It’s not that Dan doesn’t have some valid points. He does. Government labor loves Kean. So does private sector labor. Big business loves Kean too. A look at Kean’s list of campaign contributors reveals that the 11th district senator is well funded by both labor and business interests dependent on friends in Trenton.
Ideological conservatives consider Kean a RINO. The loudest of the ideologues are morons and have been making some noise about challenging Kean. They’re morons because they would rather support candidates that comply with 100% of their ideology and lose elections then support an imperfect candidate that agrees with them most of the time and wins.
Jacobson argues that the right shouldn’t like Kean because he’s friendly with those who Governor Chris Christie is fighting. Kean could potentially have a bigger problem because he apparently fell out of favor with Christie when he issued a statement critical of the state’s clean up efforts during the December blizzard.
To the casual observer, Kean might look vulnerable to a primary challenge from the right.
He’s not. Not a serious one.
Jacobson doesn’t like Kean because he voted against gay marriage.
The gay community is furious with Kean, not just because of his vote against marriage equality, but more so because of what he said before casting his vote:
Kean might be right that he has the gayest legislative district in the state. Even so, Jacobson knows that the gay vote won’t be enough to defeat Sean Kean in the general election. That’s why Dan wants someone like Anna Little or me to challenge Kean in the primary. Dan knows how to count. He knows that only way to defeat Kean is in a primary. Democrat Dan also knows that if Kean were to be defeated in the primary that his “safe seat” would suddenly be in play. It won’t happen. State Senator is too small a title for Anna Little and I’m not a moron. At least I’m not that much of a moron.
As imperfect as Sean Kean is, if he could be beat in a Republican primary, Steve Corodemus would be a senator. Kean is from Wall Township and he is wildly popular there. Wall Township dominates the 11th district and it will likely dominate what ever district Kean lands in after redistricting.
Kean and Corodemus had an uneasy partnership as Assembly members representing the 11th from 2002, when Kean was appointed to fill the seat vacated by the death of Assemblyman Tom Smith, through 2008 when both men left the Assembly. Corodemus had been in the Assembly for 10 years before Kean, who had never before held elective office, won Smith’s seat. Corodemus was the heir apparent to Senator Joe Palaia. Yet Kean’s ambitions were obvious. In their second race together, 2005, Corodemus and Kean were targeted by the state Democrats and narrowly won reelection against Corzine funded challengers. The winning votes came from Wall Township and Kean was the top vote getter.
Corodemus is not a moron. When Palaia announced he would retire rather than seek another term in 2007, Steve did the math and realized his seniority would not overcome Kean’s popularity in the southern part of the 11th district, especially Wall. Corodemus also announced his retirement from the legislature rather than challenge Kean in a primary or serve in the Assembly “under” Senator Kean.
Jacobson says a Tea Party type should take on Kean. That would be insane to do in a blue state against a “safe” Republican incumbent in a year when Republicans are attempting to win control of the legislature against steep odds. The Tea Party folks I talk to are not insane. They see the lay of the land and would rather work to pick up Republican seats in the Senate and Assembly than to put a “safe” seat at risk. They know that if Kean’s seat becomes vacant that the Democrats will recruit a viable candidate to run for it, even if that means changing nominees after the primary, and dedicate money to try to win the seat.
Anna Little couldn’t defeat Sean Kean in a primary and neither could I. I wouldn’t challenge Kean because I know I couldn’t defeat him. Little won’t do it because State Senator is not a prestigious enough title for her.
The only person who could defeat Sean Kean in a primary is Jacobson himself. If Dan changed parties he might be able to get 3000 of his Independent readers to declare as Republicans on primary day and vote for him. There were only about 2600 primary voters in district 11 in 2009. There’s little reason to expect a larger turnout this year, unless Dan Jacobson dedicates his paper to bringing out new voters to vote for him.
Jacobson is thinking about it. A few hours after he sent me his column he sent me an email asking if Kean is pro-life.
“Something tells me that neither you nor Anna is going to going to run against him, which means it will fall to me to take him on in the GOP primary.”
“If I can determine that he’s not for banning abortion, then the only constituencies he’ll have left are gun nuts and the anti-gay bigots. Then again, those two groups make up the majority of the Republican Party so I guess I can’t win.
Anyway, do you think Sean is pro-life?”
