Letter: Monmouth County Election Results Are A Concern

Dear Editor,

I am concerned about the integrity of the election results in the Monmouth County Freeholder's race.

On election night, Monmouth County Clerk Claire French (R) delayed results of the Freeholder's race due to alleged technical problems, that allegedly required the voting machine cartridges to be brought back to the County Clerk's office for reading.

It is highly suspicious to see these kinds of "technical errors" occur in a hotly contested race, especially where the Republican candidates were accused of collusion with former Manalapan Mayor and now convicted felon, Andrew Lucas in a corrupt land deal that resulted in Mr. Lucas being given county funds. The reported results were extremely close, but resulted in a victory for the Republican candidates.

I am calling on the FBI to do a full investigation and audit into these questionable results to ensure there was no falsification of results in favor of Republican candidates.

Freeholder Lillian Burry (R) has been accused of serious corruption involving both the Lucas farm land deal and Brookdale Community College (where the college president is now incarcerated). It would be far from surprising if she was willing to have her party tamper with votes, to maintain power.

We cannot forget the confirmed corruption of the Monmouth County Republican Party that came to light in the Bid Rig investigations.


Eric Hafner
Toms River

Democratic Candidates For Freeholder Go After "The Terrible Trio" In New TV Spot That Begins Airing Today

Monmouth County Democratic Freeholder candidates Larry Luttrell and Joe Grillo, are going up on Television today. They are fighting to get the message out to the over 630,000 residents of Monmouth County about how ineffective Republican incumbents Lillian Burry and Gary Rich are. Their TV spot will be running for 2 weeks on Verizon Fios, Comcast and Cablevision through major channels in their targeted demographics.

Watch the video HERE

APP Editorial: Freeholders bear some blame for Lucas fiasco

If you have been keeping tabs on the Andrew Lucas land deal, the Asbury Park Press published a very important editorial today, which blames Freeholder Director Lillian Burry, Deputy Freeholder Director Gary Rich and the all-Republican Freeholder Board for the land deal between Manalapan's Republican former Mayor, Andrew Lucas and Monmouth County. Last week Lucas was just found guilty on all 11 counts for illegally obtaining the property.

This is what Democratic candidates for Monmouth County Freeholder Larry Luttrell and Joe Grillo have been campaigning on for months, this editorial collaborates what they have been saying all along and is important for their campaign.  The good ol' boy network that has been running the County for years needs to be stopped and ethical behavior by those we elect needs to be reinstated.

From the APP:

Former Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas was convicted last week of falsifying tax returns and fraudulently obtaining funds to purchase a piece of property that netted him nearly $1.2 million in farmland preservation taxpayer money. 

Andrew Lucas

The convictions, for wire fraud, loan application fraud, making false statements to the Internal Revenue Service, aggravated identity theft, obstruction of a grand jury investigation and falsification could land him in jail for decades when he is sentenced in January.

While officials at the county and local level were quick to distance themselves from Lucas, the whole fiasco could have been avoided if the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders had long ago barred elected and appointed officials from participating in the farmland preservation program. In classic “closing the barn door after the horses have left” fashion, the freeholders did not get around to that until April.

The farmland preservation funding Lucas received for his 97-acre Diamond Developers at Burke Farm sparked controversy as some politicians rightly insisted he should not have applied for the money while he was a sitting officeholder in Manalapan.

After purchasing the farm, Lucas applied for and received $694,800 from the state’s Farmland Preservation Program, $277,920 from Monmouth County’s open space fund, and $185,280 from Manalapan. Under the deal, Lucas was allowed to keep the farm but gave up any right to develop 96 of its 97 acres. While Lucas faces jail, Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry, who championed the deal from the beginning, now finds herself backpedaling at breakneck speed.

Burry said last week that the “guilty verdict against Andrew Lucas ... has nothing to do with the freeholders, the county or the farmland preservation program.” Lucas, she said, stands alone in that it was he who falsified the tax returns and fraudulently obtained funds to purchase the property.

