According to a recent article in the Asbury Park Press, legalizing cannabis sales in Middletown, could, in my opinion, bring significant benefits if Middletown mirrored a successful model such as seen in Neptune. Here's why:
Tax Boost: Neptune's $900k tax revenue from cannabis sales highlights the potential financial gains. With a larger population, Middletown could rake in even more, funding public services and projects.
Economic Stimulus: Legalizing cannabis can create jobs, support local businesses, and attract investments, fueling economic growth and prosperity.
Property Tax Relief: By diverting cannabis tax revenue to public funds, Middletown could ease property tax burdens, making homeownership more affordable.
Public Project Funding: The extra revenue could fund crucial projects like infrastructure improvements or better schools, enhancing residents' quality of life.
Regulation: Legalization allows for regulated sales, ensuring product safety and curbing the black market, promoting public health and safety.
Adaptation and Progress: Embracing legalization signals openness to change and new opportunities, attracting residents and businesses, and enhancing Middletown's reputation.
Legalized cannabis sales in Middletown promises positive outcomes, would support growth, would ease financial pressures on tax payers, and prioritize public welfare. It's a win-win all around.
A Statement from Middletown Democratic Chairman Michael Morris concerning the failure of the Middletown Township Republican Executive Committee to file 4 years’ worth of campaign finance reports.
Middletown –In response to the recent Asbury Park Press article, “Middletown GOP says they’ve filed campaign finance reports. NJ says they haven’t”, which uncovered a serious violation of NJ campaign finance law by the Middletown Township Republican Organization. The Organization has failed to disclose campaign financial records to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (NJ ELEC) for the last four years.
The last report on file with NJ ELEC on behalf of the Middletown Republican organization is from the 3rd quarter of 2016 and showed over $39,000 on hand. Since that time the Middletown Republican organization has made contributions to others in the amount of $22,650, all of which has gone unreported and there is now no way to tell who campaign contributions came from, to whom the Middletown Republicans donated funds to or what amount of money changed hands during this period.
New Jersey pay-to-play laws are very specific and are designed to end the practice of “wheeling”, which is when an entity channels money through different political committees to avoid contribution limits.
Chairman Morris states:
“It’s said that if you want to uncover the facts all you need to do is “follow the money”. Unfortunately, that isn’t possible here. There is no way for the public to know who campaign contributions came from, to who the Organization directed funds to or what it spent money on over the past four years. Apparently, the Middletown Republicans must think they’re above the law.
“In addition, we find out the Treasurer responsible for filing these reports is none other than the Mayor’s wife, Alannah Perry who also happens to be the daughter of former mayor, now NJ State Assemblyman, Gerry Scharfenberger. You would think she’d know better."
“When you combine this with the release of thousands of private email addresses from the township’s emergency alert database, that Tony Perry’s 2018 campaign used to make false and misleading accusations against a Democratic rival in 2018, you have to wonder about the ethics of not just the Perry family but the entire Middletown Republican Organization”.
I know I'm a little late to the party on this one, but it's still important to post.
At the July 10th meeting of the Middletown Planning Board, the Board unanimously approved the Village 35 project despite the concerns of many residents that were in attendance that evening. You can read what the Asbury Park Press had to say about ... HERE
Needless to say, other than the developer, there aren't many people happy about this decision. As designed, the Village 35 center is going to be a monstrosity and eyesore for anyone living or traveling in the vicinity of highway 35 between Tindall Road and Kanes Lane and beyond.
Many of those objecting to the size and scope of this project would like to see it downsized and some kind of passive recreation included.
There has been a long history of law suits surrounding this development and i wouldn't be too surprised if that history is extended by a couple more.
I was at last night's special meeting of the Middletown Township Committee to hear the introduction of the new Town Hall Municipal Complex. I was interested in hearing how much it will cost us taxpayers.
The township entered into a public /private P3 agreement with a developer called Brandywine Acquisitions & Development . Brandywine will front upwards of $56.7M to build a new 72'000 sqft Municipal Complex. Brandywine will then recoup its investment by leasing the new complex back to the Township for $3.6M a year for 30 years. At the end of the 30 year lease Middletown can buy back the property from Brandywine for $1.
Sounds like a great deal until you try to work out the fuzzy math.
The Township can build a new municipal complex on its own for ~$60M (or less) but appears to prefer to pay Brandywine $108M in lease payments over the life of the 30 year lease just so the town doesn't have to payout any upfront costs. When the documents become available they must be looked at closely to see the structure of the payments. In the meantime, Middletown plans on signing the development deal within the next 10 days.
The Asbury Park Press has an article online this morning concerning the project. It pretty much confirms what I posted last night to my Facebook page.
