Monmouth County Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone addressing the Asbury Park/Neptune NAACP on Saturday, September 29 at the Neptune Library
Monmouth County Freeholder Director Thomas A. Arnone told a meeting of the Asbury Park/Neptune NAACP on Saturday that the solution to violence in Asbury Park lies with the city’s leadership.
“The municipal government and the school board must come together to solve community problems, ” Arnone said, “The solution starts with leadership and there is a disconnect in Asbury Park.”
Arnone noted that Monmouth County already is making a significant investment in law enforcement in Asbury Park through the Sheriff’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office. “If we have to increase the Sheriff’s Department’s presence, we will.”
“Money is not the problem, leadership is the problem,” Arnone said as he drew a contrast between Asbury Park and Neptune Township. “In Neptune they are working together and they are reaching out to the county for support.” Arnone specifically cited Neptune Mayor Eric Houghtaling, Committeeman Randy Bishop and School Superintendent David Mooij for their cooperation with each other and their ongoing communication with county officials. “I’m on the phone with those guys several times a month. There has not been a major dialogue with Asbury Park.”
Governor Christie’s press office just issued the following statement:
“Governor Christie has always maintained that he would abide by the will of the voters on the issue of marriage equality and called for it to be on the ballot this Election Day. Since the legislature refused to allow the people to decide expeditiously, we will let the Supreme Court make this constitutional determination.”
Today’s decision requiring the state to officiate same-sex marriages was made by Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson sitting in Mercer County. In order for the Supreme Court to decide the constitutionality the issue, Jacobson’s ruling will have to be appealed.
A Superior Court Judge in Mercer County ruled that New Jersey officials must begin officiating same sex marriages by October 21, according to a report in The Star Ledger.
Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson granted an emergency request by six gay couples, ordering state officials to begin officiating same-sex marriages on Oct. 21.
“The ineligibility of same-sex couples for federal benefits is currently harming same-sex couples in New Jersey in a wide range of contexts,” she wrote.
For example, the judge said, “civil union partners who are federal employees living in New Jersey are ineligible for marital rights with regard to the federal pension system, all civil union partners who are employees working for businesses to which the Family and Medical Leave Act applies may not rely on its statutory protections for spouses, and civil union couples may not access the federal tax benefits that married couples enjoy.”
Jacobson was asked to square the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June striking down the Defense of Marriage Act with New Jersey’s own legal precedents.
Governor Christie’s press office declined to say, on the phone, if Judge Jacobson’s decision would be appealed. They said a statement might be emailed to the press later today. UPDATE: The Christie administration will appeal Jacobson’s ruling.
Cory Booker’s twitter love, @LynsieLee, has stepped up her devotion to her man. She’s asking her new followers to contribute to Booker’s campaign.
Booker has lots of friends in the entertainment industry. Four employees of Lady Gaga’s agent, Atom Factory, have contributed $21,400 to Booker’s campaign.
Hook her up Cory! Make an extraordinary effort for your extraordinary friend!
BuzzFeed has the story ( if female nudity or tattoos depicting guns offend you, do not click on that link) of Booker’s professed love of Lynsie Lee (if you didn’t click on the previous link, you really don’t want to click on this one which will take you to lovely Lynsie’s tumblr page.)
Booker follows @LysnieLee on twitter. They share public and private messages in the wee hours of the morning. BuzzFeed says their cyber relationship started because they were both in a film about twitter, #ffthefilm.
Governor Chris Christie and Newark Mayor Cory Booker cut the ribbon for Newark’s Teachers Village this morning. Teachers Village is a $150 million project in the heart of the city’s downtown district that will house three charter schools, a day care center, 200 rental housing units for teachers and 65,000 square feet of retail space.
Ben Dworkin, Director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics, introduces U.S. Senate candidate Steve Lonegan. September 24, 2013
GOP nominee for U.S. Senate Steve Lonegan took a break from bashing Newark Mayor Cory Booker and ObamaCare last night, and gently assaulted the psyches of the young Democratic students of Rider University in attendance at the University’s Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics Governing New Jersey presentation.
Lonegan’s personal story of raising a family and building a business in the 1980’s while going blind, was the context he set up to espouse his Libertarian philosophy and policies to the group of about 100 (mostly students) attending the event.
The Federal Reserve Bank’s quantitative easing policy of pumping $85 billion per month into the economy and keeping interest rates at record lows, was the focus of Lonegan’s remarks as he urged students to “play the hand you’re dealt” in life and avoid becoming dependent on government to solve their own, and society’s problems.
Lonegan shared how as a young man, he rejected a life of “being destined to the entitlement state”, of being sustained by disability benefits and food stamps, in order to build a successful life. “Interest rates were 10-12 percent in the 80’s, yet I was able to build a successful business and employ a lot of people, ” the candidate said, “I couldn’t do that with today’s regulations and economic policies.”
Christie leads 61 – 32 percent among women and 69 – 26 percent among men, 94 – 3 percent among Republicans and 69 – 23 percent among independent voters. Even 35% of Democrats intend to vote for the Republican governor.
Only 5 percent of likely voters are undecided and another 8 percent who name a candidate say there is a “good chance” they will change their mind in the next six weeks.
