Freeholders To Vote On Term Limits For Boards And Commissions

By Art Gallagher

The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders is scheduled to vote Wednesday on a resolution that would establish term limits for volunteers who serve on autonomous county boards and commissions.

The county has seven such boards and commissions; the Parks Commission, Mosquito Commission, Library Commission, Board of Health, Monmouth County Improvement Authority, Bayshore Regional Outfall Authority and the Brookdale Board of Trustees.

If the resolution is approved, boards whose members have terms of three years will be limited to four consecutive terms.  Those boards with four year terms will be limited to three consecutive terms.  Boards whose members are appointed for five years will be limited to two terms.

The resolution allows for former board members to apply for different boards when they are term limited out and to reapply to the board they served on after sitting out a full term.

The resolution will go into effect on May 1, 2012, if approved.

• Tweet

Guadagno Tosses Carl Lewis From The Ballot

By Art Gallagher

Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, in her capacity as Secretary of State, has overturned an administrative judges ruling that former Olympian Carl Lewis meets the constitution requirements to run for state Senate.

Lewis and the Democratic party are likely to appeal Guadagno’s ruling to the State Appellate Court.

• Tweet

Handlin Calls For Probe Of Community Colleges Spending and Perks

STUDENTS AND TAXPAYERS DESERVE ASSURANCE THAT THEIR

TUITION AND TAX DOLLARS ARE USED PROPERTY

Concerned that recent scandals at county colleges in Monmouth and Gloucester counties could be representative of a larger problem, Assemblywoman Amy H. Handlin today asked State Comptroller Matt Boxer to look into the contractual perks and spending habits of county college presidents throughout New Jersey.

The presidents of Brookdale Community and Gloucester County colleges have recently resigned amid accusations of fiscal impropriety that have triggered criminal investigations.

In the letter, Handlin wrote:

Dear Comptroller Boxer:

 

Two presidents of New Jersey’s county colleges have recently resigned amid accusations of fiscal impropriety that have triggered criminal investigations.

 

While I hope these are isolated examples, I cannot have faith that these issues are unique to Monmouth and Gloucester counties given the propensity for waste and abuse in New Jersey’s public agencies and institutions.

 

New Jersey’s county colleges are an important asset for the future of our state. Students and taxpayers deserve assurance that their tuition and tax dollars are handled responsibly, effectively and ethically at these public institutions, especially during trying economic times when personal finances and state revenues are so severely strained.

 

Your office has produced tremendous results for the public exposing wasteful and abusive spending in New Jersey. Therefore, I respectfully request that you review the contracts, perks and spending policies of county college presidents so the public knows whether the scandals at Brookdale Community and Gloucester County colleges are mere coincidence or representative of a statewide epidemic.

 

I hope my concerns are misplaced and that your office finds efficiently-run county colleges. If I can be of any assistance, please don’t hesitate to reach me at my office: (732) 787-1170.

• Tweet

ELEC Meets Today

Is Lonegan On The Agenda?

By Art Gallagher

The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission meets in Trenton this morning. 

It is the commission’s first meeting since the Think Progress blog reported that Lonegan apparently lied about his compensation from Americans For Prosperity when he sought and received $2.7 million in taxpayer “matching funds” for his 2009 Republican gubernatorial primary bid against Chris Christie.

ELEC forbids candidates from receiving matching funds if they were “involved in anyway” in the management of a political advocacy organization unless the organization discloses the names of its donors.  Lonegan, who is and was the Executive Director of Americans For Prosperity-NJ, said the disclosure requirements did not apply to him or AFP because he was paid from the organization’s education account rather than its lobbying account.  Think Progress says they’ve seen tax records that reveal he was paid by the lobbying branch.

The Lonegan controversy is not on the commission’s published agenda, however it could come up in public comments or executive session.

In addition to the fund raising controversy, our friends at The State-NJ report that Governor Christie’s office has suggested that AFP national president Tim Phillips prevail upon Lonegan to tone down his rhetoric.

• Tweet

McGreevey’s Ordination In Limbo

By Art Gallagher

Machiavellian gay American Jim McGreevey’s bid to become an Episcopal priest has been rejected by the Episcopal Diocese of Newark, according to a report in the New York Post.

The former governor was not rejected because of his sexuality, but because he’s “a jackass,” according to a source quoted by the Post.  Church leaders sited McGreevey’s bitter divorce and  their concerns that he might be using the Church to recover his public image as reasons for his rejection.   McGreevey can try for the priesthood again after more study and charitable work.

McGreevey remains on the State payroll and in the pension system as a faculty member of Kean University’s Graduate Management Program, where he teaches ethics.

Maybe McGreevey would fare better in his vocation if he joined the faculty of a college affiliated with the Episcopal Church, like Bard College.  Bard is a 2 1/2 hour drive from McGreevey’s Plainfield home and they have a High School Early College Program in New York City.  If they would have him, it would be doable.  But how would he continue to accumulate his state pension credits?

• Tweet

School Board Elections On Wednesday

I thought elections were always held on Tuesdays.

I don’t recall getting a sample ballot in the mail, like I do for general elections.  Sample ballots for Monmouth County school board elections can be found here.