Nearly 5 weeks ago, I posted here that the cost of Middletown's new municipal complex under development had ballooned from the original estimate of $20 million dollars to $54 million. The new municipal complex was supposed to be discussed at the September 17th meeting of the Township Committee but was pulled from the agenda due to budget concerns from what I was told. At the time however, township officials scoffed at the figure but wouldn't answer as to whether or not what I wrote was true. Since that time, the Asbury Park Press has written two articles on the subject, the most recent of which appears in print this morning, "Middletown complex cost is a mystery", and it appears that township officials still aren't willing to discuss the cost of the new complex. Why the mystery?
The Asbury Park Press submitted several OPRA requests to the township looking for information on the project only to have those requests denied. In the Township's response for information, the Asbury Park Press was told that the plans for the complex will be discussed at the Nov. 19th Township Committee meeting (which happens to be conveniently after this Tuesday's election).
Here's my take on the situation, the story in the Asbury Park Press about the how much the new municipal complex will cost is noteworthy on a number of fronts:
Second, the Mayor won’t release any information about the project until after the election. Withholding of information like this is typical for this Township Committee.
And finally, because information about the revised costs of the new municipal complex won’t be released until after the November 6th election, I am convinced that the new price tag of $54 million, which is more than $30 million over what was originally told to us, is correct.
So much for “taxpayers first.”. How can anyone trust anything this group of township officials say or do? I sure can't and neither can a lot of others.
That's a question that many have asked, including the Asbury Park Press. It seems however, after Monday night's meeting of the Middletown Township Committee the answer is evident, Watch07748 is none other than Middletown Committeeman Tony Perry.
The video from Monday night's meeting is queued to where resident Jim Grenafege asked Tony Perry directly whether or not the anonymous email sent out two weeks ago by a fictitious group calling themselves, " Residents Against Over Development" attacking Democratic candidate Sean Byrnes, came from his campaign and if he had any knowledge of it before being sent to residents. Perry's non answers are very telling.
Tony Perry did his best two-step to avoid answering the question as it was asked, " Were you, in any shape or form associated with that email?", What followed was a political non-answer by Perry that by the omission of a direct answer, confirms that he and his campaign was responsible for it. The exchange between Grenafege and Perry lasted several minutes and became a little heated due to frustrations over non-answers (you can watch the exchange yourself, it's queued up to 2:13:35 of the video).
Bottomline here is that Tony Perry and the Middletown GOP where caught redhanded attempting to smear a rival candidate and through their own stupidity, it came back to bite them in the ass. Now Tony Perry and his buddies are backpedaling under the scrutiny of local media and outraged residents and trying to cover-up their tracks.
As I said before, the attempt of this little dirty-tricks email was underhanded and unethical. It also is in violation of campaign election laws for not being properly identified as coming from and paid for by Tony Perry's campaign.
You can watch the entire 3 hour video .... HERE. The Public Comments portion of the meeting starts about 22 minutes in. A vast majority of those there to ask questions of the Township Committee were they to ask about the proposed sports complex being considered for Stevenson Park.
I can't believe that I haven't posted about this earlier, but seeing how the Middletown Township Committee will be meeting tonight for the last time before the November 6th election, I thought that I better say my piece about this.
Over the weekend of September 29th, a mysterious email started to make the rounds to inboxes of Middletown residents. The email from a group calling themselves, "RESIDENTS AGAINST OVER DEVELOPMENT", warned about the over development of Middletown, specifically the Village 35 project that is being planned between Kings Highway and Kanes Lane, along Route 35. Upon closer inspection this email was nothing more than a thinly veiled attack on Middletown Democratic Candidate for Township Committee, Sean Byrnes.
No one seems to be sure exactly how many residents through out the township received this email (I personally did not receive it), but it's safe to say hundreds did. Through a little detective work and the process of elimination, it was determined that the common denominator between those that received this email was that all subscribed to the township's Alert system.
Not sure that this was the case, Sean Byrnes attended the Oct. 1st workshop meeting of the Township Committee and asked for assurances that the email which residents received 2 days earlier did not come from the township. More specifically, if anyone on the committee had knowledge of the email or if it came from anyone on the committee seeking election this year (the video below is queued to the start of Byrnes's question).
As you'd expect, everyone at the table denied any knowledge or involvement with the email. There was however, evidence to suggest otherwise.
The email from Resident Against Over Development was sent through the automated email service MailChimp. As part of the service, those that receive emails can opt-out from receiving emails by clicking on the link to unsubscribe. When the unsubscribe link was followed all the way through to completion, the link took the unsubscriber to the Twitter page of Committee person Tony Perry.
On October 5th, the Asbury Park Press jumped on the story and published, "Middletown official won't deny sending mysterious political email", in which Tony Perry wouldn't deny having any knowledge of the email previously. He also, unpromted, offered that the Township email lists are public record that anyone can access via an OPRA request.
