Democrats Lining Up To Challenge Angelini and Casagrande

By Art Gallagher

Monmouth Democrats are expecting a contested convention race for the nominations for Assembly in the 11th Legislative District. 

Three of the five members of the Neptune Township Committee, Dr. Michael Brantley, J. Randy Bishop, and Kevin B. McMillian have expressed their interest in competing for the nominations for the two seats, according to a Democrat who asked not to be named because he/she was talking to a Republican blogger.   Red Bank Councilman Ed Zipprich will also seek a nomination, according to PoltickerNJ.

Republicans Mary Pat Angelini of Ocean Township and Caroline Casagrande of Colts Neck currently represent the district in Assembly.

The district is comprised of the Monmouth County municipalities of Allenhurst, Asbury Park, Colts Neck, Deal, Eatontown, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Interlaken, Loch Arbour, Long Branch, Neptune, Neptune Township, Ocean Township, Red Bank, Shrewsbury Borough, Shrewsbury Township, Tinton Falls, West Long Branch .

Monmouth Demcratic Chairman Vin Gopal will probably have to do some arm twisting to come up with a candidate to challenge Senator Jennifer Beck of Red Bank, according to the source.   The Republican Beck is pro-choice and pro-gay marriage.  She is very popular with Democrats in the district.  No one is currently interested in challenging her.

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The gift of life

Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande is hosting a blood drive this afternoon at her legislative office in Freehold.

The address is 35 West Main Street, Freehold Borough.  The blood drive is scheduled from 1PM till 6PM.

Juice and cookies will be served.  Lives will be saved.

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Raising Income, Sales Taxes Didn’t Lower Property Taxes

By Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande

What do Florida, New Hampshire and Washington state have in common?

They’re among nine states that not only weathered the worst economic recession of our generation, but found ways to make their economies stronger, attract new people and create jobs when the rest of the nation floundered.

From 2001 to 2010, these nine states saw employment increase by 5.4 percent when the rest of the country remained stagnant.

What do these states have in common that allows them to grow jobs during horrific economic times?

No income tax.

In New Jersey, we’re on our way to replicating the job-creating economic successes of these “prime nine” states, even though we’re still among the “maligned nine” states with the highest income taxes.

The tax-free states grew employment by 5.4 percent, while tax-heavy states saw jobs decline by 1.7 percent.

That’s why Gov. Christie is proposing to cut income taxes for everyone. It will keep money in people’s pockets and help bring back the jobs that disappeared last decade as Trenton taxed and spent the state into economic ruin.

The Wall Street Journal recently called legislative proposals in other states to cut the income tax good “long-term growth” and attempts to use additional income tax revenue to relieve property taxes “short-term politics.”

It’s not even good short-term politics. Remember what happened to Jon Corzine in 2009 when he raised income taxes? He was one of nearly 120,000 New Jerseyans who lost a job that year.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, who knew something about emerging from horrific economic times, once said: “Do something. If it works, do more of it. If it doesn’t, do something else.”

New Jersey has repeatedly tried raising taxes to relieve property taxes. It has never worked. In fact, the income tax itself began as a way to reduce property taxes. Do you know anyone whose property taxes went down since 1976?

New Jersey lost an entire decade (and 156,000 jobs) proving you can’t lower one tax by raising another. Taxes increased by $11 billion from 2002 to 2009, and nearly every time they increased a tax, Trenton politicians promised it would relieve property taxes, yet the property tax burden increased 6 percent per year and 60 percent cumulatively from 2002 to 2010.

Remember when Trenton politicians shut down the state to raise the sales tax in 2006 to offer “historic” levels of property tax relief? It didn’t work. The higher sales tax remains, but the property tax relief was history after just one year.

We need to stop doing what doesn’t work. That’s why we ended those failed tactics and launched the most aggressive and effective assault on property taxes in New Jersey history.

We put a tight cap on property taxes, saved property taxpayers $120 billion over the next 30 years through pension and health care reform, and we are working to do more, such as ending the payout for workers’ unused sick and vacation time and allowing towns to save money by opting out of Civil Service.

Our comprehensive approach to tax reform has businesses and homeowners optimistic about our state’s future for the first time in several years.

If we continue to do what has been working, we will continue to create more private-sector jobs in addition to the 60,000 that have been added in the past two years.

Adding jobs won’t just improve our unemployment rate, but likely will achieve precisely what short-sighted critics of Gov. Chris Christie’s income tax cut say it won’t: property tax relief.

Raising other taxes has not lowered property taxes, but reducing the income tax may because it will keep forcing government to spend within its means while encouraging businesses to create jobs in New Jersey.

