THE CONVENTION

The Monmouth County Republican Convention was held earlier today at Freehold Township High School, attended by over 400 people. The official Party endorsements were given for the 2014 candidates.
Congressman Chris Smith was given an acclamation endorsement in the Fourth Congressional District. Hari Eppanapally having withdrawn his name from the race, Anthony E. Wilkinson in the Sixth CD was also given an endorsement by acclamation.
Four U. S. Senate hopefuls participated in the convention; Richard Pezzullo, Brian Goldberg, Murray Sabrin and Bob Turkavage. Jeffrey Bell did not participate. Goldberg and Turkavage were eliminated in the first round of balloting. In the runoff, Pezzullo bested Sabrin for the Monmouth County endorsement.
For Freeholders, Director Lillian Burry and Deputy Director Gary Rich held off a close challenge by Howell Councilman and former Mayor Bob Walsh. After the winners were announced, Walsh endorsed Burry and Rich and urged all to get behind the slate.
The time is now to set our sights on defeating the Democrats this November.

2014 CANDIDATES PART II: FREEHOLDERS

This year's election cycle has Freeholder Director Lillian Burry and Deputy Director Gary Rich both seeking reelection. Normally having two incumbents running should be a case closed matter, but this year we have a challenger in the race by the name of Howell Councilman and former Mayor Bob Walsh.
Walsh is challenging both incumbents, who have been running as a team as well as sending out their own individual flyers. The former Howell mayor has asserted that the Monmouth County Republican Party's brand is "tarnished"; when this was reported last month in More Monmouth Musings it generated somewhat of a "Howellanche" on Mr. Gallagher's blog.
Walsh and other critics of Burry and Rich say that the past scandal involving Brookdale Community College, and the recent indictment of former Manalapan Mayor Andrew Lucas for a fraudulent land deal have tainted the freeholders. It has been pointed out that the freeholders were not involved with either scandal, and in fact could be considered, as the governing body of the county, to have been victimized as well. Bob Walsh, for his part, has been cautioned to tone it down; should he win Saturday's convention vote, he would have to run with either Burry or Rich, whoever got the other nomination.Having two freeholder candidates not on the same page with each other weakens the ticket and leaves an opening for the Democrats (remember the Democrats?) to get back on the Board of Chosen Freeholders, putting bosses in Elizabeth (Joe Cryan) and Camden (George Norcross) in control.
Burry has been on the Board since 2006 and previously served as Director in 2008 and 2010. Prior to being a freeholder she served on the Colts Neck Township Committee and as Mayor of Colts Neck, and was earlier a member of the Matawan Borough Council.
Rich is completing his first term as a freeholder. He had previously served on the Spring Lake Borough Council and earlier on the Lake Como Borough Council.
Walsh is no stranger to being a challenger. Due to a party split in Howell, he challenged the local organization by running and winning as an independent for an unexpired township council seat. After reelection, again as an independent, he was elected Mayor as an independent and served as mayor from 2009 through 2012 when he didn't seek reelection. It was during this time that Howell politics realigned, including a rapprochement between Walsh and his predecessor and erstwhile adversary, Joe DiBella.

FIVE - O!

FIVE - O!

That's what the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders will be come January when Freeholder-elect Gary Rich takes his seat. He will replace the last Democrat Freeholder, Amy Mallet, who along with running mate Bill Shea was soundly defeated. Surrogate Rosemarie Peters was reelected by about a 22,000 vote margin.
The 2012 Board will initially consist of Robert Clifton, Lillian Burry (just reelected), John Curley, Thomas Arnone and Gary Rich. Rob Clifton will then leave the Freeholder Board to take his seat in the State Assembly, as Amy Handlin did in 2006.
By State Law, the Monmouth County Republican Committee must convene and select a replacement freeholder.
Our teams swept all the Monmouth Legislative districts, too.

11th District:
Senator Jen Beck - WON
Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande - WON
Assemblywoman mart Pat Angelini - WON

12th District:
Senator Elect Sam Thompson - WON
Assemblyman Ronald dancer - WON
Assemblyman Elect Rob Clifton - WON

13th District:
Senator Joe Kyrillos - WON
Assemblywoman Amy Handlin - WON
Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon - WON

30th District:
Senator Bob Singer - WON
Assemblyman Elect Sean Kean - WON
Assemblyman dave Rible - WON

SOVIET FLIPPY?

