Red Light Camera Requiem

New Jersey’s State Government and 23 of its municipal governments will recover a morsel of integrity at midnight tonight when state sanctioned theft in the form of red light cameras cease to operate at 73 intersections.  New Jersey’s Red Light Camera Program, authorized as a five year pilot during the lame duck session of the 2006-2008 legislature and signed into law by Governor Jon Corzine, expires tonight.

The fact that the Red Light Camera Program has not been renewed is due in large measure to the efforts of Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon and his staff.  Their efforts have been heroic.

O’Scanlon and Co. have been relentless in monitoring the Red Light Camera Program and telling the truth about it. They have hired independent experts to investigate complaints and document fraud within the program.  They have sorted through data that has regularly been obfuscated by the red light camera companies (and bureaucrats friendly to them) to reflect improved safety conditions at RCL intersections where in fact conditions had often worsened.   They have worked hard in getting the word out about the program’s failure and corruption. They have countered expensive advertising campaigns by the red light camera companies and countered expensive lobbyists working the halls of the Statehouse, without the benefit of the profits the red light camera companies stole from the motoring public to fund their efforts.

In thwarting the Red Light Camera Program’s renewal, O’Scanlon has proved himself to be “the real deal”….a leader who fights for the right thing because it is the right thing. He is an example of what a “public servant” should be.

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Sandy Hook Oil Slick Has Shrunk By More Than Half

photo by Noel Westerland Sr. 11/29/2014

The oil slick in Sandy Hook Bay that was reported to be two miles long by 900 feet wide on Thursday afternoon was observed to be one mile long by 150 wide at 10AM this morning, according to Coast Guard Petty Officer Frank Iannazzo-Simmons during a phone interview with MMM.

Iannazzo-Simmons said a unified command consisting of personnel from the Coast Guard, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, NOAA and the National Park Service were still working to identify the both the source and product of the sheen.  The color of the sheen changed from a rainbow to a “silverish” metallic color.  Last evening it was reported that authorities believed the product to be diesel fuel.  Today, they are taking samples to determine what it is.

20 feet of boom was installed at Horseshoe Cove yesterday as a precaution to protect the environmentally sensitive area.  Today 70 feet of “hard boom” was installed to shore up the precautionary protection.  Horseshoe Cove was deemed to be the only environmentally sensitive area that could be impacted by the sheen.

The sheen remains located at the northern end of Sandy Hook on the bay side.

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Part of Newman Springs Road in Lincroft Closed till 4pm Today

Expect overnight delays next week between Monday night and Thursday morning

Newman Springs Road (County Road 520) between Harvey Ave and Jumping Brook Road, which is west of Garden State Parkway Exit 109 in Lincroft, is closed today until 4pm today due to construction by a private company installing a sanitary sewer system for a housing development.

The project will continue on Monday, December 15 at night between the hours of 9pm and 5am.  It is scheduled to be completed by 5am on Thursday December 18.  Only the eastbound lane of the road will be closed at that time, according to a statement from the Monmouth County Department of Public Information and Tourism.

“The County understands the inconvenience of this closure and has instructed the contractor that they cannot completely close this County road, after today, during business hours,” said Freeholder Thomas A. Arnone, liaison to the Department of Public Works and Engineering. “For the safety of those working on the project and the motoring public, the road must be closed today, but it will be open by 4 p.m. This change will provide some relief to the traveling public and the local business community.”

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Oil Slick in Sandy Hook Bay

photo by Noel Westerland Sr. 11/29/2014

A two mile long by 400 foot wide oil slick is washing up on the bay side of Sandy Hook, according to a report by WNBC 4-NY.

The slick was first witnessed by security personnel at the Earle Naval Weapons Station, according to the the report.  The U.S. Coast Guard and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection are investigating.

The source of the oil is unknown at this time.

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Two School Construction Referendums Fail, One Passes

Voters in the Freehold Borough, Ocean Township and West Long Branch School Districts went to the polls yesterday to decide the fate of school construction bonding proposals.

In Freehold, 611 voters, 11% of those registered rejected borrowing $33 million for school construction by 241 to 370.  An identical referendum was defeated by Borough voters on September 30 by 273 to 374.   There are 1644 students residing in the district.   The average property tax bill in Freehold Borough would have increased by $278 per year had the measure passed.

