Prosecutor: The Brookdale investigation is ongoing
Curley calls for resignation of Trustees
Former Brookdale Community College President Peter Burnham, 68, pleaded guilty to one count of third degree theft by deception and two counts of second degree official misconduct today before Judge Thomas F. Scully in Monmouth County Court, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosectuor Christopher Gramiccioni.
In a plea agreement, Burnham accepted a five year prison term. During the first two years he will be ineligible for parole. Gramiccioni said the parole leniency is in consideration for Burnham’s cooperation with the investigation into Brookdale which is ongoing. The prosecutor said he expects Burnham, who was released on his own recognisance today, will serve two years after he is sentenced on September 21st.
Gramiccioni said the Brookdale investigation has been going on for the last 15 months. He declined to say who else at the college is being investigated.
Burnham admitted using college credit cards for more than $24,000 in personal expenses and to defrauding Brookdale and the federal government of $20,398 in funds intended for his son’s college tuition. Both Brookdale and the federal government paid the young Burnham’s tuition at Monmouth University. Monmouth later cut a refund check to Burnham for $20,398. He kept the money.
Freeholder Director John Curley, the “whistle blower” on the Brookdale scandal, today called upon those members of the college’s Board of Trustees who served during Burnham’s tenure as president to immediately resign.
Curley said that two Trustees have been replaced sense Burnham’s resignation. He wants all but the two replacements to resign today. Curley first shed light on Burnham’s spending irregularities in a statement issued to MMM in February of 2011.
The Asbury Park Pressis reporting that former Brookdale Community College President Peter Burnham is appearing before Judge Thomas Scully in Monmouth County Criminal Court this afternoon.
Burnham was suspended and then retired last year after Freeholder John Curley called for a review of Brookdale’s budget which lead to revelations of spending irregularities and lax oversight on the part of the college’s Board of Trustees. Burnham was charging Brookdale for expenses unrelated to the school and had a country club membership and tuition reimbursement for his children as part of his compensation. His salary was over $216,000. Additionally he was paid $39,000 for memberships, an $18,000 housing allowance and $27,000 for a vehicle.
Multiple divorce litigants with cases before Judge Paul X. Escandon have told MMM that they have been informed by Monmouth County Court personnel that Escandon will no longer be hearing their cases.
Judge Lawrence M. Lawson, the Assignment Judge of the Monmouth County Vicinage, confirmed the change in Escandon’s assignment.
Escandon will be hearing non-matrimonial cases, those of unmarried couples with children and/or property who need the Court’s involvement to resolve their differences and post-divorce cases that he currently has, according to Lawson. All family court judges will hear post divorce matters that are 12 months old or more.
Lawson said that the change is the result of his reassigning Judges to cope with the Court’s four vacancies and the temporary elevation of Judge Michael Guadagno to the Appeals Court.
A group of thirty women lead by former Long Branch resident Rachel Alintoff have been fighting get to Escandon recused from their cases and removed from the bench for several months due to what they say is a pattern of improper and illegal rulings regarding custody and support in favor of their wealthy estranged husbands. There complaints have ranged from revoking custody without a hearing to emanicipating a disabled teenager in order to void child support.
The New Jersey Supreme Court ruled 3-2 with Chief Justice Stuart Rabner not participating, this morning in Paul M. DePascale v State of New Jersey that the pension and health benefits reforms passed by the legislature and signed into law by Governor Christie last year violates the State Constitution’s provision prohibiting a reduction in judges salaries during their terms. Thus, New Jersey Judges will not be contributing more to their pensions and health benefits, unless the Constitution is amended.
The issue now goes back to the Legislature. Legislation putting a Constitutional amendment on the ballot this fall was held up in June pending the Supreme Court’s decision.
A Monmouth University/Asbury Park Press poll released this morning indicates that Governor Christie’s approval numbers remain above 50% in New Jersey. 53% of registered voters approve of the job Christie is doing, compared to 35% that do not.
61% of Jersey voters think its a great idea that Mitt Romney tab Christie to give the keynote address at the Republican National Convention next month.
Christie has been promoting his bipartisan accomplishments in his out of state travels, but Jerseyans aren’t buying it. 31% of voters say that Christie and the Democratic leadership is working well together, 53% say they are not playing nice. 58% blame Christie and the Democrats equally.
The Democratic legislatures approval ratings remain in the tank, 35%-43%.
A majority of voters think it is wise to wait for state revenues to improve before cutting taxes.
Over at NJ.comStar Ledger columnist John Farmer tells a tale of a dinner party he attended where he asked his fellow Caucasian guests (and hosts presumably) if they believe President Obama was born outside of the United States and if they believe he is a Muslim. Most of the guest at the party that took place in a “pretty typical” “slightly upper-middle class neighborhood” admitted to believing that Obama is a foreign born Muslim, so said Farmer in the piece, After nearly four years of Barack Obama, is white America still uneasy with a black man in the White House? Most of the commenters at NJ.com think the column is fiction.
How could Obama even have become president if white America was uneasy with a black man in the White House?