I don’t know if Kean is pro-life. I suggested that Dan call Sean and ask him. “Naaaw, he’s a pussy! Pussy, pussy, pussy!” I love how Dan expresses himself because it allows me to quote him, push the envelope myself, and still come off as a Republican.
“Wait a minute Dan,” I said, “You don’t want to call Sean Kean and that makes him a pussy?”
I don’t think Dan will do it. Maybe he was joking. He’s always joking. Maybe underneath it all he’s a, you know, …..not a moron.
Keyport, March 17 – James O’Keefe, the 26 year old citizen journalist/filmmaker who has exposed taxpayer funded atrocities at ACORN, Planned Parenthood, the NJEA and most recently NPR spoke before approximately 100 members and friends of the Bayshore Tea Party Group this evening at the Ye Cottage Inn in Keyport. Among the guests were State Senator Mike Doherty, R-23, and 13th district Assembly members Amy Handlin and Sam Thompson.
O’Keefe explained that is work is funded by grassroots donations to his Project Veritas, a 501-C3 (pending), whose mission is to investigate and expose corruption, dishonesty, self-dealing, waste, fraud, and other misconduct in both public and private institutions in order to achieve a more ethical and transparent society.
O’Keefe said he work is possible and necessary because the mainstream media no longer performs investigative journalism. “Mainstream journalism has devolved into punditry, stenography and promotion,” he said.
O’Keefe summarized his body of work with a video presentation that started with Jon Stewart’s coverage of the ACORN expose’ and concluded with clips of a hilarious video he produced while a student at Rutgers wherein he complained to a Dean that Rutgers serving Lucky Charms in their dining hall was denigrating to Irish Americans.
O’Keefe said that Rutgers banned Lucky Charms from their dining halls as a result of his meeting and later got the joke and started serving the breakfast cereal again.
In between Stewart and Lucky Charms, O’Keefe’s presentation showed his work exposing Planned Parenthood, the NJEA and various media pieces wherein mainstream media outlets ignored his stories and/or attempted to discredit him as he explained to the group the methodology of his stings and the reasoning for the staggered release of his videos.
The first annual Bayshore Tea Party Group St Patrick’s Day Celebration raised funds for the organization’s education and grassroots activism efforts. The event was sponsored by Senator Joe Kyrillos, 11th district legislators Senator Sean Kean and Assembly members Dave Rible and Mary Pat Angelini, Doherty, Castle of Dreams Animal Rescue, Fastrack Oil and Lube, Diane Gooch’s Strong New Jersey, Todd Christie, Ken and Ann Kievit, Anna Little and Sean Spinello.
Governor Stresses Community Input and Gives Overview of Ongoing Process of Selecting a New Superintendent
Trenton, NJ – In a visit to Ann Street School this morning, Governor Chris Christie engaged in a conversation with students and members of Newark’s education community, reaffirmed his commitment to bringing fundamental reform to Newark Public Schools and underscored the importance of community involvement in reform efforts and the process of selecting a new superintendent.
“It has been 15 years since the State of New Jersey took over public schools in Newark with the hope of transforming the district and ending its failure of so many of our children. But a decade and a half later, with the exception of a few bright spots of progress, we have yet to achieve our goals of providing a quality education to every child. The work of changing Newark’s education system did not begin the day I came into office, but I believe we have brought this issue into sharper focus in this Administration with our education reform efforts and partnership with the City and community at large,” said Governor Christie. “As we endeavor to change the status quo, cooperation at every level – the State, the City’s leadership, Education Task Force, School Advisory Board and the whole community – will be critical to replicate the bright spots and successful models in this school district, and improve the public schools across this city. In partnership, I believe we will finally accomplish meaningful change and reform for the children of this city, and in areas across the state where opportunity is not being delivered.”
The Christie Administration has taken numerous, proactive steps to ensure that every opportunity for reform and progress is seized and that progress continues in Newark, even while the selection of a new superintendent is underway. Rochelle Hendricks, who recently served as Acting Commissioner of the Department of Education, has assumed responsibility for the Newark Public Schools during this transition period. Hendricks is a dedicated, accomplished education professional with the knowledge and background necessary to achieve progress during this interim period. She is working closely with interim-superintendent Deborah Terrell to ensure that the district’s most pressing challenges are met with solutions as soon as possible. Both are working closely with the educational and community leadership in Newark to deal with the serious challenges facing the district today, most specifically the budget gap and the shortage of quality schools.
