Ocean Grove fire reduces building to rubble

Fire fighter Pat Breen and Freeholder Lillian Burry inspect the devastation in Ocean Grove. Feb 7, 2015. Photo by Bob Burlew

The Starving Artist at Days, 47 Olin Street, Ocean Grove, 732-988-1007, is accepting donations of money, food and clothing for those displaced by the fire. 

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Winners: The Battle for Monmouth

The 2014 Monmouth County election is in the books.

After the most intense campaign in memory funded by out of county Democrats, Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal has nothing but IOUs to show for his duplicitous efforts.

There are literally hundreds of winners in this campaign county wide.  From candidates making their first bid for elected office, to the seasoned pros defending their records, to the selfless volunteers who knocked on doors and made over 50,000 phone calls to voters. We congratulate the entire Monmouth Republican team.

On every championship team there are stars who get the accolades on behalf of the entire team.  Here are five special mentions from this hard fought victory:

The top Winners of the Battle for Monmouth:

Lillian G. Burry. Burry has been elected county-wide 4 times. Three of those four elections were hard fought.  None had the benefit of up ballot coattails. In 2005 she prevailed despite the anti-Republican sentiment generated by Operation Bid Rig.  In 2008, Burry prevailed as the top vote getter over the Obama wave that saw an unprecedented Democratic turnout.   The low turnout race of 2011 was relatively easy.  In the campaign that just concluded, Burry’s integrity was maliciously maligned by Gopal and his henchmen armed with hundreds of thousands of Democratic money wheeled into the county from Trenton, Essex, Hudson, Union and Middlesex counties.

Burry stood tall and fought hard.  She is a proven winner, in politics and life. A role model for women and men, Burry embraces the toughest challenges and prevails with honor.

Shaun Golden.  Already a rising star after his huge reelection victory as Monmouth County Sheriff in 2013, Golden risked his career in taking on Chairman John Bennett last spring in-order to lead beyond the status quo .

Bennett boasted of his fundraising prowess in his campaign to retain the Chairmanship, but left Golden with an overdrawn check book on June 10.

Undaunted, Bennett’s turd was just another challenge for Golden to overcome.

Shaun has demonstrated extraordinary leadership in the face of adversity by doing what he said he would do. He assembled a strong team by appointing an unprecedented four Regional Vice Chairs. He empowered municipal Party leaders and candidates, expanded the Party’s demographic diversity, established a strong social media presence and fed the rank and file when they came out to work. He raised money and got the job done without wasteful spending. When all the money is counted the Democrats will have outspent the Republicans 3 or 4 to 1.

If the hapless NJGOP is ever to gain traction in the State, it will take a leader like Shaun Golden to make it happen.

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Final: Burry and Rich win with a comfortable margin

With all districts and vote by mail ballots counted, Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and Deputy Director Gary Rich have been reelected.

After a major software snafu with the tabulation software that kept election officials up all night, the numbers were reported on County Clerk M. Claire French’s website at 6:13:58 this morning.

147,150 ballots were cast.  Burry 72,050, Rich 72,754, Luttrell 63,922, Grillo 63,102

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MY THOUGHTS AND TODAY’S POLITICS

Reflections on Lillian Burry by the person who knows her best

By Capt. Donald L. Burry, USCG (Retired)

Many of you now know that Lillian Burry and I have been married for more than 50 years.  Through the disagreements and pleasant happenings I have learned much about her dedication and commitment to our County.  If I may, I would like to express my observations with respect to Lillian’s political and community activities.  This will take a while and I hope you might have time for my thoughts.

Beginning back in the days of our Matawan Borough life, Lillian started her career in political and social community commitment.  Preserving the 80+ acres around Matawan creek; saving the historical Borrowes Mansion; obtaining Federal funds to purchase and convert the old Central Jersey Bank building into an Improved Borough Hall; spearheading the efforts to stop dumping  and storing waste oil in Burnt Fly Bog and having it declared a Federal contaminated site; establishing a chapter of League of Women voters; elected to the Matawan Borough Council; Appointed to the Monmouth County Planning Board; Appointed to the Monmouth County Library Commission; and other less well known activities were her passions.  I was a sales rep for the Rohm and Haas Company.  My travels afforded her time, in my absence, to raise our daughter and to be politically and community involved.  This was the beginning of Lillian’s political career.  Additionally Lillian became involved in Real Estate sales.  Colts Neck Realty became a new passion.

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Can Monmouth County Voters Be Duped?

Luttrell and Grillo are counting on it

Trenton Democrats are funding the deception

Monmouth County Democratic Freeholder candidates Lawrence Luttrell and Giuseppe “Joe” Grillo have been saying on the stump that, should they be elected, they would govern the way they campaigned.

Given their latest campaign mailer, Luttrell and Grillo are promising to govern with trickery and deceit.

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Larry Luttrell Lunges At Lillian Burry

Democratic Freeholder Candidate Lawrence Luttrell at Four Seasons debate in Manalapan. photo by Rhoda Chodosh

In a move reminiscent of Congressman Rick Lazio’s aggression towards First Lady Hillary Clinton in the 2000 U.S. Senate debate in New York,  Lawrence Luttrell, a Democratic candidate for Monmouth County Freeholder jumped from his seat and lunged towards Freeholder Director Lillian Burry Wednesday night at a candidates debate at the Four Seasons Club House in Manalapan.