Burry was not alone in acting as cheerleader for the deal. Manalapan Mayor Jordan Maskowitz and Committeewoman Susan Cohen also supported it from the beginning.
We are not buying Burry’s self-absolution....

Continue reading

Former Mayor Lucas Found Guilty in Land Deal; Democrats Call To Reinstate Ethics Board

Former Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas was found guilty on all 11 federal charges against him earlier today in his scheme that bilked Manalapan, Monmouth County and state residents of nearly $1.2 million of farmland preservation funds.  Lucas is now facing a long jail sentence in a federal penitentiary.

"A jury in federal court here has found former Manalapan mayor Andrew Lucas guilty of all charges in an indictment surrounding a questionable land deal that netted him nearly $1.2 million in taxpayer money.

The jury reached the verdict Thursday following a two-week trial before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson.

Lucas, 37, remains free on a $500,000 bond, pending sentencing on Jan. 20, 2015, when he could face decades in federal prison..." - Asbury Park Press, 9/18/14

It should be noted that incumbent Freeholder candidates Lillian Burry and Gary Rich voted in favor of giving Lucas nearly $278K of Monmouth County open space funds. It's because of this and other alleged improprieties by the currently all Republican Monmouth County Freeholders Board that  Democrats are calling for the reinstatement of the short-lived Monmouth County Ethics Board.

"... Democratic candidates Joe Grillo and Larry Luttrell say the ethics board is needed to prevent recent scandals like the farmland preservation land deal involving former Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas and financial improprieties by former Brookdale Community College President Peter Burnham.

“The ethics board would be looking at any concerns or ethical issues in county government. It would be a place of redress,” Grillo said. “I think the freeholders owe it to the people we serve.”

Monmouth Democrats have been relentless in trying to pin those scandals and others to their opponents, Republican freeholder incumbents Lillian Burry and Gary Rich...."            - Asbury Park Press,  9/18/14

Monmouth Freeholders Want Christie To Pay For Special Elections Upfront

Even in the Republican stronghold of Monmouth County, where Governor Christie won with over 60% of the vote in 2009, members of the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders think its a waste of money to hold a special election in October

Monmouth County Freeholders Gary Rich, John Curley and Freeholder Director Thomas Arnone, think it's a bad idea to waste of millions of dollars in taxpayer money to hold a special election in October to replace Frank Lautenberg, when we could just have an  election three weeks later and save New Jersey taxpayers $12 million (that is unless the state pays for it upfront and doesn't leave the county holding the bag).

From NJ.com:

Monmouth County officials are happy to hold a special election for U.S. Senator in October, but they would like the state to pay the costs up front.

“We budgeted for the November election and the primary, we did not budget for this election,” Freeholder Gary Rich said. “We are reaching out to the state and asking if they could to fund this up front.”

At their next meeting, the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders will consider a resolution to request that the state pay for the Oct. 16 special election and the Aug. 13 party primaries.

At issue are two elections, a primary and a special election, to fill the seat vacated by the late Frank Lautenberg. Typically, counties budget to equip and staff polls each election year, and are later reimbursed by the state.

“With the special elections, the state is throwing the burden on the county, and I believe the county should be paid before them,” Freeholder John Curley said. “We’re struggling as a coastal county with all the problems from Sandy, now we’re left with towns that are devastated and the tax base is deficient.”

Because the special election wasn’t arranged until after Monmouth County passed its budget, it will have to do some re-arranging to finance the several-hundred-thousand dollar cost of two election days.

“The cost is going to be absorbed into the budget this year,” Freeholder Director Thomas Arnone said. “This would be a special emergency appropriation that would be raised through next year’s tax dollars. You receive money back from the state at the end of the year, so it would come back to neutral in the long run, but it would make it easier if we got it first.”

Statewide, the special election has a $12 million estimated cost.

Curley said it would be better if the senatorial election was moved back to the general election, saving all agencies money.... Continue reading