Marlboro Councilwoman Carol Mazzola Switches Parties

Former Republican joins the Democratic Party.  Says Local Democrats Put People First

Marlboro Councilwoman Carol Mazzola has joined the Democratic Party and will seek reelection this fall as a member of her new party, Muncipal Chairman and Council President Frank LaRocca announced today.

“Mayor Jon Hornik and Chairman LaRocca are doing phenomenal jobs,” Mazzola said. “It’s always people first with their team; not politics first. The Council is doing an excellent job and I feel very comfortable being part of their team. They have the best interests of Marlboro at heart.”

Mazzola is the second Republican to switch parties and join Mayor Jonathon Hornik’s and LaRocca’s team since they were first elected in 2007.  Coucilman Jeff Cantor, a former Republican Freeholder candidate, became a member of the Marlboro Democratic team in 2009.

Marlboro GOP Co-Muncipal Chair Selika Joshiah Gore said she was saddened by Mazzola’s decision.

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LaRocca defends police in Marlboro schools

Marlboro Township Council President Frank LaRocca issued the following statement on facebook regard his township’s decision to assign armed police officers at the community’s schools on Januaray 3:

“If you saw an armed man walking towards a school would you call 911?  Of course you would, and maybe you would do even more. We have had police in our schools since 1999. This move is simply to put full time police in each school until the assessment is complete on revamping our school security. This is not armed teachers or lunch ladies. These are trained police officers. There is a need for gun control. The assulat weapons have no place in our society at all. But until the school security is brought forward, the police will be in the schools.”

Marlboro High School, part of the Freehold Regional High School District, has had a School Resource Officer assigned to it since 1999, according to Mayor Jon Hornick.

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More shake ups in the Monmouth Democratic Party

UPDATE:

Vincent Solomeno fought off his ouster as president of the Bayshore Democratic Club, at least temporarily.   An election has been scheduled for August 8.

Solomeno said, “The rumors of my death were greatly exaggerated.”

Solomeno to be ousted as president of Bayshore Democratic Club

Vincent Solomeno

The Bayshore Democratic Club will change its leadership tonight when Vincent Solomeno of Hazlet is replaced mid-term as president.  Solomeno is not resigning, he’s being dumped.

Michael DiCicco, a former Pt. Pleasant Beach counciman and municipal chair who moved to Middletown within the last couple of years will be the new president of the club, according to Democratic insiders who asked not to be named. 

 DiCicco is a partner in the Bathgate, Wegner & Wolf law firm.

The shakeup is being lead by outgoing Middletown Democratic Chairman Joe Caliendo.

Solomeno was a supporter of Marlboro Councilman Frank LaRocca’s unsuccessful campaign for Monmouth County Chairman.  That campaign waged primary challenges against the municipal chairs of Holmdel, Hazlet, and Keansburg, as well as challenges to incumbent committee members in Middletown, all of which failed.

Solomeno is closely aligned to the Democratic candidates for county office; Kevin Lavan and Bill Shea running for Freeholder and Michael Steinhorn running for County Clerk.   Former Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vic Scudiery called for Lavan, Shea and Steinhorn to resign their candidacies last week.

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Name that lawyer/politican Poll Closed

That decorated tricep belongs to Marlboro Council President Frank LaRoccaMMM received an emotional email from Frank LaRocca this morning asking that we not make political fodder of his new tattoo.

The tattoo is a tribute to LaRocca’s recently passed law partner, Andrew Hegt, who died suddenly at the age of 35 on June 14.  Hegt was the father of five children, including newborn twins.

“My tattoo is St. Andrew’s Cross and the Scales of Justice,” said LaRocca, “it is an artistic tribute to a man I loved dearly and who died tragically.”

LaRocca has created the Hegt Memorial Fund with an initial goal of raising $100,000.  LaRocca says he’s raised $40 thousand so far. $6,506 has been raised on the fund’s website.

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Scudiery: Democratic County Candidates Should Resign

Former Monmouth Democratic Chairman Victor Scudiery

Former Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Victor Scudiery told MMM that he thinks his party’s nominees for freeholder and county surrogate should resign their candidacies and let the new Chairman, Vin Gopal, and the Democratic County Committee select new candidates.

The freeholder candidates, former Hazlet Mayor Kevin Lavan and former State Trooper William Shea, along with surrogate nominee Michael Steinhorn, all supported Gopal’s opponent, Marlboro Council President Frank LaRocca, in last month’s Chairman’s race.  Gopal won the chairmanship with over 70% of the vote, over 80% excluding Marlboro.

“I don’t know why they did that (took a position in the Chairman’s race),” said Scudiery, “LaRocca must have promised them something.  I don’t see how the rank and file supports them now.”

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Thanks for a great month

June was by far the most active month in MMM’s history.  There have been 32,000 visits and 57,000 page views so far month.  71% of those visitors were repeats.  Google analytics says that all of that traffic came from 8700 computers.  Unbelievably to me, the average visit is for 11 minutes, which is longer than it takes to read an entire issue of the Asbury Park Press.

According to alexa.com, only 15,850 websites in the New York area and 125,439 in the United States get more traffic than MMM.

Special thanks go out to Anna Little, Ernesto Cullari, John Bennett, Christine Hanlon, Vin Gopal, Frank LaRocca, Barbara Gonzalez, Bob Gordon, Linda Baum  Rachel Alintoff, Judge Paul Escandon, Louise Murray and everyone who wears bathing suits on the Asbury Park Boardwalk.  I can’t forget Bob Menendez’s opposition research team.

