Farewell my friends

VIVA LA REVOLUCION !



Well I am waiting for my car to the airport. This shall be a grand adventure. I will miss home of course and I will miss this blog. I have had fun. I hope it has occasionally been amusing as well as thought provoking. I will check for comments to be posted in a few days and while I will not be posting I will not delete this blog. I will leave it up for reference purposes. LOL

I want to thank those of you who visited. A huge thank you to Honest Abe and Art Gallagher aka William Seward for all the encouragement they have given me. The Republican party is lucky to have these gentlemen. One more thank you. Jim "The Shadow" Gianell gave me the title to this post in a recent comment and it is appropriate for my final thoughts.

For 5 years now there have been dedicated Republicans who have been fighting for a Monmouth County Republican party that is democratic, that is interested in public service not personal gain, that is interested in solutions not ego gratification and that wants to find a new way to do political business not just find loopholes to new rules. There have been victories and there have been bitter defeats but progress has been made. Some may say we are naive dreamers or even crazies who will destroy the party but I think not. In fact I think we are on the verge of victory. I smell change in the air. I feel the masses rising up and saying enough. I regret I will not be here to see the final victory but I shall certainly be watching from afar.

What if I am wrong what if victory is not within our grasp. Do not despair. Some battles are worth fighting no matter the outcome. So never stop fighting, never give up and never ever say die!

VIVA LA REVOLUCION !

I have finally found a cure!

WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN... THE SHADOW KNOWS!

So in response to my request for information I found this little gem in my inbox this morning. My informant received a copy of this from their Municipal Chairman who received it from Steve McEnery the Chairman in Manalapan.

This is not the forum that I would normally use for this type of info. However, this will be a very difficult election year for all of Monmouth County. As many of you may know, Manalapan will be having a more difficult year because we will be facing a primary. A few Republican malcontents and a number of rejected Democrat losers have joined together to try and split the Republican Party in Manalapan. We have become just another town to face turmoil.
I believe that the loyal Republicans from Manalapan can take a beating and survive. We can deal with our own dirty laundry.
However, none of us need outsiders helping to split Manalapan Republicans. I have heard that Jim Giannell has teamed up with the breakaway's and committed to help fund their campaign. I know Jim likes to play in the shadow (emphasis added) so nothing can be attached to him, accept the good things he likes to take credit for. I would like your help in telling Jim to pay attention to his own business and leave other Towns to work out their own issues. Start supporting the Party and stop prying things apart.
I'm not sure how to say it in Greek, perhaps some one can translate for Mr. Giannell, what goes around, comes around.
Steve McEnery
Chairman, Manalapan

Is he kidding? On the one hand this stuff makes you worry about the future of the party. On the other hand it makes great theater. You gotta love it.

Does this mean there is a plot a foot to replace the County Chair? The first step would be to take control of municipal committees. Who will be the candidate? This is interesting.

Only a few days left to get tips into the Monmouth Bull Moose. Don't miss your chance.

On The Front Line.

The Battle rages in Manalapan where the Republican Club overwhelmingly endorsed the challengers to Chairman Steve McEnery.

The committee is stacked with supporters and friends of the chairman but the club is usually filled with rank and file worker bees. Their lack of support for the Chairman is not a good sign for him.

Since he is Adam Puharics hatchet man this is also not a good sign for Adam. If the revolutionaries take control of Manalapan Adam will be in big trouble if a challenger to his
(mis) rule emerges.

This battle bears close watching.

Any news that any readers may have about similar battles in other towns please forward to me. I am interested in hearing more. All contacts will be kept confidential.

In Defense of Anonymity

We anonymous bloggers take a lot of grief for being anonymous (usually from an anonymous poster... go figure). As I near the end of my career as an anonymous blogger I feel the urge to address this issue.

Anonymity in political commentary has a long and prestigious history. many of our founding fathers engaged in it and some were also the victims of it. Alexander Hamilton and James Madison were particularly adept at it and in fact wrote there defense of the proposed Constitution anonymously.

The Supreme Court has recognized that the right to engage in anonymous speech is protected by the First Amendment. With out this the free exchange of opinion would suffer.

Why would someone be anonymous? Political opinion often engenders strong feelings. Some people feel that anonymity protects them and there loved one from retaliation.

Some people work for companies who just do not like controversy and would be upset if one of there employees was an Internet blogger with controversial opinions. This is especially true with regard to the Internet where a comment can travel around the world and live forever.

Of course some opinions are so controversial that they could subject a person to physical violence.

some people feel ,whether rightfully or not, that their opinion will get more serious consideration if no one knows who they are.

