The Monmouth Dems Finally Have An Idea

Democratic Mayors Pan Their Freeholder Candidates’ Call For A County Ethics Board

By Art Gallagher

Democratic Freeholder Candidates Larry Luttrell and Joe Grillo with Congressman Frank Pallone and campaign volunteers

The Monmouth County Democrats have finally put forth a proposal to improve County Government.

It is not a new idea. It is not even a good idea. But at least they have put forth an idea for debate instead of spreading the lies and baseless character assassinations that have comprised their campaign so far this year.

Their campaign had been wholly negative; primarily baseless character attacks on Freeholder Director Lillian Burry.  They lied and said Burry hired an unqualified campaign worker for a mental health position.  Even after their lawsuit alleging that Burry had a conflict of interest over the Andrew Lucas farmland preservation deal was thrown out of court, they continue to beat that drum.  The GOP controlled Freeholder Board has cleaned house at Brookdale Community College since former President Peter Burnham was caught with his hands in the cookie jar. Yet the Democrats have been blaming Burry for Burnham’s transgressions.

Democratic candidate Joe Grillo told The Asbury Park Press that he wants to reinstate a County Ethics Board.   I know I’m being generous by saying this is a proposal to improve County Government instead of calling it an excuse to keep talking about the baseless allegations they are making about Burry.  But what the heck.  MMM is fair and biased. Let’s play along and debunk the idea on its merits.

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A Teachable Moment

Editor’s note:  Freeholder Director Lillian Burry submitted this column back in February. In light of the recent “push polling” negative campaign tactic on the part of the Monmouth County Democrats and what looks to be an ugly seven weeks coming before election day, we thought it might be a good idea to run her column again.

By Lillian G. Burry, Monmouth County Freeholder Director

Photo by Vinnie Amessé © www.amessephoto.com

When Vin Gopal launched his latest attack, I heard from friends with two different types of advice.  Some said I should fight back immediately because silence would suggest I had no defense.  Others said I should do nothing because to respond to bullying would make me just look defensive.  I thanked them all for their kind thoughts but told them all the same thing.  I see this as a teachable moment to be shared with everyone who may be thinking of someday entering public life.

You may see public office as I do – a way of giving back to society and being thankful for the success you’ve had in your professional life.  In an ideal democracy opponents would challenge you by putting forth a competing vision of the future they would work for and offer up their record of accomplishments so people could judge whether or not they had as good a record as yours when it comes to getting things done.  Unfortunately, that’s not how our democracy has evolved.

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Ocean Township Cops Make A Narcan Save

Bill Bucco, Acting Assistant Director of the Monmouth County Division of Addiction Services.

Two Ocean Township Police Officers saved the life of a 25 year old man late Tuesday night by administering two doses of Narcan, the antidote for heroin overdoses that New Jersey law enforcement officers have been authorized to administer since July.

Officers Randy Slawsky and Zachary Rhein of the Ocean Police Department responded to a reported overdose at an apartment located on Rustic Drive. Upon arrival, officers located a 25 year old male unresponsive in the living room of the home. A family member reported that they believed the victim had ingested heroin prior to being found unconscious.

Officers on scene administered two doses of Naloxone Hydrochloride (Narcan) resulting in the victim becoming conscious and responsive. The victim was speaking with officers immediately prior to being transported to a local hospital for medical treatment. Officers and EMS personnel credit the use of the Narcan in saving the man’s life.

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Jackson Councilmen Cleared Of Ethics Charges Over Appointment

The Local Finance Board, the entity within the Department of Community Affairs which oversees the ethics of local officials, has ruled that two Jackson Township councilmen did not violate State Ethics or Campaign Finance Laws when they voted to appoint their former campaign manger a job on the Jackson Municipal Utilities Authority, according to a report on Shore News Network.

Cara Glory was the 2012 campaign manager for Councilmen Barry Calogero and Robert Nixon.  On January 6, 2014 Calogero, Nixon join the rest of the Jackson governing body in unanimously voting to approve Glory’s appointment to the MUA.  Unidentified Jackson residents filed ethics charges with the Local Fiance Board.

The charges were deemed frivolous by Board Chairmen Thomas Neff, according to the Shore News Network report.

“Following preliminary investigation and evaluation of the facts and circumstances relevant to the complaints and upon consideration of the foregoing provisions of Local Government Ethics Law, the Local Finance Board voted to dismiss the complaints as having no reasonable factual basis.”

The state reiterated their stance, adding, “The relationship between an elected officeholder and a campaign deputy treasurer or campaign manager is simply not one, in and of itself, which poses a conflict.”

The charges against the councilmen were dismissed and Glory’s appointment remained as-is.

The issue is of significance in Monmouth County as Democratic freeholder candidates Larry Luttrell and Joe Grillo attempt to portray themselves and paragons of virtue in the campaign against Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and Deputy Director Gary Rich.

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U.S. State Dept. officials tour County Connection

County office is participating in national pilot program

Freeholder John Curley, County Clerk M. Claire French, U.S. Passport Chief Brenda Sprague, Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and Freeholder Tom Arnone at the County Connection in Neptune, August 28, 2014

NEPTUNE, NJ – Chief of the U.S. State Department’s Passport Office, Brenda Sprague, toured the Monmouth County Connection yesterday with County Clerk M. Claire French and the Board of Chosen Freeholders.

“It is an honor for the Monmouth County Connection to be recognized by the U.S. Department of State as a Leading Acceptance facility and chosen to participate in a national pilot program studying customer service,” said Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry. “The Connection’s enhanced services include extended hours, photo services and walk-in availabilities, which provide the American traveling public with a more convenient, seamless passport application process.”

