4/12/12
(MIDDLETOWN) - The Middletown Democratic Party announces Ms. Linda Baum as its candidate for Township Committee. Ms. Baum will be seeking the one seat up for a vote in this November’s election.
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| Linda Baum |
Middletown Democratic Party Chairman Joe Caliendo stated, "Linda Baum is an exciting candidate. She is an extremely dedicated person with exceptional analytic skills. We look forward to the good work Linda will do when she is a member of the Middletown Township Committee.”
Ms. Baum holds a BS in mathematics from St. John’s University with a concentration in computer science and has obtained the designation of Chartered Property
Casualty Underwriter. She has credit for several actuarial exams and numerous years of actuarial experience in various property-casualty insurance lines. From 2003 to 2010, Ms. Baum administered the New Jersey Workers Compensation Security Fund, which provides a safety net to businesses and injured workers in the event of insurance company bankruptcy. In that role, she was the point of contact for the Fund’s claims handlers, members of the industry and public, receivers, and other guaranty associations. Currently, Ms. Baum manages the actuarial division of the Compensation Rating & Inspection Bureau in Newark, NJ.
Ms. Baum is an outspoken advocate for government transparency and fiscal accountability. “Middletown has lacked financial oversight and long-term planning for many years. These things are critically needed in order to bring property taxes under control,” she said.
Ms. Baum strongly supports the formation of a Finance Committee, which she says is “the right body to fully investigate ideas for cost savings or revenue generation that may help to stabilize or even reduce our property tax burden.”
An 18-year resident and regular attendee at Township meetings, Ms. Baum has worked diligently to be knowledgeable about Township operations and programs, and has spent numerous hours speaking to residents and reviewing Township documents in order to educate herself on these matters. She has observed that there is a limited flow of information to the public and often a failure to timely inform residents about important issues affecting them. “Much greater transparency is needed,” she said.
“Many improvements are needed in Middletown’s governance. If elected, I commit to bringing greater transparency, accountability, and integrity to the Township Committee to ensure that Middletown is the Township of choice for all.”
59 comments:
Middletown would be lucky to have someone like Linda on the Township Committee- count on my vote!
Kinda late on this one Mike, APP beat you to it by 9 days...
Maybe you don't have insider info like you say you do?
http://www.app.com/article/20120403/NJNEWS/304030010/Candidates-file-primary-elections-Monmouth-Ocean-counties
From the party who complained about Gerry's job comes the candidate who just hid the fact that she too works for the state. How about starting with transparency by telling the truth that you are a state employee. Not that there is anything wrong with working for the state and serving on the Committee but it just shows what hypocrites the Middletown Democrats are.
So how do you figure she hid her employment information?
Unlike Gerry who hid the information until after the election and refused to answer questions about it, Ms. Baum is very forth coming about her employment.
Best of luck, Linda. You would definately be an asset on the TC.
What is her job descrpition for the State ?
All the posts she posted and her compadres Never was the information about her State job or position ever mentioned? Why not?
Linda would make an outstanding committee person. She has no agenda other than to work for the people and not a political party. How refreshing.
Steve Massell is as useful as a dummy, but unfortunately that's all the GOP needs in this town.
I wish Linda all the luck, and I hope the party really goes out to bat for her. They really need a face lift.
Anon 11:26
You really must be an idiot if you think Ms. Baum was hiding anything from anyone.
Ms. Baum, until declaring her candidacy for Township Committee, was a private citizen and her job had no relevance on anyone.
Now that she has declared her candidacy for office, she has stated what she does for a living and who her employer is unlike Gerry Scharfenberger, who kept his patronage job quite until after the election.
There is no comparison between the two and infer otherwise is just BS on your or anyone else's part.
You're going to have to come up with something better if you plan on slinging mud this early in the election cycle if you want it to stick.
I think we are confusing issues here. The issue with Gerry’s job is that it is an appointed public office. There was a lot of press in the last two years about holding more than one public office. At one time Christie was going to disallow it, but that reform never saw the light of day. I recall reading last year about an elected official who held another public office resigning one or the other.
The Compensation Rating & Investigation Bureau is funded by insurance carrier assessments instead of tax dollars. It operates independently from the Department of Banking and Insurance.
Anonymous 7{34....you sound like that patronage appointee who kisses butts to get appointed to the tax board. Gonna get turds on your nose one of these days.
GS is the biggest fake that ever served in this TWP and you aren't far behind.