Of course none of this excuses anonymous slander or libel such as falsely accusing someone of criminal or immoral conduct. Nor does it excuse gratuitous name calling.

I will admit I have sometimes come close to the line in voicing my opinion about certain politicians or people involved in politics. Even though those opinions are based on my evaluation of there actions as political figures I sometimes wonder if my harsh words have crossed the line.
Yes I do have occasional pangs of conscience. This has caused me to hold back on occasion. Then again my real persona has never really held back on these opinions. Even though I have not put them in print they are not closely held secrets. Further it can be argued that people entering the political arena must expect to be subject to criticism about there motives.

So this is why anonymous speech though subject to abuse should not be suppressed.

Then again the possibility exists that this is merely a rationalization for cowardice.

What do you the reader think?

Anonymous comments only please.

Todays Headline

Legal Tab of 2.8 Mill. Disturbs D'Amico

No Duh!

Unfortunatly the Democrat is %100 correct in his analysis of the matter.

I am glad to see Lillian finally gets it and jumped right on that. She should immediatly take steps to see follow through. As Director she can steal the lead from the Dems on this. She can say we tried to reduce costs and it did not work. Lets try in house and see if that works.

If they go this route the Republicans and the Democrats should pledge to develop a NON-Partisan criteria for the position.

Senator Andrews?

Congressman Rob Andrews taking on fellow Democrat Frank Lautenberg. Good for him I like someone who is willing to buck the system.

Hey, it always makes me feel good to see the Democrats fighting.

Truth be told if our Senator must be a Dem Andrews is much more palatable then Cranky Frank!

The Idiot Party

So Unanue has now dropped out and they are resurrecting Dick Zimmer.

You remember Dick. He lost to the Torch and then could not win his congressional seat back.

This is the guy who really pissed conservatives off while he was in office. I remember when he flipped on the assault weapon ban. Now while I disagreed with that legislation my issue with Dick was the flip flop. I was present at an event Dick was at and he told a group of us that a bunch of RHINO'S from West Windsor had really gotten on him about his vote against it. They said they would not vote for him again if he did not switch. Shortly thereafter the spineless wonder did just that. Another politician who acts on principle.... NOT.

This is what the best the NJ Republican leadership can come up with?

They would be better served supporting Pennacio or Sabrin. Oh wait a minute, that will not work, they could not control those candidates.

Hey, everybody has to make a living right?



Is anyone wondering how Lesniak came out with a book about his "heroic" stand against the death penalty so quickly.



Is there nothing Politicians will not make a buck off of. This story makes me want to take a shower.

GOP Party leaders excited over prospect of Teddy Roosevelt running for the US Senate

The above link is an article about Jersey Joe Pennachio withdrawing from the race for united States Senator if Teddy Roosevelt runs.

While I am flattered let me set the record straight right now. I am not running for Senate. If Nominated I will not run if elected I will not serve.

In fact I hereby wholeheartedly Endorse Jersey Joe and urge all my supporters to vote for him.

UPDATE
Red Bank Green reports that although Bennett is running for Mintons seat on the County Committee he does not want the position of Municipal Chair. You do not have to be on the committee to be elected Chairman of your municipal committee. It is all very innocent ;)


Today's News

Lots of exciting things going on today! Did you see that there is no primary to replace the departing Mayor Joe DiBella or Councilwomen Cynthia Shoemaker (Both who had at one time thrown there hats in the ring for Freeholder). Even more surprising the democrats could not even find someone to run. This unusual in a town that historically has had very contentious politics. I usually decry this type of apathy but I have to admit that it is good news for Republicans in this case.



Then I read about perennial APP punching Bag and former State Senator John Bennett challenging John Minton for Chairman in Red Bank. Apparently with the approval of Adam Puharic. Show of hands. How many people would like to see John Bennett just GO AWAY. Our party would be so much better off if he would just retire and move to Florida. He was a bad State Senator and it is representatives like him that contributed to the mess this state is in.



Speaking of Chairman some rumors as of late. A challenge is being mounted for control of the Committee in Wall Township. No big surprise considering that some "independent" Republicans got elected to Council there. In Manalapan a strong challenge is being mounted against the regime of Puharic right hand man Steve McEnery. Not suprising considering the mess that Manalapan seems to be in. If he looses that will be a big blow to Puharic. It is also rumored that Tinton Falls Chairman and one of the founders of the Two Rivers group Mike Lafey is not running for Chairman in Tinton Falls this year.



Anyone out there no of any other towns where changes are taking place in the county committee or where challenges are being mounted? Is this all a harbringer of change at the County level?



