Christie Town Hall Rescheduled For Thursday

The weather reports say it will be too warm to snow on Thrusday and Governor Chris Christie is hoping the third time is the charm.

The twice postponed Town Hall Meeting on Sandy Relief Funds is now scheduled for Thursday, February 20th, 11am, at VFW Post 2179, 1 Veterans Way (Off Rt 36) in the Port Monmouth section of Middletown Township.  Doors open at 10:00 am.  Seating is first come first served.  RSVP’s are requested via email at [email protected].

Joining Christie will be Office of Recovery and Rebuilding Executive Director Marc Ferzan,  Community Affairs Deputy Commissioner Chuck Richman, Environmental Protection Commissioner Bob Martin,  Human Services Commissioner Jennifer Velez,  Economic Development Authority CEO Michele Brown and Banking and Insurance Commissioner Ken Kobylowski.

A mobile cabinet meeting to assist Sandy impacted homeowners and businesses is scheduled to follow the Town Hall from 12:30 till 2:00 pm.

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Christie’s Town Hall Postponed Due To Weather

State Offices Will Open at 11 am on Tuesday

Photo by Paul Scharff

For the second time in a week the weather has caused Governor Chris Christie to postpone his first Town Hall Meeting since June of last year.

The Town Hall scheduled for Tuesday February 18th at the VFW Hall in Port Monmouth in postponed due to anticipated inclement weather.

Details of the rescheduled meeting will be released on Tuesday, the governor’s office said in a press release.

Additionally, the governor announced that a delayed opening of 11 am for all state offices on Tuesday to allow for ample time for roads, parking lots and sidewalks to be cleared and made safe for travel.

“Tonight’s winter storm is expected to last through tomorrow morning, bringing additional snow and creating hazardous travel conditions for the morning commute,” said Christie. “I strongly encourage all New Jerseyans to drive slowly and exercise caution on the roads tonight and tomorrow morning. I thank our state’s transportation crews and first responders for their tireless efforts to keep our residents safe.”

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Christie Town Hall tomorrow expected to be “A cross between the Jerry Springer and Maury Povich shows”

Photo by Paul Scharff

Governor Chris Christie will likely be tan and relaxed after a holiday weekend in Puerto Rico when he arrives in Middletown for his first Town Hall Meeting since last June tomorrow.

He should be ready for bear.

Christie could get RREM’d tomorrow.

Bayshore residents who overwhelmingly voted for Christie in 2009 and again last November are ready to give up on giving Christie the benefit of the doubt. The politically connected feel he’s taken Republican Monmouth and Ocean Counties for granted.  Those still suffering from the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy feel like Christie has ridden their suffering to national prominence while neglecting his self professed “mission” to rebuild the shore.

The powder keg of frustration with Christie was building before the election and certainly before Bridgegate.   Sandy victims brutalized by the storm feel further violated by the red tape and false starts peddled by all levels of government, banks and insurance companies.

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Super Bowl 2014: Broncos RB Knowshon Moreno looking to join exclusive New Jersey club

Super Bowl 2014: Broncos RB Knowshon Moreno looking to join exclusive New Jersey club (via NJ.com)

MIDDLETOWN — The heavyweight college coaches rarely make it to the Jersey Shore, unless maybe it’s for a vacation. So when Urban Meyer, who was coaching at Florida at the time, Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer and several other of the top college coaches…

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FEMA Agrees to Levee Study that Could Ease Homeowners’ Flood Insurance Premiums

FREEHOLD, N.J. – Federal officials are taking steps which may help residents of the hard-hit neighborhood of North Middletown as they face potential flood insurance increases as a result of new flood maps expected to be unveiled this week.

U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (NJ-04) said that as a result of congressional inquiry and meetings with local officials from Middletown, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and other state and federal agencies, FEMA has agreed to implement a comprehensive study and evaluation of the East Keansburg Levee system which FEMA had previously “de-certified” for flood protection, resulting in proposed steep flood insurance hikes for homeowners.  If the study recognizes the levee system as flood protection that may prevent devastating flooding as it did during Superstorm Sandy and Hurricane Irene, it could lead to reduced risk assessment and lower insurance costs.

