Two River Times: Middletown Incumbent Faces Democratic Challenger in Committee Race

 I wanted to post this earlier but time got away from me. In the October 10th edition of the Two River Times appears a Middletown candidate Q&A profile between myself and Tony Perry.

When you read the answers its pretty evident that Perry preferred to supply fluff over substance and resorted to the same old tired scare tactic answers that he and his predecessors have been spewing out for the past 20 years but you can decide for yourself.

The Two River Times reached out to each candidate for their thoughts about the issues facing Middletown residents.

The Two River Times: What motivated you to run for the township committee?

Michael Morris: I am running for a seat on the Middletown Township Committee because I believe Middletown’s government lacks a clear vision for our town’s future. Based on the decisions our elected officials have made on land use and zoning, it is clear the Township Committee is more interested in maintaining the status quo than actually leading. Instead of looking forward to the future and embracing the changing world around us, its members are stuck in the past. They are reactionary as opposed to visionary.

Tony Perry: What motivates me to run is my dedication. Seeing my parents work so hard to put me in a position to succeed, now it’s my turn to put my kids in a position to succeed. As mayor, it’s my job to put every single kid and every single family in a position to succeed, whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, whether you care about politics or not. Middletown is my priority. It’s my job and my responsibility to create a great place to live, work and raise a family. That’s what I’m going to do every single day. I am never going to stop fighting for Middletown, whether I’m in this job or not.

TRT: What do you think are the most pressing issues in the township? Where would you like to see a change?

Morris: Middletown has an affordability problem. There are few attainable housing options for young people that have grown up here and wish to stay in our community. Young professionals, working-class families and seniors are being priced out of our community.

Since backing out of its COAH (Council on Affordable Housing) responsibilities, the township has been in the pockets of the developers, continuing to approve massive townhouse and condominium complexes that maximize builder profits over community needs under the threat of builders’ remedy lawsuits. These townhouses and condos often cost upward of $800,000 per unit. This leaves many young families nowhere in our community to establish roots of their own.

Perry: It is impossible for every municipality to be able to afford these (builders’ remedy) lawsuits. But Middletown has been very loud on this issue. I have taken a very tough stance that I am not opposed to creating affordable housing. We have our 100% veteran housing project built as we speak. We’ve partnered with Habitat for Humanity, where we have taken properties that Middletown has been able to foreclose on and donate them to Habitat for Humanity… to help residents because government doesn’t have to be the answer to every problem, but it can be the spark. It can be the catalyst to make a better community and a greater, stronger community.Trenton’s constant threat of overdevelopment has got to change eventually....

You can read the rest of the article over at the Two River Times

Shameless Plug: Update: MONMOUTH COUNTY MAY GET SPOTLIGHT IN GOVERNOR’S RACE

The article from last week's Two River Times, that I was asked to contribute to is now online for those that no longer get their news the old fashion way. By that I mean purchasing a copy of the newspaper from the news stands.

Here's a snippet of what I had to say:

"MONMOUTH COUNTY MAY GET SPOTLIGHT IN GOVERNOR’S RACE"

... Michael Morris, who publishes the “Middletown Mike” liberal/Democratic leaning political blog, not surprisingly, sees it differently. As a reaction to Trump and two terms of Christie, “I think the base is really fired up,” Morris said. “I’m talking extremely fired up.”

Activity among grassroots progressive organizations has been strong and that may lead to some upsets, Morris expected. That includes the 13th Legislative District, a traditionally Republican stronghold, which includes Republican-dominated Middletown, the county’s largest municipality, Morris said. “This is the first time in a long time I can actually say that,” he noted. And he’s saying it in part, because Murphy “is telling people around the state that he’s ‘all in for Monmouth County,’” and “do what it takes to win the county,” said Morris, who is a Middletown Democratic committee member.

That takes money, time and resources on the ground, Morris said.... 

Hit the hyperlink above and read the full article if you're curious to see what others had to say

Shameless Plug

Available on newstands now is the latest edition of the Two Rivers Times. I was interviewed by reporter John Burton and asked my opinion on this year's upcoming election. Specially, what I thought the roll of Monmouth County would play in this year's Governor's race between Phil Murphy (Middletown) and Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno (Monmouth Beach), both Monmouth County residents. And whether or not this years' governor's race, only 1 of 2 in the nation this year - the other being Virginia, would garner any national attention and/or be seen as a referendum on Chris Christie or Donald Trump.

The article won't be available online until next week so make sure you pick up a copy at a store near you.

MIDDLETOWN PLANS A NEW $20 MILLION TOWN HALL

The Two River Times had an article last week announcing the construction of a new Middletown Town Hall complex. The complex has been mentioned a number of times over the past couple of years but the township wasn't ready, willing or able to say much about it publicly.

The devil as they say, is in the details. When reading the article watch for Gerry Scharfenberger's comments, he loves to over exaggerate and use expressions like Wonderful and Fabulous, much like Trump, to make things seem much better than what they are.

Some of us who have regularly attended Township Committee meetings or have watched the video from the meetings,  knew this new complex was being developed and coming, but make no mistake, while this new complex may realistically be needed, it will cost taxpayers a minimum of $10-$15 million even after any outside funding or the selling of township assets realized.

MIDDLETOWN – Penciled into the township’s to-do list in 2017: a complete overhaul to their 1 Kings Highway facility.

On Feb. 10, Middletown Township posted a request for proposal (RFP) on its website, looking for architectural firms to place bids on a possible $20 million complex which would become an overall administrative hub at the township’s main campus.

“We have all these township offices spread all over, and it’s very difficult and inefficient for our residents,” Middletown Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger said by phone on Saturday afternoon. “It would be nice to go to one building and take care of a few things in one area.”

Preliminary plans for the project came in on Sept. 12 and Nov. 16 of last year from Arcari + Iovino, PC – an architectural firm that was retained as the Architect of Record by Middletown at the reorganization meeting on Jan. 1, 2017.

The RFP says this project would be an approximately 23,000-square-foot, multistory building in a new spot at 1 Kings Highway that would host all township administrative offices, along with the police department.

Continue Reading

December 6, 2016 Rt 36 Development Forum in Middletown

Middletown held a public forum on December 6th to discuss plans for the potential redevelopment of Rt.36. The Township hired Maser Engineering to study how the Rt. 36 corridor could be developed. Part of this study is to obtain input from the public. This video explains some of the work that Maser has done and what they hope to achieve with the input that was obtained during this meeting.

The Two River Times ran a story on this last week.

The Backpack Crew: Small Steps To Eliminate Hunger In Our Schools

I first posted about The Backpack Crew last March, since that time its founders, Keith and Suzanne Dice, have been making a big difference in the lives of local Middletown school children and their families that find themselves with not enough to eat by providing the kids with backpacks filled with non-perishable, nutritious foodstuffs that help them get through the weekends, when school lunches programs are not available.