In April 2014, the U.S. Department of State designated the County Connection as a Leading Acceptance Facility. As a result of this honor, the Monmouth County Connection has been chosen to participate in a customer service-oriented pilot program to help the Department of State better understand customer preferences. Only eight passport acceptance facilities, out of 8,500, were chosen to participate.

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ObamaCare puts Monmouth County’s nursing homes in peril

UPDATE: August, 27, Curley pulls nursing home sale resolution

Freeholder John Curley called this morning to say that he has pulled his resolution to sell the Monmouth County owned nursing homes from this week’s agenda. County CFO Craig Marshall is on vacation.  Curley wants Marshall available to address all of the financial concerns regarding the proposed sale. Curley expects to reintroduce the resolution in September.

Reductions in Medicaid payments for long term care under the Affordable Care Act have led to increasing deficits at Monmouth County’s two government owned nursing homes.

The John L. Montgomery Care Center in Freehold and the Geraldine L. Thompson Care Center in Wall are owned and operated by Monmouth County’s government. Property tax payers have been subsidizing the long term care of the elderly, disabled and infirm residing in these facilities for decades.  From 2007 through 2013 the cumulative deficit funded by Monmouth property tax payers was about $40 million.  Despite cost cutting measures and union givebacks, the combined deficit this year is on track to exceed $13 million plus the cost of repairs and capital improvements required to keep the facilities in compliance with state and federal regulations, due to cutbacks in the amount that Medicaid pays for patient care under ObamaCare.  98% of the patients at Montgomery and Thompson are insured by Medicaid.

Freeholder John Curley has been pushing his colleagues on the all Republican Board of Chosen Freeholders to sell the nursing homes for years.  Every time the issue gets traction or public attention, patients in wheelchairs  and staff members of the nursing facilities show up at Freeholder meetings and plead with the Freeholders not to sell the facilities.  The patients’ stories are heart wrenching. The declarations of love for their patients by the staff members are moving.

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Monmouth County Debt Rated AAA for the 16th consecutive year

Freeholder Deputy Director Gary Rich and Freeholder Director Lillian Burry at the Italian American Festival in Ocean Township last week.

Monmouth County has received a new AAA bond rating from all three major rating agencies for the 16th consecutive year, according to a statement by the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders.

“This is the 16^th straight year the County has been awarded AAA status from Fitch, Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s,” said Freeholder Deputy Director Gary J. Rich, Sr., liaison to the County’s Finance Department. “Monmouth County continues to be top-rated in how it manages taxpayer money.”

The three rating agencies rated the upcoming Monmouth County Improvement Authority’s (MCIA) governmental refunding bond series and reaffirmed the ratings of the County’s outstanding debt.

“Monmouth County continues its demonstration of sound, fiscal management. The County has been careful in its spending and continues to maintain low debt levels,” said Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry. “As a result, we are able to have greater flexibility in delivering quality services to our residents. It shows how well the County is managing its resources and planning for the future.”

Monmouth County is the only county in New Jersey and one of less than three dozen counties in the nation that can claim to have received the highest score from all three rating agencies.  The AAA rating is higher than that of the State of New Jersey and the United States of America.

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Monmouth Dems mimick Pallone’s squinting

Devoid of ideas of how to improve Monmouth County’s government and running on so called “issues” that have failed in the last few campaigns, the Monmouth County Democratic Freeholder candidates, Larry Luttrell and Joe Grillo are apparently hoping they can win in November by mimicking Congressman Frank Pallone’s odd facial expressions.  Even their campaign volunteers are doing it.

Luttrell and Grillo have been handing out literature that blame Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and Deputy Director Gary Rich for the misdeeds of Peter Burnham at Brookdale Community College and Andrew Lucas’s alleged misdeeds in the the sale of development rights to a farm that he owns to the farmland preservation program.

That’s like blaming Derek Jeter for A-Rod using steroids. Monmouth County voters didn’t fall for it last year and won’t likely fall for it this year, leaving Luttrell and Grillo to do the Pallone squint.

Pallone is kicking off his campaign with a BB-Q on Sunday afternoon.  It won’t be on Greg’s List, but click here if you want to RSVP to eat Frank’s free food.

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Lillian Burry Opposes Beach Replenishment in Upper Freehold and Millstone

Freeholder Director Lillian G. Burry
Photo by Vinnie Amessé © www.amessephoto.com

In a column in the current issue of the triCityNews, Freeholder Director Lillian Burry said that one of her opponents in the coming election was right when he accused Burry of not supporting “agricultural and farmland preservation in “coastal” towns.  “It’s for the same reason I don’t support beach replenishment in Upper Freehold and Millstone. There aren’t any beaches there, just as there aren’t a lot of farms in Red Bank or Long Branch or Asbury Park.”

Burry points out that there in only one parcel in the region qualified for the farmland preservation program, in Long Branch, and that the owner of the property has not applied to sell the development rights to the program which is funded by municipal, county and state dollars.

At issue is beachfront property at the north end of Asbury Park that is slated for residential development.   There is some vocal opposition to the proposed development and Democratic Freeholder candidate Joe Grillo is trying to jump on that band wagon to get traction in his fledgling campaign against Burry and Deputy Freeholder Director Gary Rich.

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Booker coming to Wall Township to raise funds for Monmouth Dems

photo via facebook

Senator Cory Booker is lending his star power and fund raising prowess to the Democratic Freeholder candidates who are looking to unseat Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and Deputy Director Gary Rich in November.

Booker is headlining  a July 25 fundraiser for Larry Luttrell and Joe Grillo at the Wall Township home of Gary and Linda Faraci.

All of Monmouth County’s Democratic mayors, including Tinton Falls Mayor Gerry Turning are listed as hosts of the fundraiser on the event’s invitation.

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