“Thousands of residents of North Middletown are looking at the very real possibility of their flood insurance premiums skyrocketing because FEMA no longer views some levee systems as adequate flood protection,” said Smith. “But as residents there know, for more than 40 years this neighborhood has been well served by a flood management system of levees, dunes, and pumps. This unique system has been effective since its installation in the 1970s. Even during Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy, when much of the coast was badly flooded, the roughly 1,400 homes in North Middletown remained protected. To omit an evaluation of this levy system and a substantive analysis of any form of protection it might offer would be unfair to the residents.”

Smith sent a letter to FEMA Region II chief Jerome Hatfield on November 8 requesting the agency do a study, to which Hatfield replied that FEMA did not at the time have adequate funding.

“We are thankful that FEMA has now identified funding to undertake this important study, particularly after correspondence in which Administrator Hatfield stated that FEMA was looking to explore this option and work together with local stakeholders,” said Smith.  “We hope this new study will enable FEMA to determine the effectiveness of the East Keansburg Levee system and provide them with the most comprehensive and up-to-date information as they conclude analysis of the region’s flood maps.”

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Monmouth Mayors Cast Doubt On Zimmer’s Quid Pro Quo Claims

Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer on MSNBC’s Up with Steve Kornacki, January 18, 2014

Monmouth County mayors and other municipal officials are reacting to Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s allegations that her city is not receiving Sandy Relief funds because she hasn’t pushed through a redevelopment approval coveted by Governor Chris Christie with a high degree of skepticism, because their storm ravaged communities have yet to see significant money yet either.

One elected official who asked not to be quoted said, “If Hoboken had approved that Rockefeller project, Zimmer would still be standing on her head at a Hoboken street corner looking for her Sandy money. The money hasn’t started to flow yet.”

“Is it believable that Guadagno (Lt. Governor Kim Guadango) or Constable (DCA Commissioner Richard Constable) encouraged Zimmer to expedite an project? Yes.  As a quid pro quo for Sandy dollars? No way,” another official said.

Zimmer alleged on MSNBC’s Up with Steve Kornacki this morning that Guadagno pulled her aside at a Hoboken ribbon cutting and warned that Sandy Relief money to Hoboken was contingent on a development application by the Rockefeller Group being approved by the city. Zimmer said that Constable told her at a Monmouth University symposium on Sandy recovery that relief dollars would flow if the Rockefeller application was approved.

After talking to local and state officials today, MMM understands that the federal money for Sandy Relief is flowing dripping through four sources; FEMA, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) which administers relief for homeowners, the New Jersey Economic Development Agency(EDA) and County Governments which are administering Hazard Mitigation Grants.  The Hazard Mitigation Grants are funded by FEMA and distributed to the counties by the State Office of Emergency Management.

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Middletown Library Will Consider Part Time Executive Director

Susan O’Neal. Photo courtesy of Middletown Patch.

The Middletown Library Board of Trustees will consider hiring a part time executive director to replace Susan O’Neal.

O’Neal submitted her resignation to the board last evening as part of a negotiated termination. Board President Brock Siebert declined to comment on O’Neal resignation, citing a confidentiality agreement.   The termination won’t be official until approved by the Middletown Township Committee.  Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger also declined to comment.

O’Neal’s salary is $119,816, according to Data Universe.

O’Neal’s continued employment became untenable when her emails with Linda Baum, a Democratic candidate for Township Committee revealed that she was colluding with the Middletown Democratic Party to undermine the authority of the Board of Trustees.    The emails were released as a result of an Open Public Records Act request on the part of Committeeman Tony Fiore.  Fiore became suspicious that O’Neal and Baum were colluding when Baum shared confidential information she should not have been privy to at a public meeting.  Baum unsuccessfully sued to block the release of the emails.

