Do you "Like" Making a difference?

by: johnwmccarthy

Tue Aug 09, 2011 at 02:50:53 PM EDT

Sometimes we seem to forget what the State Committee, Elected Officials, and County Leadership can do to build our team, write our playbook and foster our talent. More importantly, we often forget our responsibility as democrats to help ourselves! In Monmouth County we are setting ourselves on a track to implement an aggressive countywide organization with well trained party leadership, elected officials and party activists. On Monday, August 8th State Committee Communications Director (and social-media-guru) Jason Springer, Congressman Pallone and myself joined the Monmouth County Democrats for a a free training on how to use social-media to involve young people in the party, organize around a idea and better communicate our message.

Under Chairman Scudiery's leadership, Monmouth County has hosted a series of free trainings for elected officials, municipal chairs, activists and volunteers.  Topics have included an ELEC training, candidates campaign training and advance fundraising.  Not only were they free for the people attending, but were held at no cost to the county party.

DFA at The Beach

by: nathanrudy

Sat Aug 06, 2011 at 06:39:47 PM EDT

Here's the pic.  If you're not in the picture, we missed you.  

If you were one of those there and pictured -- or not pictured like Congressional candidate Ed Potosnak, DNC state rep Babs Sipperstein or legislative candidate Karen Carrol -- put some thoughts in the comments.

If you weren't there, put your apologies in the comments.

BTW, that's my awesome daughter Kendy holding the DFA sign, and my awesome wife Maureen blocked by the DFA sign.

Double-Dip Donovan and the Guadagno Grift

by: KendalJames

Tue Mar 15, 2011 at 01:30:00 PM EDT

As defined by state statute, "sheriff's chief officer" and "chief warrant officer" are not the same thing. A key distinction between the two titles is that "chief warrant officer" is considered a temporary position, exempt from the Police and Firemen's Retirement System (PFRS). A "sheriff's chief officer," however, is a permanent position, and does qualify for PFRS.

As confirmed by multiple official documents collected and distributed this week by NewJerseyWatchdog.org (who first highlighted this story), Donovan was hired as the Sheriffs Chief Officer. You can see for yourself on this org chart, this website, and this memo from Guadagno herself, all of which clearly show Donovan as SCO. By accepting this position, a retired investigator like Donovan would be required to stop collecting retirement benefits; he also would have to re-enroll in PFRS.

Yet personnel records list Donovan as "Chief Warrant Officer" - strange, because 1) that's not the job he was hired to do, 2) that job doesn't exist on any current org chart, and 3) the very position of Chief Warrant Officer was eliminated by an order from Guadagno just one week before Donovan started. Guadagno even went as far as to announce Donovan's hiring as CWO in a press release. But it simply wasn't true - it was, in fact, part of a deception engineered by Guadagno to help Donovan cheat the pension system.

Double-dipping Donovan gets his cake ($85k yearly retirement benefits), and gets to eat it, too ($87,500 yearly salary as SCO). To date, this scam has cost New Jersey $245,000. And the friendly favor/theft originates with one Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, whose fudgy paperwork now threatens to embarrass the Christie administration in a big way - which may be why the NJ Treasury has mysteriously been unable to find any wrongdoing (even when presented with overwhelming evidence), expose this fraud, and get New Jersey's money back.

If Christie wants to prove that his corruption-busting is in no way political, let's see him appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Guadagno under the NJ State Constitution, Article 5, Section IV, Paragraph 5.  

Read the complete details of the investigation:

NJ Treasury Botches Monmouth Probe; State Ignores $245K Pension Scam Implicating Lt. Gov. Guadagno

Lt. Gov. Guadagno & the $170k State Pension Scam  

Fired Up....Ready to Go

by: tabbycat31

Sat Mar 27, 2010 at 10:05:01 PM EDT

Monmouth County Democratic Party chairman Vic Scudiery on the Republicans running against healthcare reform this fall
"they think it's going to work for them in the fall.  They're going to fall on their face."

Congressman Frank Pallone on accepting the nomination to run for re-election this fall (which sums up my feelings as well):
"Thank you for the nomination, but we have a lot of work to do."

Freeholder John D'Amico on the Republican Party:
"While the Republicans are fighting among themselves, the Democrats are fighting for the people."

Congressman Rush Holt on the teabaggers:
"Their anger about this healthcare legislation just blinded them."

Our own Vincent Solomeno (who unfortunately lost the freeholder nomination to Spring Lake councilwoman Janice Venables) on the Republicans being out of touch"
"It must be really hard to see these problems from the 18th hole of the Colts Neck country club."   This had the crowd fired up.  