After the Asbury Park Press's article was published, the local Middletown Patch published a follow-up report, "Middletown: OPRA Request Forced Us To Share Residents' Emails", where it's evident that after the Press's article came out, Township officials decided that the best course of action was to deny knowledge of the email and blame an anonymous OPRA request for the release of a list of township residents email addresses. When the Patch questioned Perry about any knowledge of who may have been behind the email and linked it back to his campaign Perry stated that, "he hires various political consultants to run his campaigns".
That's not a very convincing denial. To blame this on various "political consultants" running his campaign is weak and shows what kind of backbone Tony Perry has; one that's crooked and spineless. I suppose though I shouldn't expect anything different from someone who was appointed to his seat on the Township Committee by his father-in-law, Gerry Scharfenberger.
The attempt to deceive Middletown residents by sending out an anonymous, dirty trick email, thinly disguised as an anti-development appeal is underhanded and unethical. Middletown Republicans must be truly afraid of losing control of the township committee this year, to have been so desperate to send this kind of email to hundreds or thousands of residents, hoping that it would swing a few votes in their favor.
It also shows the lack of character of Tony Perry and those currently running Middletown. If Tony Perry continues to refuse to take ownership of this and would rather continue to cover it up after tonight's Committee meeting, where I'm sure he'll be asked about it, then he doesn't deserve to be elected and hold office in Middletown or anywhere else for that matter.
Tuesday night's meeting of the Middletown Township Committee was an interesting. If you couldn't be there (it was very well attended) you should take the time to watch the video below, it is entertaining and informative.
The big news coming out of the meeting was that Middletown Fire Chief, Rick Hibell, was appointed to the Committee to fill Gerry Scharfenberger's unexpired term. Scharfenberger formally resigned from the Township Committee on February 3rd, after being appointed to fill the the seat on the Monmouth County Freeholder Board vacated by former freeholder, Serena Dimaso, who was elected to the State Assemble this past November.
During Public Comments (28:34) a parade of individuals spoke out concerning Middletown's anti- marijuana ordinance. The Asbury Park Press covered this rather well online yesterday. Those that addressed the Committee were well spoken and passionate. Public comments lasted over an hour befor the meeting was adjourned.
As always you can download a copy of the Meeting Agenda that contains the discussion items and the proposed resolutions and ordinances that were voted on or presented during the meeting. A box around an item is a link, bringing you further into the document to that resolution or ordinance. At the end of the resolution there will be a link bringing you back to the agenda. Attached to this agenda is also the monthly bill list, so that everyone can see how the Township is spending our tax dollars.
You may have seen this article in Tuesday's Asbury Park Press: Middletown: Republic Services sues township over $21.7M trash deal. It's about the lawsuit that Republic Services has going against Middletown concerning the new garbage contract that was give to Central Jersey Waste and Recycling.
The basis of the case revolves around the alleged violations of the Local Public Contracts Law (LPCL) and the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA). I read through the complaint - which is conveniently posted at the bottom of the APP's article - and here is a short summary of some interesting facts:
The matter involves the lucrative town-wide garbage collection contract that takes effect on January 1st. The township was sued by Republic, who lost the contract award to Central Jersey Waste and Recycling. The bids were close. Republic is claiming that Central Jersey's bid was materially deficient, lacked a proper insurance certificate and bin warranty documentation and that discussion of the contract and bids occurred improperly in closed session both before and after bids were received.
Republic claims that early township committee discussions, prior to issuing the bid specifications, did not constitute contract negotiations and did not qualify for closed session discussion. These early discussions, Republic claims, instead concerned a policy decision to dissolve the garbage district and move toward town-wide pickup. Republic also claims that the mere selection of a low bid in line with the LPCL does not constitute a negotiation.
Central Jersey's lack of warranty documentation for carts, or more specifically, proof that the township would be covered by a 10-year warranty, is pertinent because the carts have value and would become the property of the township after the 5-year collection contract expires.
Another interesting issue is that the township's RFB (Request for Bids) sought bids for several service options, like solid waste collection only, solid waste and recycling, etc. The complaint notes that Republic's bid for one option was at least a million dollars lower than Central Jersey's. For the service option chosen by the township, Republic's bid was just $20K per year (about a dollar per year per household) more than Central Jersey's.
An interesting question is whether Republic's bid for the service option NOT chosen would have benefited residents, that is, does that bid reflect a savings over the current cost for those services? In general, the whole matter raises questions about how the township arrived at its decision.
The two sides are due in court tomorrow, Friday, December 1st.
Hopefully, this case will be rectified soon before it costs the Middletown taxpayers more than if it would have just awarded the contract to Republic in the first place. Talking to a couple of lawyer friends, this case has probably already cost taxpayers over $50K and could easily skyrocket.
*****************
11/30/17 - 7:30pm The case hearing is now tentatively scheduled for Wed, Dec. 13 at 1:30 PM. It seems that Dec.1st is the date for returning documents to the court.