Brock said the board’s personnel committee will meet next week to discuss a search for O’Neal’s replacement.  Hiring a part time executive director is one option he wants to committee to consider.

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Middletown Woman Is Off To Germany In Pursuit Of Hoops Stardom

Jennifer Mocanu, 23, of the Belford section of Middletown, departs for Germany on Sunday to embark on her new career as a professional basketball player. She is slated to be the starting shooting guard of TSV Krofdorf-Gleiberg of the FIBA when their season starts next weekend.

A 2008 graduate of Middletown High School North where she was a 4 year letter winner, senior MVP and leading scorer, Mocanu’s hoops magic continued in college where she was an NCAA Division 3 star at the College of Mount. St. Vincent in Riverdale, NY for two seasons and two seasons with Mount St. Mary College Knights in Newburgh, NY.  She led the Knights to two NCAA Division 3 tournament appearances.

In her senior year at Mount Saint Mary’s, Jen led her team to the regular season championship and was named Player of the Year of the Skyline Conference where she was the league’s top scorer.   She scored 1501 points in her collegiate career.

After graduation with a degree in Psychology, Mocanu enrolled at Monmouth University to pursue a Masters in Sociology.  But she soon realized that sociology wasn’t what she thought it was, more importantly, that she wasn’t done with basketball.

Rebuffed by a players’ agent because she hadn’t played competitively in over six months, Jen was undeterred.  She enrolled in a FIBA professional scouting tournament in Germany last spring where she was offered a one year contract by Coach Viktor Kramer on the second day of the three day tournament.

Contract in hand, Mocanu returned to New Jersey for the summer where she kept in shape working out at the Community YMCA and working as a bartender at Chilangos in Highlands.

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Olivia Nuzzi’s first 15 minutes

I knew this woman was going places.

Former MMM columnist Oliva Nuzzi is on the front page of the New York Daily News today.

“Oh no, what did she do?” said both Dan Jacobson, who stole her away from MMM for $50 bucks, and Vin Gopal, for whom she had her first political internship in 2011, when I asked them if they’d seen it.

Nothing bad at all!  Actually its great for Olivia!  The Daily News saw her piece on NSFW about Anthony Weiner calling her “Monica” when she was his intern and paid her to write an article for them.

Olivia is smarter, funnier and better looking than most TV news personalities and pundits of any ideology or gender.   The Middletown native, now a junior at Fordham, has a lot more than 15 minutes of fame in her future.

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Fire The Asbury Park Press Editorial Board

For the last several years this site has derided the Asbury Park Press Editorial Board Neptune Nudniks for their ignorance of the facts and processes about which they opine, and for their religious bigotry.

The Nudniks’ editorial today about the controversy surrounding the emails exchanged between Middletown Library Director Susan O’Neal and Democratic candidate for Middletown Township Committee Linda Baum is a firing offense.  They apparently didn’t even read or comprehend their own reporter’s article about the issue, before publishing their ignorant opinion.

APP reporter Suzanne Cervenka reported the story accurately on July 4.  Middletown Township Committeeman Tony Fiore made an OPRA request for emails between O’Neal and Baum.  Baum took the issue to Court, arguing that the emails were private, had nothing to do with library operations and that she in no way acted as an agent of the library.  Judge Lawrence M. Lawson ruled that, as a matter of law, the emails were government documents subject to OPRA and ordered them released.

In their editorial, the Nudniks said that Fiore took the matter to Court when in fact Baum took the matter to Court.  They said Lawson should have refused to hear the matter.  If Lawson kept the Court out of it, the emails would have been released without Baum being heard on the matter.  The Nudniks said Fiore was being petty for following his instincts that O’Neal was undermining the public’s oversight of the $4.6 million dollar operation she directs.

Monmouth and Ocean County citizens deserve better from their largest newspaper/news site.  We’ve deserved better for a long time. We should demand better.

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