New Jersey Democratic Party Chairman John Wisniewski on Chris Christie:
"Christie to the middle class--- drop dead."

All said and done, the Monmouth County convention left me and over 300 of my fellow Monmouth County Democrats fired up and ready to go.  If we can channel the energy that was in the room to the fall elections, we can do this.  

My fight for the nomination

by: vincent solomeno

Wed Mar 24, 2010 at 02:42:08 PM EDT

I believe key to building a sustainable majority in Monmouth is developing grassroots interest and involvement in our party's efforts to reform county government.  I've traveled all over.  My supporters and I have spent untold hours prepping mailings, writing speeches, and reviewing policy.  

In a campaign, it's easy to lose track of what's important, but here's a by the numbers breakdown of what we've accomplished:

-  Met with 15 elected officials from municipalities across Monmouth County and listened as they explained their concerns about Governor Christie's proposed aid cuts and the resulting need to reign in property taxes.
-  Met with 14 municipal chairs and spoke with countless others to discuss ways our party can better coordinate our message, canvassing, and fundraising.
-  Mailed 5 letters to 139 elected officials and municipal chairs explaining why I'd like to be a Monmouth County Freeholder.
-  Logged 1,593 miles, changed my oil 1 time, and replaced 2 tires and 1 transmission.
-  Wrote 1 letter to the editor, published by The Asbury Park Press, opposing public pensions for lobbyists.
-  Hosted 3 campaign events, including a pancake breakfast that turned out over 75 supporters - many of them new faces in the Democratic Party.
-  Created 1 campaign web site.
-  With the help of friends, created a Facebook page that today has 364 fans.
-  Posted 47 tweets to Twitter.
-  Recorded 2 video messages to likely voters.
-  Read 74 pages of a bloated budget that's ripe for cuts.
-  Attended 4 Freeholder Board meetings and 1 budget hearing.
-  Took on 3 Republican freeholders.

The vote on Saturday will determine whether I go forward and run alongside Judge John D'Amico in the coming campaign.  Yet even if I don't come out on top, I remain committed to building a grassroots effort that elects Democrats across Monmouth County.  We are the party that reformed county government, and this time, we will end once and for all the GOP patronage machine's stranglehold on power.

I'm proud of what my supporters and I have achieved in this campaign and I look forward to translating our efforts into success come November.  I'm grateful for Blue Jersey and our community's ongoing efforts to engage in the political process.  I'll keep you posted on Saturday's results, and Lord willing and the creek don't rise, you'll soon find that we've not yet begun to fight.

Why I'm running for Freeholder

by: vincent solomeno

Tue Jan 19, 2010 at 10:00:00 AM EST

I'm running for Monmouth County Freeholder because I believe we can do better.  Since November, I've visited with elected officials, party leaders, and private citizens to hear their ideas and concerns.  They share my belief that we can regain our Democratic majority on the Freeholder Board through an energetic grassroots campaign that focuses on stabilizing property taxes, preserving open space, and aggressively pursuing opportunities to bring new businesses - and the jobs that come with them - to Monmouth County.

My decision to pursue the nomination is the first step on a road that I hope will lead to victory come November.  I intend to build a campaign of people, not power brokers.  A campaign defined not by sound bites, but substantive ideas.  And perhaps most importantly, this will not be a campaign defined by one person, but by citizens joined together in the pursuit of a common goal: a green, safe, and affordable Monmouth County.

As I've said to those I've spoken with in the short time since taking this decision, I have no illusion about the many challenges that lay ahead.  Yet the obstacles I face in the coming campaign are nothing compared to those facing Monmouth County and our fifty-three municipalities.  Quite literally, we can no longer afford the status quo.  Indeed, I firmly believe that the present circumstances requires Democrats, Republicans, and independents alike to set aside petty differences, roll up our sleeves, and work together for the public good.

I am optimistic about the future of Monmouth County and it will be my honor to run alongside Judge John D'Amico in an effort that translates that optimism into real results.  In the mean time, I encourage you to keep me on my toes.  Let me know what I'm doing right, what you think I can be doing better, and please be sure to visit my web site at www.vincentsolomeno.com.

Thank you.

The 21 County Strategy & Electing Sean Byrnes

by: Matthew Jordan

Fri Oct 23, 2009 at 01:42:14 PM EDT

When I read that the Asbury Park Press - a historically rightward leaning paper- had endorsed Sean Byrnes I was not surprised. He has the crossover appeal that makes him a rising star in New Jersey Democratic politics and will bring a fresh perspective to county government in Monmouth.      