More businesses and jobs in our economy means a greater share of the tax burden is shifted away from property taxpayers.

Many other states have seen the wisdom of low income tax rates. They know that reducing the income tax burden creates jobs and builds a strong economic foundation. I’m eager to see New Jersey follow suit.

In the last two years, New Jersey has added more than 62,000 private-sector jobs. And our Economic Outlook Rank has improved from 48th to 45th this year, according to the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Our plan to make New Jersey affordable and create jobs is working. We can’t stop doing what is working. We need to do more.

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Casagrande Strikes Back!

By Caroline Casagrande, also published in the October 6, 2011 edition of the triCityNews

Elections are about choices. And this year you have a clear choice: do you want to continue the new path of fiscal responsibility that started in 2009 with the election of Chris Christie, or go back to the bad old days?

My name is Caroline Casagrande and I’m running for the Assembly in the 11^th Legislative District, along with my friends Senator Jennifer Beck and Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini. I’ve served parts of Monmouth County in the Legislature since 2008.

I believe we are the best candidates to represent you and keep us on the path to fiscal responsibility. Making New Jersey affordable for families and businesses, creating jobs,  and restoring faith in a government which had become a punchline for late-night comedians is something that affects everyone, regardless of your gender, religion, or sexual orientation.

Those are the things I’ve been focused on since being elected four years ago and those are things I will focus on if I am re-elected.

Dan has given me this space to introduce myself to you. I thought I’d use the opportunity to set the record straight, then tell you a little about myself in my own words, rather than you hearing about me from someone who’s constantly hyperventilating.

Dan had been attacking me lately for, in his view, not taking a position on gay marriage. What I’ve said is I’m not going to speculate on hypothetical legislation. On issues like this, it’s easy to be for or against something in theory, but the details are the difference. That’s the approach I take on every bill I vote on- show me the details.  Unfortunately, in the black and white, Keith Olbermann- Sean Hannity world we live in, this approach is now seen as a moral failing.

Of course, being lectured on political cowardice by Dan is the ultimate irony. This is the same person who was voted out of office after only one term after voting for the massive $2.8 billion Florio tax hikes in 1990, because he caved when pressure was put on him by the Trenton Democrats.  It’s easy to understand why Dan would want to talk about other issues with that hanging around his neck.

In this difficult economic environment, people want leaders with the courage to cut spending, reduce the size of government, and get out of the pockets of businesses and families who can’t afford to pay any more. On those issues, the differences between us are clear: I’ve been a fierce advocate for them, and Dan voted for the largest tax increase in state history.

Let me explain a little about myself and why I’m so concerned about the direction of our state. I was born and raised in Monmouth County and I am currently raising my own family here with my husband Steve and our two young sons, Harrison and Teddy. I graduated from Red Bank Catholic, Penn State University and received my law degree from Rutgers. I am on the Board of Trustees of the Girl Scouts of Monmouth County and the Visiting Nurses Association.

In 2007, I  decided to run for the General Assembly because runaway property tax increases (and tax increases of every other kind) were making New Jersey unaffordable for many families and businesses.

I come from a close-knit family. I want my parents to stay in New Jersey. I want my brothers and sisters to be able to afford to live here so my kids can hang out with their cousins. Government shouldn’t be taxing and spending to the point of breaking up families, but that’s what was happening. New Jersey was on the brink of financial disaster and no one seemed to care.

For example, in 2007 the Democrat controlled Legislature passed a $33.5 billion budget, capping a five year span where they raised the budget, $10 BILLION. That’s 50%! In just 5 years! Rather than do something crazy, like maybe spend less money, Governor Corzine was considering selling the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike.

Since 2009 with the election of Governor Christie, we have been able to start to undo the bad economic policies of the past that lead to tens of thousands of people and jobs fleeing our state. We have begun to restore fiscal sanity to our state and create private-sector jobs.

Last spring I voted for bi-partisan reform of the state’s pension and benefits system that will save taxpayers $120 billion over the next 30 years, and preserved the retirements for thousands of workers.

I voted to enact the 2% municipal cap legislation that forces local governments to live within its means and helps stabilize property taxes.

I have made it a point to root out arrogant and wasteful spending of your tax dollars.  I’m leading the fight to forbid public employees from cashing in any unused sick and vacation time. I changed the law this year to increase penalties on people committing Medicaid fraud.

I created a web site www.stopgovernmentwastenj.com,  for public workers to report waste, such as the fact the state used to waste $3.2 million per year on unused phone lines.

