Smith assisted to get federal designation; Helped Save Camp in 2004
WALL TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Camp Evans, the former Army post in Wall Township, N.J. and site of top secret work that helped win World War II, has been recognized by the U.S. Department of Interior as one of only 26 new sites receiving national historic landmark designation, announced Congressman Chris Smith.
“Having been to Camp Evans numerous times and worked with the leadership of the non-profit organization InfoAge dedicated to the preservation of this site—I am aware that it may be the most significant historic location associated with the development of radar,” said Smith, who in April urged the National Park Service to approve this designation and to do so in a timely manner. “The top secret American research conducted right here in Monmouth County helped win battles on the warfront and save American lives. The new designation will forever secure Camp Evan’s much-deserved prominence in the history of our national defense and security, as well as honor the thousands of people from the New Jersey and New York areas who worked there practically anonymously to protect the nation and especially our troops. An added bonus is that the federal designation will open doors to grant funding and attract visitors who want to learn more about the fascinating history of Camp Evans.”
For more than a decade Smith helped prevent the closed site from being auctioned off to developers, and worked with the Army to clean up and preserve the site. InfoAge hosts many events at Camp Evans that are open to the public. Click here to see a list of events.
“This year marks the 70th anniversary of the naming ceremony of Camp Evans. 2012 also marks the 100th anniversary of the site serving as a Marconi Wireless Station. The designation of Camp Evans as a National Historic Landmark on these important anniversaries will have a strong symbolic impact for the individuals who have worked since the Army’s withdrawal to maintain the historic and cultural significance of the site,” Smith wrote. Click here to read Smith’s letter.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: October 25th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Press Release | Tags: Camp Evans, Congressman Chris Smith | 4 Comments »
In their first quarters as party chairmen, Democrat Vin Gopal bested Republican John Bennett in the fundraising battle by over $10,000.
According to their reports filed with the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission, the Monmouth County Democrats raised $38,647.50. and spent $28,096.01. The Democrats started the quarter with only $957 in cash. As of September 30th they had $11,509.
The Monmouth GOP ended the quarter with almost $2,000 less cash than it had when Bennett was elected. The GOP reported raising $28,296 and spending $30,284. Former Chairman Joe Oxley left Bennett with $34,790. Of the $28K Bennett raised, $6000 was donated by the Election Fund of Assemblyman Dave Rible and $3000 was donated by Senator Jennifer Beck’s campaign account.
Gopal’s large donors were Local Union 400 IBEW ($3500), the Middletown Democrats ($1850), Plumbers and Pipe fitters Local Union #9 ($1000) and the Uliano Law Firm of West Long Branch ($1500).
Gopal raised $20,710 in contributions of $300 or less. Bennett raised $9,802 in donations of $300 or less.
“The Monmouth County Democrats are organizing at a grassroots level because residents across the county are beginning to realize there is a very clear difference between the two political parties,” said Gopal, “At our convention last June, we had a turnout of over 90% of our county committee with hundreds of new county committee members entering the political process, many of them first time contributors to our party,”
” With party standard bearers like Barack Obama, Bob Menendez and Frank Pallone, people see that we are building and we are organizing. The Monmouth County Democratic Party is fighting for middle-class taxpayers, fighting for small business owners and working to protect our environment. There is a clear difference between the two county parties and our messages and people across the county are beginning to recognize these differences.”
Bennett did not return a call for comment.
Posted: October 24th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: John Bennett, Monmouth County, Monmouth County Republican Committee, Monmouth Democrats, Monmouth GOP, Vin Gopal | Tags: Barack Obama, Bob Menendez, Dave Rible, ELEC, Frank Pallone, Jennifer Beck, John Bennett, Monmouth Democrats, Monmouth Dems, Monmouth GOP, Monmouth Republicans, NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission, Vin Gopal | 9 Comments »
Do you approve the “Building Our Future Bond Act?” This bond act authorizes the state to issue bonds in the aggregate principal amount of $750 million to provide matching grants to New Jeresy’s colleges and universities. Money from the grants will be used to build, equip and expand higher education facilities for the purpose of increasing academic capacity.
We thought we were rid of him in 2009. We sent him back to Wall Street where he destroyed the company that hired him as CEO and he destroyed the businesses and savings of thousands of investors when $1.2 billion of their money went missing. He testified before a congressional committee that he simply does not know where the money is. MF’ing Jon Corzine.
Yet the ghost of Jon Corzine in on the ballot twice this November. Once, if Joe Kyrillos has his way, in the form of Bob Menendez, the man Corzine made a Senator.
Perhaps more dangerous to our fiscal health than Bob Menendez is the insidious alliance of trough swillers who are hoping New Jersey voters don’t notice that ballot question #1 is Corzine Economics and Governance.