The work that the Dice's have been doing hasn't gone unnoticed, recently the John Burton of the Two River Times wrote a nice article about their endeavor:

MIDDLETOWN – For the community at large, hunger can be silent, unseen, but still very much a part of the community. But it is very much something that affects lives and has to be addressed. 

So found out Keith and Suzanne Dice, a young Middletown couple who have been taking steps to deal with hunger and food insecurity establishing a program they call the Backpack Crew. 

The couple has been working as a ministry of the United Methodist Church, 247 Broad St., Red Bank, with the church’s support and assistance. 

The Backpack Crew currently fills 25 packs with mostly non-perishable, nutritious foodstuffs (plus some durable fruits and vegetables), delivering them to an unidentified township primary school. The idea, they explained, is to make available the food for the weekend for students enrolled in the free and reduced cost lunch program and their families, to ensure they have enough to carry them through when the kids are not in school. 

The couple declined to identify the school to preserve the families’ confidentiality.
The idea arose when the Dices were talking to a family friend, who teaches at the school, who told them about families still struggling a year after Sandy. Starting the program in Oct. 2013 they were quickly struck by how prevalent the problem is in their suburban area. They modeled their program on one established in North Carolina. 

“The face of a hungry person is not what most people would picture,” Suzanne said.
“First of all we couldn’t believe it was here in our area,” Keith acknowledged. “It surprised me and once we found out about it we knew something had to be done.
“Originally we said if no one was willing to do this we’ll do it ourselves,” Keith continued. 

Suzanne and Keith each week bring the backpacks, which are numbered, to the school, with the school nurse distributing them to the children on a Friday, with the kids returning the packs on a Monday, the Dices explained. 

Keith and Suzanne approached their church leaders about coordinating their efforts, getting assistance in collecting food. “We couldn’t do it without the church’s help and support,” Suzanne said. 

Church representatives have recently dedicated a room at the church to store the collected food centralize the program. 

Suzanne and Keith have also set up some food collection boxes in Middletown and Atlantic Highlands to add to what is available for distribution. 

Hunger in the abstract is an insurmountable problem, of course. But the Dices believe that with many making small steps it can be solved...

Continue reading

If you would like to help out by donating gift cards, supplies or food stuffs, here is an updated list of drop off locations where you can leave your items:

1. United Methodist Church of Red Bank at 247 Broad Street. (parking lot in back and a grocery cart is by the office for donations)

2. ZPT Zino Personal Training at 4-10 West Garfield Ave Atlantic Highlands (you may as well stay and try a class. People there are awesome!)

3. Dance with Melody in Middletown- Shop Rite Plaza

4. Nephews Skateboard Shop and Gallery Main Street Port Monmouth

If you can't make it out to one of the drop off locations you can contact the Keith or Suzanne to arrange a local pick up or to  find out how you can get involved and help The Backpack Crew program continue- check out their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/thebackpackcrew or contact by email at backpackcrewnj@gmail.com

Tax Sale in December

by Linda Baum

A reminder that Middletown Township holds an accelerated tax sale at the end of December. Included will be unpaid property taxes for 2014 and unpaid sewer fees for quarters through August 31, including interest and sale charges. This assumes the cut-off dates are the same as last year. Also, only sewer accounts with balances of more than $150 through August 31 were included in last year’s sale.

November 10 is the last day to pay fourth quarter taxes without incurring interest charges. The delinquent list is usually finalized for publication the Wednesday before Thanksgiving – November 26 this year – and reflects any outstanding amounts as of that date plus additional sale charges. Accounts with interest-only balances will be included in the sale, even for very small amounts owed.

There has been no official announcement yet of this year’s sale. In prior years, Middletown published notice of the upcoming tax sale only in the Two River Times. The information was not accessible online, published in any other newspaper or announced at any township committee meeting. A notice was eventually posted on the township website well into December. The township needs to do a better job of letting people know about the sale, which is one of the most accelerated tax sales in Monmouth and Ocean Counties with taxes for the fourth quarter being sold only seven weeks after they are due.

NOTICE : TAX SALE DEC. 30 – tax sale list now available

By Linda Baum
Cross posted on Middletown Patch


As I previously posted, Middletown Township will hold a sale of unpaid property taxes and sewer fees at 9:00 AM on December 30th. The sale will include any property taxes owed for 2013 and also sewer fees of more than $150 owed through August 31st. Balances include accrued interest plus sale & publication charges.

Since my last post, the tax sale list has been published in the December 13 edition of the Two River Times. I recommend reviewing it because there are many property owners who owe small amounts of $50 or $100 that they may not realize they owe. Winding up with a costly tax lien on your property is no way to start the new year if you can avoid it.

Unfortunately, the township typically publishes the notice only in the Two River Times, not the Asbury Park Press like many other municipalities do. The Times is less widely distributed and, unlike the Press, does not participate in the free online public notices service to allow for easy look-up. You can only view the public notice on the Times’ own website. Also, this week’s classified section is no longer available online once the next edition of the paper comes out.

To increase the availability of the public notice, the Times’ Dec. 13 classified section is attached to this post. It can also be viewed here: https://archive.org/details/MiddletownNjPropertyTaxSaleList. The tax sale list is in block & lot order, so you may want to have your assessment card handy for that info.

In the past, I’ve been criticized by some commenters for providing the sale list on Patch, but I think these folks are missing the whole point of the public notice – to notify. The public notice is both important and required by law, but does little good if no one sees it.

To avoid inclusion in the December 30th sale, residents have until Friday, December 27 to pay amounts owed. The tax collector’s office is open until 4 PM, and TOMSA is open until 4:30 PM....

Continue Reading on Middletown Patch

Out of the Ordinary, Middletown Budget Hearing Scheduled For May 6th Workshop Meeting

This coming Monday night, May 6th, the Middletown Township Committee will be holding a hearing on its proposed 2013 FY budget (after it had been introduced back in March). This year's budget hearing is a little out of the ordinary, in the sense that the Committee will be holding this hearing on a night scheduled for a workshop meeting as opposed to during a normal monthly business meeting. Why is that?

Workshop meetings are generally held in the small conference room next to the Clerks office. This room is cramped, has limited seating and very often fewer than a dozen people attend this meeting.  It should really be held during the monthly business meeting which is on the 3rd Monday of each month. It's as if the Township Committee is trying to hide something and doesn't want the public to know about it. As of today, there is still no notice of the hearing on the Township's website and nobody bothered to mention it at the last two Township Committee meetings on April 1st & 15th, which is strange seeing how public notices were sent out prior to the April 15th meeting (but you'd have to do a bit of research at this point to find them).