Now, we're not exactly saying that County Commissioner (neé Freeholder) John D'Amico (a/k/a "Flippy") is a communist (well, kinda sorta), but the Honest Abe Research Foundation has uncovered an article in The Great Soviet Encyclopedia which sure sounds like him! Interestingly, it's the article on counties.
Here's the text:

COUNTY. (1) In the feudal period, a hereditary feudal possession headed by a count.
(2) An administrative-territorial unit in several bourgeois countries. In the USA, 47 states are divided into counties (a total of more than 3,000 counties). Counties are governed by elected county councils. In Great Britain there are administrative counties and county boroughs. The administration of counties is directed by elected councils, including so-called aldermen, who are co-opted by the council. The administration of counties also includes representatives of the central government -- for example, the lord lieutenant and sheriff. The Australian Commonwealth, some Canadian provinces, and New Zealand also have counties.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, Third Edition, Volume 7, Alexander M. Prokhorov, Editor in Chief, Moscow, 1970 (English translation by Macmillan & Co.)

Now it sounds like the Soviets were kind of talking out of their ass, but isn't that Flippy to a "T"? Maybe we should be calling him County Commissar instead of County Commissioner!
Speaking of Flippy, about a month ago we wrote a post about how the Freeholders, on a strict party-line vote, passed a resolution "recommending substitution of the term 'Commissioner' for the term 'Freeholder' in Statutes pertaining to County Government". At the time, we called for its speedy repeal by the new Board.
The new Board has recently repealed the resolution, albeit again on a party line vote, with Republicans John Curley, Rob Clifton and Lillian Burry voting in favor of repeal, and Democrats Flippy and Amy "Fat Children" Mallet voting against.
Here's the text:


RESOLUTION RESCINDING RESOLUTION NO 09-1230 RECOMMENDING SUBSTITUTION OF THE TERM "COMMISSIONER" FOR THE TERM "FREEHOLDER" IN STATUTES PERTAINING TO COUNTY GOVERNMENT

WHEREAS, in the judgment of the Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Monmouth, it is advisable and in the best interest of the County to rescind Resolution 09-1230 which recommended the substitution of the term "Commissioner" for the term "Freeholder" in statutes pertaining to County Government; and

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Chosen Freeholders of the County of Monmouth that Resolution 09-1230 be and same is hereby rescinded in its entirety.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that a certified copy of this resolution shall be sent to Governor Jon S. Corzine, Governor-Elect Christopher J. Christie, the President of the New Jersey State Senate, the Speaker of the New Jersey Assembly, all State Legislators representing legislative districts in Monmouth County, the New Jersey Association of Counties, and the Boards of Chosen Freeholders of all of the Counties in New Jersey.

Short and sweet.
So, hopefully this quixotic endeavor at PC crap is over and done with. The Republican majority did the right thing in repealing last month's resolution. It shows what a clueless whack job D'Amico is and what a blind follower Amy Mallet is.
They should be repealed when their terms come up.

MALLET HIT

"It seems all the Trenton Democrats need to do in Monmouth County is say, "jump,' and our Democratic freeholders respond, "how high?' "
...Freeholder Lillian G. Burry

County Commissioner (neé freeholder) Amy "Hammerhead" Mallet (Biden with boobs) just pulled a live one. In the Asbury Park Press she and Director Barbara "Figurehead" McMorrow came out for housing Gloucester County juveniles at the Monmouth County Youth Detention Center. The article, written by cub reporter Bob Jordan, states that the county could recoup some of the center's operating costs this way. Nowhere in the article did it say whether Jordan had interviewed Sheriff Kim Guadagno, who operates the YDC, or Freeholder Lillian Burry, who oversees it as part of her freeholder assignment.

Yesterday, Burry and Freeholder Rob Clifton came out swinging in the Press. Apparently McMorrow came out swinging, too, you see apparently Mallet never told McMorrow that she was going to the Press. Publicly McMorrow joined the Democratic spin, although she admitted, "I have a concern that adding more juveniles may mean that we have to do capital improvements to the facility. I have not discussed this idea with anyone in Gloucester County." Clifton noted, "Gloucester took action on March 4, so somebody here must have been talking to them."

Gloucester County is led by Democratic-State Senate Majority Leader-3rd District Senator-Freeholder Director-Ironworker Union Boss-Stephen Sweeney-Billygoat-Legs. Mallet received a large $14,400.00 contribution, dated October 24th, 2003 from the Gloucester County Democratic machine. (Read more about Mallet's out of county sponsors here and here! Also here!)

There had been speculation as to why the Democrats were so adamantly opposed to closing the YDC. Some had speculated that it was due to support for the Democrats by public employee unions representing YDC workers. This flew in the face of the Democrats' treatment of county workers at large, and the Honest Abe Research Foundation was unable to find a compelling link. The liberal truth was revealed at the March 26th freeholders meeting, where "Flippy" D'Amico stated that to move the inmates to Middlesex County's more modern facility would inconvenience the inmates' families and their ministers.

