Red Bank— Saying that New Jersey Natural Gas officials are being uncooperative with local officials, Senator Jennifer Beck (R- Monmouth) held a press conference with Mayor Pasquale Menna and Rivercenter Executive Director Nancy Adams to demand NJNG work cooperatively with local officials toward a solution in vetting alternatives to the utility’s planned regulator replacement program.
NJNG plans on replacing 88 natural gas pressure regulators currently located below highly trafficked sidewalks on Front, Broad, and Monmouth Streets, bringing the devices above ground. The company has refused to release details of its decision making process and any alternative locations for the regulators that were considered, despite requests from the Senator and Red Bank officials.
“NJNG is being unresponsive and heavy handed with the Borough of Red Bank,” Beck said. “They have admitted that there are alternatives to the current plan, but will not discuss what those options are or why they were not chosen. You don’t see these devices placed as prominently, or in as great a number, very often in the downtown district of a busy municipality. Why is this solution the only one that works for Red Bank?”
“Let me be clear, safety should be our first priority,” Beck continued. “However, that does not excuse NJNG’s refusal to explain their decision making process.”
Beck and Mayor Menna have written to state Board of Public Utilities Officials asking for their support in delaying the project until an acceptable remedy can be agreed to by all parties and NJNG releases their internal study on alternatives.
“If it is really necessary to disrupt our downtown business district like this, then we need to understand why,” said Mayor Menna. “And if there were alternatives that could have been pursued but were not, we need to understand the reasoning. We should not have to beg to get NJNG officials to be forthcoming with us.”
Red Bank RiverCenter’s Executive Director, Nancy Adams, also expressed concern over the lack of cooperation by company officials. RiverCenter is a non-profit partnership dedicated to promoting revitalization of Red Bank’s downtown business district.
“We have been successful in promoting Red Bank as a destination for businesses, merchants, restaurants, and night life because elected officials, volunteers, and the business community worked together,” Adams stated. “We need NJNG to work with us too.”
Senator Beck said that she will submit legislation at the Senate’s March 15, 2012 voting session that would direct the BPU to require gas utilities planning regulator replacement projects to study less disruptive locations for the devices. The bill also requires the gas utility make public the findings of the study, and to return any disrupted property and infrastructure to its original condition.
“If NJNG refuses to be a good corporate citizen and come to the table, then we must act through the legislative process to force them to consider the needs of this community and others that may find themselves in similar situations,” Beck said. “If there is a more palatable alternative that will provide the same public safety protections, it ought to be presented as an option to local officials.”
Posted: March 14th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Jennifer Beck, Press Release, Red Bank | Tags: Board of Public Utilities, BPU, Jen Beck, Jennifer Beck, Mayor Pasquale Menna, Nancy Adams, New Jersey Natural Gas, NJNJ, Pat Menna, Red Bank, Red Bank Regulator Replacement, Red Bank Rivercenter, Rivercenter, Senator Jennifer Beck | 1 Comment »
Anna Little is not a lock for the Monmouth or Middlesex county Republican endorsements to take on Congressman Frank Pallone in the 6th district.
The news that Little will not challenge State Senator Joe Kyrillos for the GOP U.S. Senate nomination was met by party regulars and leaders with mild relief, followed by angst at the thought of her being on ticket in the coming campaign.
Party leaders are being cautious not to provoke Little back into the Senate race, an unlikely event as she has been uable to collect sufficient petition signatures for the Senate bid, but they would not be disappointed to see her sit this one out all together.
If she runs for Congress, Little has to be considered the front runner for the party endorsements. Yet many of the Monmouth and Middlesex County screening committee are taking a look at Enresto Cullari, the virtually unknown candidate who announced last week.
Seeing no candidates to challenge Pallone, Cullari decided to run last Wednesday and announced his candidacy on Friday as the news of Little’s switch from the Senate race to the Congressional race started to spread throughout the Monmouth and Middlesex GOP.
Cullari is positioning himself as the more disciplined and better financed choice to support Joe Kyrillos and the County slates.
In an email to screening committee members to be followed by mailer, Cullari said:
I believe that I can raise more money, launch a more disciplined offensive against Pallone, bring more positive attention to the Republican ticket and best help Senator Kyrillos carry on Governor Christie’s work for the state of New Jersey.
He attached this introduction letter touting his accomplishments, vision and unique ethnicity…he’s Filipino, Irish, Ecudorian and Africa…which he says poses a threat to the “grossly false assertions” that the Republican Party is “white and homogenous.”
The Middlesex GOP screening committee meets tonight to make its recommendation to the convention which will endorse a candidate on March 24th.
The Monmouth GOP nominating committee meets to award its endorsement on Friday morning, March 16.
Posted: March 14th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: 2012 Congressional Races, 2012 U.S. Senate Race | Tags: Anna Little, Chris Christie, Ernesto Cullari, Frank Pallone, Joe Kyrillos | 14 Comments »
President Obama’s attempt to convert his “war onto religious freedom” into a Republican “war on women” seems to be working in New Jersey, but is falling flat nationally according to two polls released this week.
The FDU Public Mind Poll released this morning shows that the President’s approval rating in New Jersey jumped to 51%. In January, only 46% approved of Obama’s performance. Women approve by a 24 point margin, 58%-34%, while men disapprove by 49% to 43%.
In a NYTimes/CBS poll national poll released on Monday, only 41% approved of Obama while 47% disapproved. In February Obama scored a 50% approval rating in the NYTimes/CBS poll. Obama’s support among women declined, “even as the debate raged over birth control insurance coverage.”
Both polls indicated that despite his weak numbers and the electorate’s discontent, that Obama would be relected if the election were today. Voters, including Republicans, are not enthused by the Republican challengers.