Byrnes has been serving our country for a long time - most notably as a graduate and recently retired Commander in the US Coast Guard.  He was on active duty up until 2006 - where he was deployed to New Orleans to aid Hurricane Katrina victims. Following his graduation from the Coast Guard he worked as the Chief of Staff in the Budget Division in their Washington D.C. headquarters.  During the evening he attended Georgetown Law earning his JD. Following law school he worked at the prestigious Newark law firm McCarter English - a position he left to return to Monmouth County and start his own practice in Red Bank.

Give Sweeney a Chance

by: vingopal

Sun Sep 27, 2009 at 08:09:47 PM EDT

Although my home county of Monmouth does not currently have any Democratic state senators to vote in the upcoming race for senate presidency, the voters throughout NJ deserve a real race for Senate President.

Sen. Majority Leader Steve Sweeney deserves the opportunity to run for the seat and shouldn't be shut out by Codey supporters just because he is challenging an incumbent.  

They still can't count votes in Monmouth County

by: Jason Springer

Thu Jun 04, 2009 at 12:15:00 PM EDT

This time, results from a half-dozen towns were delayed because of problems in transmitting data from machine cartridges, County Clerk M. Claire French said on Wednesday.

Each voting machine has a cartridge that stores the ballot information after votes are cast. The cartridges are plugged into a card reader that attaches to laptop computers used by municipal clerks, who are to transmit results to central election offices, French said.

However, in several cases after the polls closed Tuesday the cartridges had to be physically transported to central election offices in Freehold, where the data was downloaded, French said.

Two years ago, a delay in tabulations at the county level was blamed on some of the 1,700 local election workers misunderstanding instructions. In the 2008 general election, other technical issues delayed results.

Monmouth County purchased 950 Sequoia vote machines three years ago for $8 million - relying mostly on federal funds - and also spent $80,000 for 60 laptops solely for municipal use on election nights.

Equipment maintenance comes to more than $20,000 annually, and the county has also spent more than $2,000 per election night for on-hand Sequoia representatives.

Last Minute GOP rule changes in Monmouth and Warren

by: Jason Springer

Mon Dec 22, 2008 at 04:45:00 PM EST

The Republican-controlled Monmouth County freeholder board is expected to vote Monday on a proposal that would help protect high-paying GOP loyalists just as Democrats are about to take power.

The Republicans, who bill their effort as good-government reform, have placed on their meeting agenda their proposed administrative code, which shifts hiring authority from the freeholders to the county administrator. The action comes over the objections of the incoming Democrats.

Part of the Republican proposal is to move primary hiring authority from the freeholders to the appointed county administrator, currently Robert M. Czech, who was named to his job by the Republican-controlled board in 2007.

If not a mandate, Monmouth voters definitely sent a message

by: Jason Springer

Mon Nov 24, 2008 at 10:42:15 AM EST

This year, two seats now held by Republicans are up for grabs. If the Democrats capture just one of them, they will control the board for the first time in two decades. We believe voters would be better served by retaining the 3-2 Republican majority, re-electing Freeholder Director Lillian Burry, who, despite missteps, has done a creditable job during her first three-year term, and John Curley, a former Red Bank councilman who is seeking the seat being vacated by William C. Barham.

There is more work to be done on the freeholder board. It needs to conduct its meetings in the evenings, when more members of the public can attend. It needs to bid on professional services, particularly engineering and all types of insurance. And it needs to bring down legal costs. Having said that, the board has come a long way in the past two years. This year, it has worked well under Burry's direction and would work even better under the watchful eye of Curley.

The long-delayed election results that will give Democrats control of the Monmouth County freeholder board next year should not be interpreted as a clear mandate for change, as suggested this week by a spokesman for the county Democratic leadership.

County Democratic spokesman Mike Mangan warned the current Republican-controlled board not to help party loyalists "burrow in" to county jobs before Democrats assume 3-to-2 control in January by extending contracts, giving them new assignments protected by civil service or providing them with salary bumps. Good advice. But he added, "Voters have spoken and want Democrats in control." That's debatable.

Republican Freeholder Director Lillian Burry received the most votes. Democrat Amy Mallet's margin of victory over Republican John Curley was one-fifth of 1 percent. That hardly suggests county residents were clamoring for change. Mallet's success was due to the coattails of Barack Obama, name recognition gained from her failed 2007 Assembly bid and repeated promises that Democrats would be more fiscally responsible than Republicans. Humility here clearly is in order.