Governor Christie also outlined the process being undertaken by the State, in cooperation with the Newark community, in the selection of a new superintendent for Newark Public Schools:
The next Superintendent of the Newark Public School system will send a strong signal to the community that Governor Christie and the Administration are serious about real reform and real results. As a result, the process for choosing the next superintendent is built on transparency, community involvement and real input from educators. The selection process, already underway, for finding a qualified, dedicated superintendent has been set out to be broad, thorough and staged to allow for plenty of community input along the way.
·The first stage began in January when Acting Commissioner Cerf solicited names of top candidates in conversations with national reform leaders and local community leaders.
·The second stage was to seek sound input and guidance from members of the community on critical education reform issues, ongoing and emergent challenges that will face the incoming superintendent, and the qualifications demanded of the next superintendent. This began the process of engaging a wide swath of people who live and work in the Newark community:
oThe School Advisory Board, headed by Shavar Jeffries, is the body elected by the people of Newark to represent them in the schools and a critical source of advice and counsel;
oMayor Cory Booker, who is providing valuable leadership as an advisor in the process, offering input and guidance into the reform challenges facing Newark schools, and lending his perspective in the superintendent search process;
oThe Education Task Force, a group of Newark community leaders who provide guidance around education policy and consist of leaders from Newark Public Schools, higher education, parents, the non-profit community, and the charter school community;
oVarious educational leaders, including principals, parent representatives and teachers; and
oLocal representatives, including members of the city council and the legislature.
Each one of these groups represents a different part of the City of Newark and its education and civic community. As such, through each stage of the process, they have provided and will continue to provide counsel on the needs of the Newark Public School System and the qualifications necessary for the next superintendent.
·The final stage of this process, which is now beginning and will continue over the coming weeks, will allow for each of these groups to meet face to face with prospective candidates.
oFinding the next superintendent of the Newark Public Schools can and must integrate a high level of community involvement and investment in the process. Bringing real change to education in the public schools begins and ends with the community; the community’s input will inform the recommendations ultimately made to Governor Christie for this vitally important decision.
At that point, after sufficient time has been spent on soliciting community input and feedback, listening and considering all of the insights and recommendations of the aforementioned groups, Governor Christie will meet with each of the final candidates prior to the Education Commissioner’s final selection being made in May, ensuring that the new superintendent is in place by the end of the school year.
Ever since the pussy voted against same sex marriage, we’ve had it with the always amiable – and consistently cowardly – Republican State Senator.
So we want Sean to do a little work for his reelection this year. Instead of cruising to victory in a district that hasn’t elected a Democrat in 22 years.
(And after the last Democrat they elected – some 28 year old clown with too little life experience to know what the hell he was doing – you can understand why voters have gone Republican since 1989. That last Democrat, of course, was me.)
When it comes to politics, this Publisher loves stirring up trouble. Got a long history of it as both a journalist and an elected official. Keeps people from getting too complacent. More importantly, it keeps me from getting bored.
So here’s a fun fact about Sean Kean that surprises every Republican we tell:
In his past elections, the Republican Senator has repeatedly been endorsed by the most powerful government employee unions in the state. Specifically, the NJEA and the CWA (the union representing state workers). Yup, the same unions in bitter battles against Republican Governors in places like Wisconsin, Ohio and – well, what do you know! – New Jersey.
Sean Kean sold out the Republican principles of limited government for those endorsements. And Republicans we’ve told don’t like it one bit. Kean has also been backed by the state AFL-CIO. They too are in alliance with the NJEA and the CWA in their battles against Republican Governor Chris Christie.
Don’t kid yourself. Those union endorsements come at a price for a Republican like Sean Kean. That price is his independence. Obviously, the Democratic Party lost theirs a long time ago with these groups. Everyone knows that.
But to see a Republican like Sean Kean do it is enough to…well, it’s enough to trigger a challenge in the Republican primary this June! Especially in these times.
After all, the recent events in Wisconsin have solidified the battle lines over the size of government and the power of government employees unions. Meanwhile, New Jersey’s Republican Governor is one of the leaders in the battle. And local Republicans overwhelmingly support Chris Christie in the fight.
Republican primary voters in Sean Kean’s district will not be happy with his choice of political allies – these unions are the most determined adversaries of their beloved Republican Governor! And that should make Sean Kean a big fat target for a Tea Party insurgent challenger in this June’s GOP primary.