I will continue to fight for taxpayers and look for more ways to reduce the size and cost of government. Unlike my opponents, I will never support job-killing tax increases and will work to find bi-partisan solutions to the challenges facing our state. I hope I have earned your support on the issues that matter most to working families.

 To learn more about our campaign, please visit www.team11nj.com

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Ex Long Branch Superintendent Collected $616,123 In Sick And Vacation Pay

Ferraina: “I got $600,000? That’s not much,” he said. “There, you want a headline? ‘That’s not much.’

Casagrande: “Those are dollars that would be better served in the classroom”

Retired Long Branch School Superintendent Joseph Ferraina collected $616,123 in unused sick and vacation pay, not all at once in a lump sum at retirement, but over the course of course of his last ten years on the job, according to a report published at LongBranchPatch.

Go read the article. It is an outstanding piece of journalism by reporter Joe Malinconico who discovered the payments via an Open Public Records Act request and conducted a 57 minute phone interview with Ferraina.

According to LongBranchPatch, the records and Ferraina indicate that the educator only took off time from work if a close family member died; a half day for his father in 2004, a four hours when his brother died in 2005 and a partial day when his son died in 2008. On the day of his son’s funeral he went to work first thing in the mornin, left at 8:45 am, fifteen minutes before the services started, and was back at his desk by 2 pm.

Ferriana’s salary was $244,999 when he retired in June. His annual pension is $154,710.

Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande said Ferraina’s $600K was essentially taken from school children by legislative leaders who have refused to outlaw the practice of paying public employees for unused sick and vacation time.

“This is another example of a system that allows dollars to come out of the classroom and into the pockets of administrators,” Casagrande said. “We had a bipartisan compromise bill that addressed part of the problem and Governor Christie recommended a way to fix the problem, which I support.

“Legislators who agreed this practice is wrong should work with me to enact Governor Christie’s changes so we can end the payout of unused time before there is another example of wasted tax dollars,” Casagrande added.

Casagrande, R-Monmouth, sponsors a bill, A-4193, that incorporates the Governor’s recommendations to ban public employees from cashing in unused sick and vacation days. It incorporates recommendations made by Governor Christie to strengthen a legislative proposal that was approved by the Legislature last year. But Trenton Democratic legislative leaders have refused to advance an outright ban, just a cap on the amount public employees can cash in.

“Those are dollars that would be better served in the classroom,” Casagrande said. “As long as this practice is legal, public employees will continue to use it and every day legislative leaders delay, is another day accrued for public employees, which adds up to many dollars taken from taxpayers and school children.

“These golden parachutes are especially egregious in these trying economic times,” Casagrande added.

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The immaturity of Caroline Casagrande

By Dan Jacobson, also published in the September 29, 2011 issue of the triCityNews

It’s well known that I’ll blast any politician for perpetrating all manners of bullshit. These are people who should know better.

But there’s a difference with Republican Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande. She likes to tout her status of one of the youngest members of the state legislature. And it’s suddenly showing.

It would be overkill to blast her. So I’ll go relatively easy. Quite frankly, I don’t know if she can take it.

For Casagrande is there by accident. Her Republican running mates in her old district – Senator Jennifer Beck and Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon – carried her in. Same is likely true this year in her new district: she’s with Beck and Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini. No one knows Casagrande. Voters will likely just go down the Republican column like lemmings as they always do. What a way to run a country.

Obviously, the biggest challenges we face are economic. But even bigger is whether we’re going to continue to elect the same mediocre clowns who give us the same awful results. Our state’s massive economic mess will never be addressed until we start electing people with the maturity and seriousness to address them.

I’m running for one of the two Assembly seats as an Independent in the 11^th District. That makes me one of Casagrande’s opponents.

Here’s the problem. If a politician will bullshit you on any major issue, they could bullshit you on every major issue. To my surprise, Caroline Casagrande suddenly proved herself one of the bullshitters. That I can’t stand.

The controversy involves same-sex marriage, but the real problem is her sudden refusal to take a stand. That surprised everyone who thought she was opposed. (I favor marriage equality.) When asked last week by powerful Republican blogger Art Gallagher her position, Casagrande said she would not take one. Her initial reason? Too busy dealing with fiscal issues. Like anyone buys that.

With the redistricting earlier this year, Casagrande’s new district has a sizeable gay and lesbian population – as well as a group of conservative Republicans on the other side who oppose same-sex marriage. So Casagrande just ducks the issue. Why not? Most likely she’ll cruise to reelection without voters knowing any of this.