At some point they might want to actually give Mallet some credit for winning. The editorial also talks about Mallet's past assembly run helping her gain name recognition while conveniently overlooking the name recognition gained by the two Republicans because they were incumbents. And while we're on gaining from previous coverage, I assume they will be calling out Chris Christie for the coverage he has gained in the past few years for his potential gubernatorial run.  

The bottom line is that Democrats should make the change they were elected to provide.  They should continue with the progress that the APP even acknowledges has already been made. The Asbury Park Press should give the Democrats a chance to take office before they try to dictate the agenda once again. The voters already saw through their hypocrisy and responded by electing a Democrat to change control on Election or the next step might be their subscribers realizing and taking their money elsewhere.

Mallet wins Freeholder, Dems take control in Monmouth

by: Jason Springer

Tue Nov 18, 2008 at 06:30:32 PM EST

Barring a recount, Amy Mallet of Fair Haven has defeated John Curley of Middletown in the race for a seat on the Monmouth County Freeholder Board, swinging county control to the Democrats, 3-2.

The final provisional vote tally showed Mallet winning, 964 to 654 votes for Curley, extending by 310 her Election Day lead of 18 votes. This tally does not inclue email votes, which are fewer than 100 and pending.

...control of the county government will switch to the Democrats for the first time in 23 years.

The Monmouth County Bayshore Young Democrats Go ".org"

by: MC Bayshore Dems

Tue Feb 12, 2008 at 09:21:08 AM EST

Stop by today and check it out. While you are there sign the guest book and sign up. The path to change starts with you. Stand up and speak out.

14 Tickets for Uninspected Municipal Vehicles in Middletown

by: MC Bayshore Dems

Sun Jan 27, 2008 at 03:52:10 AM EST

The attorney stated that there was the money to maintain the cars. So I asked if it was gross miss management of the department. After that the reply I got was that the tickets were written to promote an agenda that the officer had. Well I had to take a breath after that. I couldn't believe that the township attorney would acutely elude to the officer writing fraudulent tickets the day he was retiring to for some agenda. When I asked him this he back tracked and said that the tickets were not fraudulent.

The only agenda the officer may have had we the fact that the township does a poor job of maintaining there police fleet and it had been a concern for many years. My father was a Middletown police officer for many years. Over the years I have seen many check engine lights on and I have herd many complaints of the condition of the cars from a number of the other officers.

The real agenda is that the town does not want to fess up to the fact that they are not doing what they need too. Ultimately it is Mayor Scharfenburger that is responsible for making shore that all the departments in town are doing what is needed to keep the town running safely. The other question that came to me after I left is that mayor Scharfenburger feels that there is no room to cut the budget, but how can he know this if he doesen't even know how the money is being spent or what is even going on in the departments.

Attack on Affordable Housing for Young Families in Middletown

by: MC Bayshore Dems

Sat Jan 26, 2008 at 12:16:23 AM EST

Mayor Scharfenburger and his companions have made an environment in Middletown that the children of current residents will not be able to return and start families of there own. Their opinion of affordable housing is that in the Middletown environment only senior housing is needed and not affordable  housing for young adults. But the truth is that this will be the housing for the children of Middletown's parents. These young adults, many of whom grew up in Middletown, now will return home to find that the town that they grew up in doesn't want them. The part that gets me the most is that Mayor Scharfenburger is using the tax money of the parents of these young people to do this. It was stated that "Middletown was the most prolific user of RCAs, sending $12.1 million to other municipalities to handle 649 of its affordable housing credits that would otherwise have been built in the township." In an article by Jonathan Tamari Of Gannett on November 14, 2007.

Jennifer Beck, hypocrite.

by: Scott Weingart

Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 04:15:00 PM EDT

Hypocrisy on ethics is nothing new for Jennifer Beck.  Avid readers of this blog may recall that the Monmouth County Republicans charged prospective candidates $1,000 for a sham screening process in order to be considered for the party's nomination.  Unlike her primary opponent Joe Locricchio, Jennifer Beck was unwilling to stand up to the corrupt county organization and forked over $1,000 for this "background check".  Adam Puharic, the man who orchestrated this "Soviet"-style tactic to keep independent, good-government Republicans like Anna Little from winning the party line, continues to serve as Monmouth County Republican Chairman even as he collects a federal government salary. 

Assemblywoman Beck's inability to stand up to ethical shortcomings in her own party stands in stark contrast to Senator Karcher's consistent, nonpartisan reform record.  In the past, Senator Karcher and Assemblyman Mike Panter have criticized Democratic ethics reform proposals that didn't go far enough.  In 2004, she was the only Democrat to vote to bring a Republican-sponsored government reform package to the Senate floor.