Posted: March 14th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: 2012 Presidential Politics | Tags: 2012 Presidential Politics, Barack Obama, FDU Public Mind Poll, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich, NYTimes/CBS Poll, Rick Santorum | 1 Comment »
For those who doubt the veracity of our sources here at MMM, and are waiting for an announcement from Anna Little that she is dropping out of the U.S. Senate race, consider that Little was working the room at State Senator Joe Kyrillos’s fundraiser in Holmdel tonight.
Expect an announcement from the former Highlands Mayor, no later than Wednesday, that she will seek the nomination to once again challenge Frank Pallone in the 6th Congressional District. The MiddlesexCounty GOP screening committee meets on Wednesday night. Little has confirmed to Middlesex GOP officials that she will be there seeking the 6th district nod.
Ernesto Cullari has also been invited to the Middlesex County screening.
The Monmouth County GOP primary line will be awarded by the nominating committee on Friday morning. The Middlesex County GOP primary line will be awarded at a convention on Saturday March 24.
Posted: March 12th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: 2012 Congressional Races, 2012 U.S. Senate Race | Tags: Anna Little, Anna Little dropping out of U.S. Senate race, CD 6, Ernesto Cullari, Frank Pallone, Joe Kyrillos, NJ-6 | 13 Comments »
Fighting back at legislative restrictions to abortion and contraception, female legislators in Ohio, Illinois and Virginia have introduced bills that would regulate the use of viagra.
In Ohio, Senator Nina Turner has introduced Senate bill 307, which would require men to see a sex therapist, receive a cardiac stress test and produce a notarized affidavit from a sexual partner affirming impotence before getting their blue pills. The Dayton Daily News article doesn’t say if the therapist can be the person signing the affidavit.
In Illinois, State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, a lesbian rights activist appointed to the legislature last April and elected in November, has proposed a gender equality amendment to legislation would require women to get an ultra-sound before an abortion. Her amendment would require men to watch a video depicting the side effects of Viagra and the treatment thereof.
In Virginia, State Senator Janet Howell submitted an amendment to an ultra sound before abortion bill that would have required men to receive a digital rectal exam prior to receiving a Viagra prescription. Her amendment failed but the ultra sound bill passed.
So far, there is no such legislation is proposed in New Jersey.
Posted: March 12th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Abortion, Contraception, Gender Equality | Tags: Abortion, affidavit of impotence, Contraception, digital rectal exam, priapism, sex therapy, ultra sound, viagra | 16 Comments »
The Obama campaign will intensify its efforts to boost the President’s standing with women this week with a mailing to over 1 million female voters in more than a dozen battleground states, according to The New York Times.
The campaign’s effort to rally women around the health care law had been long planned, to coincide with the second anniversary of Mr. Obama signing it on March 23, campaign officials said. But the effort has gained intensity, they added, because of recent controversies over contraception, abortion and education in Washington and in state capitals that have energized people in the campaign’s far-flung field offices who are essential to putting any national strategy into action.
Late last year, two and a half months ago, the chatter was that Obama was in trouble with his liberal base as well as the rest of the electorate. The economy was the majority’s concern.
In the last two months, George Stephanopoulos introduced contraception into the GOP primary debate, Rick Santorum and the left stream media kept that chatter alive. Obama announced that contraception will be covered under ObamaCare and Rush Limbaugh called a law student a slut and a prostitute.
Now, instead of focusing on the economy, energy prices and the emergent inflation that hasn’t caught the media’s attention yet, we are engaged in a culture war designed by the Obama campaign to shore up the President’s support with his base and scare women about the evil white men who run the Republican party.
How easily manipulated we are.
The general election campaign is well underway. However the GOP is still fighting over minor differences between it’s potential candidates and is not yet engaged against Obama.
Posted: March 11th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: 2012 Presidential Politics | Tags: 2012 Presidential Politics, Barack Obama, controception, easily manipulated, George Stephanopoulos, GOP, prostitute, Republcians, Rick Santorum, Rush Limbaugh, slut, women | 16 Comments »
Republican Primary in NJ-CD 6 between Anna Little and Ernesto Cullari looks likely
Anna Little, the former Monmouth County Freeholder and Mayor Highlands, will not be a candidate for the GOP nomination for U.S. Senate. She has started to gather petition signatures for the 6th congressional district nomination. An announcement is planned for early next week.
Little was the GOP nominee against Congressman Frank Pallone in the 6th in 2010.
When asked to confirm Little’s switch from the Senate race to the House race, campaign manager Larry Cirignamo said, “I don’t know.”
Little has been reaching out to county chairs this week, who are overwhelmingly supporting State Senator Joe Kyrillos for the U.S. Senate nomination. She cancelled a scheduled appearance for Republican Senate candidates with the New Jersey Tea Party Caucus.
Should Little decide to seek a rematch against Pallone, she will first have to get past a primary with Asbury Park resident Ernesto Cullari.
Cullari is a songwriter, producer and coach for young acting talent. His clients have performed for Disney and Nickelodeon. He is also an Orthopedic Consultant working in operating rooms installing dynamic splints. Cullari writes the weekly Justified Right column in The triCityNews.
Cullari told MMM that he decided to run for Congress on Wednesday of this week. He will pursue the nomination regardless of Little or anyone else entering the race. He will seek the support of the Monmouth and Middlesex County Republican organizations and compete in the primary.
The Monmouth County GOP is holding its candidate selection committee meeting on Friday morning March 16th. Middlesex County GOP is holding a convention on Saturday March 24th.
Posted: March 9th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: 2012 Congressional Races, 2012 U.S. Senate Race | Tags: Anna Little, Ernesto Cullari, Frank Pallone, Joe Kyrillos, NJ CD 6 | 24 Comments »
