Red Bank GOP Won’t Challenge Menna For Mayor

Red Bank Mayor Pat Menna

Barring an Independent candidate entering the fray in June, Red Bank Mayor Pasquale “Pat” Menna will be reelected to a third term leading the borough in November unopposed. The Red Bank Republicans have not nominated a candidate to oppose Menna.

But that doesn’t mean the Red Bank GOP has given up on the strides they made last fall when Cindy Burham broke the Democratic grip on the governing body of 6 council members and the mayor and Sean DiSomma came within 1o2 votes of winning a second seat for the GOP.

DiSomma was subject to a malicious smear campaign, over a traffic ticket, by Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal in the final week of the 2013 campaign.

DiSomma is running again this year.  He is joined on the ticket by Brian Hanlon, a former member of the borough’s park and recreation commission.

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Vin Gopal Threatens Legal Action Against MoreMonmouthMusings

Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal, not Devender Singh

Monmouth County Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal has threatened the owner of this website, Gallco Media, LLC, with “all legal remedies under law” unless the post, Feds Charge Indian National With Abusive Sexual Contact, is removed from the site.  Gopal’s attorney, D. Sam Han, Esq. of Sobel Han, LLP of Englewood Cliffs, further demands that an apology and retraction be posted that clearly denotes the improper usage of Gopal’s picture on this site.  The photo in question is posted to the left.  Han’s letter can be viewed here.

On behalf of Gallco Media, I consulted with two attorneys to find out what these “legal remedies under law” might be. Both said there aren’t any and that Gopal does not have an actionable claim.  Bring it on, Han. Play it again, Sam. You’re not gonna win, Vin.

We really must have gotten under Gopal’s skin.  He didn’t threaten legal action against the campaign of Assemblywomen Caroline Casagrande and Mary Pat Angelini in the the 2011 legislative race when they sent the now infamous Joe Vas mailer out against Gopal who was running against them at the time.  The mailer was widely criticized in the media and even by many Republicans at the time.  MMM didn’t write about the mailer in 2011 because I was in jail on ginned up charges when the controversy broke. I’m particularly sensitive to the consequences of exaggerated allegations made in the media.

Gopal’s gotten a small taste of his own medicine.  We hope he’ll alter his conduct, and lead members of party to do the same.  It’s not looking too good, so far, but that is what we’re after in our “Monmouth County Republican Chairman John Bennett did not issue a statement…” posts and our posts calling Gopal on his duplicity.

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Winners and Losers of 2013, Part 3

Monmouth County’s Biggest Losers

Vin Gopal. When you’re twenty-eight years old and the most popular governor in the nation singles you out as a practitioner of the “politics of yesterday,” twice in four months, you’re having a bad year.

Worse for the Monmouth County Democratic Chairman, he doesn’t have the juice to enforce the retribution he promised to Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long and Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider, two Monmouth County Democrats who endorsed Governor Chris Christie’s reelection.

When you’re a twenty-eight year old County Chairman and the elite statewide power players of your party convene for dinner in your county, twice, and you’re not invited, you’re having a bad year.

When, after a devastating county-wide electoral loss, a member of your party leaks your declaration of victory taking credit for wins in races you lost and for a victory in a non-partisan election you weren’t involved in, you’re having a bad year.

But none of those things are what landed Vin Gopal on MMM’s biggest loser list.

Gopal in on this list because of his reckless, mean-spirited and false attempted character assassination of a Republican candidate for Red Bank Borough Council.

Gopal launched his inaccurate attack against Sean DiSomma in a press release late on a Friday afternoon in October.   He encouraged reporters to print his allegations on over the weekend and do their fact checking on Monday, after the story had legs.  Some did, to their own detriment.

In his desperate zeal to win in a Democratic town where he was losing, Gopal ruined his credibility with members of the media who had come to rely upon him as a reliable source.

The Bayshore Tea Party Group.  Once respected as a powerful and principled political force, Barbara Gonzalez , Bob Gordon and their shrunken band of zealots traded their welcome at Republican power tables where they could have made a difference for the road less taken of self-righteous irrelevancy.

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Democrats and Republicans split in Red Bank

With 6 of 9 voting districts reporting in Red Bank, Republican Cindy Burnham and incumbent Democrat Kathy Horgan appear to be headed to victory.