While the attitude may be who cares? And this isn't any big deal, it really is.

People do have a right to know about this meeting and trying to keep it quiet to discourage public participation is wrong. Very few people today look at the public notice section of the newspaper anymore, making a public announcement at a meeting in this instance, is more than warranted and is just common courtesy. After all, public announcements by the Township Committee are made all the time when a public hearing needs to be held on a new township ordinance or resolution. You would think that something that affects residents tax dollars such as a hearing on a proposed budget would be given the same treatment.

Evidently not.

(TRT Public Notice Middletown FY 2013 Budget Hearing)

Middletown Accelerated Tax Sale Scheduled for December 27th

by Linda Baum

This post provides notice of the pending sale. Residents may wish to settle unpaid balances now to avoid a tax lien on their properties.


On Thursday, December 27, Middletown Township will hold a sale of unpaid property taxes and sewer fees. The sale will include property taxes owed for 2012 – including amounts owed for the current quarter – and sewer fees owed through June 30th.

A list of affected properties, sorted by block and lot number, was published in the December 7th edition of the Two River Times weekly and is available here until December 13th: http://trtnj.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/December-7-classified.pdf. The Times’ link will become inactive after the new edition comes out on Friday, so the public notice has been saved to an archive site and is accessible here: http://archive.org/details/TaxSaleListForMiddletown.

The Two River Times is not as widely read as the Asbury Park Press, and regardless, many people get their news online these days. I am providing a heads up about the tax sale on Patch to give folks a better chance to address the matter timely to avoid the headache and extra expense of a tax lien on their properties. I am told that those on the list have been notified by mail, but many of us fall behind on our paperwork – especially this time of year – and letters don’t always reach recipients.

The published list was compiled by the Township on or about November 26 and does not reflect payments made since then. Amounts owed include interest and also some sale-related charges which are required to be paid even if accounts are settled ahead of the December 27 sale date. Property owners had until November 16 to pay 4th quarter taxes this year without accruing interest for late payment.

Middletown Township and TOMSA first held accelerated tax sales in the month of December starting in 2010. Prior to that, sales were typically held in April, including a sale in April 2010. The shift in 2010 provided a one-time hit of additional revenue that year.

The December sale means that 4th quarter taxes are being sold only about six weeks after they are due. That short timeframe was true the last two years as well but is particularly burdensome to residents this year in the aftermath of the storm.

At the November 14th meeting of the Township Committee, I asked officials if the sale of 4th quarter property taxes could be postponed until the spring of 2013 to give residents more of a cushion to pay. The Township’s CFO, Nicola Trasente, explained that they couldn’t postpone the sale of 4th quarter taxes because there was a need to raise the revenue in 2012 for the purposes of developing the Township’s 2013 budget. If I understood him correctly, 2012 actual revenue is the basis for 2013 projected revenue in line with state rules, and any reduction in 2012 revenue would mean a bigger 2013 shortfall and tax increase.

I pointed out that the budget is a dynamic document that could be adjusted for additional revenue raised in the spring of 2013, ahead of the budget’s finalization and approval typically held in the summer. Mr. Trasente said that a budget vote could occur at any time, even in January or February, seeming to imply that the vote would occur earlier in the year than usual. (While I can think of at least one good reason for early budget adoption, it seems less likely in 2013 given the number of storm-related re-assessments). Trasente said that the Township had asked the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to waive the “revenue” rule, but that DCA officials said it was outside their authority to alter the rules and that permission would need to come from the Legislature or Governor.

As of the date of this post, 4th quarter unpaid taxes will be included in the December 27 sale. Inquiries can be directed to the Tax Collector’s office at 732-615-2086.

Middletown Director of Parks & Recreation Placed on Administrative Leave By Township

Early last week I received an email from someone that wanted to know if I had heard or knew anything about Middletown's Director of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs, Gregg Silva, being investigated by the Township of Middletown for some wrong doing and as a result of the investigation has been placed on indefinite administrative leave(fired?) by his bosses at Town Hall.

This person also informed me that as a result of Silva being placed on indefinite leave, rumors were running rampant that Middletown's former mayor/deputy mayor, the soon to be departing Township Committeewoman Pamela Brightbill, be will replacing Silva as the new Director of Parks, Recreation & Cultural Affairs.

I responded by saying I hadn't heard anything about Silva's current troubles or the rumor about Brightbill, but I would make a few inquiries and get to the bottom of it as best I could. So I sent out a few emails and made a couple of phone calls to some people that I know to see if they had heard anything themselves.

It didn't take long to get a response.

From what I have gathered, it seems that Gregg Silva is most definitely on administrative leave and has been for over two weeks. The leave has been technically without pay (he is being allowed to use accumulated sick time) while he is under investigation by the Township.

What did he do wrong that has caused the Township to place him on leave? If you know anything about Gregg Silva, it could be just about anything, he has a long history of engaging in questionable practices. But what seems to have been the last straw was the building of a private memorial, on Township property, on the grounds of Croydon Hall in Leonardo.

A few months back a Township teenager, who grew up in the Leonardo section of Middletown, passed away as a result of a car accident while traveling down Chapel Hill Rd. The teenager, Daniel Piano, by all accounts was a great kid who had a lot of friends and a very loving family.

As a result of his passing, his friends built a makeshift memorial at the site of the accident but it wasn't a place that Daniel's mother wanted to go or thought that others should go to either because of the nature of the road, Chapel Hill Road is very busy and is dangerous for people to stand on the side of. So she had the idea to ask the "Township" for permission to build a memorial for Daniel on the grounds of Croydon Hall, seeing how it was a place that her son spent many happy hours of his life playing and hanging out there.

After receiving permission from Gregg Silva to build the memorial, Mrs. Piano went about the business of arranging for the construction of Daniel's memorial, the building of which was covered by private donations and volunteer labor.

You can read all about it in an article that was posted online at the Two Rivers Times.

So then, why would Gregg Silva be placed on indefinite leave of absence with his job in jeopardy if he received permission from the Township, to allow the construction of the Daniel Piano Memorial on the grounds of Croydon Hall? Well, evidently he never asked his superiors if it was alright for the memorial to be built. He took it upon himself to OK it without the consultation of others and that is where the trouble now lays.

If Gregg Silva would have first spoken to Township Administrator Tony Mercantante first, I am sure that the memorial would not have been allowed to be built. But now that it has been built the Township has to deal with any potential repercussions that might be a result of the memorial being built, namely others that may want to build similar memorials to loved ones that have passed.

As unlikely as that may seem, by giving the go ahead to the Piano family to built the memorial, Gregg Silva inadvertently set a precedent within Middletown that would allow for these types of memorials to be built in other parks throughout the Township. If the Township denies other the right to privately construct such memorials it could lead to lawsuits that would be costly to Middletown taxpayers.

