party talking points — or, rather, a single talking point: saying "No!" to every Democratic initiative over the last two years without offering much in the way of new ideas. He seems to long for a return to the policies that led the country into the Great Recession, including extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans. And when he does come up with ideas, they are nonstarters.

For those suffering the effects of the poor economy — the unemployed, for example — Siprelle offers this suggestion on his campaign website: "Set the level of unemployment benefits at a modest discount to the minimum wage so that no one receives more for not working than they do for working. This will accelerate the adjustment of laid-off workers to the reality of today's labor markets" — as if the only thing that will get the unemployed back to work is cutting their unemployment checks.

Siprelle constantly attacks Holt as being "out of touch" with his constituents. This criticism is almost laughable, coming as it does from a Wall Street wheeler-dealer — one who believes health insurers should be allowed to refuse to insure those with pre-existing conditions and that the federal government has no role in education policy.

Independent candidate Kenneth J. Cody, running on an amorphous platform based on election finance reform, promoting bipartisanship and "fixing the economy," clearly is not ready to become a member of Congress.

Holt deserves to be returned to Washington.

APP Editorial: Send them an e-mail

No matter how Gerry Scharfenberger and Tony Mercantante tray and spin the fiasco of last weeks ill advised, late night "Robo calls" to residents, they just need to admit those calls should not have been made in the first place. It doesn't matter if the calls were supposed to be place at 6:45 pm or not. The message was not important enough to use the reverse 911 system when other means of communicating with residents about the new "Recycle to Save" program had already been done.

Evidently the Asbury Park Press seems to agree, below is their editorial that ran this past Saturday condemning them for using taxpayer-funded Robo calls to inform residents of this program:

Late-night phone calls are hardly ever good news. Nobody calls you then to tell you you've just won a million bucks.

A ringing phone after bedtime can be nerve-wracking. On Wednesday, the nerves of thousands of Middletown residents were wracked by an automated phone call between 10 and 11 p.m. with a recording of Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger reminding them of the importance of recycling.

Some residents who didn't pick up the first time — perhaps because they were asleep — were called repeatedly until they answered the phone. We suspect most people were less than appreciative of the message.

The late calls were the result of a glitch in the taxpayer-funded service — one that should be reserved for emergencies and urgent notifications.

Township Administrator Anthony Mercantante said the calls were scheduled to go out at 6:45 p.m. So, dinner hour would have been a better time to waste the taxpayers' time and money?

Glitches happen. They're excusable. What isn't are robocalls — late at night, at dinnertime or any other time of day — whose message could easily be communicated in other non-obtrusive ways.

Those leaving comments online had a full things to say themselves about it:

jerseyswamps wrote:
Is that what that was! Now I'm really angry! I heard it was some kind of BS recording and hung up. Nice job, Mayor. Way to earn good will. BTW, ANY politician that sends me a robo call at anytime goes way down on my list of who to vote for. 10/16/2010 7:27:16 AM

mkm586 wrote:
Obama Park Press, we agree, rarelt but thanks. Don't stop there, turn Penton loose to investigate further. Get my old friend Lisa Kruse and the spirit of Randy Brahmier to help if necessary. They worked when the Press actually was part of political accountability. Was it the reverse 911 system? Is that legal? Who authorized it? If there is a third party company involved who are they? What are they paid? What action is being taken and to correct this from happening again? What punitive action is being taken...if any? And what exactly was the "glitch"? Were not talking about a few dozen calls but thousands. Get us some answers. While you're at it what's up with those millions the town borrowed years ago for the football field that never was? Like I said my Dad didn't get a call apologizing his taxes went up 13%. Obama Park Press, Judy's gone their fair game, time to follow through!!! 10/16/2010 7:53:06 AM

TheStupidHurts wrote:
I support anything that will get people to vote against scharfenberger, it's a rare talent to be an abomination to both left and right.
10/16/2010 8:01:27 AM

Ignore_The_Lies wrote:
Schools are doing the same thing with "robo-calls". The idea of notifying parents of a scheduling change due to a storm is one thing - pestering them about upcoming "events" such as football games and fund raises is another.

If there are 3 people I absolutely HATE in this world they are (1) the jerk that came up with voicemail, (2) the jerk that came up with automated "phone trees" ("Press 1 for billing... Press 2 to report a leak..."), and (3) the jerk who came up with the bright idea to use an automated "emergency notification system" for HORSEPUCKY. 10/16/2010 9:55:13 AM