Doherty praises French

By Matt Doherty, Mayor of Belmar

Monmouth County will be losing an outstanding leader when Claire French retires this March. She has been the county clerk for many years and has always handled the position with class and dignity.

Being clerk is a difficult balancing act of getting elected in a partisan election, then having to work with other elected officials (of similar and different political parties) in partisan elections every year. French had the right temperament for this position, and she made sure her office followed her lead.

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French to retire as Monmouth County Clerk

M. Claire French

Monmouth County Clerk M. Claire French will retire in March.

French told MMM in a phone interview that she will decide by the end of this week whether her retirement will be effective on March 1 or March 31.

Appointed to fill the vacancy created by Jane Clayton’s retirement in 1997, French was elected to four 5 year terms.  Had she completed her current term she would have served the residents of Monmouth County through the end of 2017.

French, 77, started her career in public service as a member of the Wall Township Committee where she served two terms as Mayor.  She has held either elected or appointed office for 35 years serving as at every level of New Jersey government.  French was the first Chair of the Monmouth County Improvement Authority, was Vice Chair of the Local Finance Board and has served on various regional authorities.  She is a Eucharistic Minister at Holy Innocents Church in Neptune City.

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Predictions: 2015

The Green Bay Packers will eliminate the Dallas Cowboys from Super Bowl contention with a victory in the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs next Sunday.

Governor Chris Christie will announce that he is a candidate for President of the United States.  Christie’s independent polling numbers will drop to the low 40’s in New Jersey, but his national popularity will rise.

Kim Guadagno will officially be the Governor of New Jersey on more days than Christie will be in 2015. Yet, Guadagno’s name recognition will not exceed 20% in independent polls.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman will announce 3-4 indictments in the George Washington Bridge/Port Authority fiasco.  Christie will not be one of them. Neither will Acting Governor Guadagno.

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French Steps In To Prevent Voter Fraud In Asbury Park Elections

After noticing a unusual spike in the request for messenger ballots in the upcoming municipal election in Asbury Park, Monmouth County Clerk M. Claire French instituted a requirement that all messengers sign an affidavit certifying that they have met with voters they are assisting;  they are related to the voters or are themselves registered voters in Monmouth County; they will not act as messenger for more than 10 voters; they will deliver the ballots directly to the voters and not to any other individuals; and they are not candidates in the election.

Messengers also certify that they are aware that violating the Voting by Mail statute, which governs messenger ballots, is a crime in the third degree, according to a story first reported by Asbury Park Sun.

Since French started requiring the affidavits on April 17, only 5 of 42 messengers have submitted the paperwork and “almost no new messengers” have requested ballots.

The Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office will investigate messengers who do not return the required affidavits.

Asbury Park elects their entire governing body every four years in non-partisan elections. There are 22 candidates competing for 5 seats on the council in the election scheduled to take place on May 14.

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MMM Predictions for Election 2012

By popular demand (from Matt Rooney and a Democratic operative who doesn’t want people to know he/she talks to me) your favorite blogger is shifting his focus away from the Sandy Aftermath and back to politics on this election eve.

Rooney said, “Let’s hear your projection, Gallagher.”  My response: “The power will be off at my house for the rest of the week.”

Here are my predictions:

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Glory be, APP endorses GOP

“Club Monmouth” is kaput.   The Asbury Park Press negative monkier for the Monmouth GOP is obsolete now that their editorial board has endorsed the entire Monmouth Republican slate using the adjectives “innovative.” independenct,” and “effective.”

Accordingly, MMM is retiring the moniiker “Neptune Nudniks,” for now, that we have used for the last few years in naming the APP Editorial Board.

Their endorsements of John Curley and Serena DiMaso for Freeholder are right on the mark.

Curley has demonstrated leadership, independence and fiscal conservatism during his time as a freeholder. His tireless research and persistence in uncovering the excesses and illegalities of former Brookdale Community College President Peter Burnham led to Burnham’s ouster and guilty plea on official misconduct charges this summer.