As for the Brightbill taking over for Silva rumor, at this time from what I have been able to gather, it is still just a rumor but could have legs for a variety of reason, which I will save for another post.

In an effort at full disclosure on my part, everything that I have written here I have heard from others. I just want it to be known that I sent Township Administrator Tony Mercantante an email last week seeking comment but I haven't heard back from him as of yet. From what I understand, I was not the first to try and contact him last week on this subject. Two real, non-blogging journalist (I don't consider myself a journalist) have either spoken to Tony directly ( I was told the conversation was short, curt and ended with Mercantante stating that Silva was under investigation and the investigation was being handled in-house) or sent him, like myself, and email. If I hear back from Mr. Mercantante later on this subject, I'll post an update.

TRT Chimes In on Monday Night's Middletown Township Meeting

In today's edition of the Diane Gooch owned Two River Times, appears an article written by Ryan Fennell that does a good job at reporting what actually went on durning the Township Committee meeting in Middletown this past Monday night, November 15th.

After being duped by Scharfenberger into believing that he gave up his yearly $4000 stipen as a committee member in January and is now serving as a "volunteer" Mayor after questions arose, when it came to light that Scharfenberger had been appointed to a lucrative position in the Christie administration his last article.

Here Fennell reports, "...The initial controversy developed when a politically conservative local blog revealed shortly after the election that Scharfenberger had been appointed as the director of the Office for Planning Advocacy within the New Jersey Department of State. The office was formerly known as the Office of Smart Growth and fell within the jurisdiction of the Department of Community Affairs.

Scharfenberger was appointed to the position on August 16, and while Scharfenberger claims that his appointment was not kept secret from his constituents or campaign opponents, he also said he did not want to use the news of his appointment to the state position as an advantage for him in the campaign.

"It was made public," Scharfenberger told The Two River Times™ last week. "It's just that they (his campaign opponents) didn't know about it. I've been out in front of various groups. It was on the (state) web site."

No formal announcement was made, Scharfenberger said, because "I didn't want it to appear as if I was using this position to help my re-election."

During the Township Committee meeting Monday, Nov. 15, the committee members were asked if they knew about Scharfenberger's appointment and all but one said that they knew about it...."

This is classic Scharfenberger bullshit! If 4 out of the 5 members of theTownship Committee knew about the appointment, why the effort to keep it from the 5th member? It's obvious that the only functions that Scharfenberger attended and made such an announcement were those that were attended by GOP party loyalists and insiders, otherwise the information of his new job would have become common knowledge around town.

After the meeting was over Fennell questioned Scharfenberger about his statement at the Lincroft Village Green Association's Candidates Night, where Scharfenberger stated that he had given up his stipend for the year and was acting as a volunteer. It was Middletown resident Don Watson, who initially questioned Scharfenberger over this during public comments, Scharfenberger reaction was to deny he said such a thing and to immediately instruct the Clerk to note for the record that Mr. Watson's comment was incorrect.

Unfortunately for Mr. Scharfenberger an audio recording of his statement from Candidates Night says otherwise.

When Fennel asked Scharfenberger for and explanation, Fennell reported "...Scharfenberger told The Two River Times™ that he stopped receiving his paychecks in July "more out of concern for the budget." "

More Scharfenberger Bullshit! Did he really think that $153 a week would make a that much of a difference in a budget that was already $5.5M in the hole, can he really say with a straight face that $2,000 would make a difference in a 14% municipal tax increase? I very much doubt it, he gave up his stipend because he knew that he was taking the job within the Christie administration and that the Governor had already reversed his opinion of whether elected official could hold dual offices. According to Christie it is now OK to hold dual offices with in the state as long as those who were elected served to so voluntarily. That is why Scharfenberger gave up his remaining $2000, not out of any concerns over the financial well being of the Township or worries over the budget.

The article goes on to address much of what was brought up that night, much of which is on video and posted here previously on the blog. I recommend reading the article for yourselves this way you can determine if my earlier reporting was inaccurate or biased in anyway.

Scharfenberger is the one that brought this onto himself, all he needed to do was to be honest and show a little integrity when questioned earlier by reporters when asked before the election what his current job position was. Instead he failed/refused to reveal his new position as the Director of Planning Advocacy.

How Close To The Line of Fact and Fiction Does Scharfenberger Get When He Calls Himself a Volunteer?

How close does Gerry Scharfenberger get to crossing to the line between honesty and deception when he discusses his new position as Executive Director of the Office of Planning Advocacy and how it effects his status serving as an elected official in Middletown?

Since it became common knowledge 10 days ago that Scharfenberger was appointed by Governor Christie to a $95,000 a year job, the uproar over his silence (not appointment), doesn't seem to be going away. If anything it raises more questions after articles in both the Independent and Two River Times did little to silence his critics.

Both articles state that he is a "Volunteer" and doesn't take a salary from the town. The Two River Times quotes him as saying, "I'm not taking a salary as Mayor. It's a volunteer position much (like) the Landmark Commission and the Drug and Alcohol Alliance".

Really, how is that possible? As member of the Township Committee each elected member is entitled to a $4,000 a year stipend (which Scharfenberger announced during the Lincroft Village Green Association sponsored Candidates Night, to our surprise, that he was not taking this salary). Each member of the Township Committee receives this stipend regardless if they are appointed as Mayor or not. There is no extra pay associated with the Mayor's position and never has been, essentially every person who has served as Mayor in Middletown for the past 5 decades has done it "voluntarily" upon being chosen by others on the Committee to act as such.

To consider any elected official, whether it is as Mayor or Committee member, as a volunteer is a stretch of the word, volunteers are generally appointed and receive no compensation or they serve as a means of helping others with no expectations of reward for their humble service. Those that seek office campaign and are elected to office by voters, many go on to seek higher office or seek special favors from those in higher positions to advance their ambitions or line their pockets, much like Scharfenberger has done. To call them volunteers is a gross exaggeration of the word.

Gerry seems to be playing word games here that come very close to crossing the line between honesty and deceit. Another example of his word games is his pension status, he says he isn't enrolled in the State pension system known as PERS but contributes to a deferred compensation 401K plan.

This I found out is true, not because he dropped out of the PERS system voluntarily, but because of the fact that as of 2008, all part time elected officials were dropped from the system and given the chance to participate in a state sponsored 401K plan to save costs.

Back in 2007, when Democrat Patrick Short proposed that elected and part-time officials in Middletown give up health and pension benefits, Scharfenberger is on record stating that he was in the township pension system and adamant that he could not get out of it as hard as he tried, he stated at the time, "Once you're in you are in and can't get out of it ... and I tried".

Again very close to the line between honesty and deceit, but I think I may have stumbled upon something that just may show that Scharfenberger did in fact cross that line.

