Free Seminar: "Post- Sandy Property Tax Assessment Appeals 101"

Monday, March 11, 2013

7:00pm - 8:30pm

Monmouth County Library, Headquarters

125 Symmes Road

Manalapan, NJ 07726

On Monday, March 11, 2013, 7:00pm - 8:30pm, the Freehold Township Democratic Club presents a free seminar on how to appeal your property tax assessment, including information on what to do if your property was affected by superstorm Sandy. The seminar will be held at the Monmouth County Library, Headquarters, 125 Symmes Road, Manalapan, NJ 07726.

Featured speaker will be Beverly Bova-Scarano, Former Commissioner of the Monmouth County Board of Taxation, Past President NJ Association of County Tax Board Commissioners & Administrators, and Licensed Residential Real Estate Appraiser, State of NJ. This event is free and open to the public! Light refreshments will be served and handouts will be provided.

Learn step by step how to appeal your assessment along with the 10 commandments you need to know when presenting your property assessment appeal. RSVP's are appreciated but not necessary. Please RSVP by calling 732-616-8855 or emailing vegand@verizon.net. Please park in the side lot, off Alexandria Drive.

Feb. 6 - Technology & Open Government Seminar at Rutgers – FREE

posted by Linda Baum for NJFOG

Four experts in open government will serve as panelists at a free seminar at Rutgers on Wednesday, February 6th. They will discuss how technology has affected issues surrounding open government, such as obtaining state and local government documents and getting access to public meetings.

The panel includes:

• Walter Luers, president of the NJ Foundation for Open Government (NJFOG)
• John Paff, chairman of the Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project
• Suzanne Piotrowski, an academic expert on open government
• Sen. Loretta Weinberg, the NJ Senate Majority leader and author of two bills to reform the Open Public Meetings Act and the Open Public Records Act

The session will be held in the 4th floor lecture hall of the Alexander Library, 169 College Ave., New Brunswick, NJ. It begins at 6:30 with light snacks/dinner, and then the discussion gets underway at 7 p.m.

The seminar is sponsored by the Centers for Global Advancement and International Affairs, the Journalism Research Institute, and the Rutgers chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

See flyer here: http://www.jrireports.com/gpage7.html.

For directions: http://rumaps.rutgers.edu/?id=C71819

Get Your Frack On; Free Seminar at Middletown Library

Fracking extracts natural gas by injecting a high-­pressure mix of water, sand, and toxic chemicals into the ground. Fracking poses significant risks to water, air quality, and health. Hear a panel of experts discuss the issues.

 Thursday, June 7, 2012, 7:00 – 8:45 p.m.

 Middletown Public Library

 55 New Monmouth Road, Middletown, NJ

PANELISTS:

Larysa Dyrszka, M.D., Physicians, Scientists & Engineers for Healthy Energy Susan Kraham, Senior Staff Attorney, Environmental Law Clinic, Columbia U. Jim Walsh, Eastern Region Director, Food & Water Watch

Moderator: Jan Dash PhD, former member Middletown Green team.

Expert Biographies:

Dr Larysa Dyrszka is a graduate of Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis. Following residency and board certification in pediatrics, she practiced general pediatrics for over twenty years and held the position of Director of Pediatrics at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, NJ for six years. Her recent work has been focused on children’s rights with the Conference of NGOs at the United Nations Committee on Children’s Rights, particularly human trafficking. She has been a SUNY Sullivan Board of Trustees member since 2009. Most recently she has become an advocate for public health on the issue of gas drilling. She is a founding member of Sullivan Area Citizens for Responsible Energy Development, an affiliate member of Physicians, Scientists and Engineers for Healthy Energy and on the steering committee of Damascus Citizens for Sustainability.

Susan J. Kraham is a Senior Staff Attorney and Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School's Environmental Law Clinic. Susan has spent her legal career representing public interest clients with a particular focus on environmental and land use law. Prior to joining the Environmental Law Clinic, Susan served as Counsel to the New Jersey Audubon Society. From 1998 until 2005 she was an Associate Clinical Professor in the Environmental Law Clinic at Rutgers Law School, Newark. Susan was a 1992 graduate of Columbia Law School. She also has a Masters in Urban Planning from New York University’s Wagner School. After graduation from Law School, Susan clerked for the Honorable Justice Gary Stein of the New Jersey Supreme Court. She was a Skadden fellow. Susan was also an echoing green fellow where she partnered on a community based environmental justice project.

Jim Walsh is a dedicated political organizer with over ten years experience working in local and national movements to empower communities to work for social, racial and economic justice. Jim currently serves as the Eastern Region Director for Food & Water Watch. In this capacity, Jim is overseeing and implementing a regional strategy to ensure the wellbeing of the public triumphs over private interests who profit from the exploitation of the essential resources of food and water.

Jim first found his passion for social justice when he started volunteering for the Milwaukee Catholic Workers while earning a degree in Economics from Marquette University. After graduating from Marquette, he participated in an organizing fellowship with the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group at Rutgers University, where he worked to organize communities to improve the quality of waterways in the Garden State and stop oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. After completing the fellowship, Jim went on to work for the Progressive Action Network, where he organized grassroots campaigns in six states for more affordable medications, preservation of farmland and stopping the privatization of Social Security.

