...Their opposition to this is clearly an insult to the people of Monmouth County. The allegiance here is to the many personal and political ties with those on these boards. Checking attendance records and closer scrunity at reappointments is not adequate. Many have served for decades, and some are appointed based on political patronage. Regardless, turnover is healthy and practiced for a reason by many professional boards.
What also needs to be addressed is that these autonomous agencies have spending authority, and are responsible for millions of tax dollars. They make the decisions on hiring as we recently read about with the recent library hire, spending such as choice of vendors, policy as in the parks commission and the list goes on and on....
Thank you Freeholder Mallet for your kind words towards myself and the blog in your email response. You're doing a great job representing the tax payers of Monmouth County by being a watchdog over those that would rather watch out for their political cronies rather than the tax payers they're suppose to represent.
12 comments:
I am not say her "limit terms of volunteers" proposal is good or bad, but it is interesting that she is using such strong words like "opposition is an insult to the people of monmouth county".
If this is such a serious and important issue to her, why did she wait until now to make the proposal, and why didn't she do it when she had more dem backing on the board? Answer is most likely that she wasn't up for re-election until now. I think we have to assume that this proposal is a move of campaign time political posturing.
It was a good move, though. It gives her some headline publicity and points out that she is the 1 democrat on the republican dominated freeholder board.
aNON
aNON,
Have known Amy Mallet personally now for a number of years, I can tell you that her motivation behind this is not political in nature or driven because she is up for reelection, although I can understand how people could come to that conclusion.
After the Brookdale fiasco and the refusal of any of it's Board of Trustees to resign over it when called upon to do so, Freeholder Mallet looked at other boards and commissions and didn't like what she saw. There happens to be a number of individuals serving on some of these boards who have been there for 20 years or more. One individual has been in place for 33 years with another few to go before the term is up for reappointment.
Complaintency breeds corruption in one form or another, term limits seem to be justified here.
Like I said, I am not against her proposal at all ... and in this case I believe you that the proposal is coming from a good place.
You can't say, however, that it is not political in nature at all. There is a degree of politics in everything. If not, why the big press releases, etc.
Even though being a lone representative of a party is a position of weakness from the standpoint of not being able to easily get backing of your fellow board members ... it also puts you in a position of strength, to a degree, because you can play more political games without disrupting government. (this is just a generic political observation about the situation she is in and I am not saying she is playing games).
I do wish, however, she would be a little more "organic" in her political approach. Every comment or "statement" I have seen her make at a Freeholder meeting is read off of a paper and seems a little preconceived and/or fabricated. This is just my opinion. I am not saying it is ... just that it comes off that way. If I was advising her, this is what I would tell her to work on.
Of course, I haven't been to a Democrat event so I can't say how she is there.
Will be interested to see how Gary Rich does as the republican candidate. Any word who Amy's running mate will be? When will we know?
aNON
aNON:
Last year Amy Mallet uncovered excessive expenses in the County Library System and this year the Brookdale problem with it's president surfaced and Amy's response to this situation is right on target for any elected official.She is doing her job.
The republican majority,all of them,have caved and are taking stances that indicate the political posture that patronage is more important than doing the right thing. They talk out of both sides of their mouths!
Time for every elected representative of the people in this County and in all of our municipalities begin to come to grips with is that they are elected to represent us,the people,who pay the bills not their political parties. To do otherwise is clear hypocrisy and a violation of the public trust.
Doing what is right is the very principle of a democracy. Party politics be damned.
aNON,
I understand your points and can't disagree.
As for Amy's potential running mate, no one has stepped out to lead the pack thus far. It will be a few more weeks before anything is known.
aNON:
Beg to differ with you...was also in attendance at the recent Freeholders meeting and Amy did not read from a paper. She spoke directly to the public and what she had to say was very valid. Representation on these boards need to change for many reasons not the least of which is good government.
More to the point,term limits are necessary everywhere in government today. Familiarity breeds contempt and corruption and that is the truth of the matter. Need I raise the issue of "Bid Rig" here to make a point ?
The politically connected are not the only citizens with
something" to offer, there are many talented and experienced citizens in the prospective pool of candidates in a county with 650.00 plus residents.
It is naive to think and clearly a political stance that offers nothing better than the "status quo".
In fact,it has much more to do with money than integrity and that is the disturbing part of the vote against Amy's proposal.
anon 9:43, I find your comment about why she didn't do it when she had more dem backing on the board wrong and missing the point.
Having known Freeholder Mallet for more than a decade, she has been the one fighting for fiscal responsibility since first elected 3 years ago. Why do you think they call her "Hammer Head"? She is the one who not only criticizes but comes up with solutions, unlike Mr. Curley who makes great soundbites that resonate with the public. Freeholder Mallet is not all talk and no action which she continues to exhibit.
You should understand with her being the lone Dem, how difficult it must be to get something done.
4-1 majority is not healthy, but she's done an amazing job in spite of the opposition.
Her ideas make sense and this Ind. is sure glad she's fighting for what's right.
This is funny ... and why it is so hard to have rational political discourse. Typically, when someone makes a comment, people usually do one of two things:
(1) Become hyper-defensive; or
(2) Attack others / become combative.
Mike, your responses to my posts were rational, appropriate, and addressed the issues raised.
The other anonymous commenters wrote posts that were super-defensive or combative.
Defensive: (1) one listing all the reasons why her term limit proposal was a good one ... even though I said it was a good proposal. (2) one saying she is the only one "fighting" for fiscal responsibility ... even though I didn't say she wasn't. (3) another just saying she is doing an amazing job (I never said she wasn't) and is "not all talk and no substance (I never said she was).
Combative (even though I never came remotely close to writing anything backing the republicans ... or saying anything pro-republican): (1) "all of the republicans have caved", (2) "they pay their parties and not their bills" (3) to republicans patronage is more important than doing their job, (4) going after Curley for just giving soundbites for the public, etc.
Thank you for providing the forum, Mike.
aNON
aNON,
I think the reason for the defensiveness is the fact that Democrats have been beaten up badly the past few years even though many good ones have been extremely responsive and on the right side of the issues.
I think the loses in Middletown and the County over the past 2 years for no apparent reason, have had this effect on many posters.
How can one party lose an election in a year when the opposition raised taxes by 14% in one year and over 40% in 5 years?
It is apparent that many voters have turned out over the past few years to vote against Democrats rather than for Republicans and therefore ignore what goes on in local politics.
anon 9:43, You were the one who questioned Freeholder Mallet with why she would wait till now and not when she had more Dem backing. Implying that her actions were due to her reelection.
Why are you surprised that people would defend her?
You opened the door and people rightly closed it.
Why are you so sensitive to their defense of her?
Anony 5:35,
You are right that many people are defending Amy. She has served as the people's advocate since she was elected and she will continue when re-elected! Her endeavors are appreciated!
The republican's can never come to grips with their ridiculous displays that make their mistakes more obvious.
There should be term limits even for volunteers. Their motives for serving are far from purist in many instances and the Brookdale problem is just "the tip of the iceberg".
The public is damn tired of the political nonsense and the patronage positions doled out by our ethically challenged politicians and ramifications some of these appointments have.
Anon 4:31, Why do you feel comments questioning your comments combative?
The responses to your statements were sound and logical. If you don't like the responses, that's another issue. Maybe you are not used to the forum here, but saying people are combative and hyper sensitive because they disagree with you sounds a little childish.
People make comments and people respond. Don't take it personally because no one knows who you are.
These are opinions and you are entitled to yours and others are entitled to theirs.
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