Additional inmates would potentially require additional staffing at the YDC, which would cut into any revenue that might come from Gloucester. More importantly, it may require expensive construction projects, which would probably far exceed any revenue. But hey, the Democrats are heavily funded by construction trade unions, so that is probably their point. That and helping Billygoat-Legs Sweeney save the Gloucester County taxpayers money.

The Democratic freeholders are but puppets of the Trenton Democrats and their uber-bosses based in Union, Gloucester and Camden Counties. This has been predicted for years. They are obviously completely unfazed by criticism of their wheeling. It's just what they do. They must be stopped before they screw up the county even worse than they have.

VERY SILENT GLENN APPOINTED

Yet another losing Democratic county commissioner candidate was rewarded with a patronage job Thursday night when, in a 3-2 vote, Very Silent Glenn Mason was appointed as the county's Emergency Management Coordinator. He joins Silent Steve Schueler (Assistant County Counsel) and Rebecca Aaronson (MVC Agent) on the public dole. Read Art Gallagher's post here and the Asbury Park Press article here. Appointing a political crony to an Emergency Management post in a post-9/11 environment is like a platonic version of the Jim McGreevey - Golan Cipel fiasco. In a possible violation of the Open Public Meetings Act, Republican Freeholders Lillian Burry and Rob Clifton have been kept out of the loop and in the dark on appointments and other issues.
This is yet another example of the flip-flopping and hypocrisy that has been rampant in the less than 90 days that the Democrats have held the Board. In fact, at the same meeting we had the Democratic flip-flop on Amy "Hammerhead" Mallet's risky scheme to gut the County's open space tax. When they saw the public outcry, they backed off. Still, Michael Harmon, of the Board of Recreation Commissioners, discovered that fund moneys were proposed to be diverted from capital to operating expenses. According to Burry, "They changed their minds because it was a bad idea and because of the outcry against it."
Sheriff Kim Guadagno spoke about proposed layoffs of county employees and how it would affect her department's ability to serve the public, and was, in a Union County moment, actually gaveled down by Figurehead Director Barbara McMorrow for having the nerve to exceed the 5 minute limit on speaking. Reduced staffing at the County Jail will result in mushrooming overtime costs. It could also have other, more physical results. It really could.
Her predecessor as sheriff, County Chairman Joe Oxley, also blasted the Democrats, "The fact that you're about to hire Amy Mallet's running mate and still plan to lay off people from the Sheriff's Office is a disgrace".
The Sheriff also blasted County Commissioner John "Flippy" D'Amico (The Prime Minister) for interfering in the labor situation with her officers; Flippy was later blasted for the same thing by former Howell Mayor Joe DiBella, who dubbed Flippy, "Stone Cold" for his wooden, uncaring detachment at meetings. DiBella also pointed out that members of the public who exceeded the meeting room capacity were denied access to the Hall of Records itself, and forced to stand out in the cold. (That also sounds like Union County.)
Speaking of Flippy, and proving that the Inspector General issue isn't dead, the Board appointed by a party-line vote, former Freeholder Director Tom Powers, former Prosecutor and Judge "Hollywood Al" Lehrer and former state Chief Justice James Zazzali as the Ethics Review Committee, to determine that being bad is, well, bad. They will also advise the Board as to whether they should create and staff a new department of Inspector General.
This fiasco was just one meeting. These idiots have the whole rest of the year to screw things up royally. So, let's pack the house at every meeting. It's far from boring. That ZZZ isn't someone snoring, it could be the county's future bond rating.
November can't come soon enough!

SITYS

"You heard it right: If you want to work in Monmouth County, you have to ask Union County first."
...Freeholder Robert D. Clifton

SITYS. See, I Told You So.
Readers of this blog will know that for the last few years I have been writing about the Monmouth County Democrats' connections with Camden and Union Counties.
It's come full circle.
In my last post I revealed how County Commissioner-elect Amy Mallet, a George Norcross acolyte, had received a contribution of thousands of dollars from a Camden County assemblyman. Now it comes out that they have asked Assemblyman Joe Cryan (D-Union), a wheeling supporter of theirs, to help them in filling at least four top appointments in county government.
Let's take a look at the county. Back in the days of Director Harry Larrison, positions were filled based upon party loyalty, as well as personal fealty to Harry. Often a job would go to members of a local governing body so as to augment their pension. We had people like Ray O'Grady (Middletown Township Committee), Tom Broderick (Marlboro Township Committee), and Tony Palughi (Long Branch City Council), as well as others. County Commissioner John "Flippy" D'Amico voted for Palughi based on a blank application.
Since the Bid Rig days, with new Republican freeholders, the county has attempted to get away from that. Department heads are now chosen based on their resumé. Often people who have worked their way up from entry level are now promoted from within, as in the HIghway and Bridge departments.
Recently, the Republican freeholders were criticized for turning over hiring authority to County Administrator Robert Czech. Democrats, with the assistance of the Asbury Park Press, accused them of attempting to "burrow in" GOP loyalists. It now looks as if the freeholders were more interested in preserving the reforms of the past four years and protect the Monmouth County taxpayer from outside Democratic interests.