After four years, more Americans of all races are uneasy with that particular black man in the White House! Herman Cain or Allen West would not make me uneasy. Condoleeza Rice wouldn’t make me uneasy. Colin Powell’s uneasiness makes me uneasy, not his skin color.
Farmer’s column is likely the an early indication of how the race card will be played by the left stream media in conjunction with the Obama campaign over the next four + plus months.
What will happen is “white guilt” isn’t working according to polling data come October? What will the lefties do if Mitt Romney chooses a black running mate?
The Monmouth Democratic Party’s second quarter campaign finance report, due July 15th, has not been posted on the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission’s website as of this afternoon. Dem Chairman Vin Gopal told MMM that the report was filed with ELEC, along with the report designating him as the new chairman, on July 10th. Gopal said he would contact ELEC resolve the problem.
At the end of the first quarter, the Monmouth Dems had $6,305.14 cash on hand and was $78,025 in debt. Over $60K of the debt was owed to then County Chairman Victor Scudiery. Gopal said that the second quarter report “was pretty much the same, less than $10,000 on hand.”
The Democratic county candidates, Kevin Lavan and Bill Shea for Freeholder and Michael Steinhorn for Clerk, have $64.14 between them as of their post-primary reports. Lavan and Steinhorn each told ELEC that they were not raising or spending money for the primary race. Shea raised over $20K, but spent all but $64.14 in the uncontested primary.
The Monmouth GOP appears to be in better shape. The GOP committee reported $34,790.31 in cash as of June 30th. In their post-primary reports, Freeholder Director John Curley reported $22,554.81 in cash; Freeholder Serena DiMaso reported $11,401.19 and County Clerk Claire French reported $14,673.21.
Monmouth County Republican Chairman John O. Bennett III has instructed all county and state elected officials, with the exception of this year’s candidates, to suspend raising money as of August 1 so as to not compete with his fundraising activities for the coming county campaign. Bennett promised Curley, DiMaso and French that he would raise the funds necessary for the fall campaign.
The thesis of the article is that the Aurora massacre, combined with 9/11, Columbine, Virginia Tech, Fort Hood and Tuscan, have made Americans feel less safe.
Do you feel less safe than you did last week? Are you more concerned about your family’s safety …going to the movies, the mall or commuting to work….than you were before 9/11?
Bipartisan Legislation Advances Administration’s Commitment to Development of Renewable Energy Resources in New Jersey
Trenton, NJ – Taking action that continues the Christie Administration’s commitment to fostering the development of renewable energy resources in New Jersey, Governor Chris Christie today signed into law bipartisan legislationto strengthen and encourage the continued growth of New Jersey’s solar industry, while protecting ratepayers from increased costs. The bill, S-1925, couples an acceleration of the renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for solar energy with a reduction of the solar alternate compliance payments, meeting an important goal of the Governor’s 2011 Energy Master Plan (EMP), strengthening the solar market in New Jersey, and securing the state’s place as a national solar energy leader.
“Since my time running for office, I made it clear that my Administration would be unrivaled in our aggressive support for the development of renewable sources of energy in New Jersey. Renewable energy not only helps meet our goals of increasing sustainability and protecting the environment, but can be an engine for economic growth and the creation of good-paying jobs for the people of our state,” said Governor Christie. “The bill I am signing today furthers these goals and will help us remain a national leader in the solar energy industry as we continue to promote innovative approaches to solar development, like developing landfills and other unusable lands and transforming them into sources of usable clean energy, all while holding down costs for families and businesses.”
New Providence, July 23… The healthcare industry will soon face record high tax increases, and medical device manufacturers, like C.R. Bard Inc., will be hit especially hard.
The medical device industry provides 63,400 high-paying jobs in New Jersey, and contributes $12.6 billion to the state’s economy. That is all at risk starting January 1, 2013 as the 2.3% Menendez medical device tax, a funding source for the Affordable Care Act, will go into effect.
Senator Kyrillos toured New Jersey based medical device manufacturer C.R. Bard Inc. today in New Providence to see first-hand how this new tax, among others, will affect their business and service to the consumer.
“This tax will effectively diminish the ability of medical device manufacturers, like C.R. Bard, to innovate and produce quality medical products for their consumers,” said Joe Kyrillos.
“Companies will be forced to raise prices in order to remain solvent due to this tax. That increase in price will then be passed along to the consumer in the form of more expensive health insurance, or more out-of-pocket healthcare spending. This tax will also greatly diminish the amount of money the industry will be able to set aside for research and development, making us less competitive and advanced in the global marketplace.
“Our healthcare spending as a country already far surpasses what it should. We need real reform that deals with the most basic problems of our healthcare industry. Senator Menendez is clearly mistaken if he thinks that higher taxes within a convoluted matrix of new laws and regulations is real reform.”
A May 2012 study by the Pacific Research Institute found that medical research and development will decrease by nearly $2 billion as a result of this tax. Another study, produced by the American Action Forum, found that this tax will force the medical device industry to decrease its workforce by up to 47,100 people, or 10% of the entire workforce.
(Source: ATR.org: ‘Obamacare Excise Tax will Keep Medical Devices out of Patients’ Hands’ http://atr.org/obamacare-excise-tax-medical-devices-patients-a7023)