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Linda's employment has never been a secret....like you butt kissing republicans ever gave a S---,now you wanna make election mud out of it. She only accepted a nomination this month,what in hell business was it ever of yours prior to that.
What do you do for a living besides look for trouble ?
Do they pay all pains in the butt in the republican party in this town for their vicious mouths? Just explain yourself and stop the crap slinging.
I think someone already pointed out that Linda does not work directly for the State. The release says:
Currently, Ms. Baum manages the actuarial division of the Compensation Rating & Inspection Bureau in Newark, NJ.
It is too bad people need to vent before they have all of the information, or refuse to read all of the information.
Democrat or republican all I am concerned about, is she from the royal duchy of lincroft or from the real middletown?
It depends what you consider the real Middletown.
Ms. Baum lives in the River Plaza section of town near Chris's Marina.
The section of Middletown may be irrelevant. Massell and Brightbill(former committeewoman) are residents of River Plaza ,Fiore is from east of Route 36 in either Belford or Port Monmouth or Leonardo ,Sharfey lives on Kings Court in Middletown off Kings Highway and Murray lives in Oak Hill,near the "royal duchy" of Lincroft. Not aware of where Settembino lives and don't care because they all and Ms. Baum live in the Twp.................
as required by the residency rules to serve in this town.
ALL ARE FROM THE REAL MIDDLETOWN, anonymous 5:16 ! ???? your sanity....typical republican nonsense and divisiveness....really great example for showing stupidity
and lack of integrity.
Mike , good she's from river plaza and she has my vote
Fiore has lived in Lincroft fora couple of years now. He used to live on Leonardville Rd in Belford, but moved on up to the "royal duchy" side whatever that means.
Annon 9:29, Fiore lives on Brasch Ave. in Middletown. Why do you people have this view of Lincroft that it's "royal duchy"? They have nice homes and modest homes like many areas of town. They have big problems as well and will be ruined when 342 townhouses are built.
I guess that's what you would like to see. Kind of sick thinking.
Anyway....good luck to Linda. She seems like a smart lady. We could use some brains on the dais.
I agree Massell doesn't offer much of anything.
Massell is about as useful on that dais as a mute would be. Maybe he can't create any problems if he keeps his mouth shut but he doesn't serve the people of this township either. He only serves the party with his "ya sir" or "no comment" replies.
When will the people in this town realize bi-partisan government is healthy. It creates checks and balances. God help us, we could sure use some checks on these self serving characters that populate that dais including their mouthpiece,that arrogant lawyer.Believe he envisions himself as a self styled dictator and did not need to be elected..,Tis his right and to hell with what's right.
Government in this town needs scrutiny and a thorough investigation before it will ever represent all the people who live here.
Here we go again with the Lincroft put-downs. Not the "real Middletown", my ass. I know that these remarks were made by anonymous commenters on this blog but I swear, if Linda Baum ever utters one wrong word about Lincroft I'm not gonna vote for her.
We'll have to see if Ms. Baum will toe the local Dem Party line and join those who disparage Lincroft, althought some of the people there bring such comments on themselves by implying that Lincroft is it's own little city.
She's already talking about the otehr touchstones of " more transparency" and "finance committee," so how far behind will the comments about Lincroft be?
I wish her luck, but doubt that she will run the kind of campign she really needs to win...
Legion,
Get over yourself. When was the last time a Middletown Democratic Candidate ever say anything derogatory about Lincroft or any other part of Middletown? The answer is "Never".
And what exactly is the "party line" as it pertains to Lincroft, Legion? Please inform us all seeing how you have such inside information now from the Democrats around town to go along with all of your Republican insights.
The world would like to know.
Mike,
If this Legion character is who I believe "it" is, she's from Lincroft and we all know her nasty,vicious remarks and innuendos....Sharfey's pal, the real estate agent now Christie's butt kisser.
If it's not her then that twp.attorney needs more to do then writing on blog's or do they pay him by the hour if it's him.
Perhaps you've missed the comments about how we need committee members elcetd to represent districts in town because the "whole town isn't represented?"
I kind of think I read that stuff right here on this very blog...
That's the Democratic Party line is it not?
If you're saying that Democrats are interested in giving residents a voice in how their local government is run, then i would say yes. If you're saying Democrats want to pit one section of town against another then you're wrong.
