Christie to hold a Town Hall Meeting in Middletown on Thursday

Governor Chris Christie will hold his first Town Hall meeting since June next Thursday morning in Middletown at VFW Post 2179, 1 Veterans Lane (Off Rt 36), Port Monomuth.

The Town Hall is scheduled to begin at 11 am.  Doors open at 10 am.  A mobile cabinet meeting is scheduled for 12:30 pm.

Seating is on a first come first served basis. No bags of any kind are permitted into the venue and personal items are subject to search.

RSVP’s are requested at   [email protected] in order to accommodate sufficient seating.

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Andrew Lucas Arrested

Former Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas was arrested this morning by federal authorities, according to a statement by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Lucas has been indicted on 11 counts including wire fraud, loan application fraud, illegal monetary transaction, false statements to the IRS,  aggravated identity theft, obstruction of a grand jury investigation and falsification of records in a federal investigation.

The charges are for alleged actions in connection with Lucas’s purchase of Burke Farm. No charges were made in connection of the sale of the development rights to the farm to the government’s Open Space Program, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

Lucas is being represented by Mario F. Gallucci of Helbock, Nappa and Gulluci, a Staten Island, NY law firm.

The U. S. Attorney’s statement says:

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Brick Township Ends Its Red Light Camera Program

Brick Mayor John Ducey

Citing accident statistics reporting an increase in accidents at the three red light camera intersections in his Township, Brick Mayor John Ducey announced this afternoon that he is not renewing American Traffic Solutions’s contract.

Brick’s red light camera program terminates effective February 18, 2014 and equipment is to be removed  by February 24.

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, New Jersey’s most prominent opponent of the red light camera program was on hand to congratulate Ducey, the residents of Brick, and New Jersey motorists who drive in Brick.

“When I was running for Mayor, one of the most frequent sources of frustrations of the people I spoke to was the red light cameras.  I promised to review our red light camera program and remove them if that review didn’t convince me that they were making our roads safer,” said Mayor Ducey.  “I have kept that promise.  After conducting that review, I am not convinced that the benefit is safety and not revenue. At the end of the day, the statistics I was shown did not convince me that these cameras are making intersections safer.  The strongest argument for keeping the lights is for the revenue they generate and I feel strongly that government should not be balancing budgets through punitive measures,” As a result I am not renewing the red light camera contract which is effectively ending red light cameras in Brick Township.”

Ducey noted an increase in accidents at each of the three Brick intersections that have RCLs between 2012 and 2013, the 2013 data is not completely reported yet.

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2 million jobs eliminated by ObamaCare. Administration Says That’s Good

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Little not running against Pallone

Party leaders are encouraging Sheriff Shaun Golden to challenge entrenched ObamaCare defender

Former Highlands Mayor Anna Little told MMM yesterday that she is not running for Congress in New Jersey’s 6th congressional district this year and that she never had plans to do so.

The GOP nominee against Congressman Frank Pallone  in 2010 and 2012 said that her November 1, 2012 email to supporters wherein she announced “I want to work for YOU in Washington” and asked supporters for contributions to help her “finish the job” was not an announcement of her candidacy, but rather a reaction to Pallone’s over the top defense of ObamaCare .  In October, Pallone called a congressional hearing into ObamaCare that he was participating in a “Monkey Court.”  Appearing on FoxNews with Megyn Kelly, Pallone shouted, insisting that President Obama had kept his, “If you like your healthcare, you can keep it, period, I guarantee it,” promise and said insurance companies were practicing capitalism by cancelling “lousy” “scam” insurance plans that people didn’t want to buy.

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden

Sheriff Shaun Golden’s strong performance in last November’s election …a 64%-36% reelection victory with over 100,000 votes… was noticed by state and national Republican leaders, many of whom are encouraging Golden to take on Pallone.

The two Republican leaders who matter the most in determining who receives the GOP nomination, Monmouth County Republican Chairman John Bennett and Middlesex County Republican Chairman Sam Thompson, like the idea of Golden running against Pallone.

“I would love to see Shaun Golden run for Congress, ” Bennett said, ‘Not only is popular and a demonstrated vote getter, he has an outstanding record with a documented ability to get things done.”

Thompson said, “Shaun would be a great candidate.”

Little said she would support Golden if he runs.

Golden wouldn’t comment when we asked if he was running.

