Christie’s Town Hall in Manasquan

This is a turning point for our state:

It’s time to put our game faces on

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Christie on Restoring the Shore: We have to do it together

Halloween Inflatable

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There’s no such thing as a free beach

Sweeney wants to pay for beach safety and maintenance by getting rid of cops and dpw workers

Photo credit: www.SignsByTheSea.com

MMM has called Senate President Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester) three times since he jumped on board with the Senator Mike Doherty (R-Warren) in sponsoring legislation that would ban shoreline municipalites from selling beach badges or imposing other user fees to pay for lifeguards, beach cleanup and policing, if those towns accept federal and state money to rebuild from the destruction of Hurricane Sandy.  He hasn’t called back.  Steve Sweeney is a kitten.  Kitten, kitten, kitten!

Given that he won’t talk to us, we’ll have to judge Sweeney’s crusade for free sand in his ass by what others report he says.  The Senate President invited himself to a meeting with the Asbury Park Press Editorial Board earlier this week to make his case for free beaches.

“You don’t charge me to breathe air, why are you charging me to sit on a beach?”

We should be grateful that the top elected Democrat in New Jersey hasn’t figured out how to tax breathing (yet).  But really now, our Senate President thinks breathing air (as opposed to grapefruit juice?) is analogous to sitting on a beach?  That is something we should be concerned about, especially since this guy is considering a run for governor.

Sweeney told the APP that Belmar and the other shore communities that impose beach user fees should cover those costs by consolidating police forces and departments of public works.  He said he would “beat up mayors down the shore” to make it happen “because its not acceptable, you know, to charge beach fees.”

Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty took Sweeney’s first beating:

“I asked (Doherty), how many people live year-round in his town,” Sweeney said. “He’s got a one-square mile town, he’s got 5,800 people. Now, could we run a shared police department? I met his public works director today, could we run a shared public works office?”

“You guys know how I feel about shared services,” Sweeney told the APP.  We don’t know if the APP knows how he feels, but MMM thinks Sweeney is thwarting shared services and other methods that municipalities could use to reduce the size and cost of local government.   If Sweeney was serious about property tax reduction and more efficient local government he would have passed Governor Christie’s property tax tool kit.

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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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Christie Tours Devastated Jersey Shore

Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty, Guv Christie and Lt Guv Kim Guadagno on Belmar Board walk after Hurricane Sandy. Photo credit:Tim Larsen, Guv's office

Angela Delli Santi, AP (pool report distributed by the Governor’s office)

Gov. Chris Christie took a four-and-a-half-hour helicopter tour of New

Jersey’s Sandy-ravaged coast on Tuesday, stopping in Belmar and Avalon

to survey the damage firsthand and to offer a sympathetic ear and

encouraging word to residents and first-responders.

In Belmar, which was hit hard by the storm, Christie encountered one

woman who cried and a man, Walter Patrickis, 42, who told him,

“governor, I lost everything.”

From the air, Christie and several cabinet members saw homes surrounded

by water, residential blocks ending in the bay, submerged gazebos, roads

made impassable by drifted sand, a few smoldering fires where

foundations used to be, and boats piled into one another like toys. The

hardest-hit area appeared to be north of where Sandy made landfall, from

Seaside to Belmar.

“I was just here walking this place this summer, and the fact that most

of it is gone is just incredible,” Christie told Belmar Mayor Matt

Doherty while surveying damage on Ocean Avenue.

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Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control Settles With Seaside Heights Bar for Serving Visibly Intoxicated “Jersey Shore” Cast Member

-Spicy Cantina & Mexican Grill Fined $15,000 and Will Ban ‘Deena’ for Two Years –

TRENTON – The Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control today announced a settlement with the owners of Spicy Cantina & Mexican Grill in Seaside Heights in connection with a June 10 incident involving the television show “The Jersey Shore” and cast member Deena Cortese, who was served alcohol at the establishment while visibly intoxicated.

As part of the settlement, Spicy will be fined $15,000 and Cortese, a New Egypt native, will be banned from the restaurant for two years as part of a special condition on the alcohol license, owned by AFW 500 LLC. Also, Spicy faces a 10-day suspension of their license should they violate the ABC’s laws in the next two years.

“This settlement is a cautionary tale for licensees who might think ignoring the law for the sake of airtime is good for business,” said Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control Director Michael Halfacre. “By turning a blind eye to the mayhem that can be associated with reality television, you are risking your livelihood. That is, without a doubt, bad for business.”