Imagine this is a personal expenditure. It is. If not for you, for your children or grandchildren.
Imagine your income has been down for a few years and its lower that what you expected it would be so far this year. Your credit rating has been downgraded. Your savings have been depleted and you don’t know that you’re going to be able to make ends meet at the end of the year. Not that hard to imagine. Many New Jerseyans are living through that nightmare. Our state government is going through exactly that.
Then imagine that a group of politicians, unions, business groups, colleges, gas and electric companies, water companies, insurance companies…pretty much everyone who supported Corzine’s plan to sell or lease our highways and his plan to borrow $450 million to fund stem cell research comes along and asks you to guarantee a $750 million loan to build, equip and expand facilities on college campuses.
Again, not hard to imagine because its happening. The group is called Building our Future: Yes on #1. Its list of donors smells like #2 if you’re concerned our New Jersey’s fiscal health and your own.
As of October 10 the group’s donors had kicked in $900,000 to persuade you to vote for their largess, according to The Star Ledger.
Most of Building our Future’s donors have a financial stake in the passage of referendum, which could create dozens of large construction projects on college campuses across the state.
The group’s first donors include: PSE&G ($200,000), New Jersey Carpenter Contractor Network ($100,000), New Jersey Resources ($100,000), Northeast Regional Council of Carpenters PAC ($100,000), New Jersey State Electrical Workers ($100,000) and the American Federal of Teachers New Jersey ($10,000).
William Paterson University was the first higher education institution to donate to the cause, with a $33,000 check, according to the ELEC filing. University officials said the money came from private donations to the William Paterson Foundation, the school’s nonprofit fund raising arm.
This group knows how to raise money. $900,000 since they were formed in August. They also know how to spend it. Save money? Not so much. Their web site cost over $18,000.
The Corzine connections to the group run deep.
Maggie Moran was the first chairperson of the group, according to their ELEC reports. Moran was Corzine’s Chief of Staff when he served in the U.S. Senate. She was his Deputy Chief of Staff while he was governor. Laura Matos was the group’s first treasurer. Matos served in the governor’s office for Jim McGreevey, Dick Cody and Corzine. Moran and Matos are now partners at M Public Affairs, Inc. Building our Future: Yes on #1 shares office space with M Public Affairs in Lake Como. Building our Future: Yes on #1 and M Public Affairs have the same phone number. Of the $188,000 Building our Future: Yes on #1 spent through October 9, $55,000, including the $18K web site, was paid to M Public Affairs.
The new chairman of Building our Future is union leader William T. Mullen. The new treasurer is John Duthie who is also the treasurer of the NJ State Laborers PAC and the Laborer’s International Union of North America.
The Corzine connections run deep.
We couldn’t afford Jon Corzine when he was governor and we can’t afford his borrow and overspend policies now.
Vote No on #1.
Posted: October 24th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Bob Mendendez, Building Our Future Bond Act, Building our Future: Yes on #1, Dick Cody, Jim McGreevey, Joe Kyrillos, John Duthie, Jon Corzine, Laura Matos, M Pulbic Affaris, Maggie Moran, Question 1, Vote No on #1, William T. Mullen | 6 Comments »
State Street Wire, the pay sister site of Politickernj, is reporting that Governor Chris Christie said that the controversy State Senator Ray Lesniak is making over former Monmouth County Sheriff Joe Oxley’s nomination as a Superior Court Judge is “just another excuse” by Lesniak and the Democrats not to give Christie’s judicial nominations confirmation hearings.
Lesniak wants the FBI’s files from their investigation into Solomon Dwek’s allegations that Oxley, while sheriff, tipped off the real estate swindler to foreclosures in Monmouth County prior to the information becoming public. Oxley has refused to authorize the release of the files and the Justice Department has declined Lesniak’s appeal that the public interest outweighs Oxley’s privacy.
Christie said that his successor as US Attorney, Paul Fishman, found “no factual basis” in Dwek’s claims.
Christie said he knows first-hand how the data provided by cooperating witnesses can be.
“Sometimes it can be reliable, sometimes it can be fiction,” he said. “I think it’s unfair to put that kind of fiction on the public stream.”
Christie said that the judiciary committee should do its job and hold a confirmation hearing for Oxley.
Oxley has referred requests for comment to the governor’s office.
As a practicing attorney, Oxley could have legitimate reasons, including attorney-client privilege, for refusing to authorize the release of his recorded conversations.
Posted: October 23rd, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Chris Christie, Joe Oxley, Monmouth County Court, NJ Courts, NJ Democrats, NJ Judiciary, NJ State Legislature | Tags: Chris Christie, Joe Oxley, Ray Lesniak | 2 Comments »
