Senator Joe Kyrillos administers the Oath of Office to Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore
By Elyse Jankowski
Anthony P. Fiore was sworn in as Middletown Township’s Mayor Sunday in the annual reorganization meeting at town hall.
More than 100 residents, family and friends attended the ceremony that included the reappointments of various township officials, including the township attorney and general special council.
The meeting began with the swearing in of committee member and outgoing mayor Gerard P. Scharfenberger and new committee member Kevin Settembrino. The election of mayor was awarded to Anthony P. Fiore. Committee member Pam Brightbill was sworn in as Deputy Mayor. Senator Joseph M. Kyrillos, Jr. administered the oaths of office.
Middletown’s Fire Chief and Deputy Chief were also sworn in: Michael Chenoweth and Andrew Spears of the Middletown Fire Department.
Middletown Mayor Tony Fiore administers the Oath of Office to Fire Chief Michael Chenoweth
His fellow council members elected former Deputy Mayor Fiore, a Republican who began to serve on the township committee in 2009, unanimously to the mayoralty.
During his remarks, Mayor Fiore outlined goals for 2011, which include “continuing to put Middletown first” by complying with the 2% property tax cap and calling for township-wide property reassessments.
“Many of the decisions we make will be difficult and some unpopular,” he noted.
Fiore addressed rising health insurance costs, which he plans to tackle by working together with his “great, well-rounded committee.” He also stated that “shared services will be crucial” in the year ahead.
Fiore will maintain support for Middletown’s Recycle2$ave program, which challenges the community to reduce their carbon footprint and save tax dollars. In addition, he looks forward to Ideal Beach improvements and the Port of Belford Project, both of which strive to improve the economic and physical viability of Middletown’s”hidden gem” on the bayshore.
Fiore’s closing remark spoke to the importance of service – “What truly makes Middletown a great place to live is the service of our volunteers.”
Deputy Mayor Brightbill’s address mirrored Fiore’s objectives.
“One of the most important attributes of any elected official is someone who knows and understands you,” she said. “I’m confident we can find ways to continue to make Middletown great without using taxpayer dollars.”
Brightbill plans to “continue being a liaison with Middletown’s great volunteers.”
New Committeeman Settembrino echoed the council’s intentions and intends to “maintain taxes and generate new ways for non-tax revenue.”
In outgoing Mayor Scharfenberer’s remarks, he addressed the issue of snow removal that was no doubt on everyone’s minds in the wake of last Monday’s blizzard.
“I know frustrations were extremely high,” he said. “We look at this as a teachable moment.”
Scharfenberger has been appointed to Governor Christie’s administration as Director of the Office for Planning Advocacy, formerly the Office of Smart Growth. Reflecting on his time as mayor, Scharfenberger noted, “2010 will be remembered as the most difficult economic year” but assured that “the Christie administration has made tremendous strides” in the effort to consolidate services. Scharfenberger plans to “return New Jersey to greatness” with Christie.
The members of the 2011 Middletown Township Committee are Mayor Anthony P. Fiore, Deputy Mayor Pamela M. Brightbill, and Committeemen Steve Massell, Gerard P. Scharfenberger and Kevin Settembrino.
MMM Correspondent Elyse Jankowski
MMM welcomes Elyse Jankowski to our staff as a contributing correspondent. In addition to her journalistic skills, Jankowski, of Middletown, is an experienced actress, radio disc jockey, publicists and spokes person who has appeared on MTV and The Discovery Channel. MMM is pleased that she has joined us along her journey to stardom!
Middletown, as well as most of Monmouth and Ocean Counties faced a storm that became one of the five worst in the last 140 years, with 30 inches of snow and winds equivalent to a category 2 hurricane. Township crews and private contractors began working the streets at approximately 10:00AM on Sunday, December 26th.
