Documentary About Coastal Development in New Jersey To Be Shown in Rumson
The documentary film Shored Up, which examines the collision between coastal development and severe weather in New Jersey and North Carolina, will be shown Sept. 20 at a special screening in Rumson.
The planning advocacy group New Jersey Future, which is working with Sea Bright and Highlands on long-term recovery planning after Hurricane Sandy, is sponsoring the screening with Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long.
At the conclusion of the film, there will be a panel discussion and question-and-answer session featuring the film’s director and several local coastal and environmental scientists.
Use of Christie in Sandy ads cleared by feds
Christie in Keansburg Monday Morning
MMM photo/Art Gallagher
Governor Chris Christie is scheduled to be in Keansburg on Monday morning, 10:30am, to make an announcement and give updates on the Homeowners’ Elevation Program.
The event is scheduled to take place at a private residence at 57 Beaconlight Ave.
Posted: July 6th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Chris Christie, Hurricane Sandy, Keansburg, Monmouth County, Superstorm Sandy | Tags: Chris Christie, Elevation Program, Governor Chris Christie, Hurricane Sandy, Keansburg, Monmouth County | 3 Comments »The List: Ten Ways Sandy’s Impact Continues to Be Felt At the Jersey Shore
The List: Ten Ways Sandy’s Impact Continues to Be Felt At the Jersey Shore (via NJSpotlight)
Kids are getting out of school, the weather is getting nicer, and many people are starting to flock to the Shore as they do each year around this time. Early indicators like pre-season beach tag sales and vacation rental bookings seem to point to a…
Obama diverts $1 billion in Sandy funds away from New Jersey
Kyrillos and Holzapfel cry foul
Sen. Joe Kyrillos
President Barack Obama announced that he is diverting nearly $1 billion in Hurricane Sandy recovery funds away from New Jersey and New York to fund a nationwide resiliency competition that will ostensibly help the winning communities build infrastructure to deal with the impacts of climate change.
Obama announced the competition last weekend at the University of California Irvine’s commencement, according to The Star Ledger.
“In some parts of the country, weather-related disasters like droughts and fires and storms and floods are going to get … harsher and they’re going to get costlier,” Obama said during the speech. “That’s why today I’m announcing a new one billion dollar competitive fund to help communities prepare for the impacts of climate change and build more resilient infrastructure across the country.”
State Senators Joe Kyrillos (R-Monmouth)and Jim Holzapfel (R-Ocean)l condemned the diversion of recovery funds away from their constituents.
Posted: June 17th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Barack Obama, Hurricane Sandy, Joe Kyrillos, News, Superstorm Sandy | Tags: Barack Obama, Sandy recovery, Senator Jim Holzapfel, Senator Joe Kryillos | 9 Comments »Communications Upgrades in the Works for Sandy-damaged Shore Towns
Communications Upgrades in the Works for Sandy-damaged Shore Towns, Part 2 (via NJ Tech Weekly)
Mayor William Curtis of Bay Head | Courtesy William Curtis This is the second of a two-part story on technological upgrades being implemented in New Jersey shore towns in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Police communications systems. New websites…
Sweeney in Sea Bright: “Republicans Shaming Themselves” Over Sandy Bill of Rights
Beck: “Hubris and Ego have no place in this recovery process. We have all made some mistakes. Now we need to fix them.”
Thomas P. Largey, 82, and Senate President Steve Sweeney talk in Largey’s gutted Sea Bright home prior to Sweeney’s press conference. May 30, 2014. Photo by Art Gallagher
Senate President Steve Sweeney held a politically charged press conference in a partially gutted Sea Bright home this morning, ostensibly to create political pressure on Republicans in the State Legislature to join Democrats in overriding Governor Chris Christie’s conditional veto of the Sandy Bill of Rights.
Sweeney’s comments sounded like a campaign rally against Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, Senator Jennifer Beck and Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean, JR.
The “Sandy Bill of Rights” passed both houses of the State Legislature unanimously in March. Christie conditionally vetoed the bill earlier this month, making over 150 changes to it. Some of the changes were to bring the law into compliance with federal Housing and Urban Development regulations, others removed what Christie called “partisan language.” One of Christie changes removed the requirement on the State that applicants for RREM grants be able to access the status of their applications online.
Sweeney penned an OpEd published in The Asbury Park Press last week wherein he appealed to Republican legislators who had unanimously voted for his bill “to do something they have yet to do under this (Christie) administration, and that’s to put aside their partisanship and override the governor’s veto.”
O’Scanlon responded with an OpEd of his own, wherein he said, “after further analysis we found a number of critical flaws that the Governor wisely and reasonably addresses in his conditional veto.”
Posted: May 30th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: 13th Legislative District, 2017 NJ Gubernatorial Politics, Chris Christie, Christie Administration, Declan O'Scanlon, Dina Long, Hurricane Sandy, LD 13, Legislature, NJ Senate Republicans, NJ State Legislature, Stephen Sweeney, Superstorm Sandy | Tags: Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon, Senate President Steve Sweeney, Senator Jennifer Beck | 2 Comments »N.J. Congressman: Sandy funds still needed for infrastructure, businesses
N.J. Congressman: Sandy funds still needed for infrastructure, businesses (via NJ.com)
FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP – While public officials welcomed the news that the latest round of Hurricane Sandy recovery money will cover the New Jersey’s unmet need for housing funds, one congressman says that the funding does not go far enough. U.S. Rep…
O’SCANLON INTRODUCES SANDY HOUSING LEGISLATION
New bill reauthorizes regional contribution agreements for Sandy affected counties
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon will introduce new legislation tomorrow that reauthorizes regional contribution agreements (RCAs) between towns in the nine most Superstorm Sandy-impacted counties. These agreements will permit the transfer of housing units to count towards a recipient municipality’s fair share obligation. These types of agreements were originally permitted under the Coalition On Affordable Housing where one town could transfer a portion of its affordable housing obligation to another. RCAs were banned in 2008.
“I’ve always said that the law banning RCAs was shortsighted,” explained O’Scanlon. “I want to go on record saying I disagree with this far reaching court-mandated housing scheme. But if we have to have it, there should be a mix of options for municipalities to deal with it. “Mayor John Hornik of Marlboro recently revived the discussion of RCAs in relation to those areas affected by Sandy. We have seized on that common ground and developed legislation reauthorizing RCAs to help facilitate the construction, reconstruction or rehabilitation of housing in areas hardest hit by Sandy. We can finally put these funds to work creating affordable housing and helping towns recover from the storm at the same time. I look forward to working with Mayor Hornik on this as we work to persuade the legislative leadership to join the effort.”
Posted: May 14th, 2014 | Author: admin | Filed under: COAH, Declan O'Scanlon, Housing, Hurricane Sandy, Superstorm Sandy | Tags: Affordable Housing, Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon, COAH, Hurricane Sandy, Mayor Jon Hornik, Middletown Township Committee, RCAs, Regional Contributions Agreements, Superstorm Sandy, Tony Fiore | 2 Comments »