But I can’t stand a politician who won’t take a stand. That type of nonsense is what’s gotten us into our economic mess. And I can’t keep quiet when I see it. Like me, Casagrande has a big mouth – which is why I liked her – but I confused that with a mature self-confidence and independence that doesn’t exist.

In the end, all the Assemblywoman has got is a big mouth. At least I use mine to take a stand and take the heat.

Of course, Casagrande is welcome to equal time by taking this column for a week. She won’t. Why rock the boat? Why not just keep going to those friendly audiences and acting like a hero – and getting reelected by simply putting your name on the ballot? Wow, what a rewarding way to spend one’s life.

Then again, who the hell appointed me God?

So I’ll let you make the call. Below is how Republican blogger Gallagher reported Casagrande’s actions on his More Monmouth Musings site last week. I’ll also reprint what I posted on Art’s site in response.

This all exploded when the gay and lesbian advocacy group Garden State Equality asked the 11^th District candidates their position on same sex marriage – certainly a reasonable request if you’re seeking office.  Here’s Art Gallagher’s take:

Republican Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande has corrected the widely held perception that she would vote against gay marriage by saying only that she hasn’t publicly taken a position on the issue. She said her focus has been on fiscal issues and that she would need to study the civil union law before taking a stand on gay marriage.

Casagrande’s refusal to take a position on the politically expedient schedule of Garden State Equality has drawn criticism from her opponent Dan Jacobson and others. Jacobson said the issue has already been hotly debated and the issue should be simple.

Casagrande says it’s not so simple, “I haven’t seen a bill,” said Casagrande, “What about protections for religious institutions? If the issue is so simple, why did (Democratic Senate President) Steve Sweeney vote no and then change his mind later?”

Here’s how I responded on Gallagher’s blog:

Respectfully, I’m not accepting Caroline Casagrande’s explanation. Her running mates have taken a stand. Everyone else in the 11th District race has taken a stand. Governor Christie has taken a stand. Steve Sweeney has taken a stand – after apologizing for initially taking a political stand on this moral issue. That’s why Sweeney reversed his position. Not because of its complexity…

As a supporter of same sex marriage, I should be praising Caroline for seeming to move off a position that most people thought she held. But I’m not. I’d rather have her just decisively say she opposes it than engage in this bullshit.

Because there’s a bigger principle here – whether someone has the maturity and seriousness to hold this office. Saying that you can’t take a stand on this bill because you’ve been busy with fiscal affairs, as Caroline said a couple days ago, is nonsense. And everyone knows it.

Marriage equality is a major issue, but it’s certainly not the biggest one facing voters. The biggest problems are economic. But even bigger than that is whether we are going to stop electing people who are just playing games. That’s my objection to what Caroline is saying.

That’s what she’s doing here. And it’s what makes me go ballistic about politicians.

I’m actually a bit stunned by Caroline’s gamesmanship. After all, last week I wrote that I’d likely vote for her if I wasn’t running because we seem to share similar economic views, even if I disagree – or at least I thought I disagreed – with her on social issues like abortion and same sex marriage.

My advice to Caroline is simple. Stop this nonsense. Take a position like everyone else is able to do. And let’s all move on, and forget this ever happened. Otherwise, your failure to take a stand will become a major issue in your new district.

And I assure you it will become a major issue between the two of us in my capacity as an editorialist and candidate. Sure, I will always generously give you equal time in an equally prominent place in my newspaper. But I would rather not have us in such an adversarial relationship. I don’t know how much friendlier and more respectfully I can put it.

Hey, what can I say?

After all, we’re the triCityNews. We’re here to help – especially a frankly immature elected official who needs to learn a lesson and cut the crap.

(The 11^th District where I’m running includes: Asbury Park, Long Branch, Red Bank, Ocean Township, Neptune, Neptune City, Interlaken, Deal, Allenhurst, Loch Arbour, West Long Branch, Eatontown, Shrewsbury Borough, Shrewsbury Township, Tinton Falls, Colts Neck, Freehold Township and Freehold Borough.)

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BECK, ANGELINI AND CASAGRANDE RECEIVE ENDORSEMENT OF NEW JERSEY BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

11^th District Republican candidates Senator Jennifer Beck and Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande issued the following statement after receiving the endorsement of New Jersey Organization for a Better State (NEW JOBS), the business PAC affiliated with the New Jersey Business and Industry Association (NJBIA):

 “We are honored that the NJBIA has endorsed us for re-election. We have spent a good amount of out time in Trenton advocating for policies which will attract and retain businesses and allow them to flourish. To create jobs, government should be removing barriers to help businesses succeed, not putting them up through high taxes and strangling regulation. If we are re-elected, we will continue our advocacy for business and job creation.