People regularly rate politicians as not admired. One reason for this, I suspect, is the hypocrisy that too often oozes out. Whether it is the liberal who lectures about equal rights but sexually harasses his assistant or the conservative who champions the right to life but asks his lover to get an abortion, people are sick of hypocrites.
Unfortunately, hypocrisy is alive and well in Middletown. Stephanie Murray is running under the slogan: “Taxpayers First.” The slogan is printed on her super-sized signs around town. Why is that slogan hypocritical one might ask?
Read this quote from Middletownofficial's home up for sheriff's sale the Dec. 13, 2016, Asbury Park Press: “The IRS has placed a lien for more than $78,000 in unpaid federal income taxes on Middletown Committeewoman Stephanie Murray’s and her husband’s home.” It is hypocrisy to run for office on the slogan “Taxpayers First” when there is a tax lien on your home.
OK Middletown, It's time to meet your candidates for this year's Board of Education election. Russ Zimmer of the Asbury Park Press has posted an article today that gives a brief introduction of each of the 8 candidate and what they hope to accomplish if elected on Nov. 7th.
Here's a small snippet:
Pamela Rogers
Bio: 42, lives in Fairview, part-time dance and music teacher, married with two children, including a son at River Plaza Elementary School.
Qualifications: Rogers cited a variety of experiences — from teaching ballroom dance to public school students in New York City to owning her own dance studio — as reasons she's ready for the job.
"Honestly though the thing that makes me most qualified to be on the school board is that I have two children in the public school system, and a little extra time on my hands. I have a vested interest in elevating the level of the school system to benefit my kids and all the children of Middletown. I am determined, relentless and I care."
What do you see as the board's role in the community?
"The role of the school board is to advocate for the students of Middletown. I feel very strongly that families from all areas of our township deserve access to all of the same opportunities, which include equity in the curriculum, structured special ed with sufficient resources, extra-curricular activities, honors programs, fields, and facilities."
What's your plan for property taxes?
"I would like the opportunity to discuss various money-saving options. I’d like to discuss the option of our district going paperless. I know that this has really helped save money in other New Jersey school districts. I am open to any change that can save Middletown money. I’m hoping we can use the money we save towards resources for students of all abilities, including our special needs students and our gifted students."
What are your top three goals?
Don't raise taxes for the next two years.
Implement a new curriculum offering or expand an existing one, depending on what the community desires.
"We have 12 elementary schools, three middle schools, and two high schools. All activities, honors programs, fields, and facilities should be brought in line."
CRIME: Drugged Middletown woman crashed car with 4-year-old inside
Robin Stella
Bio: 45, lives in Fairview, public school teacher and children's book author, married with a daughter at Thompson Middle School. Thirty-year resident of Middletown.
Qualifications: Stella said her experiences as a teacher and as a consultant for a group of private schools for students with special needs establish her bonafides.
"However, it is my role as a mother and member of the community that compelled me to run for a Board of Ed seat," she said.
What do you see as the board's role in the community?
"I would serve as an advocate for all children and families in town. As I meet with members of the community, I have been hearing their concerns — taxes, busing, special education and curriculum. I want to be a voice for the community."
What's your plan for property taxes?
"As a Board of Ed member, I would look for ways to save money. For example, we should shop around for the best possible deal on employee benefits, without compromising the quality. Also, we should look into energy-saving measures, like LED lighting throughout the seventeen schools of Middletown, which could save hundreds of thousands of dollars in the long term."
What are your top three goals?
Don't raise taxes.
Clubs and facilities should be uniform so all students have the same opportunities.
"Enhance the curriculum and programs in the district, including an emphasis on STEM and possibly offering a few more foreign language choices at the high schools."
GIRLS SOCCER: Cook is Middletown South’s ‘Super Woman’ in net
Nicholas DiFranco
Bio: 43, River Plaza homeowner, senior manager at Ernst &Young, married with a daughter at Thompson Middle School, Eagle Scout, Christian Brothers Academy graduate.
Qualifications: "My role at (Ernst & Young) requires me to lead diverse teams of people in order to achieve a common purpose, and the projects I work on are complex enough that no one person is the expert on everything. I think this translates very well to the role of a school board member."
What do you see as the board's role in the community?
"My role as a board member would also be to influence the direction of our educational policy by identifying and advocating for what’s important to our community. For example, I believe that success in the modern world requires a better appreciation of world cultures. Our surrounding districts — Holmdel, Red Bank — support this by offering language education beyond the usual French and Spanish."
What's your plan for property taxes?
"We all want to see our taxes go down, but I’m not sure it’s possible to lessen the burden, especially given the district’s settlement with the state and resulting $217-per-household impact. It seems much more reasonable and achievable to be aggressive within the confines of the current budget and look for ways to lower costs while maintaining the same level of services."
What are your top three goals?
Don't raise taxes.
Implement or expand an in-demand curriculum, like STEM or foreign languages.
