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.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Shake Up At The Asbury Park Press

Hollis Towns, APP’s Editor of the Future. Photo via facebook

Editors and writers at the Asbury Park Press are vying to keep their jobs in Executive Editor Hollis R. Towns’ “Newsroom of the Future.”

Gannett, the owner of the paper, announced on August 5 that it is separating into two publicly held companies.  APP will be part of a  publishing company that will be debt free and own the company’s newspapers including USA Today and 81 local daily newspapers and their affiliated websites.  The more profitable broadcasting  and digital divisions will be folded into a company that will assume the existing debt and consists of the 46 television stations the company owns or services as well as the websites Cars.com and CareerBuider.com.  The publishing company will retain the Gannett name.

The following day, Towns announced on app.com and the paper’s front page that he, along with the executive editors of four other of Gannett properties were charged with creating the “newsroom of the future.”  There will be fewer editors and more reporters who will hang out in coffee shops and delis hunting for stories that they will be able to post to app.com without a gatekeeper reviewing their work.  And there will be public events like the Sleep Con event they hosted with an advertiser earlier this month where readers could pay $10 to learn how to sleep better by buying a mattress from the advertiser.

What Towns didn’t announce publicly was that current Asbury Park Press employees had to apply to keep their jobs.  “To be hired into the Newsroom of the Future” is how is was spun in Neptune.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Depressing scene at Brookdale Job Fair

By Art Gallagher
[email protected]

Hundreds of middle-aged people looking for work at Brookdale this morning. April 4, 2014

When I was readying to leave the house this morning,  my wife asked if I was working on a story.  “No, I’m looking for a job,” I replied.  Her head snapped up in surprise. In all the years she’s known me I’ve never said those words.  I’ve always been the owner, or early in our relationship, an unmanageable top producing salesman.

The truth is I wasn’t sure what I was doing when I headed into the job fair at Brookdale Community College this morning.  I met a NJ.com reporter who got the ax yesterday, effective in September, in the overflowing parking lot outside of Collins Arena.  “Working a story or looking for a job?” I asked him.  “A little of both,” he replied before getting called away to cover a fatal car accident in Howell.

I was doing a little of both too. I’m having more fun building this business, MMM, than I had in building any of the others I’ve built or help build, but the revenue is not coming fast enough.  If the big media companies are contracting, there’s no harm in taking a look at what is out there, especially if I can make a story out of it and meet potential advertisers.

“Ha, you’re here looking for advertisers,” a recruiter from Town Square Media said to me when I introduced myself and asked her what an Integrated Sales Person was. She got me, but if Town Square wants to buy MMM, give me a radio show, blog and a fat check, I’ll listen.  An Integrated Sales Person sells ad for websites, radio shows and other mediums, I found out.  I’m now looking for one of those.  The recruiter either wasn’t aggressive or quickly sized me up as not a good fit. Probably both.

The Asbury Park Press’s recruiter was telling visitors to their booth that they weren’t hiring until they finish their across the street move in Neptune. Why were they there? Gannett would have to write a really big check and give me more authority than any corporate nudnik would consider in order to get me to fix that mess.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

The Asbury Park Press Should Stop Profiting From Human Trafficking

The Asbury Park Press has a piece of the by the State and non-profit groups to crack down in human trafficking in New Jersey.

The Super Bowl is said to be big business for human traffickers.  With the big game coming to the Meadowlands in February, the State and the New Jersey Coalition Against Human Trafficking is working to educate and mobilize local hotels to stop trafficking in their venues.

But trafficking in a year round problem.  Judging by the ads in the app, there is quite a bit of it happening right here in Monmouth County.

The sanctimonious nudniks should do their part and stop accepting ads that offer “A HOT SPECIAL TREAT Blondes and Brunettes Russian, Brazilian & Spanish Girls Brand New Girls Every week,” “Beyond Therapy” and the like.

• Tweet

Middletown Democrats, Asbury Park Press Follow MMM’s Lead In Endorsing Pallone

Following the lead of MoreMonmouthMusings, the Middletown Democrats and the Asbury Park Press have endorsed Congressman Frank Pallone for the Democratic nomination to complete the term of the late U.S. Senator Frank Lautenberg.

Frank Pallone at 2010 Highlands Clamfest.
The 19th annual clamfest ends today in Highlands. Pallone was there on Friday night

MMM, the first website in the world to endorse Pallone for the Senate nomination, did so on June 25 because the congressman asked publisher Art Gallagher for help, because Gallagher believes the Republican nominee, likely to be former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan, stands a better chance against Pallone than against Newark Mayor Cory Booker, and most importantly, a vacancy in Pallone’s 6th district congressional seat would be fantastic for MMM’s web traffic.  Our advertisers would love it!