Hours before the storm weather predictions were for about half of what we actually were faced with. One of the most difficult issues with this storm was how quickly the snow accumulated. For the first 24 hours crews out plowing and using front end loaders were severely hampered by an extraordinary number of emergency calls requiring fire, first aid and police response. From Sunday, December 26th through Thursday, December 30th 3,449 calls for assistance were received. Of these, 1,009 calls required some form of emergency response and many were 911 calls. There were 204 reports of disabled motor vehicles (many stranded or abandoned and many of which were emergency vehicles), 123 First Aid and/or Fire responses and 102 reports of motor vehicle crashes.
Each emergency response required the diversion of a snow crew from wherever they were working to the location of the emergency so that access could be quickly provided to the address. This effort was continually hampered by again, an extraordinary number vehicles being stuck on the road, including numerous police cars, ambulances, tow trucks, and plows. There were also numerous cars left abandoned on roads, further hampering plowing operations.
Many pick-up trucks with plows were simply overwhelmed by the volume and weight of the snow and unable to function. In most areas, front end loaders were needed. Although front end loaders are very efficient in the volume of snow they can move, they do move very slowly. This is especially true in areas with a lot of on-street parking and we have a lot of neighborhoods like that.
Besides the complication of the tremendous volume of snow and the enormous number of calls for emergency response, two other factors contributed to the difficulties encountered. Because the storm hit Sunday and peaked Sunday night, there were a lot more cars parked on the streets that there would be for a weekday storm. In addition, on some roads conditions were made worse after mostly well-intentioned people moved snow from driveways and walkways and put it back into the streets.
The Township has had crews on the road, both township employees and private contractors, constantly since Sunday morning. Typically there are about 24 to 30 workers on either plows, front end loaders, or salt/sand trucks at any given time. The town is divided into four districts and each district has a supervisor that moves the crews from place to place within their district.They also re-deploy vehicles as needed to respond to emergencies. These crews, which include both township employees and private contractors, have worked round the clock since Sunday morning and will continue to do so for as long as necessary.
Each year the Township awards contracts to 6-7 private contractors to supplement our municipal operations. In response to this snow emergency, we added two more contractors. While one did show up and performed very well for us, the other contractor simply failed to appear.The area this contractor failed to cover had to be picked up by others causing further delay.
Middletown is comprised of 42 square miles compared to Manhattan with only 23 square miles. Our large geographic area presents a number of substantial challenges during storm events like this. The sheer number of roadway miles in Middletown is daunting when you think of plowing snow. Crews have to plow 330 roadway miles, which is the equivalent of plowing from Middletown to Richmond, Virginia.
We are confident that Middletown’s emergency responders and road crews did their very best through this extremely powerful storm. However, we realize that there is always room for improvement. We will be making every effort to review our operations and procedures used to respond to such storms and will implement several changes that will help us to handle such events more expeditiously in the future. We thank you for and appreciate your patience and perseverance. We will make every effort to continue improving our operations to the best of our ability.
Finally I would also like to acknowledge the efforts of Monmouth County and the State of New Jersey. In addition to clearing the County roads, Freeholder John Curley was instrumental in sending us three front end loaders and operators to help clear Middletown roads. Similarly, the New Jersey Department of Transportation was quick to clear the State highways that run through Middletown and a representative from the Governor’s office even reached out to me personally to offer any assistance we needed. We thank them for partnering with us during this extraordinary storm event.
Middletown did not miss a loan payment. It didn’t even miss a deadline as the headline states. The township’s leadership chose not to apply for a loan now for a project, the dredging of Shadow Lake, that they don’t anticipate happening until 2012. Why would they?
If your bank was having a special on home mortgages that expires on on Friday, but you’re not in the market to buy a new home, did you miss the deadline for the mortgage special?
The Asbury Park Press article does present interesting and useful information about the Shadow Lake situation. It reveals that township officials are on top of the situation and are examining their alternatives. It is unfortunate that the Nudniks chose to spin the information as if there was crisis.
