Field of Five Seeks To Replace Rible In The NJ State Assembly

ABC Director Dave Rible

Five candidates have emerged to fill the vacancy in the State Assembly in the 30th Legislative District created by Dave Rible’s resignation to become the Director of the Alcohol Beverage Commission.

Rible, 49 of Wall Township, was the Assembly Republican Conference Leader until his July 17th resignation. The GOP County Committees from the 30th Legislative  District will select a candidate to fill vacancy and take Rible’s place on the general election ballot at a convention that is tentatively scheduled for August 9 at the IBEW #400 Union Hall in Wall.  The 30th District is comprised of Avon-by-the-Sea, Belmar, Bradley Beach,Brielle, Farmingdale, Howell, Lake Como, Manasquan, Sea Girt, Spring Lake, Spring Lake Heights, and Wall in Monmouth County as well as Lakewood and Point Pleasant in Ocean County.

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Gary Rich will not run for reelection as Monmouth County Freeholder

Gary Rich

Monmouth County Freeholder Gary Rich announced today that he will not seek a third term on the Board.

Rich released the following statement to MMM:

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Report: Rich not running for re-election as Monmouth County Freeholder

Gary Rich

InsiderNJ.com is reporting that an anonymous Monmouth County source has said that Freeholder Gary Rich will not be running for re-election in November.

“Chairman Shaun Golden sat down with Rich last night to tell him the organization is going in another direction and Rich opted not to fight,” the site reported their source said.

MMM has confirmed that Golden and Rich met yesterday, but it is not clear if Golden is pushing Rich out or if the two term Freeholder is leaving on his own volition. Rich has been giving mixed signals about his intentions; he has told people he is running, but he has not raised any money nor attended any political events recently.   He has left at least two Freeholder meetings early since the first of the year.  Neither Golden or Rich have responded messages seeking confirmation of their meeting’s content and tone.

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Freeholders Signal Flat Taxes During Monmouth County Reorganization

Monmouth County Board of Freeholders, 2017. Gary Rich Sr, Serena DiMaso, Lillian Burry, John Curley and Tom Arnone

Continuing to reduce the size and cost of government while improving the quality of services and infrastructure was the theme of the day as Monmouth County’s leadership gathered yesterday before a standing room only crowd in the Biotech High School Auditorium in Freehold to reorganize the county government for 2017 and to swear in the victors of the November election.

Freeholders Serena DiMaso and Tom Arnone were each sworn into new three year terms, as was Sheriff Shaun Golden.  Surrogate Rosemarie Peters was sworn into a new five year term.   Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno issued the Oath of Office to DiMaso and Golden.  State Senator Joe Kyrillos administered the Oath for Arnone.  Superior Court Assignment Judge Lisa P. Thorton presided over Peter’s pledge to uphold the Constitutions of the United States of America and New Jersey and perform the duties of her office to the best of her ability.

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2017 Predictions

Joe Piscopo

In a repeat of Super Bowl I, the Green Bay Packers will defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LI.  America will be great again.

Jared Kushner will buy Twitter.

The U.S. Supreme Court will reject Senator Robert Menendez’s arguments that constitutional separation of powers prohibits the Justice Department from prosecuting a New Jersey Senator for using the influence of his office in exchange for gifts and favors from a Florida businessman.  Menendez will step down from the Senate as part of a deal that excludes prison and a felony record.

Governor Chris Christie will appoint NJ Senate President Steve Sweeney to complete Menendez’s term in the U.S. Senate.

Republican Joe Piscopo will defeat Democrat Phil Murphy to become the Governor of New Jersey.

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Arnone and DiMaso are Right Choice for Monmouth County

By Freeholder Gary J. Rich, Sr.

Freeholder Gary Rich, Sr.

With all the vitriol surrounding this year’s Presidential election, it would be easy for voters to believe that the disfunction of Washington extends down to all levels of government. Fortunately for the residents of Monmouth County, that assumption couldn’t be further from accurate.

