Is Christie headed for a great fall?

By Art Gallagher

Graphic by Robert Hazelrigg. Click on photo for RobertHazelrigg.com

Prominent New Jersey Republicans seem to finally be moving out of Governor Chris Christie’s shadow.

This afternoon The Star Ledger reported that Monmouth County State Senator Joe Kyrillos was among the 15 or so New Jersey Republicans who met with former Florida Governor Jeb Bush, a top rival of Christie’s for the 2016 GOP Presidential nomination, last week at a dinner hosted by Lawrence E. Bathgate.  Bathgate, an Ocean County attorney, is one of the top Republican fundraisers in the nation.  Also attending the dinner held at the Union Club in Manhattan was Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr, according to The Record’s Charles Stile, who first reported the event.

Such potential defections from the Christie camp were unthinkable just 15 months ago.  Christie’s attempt at ousting Kean as Senate Minority Leader immediately following his 2013 re-election, and the resulting fallout as Kean, Jr’s father, the former Governor, went national in criticizing Christie can explain the younger Kean’s flirtation with the Bush campaign.

But Kyrillos being anything other than solidly in Christie’s corner is big news.  Their relationship was personal before it was political.  Christie introduced Kyrillos to his wife Susan. He swore Christie into his first elected office, Morris County Freeholder. Kyrillos was the Chairman of the Christie for Governor campaign in 2009.

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Don’t Count On GOP Legislators Voting To Override Christie’s Port Authority Reform Veto

By Art Gallagher

In his OpEd published this morning, former Kean and Whitman Administration spokesman Carl Golden makes the case why it is safe for New Jersey’s Republican legislators to defy Governor Chris Christie and join the Democratic majority in overriding Christie’s of the Port Authority reform legislation.

The two identical bills that Governors Christie and Cuomo vetoed on the Saturday between Christmas and New Years Day had passed overwhelmingly with bi-partisan support in both houses of the New Jersey and New York legislatures. The bills would have required increased transparency and accountability on the part of Port Authority of NY/NJ.

In vetoing the bills, Christie and Cuomo endorsed reforms proposed by a panel they had appointed and urged both legislatures to adopt them instead.  But as Golden noted in his OpEd, the vetoes have been widely viewed as maintaining the status quo of disfunctionality, wasteful spending and gubernatorial abuse at Port Authority.

In his five years in office, none of Christie’s vetoes have been overridden, even if the original bills passed the legislature with bi-partisan support and by veto proof majorities.  Republican legislators have frequently “flip-flopped” and changed their votes to uphold the Governor’s will.   As Golden explains,

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Doherty praises French

By Matt Doherty, Mayor of Belmar

Monmouth County will be losing an outstanding leader when Claire French retires this March. She has been the county clerk for many years and has always handled the position with class and dignity.

Being clerk is a difficult balancing act of getting elected in a partisan election, then having to work with other elected officials (of similar and different political parties) in partisan elections every year. French had the right temperament for this position, and she made sure her office followed her lead.

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N.J. couple hit with $33K flood insurance bill after Sandy gets reprieve

UNION BEACH — Nine months ago Richard Drake opened a letter notifying him of a 55-fold increase in his flood insurance premium even though he and his wife, Sandra, raised their Union Beach home three feet above federal requirements. Since then, Drake feared the $33,000-a-year bill would force his family to walk away from the home… Read the rest of this entry »

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Greg’s List: Things to do in Monmouth County this weekend, January 16,-18, 2015

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By Greg Kelly

Friday, January 16

• The Elvis Birthday Bash at Count Basie Theatre (Red Bank) – MORE INFO
• Swimming at the Ritz at NJ Repertory Theatre (Long Branch) – MORE INFO
• Moonlight Meander near Sandy Hook Bay (Middletown) – MORE INFO
• Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) at First Ave Playhouse (Atlantic Highlands) – MORE INFO
• Absurd Person Singular at TRT (Red Bank) – MORE INFO
• West Side’s Unique Musical Legacy Exhibit Opening (Asbury Park) – MORE INFO
• Wild Ducks of the Jersey Shore (Lincroft) – MORE INFO
• Light of Day at The Stone Pony (Asbury Park) – MORE INFO
• Light of Day at The Saint (Asbury Park) – MORE INFO
• Light of Day at The Wonder Bar (Asbury Park) – MORE INFO
  

