The Middletown Township Committee came to an agreement with the Superior Officers Association that prevents the demotion of four officers, which saves the jobs of four patrolman.
The SOA agreed to pay the greater of 1.5% of their salaries or 25% of the premium of their current PPO health insurance plan or to switch to the Township’s HMO plan and contribute 1.5% of their salaries to those premiums.
The SOA will receive raises for 2011 of 1.5% in October, with no retroactive pay, and 2% per year for 2012, 2013 and 2014.
Mayor Tony Fiore said he is hopeful that the Township will settle with the PBA at their meeting tonight, and thereby save the jobs of 6 additional officers. Fiore said that the PBA’s representative informed the committee that the union voted to accept the township’s proposal, the details of which are not yet public, over the weekend. Pending review today of the documents submitted by the PBA, it appears that police layoffs have been avoided in Middletown.
FoxNews just reported that Osama Bin Laden is dead.
The master mind of the 9-11 terrorist attacks upon the World Trade Center and the Pentagon was killed by a US bomb last week. The announcement of his death was postponed pending DNA confirmation.
President Obama will be addressing the nation momentarily.
The Highlands Business Partnership was joined by the Mayor and Council, Senators Joe Kyrillos and Jennifer Beck, Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Amy Handlin, Freeholders John Curly and Amy Mallet and about 200 members of the community to celebrate the completion of the new bridge that spans the Shrewsbury River between Highlands and Sea Bright with a ceremonial ribbon cutting.
During the ceremony, the Bayshore Marine Task Force, a cooperative of Bayshore area first responders who provide marine emergency services, provided a water display with their equipment.
The ceremony was followed by a two hour cruise on the river and Sandy Hook Bay hosted by SeaStreak and catered by Highlands restaurants.
Mayor Frank Nolan declared, “Highlands is open for business!” Nolan noted that business in Highlands, home to 22 restaurants within one square mile, was off 40% during the three summer seasons that were impacted by the demolition of the 75 year old drawbridge and the construction of the new 65 foot high fixed-span structure.
Old Highlands-Sea Bright Bridge. Photo Courtesy NJDOT.
Senator Joe Kyrillos read a letter from Governor Chris Christie which said in part, “today’s event effectively kicks off the first summer season at the Jersey Shore that vacationers and day trippers will be able to use it (the new bridge). I join with the legislators and community leaders present today in applauding the New Jersey Department of Transportation for completing this project on-time and under-budget. The bridge has made it easier for people to experience what Sandy Hook has to offer, including all of its small businesses that make vital contributions to our State’s rich economy.”
Jay Cosgrove, Vice President of the Business Partnership and an owner of Bahrs Landing expressed the gratitude of the business owners to their loyal customers who battled difficult traffic conditions to quick the establishments afloat during the bridge construction.
New Highlands Bridge. Photo Credit Jay Cosgrove, Bahrs Landing
Kyrillos said, “This bridge is of incredible importance to the residents of Monmouth County, as well as the many tourists and visitors from which our regional economy benefits,” Senator Kyrillos said. “The old, moveable bridge spanning the Shrewsbury River was in the poorest condition of all moveable bridges in New Jersey. We are fortunate to replace this critical infrastructure. It is a beautiful bridge and more important it is safe and secure and will be of service for generations to come.”
Senator Jennifer Beck said, “We’ve been watching the progress of the construction of the new Highlands Bridge over more than two years,” said Beck, “and it is exciting to see it concluded just in time for the summer beach season, when thousands of people, from New Jersey and beyond, come to visit the shore. Also, as a sponsor of legislation that would name this span in honor of my friend and mentor Captain Joseph Azzolina, which has already passed the State Senate, I have a personal connection to this bridge, and I look forward to seeing the legislation pass the Assembly.”
Beck asked those present to call Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver and ask her to post the bill naming the bridge for Azzolina for a vote.
Congressman Frank Pallone raised $162,678 in campaign cash during the first quarter of the 2011-2012 election cycle. He spent $144,185 on entertainment, travel, salaries, an auto lease and contributions. Pallone has $3,148,393 in cash. His March 31 FEC report can be viewed here.
