Guadagno Watch

Governor Chris Christie’s choice of running mate for his 2013 reelection campaign will have little to do with Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno’s performance during the first Christie term.  By all accounts Guadagno has done her job well.  She’s been a good soldier, loyal and obedient surrogate and fine ambassador to the business community.

The hint of scandal that NJ Watchdog has been pushing about Guadagno during her days as Monmouth County Sheriff will have little impact on her status on the ticket.   Just like U.S. Senator Robert Menendez’s prostitution scandal,  nobody in the media cares about the story Mark Lagerkvitz has been pushing for over two years about Gaudagno arranging for Mickey Donovan being able to collect a police pension while acting as her law enforcement chief in Monmouth.   If Trenton Democrats were going to make an issue of Guadagno’s role in Donovan’s double dipping, there probably would already have been hearings in the Senate or Assembly into the matter already.

The imminent decision about Kim Guadagno’s future is all about 2016 and 2017 politics.  It has little to do with the 2013 gubernatorial election.

There has been quiet speculation that Guadagno would not be the second term LG for months.  A story was floated over the summer that she would become New Jersey’s U.S. Attorney if Mitt Romney was elected president.

If Christie runs for the 2016 GOP presidential nomination he will become a part time governor sometime in 2015.  If he becomes the front runner for the nomination he could resign early 2016.  Whether he resigns or not, New Jersey would need an acting governor who is really in charge.  As often as Guadagno has been acting governor over the past three years, no one believes she was really in charge.   If Christie runs for president in 2016, his lt. governor will be running for governor in 2017 as an incumbent, effectively.

Christie probably hasn’t made a decision about 2016.  Yet, he undoubtably wants to keep his options open and to leave New Jersey is strong hands should he decide to run.

If Guadagno is the LG candidate in 2013, that would be a signal that Christie believes that she is ready to be governor and ready to lead the NJ Republican Party.

Bergen Record columnist Charles Stile posted a column yesterday speculating about possible Guadango replacements.  Stile named Bergen County Executive Kathleen Donovan and six state senators as possible future acting governors;   Joe Kyrillos,  Tom Kean, JR, Jennifer Beck, Diane Allen, Dawn Marie Addiego and Kevin O’Toole.

Christie chose Guadagno over Donovan, Allen and Beck in 2009.  He’s not likely to choose any of them as his running mate in 2013.   Choosing Kyrillos would create a context for Joe’s lackluster campaign against Menendez for U.S. Senate this year.  Other than Kean, son of the former governor and the 2006 U.S. Senate nominee, none of the other mentions significant statewide name recognition.  Kryillos just spent a year and $5 million building statewide name recognition.

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Fiscal Cliff Compromise

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Belmar goes out to bid to rebuild their boardwalk by summer 2013

Belmar:  Today Belmar Mayor Matthew J. Doherty announced that the Borough of Belmar went out to bid for a new boardwalk to be built in time for summer 2013.  This competitive bid includes a substantial bond, financial penalties for missing milestone dates, and financial incentives to complete the project ahead of schedule.

“Belmar has had a boardwalk every summer since 1875, and this summer will be no different.  While we continue to help families and businesses in town clean up and recover, rebuilding the boardwalk in time for this summer is an important step towards bring our community back from the devastation Sandy caused.” Mayor Doherty stated.

Governor Chris Christie stated, “As much as any other town on the Jersey Shore, Belmar’s boardwalk is a huge part of its identity, it’s charm and its economic life. Most of us who’ve lived in New  Jersey long enough have or will walk that boardwalk at one time or another. I am fully supportive and encouraging of Mayor Doherty’s efforts to rebuild, and we will continue to work with him and all affected municipalities to bring the proper aid to New Jersey.”

U.S. Congressman Frank Pallone expressed his support saying, “Sandy brought never before seen destruction to our homes, businesses, and natural treasures, but Sandy could not destroy our sense of community. Our Jersey Shore will be rebuilt – it is vital for our State’s economy, but more importantly the Jersey Shore is part of who we are as New Jerseyans. Mayor Doherty has been working tirelessly since before Sandy even made landfall, and the rebuilding of Belmar’s boardwalk is a tremendous step forward toward recovery. It will allow residents to walk the beautiful shoreline, for tourists to return to town, and for countless small businesses to reopen and contribute to our economy.”

New Jersey State Senator Robert Singer shared his support for the project stating,“I am very supportive of Belmar’s effort to rebuild their boardwalk in time for this summer.  This is important for the town, the Jersey Shore, and our entire state.  I will do whatever I can on a state level to help.”

Monmouth County Deputy Director, and Liaison for Tourism, Freeholder Thomas Arnone said,“Belmar’s boardwalk is not only important to their town, but all of Monmouth County.  I will provide whatever assistance they need to be successful by this summer.”