Over the last several years,  the all-Republican Freeholder Board in Monmouth County has delivered year after year of the highest caliber of government services, while maintaining the utmost attention to fiscal responsibility. It is no coincidence that Monmouth County is one of only 33 counties in the country to hold a AAA bond rating from all three rating agencies, a distinction we have now held for 18 years in a row. From 2012 through 2014, the current Freeholder Board held the County tax levy flat while simultaneously cutting millions of dollars in operating costs from the County budget.

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Freeholders Reduce County Spending By $18.2 million

The Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders will introduce their new budget to the public on Feb. 25 at the Monmouth County Library Eastern Branch in Shrewsbury and at 7 p.m. on March 24 at the Monmouth County Library Headquarters on Symmes Drive in Manalapan.  Both meetings start at 7 p.m.

The $469.85 million budget is $18.2 million less than last year’s, reduces the county tax levy to the 2010 level and reduces spending to the 2007 amount.  County property taxes are reduced by $4.9 million.

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Will Freeholders Curley, Rich and Arnone turn their backs on the handicapped?

By Ernesto Cullari

In the pursuit of trimming Monmouth County’s bottom line Freeholders Tom Arnone, Gary Rich and John Curley, Curley who faces the voters in November, are about to turn their back on several handicapped and indigent patients living at the John L. Montgomery Care Center in Freehold, despite a viable, fiscally responsible and compassionate alternative being proposed by Freeholders Lillian Burry and Serena DiMaso. The Burry-DiMaso plan both trims the budget and saves the facility, which serves some of the county’s most needy families.

Life is wondrous, beautiful and vital, until it’s not. Many of us have watched a grandparent, so active and so engaged from the earliest moments of our youth, suddenly decline and descend into illness and death. It’s even harder when it’s a parent or a child. My dad recently fell ill. As I write this he lays in intensive care, holding on to his relatively young life via prayers and the constant attention of family and medical professionals. If he survives this dangerous chapter, he may have a lifetime of respiratory, physical and occupational therapy ahead of him. A wondrous beautiful life is all at once fragile and uncertain.

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Monmouth Freeholders Step Up After Port Authority Reneges On Park Funding

Freeholder Lillian Burry, Open Space Champion

Monmouth County will have a new 250 acre park in Aberdeen and Marlboro Townships, despite the fact that Port Authority of NY/NJ backed out of a commitment to fund $5 million to purchase 87.8 acres of the open space from a developer who had approvals to build 250 homes on the property.

Today, the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders approved funding the entire $10.6 million land purchase from Aberdeen/Wilson Associates, LLC through the County’s Open Space Trust Fund.

“The Port Authority appears to be unwilling to honor its commitment of sharing to fund a project that will preserve significant portions of the Matawan Creek watershed and eventually provide a 250-acre park,” said Freeholder Lillian G. Burry, liaison to the County Park System. “The Port Authority’s offer to help move this deal forward appears to have been withdrawn.  Fortunately, Monmouth County has an invaluable Open Space Trust Fund to finance the entire purchase.”

State Senator Joe Kyrillos praised the Freeholder Board, the NY/NJ Baykeeper and Aberdeen Township for making the park a reality and slammed Port Authority for backing out of the deal.

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Monmouth GOP Honors Claire French

Monmouth County Clerk M. Clair French address the Monmouth GOP convention. Chairman Shaun Golden in background. photo by Art Gallagher

An impressive crowd of over 400 Monmouth Republican County Committee members gathered on Saturday morning to nominate their candidates for State Assembly, County Clerk and Freeholder.  The size of the crowd was impressive not only because of the weather but because the results of the convention were a foregone conclusion as there were no challengers to the incumbent Assembly Members, Freeholder or Governor Chris Christie’s nominee for County Clerk.

Free of any competitive tensions, the mood at Colts Neck High School was upbeat, friendly and proud among the grassroots leaders who came out for Chairman Shaun Golden first nominating convention.  Freeholder Deputy Director Serena DiMaso noted both the size and enthusiasm of the crowd. “This crowd is almost as large as last year’s convention when we had a competition for the freeholder nominations,” DiMaso said, “We’re in really great shape and that is a testament to Shaun’s leadership.”

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