I'm not Jennifer Beck's campaign manager, but if I were, I'd tell her to lay off the ethics and government reform issues.  Her constituents know about Karcher's spotless reform record and they are smart enough to see through the Assemblywoman's shallow election-year press-release pandering.

If ethics were cycling, Jennifer Beck would be on training wheels and Ellen Karcher would be in the Tour de France.

News Roundup and Open Thread for Wednesday, June 13, 2007

by: Hopeful

Wed Jun 13, 2007 at 09:01:15 AM EDT

Town Hall Meeting with Chris Christie

by: bleedingblue

Fri Apr 20, 2007 at 03:05:46 PM EDT

In doing so, I saw on PoliticsNJ that Chris Christie, our dearly beloved U.S. Attorney, will be holding a town hall meeting with two of my least favorite Republican legislators, Joe Kyrillos and Amy Handlin, on April 26th at 7:30 in Middletown North High School.  With the great discussion that's been happening  here at BlueJersey with regards to Christie's partisan record (oh, and I'm sure it's purely coincidental that this "non-political" town meeting touting his achievements will be held in conjunction with two fellow Republicans), I just wanted to let share news of the event so that people who are in the area or are willing to travel can show up and maybe ask Christie some tougher questions than he fields from the press, which obviously is all too eager to burnish his false credentials. If anyone has any thoughts on how we may be able to take advantage of this opportunity, please share them so that we can take one step closer to greater accountability in our justice system.

Correction on Anna Little

by: Juan Melli

Thu Mar 29, 2007 at 09:40:46 AM EDT

ICE raid in Englewood??!!

by: lsanchez490

Tue Mar 27, 2007 at 12:23:28 AM EDT

END THE ATTACK ON IMMIGRANTS!
DEFEND THE RIGHTS OF ALL WHO LIVE AND WORK IN NEW JERSEY!

STATE-WIDE SPEAK-OUT AND PROTEST MEETING

Saturday March 31 1:00 PM
Paul Robeson CenterBusch Campus
600 Bartholomew Rd
Piscataway, NJ

Immigrants in New Jersey, as in the rest of the United States, are facing increasing attacks. ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) raids are being stepped up, tearing families apart, detaining and deporting those who have lived here for years. Demagogic town governments are taking anti-immigrant measures. Morristown, for example, is planning to deputize its police as ICE agents.  Massive workplace raids like the recent one in New Bedford, Mass. can happen at any time. A New Jersey radio station, 101.5, has called for people to turn in their neighbors as suspected undocumented immigrants, encouraging vigilantism.

The attacks on migrants are attacks on all of us. They are aimed at maintaining an underclass of workers who are too terrified to assert their rights to decent pay, working conditions and living conditions.  No one, not even the government, wants to deport 12 million undocumented immigrants who are vital to the economy. The attacks and anti-immigrant laws aim to drive down the cost of all labor, benefiting employers, pitting worker against worker, and hurting us all.

We are fighting back, immigrants and native-born united!  We are speaking out against the attacks and the demagogic proposal in towns like Morristown's and Freehold.  We are starting to organize a Rapid Response Network which will give aid to those confronting ICE raids or employer abuses of immigrants. We are joining with organizations across the country to organize a Second Great  Boycott.

Speak out for the rights of ALL!

We invite your organization's endorsement and participation in this event and in an April 3 noon press conference in New Brunswick

Endorsing organizations(list in formation):
NJ May 1 Coalition
IRATE/First Friends
NJ Civil Rights Defense Committee
Philippine Forum
United Day Laborers of Freehold

Interested in reading about progressive Morristown:
Town seeks new power over illegal immigrants
Morristown wants to give its police the same authority as federal officers

Much respect to Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo.
Hispanics steamed by shock radio stunt

And from a New York Times Article, good old Freehold.

PUBLIC LIVES; Back in the Fight He Picked Decades Ago
Article Tools Sponsored By
By LYNDA RICHARDSON
Published: March 17, 2004

CESAR A. PERALES, the president of the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, is revved up. But he is not losing his cool. (He is too cool for that.) He is talking about the fund's wranglings in federal court over the attempt by Freehold Borough in Monmouth County, N.J., to prevent day laborers from gathering at a vacant lot to scout for work.

''The question of the treatment of day laborers is so flagrant, I feel it viscerally,'' Mr. Perales says, leaning over to emphasize the point. ''This is to me as horrific as the segregation that the government imposed in the South. We're seeing local governments treating undocumented workers in a similar fashion, marginalizing them, not wanting them to live where they live. This is a fight that will take a long time.''