The Belmar Council authorized the bid release at their November 21, 2012 council meeting. Bid documents can be downloaded at http://belmar.com/ or by contacting Colleen Connolly at (732)681-3700.

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Exodus of Perretti Farms Stallions Creates Challenge for New Jersey’s Horse Racing Future

MANALAPAN,  NJ – November 30, 2012 — The loss of New Jersey stallions to slots-enriched  programs in other states is now a reality.

Perretti  Farms in Cream Ridge, NJ has announced that it has moved two of the harness  racing industry’s premier stallions to Pennsylvania for the 2013 breeding  season.

Muscles  Yankee and Rocknroll Hanover will be relocated from Perretti’s 1,000 acres of  prime farmland in Upper Freehold Township across the state line to Newtown, PA  to take advantage of the casino-enriched purses in Pennsylvania, especially the  Pennsylvania Sire Stakes program.

The  New Jersey Sire Stakes program, which for three decades was the model for other  states and provinces, is now one of the weakest because of the paucity of purse  money.

New  Jersey is no longer competitive, putting more than 170,000 acres of equine  farmland in jeopardy,” said Standardbred Breeders & Owners Association  President Tom Luchento.  “Without a healthy breeding program, the stallions  and broodmares will move – have moved — to adjoining states where they are  flushed with the cash from casinos and racinos [racetracks with casino-style  wagering].

“Not  only is the preservation of farmland at stake, but also more than 10,000 jobs  currently filled by tax-paying residents who are ill-equipped to change careers  and will end up on welfare rolls,” Luchento added.

Trenton  continues to focus on ways to improve Atlantic City and other businesses which  provide fewer jobs, while the horseracing industry gets pushed aside,” Luchento  said.  “They have tried to Band-Aid the problem with a few short term  solutions.  Meanwhile, the wound continues to grow, and the decision by  Perretti Farms is a pure product of that injury.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Strange Justice

Two former public servants were in Judge Thomas F. Scully’s courtroom this morning to be sentenced for crimes to which they had negotiated plea bargains.

The courtroom was crowded for former Eatontown detective Philip Emanuelle’s sentencing.  On one side of the gallery were Emanuelle’s wife, and many supporters.  On the other side was the 25 year old woman who said she was raped by Emanuelle while he was armed, the woman’s family and many supporters.   The tearful and tragic emotion in the room was raw.

Emanuelle, 33, of Brick Township, served in the Eatontown Police Department for eight years.  He was charged with one count of Sexual Assault, two counts of Official Misconduct, a count of third degree Criminal Coercion and a fourth degree count of Tampering with Physical Evidence.

The Sexual Assault charge and the Official Misconduct charges were dismissed as part of his plea agreement.  He was sentenced to five years probation, the loss of his job, and prohibited from public employment for life for the Criminal Coercion and the Tampering with Physical Evidence charges.  Emanuelle left the courthouse with his family and friends.

A different and smaller crowd was in the courtroom a short while later.  There were no tears shed by former Brookdale Community College President Peter Burnham or his family. Burham quoted Kipling’s The Road Less Traveled, while pleading with Scully to give him a lesser sentence than the one to which he had already agreed to serve.

Burnham, who presided over Brookdale for more than two decades, pled guilty to stealing roughly $44,000 from Monmouth County’s community college;  $24,000 in charges for personal expenses to the college’s credit cards over an 8 year period and $20,000 in tuition reimbursement for his son that had already been paid for by the federal government.   He was sentenced to five years in State Prison with no eligibility for parole for the first two years. Burnham was taken into custody after sentencing.

Monmouth County Acting Prosecutor, Christopher J. Gramiccioni, described Burnhman as “a king who ruled Brookdale with an iron fist,” a greedy arrogant man compensated very generously with a pay package worth over $300,000 per year who still betrayed the public trust by stealing $44,000.

In contrast, Emmanuelle’s victim graphically described being forcibly raped after she declined to perform oral sex on the detective who was still wearing his gun during the act.  She said another victim had come forth.  Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Schweers told Scully that his office did not believe they had sufficient evidence to prosecute Emanuelle for the other woman’s allegations.

The victim asked Scully to disregard the plea bargain that she agreed to and send Emanuelle to prison.

Scully told Emanuelle that his actions were “utterly hideous.”  The judge repeatedly expressed his shock at the high level of support Emanuelle was receiving from his wife, family and friends. Then Scully gave Emanuelle a longer probationary term than callled for in the plea agreement.

Burnham went to jail today.  Emmanuelle went home.

The fact that these two sentencing hearings occurred back to back is legally irrelevant. While they occurred moments apart, they seemed like alternate realities playing out on the same stage after a brief intermission.

Each case was probably disposed of justly on its own merits.   But viewed together, back to back, by a layman, it seemed that the cop got away with rape while the college president went to jail for a relatively minor infraction.  Burnham’s infraction seemed very minor compared to Emanuelle’s crime. Yet Burnham’s next five years will be much harsher than Emanuelle’s.