The Neptune Nudniks’ coverage of Middletown Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger’s job as Director of the Office for Planning Advocacy, and the fact that he did not announce the job with great fanfare during the Middletown campaign for Township Committee demonstrates just how unfair and biased the Asbury Park Press is when you compare their coverage, or lack there of, to other stories of far more consequence.
All media outlets are biased. It is impossible not to be. We’re all human and have our point of view. MMM proudly declares that we are fair and biased in our logo welcoming readers to the site. Newspapers like the Asbury Park Press are disingenuous when they claim to be unbiased. The APP even claimed that they and other “real journalists” work hard to be unbiased in a editorial bashing the owners of FoxNews for donating $1 million dollars to conservative causes last summer. I say FoxNews is more trustworthy. At least they disclosed their owner’s bias. The APP, and many many others persist with their facade that they are unbiased when their behavior clearly demonstrates otherwise.
With their article and editorial today, combined with Friday’s article and Bob Ingle’s blog post on Sunday, APP.com has published 2547 words in four pieces on three separate days to the story of a volunteer Mayor who was appointed to a State job over the summer and did not make it an issue in his reelection campaign.
Contrast this to the news that Congressman Frank Pallone and three of his colleagues used their political influence to get the FDA to approve an unsafe medical device in exchange for campaign contributions. The FDA reversed itself after an internal investigation. The issue was national news for a few days. But not for the Asbury Park Press and their sister papers that cover the 6th congressional district. Three days after the Kansas City Star published the story of Pallone and his crooked cronies putting Americans’ health at risk in exchange for campaign cash, the APP published one articleof 619 words with a pro-Pallone spin. Ingle added 194 words with the appropriate slant two days later.
The APP is unfair and biased in what they cover and it how they cover it.
The same reporter, Kevin Penton, wrote the Pallone/FDA story and the Scharfenberger stories.
Referring to the report that exposed the Pallone/FDA scandal, Penton wrote “The report — the result of an investigation requested in May 2009 by three congressmen, including Pallone — does not specify who in Congress made the persistent inquiries.” There was no further follow up published by Penton or anyone else from the APP.
Yet, Penton spent all day yesterday on the phone and on his computer keeping the Scharfenberger story alive. All those people Penton quoted in his article today…do you think they called him? Do you think they were even aware that Scharfenberger is the Director of the Office for Planning Advocacy? Of course not. Penton made thestory. At least we know he has it in him to do some follow up. It is too bad that he, and his bosses, are unfair and biased about the stories that they actually decide to put work into, as opposed to what they often do, which is regurgitate what the subjects of their “news” tell them.
Penton’s article and the editorial state that Scharfenberger was asked about his employment in October and did not mention the State job. Neither Penton nor the editorial name the reporter. Scharfenberger denies this. He told MMM that he had not spoken to Penton about his job since July, before he was hired by the Christie administration. Penton has not responded to a phone call and an email from MMM to either verify or dispute Scharfenberger’s account. Scharfenberger said he was very careful to be truthful during the campaign in how he answered inquiries about his employment with reporters and members of the public in general.
Scharfenberger knew his state job was common knowledge in certain circles but he did not want it to become a campaign issue. “What was I going to do, go around town saying ‘vote for me, the Governor thinks I’m so great he hired me’?” “I did not want to use the job in my favor and I did not want the Democrats to use it against me. I wanted the campaign to be about Middletown issues, not who I work for.”
Scharfenberger’s account is consistent with my experience. I knew about Scharfenberger’s job in late August or early September. I chose not to report it. I did not find out about the job from Scharfenberger. He was not happy when I asked him to confirm it. He assumed I would report on it.
I’m not a full time journalist. I haven’t taken a journalism course since I was in high school writing for Bear Facts, the Bergenfield High School newspaper. Why did I know about Gerry’s job and full time journalists didn’t? Google has this neat service called “Google Alert.” Penton and the folks over in Neptune should check it out. I received anecdotal confirmation of Gerry’s job before I asked him about it.