Of course, Sean Kean made these alliances in past elections. Basically, when nobody was looking. And nobody cared. The game was always to lock up as much support as possible from wherever it came, principles be damned. It was all about winning elections. Nothing more.
That’s what voters are rebelling against today. Sean Kean is a typical politician – wonderfully amiable, a terrifically nice guy…and one who’s genetically incapable of ever rocking the boat. There’s your answer as to why nothing changes. We keep electing such friendly people from both parties. Sure, as far as the drek in Trenton goes, Sean Kean actually stacks up quite well. I’ll readily admit that. Then again, that’s additional evidence of why nothing gets done. He’s the standard.
Of course, I’m just stirring up controversy here. I love seeing Republicans fight each other. That’s why I want someone to run against Sean Kean in this year’s GOP primary. As a Democrat, I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with being backed by the NJEA or the CWA (the state workers union).
And all this demonizing of unionized government workers by Republicans nationwide is a bit much. It’s not like we’re talking about Al Qaeda here. These are our teachers, state workers and fellow citizens. The many government workers I’ve dealt with have been as serious about their job as those I’ve encountered in the private sector. Many even more so.
I really mean that. Sure, political hacks appointed to jobs because of their connections may be a different story. But my encounters with regular public employees from behind the scenes, when I’ve known the real story of what’s going on, have been almost uniformly positive. I’ve been an aide to elected officials, an elected official myself and I’ve represented local government entities as a lawyer. I also served as a municipal public defender. And I was a real reporter years ago and a fake one today. So I’ve had over 25 years of exposure to government workers. I’m positive on them.
The problem, however, is that the power of government employee unions today is way out of balance. We all know that. They’re too strong and have built too many advantages into the system with their power. Union leadership will never concede that. They can’t. They’d be out of a job as a union leader. So no one will speak the truth to their members.
The result has been unions who’ve thrown their political weight around, and everyone else resents it. Meanwhile, these unions are insulated and mostly talking to themselves about political issues. That only makes it worse. And politicians like Sean Kean have always given them what they want. That makes it doubly difficult to change the system.
A politician like Sean Kean can’t be trusted as an honest broker when it comes time to reform the state government. He can never be trusted to say no to the unions in those cases when that legitimately needs to be done. To Republicans, Sean Kean has cut his deal with the devil. He’s a rarity in the GOP – Kean is like a union-backed Democrat who’ll give in too much.
Here’s the funny part. I’ll bet Sean Kean will abandon his union allies if he thinks that’s the best way to keep his seat. Just watch what happens if a Republican primary challenger steps forward who can beat him. That will be fun to watch – and write about – when Kean inevitably back-pedals away from his union backers. Can’t wait to see their reaction too.
OK, so who can take on Sean Kean?
Got to be a Tea Party type. The obvious choice is Anna Little. She scored a stunning upset last year in the Republican primary over the establishment-backed Diane Gooch to run against Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone.
After losing to Pallone, this former Mayor of Highlands and former Monmouth County Freeholder announced she was running against him again. Recently, Little has talked about running for U.S. Senate, after Tea Party groups in other parts of the state suggested it.
That’s all nonsense. Little would lose again against the powerful Pallone. And forget the U.S. Senate. She doesn’t have the resources or recognition for that.
But Little could beat Sean Kean in this year’s primary for state Senate. Especially with his union baggage among Republican primary voters. And Little could then become the Tea Party’s darling in Trenton. Not a bad role to play as a Republican in the age of Governor Chris Christie. After a few years in that role, Little could then make a credible run for statewide office. (Oh man, are we creating another Frankenstein here – just so we have controversy to write about?)
Another choice to run against Sean Kean is powerful Republican blogger Art Gallagher out of Highlands. He was a key factor in Anna Little’s success last year, using his blog to relentlessly promote her candidacy and coordinate activity among Tea Party volunteers. However, there is a rift between Gallagher and Little these days.
We’re not sure what that rift means. But if Gallagher has significant support among the local Tea Party movement, then he can take a shot against Sean Kean. Gallagher is well-known among rank and file Republicans by his MoreMonmouthMusings blog. Even better, he’s been on the front page of the triCityNews. That’s much more powerful.
In the end, we don’t care who takes on Sean Kean. We just want some Republican to do it. And give the Senator a run for his NJEA and CWA money. (Sorry, we couldn’t resist that clever line!)
