By Monmouth County Freeholder Tom Arnone
Freeholder Tom Arone
The Monmouth County “Made in Monmouth” Expo is rapidly approaching. It is an annual event showcasing products exclusively produced in Monmouth County. “Made in Monmouth” is a free event for both vendors and visitors; its purpose is to encourage people to shop local. To date 142 vendors are confirmed registered. The products sold at this event, made right here in the county are creative and nothing less than amazing. I am also happy to report that we are partnering with the Food Bank of Monmouth and Ocean counties this year to conduct a food drive at the event. We are asking our vendors as well as people that are attending to bring a donation of canned or dried food for the Food Bank. The third annual “Made in Monmouth” is Saturday, April 12, 2014 at the MAC Building at Monmouth University in West Long Branch. For more information, please call 732-431-7470.
On March 27, 2014, Verizon recognized the student team from Biotechnology High School, Freehold, one of Monmouth County’s premier high schools, for their achievement of Best in State, Best in Region and National Best Educational Application Concept status in the 2013 Verizon Application Challenge. It was an honor for me to be present at the recent ceremony as the student team received this recognition. The Board of Chosen Freeholders is extremely proud of the students at Biotechnology H.S. on this accomplishment and commends their efforts in achieving such high accolades.
On behalf of The Board of Chosen Freeholders and as liaison to the Department of Shared Services, I recently hosted and participated in a meeting at the Monmouth County Connection in Neptune to assist Middletown in their exploration of creating an animal shelter to service Monmouth County municipalities. Many municipalities are facing serious capacity and public health issues in this area as well as heavy annual increases in service costs which are greatly reducing their ability to meet other service needs in the community. Middletown contacted the county to assist in bringing together as many towns as possible to discuss this issue, engage the towns for their ideas and input and strategize on how to address these common issues together. The meeting went extremely well and the towns that attended were very appreciative of both Middletown’s and the County’s efforts. There was very high interest in moving forward and approximately 30 towns expressed interest in our initial outreach.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: March 28th, 2014 | Author: admin | Filed under: Monmouth County, Tom Arnone | Tags: Biotechnology High School, Freeholder Tom Arnone, Made in Monmouth, Middletown Animal Control, Monmouth County Board of Freeholders, Monmouth County Department of Shared Services, Tom Arnone, Verizon | Comments Off on The Arnone Report
The ball is in the Assembly’s court
Both the State Senate and General Assembly passed the bill that would blow a hole in municipal budgets for the next four years, the “extension” of the 2% Interest Arbitration Cap for police and firefighters base salaries that did not really cap those salaries. Had the bill become law, there would have been a massive cut in municipal services throughout New Jersey or property taxes would have started rising again at levels we experienced during the Corzine/Codey/McGreevey administrations.
But Governor Chris Christie conditionally vetoed the bill and the Senate quickly concurred with the changes he made to the bill which kept the cap intact through December 2017 by a vote of 33-1. Christie’s office announced the conditional veto and the Senate’s concurrence in the same press release.
One has to wonder why the Senate went through the exercise of passing the “bad bill” in the first place, by a vote of 28-7, only to abandon the changes it made to the existing Interest Arbitration Cap and, for the most part, extend the existing law for another four years, so quickly. Without the Senate’s concurrence to Christie’s conditional veto, the cap on arbitration awards would expire on April 1st. Either the “bad bill” or the expiration of the cap would have been a victory for the Trenton Democrats benefactors in the police and firefighters unions.
The unions may still have their victory. Before the Assembly could take a vote on concurring with Christie’s conditional veto, Speaker Vincent Prieto abruptly adjourned the session. No Assembly session has been scheduled, yet, to take up the concurrence prior to April 1.
Below is a video of Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon’s floor speak before the chamber voted on the “bad bill.” As usual, O’Scanlon makes is case and fights for New Jersey taxpayers very well.
h
Posted: March 28th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Declan O'Scanlon, NJ State Legislature, Property Tax Tool Kit, Property Taxes | Tags: Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon, Declan O'Scanlon, Governor Chris Christie, interest arbitration, Interest Arbitration Cap, NJ State Legislature, Property Tax Tool Kit, Property Taxes | 2 Comments »
Beginning tonight at 8PM, The Dunbar Repertory Company presents
SHAKIN’ THE MESS OUTTA MISERY By Shay Youngblood.