  Photo by Noel Westerland, Sr

• A Night at the Opry (Asbury Park) – MORE INFO
• The Yellow King (Asbury Park) – MORE INFO
• ‘Tea is Hot’ Art Opening (Oakhurst) – MORE INFO
• Martin Luther King Soul Food Dinner (Long Branch) – MORE INFO
• Community Coat Drive (Red Bank) – MORE INFO
• MLK Memorial Service Program (Aberdeen) – MORE INFO
• Kids Night Out (Fair Haven) – MORE INFO
• Open Ice Skating (Middletown) – MORE INFO
• Deep Cut Gardens Photography Exhibit (Middletown) – MORE INFO
• Simulcast Racing at Monmouth Park (Oceanport) – MORE INFO
• New York Sightseeing Cruise via Seastreak Ferry (Atlantic Highlands) – MORE INFO
• Live Harness Racing at Freehold Raceway – MORE INFO
• Yoga for Adults (Red Bank) – MORE INFO

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Exclusive: Andrew Lucas’s Sentencing Postponed Till March

By Jeremy Baratta

Andrew Lucas

Former Manalapan Township Mayor Andrew Lucas told More Monmouth Musings that his sentencing in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, originally scheduled for Tuesday, January 20, has been postponed until March.

Matthew Reilly, Deputy Public Affairs Officer for U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman’s Office, told MMM that Lucas’s sentencing is scheduled for March 25th.

During a telephone interview today, Lucas stated that the reason for the rescheduling is that the United States Probation Office has not prepared his Pre-sentence Investigation Report – which is a detailed account of the defendant’s history and convictions and is used by judges during sentencing.

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Bon Jovi opening community kitchen in Monmouth County, plans another in Ocean

UNION BEACH — A community kitchen that served up meals in the Hurricane Sandy-ravaged borough of Union Beach until closing down over the summer plans to reopen today thanks to Jon Bon Jovi. An arm of the New Jersey rocker’s nonprofit organization is sponsoring “Spoon Full of Hope,” a program run by Gateway Church of Christ… Read the rest of this entry »

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Trial begins for former Wall Twp. schools boss charged with official misconduct, theft

The trial in the case against former Wall Township schools superintendent James Habel, who is charged with official misconduct and other offenses, began on Tuesday morning with the prosecution and defense delivering their opening arguments.

FREEHOLD – The trial in the case against former Wall Township schools superintendent James Habel, who is charged with official misconduct, theft and other offenses, began on Tuesday morning with the prosecution and defense delivering their opening arguments. Habel, 58, was indicted in June 2013 on charges of second-degree official misconduct, second-degree theft by deception, two… Read the rest of this entry »

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Law Enforcement needs help identifying body that washed ashore in Highlands a year ago

A white male in his mid-20’s washed ashore at the Gateway Marina in Highlands on December 31, 2013.  A year and 12 days later, the State Police and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office have yet to identify the body.

Investigators are now circulating a composite sketch of the the young man may have looked like at the time of his death. Facial features, hair length and coloring may vary.

A forensic examination concluded the man is not of American Indian, Japanese, Chinese or Guatemalan nationalities.

A joint investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and the New Jersey State Police has found no matches for the DNA Profile of the man in the FBI’s Combined DNA Index System (CODIS), and there have been no missing persons reported for anyone matching the description of the deceased man.

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On Anonymity, Integrity & Personal Attacks

By Jim Granelli

To be honest, I’ve had a draft of an article like this on my desktop since before Christmas. But the recent article about John Heyer, AKA Vin Gopal, AKA Monmouth County Democrat Chair has created an opportunity to tie the current matter into the above issues.

Integrity as one dictionary describes it is “the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.” That was the point of exposing Vin Gopal as a real person behind Jersey Shore Insider. It was a lie of omission, for if the real truth were known about the editorial bend of the Jersey Shore Insider blog, one would be able to put it all in context.

One of the tip off’s that something was fishy was finding out that John Heyer was a Democrat Freeholder who died in 1905. No one in Holmdel knew of John Heyer, nor was he found in any public records. That wasn’t too smart of a move Mr. Gopal. It raised a flag. Furthermore, that Gopal has not replied to MMM with a comment should raise a flag with you; telling you that  a) he got caught and b) he’s got something to hide.

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