DiMaso and Curley  helped pare $4.1 million from the county’s $487 million spending plan this year, without laying off any employees and keeping property taxes stable. Curley has pledged to continue with plans to consolidate county jobs as people leave and to explore more opportunities to outsource county services.

DiMaso’s insistence on the need for the freeholders to keep our state legislators’ feet to the fire when it comes to the federal government’s lack of transparency with the redevelopment of Fort Monmouth is welcome, as is her focus on continuing to find ways to share services with neighboring counties and municipalities.

As they did in endorsing M.Claire French for County Clerk,  the APP simply dismissed the Democratic opposition as not up to the jobs.

“What’s next, endorsing Romney?” one MMM reader asked.  That would be something.  The APP’s sister publication with the same website design, The DeMoines Register, reversed their 2008 endorsement of Obama yesterday, declaring,

Which candidate could forge the compromises in Congress to achieve these goals? When the question is framed in those terms, Mitt Romney emerges the stronger candidate.
The former governor and business executive has a strong record of achievement in both the private and the public sectors. He was an accomplished governor in a liberal state. He founded and ran a successful business that turned around failing companies. He successfully managed the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Romney has made rebuilding the economy his No. 1 campaign priority — and rightly so.

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Maybe it’s just good karma

The Democratic candidate for County Clerk got a boost of sorts today from the Asbury Park Press.

Michael Steinhorn is making an issue out of the fact that the Monmouth GOP won the first ballot position in 30 of the last 33 general elections and that a Republican Clerk was responsible for all thirty drawings.   There is apparently nothing else to write about in the Clerk’s race, because the APP gave Steinhorn free space and an inflammatory headline, Are the Monmouth Republicans cheating?

Ballot positions are chosen in public when two capsules, pictures of which on here on APP,  one with the word “Republican” and the other with the word “Democrat,” are put into a box, shaken up and Bertha Sumick, the Deputy County Clerk in charge of elections picks one.   30 times out of the last 33, the Republican capsule was chosen.  APP quotes two mathematics professors saying that the odds of the happening are 1.5 million to one.  Steinhorn speculates that the capsules have been marked somehow to feel different from each other.

Theoretically, the winning ballot position should be shared 50-50 on a valid random drawing.  Just to test the theory, I flipped a coin 33 times.  It came up heads 22 times and tails 11 times.

County Clerk M. Claire French insists the annual drawings are above board.  She noted that when the Democrats held the office of County Clerk in 1978 and 1979, that the Democrats won the first ballot position in each of those years.

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Gopal launches county campaign with shot at Lillian Burry over Brookdale

Image credit: "Paula Priesse," clearglassproductions.com

While Republicans are settling in after their trip to Tampa for the Republican National Convention, Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal launched the first salvo of the county race for two freeholder seats and county clerk with a column posted on Patch sites throughout Monmouth, before he heads of to Charlotte for the Democratic National Convention.

Gopal blasts Freeholder Lillian Burry, her former campaign treasurer, John Cantalupo, and the mythical “Club Monmouth” for the Brookdale Community College scandal.

Gopal’s column did not mention the Republican candidates, Freeholders John Curley and Serena DiMaso and County Clerk M. Claire French, that he says that Monmouth County taxpayers should unite against.  Nor did he mention his Democratic challengers, Kevin Lavan and Bill Shea for freeholder and Michael Steinhorn for county clerk.

Oddly, the Monmouth Democrats website, which has been redesigned since Gopal became chairman, makes no mention of his county candidates. Their facebook page also makes no mention of the county Democratic team.  Both websites feature Gopal prominently.

Pretty funny coming from a guy who blasted Governor Christie’s keynote address at the GOP convention as “all about him” to NJ.com:

Vin Gopal, the Monmouth County Democratic Party chairman, took a dimmer view of Christie’s moment in the national spotlight.

“The governor sang a tune that is not at all what is really happening. He’s a Republican governor in a Democratic state, and he’s doing a horrible job,” said Gopal, of Long Branch, citing New Jersey’s high unemployment and property tax rates. “He beat an incumbent Democratic governor in 2009 who was incredibly unpopular – here in Monmouth County, Jon Corzine said two weeks before the election that he wanted to raise tolls for the third time. Whoever the Democratic gubernatorial nominee is in 2013, the 700,000 registered Democratic voter advantage in this state, and the 20,000 registered Democratic voter edge in this county, is going to haunt Gov. Christie.”