I chose not to report about Scharfenberger’s job until after the election because, after observing the Middletown Democrats over the last 13 years I suspected they would distort it and make the campaign about it, rather than the issues facing Middletown. Feel free to criticise me for not reporting it. I told you I was fair and biased the moment you got here. If you’re going to criticise me, please also credit me for my competence. The APP and the Middletown Democrats, and maybe even you, still wouldn’t know about Gerry’s job if I hadn’t reported it.
To prove that I am fair as well as biased, I now disclose that I am aware of two elected officials in Monmouth County, one Democrat and one Republican, who have full time state jobs and are still collecting their stipends from the municipalities that they serve. The Democrat I found about last week. The Republican this morning. I’m not going to tell you who they are, at least not right now. Now that they know that I know, they have a few days to do the right thing and heed the spirit of Governor Christie’s call for reform and only collect one government salary. I also want to see if the Neptune Nudniks have what it takes to find out what I already know, or if they care.
There’s a video on YouTube which is a good analogy for how Scharfenberger handled his job during the campaign. You may have seen it already as it has over 6 million views. Here it is:
In the video, consider Scharfenberger the quarterback and the Middletown Democrats and the Neptune Nudniks the yellow shirted defense. Did the quarterback do anything illegal? No. Did he do anything unethical? No. Was he clever? Yes. Is clever bad? If you laughed at the video, you don’t think so.
Had the yellow shirted defense been rigorous and paying attention, the quarterback would have looked like a fool. As it was, and as it is in the case of Middletown and the APP, the nudniks are foolish.
Total amount received from unions in 2007, 2009 and 2010: $185,800
2007 Contributions (both his name and Middletown Democrats who wheeled it to him):
Local Union 400 PAC $4,500
Carpenter’s PAC $2,500
Plumbers & Pipefitters $1,500
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 9 $3,000
NJ Regional Council of Carpenters PAC $2,500
Local Union 400 $9,000
Plumbers & Pipefitters $1,000
NJ State Laborers PAC $400
Local Union 400 PAC $2,000
total: $26,400
From his campaign in 2009 from his account and the Monmouth Democrats who funded his campaign with $177,000
Local Union 400 PAC $8,550.00
NJ Regional Council of Carpenters PAC $37,000
Laborers Local 472 PAC $2,500
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local 9 $10,000
IBEW Local 400 $10,000
PAC of NJ Association of Pipefitters $10,000
Communications Workers of America $74,000
(Represents all Middletown Twp union employees ex Police)
NJEA $500
Total: $152,500
2010
Plumbers & Pipefitters Local #9 PAC $3,900
Local Union 400 PAC $3,000
In response to Vin Gopal’s article on MoreMonmouthMusings, I believe this email below will set the record straight.
Often times the majority is criticized by the Democrats in Middletown for not listening to Sean’s ideas despite the fact that they are not usually economically or practically feasible. The notion that Sean’s voice is never heard is nonsense and we do implement his ideas when practical. We obviously took his direction to use the automated system to announce the Recycling program “not too close” to the announcement of changes to our leave and brush pickup.
While we all can agree that the lateness of the call to some residents was not intended due to a computer glitch, there was never a second call done to apologize for it. If Mr. Gopal would like to question the integrity of the Tea Party, I suggest he get the facts straight before he does so.
I stand with the Tea Party in working to retire Frank Pallone and Rush Holt from Congress and take great offense to anyone questioning their motives. It is no surprise to me that Mr. Gopal would write this type of letter after he has been an active fundraiser for Mr. Byrnes and has even hosted an event that he advertised in his newspaper earlier this year honoring special guest Frank Pallone.
At some point, maybe not so close on the heels of this announcement, we should also do that for the recycling pickup. You may have done it already, but we will probably need to push this pretty hard to get the word out and start getting compliance.
