James M. Coleman, Jr, Rest in Peace

James M. Coleman, Jr. 1924-2014.
photo courtesy Asbury Park High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame

James M. Coleman, Jr, 90, a native of Asbury Park and life long public servant to the people of Monmouth County and New Jersey, passed away on Saturday, April 12, in Rockville Centre, NY.

Born in Long Branch on February 17, 1924, “Chippy” was a student-athlete at Asbury Park High School, Class of 1942, and at Dartmouth College where in played in the NCAA basketball tournament as a freshman in 1943.  He interrupted his college career to serve in the U.S. Army Air Forces with the 461st Bombardment Group in Italy.

Chippy returned to Dartmouth in 1945 and played basketball for three more years.  He was named All League in 1945-46 and Team Captain from 1945-1948.

Upon graduation he enrolled in Cornell Law School and received his law degree in 1951.  He returned to Asbury Park and joined the law firm Patterson, Cooper & Coleman.

Elected to the Asbury Park City Council in 1957, Chippy served in that position until 1965.  He served in the Assembly for three terms, serving as Chairman of the Joint Budget and Appropriations Committee.  While in the Assembly he worked with his college Thomas Kean, who later became governor, on creating the framework of the New Jersey State Lottery.

Coleman served as Monmouth County Prosecutor from 1972-1977.  While prosecutor, President Richard M. Nixon appointed him to a term year term on the Commission on Review of the National Policy on Gambling.   From 1977-1980 he served in the office of NJ Legislative Reviser of Statutes.

Governor Brendan Byrne appointed Coleman to the Superior Court bench in 1980.  He served as a Judge on Monmouth County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court until his retirement in 1987.

He remained active in public service in following years, serving from 1998 to 2007 on the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards. He was elected to the Shore Athletic Club Hall of Fame and the Jersey Shore Sports Hall of Fame in 2001 and to the Asbury Park High School Hall of Fame in 2003.

Chippy’s friends remember him for his story telling, his sense of humor, his wise council and for being a down to earth gentleman.

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Man robbed, shot in Asbury Park

Man robbed, shot in Asbury Park (via NJ.com)

ASBURY PARK – A 29-year-old city man was shot during the course of a robbery on Sunday night, police said. At approximately 10:15 p.m. on Sunday, two men with handguns approached a man, who was not identified, on the 1500 block of Bond Street at around…

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Christie to hammer NJ Assembly on expiration of property tax law

Christie to hammer NJ Assembly on expiration of property tax law (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — Gov. Chris Christie plans to go after Assembly Democrats this morning for their refusal to renew a law that reduced compensation for many police and firefighters. Christie has an 11a.m. press conference scheduled at Trenton’s war memorial…

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Monmouth County Freeholders Adopt Budget With Zero Tax Increase

Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry

For the fourth straight year, the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders adopted a county budget with no tax increase.

At their meeting April 10 meeting the Freeholder Board, comprised of 5 Republicans, adopted $480.9 million budget, a $100,000 spending reduction from last year’s budget.  The amount raised through property taxes is $302,475,000, the same amount raised every year since 2010.

“It is a challenge every year to try to cut spending without impacting the level of services our taxpayers have come to expect,” said Freeholder Lillian G. Burry. “This process is not something that is done in haste. This budget reflects the months of work that has gotten us to a flat tax rate for the fourth year in a row.”

“This year, an internal budget subcommittee met with each department to look for duplicative services and identify areas for consolidation and savings,” said Freeholder Deputy Director Gary J. Rich, Sr., liaison to the Finance Department. “This process has yielded savings in the areas of information technology, finance, human resources, building maintenance and legal services.”

Monmouth County relies less on taxes than most other New Jersey counties. As a percentage of the overall budget, Monmouth County’s taxes comprise 62 percent of the total budget, historically behind Union, Hudson and Essex counties.

“The department heads deserve a lot of credit for their hard work in paring down the budget,” said Rich. “This is the fifth year in which we asked for concessions from the departments and, as a result, this is the fourth year in which the tax levy has remained the same.”