In the audio clip below from the Oct. 28, 2010 LVGA Candidates Night, Scharfenberger was asked about the salaries for Township Committee people. At the time I didn't give it much thought, I just assumed that the questioner was curious about whether or not Committee members were once again collecting stipends in 2010 after giving them up in 2009. When answering Scharfenberger went into his volunteer speech and talked about how he wasn't taking a salary. He came across as a hero of sorts, looking out for the town with this symbolic gesture of kindness during tough economic times. He didn't seem to care that by doing so he trashed his fellow Committee members.

In hindsight however, I've come to believe that this simple question was nothing more than plant from a supporter that knew Scharfenberger was appointed by Governor Christie to head up the Office of Planning Advocacy. Gerry wanted to go on record that he was in compliance with Christie's rule that, No elected official could serve dual rolls within the State unless the position that they were elected to would be carried out voluntarily, hence the announcement that he hadn't taken a salary all year.

In light of the two previously mentioned articles that didn't delve into the story of Scharfenberger's appointment like the Asbury Park Press had (the reporters chose not to question Scharfenberger over his volunteer status), I've spent the past few days looking over the Township Bill List and from what I've determined, this time Gerry just may have crossed the line into outright deception.

Here's what I have determined:

Committee members took no salaries for most of 2009.

1. For 2010, each Committee member earns $153.84 per week gross.
2. The March 2010 Bills List shows $2526.66 as the salary line item. However, at that time, they were including the Mayor's secretary in that line item. Later in the year, she is broken out separately, and her bi-weekly salary is $1,757.46.
3. If you go back to the March payment of bills and subtract her salary ($1,757.46) from that line item ($2526.66), you get $769.20.
4. Drum roll please . . . if you divide $769.20 by Committee members gross weekly pay ($153.84), guess what number you get . . . 5 (How many Township Committee people do we have?).
5. Conclusion = Gerry was still taking a salary in March.

So, then we go to August. On the 10-206 payment of bills documents there is still a line item for Township Committee salaries of $2526.66, so Gerry was still taking his stipend as of Payroll for 8/6/10. However, the next bill list 10-234 for the 8/20/10 payroll, the line item goes down to $2372.82.

When broken down, remembering there is $1757.46 for the Mayor's secretary, and you subtract her salary from the new total salary line item ($2372.82), you get $615.36 (which also happens to be the new salary line item on the November bill list where the Township Committee is now listed separately). When you divide $615.36 by that bi-weekly salary of $153.84, you get 4.

Conclusion = Gerry stopped taking his salary after the 8/6/10 payroll,which corresponds with his knowledge of his appointment by Christie to his new State job, NOT in January, as he lead those at the LVGA Candidates night and the reporters from the Independent and the Two River Times to believe and report.

Over the past few years there has been many such instances of Scharfenberger walking the tightrope between honesty and deceit, always choosing his words very carefully to maintain that balancing act. This time however, he may have gone to far by not figuring that someone other than the a reporter, who's job it is to investigate before reporting, would take the time to do some homework and find that Gerry once again wasn't being completely honest and crossed the line into deceitfulness.

I wonder if anyone will ask him to explain himself tonight at the Township Committee meeting?

There seems to be NO reason why Middletown can't televise it's meetings other than Gerry doesn't want to.

An excellent article appears in today's edition of the Tow River Times titled "Twp. Officials Differ On Wisdom Of Videotaping Meetings", it is written by reporter John Burton and pretty much counters everything that has been said by Gerry Scharfenberger as to why Township Committee meetings can't be televised over the local cable access channels.

Burton contacted a spokesman for Verizon, Mr. Duthaler, who explained that "Cable companies take a small portion of the money paid to them by customers, and pay those allotments to the varies towns, what are called franchise fees. Some communities use portions of those funds to tape and broadcast meetings and other community information...

Sometimes municipalities negotiate with the cable providers, which can cover much, possibly all, of the cost of equipment. If Verizon is available in a community, that company, under its state agreement, would make available the necessary equipment and train personnel for any municipality that wants it, that's the way for them [towns] to get anything they want, all the equipment, all for free".

The article goes on to say that the cost of televising meeting is only ~$14k-$15k a year, which is a far cry from the $120k figure that Gerry Scharfenberger told residents at Shadow Lake Village last night it would cost when asked.

Burton also contacted representatives from Long Branch and Howell Twsp. to ask their opinions about how well things have worked out with televising meetings and both shared with him the same sentiments. "I think its working out well."

As to Scharfenberger's worrying about legal responiblities if something inappropriate is broadcast, David Bonowski, Howell's director of Management Information Systems, stated that in the six years Howell has been doing it(taping meetings for public broadcast)ed there has been no editing of content. "We haven't had anything happen at a meeting that would violate the FCC public guidelines and regulations."

So what is the problem here other than Scharfenberger and the Republicans that have been in control of Middletown for over 30 years, just don't want to do it.

Committeeman Sean Byrnes is qouted as charging,"opponents are actively trying to keep meetings from being made available for the public."

"I think if you could pick up the clicker and put on the local equivalent of C-Span and see what's going on," he said, "I don't see how it can hurt."

I happen to agree with him as do many other residents on this issue. Whenever you can bring more transparency to the process of government it is a good thing, especially when you consider that the costs of recording and broadcasting meeting can be done for little to no costs to the tax payer.

TRT:M'Town School Budget Fails...Blah, Blah, Blah

I have to give another well deserved shoutout to Ryan Fennell, the reporter who covers the Middletown beat for the Two River Times. It seems that out of the 3 or 4 reporters that regularly cover the happenings at Middletown Committee meetings he seems to be the only one interested in reporting the whole story, not just the rantings and diatribes of an appointed mayor.

At Monday night's Committee meeting when the discussion got around to the defeated school budget, he didn't simply rely on two previously released press releases and a personal letter issued by mayor Scharfenberger over the last 10 days that were written to chastise Middletown teachers and their union into accepting a wage freeze like others have recently done. He actually reported what was said by another member of the Committee that doesn't happen to sit in the majority, fanning the flames of residents displeasure by attempting to turn this years defeated school budget into a political campaign issue.

Of course he reported what the mayor and deputy-mayor had to say about the teachers, their union, the potential wage freeze and the effect it would have on the Township and school system if enacted, but their comments really just amounted to a rehash of the earlier press releases and letter.

Blah, blah,blah...wage freeze...blah,blah, blah...layoffs...blah, blah, blah...union...blah, blah,blah...pay freezes....blah blah,blah...voter anger at teachers....