Of course, Sean Kean is always welcome to give his side of the story in the triCityNews. Hell, he can even take this column. I’m always happy to do less work. Sean won’t do it though. Too much of a pussy.
Pussy! Pussy! Pussy!
Although he’s a helluva nice guy. Aren’t they all?
So if anyone credible wants to take on Sean Kean let us know. This Democratic newspaper is always happy to provide a platform for Republicans to attack each other. Our front page awaits you!
After all, we’re the triCityNews. We’re here to help.
Editors note: MMM is thrilled that Dan Jacobson has finally consented to having his work published on the Internet. We never understood why Dan doesn’t like the Internet, after all, Al Gore invented it! We’re honored that the publisher of the only profitable newspaper in the universe chose MMM to stir things up.
In addition to publishing the tri-CityNews, Jacobson is a former Assemblyman from the 11th legislative district.
If you frequent the New Jersey focused news sites (which you obviously do), you for sure have noticed the advertisements lately that have been smearing The Market Competition and Consumer Choice Act. This bill alters State regulation of competitive services provided by telecommunications and cable television companies. As the law stands today, our state regulations are older than the phone below. Remember those?
Recently the Star-Ledger had a story about a study released by two left-leaning think tanks New Jersey Policy Perspective and Demos. This study is a last-ditch effort by left wing groups to stop S. 2664 and calls the bill radical. The study was written by failed New York politician and Working Families Party (ACORN’s political arm in New York) attorney Richard Brodsky. It is the companion bill to A.3766, which passed 66-7. 66-7 doesn’t sound to radical for us New Jerseyeans, but then again we aren’t from New York. It is worth pointing out that this is all part of a campaign seemingly led by two special interest groups – New Jersey Citizen Action and AARP, according to the Daily Record.
Now we have two issues with this study. The first one is substantive. Deregulation is often a good idea, and certainly, there are too many regulations in New Jersey already. That’s part of why we elected Chris Christie. And if AARP and other liberal think tanks can bring in out-of-state failed politicians to write studies about it, let us look at a study from professors at Ball State University who pointed out that deregulation was a success in Indiana.
New Jersey will have a legislature controlled by the Democratic party for another ten years, according to Monmouth University pollster Patrick Murray.
In a column posted on Politickernjand on his own blog Murray dissects the tea leaves of that Alan Rosenthal, the tie breaking 11th member of redistricting commission, revealed in his public statements about the standards that will be used to determine the new legislative map. Murray concludes that the Rosenthal approved map will result in 22 “safe” Democratic districts and 18 “safe” Republican districts.
Murray says that Rosenthal values “continuity of representation” ….that incumbents should be drawn into districts where the majority of voters are already represented by them…over “competitiveness” and that as a result the new map will have a “deminis” impact on the status quo.
Murray also implied that the Democrats have outmaneuvered the Republican in there redistricting preparation. He says Democrats organized themselves to negotiate with the 11th members of the commission whereas the Republicans organized themselves to challenge the new map in court, where they will likely lose.
Murray’s margin of error is +/- 100% of Rosenthal’s consistency with his historical body of work.
As an attorney I am often exposed, through my clients, to examples of government ineptitude. Truly there is no scarier phrase then “I am from the government and I’m here to help”.
I recently came across a most glaring example of this. Twenty years ago this person purchased a “low income housing unit” These are typically units that that are built by developers so that towns can meet their COAH obligations. In return the developer gets increased density for its market rate housing. More about that later. These units have deed restrictions that limit the amount the value of the house can appreciate.
This person is now ready to move out of their low income housing. Here is the problem. There are no buyers who qualify as low income. In an effort to assist this person I contacted some experts in this area and found out that even when there are low income buyers available they can not qualify for a mortgage. Apparently there are numerous vacant low income housing units just sitting there. It seems thanks to an activist Supreme Court and an inept government we have housing units that no-one can buy.
Now this is not the first time I have come across flaws in the COAH system. I have also seen examples where someone right out of college had income low enough to purchase low or moderate income housing and a relative willing to help them purchase it. Five years later their income is increased substantially, they have a fat bank account and a BMW in the driveway while living in housing that costs them a pittance. Not really the people who needed government intervention to get a leg up.
Another problem, abuse really, are the people who have illegally rented out their COAH units and made a nice sum of cash. This is more common then you would think.