Mike,
You are a Democrat and I think we all agree that your blog is a Democratic leaning blog. Sure, there are Republicans making comments on here too, but most of the people on this blog sound pretty partisan to me. You're all united in your antipathy toward our Township's Republican leadership. That's the overriding theme of most of the comments on your blog. I've been reading your blog for a few years now and I've noticed that another popular topic for your commenters is their very obvious discrimination and prejudice toward people who live in Lincroft. A lot of times when a Committee-person is brought up in a negative manner, their Lincroft residency is also mentioned. Lincroft is frequently disparaged by your bloggers and a lot of their comments link Lincroft with Republicans. This certainly sounds like "Democrats pitting one section of the town again the other" to me. I'm a Democrat who grew up in Lincroft, in a family of Democrats. I don't care what section of town a candidate lives in; if they look like they'll do a good job and they share my beliefs, I'll vote for them.
Anon 9:40
Don't confuse what anonymous commenters post with what the "Democratic Party line" is, as Legion and a few others would like you to do.
I allow anonymous commenting on this blog because it fosters conversation that would not otherwise take place. I don't always agree with what is stated and I have called those anonymous commenters out in the past (both D's & R's).
If there is animosity between those that live one or more sections of town with those who live in other sections of town that is to be expected.
Middletown an extremely diverse town and what is good for Port Monmouth,Belford or North Middletown for example is not usually in the best interests of those who live in River Plaza, Lincroft, Locust Point or vise verse. That's they way it is.
It has nothing to do with "party line" and everything to do with diversity.
Would Middletown be better off with a different form of government? I have stated here in the past that I think it would be, our current form of government is inefficient. A Ward system with a strong Mayor is what Middletown needs for better representation and accountability from our elected officials.
Would a Ward System mean that Democrats would take control away from the Middletown Republicans? No, I don't think that would happen but it would ensure that other voices are heard and represented on the town committee.
There is no advantage to Democrats in pitting one section of town against another. All it does is polarize the opposition and leads to animosity and the misunderstanding of others who have problems that they would like to see addressed.
And yet Mike, that's EXACTLY what a Ward system would do. Each Ward Committeeman (or woman) would have to vote for things that benefited the people in their ward, things their constituents wanted.
Given limited resources not every ward would be able to get everything they wanted, which would mean that deals would be have to be made, and... one part of town would be pitted against another part of town -- specifically because the ward system narrowed the Committee's base of voters.
You can judge a person's character by the words they post. They embarass themselves. Not need to respond to those who haven't a clue. Lincroft rocks! Along with the rest of Middletown!
Legion,
Please get over yourself already.
No one said that just because you would there is a Ward means that one Ward would have preferential treatment over another.
Yes, resources are scarce and would still be scarce under a Ward system. What the Ward system would do would be to encourage civil debate among council members to ensure that all sides are heard from before decisions would be made.
Tell me, is the flooding in the bayshore region any less important than traffic in Lincroft? No, it's not, but for years flooding has been ignored while all kinds of traffic studies have been done in Lincroft.
It was only when Patrick Short and Sean Byrnes were on the Township Committee that flooding in Port Monmouth began to be addressed. Now that they are no longer on the committee the flooding project has slowed to a snails pace.
If there was a Ward system in place maybe there wouldn't have been so many issues like turf fields, Avaya redevelopment and swim clubs shaking things up in town, causing people headaches.
Remember, people are upset because they are not informed, feel that they have no one to hold accountable and are constontantly lied to by the people that run the township.
Yes they are so upset that they keep voting Republicans in by wide margins. They were so enthralled by Short and Byrnes that both got beaten by huge margins. Tim to get over yourself.
Congratulations and good luck Ms. Baum.
I only know one former committee person who was not fond of Lincroft and she's not running.
It was Pam Britebill who threw Lincroft under the bus when it came time to choose a location to fullfill out COAH obiligation. Now Lincroft is fighting that disaster.
She denied Bamm Hollow would get developed because of lack of sewer capability and tried to put a sports complex in the worst place imaginable.
Why on earth would anyone even suggest it's the Dems who are anti Lincroft? It's been the Republican majority who have made all the mistakes.
Sean Byrnes, Mary Mahoney and Carol Fowler all live there too.
I think Linda Baum is a fine choice and will be an excellent representative to all areas of town.
And now a special message from Legion's brain:
"Linda Baum is running for office! I simply cannot let a simple announcement go by without posting an inaccurate and politically motivated comment. Let's see...I'm from Lincroft myself and I know that Lincroft folk tend to come out and vote. So, I'll make up something to make Lincroft folk thing Linda and the Democrats are dissing them. Then they will get mad at Linda and come out to vote against her!