Instead of ending his article there, with a one sided, biased, anti-teacher/union spin designed to make the members of the teachers union look bad and glorify the righteousness of the mayor's attempt to play hardball, he adds the following passage that included the level headed and practical comments by Committeeman Sean Byrnes, who feels that there are more important long term issues that need to be addressed, that would have a much more significant impact to taxpayers if addressed now instead of squabbling over a temporary wage freeze for teachers:

"...Committeeman Sean Byrnes said that he is in favor of the teacher's union accepting a wage freeze for the coming year, however, does not believe that a wage freeze will solve the problems of the long term.

"Even if we secure a wage freeze, I haven't seen a recognition that the budgets problems facing the Board of Education and the town are long term and call for significant structural changes to our budgets and to our organizations in town," Byrnes said. "A wage freeze will help in 2010. It will not solve the budget problems that we have."

Byrnes said that he is proposing the formation of a budget review advisory committee that would consist of the Township Committee, the Board of Education, and the Library.

The advisory committee would specifically look for ways to consolidate, share services, and approach the town's obligations from a "one town" perspective.

"I would prefer that we not approach or discuss things with the MTEA in a political manner," Byrnes said. "I think it makes sense for the Township Committee, with the assistance of the Board of Education members, to have some discussions with the MTEA. But my preference would be that we not have that exchange through press releases. It doesn't encourage a resolution to do that."...

Being a parent with two kids that attend school in Middletown and who have learning disabilities, it angers me that Governor Christie lied to voters throughout this state while on the campaign trail, telling them that he supported and valued the state education system only to turn his back on it once elected by slashing over $800M worth of state aid to local school boards and declaring war on the teachers and their union.

It's unfortunate that Middletown's ruling party, lead by mayor Scharfenberger and his cronies, have decided to follow in Christie's footsteps by demonizing teachers instead of looking for long term, common sense solutions on how to deal with rising property tax rates.

Level headiness with a keen eye towards the future is what is needed by elected officials in the state, as well as here in Middletown.

Instead of politicising the school board and the school budget for short term gains and political advantages, Scharfenberger and Co. should listen to Sean Brynes for once. He is the lone voice on the committee with practical budget experience and common sense enough to make proper decisions in regards to restructuring how government operates in Middletown.

He has very valid ideas that should be listened to, not ignored and then taken, like so many are by the mayor and his republican friends.

Middletown Township Still 'Crunching The Numbers' As Budget Gap Widens

Excellent article written by Ryan Fennell of the TRT, the kid reports it straight with no spin and consistantly reports on important aspects of the Township Committee meetings without having to resort to press releases issued after the meetings are over.

By Ryan Fennell
The Two River Times

MIDDLETOWN - While no specifics have been released regarding the 2010 budget, the Middletown Township Committee intimated on Monday night that layoffs were imminent in order to bridge the estimated $4 million shortfall in revenue.

The Middletown Township Committee entered this year facing an approximate $4 million shortfall, which Committeeman Sean Byrnes now estimates to be closer to $6 million, in revenue for the 2010 budget. Since that time the Committee has hired a new CFO and consistently pledged to the township's residents that it was "looking at everything."

"We are now almost three weeks into April and we know as a Committee that we have a significant shortfall in revenue this year," Byrnes said. "The news is only getting worse and as of right now I don't think we've really executed on any plans. Our ability to see any kind of savings is hampered by the fact that time is passing."

Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger said that he has been in contact with Governor Chris Christie's chief of staff and has been assured that legislation is being crafted that would ease the situation for the township.

"He assured me that the 'mayor's toolbox', so to speak, that will allow us to absorb some of these cuts is still in the process of being formulated. We're hoping this will provide some relief and extensive policy out of Trenton that will allow us to get back on track." Middletown resident Jim Grenafege was not satisfied with the explanation and challenged the committee to offer concrete solutions or information regarding the budget. "Its just week after week there is nothing concrete happening," Grenafege said.

He asked that the committee provide numbers associated with proposals that have been offered by the committee that could potential cut the budget.

"We have a relatively new CFO and he's still crunching the numbers," Scharfenberger said. "We can't quantify anything that's been proposed when I don't have the numbers to quantify it against. These are sound proposals. There's no sense speculating."

Grenafege charged that the committee was speculating with the proposals. "They're speculation with no numbers associated with it. It's disingenuous to make these proposals without saying and here's what we expect to save."

Township Administrator Anthony Mercantante said that there are concrete things happening regarding the budget. "We've discussed a lot of options for saving money. A lot of them are painful. A lot of them are painful to individual people. It wouldn't be fair to speculate publicly about some of the things happening." Resident Jeff Blumengold asked why the committee hasn't at least started cutting the "low hanging fruit."

Scharfenberger noted that Middletown operates on a workforce of approximately 340 employees which costs the township $872 per person, a low figure for a municipality it's size.

"There's not a lot of low hanging fruit," Scharfenberger said.

Scharfenberger also pointed out that the Township experienced 15 retirements since January and could see as many as 20 by year's end. Scharfenberger said that these retirements have affected the budget and eliminated areas to cut.

"We had no idea that was going to happen," Scharfenberger said of the retirements. However, the Committee had expected and even encouraged its employees to retire in May 2009.

On May 18, 2009 the Committee unanimously adopted an ordinance entitled "Early Retirement Incentive for Eligible Township Employees."

The ordinance encourages employees eligible to retire under the Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) with the offer of health benefits upon retirement after 15 years of service with the township, lowered from 20 years of service.

According to the ordinance any employee who is eligible to retire who has 15 years of service shall have the entire cost of health benefits assumed by the Township of Middletown upon retirement. The ordinance has a "sunset provision" that sets December 31, 2010 as the expiration date.

"The process is the problem," Byrnes said. "There is no process in place to get ahead of the things we're talking about. We knew it was going to be bad. It's very, very frustrating. I can't fathom how we haven't planned out for the problems we're facing."

"Now we will lay off people and those numbers are probably going to be bigger than they needed because we're starting later than we should have," Byrnes added.

"The silver lining in all the bad news we've been confronting is that people are starting to engage," Byrnes said. "People seem to be paying more attention to what's going on. That's a good thing. Part of the problem of what we're in now is people didn't pay attention and that is the key to getting out of the very dire situation we find ourselves in."

After A Year's Search, Middletown Appoints CFO

After all that went on during last weeks Township Committee meeting, lost in the events of the evening was the rather low key and unceremonious announcement of the hiring of the Townships new CFO. It was so low key as a mater of fact, that even I didn't think twice about making a big deal about it.

Nick Trasente, the former finance director of Hoboken, was sitting quietly at the table in front of the dias with Town Administrator Tony Mercantante, Township Engineer Ted Maloney and Clerk Heidi Brunt. A few people were wondering who the "new guy" was until it was revealed at the beginning by Mayor Scharfenberger that the new guy was indeed the new CFO.