The real problem however is that COAH housing has done more to increase the cost to live in New Jersey then anything else including overpaid government employees and public employee benefit packages. Here is why. For the last 30 years developers have been able to force communities to allow them to build developments in excess of what the municipality has zoned for by agreeing to also build a small number of low and moderate income housing. This is due to the ill conceived judicial legislation coming out of the Mount Laurel line of cases.
How has this driven up the cost to live in New Jersey? For every residential unit that is built a municipality generally spends $1.50 in services for every $1.00 it gets in tax revenue. This is the reason that taxes are generally higher the more populated a community is.
So thanks to government we have a program to provide affordable housing that really does not work AND has actually made it more expensive to live in New Jersey. In my opinion it has also degraded our quality of life by overdeveloping our communities. For these reasons affordable housing is a perfect example of an area that should not be the responsibility of government.
How do we fix the problem? Unfortunately since the Supreme Court decision that started the whole mess is based on rights the court has found in our state constitution there is only one way to fix the problem. We need an amendment to the State Constitution which in effect overrules the Mount Laurel cases and does away with the Council On Affordable Housing. This will get the government out of the affordable housing business and return zoning control to local municipalities. Since our Legislature in thirty years has not had the courage to do this that will not likely happen until we get initiative and referendum in the State of New Jersey. This will do more to control property taxes going forward then anything else being done.
Fresh off the resignation of NPR top executives, O’Keefe to give a behind the scenes peek.
Middletown, NJ—The Bayshore Tea Party Group is proud to announce its first annual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration, this Thursday, March 17th, 2011 at Ye Cottage Inn in Keyport, NJ. James O’Keefe, the Jersey boy who blew the lid off of the corrupt ACORN racket, will headline the event on the water in Keyport.
O’Keefe most recently exposed National Public Radio (NPR) executinves meeting with prospective donors that may have violated federal law. The tirade O’Keefe caught on film resulted in the resignation of NPR’s President Vivian Schiller.
Prior to the rampage, NPR Foundation President Ron Schiller made it clear to the Country that NPR would be better off without federal funding. Suffice to say, we agree.
Details:
Who:James O’Keefe, III headlines at the Bayshore Tea Party Group
What:1stAnnual St. Patrick’s Day Celebration
Where: Ye Cottage Inn, 149 West Front Street, Keyport, NJ 07735
When:Thursday, March 17th, 2011
7-9 PM
How:$50 at the door / $1000 event sponsorship
Noted in Politico as one of the most “prominent” tea party groups in the State of New Jersey and the Country, the Bayshore Tea Party Group is an all-volunteer organization working tirelessly in Monmouth County and New Jersey to implement Constitutional and Conservative policies throughout New Jersey through a variety of channels.
Celebrating Monmouth’s GOP Women during Women’s History Month
By Christine Giordano Hanlon, Esq., Monmouth County Republican State Committeewoman
This is not your grandfather’s Republican Party…at least not in Monmouth County. For years, women have been making big strides within our party as elected officials, local party leaders and activists. While the number of women in elected office is generally on the decline, Monmouth County Republican women continue to move ahead with the backing of party leadership both at the local, County and State level.
Monmouth’s GOP women have a strong presence in State government, perhaps the strongest of all of the 21 counties. Former Sheriff Kim Guadagno made history when she was elected to serve as the first Lieutenant Governor in 2009. In the legislature, 36% of the female Republican legislators are from Monmouth County. Senator Jennifer Beck (D-12) is one of only three female Republicans in the State Senate. Of the eight Republican women in the State Assembly, three call Monmouth County home. Mary Pat Angelini, Caroline Casagrande and Amy Handlin represent Monmouth County’s 11th, 12th and 13th Districts, respectively.
At the County level, two of the three Monmouth County constitutional officers are Republican women. County Clerk M. Claire French and Surrogate Rosemarie Peters have served the citizens of Monmouth County for many years. Freeholder Lillian Burry has been a trailblazer for women across our County, having served as Mayor of Colts Neck, Freeholder since 2006 and the first woman in County history to serve as Freeholder Director in 2008. And the Republican controlled Board of Freeholders have appointed women to some of the most important positions in our County – County Counsel, County Administrator and Clerk of the Board.