Oh it's so much fun being ME! And I feel so much better now. Even if only one person believes the lies, it's a job worth doing to keep myself and my compadres feeding at the trough. After all, it's practically a family business!"
Cody &Co.
The Liberal posters cry foul, and say they would
represent the whole town, how can that be true
when you post negative comments about citizens and taxpayers. Seems you have a vendetta against one individual. You stalk , post untruths and threaten. Now why would or should anyone vote for your candidate when your behavior here is so despicable.
I have great admiration for Ms. Baum. She attends every meeting, takes notes and asks questions. She does a heck of a lot more than most citizens do to stay informed and to make sure her representatives understand her point of view.
My question was and is whether she will continue to be her own person or will she now toe the local party line?
That party line includes the attacks on Lincroft by way of clamoring for the Ward system that would make things even MORE divisive, and idea, by the way, that has been raised and rejected by the town for at least 40 years now.
Our committemen and women are elected "at large," and so represent all of us, not just the neighbors in their "ward." Since they rely on votes from the whole town, they have to consider the best interests of the town as a whole as opposed to just the people in their section of town.
Like I've said, that idea has been rejected for decades, and likely will continue to be, if not because of the divisiveness of it, then also because it changes the way the town is run and the Mayor (and likely the Committee) would have to be paid real salaries under such a system. It would be very expensive as other towns have seen.
I wish Linda the best and I hope she runs as herself and not as a Democratic mouthpiece, that she holds her own views even where the conflict with the party line...
We'll see...
Need Lincroft representation on the Committee
Does anyone believe that this Legion character actually has a brain ?
No one with brains continually spouts the
divisive diatribe as "it" does in a township of over 70,000 very diverse residents. Even the republicans get sick of the nonsense!
Legion, Is your head screwed on right? Do really think Lincroft residents believe it's the Dems who are dissing them? We are way too smart for that crap,
Why don't you talk to those people who started SONIC? They fought the sports complex and are fighting the AVAYA development.
Thankfully the LVGA has been protecting this town from over development for over a decade.
If not for those resident groups Lincroft would be more of a mess by now.
No thanks to Scharfenberger & co.
Anon 4/17 @ 7:05 pm
Excellent points. Kudos to you from the bayshore side of town.
Linda Baum is a political puppet! The Dems hate on Lincroft, but put a Lincroft Dem on the ballot last year. Dems are just noise in this town, never will become anything.
Baum works for a government agency that is funded by the insurance companies that service NJ residents and companies. How is that not a tax?
No fees from customers, no funding. Another hidden tax on the people of NJ!
Unfortunately, a handful of Lincroft residents, whose actions and accusations are designed solely for personal enrichment and political agendas, have given Lincroft an unfair reputation.
The truth is, most Lincroft residents are not just in it for themselves, and they are not dumb enough to think the Middletown Republicans care a whit about the people who live in ANY particular section. Their history in regard to Lincroft is well known.
I live in Lincroft and I support Ms. Baum. Ms. Baum can certainly do no worse than her Republican predecessors and at the very least, her taking Pat Parkinson and the Sewerage Authority to task ensures that we won't be paying for her Barcolounger there in the near future.
Anon 10:55 As a Lincroft resident too, I agree. The only successes Lincroft has achieved is from the residents fighting to perserve their community.
The Republicans have done everything they could do destroy this part of town. Pam Brightbill couldn't stand us accusing the residents of not thinking we were part of Middletown.
Maybe that goes back to Lincroft trying to cecede from Middletown about 25 years ago. I wish they were successful. We wouldn't be dealing with the Avaya situation now.
I live in River Plaza and oppose this nutty character. She almost gets arrested and you want her on a committee?
A few comments after reading through the posts here:
Regarding Middletown’s form of government, I don’t think a 100% ward system is the way to go. I favor the recommendation made by the Charter Commission in its 1969 report. They recommended a 7-member Township Committee and a separate elected mayor. Of the 7 committee members, 4 would be elected from wards and 3 from the Township at large. The Charter Commission’s thinking was to balance representation and unity.
Under our current form of government, there are five Township Committee members elected from the township at large, and one of the five acts as mayor. That is an inadequate form of government for a town that is 41 square miles with 67,000 residents.
Regarding Lincroft, I know many fine people who live there. I also know many fine people who live in the other sections of town. I think of us all as Middletown residents.