In 2006 Jim worked with Family Promise, a national network of 4,500 congregations, to develop a public policy program focused on preventing and ending homelessness in America. This program is currently engaging thousands of volunteers in congregation based letter-writing campaigns. Prior to working for Food and Water Watch, Jim worked as the Program Director for New Jersey Citizen Action, the state’s largest citizen watchdog coalition. In this capacity, he would oversee education and public policy campaigns focused on a variety of social justice issues ranging from health care for all to ending the war in Iraq and ensuring our state and federal governments pass moral budgets that address the needs of people rather than those with money and power. During his free time, Jim spends time with his wife Marisa who is a high school science teacher. He also enjoys gardening, is active in a local movement to increase participation and representation of local communities, and sits on the board of the George St. Co-op, a cooperatively owned health food store in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Jim can be reached at jwalsh@fwwatch.org.

Free GASLAND Screening in Rumson on Thursday, May 31st

by guest blogger Linda Baum

Have you still not seen the documentary GASLAND?  Do you want to see it again?  Join Food and Water Watch this Thursday evening, May 31st, from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m. at Rumson Presbyterian, 4 East River Road, Rumson, NJ 07760 for a FREE community screening of the film.  To register, please visit:  http://bit.ly/GaslandAtRumsonPresbyterian

GASLAND exposes the highly pollutive process known as fracking, short for hydraulic fracturing, whereby natural gas is extracted from shale rock by pumping a large volume of water, sand, and toxic chemicals into the ground.  See the movie trailer here:  http://www.gaslandthemovie.com/trailer.

PBS did an illuminating interview with the film’s creator, Josh Fox.  Here’s the link:   http://video.pbs.org/video/1452296560/. 

Stick around after the movie for a discussion on how you can be involved in the local campaign to ban fracking and fracking waste in New Jersey.  Also, there is a FREE seminar on fracking at the Middletown Library main branch on June 7^th at 7 p.m.

Food and Water Watch Hosts Free Informational Seminar on "Fracking" Tomorrow in Red Bank

RED BANK, NJ - Shale gas drilling (fracking) has quickly become one of our nation’s most controversial issues. For the past few years, energy companies have been inflating the number of jobs the natural gas industry will provide, as well as the amount of energy that is available and how long it is projected to last. Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has linked fracking and drilling for natural gas to several cases of water contamination across the country, most recently in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Wyoming, while the New York Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) admits that fracking could have “significant adverse effects on water resources in the state.”

The New Jersey Legislature passed a ban against fracking, but there are currently no bills in place regarding wastewater disposal or natural gas pipeline construction. In fact, several counties throughout New Jersey are currently deliberating over proposed plans for pipelines and wastewater treatment plants for fracking fluid, and there is no legislation protecting the Garden State from becoming a shale oil transport zone and dumping ground.  Fracking waste is already being received by Lorco Petroleum based in Elizabeth, New Jersey.

New Jersey residents need to get educated on this issue and now is the time to do it!

Join us at the Two River Theater Company for an enlightening and FREE discussion on the growing local, national, and global movements to ban fracking and the harmful impacts that shale gas drilling and processing has on our communities.

This exciting event will feature community leaders and experts who will discuss the local, national, and global response to fracking and what each of us can do to help move us toward a sustainable energy future.

Panelists Include:

Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director, Food & Water Watch Cindy Zipf, Executive Director, Clean Ocean Action Frank Rumore, Coordinator, Fight the Pipe Nikolay Mihaylov, PhD Student, Vanderbilt University, Community Research and Action Program; Liaison to Climate Action Coalition Bulgaria Larysa Dyrszka, M.D., Physicians, Scientists & Engineers for Healthy Energy

Moderated by Bob Jordan, NJ Statehouse Bureau Reporter of New Jersey Press Media. Mr. Jordan has covered state, county and municipal governments for the past 10 years.

This event will feature live music by renowned folk artist, Spook Handy, and local food from et al fine foods!

A special thanks to our hosts whose generous support has made this event possible: Patricia C. Kenshaft PHD, Liz Nelson, Frank Weeden, and Tina Weishaus

RSVP is required: RDawn@fwwlocal.org or register on our site:http://bit.ly/FrackingSolutionsAtTRTC

Tuesday, Mar 27, 2012

6:30 PM - 9:00 PM

Free Seminar on Fighting Foreclosure

(click on image to enlarge)

Byrnes O'Hern will be conducting a Free Seminar on March 10, 2012, at the Oyster Point Hotel in Red Bank for homeowners in foreclosure, those facing foreclosure or anyone interested in understanding recent developments in the areas of foreclosure, securitization of loans and robo-signing by banks. 


The goal of the Seminar is to educate homeowners and the general public on the foreclosure crisis and the rights of homeowners when dealing with lenders.  Those wishing to attend can register at:  http://www.eventbrite.com/org/1992980889.