As Freeholder Clifton said: "That tells us that not only are the Democrats eager to begin instituting an expensive and outdated patronage system here in Monmouth County, it appears they are looking in to burrow in these loyalists with civil service titles as quickly as possible."

Get ready for a long, bumpy ride, campers. This could get ugly. Fast.

WAITING...

The sharks are circling.
Since election night, both Republicans and Democrats have been awaiting the answer. Will John Curley take a seat on as part of a GOP majority on the Board of Chosen Freeholders in January, or will Amy "Hammerhead" Mallet form a part of a new Democratic majority on the Board of County Commissioners?
Right now Hammerhead is 18 votes ahead of Curley, but provisional ballots haven't been counted yet.
At stake: The future of Monmouth County.

THOSE PRESS ENDORSEMENTS II

"We believe voters would be better served by retaining the 3-2 Republican majority..."
...Asbury Park Press Editorial


We knew they could do it. Today, the Asbury Park Press endorsed Director Lillian Burry and John Curley for freeholders over Democrats Amy Mallet (Who is like a shark) and Very Silent Glenn Mason for county commissioners. This marks the first time in many years that they have endorsed Republicans for the Board.

In the opening paragraph, the Press finally admits that the corruption of the Bid Rig era is a thing of the past, but they seem to believe that having two Democrats on the Board is the reason for the reforms of the past three years. We beg to differ on that. Between the 2004 and 2006 election cycle there was a 100% turnover of Board members. While Republicans largely replaced Republicans during that time, we saw a much more reform-minded calibre of freeholder take office.

Many reforms were spearheaded by Freeholder Anna Little, a conservative Republican. Indeed, a case could be made that it was a return to basic Republican principles that brought the Board of Chosen Freeholders back on track.

Simply having Democrats on the Board is not in itself a recipe for reform. The Press mentions curmudgeonly County Counsel Malcolm Carton as a vestige of the "good ol' boys network" that formerly dominated the Board. We will remind the reader that it was County Commissioner John "Flippy" D'Amico who sponsored the resolution appointing Carton back in 1988. It was D'Amico's hedging on the issue of reappointing Carton during the 2007 campaign that earned him the sobriquet "Flippy". And McMorrow's claim to fame seems to have been to follow Little's lead.

We are very pleased that the Press has finally seen fit to endorse Republicans for the Board of Chosen Freeholders. Indeed, to have endorsed the Democrats would have been to play right into the hands of the Norcross political family they spoke of in their endorsement of Mayor Myers for Congress over Sen. Adler.

DIRECTOR BURRY!

Happy New Year!

History was made yesterday afternoon with the unanimous selection of Lillian Beneforti Burry as the first woman to serve as Director of the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders. She is also the first Italian - American to lead the Board.

Director Burry's selection also puts to rest fears that her predecessor as director, Bill Barham, would continue to hold the post in a Larrisonian imperial directorship.

Rob Clifton, who was reelected at the last election, will be deputy director for 2008.

The Asbury Park Press article is here; in the hard copy of the paper an editorial decision was made to place the article not only "below the fold", but at the very bottom of the page. For all their crying about Bill Barham's second year as Director last year, I guess an actual change in the directorship is not really newsworthy in their eyes.

A big thank you to Bill Barham for his service as director for the past two years. This blog has sometimes been critical of Bill, but director is a tough job and we thank him for his time. We also thank Highlands Mayor Anna Little for her service as a freeholder during the same time. During her term on the Board, she was subjected to vitriolic attacks from a faction within our own party, the ultimate source of which is yet to be exposed. Freeholder Little handled these attacks with class and aplomb, and I'm sure we have not heard the last of Anna Little.

The Monmouth County Republican Blog wishes Director Burry, Deputy Director Clifton and the entire Board of Chosen Freeholders the best of luck in 2008!

Some Friday Randomness

Many of you have been following the news coverage of the dispute between the Board of Chosen Freeholders and the County Board of Elections vis-à-vis who has the authority to hire Election Board staff. (Here and here.)