 As representatives of the business community in New Jersey, NJBIA knows better than most what their members need to succeed. We thank them for recognizing our efforts and look forward to working with them and their individual members in the future.”

 NJBIA is comprised of  22,000 members representing every industry in the State, including manufacturers, service providers, retailers, wholesalers, builders and engineers. As a group, their members employ more than one million people, one-third of the State’s private-sector workforce. Three-quarters of their members are small companies with fewer than 25 employees.

NEW JOBS is an independent political action committee affiliated with the New Jersey Business & Industry Association, Chamber of Commerce Southern New Jersey, Monmouth-Ocean Development Council, Morris County Chamber of Commerce, Meadowlands Regional Chamber of Commerce and other regional business groups.

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CASAGRANDE: KEEP FREEHOLD’S LAFAYETTE POST OFFICE SUBSTATION OPEN

PUBLIC REPRESENTATIVE’S BRIEF VALIDATES KEEPING SUBSTATION OPEN; SAYS POST
OFFICE’S DECISION TO CLOSE IS “SERIOUSLY FLAWED”

A recent brief by the federal Public Representative called the U.S.
Post Office’s decision to close the Lafayette substation in Freehold Borough
“seriously flawed,” validating local residents who rely on the facility and want
it to remain open, Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande said today.
 
            “The Post Office’s reasons to close Lafayette are unfounded and do
not stand up to any objective scrutiny,” Casagrande, R-Monmouth and Mercer,
said. “Freehold Borough is a pedestrian community and the county seat of
Monmouth County. This facility is vital to many businesses and people who cannot
easily reach the Freehold Township Post Office, which is inaccessible to
pedestrians.
 
            “Congressman Chris Smith has led to effort to keep this office open
and the Public Representative has validated his work,” Casagrande added. “Keep
the substation open.”
 
            The Public Representative also said the Post Office’s “economic
justification is seriously flawed and requires further consideration and
explanation [.] revenues are over 4 times the magnitude of the alleged cost
savings relied upon by the Postal Service. This is not a facility that was
losing money. But for the fact that the trailer was in substandard condition,
this was a viable postal facility.”
 
            “The substation generates revenue four times the amount that the
Postal Service estimates it will save by shutting it down,” Casagrande said.
“It’s clear why the Post Office is failing because they choose to shut down
offices that are actually making money.
 
            “There are plenty of great spaces available for lease in downtown
Freehold Borough would make perfect postal facilities,” Casagrande added. “I
invite Postal officials down to take a look at them.”

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CASAGRANDE: OUR COMMUNITY CAN BE PROUD OF ITS SELFLESS NATURE AND COMMUNAL SPIRIT

VOLUNTEERS CAME TOGETHER AND HELPED MORE THAN 1,000 PEOPLE AT COLTS NECK HIGH SCHOOL SHELTER

Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande congratulated all the volunteers who helped more than 1,000 people seeking shelter from Hurricane Irene at Colts Neck High School this weekend.

“You learn a lot about a community during times of distress, and ours did an exceptional job coming together to help people during one of the worst storms ever to land in New Jersey,” Casagrande, R-Monmouth and Mercer, said. “Many volunteers stayed the entire weekend, whether cooking meals for hundreds of people or tending to health concerns. It was amazing to watch all the coordination and effort involved to protect very vulnerable people from nature’s fury. Our community can be proud of its selfless nature and communal spirit.”

Casagrande volunteered at the Red Cross shelter set up at Colts Neck High School, along with student members of the sports foundation, staff from Colts Neck and Freehold Regional high schools, the Visiting Nurse Association of Central New Jersey and Red Cross volunteers.

“There were so many volunteers helping so many people that it’s impossible to remember them all, but everyone deserves thanks and congratulations for a job well done,” Casagrande said. “I hope we never need another shelter like this, but if we do, everyone should consider helping out because it was such a rewarding experience.”

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Casagrande Gives Birth To Theodore Charles Chance

Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande and her husband Stephen Chance are proud to announce the birth of a baby boy, Theodore Charles Chance.

The baby was born early this afternoon, measuring 21 inches and weighing 8 lbs., 9 oz..

Mother and child are resting comfortably, while dad and little brother Harrison, age 2, are thrilled at the newest addition to their family.

Rivals, the football recruiting service, immediately listed little Teddy as a five star football recruit in the class of 2032. Neither Asw. Casagrande or her husband would comment on the rumor that Teddy has verbally committed to Penn State University, his parents alma mater.

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