Kuhl & Vogel: Hijacking the ballot

Posted on April 23, 2010 by admin

The April 21, 2010 Hunterdon Review raises the question, Has this year’s Clinton Township ballot been hijacked?

Is your vote being manipulated? Looks like.

The candidates you will see way up on top of the ballot — in the coveted “party line” — were put there by a party boss — Darin Vogel — who isn’t even on the Republican Committee. Without consulting the entire Clinton Township Republican Committee (CTRC), former member Darin Vogel has already decided that he and his political friends will get the best spots on the ballot.

Other Republican candidates, including a sitting mayor, a former mayor, a former council member, and other incumbents have been thrown off the party line by Vogel — poof!

Having top billing on the ballot often determines who gets elected, because many voters vote for whoever is on “the party line.”

Let’s pick through the Review’s article to make sense of all this:

Darin Vogel, who is the municipal chair of the committee moved his residence from District 9 to District 10 in November 2009.

Yah, we know that’s true. He hasn’t lived in District 9 since last November.

According to the New Jersey statute on elections, “when a member of a municipal committee ceases to be a resident of the district from which elected, a vacancy on the committee shall exist… a vacancy… shall be filled for the unexpired term by the remaining members of the committee in the municipality in which the vacancy occurs.”

Yah, that’s true, too. You move into a different district and by law your committee seat is vacated. No no one has to “fire you” and you don’t have to resign. Your seat is automatically vacated.

Mysteriously missing in this whole episode is the Vice Chair of the CTRC, Antje Doyle. As the next in command since Vogel’s seat was vacated, it’s her responsibility to notify the rest of the CTRC members and to convene the group so they can vote to fill the vacant seat. That’s her job — to ensure that the Republicans of district 9 are fully represented. Doyle has convened no such meeting. She has given no notice to the rest of the members or to the Republicans of district 9 that Vogel’s seat has been empty since last year.

Antje Doyle has allowed Vogel to appear to still be a CTRC member when he is not. What are these two up to?

Based on the statute, Vogel should have stepped aside, but he did not resign his post in District 9 or as municipal chair because, “I did buy a house in District 10, however I have not sold my house in District 9… as discussed with the county chairman, Mr. Henry Kuhl some time ago, upon selling the house I would resign the seat. I intend to do this… the position of municipal chair, which I currently hold, does not require being a committee member. The county chaiman indicated to me his preference, for continuity sake, that I continue in that role until the election which is a little more than six weeks away.”

“I intend to do this…” Famous last words. Vogel has “intended to do this” for over five months. Yet he has never bothered. And now he claims Kuhl told him to “continue in that role” for just “a little more than six weeks”?

Christine Yates, second in command of the HCRC, says Kuhl has been in Europe, but upon his return intends to tell Vogel to resign his seat. Kuhl didn’t know for 5 months that Vogel’s seat was vacant? Vogel didn’t tell him?

The Review says Vogel has violated a New Jersey statute. Where are the Republican Party Cops? Why hasn’t Vogel been stopped?

Vogel says he bought a new house — in Hook Mountain, in voting district #10. He says his old house, in Annandale (district #9), is for sale. When he moved to the new house five months ago, he did not give up his CTRC seat. He kept the seat. A few weeks ago, he filed to run for CTRC in district #10, a different district.

Nice trick! Live in one house, file to run in that district. Don’t sell your other house, keep serving in that district. Nice political game! Work two districts at the same time! Who’s gonna know?

Kuhl is out of the country and unavailable for comment. Christine Yates, vice chair of the Hunterdon County Republican Committee said, “You can only have one legal residence. The county committee pretty much follows election law. It’s where your residency is.”

Oops the voters got screwed!

Oops, Darin! Your boss — big Republican political boss Henry Kuhl — is out of town! You can claim anything you want while the boss is away. But look out — the party official left in charge while Kuhl is in Europe says you are fibbing.

Mary Beth Hurford, deputy county clerk said, “You have to be a county committee member to be a municipal chair. The municipal chair is the chair of the county committee members” in a given municipality.

Oops, Darin! The county clerk’s office piles on and says you’re making up the rules as you go along. And, Man, have you been making it up…

According to Yates, the municipal chair “decides which people running for county committee get the ‘regular Republican line’ along with the freeholder candidates,” and the party slogan “Hunterdon County Regular Republican Organization.”

Vogel, who is now running in District 10, designated himself and his running mate, Lisa Maul as the candidates to run on the regular Republican line.

Oops, Darin! You’re not even on the committee and you’re deciding who gets to use the party slogan and who gets top billing on the ballot?

And you gave yourself and your new running mate, Lisa Maul, the coveted spots on the ballot? Lisa Maul?

Isn’t Maul the respected former Clinton Township school board member? How’d she get into this? (It seems former school board members have found a new home in Clinton Township politics, led by former NHVSD school board president Peter Marra, who is now on the town council. Vogel backed Marra, Jim Imbriaco and Spencer Peck for council last year — and gave them the party line over incumbent councilman Steve Krommenhoek.)