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Bill Would Make Public Access Condition of Shore Protection Projects

Bill Would Make Public Access Condition of Shore Protection Projects (via NJSpotlight)

New Jersey has 127 miles of beaches along the Atlantic coast, an enticing attraction that helps drive a nearly $40 billion tourism industry. But many parts of the coastline are off limits to the public — a circumstance some lawmakers and conservationists…

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Seastreak and NJDOT providing relief for Pulaski Skyway commuters

The northbound lanes of the Pulaski Skyway are closed for two years as the bridge is reconstructed.  The anticipated nightmare for commuters starts this morning.

file photo by Art Gallaghernightmare for commuters starts today.

Seastreak, LLC, and the New Jersey Department of Transportation have partnered to provide a pleasant alternative for Central Jersey commuters to get to Hoboken or Jersey City and home again daily.

Seastreak  has two morning departures, 5:45 and 7:45, from the Atlantic Highlands Marina with stops at Paulus Hook in Jersey City and Hoboken.  There are three returning departures originating in Hoboken at 3:15 pm, 5:15 pm and 7:15 PM.  The fare for a one-way trip to or from either Hudson County terminal and Atlantic Highlands is $12. $5 gets you a ride to or from Jersey City and Hoboken.

The subsidized fare is a bargain.  Seastreak’s one-way fare to Manhattan is $26.  The fare for a trip on a NJTransit train from Middletown to Hoboken is $14.25, and the train takes longer.

The complete schedule can be viewed here.

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The Politics Of Disaster Relief

By Art Gallagher, [email protected]

When disaster hits, natural or man made, Americans put aside their differences and come together to handle the emergency.

We saw it with 9-11. Most recently in New Jersey we saw it with Superstorm Sandy.

Once the emergency is over and the federal money is flowing, the politics…partisanship and patronage starts.  We saw it with 9-11. We’re living it with Sandy.

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Free rabies clinics for pets of Monmouth County residents.

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Are New Jersey voters (that would be you) greedy jerks or just stupid and impressionable?

By Art Gallagher, [email protected]

New Jersey voters are either greedy jerks or stupid and impressionable buffoons if you buy The Star Ledger Editorial Board’s (Tom Moran’s) reading of the QuinnipiacPoll released on Thursday.  The poll reported that New Jerseyans favor wage freezes for state workers, by a 53-42 margin, and oppose an increase in the gasoline tax by a 65-33 percent margin.

Hundreds of middle-aged people looking for work at Brookdale Community College job fair. April 4, 2014

New Jersey voters are jerks. The new state motto: “Screw you, not me.”

That is how Moran starts off his rant. He finishes by cutting the poll respondents a break. Maybe we aren’t greedy jerks, maybe we’ve been led to think the way we do.

We’ll cut the folks responding to the Quinnipiac poll a break – they’ve been goaded in this direction. Despite widespread reforms to state workers’ pay and benefits during the past four years, not to mention budget cuts that led to historic layoffs of police, teachers and firefighters, Gov. Chris Christie used his annual budget address to continue to blame state worker compensation for our fiscal aches and pains.

Hmmm.  Moran’s frustration is showing.  As the editorial page editor of the state’s largest media outlet, Moran should be the most powerful opinion maker in New Jersey. How could his readers be so stupid?!

Insulting your customers (readers) is a interesting strategy to stop the bleeding of a company (media outlet) that is contracting rapidly and recently announced 167 layoffs which followed millions in concessions from the outlet’s unionized workers and a smaller round of layoffs.

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Reacting to Christie, NJ lawyers call for constitutional amendment to protect judges

Reacting to Christie, NJ lawyers call for constitutional amendment to protect judges (via NJ.com)

TRENTON — New Jersey’s largest group of lawyers today called for a rewrite in the state constitution that would strengthen job security for the state’s judges and Supreme Court justices. After seeing Gov. Chris Christie deny reappointment to two Supreme…

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