"We have 12 elementary schools and three middle schools, and the activities, honors programs, fields and facilities at each should be brought to a level par."
The expressed opinions or views of this letter does not necessarily represent the opinion of the MiddletownMike blog.This letter appears online at the Asbury Park Press:
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon’s Sept. 7 op-ed piece “Gopal lacks credibility on property taxes” on community consolidation and property tax relief was transparently self-serving. Apparently all it will take to solve the Gordian knot of New Jersey taxes is electing him, Sen. Jennifer Beck, and other like-minded candidates to office. But the record would suggest otherwise.
After nearly a decade in office, we don’t have tax reform because O’Scanlon has nothing new to offer, has presented no innovative ideas and has no record of significant accomplishments or collaboration to extol. Instead he just rolls out the same old public service villains — police, firefighters, teachers and “special interests” — as the root cause of our tax dilemma.
It is no less emblematic of their monolithic worldview that both O’Scanlon and Beck voted against equal pay for women. And it is especially interesting to note that O’Scanlon’s ire and focus of the piece were directed at Vin Gopal, who is not the candidate O’Scanlon is running against. Does he really think so little of Beck and other women that he must “mansplain” complex issues to and for them? Beck should be able to speak for herself to the candidate opposing her, but if she believes women don’t deserve the same pay as men, then perhaps she is better off letting O’Scanlon do the speaking for her.
It is time to stop pointing fingers, blaming others and throwing rocks at other candidates. O’Scanlon has had nine years to solve the tax problem and he hasn’t succeeded yet. Why should he another two years to try? He shouldn’t.
Former Monmouth Chairman and current State Senate candidate Vin Gopal's op-ed was featured in this past Sunday's Asbury Park Press. Vin focused on municipal consolidation as a solution to curb spending and lower property taxes for the residents of New Jersey. Vin's focus is on 100 towns which have populations of 2,500 and less and those school districts which have zero schools:
Vin Gopal
It’s no secret: too many New Jerseyans are struggling. Across our state, families are being crushed under sky-high property taxes while they strain to make ends meet in one of the nation’s most expensive states.
It's also no secret that little to no progress has been made, despite politicians’ habit of talking a big game.
This stalemate needs to end. We need to prioritize affordability and approach the crisis with an eye to implementing a variety of effective tools, not continuing to look in vain for a silver bullet.
One of these tools must be promoting and simplifying consolidation of our many towns and municipalities across the state. As state senator, I will be the biggest champion for these efforts.
New Jersey has 565 towns, with more than 100 of these having populations under 2,500. This means we have hundreds of sewage authorities, housing authorities, and other agencies, many of which represent constituencies of only a couple thousand. The costs of these unnecessary agencies are being put right onto our already struggling local taxpayers. Yet small towns seeking a way to eliminate these unnecessary services or to combine efforts with other towns facing a similar situation are left without any options.
Take Loch Arbour in Monmouth County’s 11th legislative district for example. Loch Arbour has a population of 194 residents and the Mayor of Loch Arbour, Paul Fernicola, has been an advocate of consolidation for this small town, even trying to eliminate his own job for lack of necessity. But the State of New Jersey won't allow it.
Sewer authorities, housing authorities and utility authorities are another great example of redundant or unnecessary services. Jersey City recently consolidated one of its authorities with the City's Police Department and saved over 1 million dollars for their taxpayers. Meanwhile, commissioners of the Middletown Sewer Authority in Monmouth County make benefits in addition to their paychecks for attending a few meetings a year.
The Office of Administrative Law (OAL) conducted this public hearing to obtain evidence in order to make a recommendation to the BPU on whether JCP&L should be allowed to use the NJ Transit right of way to construct a 230kV power line from Aberdeen to Red Bank.
You can read the Asbury Park Press for a quick take on what transpired during the meeting.
The last 10 days have been pretty hectic. I wanted to post this video from the March 17th, Middletown Board of Education meeting last week but wasn't able to get around to it. This meeting was important because the proposed budget for the upcoming 2017/2018 school year was presented to the board.
I watched just the first 20 minutes of the video and wanted to get back to it before posting. However, the Asbury Park Press published an article "Pension ruling blows hole in Middletown school budget", a few days ago and listed all the juicy details that I hadn't got around to viewing. The article was enlightening . If you haven't read it, I think you should. It's not good news for homeowners.
MIDDLETOWN - Annual school taxes for homeowners would jump by $217 on average under a new budget that was forced to account for a multimillion dollar mistake made by the school board 10 years ago.
For the first time, the school board is circumventing the 2 percent cap on property tax increases — nearly doubling it in fact — as the district attempts to move ahead with a $160 million spending plan that includes the equivalent of seven new full-time employees as well as $1.4 million for new turf field and track at High School South.
Also tucked into the budget is an unanticipated $763,000 payment for the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund. The money, which represents the first of five annual payments, is a longtime district fear that has now become reality....
