The Arnone Report

Freeholder Tom Arone

By Monmouth County Freeholder Tom Arnone

At the last meeting of the Board of Chosen Freeholders, the Board authorized an award of bid for an asphalt recycler for the Department of Public Works and Engineering. This equipment will allow the Divisions of Bridge and Highway to take waste asphalt from construction projects throughout the year and turn it into high quality hot mix, re-using it for road repairs. This will reduce our disposal and operating costs, along with being environmentally friendly. The cost of the recycled material is 75% less than the cost for new material.

Last year the county spent over $150,000.00 for cold mix, base material and disposal of waste material. As an added benefit, every ton of asphalt the county recycles will benefit Freehold Township in the amount received from the State of New Jersey in their tonnage grant.

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Jeffrey Foster resigns from Wall Township Committee

Jeffery W. Foster resigned from the Wall Township Committee last week.  He is applying to be the Director of Public Works for the Township and wants his application to be considered on it’s merits, not based upon his political position.

Jeffrey Foster

Foster was elected to the Township Committee in 2007 and served as mayor in 2012. He has been chairman of the Public Works Committee throughout his tenure.

If only a certain former Manalapan Township mayor had taken the same approach when he wanted to sell the development rights to his farm to the government.

Foster, 59, has been looking to get a municipal public works position for last the last few years.  He applied to be the Director of Public Works in Belmar two years ago. Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty said Foster’s application was given serious consideration. “Jeff would make an excellent Public Works Director,” Doherty told MMM in a phone interview.

Foster has also applied to be an Assistant Public Works Director in Middletown. He sold his auto repair and towing business last summer.  He started working as a maintence worker at the New Jersey Department of Transportation last September.  “They let me use the heavy equipment,” Foster said, “I love this work. ”

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Booker coming to Wall Township to raise funds for Monmouth Dems

photo via facebook

Senator Cory Booker is lending his star power and fund raising prowess to the Democratic Freeholder candidates who are looking to unseat Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and Deputy Director Gary Rich in November.

Booker is headlining  a July 25 fundraiser for Larry Luttrell and Joe Grillo at the Wall Township home of Gary and Linda Faraci.

All of Monmouth County’s Democratic mayors, including Tinton Falls Mayor Gerry Turning are listed as hosts of the fundraiser on the event’s invitation.

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Wall Elected Officials Back Golden

Shaun Golden

Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden has picked up the endorsements of the elected officials from a third large municipality in his quest to replace John O. Bennett III as the Chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Organization.

Mayor Clint Hoffman, Deputy Mayor George Newberry and Township Committee Members Ann Marie Conte, Jeff Foster and Todd Luttman, the entire governing body of Wall Township, signed a letter on Wall Township Republican Organization letterhead and addressed to Monmouth County Republicans today, strongly endorsing Golden for Chairman.  Their letter can be found here.

The Wall governing body joins the elected officials of Middletown and Howell in supporting Golden.

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Bennett’s Undetered By Golden’s Endorsements

John Bennett

Monmouth County Republican Chairman John Bennett told MMM that he continues to be upbeat and positive about his chances for reelection on June 10, despite the endorsements of the municipal elected officials in Middletown and Howell going to his opponent in the GOP Chairman’s race, Sheriff Shaun Golden.

“Those were elected officials, not county committee members or municipal chairmen,” Bennett said, “I expect to get quite a few county committee votes from those towns. Those endorsements were not surprising to me.”

The chairman said he expected a similar endorsement for Golden to come out of Wall Township. “Its not over until its over,”he said,  “I am remaining upbeat and positive. I’m keeping the campaign positive and I hope the other side does as well.”

Wall Township Municipal Chairwomen Mary DeSarno declined to comment.

Bennett said one of the elected officials who endorsed Golden told him that he/she was unaware Bennett was running for reelection when the Golden endorsement was made.

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Body found in burned Wall Township home

Update: Body found in burned Wall Township home (via NJ.com)

WALL TOWNSHIP – A body was found inside an Allaire Road home that burned for several hours on Sunday afternoon, authorities said. Wall Police Chief Robert Brice said an autopsy would be performed on Monday to determine the identification. While firefighters…

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Why were his kids in the car? What was he investigating with his kids on Friday night before Christmas?

Maybe they were decoys during a shop lifting investigation.

The Asbury Park Press is reporting that a detective in the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office was involved in a head-on collision at 10:32 PM on Friday December 23.   Det. James Powers was driving a county owned vehicle.  He was determined to be at fault in the accident.  He wasn’t given a summons by the Wall Township police officer on the scene.  His kids were in the car.

The Press article seems to take issue with the fact that no summons was issued.   I don’t have a problem with that.

But it appears that Powers was engaged in personal use of a county owned vehicle.

Joan Marini of Wall was the driver of the 2011 Lexus that Powers hit head-on.  According to the app report, she sustained minor injuries and was taken to the hospital.   She has a lawyer who told her not to make public comments about the accident. 

Litigation to follow.  The deeper the pockets of the owner of the vehicle at fault in a motor vehicle accident, the more serious and long term are the injuries.

Here’s another 2012 prediction; Marini will get paid.  Her lawyer will get paid.  The lawyers defending the county will get paid.  Powers will be named in the suit but the same lawyers that defend the county will defend him.  Monmouth County taxpayers will get the bill.

Powers is the son of former Freeholder Director Thomas J. Powers.

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How can we sustain this system?

Wall Township Administrator Joseph Verruni is retiring from his $179,000 per year job, after 20 years of service, on June 1, 2012.   He is 54 years old.  His pension will be between $80,000 and $90,000 per year, according to a report in The Asbury Park Press.

This rant is not about Verruni. 

As Wall is a wonderful place, I’m sure he did a terrific job over the last 20 years.   I don’t necessarily begrudge him the $179,000 salary for the work he did (even though Monmouth County Administrator Teri O’Connor makes significantly less)  But he’s 54 years old, starting a new career in the private sector,  that will be supplemented by $2,500,000  if he lives another 30 years!   That doesn’t include the tax payer funded health insurance that will keep him alive, hopefully for his sake and that of his family, more than 30 years!

If Verruni collects $85,000 per year for 30 years, he will have “earned” an additional $127,500 for every year he worked as Wall Township’s administrator.

I really should have taken a government job when I graduated from Georgetown in 1980.

This is not about Verruni.  It is about a system that pays adults in the prime of their earning years the equivalent of full time wages not to work.  Like my high school buddy who retired from the Bergenfield Police Department at 53 and takes home $20 per month less per month than he did when he put the uniform on every day.  Or like the retired State Police Investigator, 47 years old, collecting  a pension of $84,300 per year, who is Acting President of Brookdale Community College with a salary of $150,000 per year.

This system is not sustainable and it is not equitable.

The pension and benefit reform package that Governor Christie negotiated with the Democratic Legislature is an improvement of the previous system.  Yet the new system is not sustainable over time either.  We’re not feeling any of the pain yet.

Over the next 30 years, the state pension contribution will be $4.9 billion per year.  The local government contributions will be $2.3 billion per year over the next 30 years.  Both figures are on average.   We’re “enjoying” the savings now with smaller pension contributions that must increase by $500 million per year until we’re “caught up” with all the contributions we haven’t made since 2000.

Unless there is significant economic growth, soon, we won’t be able to sustain this system without significant tax increases. 

Who is going to be left to pay those taxes?

If we’re going to have a pension system for government employees, we shouldn’t be paying out until the retirees are 65 years old, or older as life expectancies increase.

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