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Report: Gopal Considering Another Run For Assembly

What will Dan Jacobson do?

Vin Gopal

Ever the optimist and desperate for relevancy, Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal is floating his name as a candidate for Assembly in 11th District.

The district’s Assembly seats are currently held by Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande.  Gopal and Red Bank Councilwoman Kathy Horgan lost to Angelini and Casagrande by over 3000 votes (out of 37,093 cast) in 2011.  Former Democratic Assemblyman Dan Jacobson, publisher of the triCityNews and AsburyParkSun earned 2358 votes as an Independent candidate that year.

MoreMonmouthMusings hereby endorses Gopal for one of the Democratic Assembly nominations in the 11th.

We were worried that 2015 would be a boring year politically in Monmouth County and that we’d have to start covering restaurant openings to keep our traffic up next year.  With Gopal on the ballot, MMM’s political focus would be assured for another year.

Another reason we like Gopal as a candidate for Assembly is that it takes an issue of the table for Sheriff Shaun Golden’s reelection in 2016.

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Thompson: Bridgegate Indictments Will Be Cover Up Related

Brian Thompson, the WNBC 4-NY reporter who broke the story of potential indictments in the George Washington Bridge lane closure scandals coming next month, told MSNBC’s Steve Kornacki this morning that the likely federal charges will be related to a coordinated effort to cover up.

“This is what ties it all together as a single unified prosecution, ” Thompson said, “that is they are all involved in this, they all have a finger print or more, somewhere in this, which is, what our sources are saying, all wraps up into a conspiracy to cover up.”

Thompson said that the alleged cover up started “that week of the shut downs” not a month or two months later.  Thompson reiterated that the cover up began on the same week that the lane closures occurred.

Thompson said that at least two of the principals have made a deal, are singing, or are trying to make a deal, with the U.S. Attorney.

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NBC: Bridgegate Indictments Could Be Coming in January

One day after the State Legislative Committee’s report stating that there was no evidence that Governor Chris Christie had prior knowledge of the September 2013 George Washington Bridge lane closures, WNBC-4 New York’s Brian Thompson is reporting that multiple sources say that U. S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s investigation into the scandal could be wrapped up by the end of next month resulting in “at least a half dozen potential indictments.”

Thompson’s report said that those facing potential indictment are former Christie staffers and current and former Port Authority officials.

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Dems’ Christie Probe Comes Up Empty

The Joint Legislative Committee led by Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) and Senator Loretta Weinberg (D-Bergen) have produced an ‘interim” report that has found no evidence that Governor Chris Christie had any prior knowledge of the George Washington Bridge lane closures in September of 2013.

The report, which was made available to members of the committee yesterday and is scheduled to be made public on Monday, was reviewed by NJ.com who first reported on its contents.

“At present, there is no conclusive evidence as to whether Governor Chris Christie was or was not aware of the lane closures either in advance of their implementation or contemporaneously as they were occurring,” the report states. “Nor is there conclusive evidence as to whether Governor Christie did or did not have involvement in implementing or directing the lane closures.”

As has been widely reported since the “Bridgegate” story broke last January, the report indicates that Christie’s Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Ann Kelly and Port Authority staffer David Wildstein ordered the lane closures.  The Wisniewski/Weinberg investigation has not discovered why Kelly emailed Wildstein in August of 2013 “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee.”  It has been widely speculated that the lane closures were political retribution aimed at Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich for failing to endorse Christie’s reelection.  The report repeats the speculation.

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Sweeney coming to Red Bank to raise campaign cash for Murphy and Dupont

DiSomma says Dems fear losing control. Signals hard hitting campaign to come

Senate President Steve Sweeney. file photo by Art Gallagher

Senate President Steve Sweeney, a contender the 2017 Democratic gubernatorial nomination, is coming to Red Bank on December 17 as the headliner for a $175 per head fundraiser for Red Bank Councilmen Arthur Murphy’s and Michael Dupont’s reelection campaign.

The soiree is being hosted by Mayor Pat Menna and former Mayor Ed McKenna at Buona Sera.

The invitation includes a questionnaire to assure compliance with the borough’s “pay to play” ordinance.  Contractors that do business with the borough, developers and “Alcoholic Licensees” must disclose their attendance and in certain circumstances limit their campaign contributions to $400.

Who would have guessed that Red Bank issues licenses to alcoholics?

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