Now maybe we can finally see that plan of Gerry's, that he likes to tell everyone he has but doesn't let anyone know about on how to close a $7 million budget shortfall before the end of the month when budgets have to be submitted to the State for review.

So far the only paper to pick-up on Nick Trabsente's appointment as Middletown's new CFO is the Two River Times, nice job on there part. Below is the article written by Ryan Fennell just incase you haven't read it yet:

MIDDLETOWN - ON Monday night, nearly a year after Middletown's former CFO Richard Wright took a leave of absence citing health concerns, the Township Committee formally appointed Nick Trasente as Middletown Township's new Chief Financial Officer on Monday night.

Trasente left his position as finance director in Hoboken on March 9, a position he held since January 2009, to accept the Middletown CFO position.

Middletown Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger said that the process for finding a new CFO was extensive.

"We had a better response than the last time we were looking for a CFO," Scharfenberger said.

According to Scharfenberger, the Township received responses from nine individuals, which was narrowed down to three.

After several interviews, Trasente was determined to be the most qualified candidate for the position.

"I thought he was everything we were looking for," Scharfenberger said. "He's got the credentials. He's got great experience. He seems to be very enthusiastic about wanting to do what he's going to be doing. Also, he seems t know how to keep the town from getting itself into a bind. He understands what we're up against."

And what the Township is up against is an approximate $5 million shortfall in the 2010 budget.

Scharfenberger said that he, along with several other area mayors, were briefed on Governor Chris Christie's budget prior to the governor's address last Tuesday and he was made aware of potentially significant cuts in state aid.

Scharfenberger said that township department heads have been instructed to cut their budgets as well as several other initiatives that the mayor plans to reveal during upcoming committee meetings.

"We're looking for ways to cut and save without putting people's lives or properties in jeopardy. That's the bottom line," said Scharfenberger. "Everything's on the table."

What's The Latest News On The Lincroft Sports Complex?

So what's the latest news swirling around the proposed Lincroft Sports Complex? In each of this weeks editions of the Independent and the Two River Times are articles dedicated to the happens at the most recent Middletown Workshop Meeting that took place on March 1st. Both articles are well written and represents what took place pretty well.

The Independent focus was on the on going negotiations between the Board of Education and the Township over a shared service agreement that would allow the Pop Warner Football League to play games at Middletown High School South before getting into the meat and potatoes of the nights events, while the Two River Times jumped right into it.

Here are excerpts from each article:

The Independent - Talks between the Middletown Township Committee and the Board of Education will reopen to discuss allowing local sports associations to use fields at Middletown High School South.

A preliminary design plan for West Front Street Park was placed on the Middletown Township website for the public to review. The existing soccer fields would be replaced with a synthetic turf field.

Mayor Gerard P. Scharfenberger and Deputy Mayor Anthony Fiore announced at the March 1 Township Committee meeting that they would be meeting with members of the board to discuss field usage on public school property.

“We sent a letter to the Board of Ed. today officially asking to allow the Pop Warner leagues to use High School South for their games,” Scharfenberger said. “I think that would go a long way to solve a lot of the problems and would be the best solution for all the parties involved.”

He added, “I think it’s a step in the right direction.”

The township has proposed a plan for West Front Street Park, off Crawfords Corner/ Everett Road, to replace the existing soccer fields with a synthetic turf field designed for football, soccer, field hockey and lacrosse to be used by the public and local sports associations.

The proposal also calls for the Croydon Hall Complex, located on Leonardville Road, to have its football field replaced with an artificial turf field. A total of $2.5 million in unspent recreation funds would be used for the two projects.

The letter reads, “Specifically, the Township would like to request that the River Plaza/Lincroft Pop Warner Football program be permitted to utilize the football field and associated facilities at High School South for their five to six annual home games that take place on Sundays. Practices and other activities would still be able to take place at their current field while the West Front Street filed is resurfaced with turf for use by other leagues, but the need to utilize lighting, a public address system and concessions is lessened.”

Laura Agin, Middletown Board of Education president, said negotiations are under way.

“We’ve worked with the Township Committee and with shared services,” Agin said on March 4. “We’ve had concessions with them about the fields, and I think we will continue to work with them.”

However, a group in the Jersey Shore Football League weighed in on the controversy at the March 1 meeting....

The Two River Times - Controversy continues to swirl around a proposed plan by the Middletown Township Committee to construct a multi-purpose athletic field at the intersection of West Front Street and Everett Road in Lincroft.

Residents from the potentially affected area once again came out en masse to voice their opposition to the proposal as it currently stands and urged the committee to reconsider constructing the field at a different location.

However, this round of rhetoric included supporters of the proposal primarily from active Pop Warner families, athletes, coaches, and members of the Middletown Athletic Club.

The most telling message sent to the committee might have come from Kevin O'Reilly, Vice President of the River Plaza Chargers, whose future home has been an ongoing topic of conversation among the committee members, the board of education, and area residents but has not, until Monday night, included the River Plaza Chargers organization.

Middletown Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger opened the meeting by allowing those in attendance to speak to this issue but not before he addressed the crowd with an update from the committee's perspective.

"We sent a letter to the Board of Education today officially asking them to allow the Pop Warner league to use High School South for their games. I think that will go a long way to solving a lot of the problems and be the best solution for all parties involved," Scharfenberger said.

Deputy Mayor Anthony Fiore also offered an updated position on the issue.

"My position (at the previous meeting) was to find a way for River Plaza Pop Warner to play five or six games at High School South. From what I understand it's not feasible to redo the facility at Trezza Field (the Chargers current home field). It's my viewpoint, if we are able to work with the Board of Education and potentially make improvements to their field we would not have to have lights or a P.A. system at West Front Street," Fiore said.

Fiore added that the idea would be that the Pop Warner teams practice at Trezza and play their games at High School South. Fiore also noted that the existing soccer fields at West Front Street would still be resurfaced and improved but without lighting and a public address system.

"I think that pretty much satisfies everything I've heard over the last month," Fiore said.

Not according to O'Reilly.

The River Plaza Pop Warner league sent a letter to the Township Committee outlining eight needs of the league to continue operating regardless of its location. One of those needs was a fully functioning snack bar. Additionally as important were adequate restroom facilities.

According to O'Reilly, the Pop Warner league exists solely on the revenues generated by the operation of the snack bar of which High School South does not provide.

"I wish you people would speak to us because Middletown South doesn't work," O'Reilly said. "We play on Saturday, we play on Sunday, we play on Monday, and we also sometimes play on Wednesday and all of our revenue is from the snack bar."

The money generated by the snack bar, which can range between four and seven thousand dollars each game day goes toward operational costs to run the league according to O'Reilly.

"To redo the helmets is thousands and thousands of dollars," O'Reilly said....