In our towns, Monmouth Republican women serve as local elected officials, Municipal Chairs and grass roots activists. Mayors Nancy Grbelja (Millstone), Ann Marie Conte (Wall), Janet Tucci (West Long Branch), and many more GOP women serving on the governing bodies of 23 of our 53 municipalities, have demonstrated that Republican women are electable leaders who are making significant contributions to local government. Approximately 30% of our 53 local Municipal Chairs are women, a number that has grown dramatically in the past three years. Women have also taken on leadership roles in volunteer efforts, spending countless hours doing the ground work on campaigns and forcefully advocating on important issues. Their efforts help advance the success of our party at every level of government.
Monmouth County’s Republican Women’s Federation is the one of the strongest and fastest growing county Federations in the State of New Jersey, boasting an increase in membership from 49 members in 2007 to 200 members in 2010. In addition, for the first time in the history of the Monmouth County Affiliated Republican Club, traditionally the male counterpart to the Women’s Federation, a woman was elected Vice President in 2011.
March is National Women’s History month. It is the perfect time to recognize both the Republican women who have accomplished so much, and the County and local party leadership that supports them. Monmouth County’s Republican Party is certainly ahead of the curve with respect to women in government, and it is with great respect and admiration that I congratulate all of the Monmouth GOP women who have stepped up to lead, to inspire, to serve. I am very proud to be a Monmouth County Republican.
Michael sent me a text at 10:17 AM that he and Ruth could go back to their hotel room now and thanking me for monitoring the situation. I had sent him a message at 8:42 telling him that the news reports were saying that the waves in Hawaii were insignificant. His email message to the family simply stated that all was ok and that they were thankful and tired.
In the 5 1/2 hours between communications with my brother who was in the path of a tsunami, I kept praying, monitoring the news on TV and the Internet and gave my best effort at my normal early morning routine of checking the news sites for material to comment on at MMM.
At app.com there was coverage of a four alarm fire in Ocean Grove. My mother spends a lot of time in Ocean Grove. Not often during this time of year, but she could be there. Calls to her home and cell went unanswered. Could both my mother and brother be in harms way at the same time on opposite sides of the planet?! Mom called back later from Michael’s home in California where she was looking after his teenage daughters while he and Ruth were vacationing.
So far on this Friday morning nothing bad had happened to any of my loved ones, as far as I knew for sure, but events of the day were shaking me up. Word from earlier in the week that a beloved aunt needed a liver transplant was shocking. Now my brother’s life and perhaps my mother ‘s were in imminent danger. The normal business of living that I usually approached urgently seemed trivial today. The news from Japan was devastating, but it wasn’t personal.
Just after I received Michael’s message that he and Ruth were fine, my wife arrived home from a doctor’s appointment. Lori was relieved to hear that Michael and Ruth were well. She looked happier than I had seen her looking in quite sometime. The surgical procedure she had a week earlier for a back injury had worked well.
It was getting to be late in the morning and I was late in getting to the business of living. However, I spent some time filling Lori in on what had happened since I was awakened for no apparent reason in the middle of the night. Lori asked me what time I was awakened. “2:47 AM,” I replied. At that very moment a TV anchor’s voice announced, ” At 2:46 this morning east coast time a 8.9 level earthquake hit off the coast of Japan.”
I still can’t get my head around that one. It could mean something or it could mean nothing. I believe in God and believe there is such a thing as miracles and divine intervention. I also believe that the power and nature of God is beyond human understanding . I am suspect of those who claim to understand God and tell other people how to live based on their “knowing.”
I don’t “know” that God woke me up in the middle of the night nor do I “know” that I felt an earthquake on the other side of the planet. I don’t “know” that my prayers made a difference in keeping my brother and his wife safe. I know I woke up in the middle of the night. I know I communicated with my brother via human technology and thanks to that technology I know he and his wife are safe.
I believe I received a wake up call. That while I’ve been urgently engaged in the business of living, I’ve paid less attention to what really matters than I need to.
When I arrived home on Friday night after dealing with the business of living, Lori filled me in on the good news from her doctors appointment. The procedure on her back injury had worked. Her suffering was greatly reduced. There was more work to be done, but she told me that the doctor said she had made his day when she told him she felt as though she had a new future. She had been mentally preparing to live in pain and with limited mobility for the rest of her life and now she felt she wasn’t going to suffer that way. If she had previously told me that she was going through that, I didn’t hear it. This really mattered.
Lori will have another procedure in a few weeks, which will keep me working on the business of living. Those health insurance premiums need to be paid and it really matters.