“Christie’s speech was all about him,” added Gopal. “I don’t know how his message could have connected well with a lot of people. We are working to build up our base of teachers, police officers, firefighters and other public service workers here in Monmouth, as well as other Democratic constituency groups, that will turn out in 2013.”

Gopal says that Monmouth County taxpayers should unite against Club Monmouth, yet despite his overwhelming victory in the Democratic Chairman’s race, he does not seem to be uniting his party behind their own candidates.

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Monmouth Democrats 2ndQ ELEC report not filed. Missing?

Monmouth GOP Team reports $83,000 cash on to hand

The Monmouth Democratic Party’s second quarter campaign finance report, due July 15th, has not been posted on the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission’s website as of this afternoon.  Dem Chairman Vin Gopal told MMM that the report was filed with ELEC, along with the report designating him as the new chairman, on July 10th.  Gopal said he would contact ELEC resolve the problem.

At the end of the first quarter, the Monmouth Dems had $6,305.14 cash on hand and was $78,025 in debt.  Over $60K of the debt was owed to then County Chairman Victor Scudiery.  Gopal said that the second quarter report “was pretty much the same, less than $10,000 on hand.”

The Democratic county candidates, Kevin Lavan and Bill Shea for Freeholder and Michael Steinhorn for Clerk, have $64.14 between them as of their post-primary reports.  Lavan and Steinhorn each told ELEC that they were not raising or spending money for the primary race.  Shea raised over $20K, but spent all but $64.14 in the uncontested primary.

The Monmouth GOP appears to be in better shape.  The GOP committee reported $34,790.31 in cash as of June 30th.    In their post-primary reports, Freeholder Director John Curley reported $22,554.81 in cash; Freeholder Serena DiMaso reported $11,401.19 and County Clerk Claire French reported $14,673.21.

Monmouth County  Republican Chairman John O. Bennett III has instructed all county and state elected officials, with the exception of this year’s candidates, to suspend raising money as of August 1 so as to not compete with his fundraising activities for the coming county campaign.  Bennett promised Curley, DiMaso and French that he would raise the funds necessary for the fall campaign.

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Monmouth Democratic Nominating Convention Preview

The Monmouth County Democrats are holding their nominating convention on Thursday, March 22 at the Bayshore Senior Center, 6:30 PM.

Michael Steinhorn of Rumson is the only candidate who has filed to run for County Clerk.  He is expected to be nominated to run against Republican incumbent M.Claire French. Steinhorn was the nominee for County Surrogate last year.

Former State Trooper Bill Shea, a candidate last year, and former Hazlet Mayor Kevin Lavan, a candidate for Assembly last year from the 13th district , will be freeholder candidates. 

There are two freeholder seats up this year;  a full term that is being defended by incumbent Republican Freeholder Director John Curley and an unexpired term that will be defended by Freeholder Serena DiMaso.  DiMaso was elected by the Monmouth Republican Committee to fill the vacancy created by Rob Clifton’s election to the State Assembly.

The Democrats have yet to determine which seats Shea and Lavan will challenge.

Former Freeholder Amy Mallet has not ruled out re-seeking the office that she lost last November.  Asked repeatedly by MMM if she was going to make an run for freeholder either at the convention or in the primary, Mallet said, “no, not at this time,” and “I am not running as of now.”   Asked to give a definitive answer, she declined.

Two candidates have thrown their hats into the ring for the nomination to take on Congressman Chris Smith in the 4th congressional district. Former Monmouth County Surrogate Patricia Bennett, now an elder law attorney in Red Bank and Spring Lake businessman Brian Froelich will compete for the Democratic endorsement on Thrusday night.  

Froelich has a website and says he’s filed with the FEC to be a candidate. He would not rule out a primary challenge should he lose to Bennett on Thursday, saying, “I intend to win at the convention and have not thought beyond that.”

Bennett could not be reach for comment.

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