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Do the stingray shuffle

Beaches were closed in Loch Arbour today and in Spring Lake yesterday due to an “invasion” of stingrays, according to the Asbury Park Press.

Yesterday there were an estimated 50 rays in the water at Spring Lake.  Today, 15-30 rays in Loch Arbour.

Having swum with rays in the Caribbean, I didn’t know they were dangerous to humans.  Turns out I was lucky.

According to Cathleen Bester at the Florida Museum of Natual History:

Stingrays have venomous spines along or near the base of the tail. The muscular whip-like tail can be lashed about quickly in defense. Occasionally beach-goers will accidentally step on stingrays that are partially buried in the sand near the beach resulting in a painful, serious wound in the foot. Although the spines are dosed with venom, wounds are not normally lethal. However, it is still important to get medical attention as soon as possible to avoid any potential infection. Electric rays defend themselves with electrical discharge, although these charges are considered dangerous, there have been no reported human fatalities as a result of electric rays. Physicians in ancient Rome prescribed electric discharge from electric rays as a treatment for many illnesses.

How to avoid being stung by stingrays?   Other than getting the hell off of the beach, Bester says, “do the stingray shuffle” and wear shades:

Humans should do the “stingray shuffle” when walking along sandy bottoms close to the beach. The “stingray shuffle” is performed by sliding or shuffling your feet in the sand. This gives any stingrays in the vicinity enough warning that they are able to swim away. Also, polarized glasses will assist in seeing stingrays in shallow waters. If you catch a stingray on a fishing line, be sure to cut the line and release the animal without handling it to avoid any potential injury.

I suppose its good news, from an environmental point of view, that we have sting rays in our Jersey waters.   I’m waiting for blowfish to come back before I really celebrate.

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He REALLY doesn’t want Romney to ask him to run for V.P.

Governor Chris Christie had a SITUATION in Seaside Heights last night.

He exchanged harsh words with a heckler on the boardwalk and pursued his taunter who preferred to keep walking rather than engaging in a confrontation with the ice cream cone wielding executive.

Someone recorded the exchange and sent the video to TMZ.

The Governor’s office has yet to comment.

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Snooki Show Banned From Hoboken

Snooki won’t be cavorting along the Jersey shore of the Hudson River anytime soon.

The birthplace of the Chairman of the Board and baseball doesn’t have to worry about Snooki and JWoww filling the vacancy created by Jon Corzine’s departure, thanks to Mayor Dawn Zimmer telling MTV that a spinoff to the show that made Seaside Heights an international destination will not be filmed in her city, according to a report on NJ.com.

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Christie Vetos Jersey Shore’s $420,000 Tax Credit

Ongoing Questions About Value of Tax Credit Program are Underscored by Award to TV Series of Dubious Value to State

Trenton, NJ – Governor Chris Christie today vetoed the Economic Development Authority’s (EDA) award of $420,000 in film tax credits to the Jersey Shore television program, citing New Jersey’s difficult fiscal climate and the need to direct limited state resources to programs and projects that actually benefit the state.  

In his veto letter to the EDA, which he signed today, Governor Christie noted his long held, serious concerns about the limited value and return on the cost of the New Jersey Film Tax Credit Transfer Program, which was the basis for his veto of legislation earlier this year to “grossly expand” the program.

“We must ensure that our limited taxpayer dollars are spent on programs and projects that best benefit the State of New Jersey,” Governor Christie said.  “I have no interest in policing the content of such projects; however, as Chief Executive I am duty-bound to ensure that taxpayers are not footing a $420,000 bill for a project which does nothing more than perpetuate misconceptions about the State and its citizens.”

The Governor also noted the contradictions coming from legislative supporters of the program who complained about EDA’s award of the tax credit to Jersey Shore just days before their most recent legislative action to expand funding.

“Legislators who championed the Program’s original legislation, and who later sponsored legislation to expand it, must surely have appreciated the consequences of their actions. The tax credit to Jersey Shore illustrates the potential for wasteful spending inherent in the implementation of the Program,” the Governor wrote in the veto letter.

“For such legislators to now complain of its implementation with respect to Jersey Shore is, at best, mystifying.”

Governor Christie concluded by noting that while it appeared “that the EDA felt compelled” to include Jersey Shore in the Program, “I am not so constrained” and vetoed the $420,000 tax credit award.

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