We hate to say we told you so, but we told you so. Back in 2005, then-County Chairman Fred Niemann decided that he would make changes on the County Board. He began by replacing Commissioner Robin Lemesevski of Freehold Township with Howell Municipal Chair Norine Kelly. He followed up in 2006 by replacing Election Board Chairman Barbara Muzetska with Karen Haines of Middletown, his county headquarters office manager.
This threw the seniority on the Board to the Democrats, led by Leah Falk of Aberdeen Township. We now have the dispute leading into the February 5th Super Duper Tuesday Presidential Primary.

Giving the issue the flavor of The Jerry Springer Show is a near Rasta-esque comment by loose-cannon Chairman Adam Puharic publicly bashing an applicant for one of the positions to be filled, and by currency bashing the Board of Freeholders for recommending the applicant. This is standard Puharic policy, making foes where friends used to be, and it appears to go back to his days as a Municipal Chair, when he chose to use his power as Chairman to punish dissent, instead of healing, bringing people together, and fostering debate without resentment. Since becoming chairman, Adam has unnecessarily alienated many, including a former freeholder, at least two out of the three remaining Republican freeholders, the past sheriff and others.

We now come back to candidate screening, which may have the chairman really cycling up to a crescendo. Read Art Gallagher's analysis at More Monmouth Musings.

Have a nice weekend!

SILLY SEASON!

Well, "Silly Season" is now over, and now it's time for...
Silly Season???
Yes, campers, Election Season '08 is upon us faster than Santa can slither down a KY Jelly-slathered chimney. With the early Super Duper Tuesday Presidential Primary slated to go off on February 5th, there'll be no rest, as filing day is on December 10th. Other events will keep us Republicans very busy as 2008 draws near.

Freeholders Reorganization. Around the first week of January. Who will be the Director? Will the board follow the Harry Larrison tradition and choose Bill Barham for a third straight year? Or will they choose another freeholder to take the helm for 2008? Some have recommended Rob Clifton for the post, due to his recent reelection in a tough year and his conciliatory demeanor. However, Lillian Burry, the current deputy director, lobbied for the post at the last reorganization, and would have to be considered a tantalizing possibility this year. Barham, Clifton and Burry are the three remaining Republicans on the board; the other two members are Democrats Barbara McMorrow and John "Flippy" D'Amico. At this time it is unknown where their votes would fall.
Also, would the board vote to reappoint former Democratic Red Bank Mayor Ed McKenna's law firm as Assistant County Counsel? You know, under curmudgeonly County Counsel Malcolm Carton? If so, Red Bank Councilman John Curley is poised to throw his hat in the ring. More on that below.

Super Duper Tuesday. February 5th. The Presidential Primary. New Jersey has opted to move its presidential primary up from June so as to be more relevant in the presidential selection process. Here in Monmouth County, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and Mitt Romney so far have a lot of support. We'll see who files next Monday and see where the support lines up.
So far, no information on whether Chairman Adam Puharic will require background checks on the presidential candidates.

Lincoln Day. Somewhere in the midst of all this will be Lincoln Day.

Primary No. 2. Yes, there will be two, count 'em, two primaries this year. The regular Jersey primary will go off as planned in June, with a filing date presumably in April. It is said that both Bill Barham and Lillian Burry are each looking for new running mates this year, and may oppose each other in a primary. A possible third ticket may be in the offing as well. If Democrat Ed McKenna is reappointed as an assistant county counsel, John Curley of Red Bank will run. It is not known which slate he will be on, though it's a safe bet that he will oppose Bill Barham. Presumably there will be some kind of a steering committee with the requisite background checks; so far no details on that.
Also no details as to whether or not there will be a Rasta-esque persona this year to trash opposition within the party.

Chairman's Election. Yes, the Chairman's Election. Adam's two-year term will be up in June, a week after Primary. Will he be challenged?

Welp, that gets us to the middle of 2008. More to come! And fasten your seatbelts folks - Howell will have a local election this year!

DIRECTOR BARHAM AGAIN

Freeholder Director William C. Barham was selected this afternoon for another year guiding the county ship.
The Deputy Director for 2007 is Lillian G. Burry, replacing Robert D. Clifton. The other freeholders are Anna C. Little, Republican, and Barbara McMorrow, Democrat.
Outgoing Freeholder Theodore J. Narozanick was honored with a portrait, to be displayed in the Hall of Records. Ted was honored as "Freeholder Emeritus" a few weeks ago.
The vast editorial staff here at the Monmouth County Republican Blog wishes Director Barham, Deputy Director Burry and the entire Board the best of luck in 2007!