Polling hours vary by municipality.  All polls close at 9PM.   In Atlantic Highlands the polls are open all day, from 7 AM through 9PM.  In Highlands, the polls open at 2 PM, Middletown, 3PM, Fair Haven 4 PM.

In Wall Township, Red Bank polls open at 2 PM.  In Neptune Township and Manalapan the polls open at 3 PM.

You can find the polling hours for your town on your sample ballot, which is posted on the County website, here.

• Tweet

County seeks nominations for 2011 planning awards

Plans, projects, individuals and municipalities are included

FREEHOLD, NJ – The Monmouth County Planning Board is accepting nominations for its 2011 Planning Awards.

Through its annual Planning Award program, the Monmouth County Planning Board honors outstanding plans, projects, individuals and municipalities that have significantly influenced planning in Monmouth County.

“The annual planning awards are an important way to recognize the people and organizations that demonstrate excellent planning on projects constructed within the county,” said Freeholder Lillian G. Burry, a Planning Board member. “Our hope is that these projects inspire others to plan and to work for a great Monmouth County.”

Any individual or organization is eligible to submit a nomination application. Projects or plans must be located in Monmouth County and have been completed between May 31, 2010 and June 17, 2011.

Nominations must be received by June 17, 2011 and must include a completed nomination form and supporting data. The nomination forms can be found on the Planning Board section of the county Web site at www.visitmonmouth.com, or can be requested by calling the Planning Board at 732-431-7460.

“Projects may be nominated from a wide range of planning-related categories,” said Freeholder Thomas A. Arnone, also a member of the Planning Board. “They can include but are not limited to areas involving environmental conservation, historic preservation, development, redevelopment, plans and ordinances, and publications and planning media.”

Winners will be honored at the Planning Board’s annual awards dinner in the fall.

• Tweet

WISNIEWSKI:NEW LEGISLATIVE MAP WILL WITHSTAND TEA PARTY COURT CHALLENGE

(TRENTON) — Assemblyman John Wisniewski, the Democratic Co-Chair of the Legislative Apportionment Commission, issued the following statement on the Tea Party’s court challenge to the recently approved redistricting map:

     “We are extremely confident in the constitutionality of the recently adopted map, which underwent a through review by not only our attorneys, but former Attorney General John Farmer, who served as counsel to the 11th member of the commission.

     “This is a map that not only met traditional redistricting criteria but improved upon compactness, competitiveness and one-person, one-vote standards and will ultimately be found constitutional,” said Wisniewski (D-Middlesex). 

• Tweet

Bayshore Tea Party Group, 38 Registered Voters, File Suit To Overturn New Legislative Map

Red Bank, NJ – The Bayshore Tea Party group along with 38 Plaintiffs, representing all 21 counties in New Jersey, filed a civil action today against the Democrat members of the New Jersey Apportionment Commission, the 11^th Member, Alan Rosenthal, Kim Guadagno, in her official capacity as Secretary of State of New Jersey, Paula Dow, Attorney General and Robert F. Giles, Director of the Division of Elections of the State of New Jersey, in Superior Court, Chancery Division, Ocean County.

The action claims the Legislative district map approved by the commission on April 3, 2011, is in violation of the Federal and New Jersey Constitutions. It is further stated that other federal and state laws were violated against the interests of the registered voters of New Jersey.

According to the preliminary statement filed today in court, the Commission Map in its current construction dilutes or nullifies the voice of the voters in the southern half of the state and in the state’s two largest municipalities, Newark and Jersey City. The lawsuit claims the Commission Map over-packed the southern half of the state causing an unconstitutional 18% deviation, which is 8% higher than the 10% deviation permitted by US Supreme Court precedent. Also, alleged in this suit are illegal splits of Newark and Jersey City from three districts each to two. These splits dilute the representation of these urban municipalities by reducing the number of elected legislators from 9 representatives to 6 in violation of New Jersey Supreme Court precedent.

Barbara Gonzalez, founder of Bayshore Tea Party Group and a Plaintiff in the suit said “After reviewing the commission map, I noticed several violations affecting the voter’s integrity. This lawsuit is crucial to protect the longstanding ‘one person, one vote’ principle. I hope our diligence will raise voter awareness of the voters of New Jersey to recognize the value of their vote.”

The 42 page complaint can be viewed and downloaded here.

• Tweet

Bring Back Snooki

By Art Gallagher

Rutgers must be trying to become Berkeley East.

The State University of New Jersey is following up the $32,000 appearance by Snooki with a speaking engagement by Valerie Jarrett, a Senior White House Adviser and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison.

Intergovernmental Relations.  That’s what Frank Pallone’s wife is in charge of for the EPA.

Jarrett also is the Chair of the White House Council on Women and Girls. Who knew there was a White House Council on Women and Girls? President Obama created in by Executive Order back in March of 2009.  The mission of the council is to provide a coordinated federal response to the challenges faced by women and girls and to ensure that all Cabinet and Cabinet-level agencies consider how their policies and programs impact women and families.

In July of 2009, the NY Time published a 8100 word profile on Jarrett, The Ultimate Insider.  The author said he spent four months researching Jarrett and couldn’t figure out her “ineffable raison d’etre in the Obama White House.”

That makes Jarrett the perfect follow up for Snooki, who’s raison d’etre is equally ineffable.

• Tweet