Deputy Freeholder Director Gary Rich and Giuseppe “Joe” Grillo, Luttrell’s running mate, braced themselves to protect Burry as it appeared that Luttrell would leap over them to get to Burry.  Rich and Grillo were seated between Burry and Luttrell.  Luttrell pulled back before going airborne and turned to the debate moderator and shouted, “This is not what I came here for.  If this is going to be a kangaroo court where we don’t follow the rules, I’m leaving right now.”  Luttrell was living up to the name of the paper organization he created with his wife and mother-in-law to sue Monmouth County last year; R.A.G.E.

What apparently set Luttrell off was Burry asking him, “Is your name Pinocchio?”

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A Teachable Moment

Editor’s note:  Freeholder Director Lillian Burry submitted this column back in February. In light of the recent “push polling” negative campaign tactic on the part of the Monmouth County Democrats and what looks to be an ugly seven weeks coming before election day, we thought it might be a good idea to run her column again.

By Lillian G. Burry, Monmouth County Freeholder Director

Photo by Vinnie Amessé © www.amessephoto.com

When Vin Gopal launched his latest attack, I heard from friends with two different types of advice.  Some said I should fight back immediately because silence would suggest I had no defense.  Others said I should do nothing because to respond to bullying would make me just look defensive.  I thanked them all for their kind thoughts but told them all the same thing.  I see this as a teachable moment to be shared with everyone who may be thinking of someday entering public life.

You may see public office as I do – a way of giving back to society and being thankful for the success you’ve had in your professional life.  In an ideal democracy opponents would challenge you by putting forth a competing vision of the future they would work for and offer up their record of accomplishments so people could judge whether or not they had as good a record as yours when it comes to getting things done.  Unfortunately, that’s not how our democracy has evolved.

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Freeholder Director Burry, Steve and Maureen Van Zandt and Mary Eileen Fouratt honored by Count Basie

Freeholder Director Lillian Burry, Steven Van Zandt, Maureen Van Zandt and Mary Eillen Fouratt, Executive Director of Monmouth Arts at Count Basie Theatre, August 22 for the presentation of the Vanguard Awards.

RED BANK, NJ – Monmouth County Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry was honored with a Vanguard Award by the Count Basie Theatre.

“It is an honor to be chosen as one of the first recipients of the Vanguard Awards,” Burry said. “I believe that art and history are the foundation of our society and it is essential to maintain a strong presence of the arts in our communities.”

The Vanguard Awards took place on Aug. 22. Vanguard Awards were also given to E-Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt and his wife Maureen Van Zandt and Monmouth County Arts Council executive director Mary Eileen Fouratt.

The evening featured a Rockit Woodstock reprisal performed by students aged 8 to 18.

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ObamaCare puts Monmouth County’s nursing homes in peril

UPDATE: August, 27, Curley pulls nursing home sale resolution

Freeholder John Curley called this morning to say that he has pulled his resolution to sell the Monmouth County owned nursing homes from this week’s agenda. County CFO Craig Marshall is on vacation.  Curley wants Marshall available to address all of the financial concerns regarding the proposed sale. Curley expects to reintroduce the resolution in September.

Reductions in Medicaid payments for long term care under the Affordable Care Act have led to increasing deficits at Monmouth County’s two government owned nursing homes.

The John L. Montgomery Care Center in Freehold and the Geraldine L. Thompson Care Center in Wall are owned and operated by Monmouth County’s government. Property tax payers have been subsidizing the long term care of the elderly, disabled and infirm residing in these facilities for decades.  From 2007 through 2013 the cumulative deficit funded by Monmouth property tax payers was about $40 million.  Despite cost cutting measures and union givebacks, the combined deficit this year is on track to exceed $13 million plus the cost of repairs and capital improvements required to keep the facilities in compliance with state and federal regulations, due to cutbacks in the amount that Medicaid pays for patient care under ObamaCare.  98% of the patients at Montgomery and Thompson are insured by Medicaid.

Freeholder John Curley has been pushing his colleagues on the all Republican Board of Chosen Freeholders to sell the nursing homes for years.  Every time the issue gets traction or public attention, patients in wheelchairs  and staff members of the nursing facilities show up at Freeholder meetings and plead with the Freeholders not to sell the facilities.  The patients’ stories are heart wrenching. The declarations of love for their patients by the staff members are moving.

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Exciting Progress At Fort Monmouth

By Lillian G. Burry, Monmouth County Freeholder Director

Monmouth County Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry

Amidst a summer awash in bad news, there is a very good news story I’m pleased to share regarding the redevelopment of Fort Monmouth; a topic I am asked about frequently. Since the fort was closed by the U.S. Army in 2005, I have been a member of both public-private agencies, led by the state, that first planned, and is now executing plans to transform the fort into a hub of recreation, commerce, technology, innovation, education, residential and retail use. Tangible results emerged last year and continue to increase this year. More are on the near horizon, bringing jobs, ratables and opportunities for the public to enjoy new open spaces and recreational options within the borders of Eatontown, Oceanport and Tinton Falls.

As the county’s representative, first on the Fort Monmouth Economic Redevelopment Planning Authority (FMERPA) and currently on the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA), I identified certain facilities and spaces for county use early on. Last year, the Monmouth County Department of Public Works and Engineering took over, refurbished and is now utilizing the fort’s former motor pool, bringing critical services including snow and storm damage removal closer to that region. The county Park System now runs the former teen center and pool, a beautiful facility. Programs initiated there last year have been well-attended and growing. This year, we opened the pool for classes. The reception and attendance have been outstanding. We hope to increase programs at the pool next summer. That’s just the beginning…

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