When I think about Lincroft, what comes to mind is that two of the Lincroft districts were the first to have leaf and brush collection bid out. The Township realized a $100,000 savings by doing so. Privatization of leaf and brush pick-up has since been expanded to additional districts, but not all. Expansion to all districts is something that should be explored. Perhaps additional savings can be achieved.
I mention the collection services to show you how my mind works. I am not about tearing anyone down. I am about spending money wisely and putting some money back in your pockets in the process.
I look forward to serving Middletown residents.
To Anon 7:18AM
Pat, just hit the snooze button and go back to bed, er, I mean work.
To anon 7:18,
The only nut that should be discussed here is not Linda Baum ( she's no nut and the republicans are afraid of her intelligence and diligence ), the nut in question is Patrick Parkinson for ever calling the police when he could have answered Linda's question about the sewage authority. That's the really nutty behavior and question what he had to hide. Hasn't he cost this town enough already with his behavior???????
She should know better not to disrupt and cause a raucous at any place of business. A poor example she set and a bad reputation she brought upon herself. If she can' t contain herself in a diplomatic way in public, she won't contain herself diplomatically on the dias.
Believe the one who was disruptive was P.P. not Linda. HE SHOULD KNOW BETTER ,much better and what does it take for him to learn, Another harrassement suit for the taxpayers to pay ??
Diplomacy on the dais...are you kidding us. NOT ONE OF THEM KNOWS WHAT DECORUM IS..NOT ONE !!
Are you sure Linda doesnt work for the state?
The New Jersey Compensation Rating and Inspection Bureau (NJCRIB) was created, established and continued pursuant to N.J.S.A. 34:15-89 and -90.1.
NJCRIB is charged by Statute to:
Establish and maintain rules, regulations and premium rates for workers compensation and employers liability insurance
Adopt means for assuring uniform and accurate audit of payrolls as they relate to workers compensation insurance
Encourage employers to reduce the number and severity of accidents by adjusting premiums through the use of credits and debits under a uniform system of experience rating
The responsibilities of NJCRIB include the following:
Administration of all Workers Compensation Rates and Rating Programs
Administration of the Classification System
Review and maintenance of individual employer insurance coverage records
Administration of the Residual Market
Anon 9:14
Yes we are sure
If a citizen who pays for Parkinson's 130k a year nap at the Sewerage Authority is not welcome to just show up unannounced, something smells fishy. We all pay for their "salaries" - is there perhaps something even more egregious than long snoozes going on there? Was Linda perhaps blocking the way of the masseuse?
Mike,
The republican political cesspool is afraid of Linda's intelligence and acumen and experience . Plain and simple and that would be true regardless of her place of employment!
They can't deal with anyone of intelligence because they CANNOT CONTROL INTELLIGENT PEOPLE WHO SEE THRU THE FACADE OF THE BRAINLESS in government in this community.
Afraid of Her. BWAaaHAaaaaHaaaa
BWAAaaaaaaHAAaaaaaHaaaaaa
It's true- they are so afraid they need to call police rather than deal forthrightly with a plain old FOIA inquiry. You can see from 7: 03 what happens to our local politicians in Middletown when they are not in their echo chamber of mutual backslapping and favor trading.
I have lived in Middletown since 1994. I am sick of seeing the taxes rise, the game playing of the Township mismanaging our money. They can't keep to a budget and want to pilfer the Library for extra funds they think they are entitled to.
The Library managed their funds just fine and had a surplus. Well, we need an independent audit of Middletown spending.
It's time to put a stop to "no show" jobs, "do nothing employees", (I have pictures of Mtc. workers just hanging out in their trucks doing "nothing") and the politicians stuffing their pockets with our cash.
anonymous 4/23 10:09
I was told that about a year or 2 ago the swim club had a $100,000 surplus that was absorbed into township general funds. That money should have went for in improvements at the club. The bobbling heads on the town council wanted the swim club to fail.
As a Democrat living in the Navsink section of Middletown I seem to be a rarity among my neighbors. All that aside, I see Mrs. Baum as a strong canidate except for her stance on the sewer authority. I don't feel we should be paying bloated saleries and pension benefits to it's boad of commissioners either. But, turning it's operation over to the Twp DPW would be a grave mistake. I can tell you as a CPA that the sewer tax in Middletown is the ONLY tax we pay that is NOT inflated. Most area towns pay twice what we do at least. I am positve it would be no time at all until those rates began to climb under DPW oversite. I don't know the answer to dissolving the board, but DPW is NOT it.
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