Seeing how the Middletown Republicans have already "leaked" their intentions to reappoint Tony Fiore as Mayor and Steve Massell as Deputy Mayor, I have to wonder why?
Steve Massell is up for reelection this year and historically (thought not always the case recently) , the person on the Township Committee seeking reelection is appointed mayor, but I guess, seeing how Massell hasn't made more than a handful of public comments during his 2+ years of tenure on the Township Committee and often seems as if he doesn't want to be up there on the dais, and if you take into consideration the rumor that has been circulating for the past few months about how Massell doesn't intend to seek reelection anyway after his current term expires at the end of 2012, the Republicans couldn't appoint him mayor.
Why reappoint Tony Fiore as mayor than?
Why reappoint Tony Fiore as mayor than?
I suppose it must have more to due with Fiore's abrasive, arrogant and cocksure personality than the actual job he did representing the Township as the committee's mouthpiece.
Beside, who else could it be?
Gerry Scharfenberger? No, I don't think so. He is too much of a polarizing figure and is a lighting rod that has attracted too much controversy over the years. Governor Christie wouldn't want his favorite employee in the spotlight taking away any of the attention from himself while making a run to be either Mitt Romney's Vice -Presidential or possible his candidate for U.S. Attorney General.
Kevin Settembrino? After his snake-in-the-grass performance doing the Township Committee's dirty work of threatening the Middletown Library Board of Trustees to turn over nearly $500K of surplus and reserved funds or else the Middletown Library system would be over to the County and all the while pitting the Library Board against the Middletown Police, saying that if the funds weren't turned over the Middletown Library would be solely responsible for Police layoffs. Settembrino didn't make many friends in his first year on the Committee to say the least, but next year will be his year to shine as mayor.
And of course there is just no way Stephanie Murray could have been placed in either position in her very first year.
So Tony gets to be mayor again by default.
Also, I would like to thank all of those who will be appointed and reappointed to the various board and commission sponsored by the Township, most are volunteers and give of themselves freely to help out others and regardless of how partisan the process of their appointments are they deserve to be thanked.
23 comments:
Mike -
This is among the more pathetic postings you have made over the past year or so... Even worse then your "inside source" telling you that the Township Administrator was moving to a state job. (Did that same source tell you that Steve Massel isn't running for re-election? LOL)
Is this some lame attempt to be "controversial" so that people will come and read this blog?
It would be good to get a few capable posters (besides myself), people who could actually discuss things without resorting to stupid comments and partisanship, but really, this kind of yellow journalism isn't going to get it done.
Go soak your head,Legion ! You are as full of S--t as a Christmas turkey !
Massell .... useless as teets on a boar hog....think he lost his tongue the day he was sworn in. As for you...more mouth than is good for anyone and we don't want to hear what you think or have to say !
Either a lousy lawyer with no common sense,a stupid,dumb broad or a slick tongued,divisive liar and cheat who likes to hear themself talk ! Bad case of diarrhea of the mouth and can't keep your big trap shut!
Just what do you think your mission is,AH ?
My "mission" is to enjoy myself posting on line.
What's yours?
Fair and representative government in this town which we have not had in almost ten years!
Not about a political party...about the people who live here.
Settenbrinno has to be Deputy Mayor so he can be Mayor in 2013 for hi reelection.
By the way, Anon at 8:35
If your Christmas Turkey was stuffed with sh*t - you probably didn't follow the recipe correctly!
Anon 8:21,
The republicans can make Settembrino Mayor next year and bypass the deputy mayorship all together. They will probably make Scharfy deputy mayor or give it to Fiore.
Remember, Fiore was made mayor without being appointed deputy mayor first.
Anon at 6:35
Every voter in Middletown has a chance to vote for the candidate of their choice.
You really can't get much more fair than that.
What do you propose?
Legion,
I propose that Middletown consider changing its official charter and move away from the township committee form of government to a ward system of government where the mayor of the township is elected directly by the residents.
Middletown has 42 voting districts which could be combined to form 6 wards with the mayor acting as the tie-breaking vote if needed.
With a ward system there is no guaranty that Democrats would ever gain total control of the local governing body but I am relatively sure that there would be at least 2 Democrats elected somewhere.
I think that would solve many of the problems of frustrated votes who feel that their concerns will never be addressed.
What do you say?
Mike -
While that might sound appealing, you need to consider what it really represents.
A directly elected mayor would replace the Administrator as the Chief Executive in town and would run the town on a day to day basis, hiring and firing with the consent of the committee.
It's likely that the mayor and 4 of 6 ward committeemen would be republican, so this would be even less effective representation for your ideas than now.
That, plus that fact that the ward committeemen would have to vote for things based on their constituency which would pit parts of town against each other. I mean, if you think Lincroft believes that it is it's own separate town now, just wait until it elects it's own committeeman!
I am not necessarily opposed to this idea, but I think that the "unintended consequences" would need to be really considered.
Anon at 2:51
I am NOT illiterate!