As I write this it dawns on me that some of this may be connected to a big power play. Are Bennett and Puharic mounting a challenge to Jim Giannell protege John Minton because they suspect Giannell has something to do with challenges to chairman who support Puharic? If so is that perception based in reality. If that is the case I hope this is the final showdown because the constant internecine warfare has to stop at some point.



That being said I am rooting for the insurgents. The current regime has been a failure.

Sundays News.

OK I am a little late but I wanted to point out two things in Sundays Asbury Park Press.
Ingle had some great comments on cutting the State budget.

Additionally they had an excellent editorial on Initiative and Referendum.

Everyone should do whatever they can to support the I&R bill introduced by Monmouth County's own Declan Oscanlon and Carol Casagrande. You have to give these two credit they have hit the ground running.

Mount Laurel

I usually confine my posting to commenting on the foibles of various Monmouth County Politicians but today I am going to branch out a little into a state wide public issue. I have been thinking about low and moderate income housing (what we in NJ call Mount laurel housing) a lot lately because of various articles in the Newspaper. Mobile Home parks closing, new regs being discussed on determing a municipalities fair share, Fort Monmouth redevelopment and the impact it would have on the housing obligations of the towns involved have all been in the news lately.

The Mount Laurel court decision that mandated communities build low and moderate income housing has done more then anything to contribute to the overdevelopment of this state.
While I think the court decision was bad and beyond the scope of the courts authority the bad impact of overdevelopment that resulted is really the fault of local politicians.

They took the easy way out. Giving builders greatly enchanced density of market price housing so that they would build a few mount laurel units became the favored way of dealing with the issue. They thought this was the cheapest way to deal with the issue. They were wrong. The additional density cost the towns money. On average residential development cost one dollar and fifty cents in services for every dollar in additional tax revenue generated. The higher densities resulted in more congestion, enviormental degradation, reduced quality of life and higher taxes.

Now you are saying Ok Teddy if all thats true what were the alternatives.

Well to use an overused phrase politicians failed to think outside the box. There were better ways to address this court imposed mandate.

One thing a few towns have done bot not to a large enough extent is form housing authorities and non profit corporations that could have built 100 Mount Laurel units without having to give an extra 2ooo market units. They could have got low interest loans from the State to construct the units. Yes they would have had to expend tax dollars but in the end I doubt it would have been more expensive then the way it was done and it may have been cheaper.

I will give you another Idea. I mentioned Mobile Home parks closing before. This is a loss to a town of low income housing that they will have to make up somewhere else. The stereotypes about trailor parks aside they have very little impact on municipal services and put few children in the school system. If towns were smart they would have made sure that some vacant land was zoned for mobile home parks. Believe me they would have been built. Heck that would have been an inexpensive way for a non profit or housing authorty to provide the housing.
I will let you in on a little secret. A lot of mobile home park owners are millionaires.
I have seen some especially in Florida that are like country clubs. How do I know all this. I had a relative who lived in one for a while and had a chance to speak to the park owner.

The whole point of this is to get the politicians thinking before the next round of obligations come out. The current model is not working so develop a new one. I do not want to come back and see the little of this state that is still green paved over.

Good Job

It is nice to see a Republican Freeholder get some good press. Director Burry did a good job with the Glimmer Glass Bridge issue. I also like the way she got mention of no tax increase this year into the article. This is the kind of stuff she has to do if she wants to be re-elected. She and Mr. Curley have to become the anti-establishment candidates. Easy for Curly harder for her but she can do it if she continues to buck the system. Vote down a couple high bids. Propose some cost cutting measures. Matbe tighten up a little ethics reform. She may not get the A.P.P. endorsement but all she needs to do is not give them anything they can hammer her on and she can beat the nobody knows them democratic candidates.

APRIL FOOLS

The APP Reports "The Monmouth County freeholders for unclear reasons dropped close monitoring of bills from government attorneys in recent months — despite amassing a budget-breaking 2007 legal tab in excess of $2.2 million."

Interesting that as soon as Anna Little was gone this stopped. Did they really think no one would notice? If it was an oversight it was a stupid one.

Now the interesting thing is that 20 attorneys racked up 2.2 million in fees. If you do some math that comes to one hundred and ten thousand per lawyer. Now some make way less and some make way more but none of them are doing this full time. So I figure this job could be done by less then 10 full time salaried attorneys. The real proof would be in the number of hours spent doing what but I am going to hazard a guess that the job could be done in house for less then 2.2 million.
Wasn't there supposed to be a study done on that issue? Has anyone seen it?