The Middletown Dems say they endorsed Pallone because he “did the best he could” on a variety of issues.  In reality, they are hoping for money from Pallone to fund races even porn distributors are taking a pass on.

The Asbury Park Press endorsed Pallone, even though they say, “Voters can’t go wrong, no matter which way they lean in this primary, ” because they hope hometown Pallone will spend some advertising dollars,drive up newsstand sales and website visits.

All three endorsements come down to money.  Only MMM will admit that.  We like money and we need it!  Go Frank Go!

• Tweet

Layoffs At Asbury Park Press

Nudniks Tout $1500 Prize, Don’t Report Layoffs

No news. Empty newsstands stored in the Asbury Park Press’s empty parking lot in Neptune. July, 12 2013

Between 13 and 40 people were laid-off at the Asbury Park Press last week, as part of a nationwide RIF in parent company Gannett’s newspaper division.

Gannett, a publically traded company, is not saying how many employees they have cut loose. The Gannet Blog, which first reported the story which was picked up by the Associated Press, estimates that 200 newspaper employees have been let go from the Asbury Park Press, The Burlington Free Press in Vermont, The Arizona Republic in Phoenix and The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky.

The Asbury Park Sun was the first New Jersey news outlet to report the story.

The Asbury Park Press Neptune Nudniks have yet to find the story newsworthy, preferring instead to report how they won a $1500 prize from the Associated Press Media Editors for their Superstom Sandy coverage.

“We are honored by the great recognition the journalism community has given to the entire staff of the Asbury Park Press and APP.com for their unflagging
dedication during such a terrible storm, which affected each of us in some way,” said Hollis R. Towns, executive editor/vice president for news at the Press.
“Our team worked tirelessly before, during and after the storm to ensure the community received the most accurate, useful information as quickly as
possible.”

In the same article, the Nudniks touted a prize they received yesterday from the National Association of Black Journalists for their “Gripped by Violence” report on shootings in Asbury Park.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Asbury Park Press Gets Its Facts Wrong Again

No news. Empty newsstands stored in the Asbury Park Press’s empty parking lot in Neptune.

This morning the Asbury Park Press Neptune Nudniks have an article about something that might be happening and that might cause something else that’s bad to happen.

Two of the three mayors on the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority may be breaking confidentiality rules — and possibly jeopardizing millions of dollars in redevelopment deals — to keep their governing bodies up to date on property negotiations affecting their towns. (Emphasis added)

In a nutshell, the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) is the entity responsible for redeveloping the fort that Congressmen Frank Pallone and Rush Holt let get away.  The authority is governed by a 13 member board. 6 of the board members are representives of the State government. 1 is a Monmouth County Freeholder, 3 are “public members.” The final three are the mayors of the communities that host the fort, Oceanport, Tinton Falls and Eatontown. 

Here’s where APP reporter Bill Bowman got a basic fact wrong:

A state authority under the umbrella of the state Department of Community Affairs, FMERA is the sole body that seeks out potential buyers and lessors and negotiates and approves contracts for the property.

FMERA is not under the umbrella of the state Department of Community Affairs.  It is an independent authority staffed by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Ho Lee Fuk, Howie Felterbush!

Gannett’s USAToday Gets Pranked While Reporting Zimmerman Verdict

‘Howie Felterbush’s’ facebook avatar. The photo is actually of photographer Terry Richardson and two friends, according to TinEye.com

Newspaper/website conglomerate Gannett has more problems than the Asbury Park Press Editorial Board Neptune Nudniks.

The editors of the USA Today, the flagship paper of the Nudnik’s parent company, Gannett, were pranked over the weekend while covering the George Zimmerman verdict.

Deadspin caught the prank and saved it with a screen grab:

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

Asbury Park Press Editorial Board Needs A Fact Checker

No news. Empty newsstands stored in the Asbury Park Press’s empty parking lot in Neptune.

In their editorial posted last evening, the Asbury Park Press Editorial Board The Neptune Nudniks lecture New York City voters on character and morality.

As if they are an authority on character and morality and have readers from New York!  Maybe they are hoping some bennies here for the weekend will read their paper instead of Greg’s List.

The Nudnik’s homily bemoans the fact that former Congressman Anthony Weiner and former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer are doing very well in the polls in their campaigns for municipal office in New York.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

• Tweet