So what have I heard over the past few days? As I said, it has been quite but here are a few things:

The meeting between the Mayor and Deputy-Mayor with the Board of Education on Thursday March 4th didn't go as well as the Independent may have made it out to have mainly because the Pop Warner Chargers have made it loud and clear that playing football at High School South would not benefit their organization at all.

Contrary to what Mayor Scharfenberger and others who represent the Township say a wetlands study of Trezza Field, the home of the Pop Warner Chargers, was conducted back in June of 2007 by the Township's engineering firm T&M and it seems to confirm everything that the football people have been saying all along, that Trezza Field can be expanded and resurfaced as originally planned. The Chargers, with help from their own engineer, came up with a new site proposal for Trezza Field and shared it with Mayor Scharfenberger earlier in the week. The site proposal will be introduced to the Committee Monday night at the next scheduled Committee Meeting.

And members of SONIC are still gathering petitions signatures against the sports complex to be presented at Monday night's Township Committee meeting. SONIC members will be out in force that night to once again voice their concerns.

County Needs Ethics Board Now; Why Does Clifton Oppose Ethics Panel ?

Two River Times

By Arthur Z. Kamin

It is sad to watch members of the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders squabble over how to get a much-needed county governmental ethics structure up and running. At the heart of it, Republican Freeholder Robert D. Clifton seems to want to forget the GOP-dominated Operation Bid Rig scandal four years ago and refuses to admit that the corruption stench of that time still hangs over Freehold.

The irony is that Clifton, a longtime Republican insider, is not a babe-in-the-political-woods and should have known what was taking place during those terrible days when more than two dozen Monmouth County and other officials were arrested in an FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office corruption sweep. Scooped up in that sweep was the late longtime former Republican Board of Freeholders Director Harry Larrison Jr., charged with taking bribes. It was a shameful period in county history.

And where was Clifton when former Freeholder Amy H. Handlin, now a Republican assemblywoman from the 13th legislative district, became a trailblazer for ethical reform in county government? She fought a brave battle - even going so far as to rightly urge that Larrison's name be removed from Brookdale Community College's tainted Larrison Hall campus building. Clifton was silent.

Now he is the major stumbling block, as the county appointed a special Ethics Review Committee that carefully examined existing policies, procedures and an employee manual concluding, "The existing structure is in need of revision."

To his credit, Democrat Freeholder John D'Amico Jr. urged that the freeholders promptly release the report to the public. Clifton was opposed. He attempted to keep the document under wraps, not wanting to bring up reminders of the old days. How's that for governmental transparency? But the excuse became an argument over what should be or should not be released from freeholder executive sessions.

Here is the makeup of the bipartisan pro bono ethics review committee: Retired former New Jersey Supreme Court Chief Justice James R. Assail; retired former Superior Court Judge Alexander D. Lehrer; and former Freeholder Director Thomas J. Powers And here is what the committee unanimously recommended to the freeholders: "the adoption of a strong county ethics code and the establishment of a nonpartisan, independent ethics board."

The committee did not recommend the establishment of an Office of Inspector General even though recognizing the value of it could bring in the search for an ethics watchdog and higher ethical standards in county government.

Creating an inspector general's office would be costly and - the way things often have been carried on in Monmouth County - it could lead to another bureaucracy with cronyism and patronage jobs. "But during these challenging economic times it cannot be justified," the committee stated.

That leaves the ethics board with wide-ranging powers backed up by what should be a no-nonsense code of ethics that would include provisions pertaining to such areas as conflicts of interest, activity that gives the appearance of impropriety, gifts, lobbying of public officials, nepotism, incompatible employment, the procurement process, penalties, ethics education, and financial disclosures.

The ethics board would be able to issue subpoenas, receive complaints, and hold code violation hearings. It could forward information to law enforcement authorities. It would enforce the code and impose or recommend penalties for violations. It would have the teeth to get an ethics job done....

Read More >>> Here

Middletown Dems, Byrnes & Short Oppose Town Center and Object to Accusation to the Contrary

Middletown Democratic Committeemen Partick Short and Sean Byrnes rleased the following in response to a letter written Greg Vasil, President of the Concerned Citizens of Middletown:

Township Committeeman Patrick Short and I have read with dismay Mr. Vasil's recent letter to, The Two River Times. We have no issue with his position on the Town Center project. In fact, we agree with Mr. Vasil: We don't want the project either. We have been very clear on this with both of us voting to petition the state Supreme Court to overturn the recent Appellate Court decision that ruled in the developer's favor. Indeed, before his election, as he did with the athletic complex in Lincroft, Mr. Short led the campaign to block the project.

Where we take issue with Mr. Vasil is when he parrots the campaign mantra of our mayor. Since last year, Mayor Gerard Scharfenberger, when speaking in public and when writing to newspapers, has claimed that we support the Town Center and that we are in the pocket of the developer, Joseph Azzolina. These accusations, like so many made in this year's campaign, have no basis in fact and are part of a desperate effort to hold on to power in Middletown.

We find it quite revealing that a party that has held power for 30 years campaigns on fabricated allegations, rather than on their record of governance. Given the history of controversy involving Republican elected officials in Middletown, our mayor and his party have calculated that this year's Republican candidates will gain votes if he casts the Democrats as favoring the Town Center. So, although we have stated openly our opposition to the project and have voted accordingly, our mayor – and now Mr. Vasil – continue to suggest otherwise.

The comments attributed to Mr. Short in the mayor's recent introduction of an ordinance to rezone the property in question are misleading. Each of us took issue with the mayor's decision, taken without any discussion with other committee members, to re-introduce the identical ordinance that had been struck down only weeks earlier by the Appellate Court. We did so, in part, because we feared this action would cause the court to take matters into its own hands and judicially order the approval of the Town Center project.

The Appellate Court's recent decision severely criticizes Middletown and comes very close to ordering that the project move forward. We made a motion to table the ordinance for two weeks to allow discussion and to correct numerous errors in the ordinance that the mayor overlooked in his haste to make it a campaign issue. Even as we voted on our request for this brief period of time to discuss the ordinance, the mayor immediately alleged a connection to Mr. Azzolina. Regrettably, with nothing else to campaign on, there is little we can do to silence these baseless allegations until this election is over.

In truth, Mr. Azzolina, the developer of the Town Center project, is a long-time Republican, and the Town Center idea came from the Republican Party. He split with the current leaders of his party, who initially encouraged him to purchase the property to build Town Center. We find it somewhat amusing that our mayor, and now Mr. Vasil, would attempt to use this Republican Party spat to criticize Democrats as supporting the Town Center. We work for Middletown residents, not Mr. Azzolina. If he has expressed support for us, he has a right to do so, but any effort to characterize that support as a quid pro quo for our support of Town Center is mistaken.

Sean Byrnes and Patrick Short
Middletown Township Committee