And I don't need to "F" myself, do you?
Legion,
I have thought about the consequences of a ward system over Middletown's current system and believe that even with the possible drawbacks it would be superior to our current form of government. It would make the Mayor directly accountable for the actions that are taken and provide a voice to many others that feel they are not being heard.
I think it would be beneficial for all, not just a few.
Mike, you're entitled to your opinion, but I think many more people would say "if it a'int broke, don't fix it!"
This idea has come up over the years and been rejected over the years because this is the way it's been done for a long, long time.
When the vast majority are happy with the way things are going it's pretty unlikely that they will vote to change, and I don't think that's a partisan thing here.
The biggest thing we Democrats have to do is to get people out to vote. If we do that, we will elect members to the TC...
Legion, you only read what you want to read....that's illiterate!!!!!and you don't comprehend...ANYTHING.
Maybe you are completely BLIND!!!
Moron!!
Mike,
You are right on target with a ward system and an elected mayor.
It been a long time coming but it inevitable because what we have does not represent all residents of this community. There are far too many people excluded from representation and the unrest and dissent is palatable.
Just read the comments on your blog (the ones from the people not the idiots stuck in their own self importance.e.g. Legion and those split personality characters.
How many sound happy with government in Middletowm? Not many
Too bad Lincroft doesn't start a move to split from the township.It wouldn't be the first time and maybe this time it would succeed.
Legion, Please read entire post and try to respond it it ALL, not just a tiny portion (as you tend to do). It would benefit all to stop calling names as this does make me to not want read on, and we are better than this.
With that said there are benefits and consequences to change in this system of governing Middletown and what you propose is minor to the overall benefits. It is 'broke'. Have you seen the debt? Have you read about the cronyism? Have you seen that TOMSA is having "secret/public meetings"? Are they not "Stealing" Library funds? Yikes. I used to be proud to live here, now my family who lives in neighboring towns always wants to know what the hell is going on in Middletown?! My family lives in Wanamassa, Toms River, Brick, & Colts Neck. Middletown is the joke of Monmouth and Ocean Counties. Hey, let's cancel Leave and Brush pickups......then act like they're doing us a favor when they are forced to pick it up after the storm. How about canceling all the youth and family camps & functions, what a wast of money right? Well Middletown Matters was once something to be proud of. What about the litter in the jughandles? It is similar to that of Jersey City and Newark. Why NOT let folks know what goes on in these TC meetings? Well, you and the leaders must be ashamed of yourselves and have more to hide than share. I used to vote Republican, now I'm ashamed to admit it. Blah blah, I'm out of here. Happy New Year to you Mike!
Lying,babbling,bobble head hypocrit.That;s Legion....Democrat,give us a break,jerkoff.
"Dissent and unrest are palpable?"
Are you being serious? Out of the 70,000 or so residents in town - 10 or so come out to meetings, and 3 or 4 are unruly because it is their intent to make a scene.
The election results are clear.
Did you note what happened to the school board budget in 2010? THAT was dissent! Voters came out and showed their disapproval.
"Unrest?" LOL
As for the other Anon...
Many towns in NJ don't collect leaves or brush at all - we went from twice each per year to once each - how terrible that you have to take care of your own brush!
The township does not run the TOMSA, they are an independent board, and you are taking the word of a crank that they held a "secret meeting" (which she attended anyway, so how "secret" was it?)
The debt is lower than state law allows and lower than most towns in the state.
Almost all recreation programs and camps went on as usual this year.
The jug handles are state property...
Could you be more wrong about everything> Or are you intentionally making yourself look like a partisan idiot?
Your family in surrounding towns must be ashamed to have someone like you representing your family, and I'm sure most Middletown residents are ashamed to have someone so partisan and ignirant living in their town.
Do us a favor and move to Brick!
Delusional Republican Legion....go soak your head,idiotic moron with all your double talk...couldn't make sense if life depended on it. One minute you're a Democrat and the next you're on a roll about how great Middletown is under the republicans.
Either nutty,mentality disturbed or just plain insane. Maybe all three!
Let's hope Legion and all her friends and associates have turned over a new leaf in their quest to "work together" in 2012. That includes "clearing out their lockers" of all lies, deceptions and slander.
I can't help but think Legion's agenda is just to push buttons.
I do agree with Mike that our system of government is not effective or efficient.
As far as Legion's quote "if it ain't broken don't fix it", seriously are you kidding me?
I can't wait to get out of this town, but until then, I have to protect my investment.
Legion is the only one here that makes any sense. The residents were asked in November to come out and say what they want - More of the same or something different. They spoke and until next November, I think Middletown Mike and his band of followers are just mad that some pissed in thier cheerios. So drink up, the taste of defeat can be kinda sour sometimes! Oh yeah, Happy New Year!!!
General Mills, Republicans win in this town because they are better organized and can get out the vote.
They are a machine. You know that, so don't kid yourself thinking you do such a great job. The public is very ignorant to what's really going on, and that's what you hope for.
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