Doherty thumbs his nose at the Court, lies to the press

Pringle: “What is Doherty hiding?”

Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty told The Asbury Park Press that he would disclose all donations to his campaign for Monmouth County Freeholder under the amount of $300, but only those donations received after July 13.  July 13 was the date that the Doherty administration filed the 12 year old pay to play ethics ordinance with the state.

“I’m going to follow the ordinance and the state statutes to the letter.” Doherty told app.  It’s disappointing that the reporter let him get away with that Clinton speak.

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Belmar voters overwhelmingly reject “Matt’s Law”

Belmar Mayor “Lawless Matt” Doherty

By a margin of 829-292, Belmar voters repudiated the hubris of Mayor “Lawless Matt” Doherty on Tuesday.

In a special election to decide the validity of the pay to play/ethics law that the borough council approved shortly after Doherty became a candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder last Spring voters said NO to the mayor’s attempt to change the rules for his own ambitions.  Doherty, a Democrat, had claimed that the new law had nothing to do with his candidacy for Freeholder. Rather, it was designed to make it easier for Belmar Republicans to raise money.

The law, which had it been approved by the voters, would have allowed Doherty to conceal contributions to his campaign for Freeholder in the amount of $300 or less and to accept donations from liquor license holders, developers and other vendors and professionals with business before the Borough and still take official action on that business.  The existing pay to play/ethics ordinance in the borough prohibits those activities.

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Belmar and Sea Bright voters have decisions to make on Tuesday, September 27

The big one is not until November 8, but for Belmar and Sea Bright residents, Tuesday September 27 is also election day as both borough’s are holding special elections with a public question.

In Belmar, voters are asked to approve or reject “Matt’s Law”, an amendment to the borough’s pay to play and ethics ordinance which significantly loosens to reporting requirements of campaign contributions and allows borough officials to act in their official capacities in matters involving campaign donors like liquor license holders, developers and other borough vendors.   The ordinance is nicknamed for Mayor “Lawless Matt” Doherty because it was passed by the council at roughly the same time Doherty became a Democrat candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder.  Doherty said the ordinance had nothing to do with his candidacy, but was designed to make it easier for Belmar Republicans to raise campaign funds.

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Belmar’s San Gennaro Festival Cancelled

Belmar Police Chief Andrew Huisman has cancelled the San Gennaro Festival which was scheduled in the borough on Sunday from 11 a.m. till 6 p.m.”in light of recent events,” according to a post late Saturday night on the Belmar Police Department facebook page.

The recent events are likely the pipe bomb explosion in Seaside Park along the route of a 5K race for a military charity on Saturday morning and an explosion on the streets on New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood on Saturday night that injured more than 20 people.

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Doherty’s Lawlessness Costs Belmar Taxpayers

Belmar Mayor “Lawless Matt” Doherty lost in court again this week.

Belmar taxpayers are stuck with a $47,306 legal bill because Doherty placed a fraudulent interpretive statement on a bonding referendum ballot last summer.

Judge Katie Gummer ruled in Monmouth County Superior Court on Wednesday that Belmar taxpayers will pay the legal fees for the citizens who sued Dirty Doherty over the fraudulent statement which Gummer ruled was a Civil Rights violation.  Belmar taxpayers are paying the legal fees for both sides of the case because of Doherty’s sneaky dirty lawlessness.

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More Lawlessness from Dirty Doherty

Belmar Mayor “Lawless Matt” Doherty just can’t stand the fact that residents of his community had the audacity to gather in front of his home to protest the fact that his administration is screwing over one small business in town while he his arranging for a major donor to his freeholder campaign land a helicopter in a borough park while patronizing another business.

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Ethics Complaint Filed Against Doherty Over Helicopter Landing

Belmar Mayor “Lawless Matt” Doherty commemorates the anniversary of Hurricane Sandy. photo by Tim Larsen/Governor’s Office

Former Belmar Councilman Jim Bean filed an Ethics Complaint with the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ Local Finance Board against Mayor “Lawless Matt” Doherty  on Friday, August 19, alleging that Doherty did not have the authorization of the Borough Council to grant a campaign donor permission to land a helicopter in the Borough or on Borough property.  Additionally, Bean alleges that Doherty did not provide public notice nor notify Monmouth County officials of the temporary landing permit, as is required by the Department of Transportation when applying for said permit.

On July 7, a $2500 donor to Doherty’s campaign for Monmouth County Freeholder landed a helicopter at Silver Lake, a park in the Borough.

A copy of the Ethics Complaint can be found here.

Bean said that Dirty Doherty used “public resources to allow a campaign donor special privilege to land a helicopter in Belmar’s small but very populated Green Acres Silver Lake Park.”

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Goofy Gopal Denies Accusing Monmouth GOP, MoreMonmouthMusings of Paying Belmar Protesters

photo via facebook

Monmouth County Democrat Chairman Vin Gopal drew more attention to the grassroots uprising of Belmar residents against the policies of their mayor, “Lawless Matt” Doherty, yesterday with a post on the Monmouth Democrats facebook page denying the Observer (formerly PolitickerNJ) article that reported that he and Doherty accused the Monmouth GOP and this website of paying protesters to demonstrate outside Doherty’s house during a campaign fundraiser last week featuring Senator Cory Booker.

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Belmar house fire kills 2 men

BELMAR – Police officers were stationed outside of a 14th Avenue home on Tuesday morning hours after a blaze swept through the residence and left two people dead. Officials at the scene said two men were killed in the fire, which gutted the two-story home that sits only a couple blocks from the Atlantic Ocean. A… Read the rest of this entry »

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Appellate Court Rules That “Matt’s Law” Referendum Will Take Place

Belmar Mayor “Lawless Matt” Doherty and Governor Chris Christie walk the Belmar boardwalk. Photo Credit: Tim Larson, Governor’s Office

Belmar Mayor “Lawless Matt” Doherty got spanked in Court again yesterday.

Stating that Belmar’s argument was “unavailing” and that Doherty, et al had not demonstrated a likelihood that their appeal would succeed, New Jersey’s Appellate Court denied an emergency motion to stay the referendum on the ethics/pay to play ordinance passed last February.  The referendum will take place on September 27 per Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Katie Gummer’s July 15th Order.

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