Assemblyman Upendra Chivukula, who has been positioning himself to be Pallone’s Democratic successor in Congress since 2005, raised $1500 in the first quarter, spent $155, and has $45,894 on hand.
The Americans for Prosperity Foundation will broadcast a Presidential Summit on spending and job creation tonight from New Hampshire at 8PM. Mitt Romney, Michele Bachman, Tim Pawlenty, Herman Cain and Rick Santorum will be participating.
The Bayshore Tea Party Group will be pariticpating in the event locally from their office at 275 Route 35 North, Red Bank and will have a straw poll. If planning to attend the BTPG, plan to arrive between 7 and 7:30.
Voters approved school budgets in 45 of the of the 54 school district elections held yesterday, according to the unofficial tally posting on the Monmouth County website.
Five of the eight districts that defeated their budgets were in the Bayshore towns of Hazlet, Highlands, Keansburg, Keyport and Union Beach.
Middletown and the Matawan-Aberdeen districts, also in the Bayshore, narrowly passed their budgets. Middletown’s budget passed 3332-3207. Matawan-Aberdeen’s 898-804.
In Lake Como, voters split 49-49.
The Monmouth results appear to mirror the results throughout the state. The Star Ledger is reporting that budgets passed in 301 of the 373 elections results that were available as of 12:33 am this morning.
Hopewell Township has passed an ordinance that regulates how often roosters can visit the hen house, how much noise they can make while they are visiting and requires they to be screened for infectious diseases before visiting, according to a report in the Trenton Times.Cocks caught crowing too much will be banned from hen houses for two years.
Someone should alert Cass Sunstein, the Administrator of Information and Regulatory Affairs in the Obama White House. Sunstein is an advocate of animal rights who has argued that animals should be granted standing to file law suits.
The Times reported that the Hopewell Committee has been working on this issue for three years. I wonder if they considered unintended consequences:
The State of New Jersey is a financial basket case.The recent report that the state has not set aside one dime to pay for the promised ($66.7 billion) medical benefits of current and future retirees is another example of nonfeasance on the part of our elected officials.
By failing to fund the medical benefits of state and local government workers, the state is on a road that will cause enormous economic hardship for the people of New Jersey.In short, to pay for all the promised benefits, taxes will have to skyrocket, which will lead to a mass exodus of productive individuals and businesses over time.In addition, businesses will not expand or relocate to New Jersey because of the onerous taxes that will have to be imposed to prop up the medical benefits fund.
Even if benefits are reduced for current and future retirees, which is highly likely, who in their right mind will trust the political hacks in Trenton to be born again fiscally responsible politicians?
For years, Republican and Democratic governors and members of the state legislature from both political parties have failed to perform their duties to maintain the state’s fiscal health.Now that the chickens are coming home to roost, what is being done to correct the gross shortfall in the state’s obligations?Before we answer that, another report released on April 26th reveals the state’s pension fund is $54 billion in the hole.
Can anyone say criminal indictment?If a corporation’s officials did not fund their employees’ retirement benefits, they would be fired and/or possible fined or even indicted by the federal government for failing to fulfill their fiduciary duties.In New Jersey, we just keep electing the same gang of self-serving career pols from gerrymandered legislative districts who exploit the public’s income and wealth to maintain their political careers and continue the great con, the redistribution of income.
(One legislative solution is to elect at large members of the legislature instead of from specific legislative districts. Alternatively, we could elect half of the legislature from the gerrymandered districts and half at large members. With at large members of the legislature, all taxpayers will be represented.)
The financial solution to the $120 billion underfunding of retirees’ pensions and medical benefits is for the state to invoke something like force majeure and start from scratch.That will send a strong signal to New Jerseyans and businesses, especially those from out of state that the politicians in Trenton will be fiscally responsible and not make promises they cannot keep.
Without an “extreme makeover,” New Jersey will become the Greece of the United States.
Murray Sabrin is professor of finance at Ramapo College and blogs at www.MurraySabrin.com
