Former Councilwoman Grace Cangemi and Joseph Mizzi announced today that they would be seeking the Republican nomination for Red Bank Borough Council in the upcoming municipal election.
Cangemi, who served on council in 2007 and 2008 said she looked forward to getting back into the fray.
“Unfortunately, many of the same issues which I’ve been talking about since 2008 are still issues which need to be addressed,” said Cangemi. “Tough decisions need to be made and they need to be made in an environment that is open and transparent. This council doesn’t seem to recognize that affordability is the most important issue that residents and businesses face, maybe because their one party control has insulated them from the people who need them to take serious action. We need a borough government that is both transparent and responsive. The current council fails on both counts.”
Mizzi, a finance professional and part time economics professor, agreed and said the council needed some different voices.
“Unfortunately, when you have one party rule for so long, a kind of groupthink sets in and no dissenting views are considered,” said Mizzi. “I thought when Grace was on council she brought a different perspective that was refreshing and that’s what we’d both like to do again; challenge old assumptions and see if there isn’t a better way of doing things.”
Posted: March 28th, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Grace Cangemi, Red Bank | Tags: Grace Cangemi, Joseph Mizzi, Press Release, Red Bank | Comments Off on REPUBLICANS CANGEMI, MIZZI TO RUN FOR RED BANK COUNCIL
By Grace Cangemi
Yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling allowing members of the Westboro Baptist Church to “protest” at military funerals has left many people angry and distressed. The disrespectful, cruel, and outrageous demonstrations are offensive and hurtful in the extreme and even among those who defend the court’s decision; it’s hard to find anyone who defends the actions of this so-called church.
But these protests do have a positive side. Throughout the country, people have come together to honor the fallen and keep these protests away from the families of our soldiers. The unintended consequence of Westboro’s protests is that it has brought together patriots and volunteers to stand up for their country and those brave men and women who die defending it.
Groups like the Patriot Guard Riders, the Blue Knights, the Legion Riders, and Rolling Thunder, working nationally and with local organizations, meet with members of the military, local police, and family to make sure that these protestors can neither be seen nor heard by mourners as they lay their loved ones to rest.
Lining the streets with motorcycles, making flag lines, and escorting processions, these people stand between the families of our heroes and the ugliness of protestors like those from Westboro. Dedicated to a non-violent means of keeping protestors from disturbing families at these difficult times, volunteers do not confront protestors. In order to shield mourners, according to the Patriot Guard Riders website, members “simply hold or flags with our backs to the protestors. We, in no way, engage the protestor either verbally or physically. We may sing, rev our engines or say the Pledge of Allegiance…”
The Patriot Guard Riders started in Kansas in 2005 as a reaction to Westboro’s protests. They, like many other groups, only ride with permission of the family, and their primary goal is to show respect to our fallen soldiers. When you meet these people, you can’t help but be impressed by their sense of duty. Their patriotism is palpable, and their dedication unmatched. They came together largely because of Westboro. This ruling will help keep them together.
Westboro’s protests will also keep our soldier’s funerals in the news. Forgetting that we are at war can be too easy in a news cycle that leads with Charlie Sheen. So when the news is covering the outrage of Westboro’s demonstrations, we should take time to reflect on the fallen and comfort in knowing that groups like the Patriot Guard Riders are standing for those who stood for us.
Posted: March 3rd, 2011 | Author: admin | Filed under: Grace Cangemi, Patriot Guard Riders, Westboro Baptist Church | Tags: Grace Cangemi, Patriot Guard Riders, Westboro Baptist Church | Comments Off on Patriot Guard Riders Sheild Families of Fallen Troops from Westboro Baptist Protesters
By Grace Cangemi
The Asbury Park shuffle continues, and taxpayers and students are continuing to bear the brunt. As some districts struggle to hold the line on spending and improve achievement, the worst performing district in the county has again established itself as the highest spending.
This month, the Asbury Park school district outshone all the others in Monmouth County. First, it shuffled school principals. After all, Antonio Lewis, the twice-suspended former superintendent needs a job. So says the court system. And thus the middle school principal, Howard Mednick, who had, in the opinion of many, been making positive changes there, has been moved to the Thurgood Marshall Elementary School to make room for Mr. Lewis to head the middle school because it seems that settlements and pension are apparently not enough for this guy. Regardless of his suspensions and track record, Mr. Lewis has retained his tenure rights (God help me, tenure is a right? But that’s a whole other discussion) and needs to be placed somewhere. Somehow, working the system is not the lesson I would want my child to learn from her school principal. And that’s the least of it.
In most other districts, if a school board spends money, they need to raise money through property tax levies. Not in Asbury Park, where Abbott dollars flow freely. After all, Asbury Park once again spent more per student than any other district in Monmouth County, according the state’s annual school report card, released this week. Last year, Asbury Park spent an average of over $24,000 per student. The state average for a similar district was $13,833. So what did Asbury Park get for the extra $10,000? Not achievement.
For $24,000 on average per student, the Asbury Park school system managed to attain the lowest average SAT scores in Monmouth County, an average of 1101 out of a possible 2400 points. How can we allow this to go on, year after year? How many more students will fail to achieve and how many districts will go broke sending money out of their own towns to subsidize this failure?
One can’t help but recognize, after years of similar spending and achievement reviews, that throwing money at the problem has never made a dent in it. SPENDING IS NOT PROPORTIONAL TO SUCCESS.
In Red Bank, our teachers and administrators did not ask for a raise last year. They stayed under the four percent cap. They felt that pain of the taxpayer and did a good job of holding the line. This meant real sacrifice. Our middle school had to cancel athletic programs. Parents have jumped in to keep these programs going, increasing the level of community involvement and putting their time where our money used to be. Good for them. And yet these same taxpayers are sending dollars, through Abbott, to Asbury Park. And while our schools improve and parental involvement is on an upswing, Asbury Park continues to fall well below average.
Shame on all of the folks who still don’t get it – SPENDING IS NOT PROPORTIONAL TO SUCCESS. We can not buy our way out of failure and we can not afford to keep losing kids to a system that is a proven failure.
Posted: February 10th, 2011 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Education, Grace Cangemi | Tags: Asbury Park, Education, Grace Cangemi, Red Bank | 15 Comments »