I doing my monthly review, I couldn’t help but notice the success of my friends in Asbury Park.

Congratulations to Dan Jacobson and Molly Mulshine at the AsburyParkSun.  In only three months they have made a significant impact in the local media market.  Alexa.com says that APS is in the top 200,000 of all websites nationally and in the top 35,000 in the New York area.   Mulshine was the first to report the Asbury Park Boardwalk beach attire controversy, a story that went national.

UPDATE: July 1

Wow!  I haven’t had such a busy last day of the month since I was in the car business.  The final numbers for June are 32,959 visitors fromm 9,194 unique IPs and 58,768 page views.  Ranked 120,646 in the U.S. on Alexa.

As Lois mentioned in the comments, thank you so much to all the commenters, especially the “congregation” as Lois called the regulars.  I won’t name them all because I’m sure to leave an important one out.

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Steinhorn: “I’m waiting for Gopal to step up”

Democratic Monmouth County Clerk candidate Michael Steinhorn told MMM that he has not heard from Vin Gopal, the new Democratic County Chairman, since Tuesday night’s convention.  “I’m waiting anxiously for my running mates and I to be summoned so that Mr. Gopal can show us how to win,” said the Rumson Democrat, “I hope he doesn’t wait until two months before election day and then say he really doesn’t have enough time.”

Steinhorn, along with Democratic Freeholder candidates Bill Shea and Kevin Lavan, openly supported Gopal’s opponent, Marlboro Council President Frank LaRocca for Democratic Chairman. “I wish my running mates had staid out of the race, but after they endorsed Frank I felt like I was between LaRocca and a hard place,” Steinhorn quipped,  “I didn’t want to split the ticket.  I felt to was important that the three of us stay united for fundraising and the campaign.”

When asked if he has spoken to the members of his county slate, Gopal declined to comment.

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Gopal Wins

UPDATED 11:10 pm

Vin Gopal is the new Chairman of the Monmouth County Democrats.

Gopal won 73% of the Democratic County Committee votes with 434 votes to Marlboro Council President Frank LaRocca’s 169 votes.

Sources told MMM that when word that John Bennett had won the Monmouth GOP Chairmanship reached the Shore Casino in Atlantic Highlands, the Democratic crowd erupted in celebration.

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20 Prominent Democrats Endorse LaRocca for Monmouth Democratic Chair

Twenty prominent Democrats, including former State Democratic Chairman, Assemblyman Joe Cryan, Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik, Red Bank Mayor Pat Menna, and Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider have endorsed Marlboro Council President Frank LaRocca for Monmouth County Democratic Chairman.

In their endorsement letter the Democratic leaders said that LaRocca has the qualities necessary to be a successful Chairman “in abundance”

1. Unmatched history of fundraising at the local level having raised over $500,000 in three election cycles for municipal elections.
2. Commitment to ALL Monmouth County Democrats. Frank has hosted fundraisers, provided headshots and lawn signs, and offered strategic advice for all candidates up and down the ballot.
3. Proven winner, having won 8 or 9 seats in Marlboro, including 2 of 3 Republican seats during the Christie campaign.
4. Energized and empowered an over 1,200 member youth council creating a culture of community and civic responsibility in Monmouth County teens.
5. Accomplished and respected professional, recognised as being a Top 100 lawyer in New Jersey by his peers five (5) years in a row.

The endorsement letter can be downloaded here.

The Monmouth County Democrats will elect a new Chairman Tuesday evening, 6PM to 9PM, at the Shore Casino in Atlantic Highlands.  The candidates are LaRocca and Long Branch businessman/publisher Vin Gopal.

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Asbury Park Press Takes Note of Chairmans Races

The print edition of the Asbury Park Press has an six paragraph article today about the Republican and Democratic races for County Chair.

“Pair look to replace Oxley as county GOP chairman” is the headline of the piece which appears on page 3 of the local Monmouth section of the paper. The lead is  “Former Senate President John O. Bennett III and Christine Giordano Hanlon, a behind-the-scenes political organizer, both hope to succeed Joseph W. Oxley as chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Committee

The article explains that GOP Chairman Joe Oxley has been nominated to the state Superior Court and reports that he said he is stepping down to spend more time with his 10 week-old daughter, Margaux.

Bennett received one paragraph that said he would officially notify party officials of his candidacy today and noted his position with the Dilworth Paxon law firm. Bennett did not elaborate due to a recent death in his family, the APP said.

Hanlon received two paragraphs on her background.

The last paragraph mentioned the Democratic race between Marlboro Democratic Chairman Frank LaRocca and Long Branch publisher Vin Gopal.

It is unusual that the APP would cover an internal party race.  They did not even mention the January election for Freeholder until days after Serena DiMaso was already sworn in to replace Rob Clifton.

Given the extreme, to put it mildly, coverage that Bennett received from the APP in 2003 over his double billing of Marlboro Township while serving as the municipal attorney, many Republican leaders have been worried about the impact a Bennett chairmanship would have on the party and the coverage it receives from the press. 

The APP’s coverage of Bennett’s double billing his widely believed to the cause of his 2003 loss of his 12th district Senate seat, the losses of his running mates seats in the Assembly, and ultimately the exile to minority status of the Republican Party in Trenton which has continued to this day.

MMM will update this piece with a link the story on app.com, if and when it gets posted on the pay site.

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