The story of a young black girl’s coming of age in the
South in the 1960s. Daughter, the main character and 25-year-old
narrator whose mother died when she was very young, was raised by womenin the community, some blood related, some not. When she was 12 years old she began her journey to womanhood guided by these very diverse,nontraditional, older black women.
Produced and Directed by Darrell Lawrence Willis, Sr, a native
son of Long Branch and a graduate of Long Branch Senior High School.
Featuring Eatontown Resident, the WisdomKeeper, Lorraine Stone
Held upstairs in ‘Studio 99’ room at the Count Basie Theatre, 99 Monmouth Street, Red Bank
Tickets are $20 Seating is limited; call 732-370-8982 to RSVP.
Also on Saturday, March 29, 8PM-10PM and Sunday, March 30, 4PM-6PM
Information Brought to you by
Lynn Humphrey, Administrator/Owner
BizEturtle:Events in Monmouth
contact me at [email protected] or 732-759-0485
Posted: March 28th, 2014 | Author: admin | Filed under: BizEturtle | Tags: bizeturtle, events, lynn humphrey | Comments Off on Friday, March 28-Shakin’ the Mess Outta Misery
Governor Chris Christie’s held is first press conference since January 9 this afternoon to answer questions regarding the Mastro Report into the George Washington Bridge lane closures known as Bridgegate that was released yesterday.
Christie announced the resignation of Port Authority Chairman David Samson in his statement prior to taking reporters questions.
The press conference was available live on MMM via livestream.
A recording of the press conference is made available courtesy of NJTV.
Posted: March 28th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Bridgegate, Chris Christie | Tags: Bridgegate, David Samson, Governor Chris Christie Press Conference, livestream, NJTV, Port Authority of NY/NJ | 3 Comments »
MMM photo/Art Gallagher
Governor Chris Christie will end his 75 day exile from the New Jersey press corps this afternoon at 2:30 with a press conference in his outer office.
Christie has not taken questions from the press since his January 9 marathon press conference about the revelations that members of his team had orchestrated the George Washington Bridge lane closures last September.
Yesterday the lawyers that Christie hired to investigate GWB lane closures and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s allegations that he, through Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, threaten to withhold Sandy relief from Hoboken unless Zimmer secured a zoning approval for the Rockefeller Group, a client of Port Authority Chairman David Samson, released their findings. The report backed up Christie’s claims from his January 9 press conference that he had no involvement in the lane closures and Guadagno’s denial of Zimmer’s allegations. The investigation cost New Jersey taxpayers roughly $1 million.
The report blamed Christie’s former Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Ann Kelly and his former #2 at Port Authority David Wildstein for the GWB lane closures and concluded that the widely speculated motive for the lane closures…political retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich…did not make sense. The report says the motive for the lane closures remains a mystery. Kelly’s termination from Christie’s staff was announced at the January 9 press conference, the day after her “Time for some traffic problems in Fort Lee” email to Wildstein became public.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: March 28th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Bridgegate, Chris Christie | Tags: Bridgegate Press Conference, Chris Christie, Governor Chris Christie Press Conference, Press Conference | Comments Off on Christie to hold press conference this afternoon
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted: March 27th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Bridgegate | Tags: Bridgegate, Chris Christie | Comments Off on Christie bridge scandal: Internal report clears governor, calls for Port Authority restructuring
CNN is broadcasting the media briefing from Randy Mastro of Gibson Dunn, the lead investigator for the Christie Administration into “Bridgegate”, the scandal involving the Geroge Washington Bridge lane closures last September and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s allegations that Lt. Gov. Kim Guadango and others in the Administration held Sandy aid for Hoboken hostage pending a development approval that Zimmer did not want to give.
The CNN Live Stream can be found here.
An advance copy of the Mastro report concludes that Governor Chris Christie was not aware of the GWB lane closures and has told the truth about it since his January 9 press conference. Christie was reportedly in tear when he learned that his Deputy Chief of Staff Bridget Ann Kelly had repeatedly lied about her involvement in the lane closures.
The report concludes that Kelly, and David Wildstein, then Christie’s #2 at the Port Authority of NY/NJ acted alone. After 70 interviews and reviewing 250,000 documents, Mastro and his team did not uncover the motivation for the lane closures.
With regard to Zimmer’s allegations, Mastro’s team concluded that the Mayor’s allegations are “unsubstantiated and materially false.
The 345 page, “thorough and exhaustive report” can be viewed here
Posted: March 27th, 2014 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Bridgegate | Tags: Bridgegate Press Conference, Randy Mastro | 5 Comments »