In speaking with Tony Mercantante yesterday, I have decided to broadcast a “Reverse 911” call this evening to notify residents of DPW’s upcoming brush collection. An email will also be sent to residents with registered email addresses. The message is below:
This is a recorded message from the Middletown Township Public Works Department. The Fall Brush Collection will begin on Monday, August 30th in Zones F and H. To obtain a complete brush collection schedule, please visit www.middletownnj.org/collectionor call the Brush Collection Hotline at 732-615-XXXX. Again please visit www.middletownnj.org/collection or call 732-615-XXXX for the current brush collection schedule and updates. Thank you and have a nice weekend.
As you can see, I am also setting up (with the help of Todd Costello and Jim Dudek) a brush collection hotline that will feature an audible version of the full brush collection schedule. This hotline, which will remain in effect for all future collections, will also give the caller the option of pressing “0” to speak with a live operator (during business hours). Our standard postcards are in the process of being mailed to each resident, but may not reach every resident prior to their collection start date. I wanted to make you aware of this notice in case you are questioned by residents.
Thank you,
Ted
__________________________________________________
Joseph E. “Ted” Maloney, PE, PP, CME, CPWM
Because he wants his friend Sean Byrnes to be reelected to the Middletown Township Committee, and because he wants to create a distraction among the Tea Party members during this crucial last week of the election.
The wonderful thing about Integrity is that is isn’t shaken when its questioned. It is strengthened by being questioned. If you ever see someone get upset by their integrity being questioned, it is a sure sign that he or she has an integrity issue. Someone with their intergrity intact simply answers the question when it is asked.
So, as a member of the Tea Party Movement in Monmouth County, and a visible supporter of Gerry Scharfenberger, I am happy to answer the questions Vin raises.
I am not a spokesperson for any Tea Party group. The official spokespeople know they are welcome to submit their own material for the front page or simply comment.
I, and I think the Tea Party groups, support Gerry Scharfenberger for another term on the Middletown Township Committee, not only because of the R after his name, not even primarily because of the R after his name. I support Gerry because he has done an excellent job leading Middletown. I support him because he is one the hardest working most conscientious elected officials I know.
The Tea Party groups have not blindly supported Gerry because he’s an R. They’ve held his feet to the fire over the budget and operations of Middletown. He has answered their questions and earned their support.
Vin raises five issues as reasons not to support Gerry. 1) This year’s municipal budget which accounts for the majority of the property tax increase, 2) the recycling robocalls, 3) the arts center, 4) the municipal pool, and the sewage authority.
The most important concern is the budget. Gerry has explained this years difficult budget well. Taxes had to be increased because of a loss of state funding ( I refuse to call it aid), an almost $1 million unpredictable increase in the cost of snow removal last winter, unexpected retirements that cause big payouts in unused vacation and sick time, and a decline in revenue from recycling.
Had Gerry asked me, I would have advised him to wait on the recycling robo calls until after the election. My reasoning would have been political, not governmental. The moment I received the robo call while sitting at my desk at 9PM, I knew it would be criticised politically.
From a governmental point of view, there should probably be robo calls the day before every recyling pickup until the majority of people’s behavior changes and recycling increases. Robo calls are cheap. The reaction the recent ones prove they get attention. An increase in recycling will be good for the townships budget and good for the environment. Gerry should keep making those calls….after the election…and before 8PM.
The art center and the pool are silly issues to use against Gerry. They were both in the works either before or very early in his tenure on the township committee. I agree the art center was too expensive and is under utilized. Now that it is there, we need to maximise its use and keep the costs down. The pool should be sold.
The sewage authority is a patronage pit, as are countless authorities throughout New Jersey. Gerry didn’t create the pit and Sean Byrnes will not clean it up. Governor Christie has started the process of cleaning up the cess pool of New Jersey’s waste and abuse in all levels of government, including authorities. Gerry Scharfenberger is the Governor’s partner in the clean up.
Even though the sewage authority is a patronage pit, my sewer bills are lower in Middletown than they are in the other Monmouth County towns where I own property.