All I'll say at the moment is, I'm not happy. I think some of the frills need to be placed aside for the time being until the pension payments that the BOE has to repay are completed, then they can look at replacing the turf field and track at High School South, along with some of their other proposed capital projects.
A $217 tax increase, on average, for homeowners is a very tough nut to crack. I think this is going to be a big deal!
This past Wednesday night the Middletown Board of Education(BOE) held it's annual Reorganization meeting. By BOE standards the meeting was relatively short, just 32 minutes.
The real highlight of the meeting was the swearing in of Board members Lenora Caminiti, John Little, Jr. and Mike Donlon along with the appointments of a new Board president, Danielle Walsh and Board vice-president John Little, Jr.
The meeting ended with the Board breaking for Executive session to discuss pending litigation. The Asbury Park Press reporter, Russ Zimmer attended the meeting and wrote about the meeting. For a little more information you can read about it ... HERE
Early last month the Asbury Park Press reported that Middletown's Stephanie Murray (newly reappointed Deputy-Mayor), had a federal tax lien of $78,000 placed against her and her home on Wallace Rd. was being included in an upcoming County Sheriff's sale. At the time, I commented on both which you can find HERE andHERE.
It was (and is) my opinion, that if you're an elected official, regardless of party affiliation, if you can not pay your taxes and have a lien of any kind on your property or other holdings, than you shouldn't be in office. After all, if you can't control your own finances, how can taxpayers trust you controlling their tax dollars? Also, one has to consider the possibility that a sitting politician, who is in dire financial straits, could be susceptible to some kind influence pedaling or bribery by someone who may "just want to help" in return for a favorable town ordinance or planning board outcome.
At the time, I received a few comments, basically calling me a hypocrite, because if the shoe were on the other foot and it was a Democrat, as opposed to a Republican, I wouldn't be so quick to judge or even point out the issue.
Mayor Menna however seems to be open to addressing the issue and has answered questions about his situation. According to Mayor Menna, his financial problems seems to be from a combination of health problems and business losses. Whereas, no one really knows what the situation is with the Murrays. Stephanie Murray is keeping quite about her financial troubles, insisting it's a private matter.
Having a Federal tax lien against you is a serious issue. If you're an elected official, you have a moral obligation to disclose the information to the residents of the community that voted for you. You can't hide behind a curtain and plead for privacy insisting that there's nothing to see.
For the record, I will reiterate my position. If an elected official, regardless of office, has financial problems and for whatever reason, cannot pay his or her taxes, then they shouldn't be in office. They should resign or if possibly, be placed on administrative leave until such time as their situation is resolved satisfactorily by authorities. If their situation cannot be resolved in a timely and satisfactorily way and the elected official refuses to step aside or be placed on leave, every attempt should be made by authorities and the taxpayers, to remove them from office.
Here is a snippet from the APP concerning Mayor Menna. I encourage everyone to read it and make up their own mind as to what should or shouldn't be done.
RED BANK - Mayor Pasquale "Pat" Menna said he plans to pay off a $40,000 federal tax lien by year's end, his financial woes eased by a $75,000 loan from a convicted car thief.
The IRS placed the $40,146 lien on Menna's home in October 2013 after what the mayor described as a "confluence of circumstances," including a significant shift in his law practice and major health issues that cut into his income.
"It's painful, but it's a reality," Menna said. "I've tried to deal with it quietly."
Menna is the third official whose federal tax lien has become public in recent weeks. Earlier this month, the Asbury Park Press revealed Middletown Committeewoman Stephanie Murray has a $78,000 tax lien on her home. A week later, news broke that Ocean County GOP chairman George Gilmore was being investigated by the IRS, which placed $1 million in federal liens on his property....
Monmouth County Chairman, Vin Gopal, announced in an email last night that he was stepping down as County Chair in order to challenge incumbent Monmouth County State Senator Jennifer Beck for her seat in LD 11. Word of Gopal's possible intention to challenge Beck was first reported by Observer.comyesterday. The Asbury Park Press is reporting this story today.
