VLT’s, slot machines, or an all out gaming casino in the Meadowlands is the only way to protect horse racing in New Jersey
Oceanport Councilman Joe Irace delivered the following report regarding the borough’s Monmouth Park Task Force at this evenings council meeting:
On Monday January 10th our Monmouth Park Task Force met to discuss the future of Monmouth Park as it pertains to the recent Hanson Report Part 2. Our Task Force meeting was attended by a varied cross section of members including two former New Jersey State Senators, a horse veterinarian, thoroughbred owners, and concerned Oceanport residents. The meeting was very specific and our participants quite vocal and knowledgeable. Our Task Force once again maintained the position that VLT’s, slot machines, or an all out gaming casino in the Meadowlands is the only way to protect horse racing in New Jersey. All the surrounding states of New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland now have some form of gaming at their race tracks. This uneven playing field enables our competitors to lure New Jersey horseman out of State with larger purses and better quality horse racing.
Knowing the current legislative posture in New Jersey and knowing that gaming is not coming to the Meadowlands this year, our Task Force was once again proactive in seeking solutions to get us through 2011 and beyond. Among the suggestions were: working with Monmouth Park to seek alternative revenue streams such as a boardwalk type facility in the picnic area, upscale restaurants, concerts, retail boutiques and perhaps even a hotel. Anything to make Monmouth Park more desirable as an asset to the State, not just for horse racing, but as a destination place in the heart of the Jersey Shore.
The Task Force continues to ask for the actual financials of Monmouth Park, not of the full New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, of which Monmouth Park belongs. Are the numbers the State uses correct when they say the facility loses $6 million? We do not think so and would like to see the empirical evidence.
We continue to be concerned with the possible veto of a bipartisan bill approved in the New Jersey Senate and Assembly that would enable horse racing to not only survive, but to thrive. It is important to remember that horse racing contributes 7,000 jobs, $110 million in federal, state and local taxes, and 57,000 acres of working agricultural landscape and open space to New Jersey.
Our Governing Body and our Task Force will continue to lobby our elected officials on behalf of Monmouth Park. It is important not only to Oceanport and Monmouth County, but to the state of New Jersey as well.
Jim Gray of Manalapan, the former clerk of the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders, has been telling party leaders and other potential freeholder candidates that he will not be seeking the GOP nomination for freeholder this year. According to multiple sources, Gray will continue his service on the Monmouth County Library Board, and enjoy his retirement with his family. Gray did not return MMM’s phone call for confirmation.
Word that Gray was considering a bid, as reported here on January 10th, had a virtual field clearing effect. Now that Gray has chosen not to run, the race for the nomination to challenge Democratic Freeholder Amy Mallet is expected to heat up. Incumbent Republican Lillian Burry has indicated that she will seek a third term. No challenger is expected to Burry’s nomination.
Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas stopped short of declaring his candidacy when asked by MMM if he was running. He said that with Gray out of the race he would re-start his efforts to gauge the level of support he has among municipal chairs and other party leaders.
Wall Township Committee Member George Newbury and Spring Lake Councilman Gary Rich, Sr. are expected to seek the nomination.
Holmdel Mayor Serena DiMaso and former Middletown Township Committee Member Tom Wilkens, both veterans for the nominating process are considering bids, as is former Tinton Falls municipal chairman Michael Laffery.
Our Governor and First Lady were guests at the White House state dinner honoring Chinese President Hu Jintao.
Upon Christie’s entry to the gala, a reporter asked him what is was like being the only Republican invited.
Christie is certainly unique, but he was not the lone Republican at the dinner. Senator Richard Lugar and former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger were also on the guest list. Neither was Christie the only New Jersey executive present. MWW CEO Michael Kempner was also among the guests.
The US. Census Bureau will not release the data required for the State Apportionment Commission to do their work for another month. The commission is holding its organizational meeting today in Trenton.
At NJ Spotlight, Mark Magyar takes a comprehensive look at New Jersey’s population shifts based upon the 2000 census data and the 2009 population projections published by the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development. Magyar’s piece is likely to be the most widely read article on State Street today. His conclusions:
Based on an analysis of population projections, when the new legislative map is drawn we can expect to see a configuration more favorable to Republicans. We could very well see one Democratic district in the urban northeast replaced by a solidly GOP district, most likely somewhere in the middle of South Jersey. That is what happened in 1991 when Republican commission members persuaded the neutral tie-breaker to take the Democratic 30th District in Essex and plop it in the middle of Burlington and Ocean counties where it immediately became a Republican bastion for Senator Bob Singer of Lakewood and Assemblyman Joseph Malone of Bordentown, each first elected in 1993.
If Democrats decide to give up an urban northeast district as part of a retrenchment strategy, it will most likely end up in South Jersey The question for both party’s strategists is whether they want to make the new district a Republican stronghold and allow the the South Jersey incumbents from both parties to consolidate their bases, or use the new district to try to create more competitive districts — an approach that presumably would give the GOP a better chance to gain the seats they need to win back the legislature.
Former congressional candidate Anna Little told a meeting of the Highlands Republican Club that the composition of the New Jersey Supreme Court is unconstitutional and “we do not have a Chief Justice as far as I am concerned.” She said she would file suit to challenge the new congressional district map if the court continues to have a vacancy when and if Chief Justice Stuart Rabner appoints a tie-breaking vote to the redistricting commission.
“Governor Christie did not reappoint Judge Wallace, who is on hold-over status,” said Little, “Senator Sweeney won’t approve Wallace’s replacement because Wallace is a Democrat.”
Justice John Wallace left the court in May of 2010 as a result of Governor Christie declining to reappoint him. Democrats have charged that Christie is tampering with the independence of the judiciary. Senate President Steve Sweeney has refused to hold hearings on Christie’s nominee to the court, Morris County Attorney Anne Patterson.
In an opinion issued in December, Associate Justice Roberto Rivera-Soto asserted that the Chief Justice Rabner does not have the authority to appoint a temporary justice to fill the vacancy unless necessary to fill a quorum on the court. Rabner appointed Appellate Judge Edwin Stern to fill the court’s seventh seat. Five justices constitute a quorum. Rivera-Soto said he would refrain from participating in decisions so long as Stern sits on the court, declaring that Rabner’s appointment of Stern was unconstitutional. Rivera-Soto later modified his position, stating that he would vote and issue opinions unless he decides to abstain. In between the two statements, Rivera-Soto informed Christie that he would not seek to be reappointed when he term expires in September. Many Democrats, notably Sweeney and former Senate President/Acting Governor Richard Codey have called on Rivera -Soto to resign immediately.
Little caused herself some problems during the 2010 congressional campaign while flashing her constitutional scholar credentials. In an October 2010 column, Star Ledger columnist Tom Moran said of Little,
“One is left with the feeling that Little hasn’t done her homework. Politics is refreshed by new faces and perspectives, but the best rookies study hard before they swing this wildly. The tea party is bringing us a new breed. They are angry, as we are often told. But isn’t there something arrogant about this, too?”
MMM doesn’t often agree with Moran, but the shoe seems to fit in this case.
The dealth of Amit Bornstein while in custody of the Monmouth County Sheriff’s department last summer has been ruled accidental by the medical examiner and no criminal charges will be filed, according to a report in the Asbury Park Press.
Remember the hullabaloo last summer over News Corp, parent of FoxNews, giving $1 million dollars to the Republican Governors Association? The lefty media made a big deal about it. The Asbury Park Pres, aka Neptune Nudniks, even wrote an editorial condemning the contribution wherein they made a laughable assertion about how “real journalists” work hard to maintain their objectivity.
By Art Gallagher