Even though my Middletown taxes went up, they are lower, as a percentage of property value, than the other towns in Monmouth County where I pay property taxes.
Yes, I am a partisan Republican, like Vin is a partisan Democrat. Yet, I have used this blog prominently over the years to criticise Republicans, including Gerry. I admire Vin telling us he didn’t vote for Ellen Karcher or Jon Corzine. I understand why he’s not telling us which Democrats he’s not voting for this year, however his questioning of the Tea Party’s integrity would have more weight if he was honest about which Democrats he’s not voting for this year and if he went public about that before the election. I don’t expect him too, but like he said, if we’re going to lay the cards on the table…..
Even though I am a partisan Republican, as a taxpayer I appreciate divided government. Early in is tenure, I had hoped Sean Byrnes was the kind of Democrat I could support in a minority position. He has not proven himself to be that. He hasn’t added value to the governance of Middletown. He has used his minority status to try to create partisan wedges rather than to improve the service and costs of Middletown government.
That the government employees unions contributed $74,000 to Byrnes Freeholder race last year tells me all I need to know. When the Governor’s tool kit gets passed, Middletown will be able to run government even more efficiently than it does now. If Byrnes is beholden to the unions, he will not be as aggressive as need be in reducing the costs of government.
That Byrnes, as a member of the Township Committee, voted on an appointment of a community member he was involved in litigation with as a private attorney, raises sufficient questions about his judgement to disqualify him for another term.
Under Republican leadership, Middletown has the one of the lowest, if not the lowest, costs of municpal government per capita than any other town in New Jersey. The number of municipal employees has decreased by almost 25% over the last 10 years, 10% this year.
As I have asked many many times, name a town in New Jersey where Democrats are doing a better job than Republicans are doing in Middletown. Let me amend the question for this year; name an municipality with a population and land mass the size of Middletown where the municipal government has done a better job in the last six years than Middletown’s municipal government has done in the last six years with Gerry Scharfenberger’s leadership.
Vin’s a good friend to Byrnes. I’m proud to call him my friend too, and I am proud to be able to be friends with my political adversaries. We need more of that kind of relating as we fix our broken state.
To my Tea Party friends, don’t be distracted by Vin’s volley. We have too much work to do this week.
If Frank Pallone or Rush Holt or John D’Amico sent out taxpayer funded automated phone calls at 10:00pm at night two weeks before an election, how would YOU react? I recall my friend Art Gallagher often saying that the art of franking, sending out taxpayer funded newsletters during an election year is wrong. I agree with him. So I ask not only Art but conservatives who claim to believe in smaller government, those who consider themselves members of the Tea Party movement, how would YOU react if Frank Pallone or Rush Holt sent out a taxpayer funded robocall two weeks before an election urging people to recycle?
Because thats what Middletown’s Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger did. Then he sent another taxpayer funded robocall apologizing for sending out the late night call. So how come those, whom call themselves members of the tea party movement or conservatives, how come they don’t speak out about Mayor Scharfenberger’s actions? Or is it basically hypocrisy 101 – hear no evil, see no evil when it comes to Republicans. Is that it? If thats it, thats fine but lets just put it out on the table and lets understand that this movement is NOT about stopping taxpayer abuse but it is simply to elect Republicans. As long as everyone is honest, it make its much easier to communicate if that is indeed what the tea party movement is about.
Middletown has a mayor who spends taxpayer money like water, he supports a patronage mill-filled Middletown Arts Center, which the entire town pays for even though a small percentage of residents use it. Now the Mayor wants to discuss privatizing or selling the taxpayer funded swim club – after 6 years in office, now he brings it up after pressure from the lone Democrat on the committee, Sean Byrnes, who urged the mayor that government should not be in the business of running a pool club. But you won’t see Scharfenberger and his buddies go after the unnecessary Sewage Authority – why would you, when their attorney, Middletown political boss and GOP Chairman Peter Carton has the most to lose from a missing sewage authority. At every turn and every corner, under Mayor Scharfenberger’s watch, Middletown’s taxes skyrocketed more than any other municipality in Monmouth County. The few short examples I listed is just a piece of Scharnfeberger’s record of being a tax and spend politician.