Gopal made it official last night with an email blast to county committee members last night:
Dear Monmouth County Democrats, For the past 4 and ½ years, I have have had the honor of volunteering as your Monmouth County Democratic Party Chairman. I have enjoyed every day of my service to this Party. Together we have created an eminent force against the Republicans as we defeated them year after year in historically Republican municipalities and Legislative Districts. As your Chairman, my proudest achievement has been growing this party while defeating Republicans across the County. In the past 4 and ½ years, together we have achieved the below successes… - Built a strong county committee and aggressive local donor fundraising program with a full-time staff to serve the Monmouth County Democrats. - The election of the first Democrats since 1989 to be elected in the 11th Legislative District - Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling and Assemblywoman Joann Downey, to breakup the all Republican Legislative body. - Replaced Republican incumbents and Elected Democratic Mayors in Atlantic Highlands, Matawan, Ocean Township, Oceanport, Shrewsbury, and Spring Lake Heights. We also won the Mayor’s Seat for the first time in 16 years in Monmouth’s 2nd Largest Town, Howell. 3 Years ago, we had 14 Democratic Mayors in this county. Today, we have 23 Democratic Mayors. - For the first time in over twenty years, we elected Democrats on the Governing bodies of Neptune City and Fair Haven, two towns that have not seen Democrats elected in over twenty years and both towns now run competitive elections. - Ended the Republican Majority in Allentown for the first time in twenty years. - Built upon the successes of former Chairman Victor Scudiery and maintained full Democratic Majorities in Aberdeen, Belmar, Freehold Borough, Keyport, Lake Como, Manasquan, Marlboro and Roosevelt. - Swept all 4 Council Seats in Bradley Beach - Today the entire Bradley Beach Council is Democratic. - Ended the Republican Majority in Sea Bright - Added a Democrat seat on the Spring Lake Council - Welcomed a new Democratic Mayor in Asbury Park and a Democratic Mayor in Loch Arbour. - Broke the all GOP Township Committee for the first time since 2008 in Manalapan with the election of a Democrat. - 6 to 0 Majority on Keyport Council now defeating every GOP Councilmember - 2016 election saw the election of two women who beat two incumbent men. - Elected the first African-American woman Mayor of Atlantic Highlands - Ended the Republican Majority in Eatontown - Elected Democrats in Farmingdale for the first time in years, making the town politically competitive. - Elected and re-elected two Democrats on the Hazlet Township Committee - making the Bayshore town a battleground. - Built strong local Democratic Parties in traditional Republican strongholds such as Freehold Township, Holmdel, Howell, Millstone, Shrewsbury Borough, Middletown, West Long Branch and Wall Township. - Made county races competitive, continuing to get 45% to 46% of the vote county-wide, drastically outperforming the top of the ticket in every cycle. - We made Union Beach a politically competitive town, winning council seats for the first time in over a decade in 2013 and running competitive races in every cycle. - In 2015, we had a total of 41 Municipal winners, including 5 NEW Democratic Mayors in Ocean Township, Matawan, Oceanport, Atlantic Highlands, and Spring Lake Heights. - Continued to challenge Governor Chris Christie’s disastrous policies. Together, we have built a strong Democratic Party which will continue to hold our ideals. I have decided to enter the race for State Senate in New Jersey’s 11th Legislative District. I do not believe that candidates or elected officials should serve as the county party chair - I believe in transparency and integrity in government and I do not believe that party leaders should be candidates for public office. In my 4 and ½ years volunteering as County Chairman, I have given thousands of hours towards the Democratic Party. I have loved every minute of it. I will continue as a former Chairman to do what I can to support our party, but I will be focused during the next ten months in joining Assemblyman Eric Houghtaling and Assemblywoman Joann Downey on the 11th District ticket to beat incumbent Senator Jen Beck. I want to thank our vice Chair Mary Foster, our State Committee Members, our Mayors and elected officials, all our candidates who put their names on the ballot these past several cycles, our countless volunteers and donors, our outstanding Women’s Caucus Members, our State Chairman John Currie, our Congressman Frank Pallone and each and every one of you. My resignation will take effect Wednesday, January 4th at 12pm. I am confident that Acting Chairwoman Mary Foster will do a great job in running the party until a new Chairperson is elected. From the bottom of my heart, thank you for all you do to support and promote good government. Vin Gopal
I wish Vin well on this endeavor. Defeating Jennifer Beck won't be easy but if it's to happen, 2017 is the year. In a gubernatorial election year with anti-Republican/Chris Christie sentiment running high, Democrats have a real chance to take the 11th LD after last year's success of Houghtaling and Downey's assembly victories.
I finished watching the latest recording of the Middeltown Board of Education meeting late Monday afternoon and needed some time to post it to the blog, so that I could process what I had finished watching. And it's good that I did. The Asbury Park Press posted two articles about what transpired during the meeting which saves me a lot of time trying to explain it myself:
$206,501,974: This figure includes all the money that flows into the district, most of which is property taxes. In 2015, total revenues were $192.8 million.
Property taxes
$137,004,630: The township schools are the single-biggest contributor to the bottom line on your property tax bill. The district collected about $4 million more from homeowners in 2016, an increase of 3 percent from the previous year. Local taxes make up 76 percent of the public money that fund Middletown schools.
Expenses
206,168,208: Transportation was one area that shot up. Getting students to and from school cost $10.8 million, or $866,000 more than in 2015.
Teacher compensation
$75,592,658: The cost of instruction increased by less than 1 percent from 2015. The $570,000 in new money went to negotiated salary increases and a handful of new positions. The certified teaching staff was counted at 922.