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For the Love of Logan Bone Marrow Drive

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Logan James Parker, 6, of Ocean Township needs your help.

Logan has a rare form of leukemia.  Three bone marrow transplants have failed.  Your marrow might be the exact match that Logan needs to recover.

Tomorrow, December 1, from 11 am-3 PM Teak Restaurant in Red Bank is hosting the search for Logan’s donor.

Potential donors aged 18-60 are asked to drop into Teak and get the inside of their cheeks swabbed.  After lab work determines if a DNA match has been found for Logan, eligible donors will be notified.

If you can’t make it tomorrow, the search continues on Tuesaday December 4 at  Double Take Consignment Boutique from 1-5PM.

Teak is located at 64 Monmouth Street, Red Bank.   Double Take Consignment Boutique is located at 97 Broad Street, also in Red Bank.

Double Take will be conducting the bone marrow search at its Short Hills, Englewood and Ridgewood locations later in the week.

For more information, read this piece on NJ.com and “Like” the Logan James Parker facebook page.

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Smith Testifies before Senate Panel

Army Corps of Engineers Work Helped Reduce Damage; Planned Projects Should Advance

WASHINGTON, DC – Although Superstorm Sandy wreaked widespread havoc on the Jersey Shore, the victims and communities have pulled together in an effort to rebuild their lives, homes and towns, Congressman Chris Smith (NJ-04) told members of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Environment and Public Works today. Smith also called attention to work the Army Corps of Engineers’ beach protection projects that held up well during the storm.

“The courage, tenacity and resiliency of the victims has been amazing,” said Smith, who represents large sections of Monmouth and Ocean Counties where the immense storm made landfall. “The stories of neighbors helping neighbors with breathtaking kindness by providing shelter, food and warm, dry clothing are almost without number. People are at once heartbroken, devastated and still appreciative of the help they are getting and what they have left.  A resident of Belmar told me the day after Sandy demolished his home: “I’ve lost everything, but I am alive.”

Smith said special note and appreciation need be given the Corps of Engineers which has spent years working on beach re-nourishment projects, some of which are bogged down due to lack of funding.

“We know that in most areas where the Army Corps of Engineers implemented beach re-nourishment projects, there was less damage than those where they did not,” Smith said. “Where the Corps built higher berms, they held back the water. Where there were low dunes, the water came flooding in.

“Preventing flooded homes and businesses is cheaper and more efficient than repairing them after a water breach,” Smith said. “As such, it is necessary, cost-effective and justified for the federal government to provide the Corps with emergency funding to finish beach replenishment and flood protection projects.”

The Corps is poised to finish a number of projects if it has the funding through an emergency supplemental request. Representatives from the Northeast have asked President Obama to direct his Office of Management and Budget to issue an emergency supplemental request. Smith said that funding to complete already-authorized projects should be included.

“The partnership between federal, state and local governments has served our community well in the aftermath of the storm and we must bolster these efforts moving forward—both to make New Jersey residents whole and to limit future damage. Fully funding the Corps’ projects is a priority of mine and will assist our state as we recover, repair and rebuild,” Smith said. “It’s a long road, but we are committed to bringing back—and with your help we will bring back—these communities.”

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Winners and Losers: Powerball edition

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By Stuart J. Moskovitz

Well, yesterday the powerball numbers were drawn and no one in New Jersey had the winning ticket. In fact, no one I know had the winning ticket. Today the social media is filled with declarations of how the people who spent money on the tickets are “losers.” The people who are saying that, however, are wrong — dead wrong. Those people who bought a ticket had very little chance of winning a big prize. Realistically, the chances were very close to nonexistent. But, assuming that they didn’t bet the mortgage money on their lottery tickets, the people who bought those tickets weren’t losers, they were winners. The people who just said to themselves there was no chance of winning were, in reality, results notwithstanding, the people who lost. They lost because they failed to dream. They lost because they refused to believe in the seemingly impossible. They lost because they looked at overwhelming odds and declared defeat. They lost because they refused to reach for the unreachable star.

A potted plant goes through life without dreaming. It gets watered, or it doesn’t. It gets light, or it doesn’t. And it lives or dies according to whether or not it gets what it needs. That’s not the way humans are built. We are built to dream. We are built to strive. We are built to reach beyond ourselves. We are built to hope. Even if it is something as simple as $2.00 for a powerball ticket, those people who spent those $2.00 were winners. For hours or days before the numbers were drawn, they got to dream. They got to think about what they would do with the money they were realistically never going to see. They got to imagine. They got to hope. They got to reach.

In the end, the quality of life is never measured by what we have. The quality of each life is measured by the height of our dreams, the energy behind our reach, the willingness to suspend probability for the expectation that nothing great follows mathematical probability, that no great accomplishment in the history of mankind ever came by way of following the proven path.

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