I love the attacks that Mayor Scharfenberger has gone after Sean Byrnes on in his attack mailers….that he is a career politician (Sean has served 2.5 years on the Middletown Township Committee, 1 year as a prosecutor in Atlantic Highlands and 22 years in the US Coast Guard) meanwhile the Mayor has been elected in Middletown for almost the past 6 years and runs a patronage mill in town.
So is the Tea Party in Monmouth County nothing more than an umbrella group trying to convince us to defeat Democrats? Is this an organization that will look the other way on their own fiscally irresponsible members if they simply have an R next to their name? I seriously question the integrity of anyone who says they want to stop the abuse of taxpayers but who say nothing and look the other way when the mayor of the county’s largest municipality sends out a taxpayer funded robocall 2 weeks before the election asking voters to recycle.
Yes, I’m a Democrat because I believe in certain core principles of my political party. I didn’t vote for Ellen Karcher and I didn’t vote for Jon Corzine. I wrote out about the disgusting tactics of those Democrats in South Jersey who tried to create a fake candidate in the 3rd Congressional District in order to manipulate and deceive voters. I like to think, even though I vote Democrat more often, I still have a mind of my own and when members of my own party who are not fiscally or ethically responsible, that we have a moral right to call them out. I question why my counterparts in the other party don’t do the same. Is it because all they are about is politics and elections and not about public policy? I hope that’s not the case.
So as you are reading this, Mayor Scharfenberger and his friends will attack me in the comments section and elsewhere, they will quickly attack Sean Byrnes, making up things that have nothing to do with his taxpayer funded automated phone calls and they will quickly attack anyone else because they are unable to justify why it was necessary to spend taxpayer money 2 weeks before an election urging voters to recycle. They will try to distract the voters and they will be unable to defend the question at hand – why they are sending out taxpayer funded automated phone calls 2 weeks before an election asking voters to recycle. Watch them – watch their excuses.
I have many close friends who are members of the Tea Party. My business partner hosts tea party meetings at his restaurant. But as I watch this, I now question the integrity of this organization of self-proclaimed conservatives who continue to support a Mayor who is responsible for the largest tax hike in the history of Middletown. While Fair Haven’s conservative mayor was able to stabilize taxes in his town, Mayor Scharfenberger skyrocketed taxes in Middletown and yet the Tea Party leaders and conservative leaders all over Monmouth County seem to support him.
Is that what it comes down to? The Tea Party is okay with anyone fiscally irresponsible as long as they have an R next to their name?
Nancy Fix and Deb D’Alessio of Sissy’s Place in Campbell’s Junction, Belford
Middletown Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger’s reverse 911 call encouraging township residents and businesses to recycle paper, plastic, aluminum and tin cans and glass containers, was the talk of Sissy’s Place in Belford today, according to Nancy Fix and Deb D’Alessio.
Fix and D”Alessio wait on the neighborhood eatery’s customers together on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays wearing matching T-shirts. Today they wore their “Don’t Be Trashy, Recyle” shirts, which prompted conversation about the Mayor’s call.
Scharfenberger told MoreMonmouthMusings that the township’s revenue from recycling was down $400K from last year. He and his colleagues on the township committee agreed promote recycling and expand paper products accepted in order to recover that revenue and hopefully increase it by $1 million per year.
“Recycling pays of twice.” said Scharfenberger,” the township receives revenue for the recycled products and tipping fees for trash are reduced as well.” The Mayor encourages all residents to visit the website www.middletownnj.org/recycle to get clear on the recycling pick up schedules and accepted products.
Scharfenberger scoffed at the notion that the reverse 911 call coming three weeks before the election was political, “In all honesty, making the call was Seans Byrnes’ idea.”
By Art Gallagher