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Christie in Keansburg: Sandy Relief Will Fall $17 Billion Short

Photo by Paul Scharff

Governor Chris Christie came to the bayshore with members of his cabinet yesterday with a sobering message for residents battered by Superstorm Sandy who a waiting for government assistance to rebuild their homes and to comply with new government imposed requirements for those homes.

New Jersey sustained $37 billion in damage from Sandy.  Federal assistance to New Jersey will tap out at between $15 and $20 billion, Christie said.

It’s been 15 months since Superstorm Sandy ravaged New Jersey. The first $1.83 billion in relief from the Department of Housing and Urban Development has been spent or is committed.  Another $1.46 billion is being applied for, but it will be another three months at least before that money starts to flow.

The HUD Community Block Development Grants (CBDG) grants are the last resort funding for homeowners and renters/landlords, designed to fill needs not covered by insurance proceeds, FEMA assistance, Small Business Administration loans and other sources.

Before New Jersey receives the $1.46 billion second round of funding, there is a 30 day public comment period on the CDBG Disaster Recovery Action Plan.  The public comment period runs through March 5.  In Monmouth County, there will be a public hearing on February 13 at Brookdale Community College, Robert J. Collins Arena, 765 Newman Springs Rd, Lincroft from 4pm-7pm.  There will be hearing is Atlantic County at Stockton University on February 11 and in Essex County at the New Jersey Institute of Technology on the 12th.  Written comments can be submitted via email to [email protected] or can be provided by mail to the attention of Gabrielle Gallagher, NJ Department of Community Affairs, 101 South Broad Street, Post Office Box 800, Trenton, New Jersey 08625-0800.  All comments must be submitted by 5 p.m. on March 5, 2014.

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O’Scanlon: Red Light Camera Corruption Warrants Investigations By Fishman, Wisniewski

Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Monmouth) said today that he is asking U.S Attorney Paul Fishman to open criminal investigations into the municipal clients of Redflex Traffic Systems, an Arizona based red light camera company, due to legal claims by a former executive that the company routinely bribed municipal officials in 13 states, including New Jersey, in order to obtain the lucrative contracts to operate camera systems that issue summonses for red light infractions.

Additionally, O’Scanlon is writing to Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wisniewski to ask that the committee open an investigation into New Jersey’s red light camera program in light of the recent bribery allegations and scientific proof commissioned by O’Scanlon that red light cameras are a detriment to public safety that are rigged to cheat motorists.

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Andrews to retire from Congress

Congressman Robert Andrews will resign as a representative of the southern jersey 1st congressional district, according to a reports in Poltico and The Philadephia Inquirer.

Once a Democratic contender for statewide office who competed in primaries for Governor and U.S. Senate, Andrews’s career has apparently been derailed by an ethics investigation into the misuse of campaign funds.  He is taking a job with a Philadelphia law firm, according to The Inquirer.

The Inquirer, majority owned by South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross, is reporting that State Senator Donald Norcross, the boss’s brother, will be the Democratic nominee for Andrew’s seat in the House.

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Murray Sabrin Seeking Support For U.S. Senate Bid

Murray Sabrin, right, with Jay Lassiter, Jeff Gardner, then BlueJersey bloggers, Michael Aron, then of NJN, and MMM publisher Art Gallagher at a November 2010 shooting of Reporters Roundtable.

Murray Sabrin, PhD, the Ramapo College finance professor who challenged Governor Christine Whitman’s 1997 reelection as a Libertarian candidate and sought the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate in 2000 and 2008, wants another shot at the seat now occupied by Senator Cory Booker.

The professor has started the process of reaching out to party leaders, previous Republican Senate candidates and county chairmen to gauge and seek their support for the nomination that no mainstream Republican seems to want. Thus far, only little known small businessmen have taken steps to secure the nomination.

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Bridget Kelly Invokes the 5th

Governor Chris Christie and former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Kelly at a happier time. Photo via facebook

Bridget Ann Kelly, Governor Chris Christie’s former Deputy Chief of Staff who sent the “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” email to David Wildstein, then New Jersey’s #2 official at the Port Authority of NY/NJ, has invoked her fifth amendment rights and declined to produce the documents subpoenaed by the joint legislative committee investigating “Bridgegate,” the September lane closures at the George Washington Bridge, according to a report at NorthJersey.com.

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