Republican candidate Sean DiSomma said that his count of all districts has him losing to Horgan by 80 votes, and Burnham winning.  Incumbent Councilwoman Sharon Lee appears to be losing.

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Predictions

Governor Chris Christie will be reelected with 59.9875% of the vote.  In Monmouth County, Christie-Guadagno will win 68% of the vote.

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden will be elected with 69% of the vote.

Freeholders Tom Arnone and Serena DiMaso will win by 68% and 68.4%, respectively. DiMaso’s extra votes will be attributable to the negative ads the Monmouth County Dems have run against her, and prove that the Asbury Park Press’s endorsement is meaningless.

Brian Froelich will get more votes for Freeholder than Larry Luttrell gets, proving that the Asbury Park Press’s endorsement is meaningless and that negative advertising doesn’t beat a quality incumbent.

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Bizarre twists in accusations against DiSomma

photo via facebook

The story of the alleged arrest warrant, for a traffic violation, out of Dallas for Red Bank Republican Council candidate Sean DiSomma took bizarre twist and turns on Friday as Dallas officials confirmed to MMM and RedBankGreen, early in the day, that there had never been a warrant on DiSomma. Late Friday, a Dallas official told RedBankGreen that DiSomma was in “capias warrant status” and the Dallas Court website was updated to reflect that status. The official told RBG that the warrant was issued because DiSomma’s 2011 check paying his traffic violation fine bounced one year after it had been submitted, which would have been in January or February of 2012.

Monmouth Democratic Chairman Vin Gopal released an audio clip produced on Friday, purported to be a recording on the Dallas Court’s automated response system indicating that there was an “alias warrant” issued for DiSomma.

DiSomma, who provided documentation showing he paid his fines on Thursday evening, hours after he was made aware of the situation by members of the press following up on Gopal’s accusations, said the he was caught up in a “bureaucratic nightmare” with the Dallas Courts and that he was being defamed by the Monmouth Democrats.

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RED BANK: ZIPPRICH OWNS ‘ASTROTURF’ URL

Councilman Ed Zipprich, seen at the Red Bank NAACP candidates’ forum at Calvary Baptist Church Thursday night, acknowledged he set up a website that now attacks Republican candidates. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge) By JOHN T. WARD Red Bank…

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Additional Confirmation: No Warrant For DiSomma

A Dallas Municipal Court employee told MoreMonmouthMusings this morning that there has never been a warrant issued for the arrest of Sean DiSomma, the Red Bank Republican council candidate, who was defamed by the Monmouth County Democrats, The Asbury Park Press and NJ.com yesterday.

NJ.com updated their headline to include the word “accused” this morning, but has not lifted a finger to verify the accusation, nor have they referenced MMM’s story that disproved the allegation that a warrant for DiSomma’s arrest is outstanding or had ever been issued.  MMM has previously been cited by NJ.com and The Star Ledger on several stories.  They can’t honestly claim that they don’t consider this little blog a reliable news outlet.

The Asbury Park Press doubled down on their defamation of DiSomma in a story updated this morning: (Screenshot from the app.com story)

APP reporter Larry Higgs has not responded to numerous messages via twitter, public and private, asking if he personally confirmed a warrant with the Dallas municipal court.

Such a confirmation would be impossible, because there was never a warrant.

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Red Bank or ‘Wal-Bank’?

By Sean DiSomma

In 2012, the Red Bank RiverCenter re-branded Red Bank as “A Cool Little Town.” After the Democrats get done with it, RiverCenter may want to consider renaming our beloved small town “Wal-Bank.”

As a person who is lucky enough to have spent time in over 40 different states of this great country, I am outraged by the “genericization” of some our greatest small towns. When Fredricksburg, Virginia looks like New Iberia, Louisiana, it takes away from the experience of living in or visiting one of these places. If Democrats get their way, Red Bank will become another one of these generic towns . . . or worse.

Can you imagine a day where after finishing up your McRib sandwich on the corner of Monmouth and Broad you take a nice leisurely stroll down the street to Payless to pick up some fresh “Buy One Get One Half Off” kicks? Don’t laugh because this is the Red Bank that the Zipprich, Horgan and Lee Council envision.

I can’t imagine ever getting to the point where I would want to grasp a fledgling political career so badly that I would support a generic big box that is contrary to the culture of our community, presents serious health hazards and furthers the genericization of our small town.

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