Enrollment
9,698: For some perspective, 10 years ago the district had 427 more students in class on an average day. There are 12.6 pupils for every teacher. The national average is about 16 to 1, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Cost per pupil
$16,510: This represents the highest amount the district has ever spent, but it's still relatively low. The average district in New Jersey was paying close to $20,000 for each student in the 2014-2015 school year, according to the Taxpayers Guide to Education Spending.
Debt
$68,920,000: That's down $3.8 million from the previous year. The district's bond rating remains at "AA", which is the second-highest rating that Standard & Poor's assigns. Generally speaking, the higher the rating, the less it costs to borrow money. About 4 percent of district spending goes to paying down debt and interest.
I would like to see some of that savings "banked" for a rainy day because I know theater are things coming down the line that will cost the district big time over the next couple of years.
The other article posted yesterday, "Middletown school board hires outside lawyers for ethics dispute", however is what gave me pause and the need to think before posting about what I had experienced after watching the BOE video. During a 20 minute discussion (triad really) beginning at 1:12:00 mark of the video, Middletown Board of Education disfunction once again raised it's ugly head.
In essence, a last minute item was added to the night's Agenda that many Board members weren't fully aware of. That item was for the approval of the hiring of the law firm of Giordano, Halleran & Cielsa, PC as special counsel to represent 5 Board members in connection with the several ethic complaints they filed against fellow member Joan Minnuies, some of which has been dismissed, while some others have been bumped up to OAL litigation.
For this representation, the school district will be paying any legal bills associated with the litigation of the 5 individual Board members, Vinnie Brand, Bob Banta, Ernest Donnelly, Michael Donlon and BOE president Jim Cody at the rate of $250/hour for litigation counsel and $100/hour for paralegal/legal assistant time with NO cap on the fees!
When the items was being introduced, Board member Sue Griffin made a motion to table the item until the following meeting, when the new BOE could discuss it further and decide whether it was appropriate or not to continue. After a heated argument between Griffin, Brand and Cody erupted about due diligence of board members still sitting on the Board and what was actually stated in the legal agreement that was to be voted on, the board went into executive session to discuss the item further.
Again you can watch the whole exchange staying at the 1:12:00 minute mark of the video.
In my opinion, this is outrageous and utter waste of tax payers money. If the School Ethics Board dropped some other charges against Joan Minnuies but couldn't decide on others and referred them for OAL litigation to pass the buck so to speak, then the charges aren't worth pursuing if it means that it could cost the district tens of thousands of dollars! And that's not easy for me to say, I'm not a big Joan Minnuies fan. All this comes down to now is a very expensive, personal vendetta against Minnuies by her fellow board members - two of which, Brand and Banta, will no longer be members of the board, when legal action will proceed and representation will be needed sometime next year.
If action does move forward on this now frivolous legal action, than I think Vinnie Brand and Bob Banta should have to pay for their own legal expenses since they will no longer be members of the Board of Education.
There has also been outrage expressed by some Middletown residents HERE and HERE on Facebook over this.
But, as Board president Jim Cody stated during the video, there's nothing really to worry about. No money from the school budget will be allocated for legal fees. The cost of legal fees will come out of the BOE's Legal Services budget. HA-HA, ain't that great! It's all one and the same to me.
I would expect that once the new Board takes control next month this issue will be looked at once again and the correct decision will be made to kill this nonsense once and for all.
The Asbury Park Press, on December 1st ran an article"Middletown official's home up for sheriff's sale", where we found out that Middletown Committeewoman Stephanie Murray's home was scheduled to be auctioned off in an upcoming sheriff's sale. On Tuesday, December 13th, The APP ran a follow-up article "Federal tax lien on Middletown official's home" where we found out that the reason for the sheriff's sale was for unpaid income taxes.
Stephanie Murray
The APP and it's reporter, Russ Zimmer, had gotten some pretty nasty comments in response to the two articles. There are some that think the articles single out the Murray's just because Stephanie Murray is a public servant; they feel that it's a private matter and shouldn't be discussed in public. Many others think that someone that falls on hard financial times shouldn't be ridiculed.
If this was a case of actual hard times for the Murray family I'd agree. If Kenneth Murray had lost his job at the Manhattan law firm which he happens to be a partner in or their financial problems had been the result of some unforeseen tragedy or event then I would whole-heartedly agree; this would be a private matter and off limits. But it's not.
The IRS doesn't just place liens on peoples properties for nothing. Here the agency has placed a tax lien on the Murray's property of $78,000 for unpaid Federal income taxes!
A Federal tax lien is put in place when an individual does not report income. Assuming that the Murray's tax bracket falls at 33% that would mean that they did not report ~ $236,000 of income.
That's a lot of money and this shouldn't be taken lightly.
As I stated before, Stephanie Murray is up for re-election next year. If she can't handle her own finances, how on earth can we trust her with ours?
