Paul Smith Tributes

Paul J. Smith, the mayor of Union Beach, passed away unexpectedly from cardiac arrest at the age of 66 on April 30, 2020.

Smith was loved and respected by the many friends he made during his public service career which spanned five decades.

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Paul J. Smith, RIP

Paul J. Smith, the mayor of Union Beach, passed this afternoon at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank. He was 66 years old.

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Christie, Army Corp Announce $202 million Flood Control Project In Union Beach (Video)

Governor Chris Christie came to Union Beach today announce the funding of a resiliency and flood control project that has been on the drawing board since 1995.

Photo by Paul Scharff

The project plans have been updated since Superstorm Sandy and will include:

• The massive flood control project – funded by federal, state and local contributions – will consist of construction of levees, floodwalls, tide gates and pump stations.
• The project will also rebuild beaches, dunes, and groins, which are jetty-like structures that are designed to slow loss of sand from beaches.
• In addition, more than 25 acres of degraded wetlands will be restored to help better absorb flood waters.

The majority of funding for the massive flood control project will come from the federal government at $132 million. New Jersey will fund about $57 million and Union Beach will provide $17 million.

“Union Beach has long been one of the most susceptible areas to coastal flooding in New Jersey, a vulnerability that was made all too real when Sandy slammed the town with its record 14-foot storm surge,” said Governor Christie. “As part of our long-term recovery strategy, this $202 million resiliency project will finally give this close-knit community the protection they need and the sense of security they deserve to withstand future storms.”

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Victoria Dean apologizes for facebook post

Marlboro Board of Ed VP, under political attack, suspects that a second alleged facebook post is a fabrication

Marlboro Board of Ed VP Victoria Dean, right and Marriem Yousef, a Muslim Marlboro High School junior at the conclusion of the March 10, 2015 BOE meeting

Marlboro Board of Education Vice President Victoria Dean last night apologized for racially charged posts made on her facebook page on February 8, during public workshop meeting of the board in the Marlboro Middle School Auditorium.

The offensive post came to light over the weekend when Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal’s Jersey Shore Insider blog posted a story accusing Monmouth GOP Leaders of displaying racist posts on social media.  The story accused Union Beach Mayor Paul Smith of posting a “rant” calling President Obama “A Communist, a Muslim and an Illegal Immigrant,” and Dean of displaying and liking a post on her facebook page that stating that “America isn’t America anymore!  It’s run by foreigners including THIS RAG HEAD PRESIDENT!”

The Asbury Park Press picked up the story on Monday, attributing Gopal’s blog as the source without citing it as a partisan website as is their custom when they cite this website or other conservative websites.

Smith shared a meme on his facebook page that included a photo of Obama holding a pint of dark beer in one hand and while is other hand was raised with his thumb up. The meme caption was ” A Communist, a Muslim and an Illegal Alien walk into a bar……The Bartender says ‘Hello Mr. President…”

On her facebook page, Dean posted a link to a story about a Waterbury, Connecticut school district honoring the Muslim holidays Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha by not scheduling tests, field trips or major school events on those occasions.  Dean added the caption “Pandora’s box opened” and tagged fellow board member Craig Marshall. Mark Garza, a Texas resident who Dean says is a childhood friend, posted the offensive rag head comment which Dean then liked.

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Mayors Helping Mayors: Gulf Coast Mayors Visiting Jersey Shore, NJ Mayors Next Week

Former Waveland, MS Mayor Tommy Longo tours Sea Bright with Mayor Dina Long in February. Longo, three other Gulf Coast former mayors and former Congressman Gene Taylor will address the Bayshore Conference of Mayors on May 17 in Keansburg, Photo: NJ.com

A group of former mayors and a former congressman who led their Mississippi communities to recovery from Hurricane Katrina are coming to the Jersey Shore next week to share their knowledge and experience with New Jersey’s mayors and senior municipal officials who are continuing to deal with the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy.

The group will be speaking at a meeting of the Bayshore Conference of Mayors on Friday evening May 17, 7PM, at Anthony’s Restaurant, 65 Church St in Keansburg.  All mayors and senior municipal officials of towns impacted by Sandy are invited, according to Union Beach Mayor Paul Smith, the conference president.  Those wishing to attend should contact Smith via text or phone call at 732-713-0506.   If someone who should have gotten an invitation didn’t, this is it. Readers are encouraged to pass this post on to their mayors.

The Mississippi delegation, comprised of former Congressman Gene Taylor and former mayors Brent Warr, Eddie Farve, and Tommy Longo, is being flown to New Jersey free on charge by Southwest Airlines.  Their lodging is being donated by Dominique Ervin, General Manager, Hampton Inn of Neptune/Wall and Sal Cannizarro of Immediate Care Medical Walk In of Hazlet.

This mayors helping mayors project is the brainchild of author and former CNN correspondent Kathleen Koch.  A Bay St’ Louis, MS native, Koch has dedicated herself to supporting survivors of natural disasters since Katrina.  She is the author of Rising from Katrina: How My Mississippi Hometown Lost It All and Found What Mattered and is donating a signed copy as a door prize for the conference.  She was sent to Japan by the U.S. State Department in March of this year to deliver her message of Resiliency and Words of Hope to the survivors of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami of the second anniversary of that catastrophic event.

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