And just where is the rest of the Clinton Township Republican Committee (24 elected members whose job is to represent Republicans in their districts)? They’re supposed to convene and discuss and vote on who should get “the party line” on the ballot. CTRC members confirm that Vogel and Doyle did not convene any meetings to discuss who should get the line. Vogel did it all on his own.

Who needs an elected committee? Vogel has designed the ballot — and hijacked the Clinton Township primary election. 

The four-year incumbents, Carol Nemetz and her husband, former Township Councilman Steven Krommenhoek are outraged.

Nemetz said, “He’s worked with Henry Kuhl to kick my husband and I off the party line. I got an email from Henry saying the chairman of the Clinton Township Committee chose himself…We’re supposed to meet (as a committee) and recommend who gets the line, but Henry can over ride that because he owns the slogan and is the campaign manager of the top guys on the line,” in this case Rep. Leonard Lance and Freeholders William Mennen, George Melick and Rob Walton, plus county sheriff’s candidate James Paganessi.

Who-wee. Now Henry Kuhl’s dirty laundry is hangin’ in the breeze. If you can bear it, follow along and take a look…

In fact, Kuhl’s email said, “Apparently someone else has already filled the slot in your district. This was done according to the president of the Clinton Township Club.”

Henry: You mean Darin Vogel, who isn’t even on the committee any more, decided who got the party line on the ballot? But, Darin said you make that decision… And you said Vogel has to resign his seat! How is it that Vogel controls the ballot?

For years, Kuhl has said that he gives the top spot on the ballot and use of the party slogan to incumbents. So, why did none of the incumbents that Vogel doesn’t like not get the slogan?

How long has this been going on? In 2007, a group of elected CTRC members sent out a press release describing Republican shennanigans. Rather than convene the CTRC membership to vote on and endorse candidates for ballot position, the chair of the CTRC at the time was polling only certain members by phone — and deciding to whom to award the line several days before the filing deadline. This meant that some candidates who filed on time were never considered.

In 2007 Kuhl promised he would put a stop to the funky dirty dealings and play fair. Lotsa luck. Vogel says everyone else is wrong and he’s right:

Vogel said, “Headquarters requested in writing all those interested to contact them early on (at least a month before) and to submit the request for slogan to Headquarters. Neither Carol nor Steve, from what I know, let headquarters, Henry or I know that they intended to run or request the slogan. Procedures were laid out for proper planning and I assume they requested the slogan of Henry at the very last minute.”

Oops, Darin! The deadline to file for the election was April 12. You mean the party decides who gets the line and the slogan before everyone has filed? Isn’t that illegal?

Oops, Darin! You claim Henry made the decision? Kuhl says you decided:

Nemetz and Krommenhoek hand-delivered a letter to Kuhl and Yates on Thursday, April 8, requesting the line and slogan. Yates confirmed its receipt and said, “I asked (Kuhl) about it on the ninth. He said he’s going to do what the municipal chair said.”

Oops, Henry! Someone’s being dishonest. Vogel told another committee candidate that it was all Kuhl’s decision and confirmed that the decision about who was getting the line and the slogan was made on April 9 — three days before the filing deadline. Another candidate who did not file until April 12 — on time — says this means he wasn’t even considered for the slogan.

Antje Doyle, vice chair of the Clinton Township Republican Committee is also out of the county and unavailable for comment.

Has Doyle been in Europe since five months ago when Vogel’s seat became vacant?

Republicans in Clinton Township don’t have to deal with Democrats on the ballot. Damned good thing — it’s hard enough dealing with the dirty dealings of their own Republican party officials — Henry Kuhl, Darin Vogel and Antje Doyle, who seem to have once again hijacked the ballot.

Henry Kuhl is running again this year to retain his seat as Chairman of the Hunterdon County Republican Committee.

Darin Vogel is running for Republican Committee in district #10 on June 8, in an election certified by the County Clerk and the New Jersey Board of Elections.

Posted in Election 2010, Hunterdon County | Leave a comment

Astonishing Community Basketball

Posted on March 4, 2010 by admin

Here’s one for the books!

March 3, 2010 playoffs in the Clinton Township Rec Basketball League. Game goes into overtime — and here are the final two minutes of a buzzer-bustin’ win for Blue. Keep an eye on the ball in the final second of the game… and if you miss it, keep watching for the slo-mo replay.

Final score: 66 – 64.

Two very good teams, both undefeated, played their hearts out and demonstrated the kind of sportsmanship that makes Clinton Township proud of them. Kudos to the coaches! And many thanks to Ray C. Scaringe for capturing it on video, slo-mo’ing it and posting it.

Posted in Municipal | Leave a comment

Will this executive order save taxpayers, or developers?

Posted on February 9, 2010 by admin

Governor Chris Christie today issued an executive order suspending all activity by the NJ Council On Affordable Housing (COAH). The question is, will it hand developers a new club to bludgeon municipalities and flout land use law — and to force taxpayers to continue subsidizing private developers?

According to an article in The Star Ledger, former NJ State Senator Marcia Karrow will head up “the Housing Opportunity Task Force, to figure out how to provide affordable and ‘workforce’ housing while considering the environment and open space. The order says the committee should evaluate renovations of crumbling housing instead of new construction and assess the state’s current system.”

The governor’s task force should start by demonstrating integrity in its mission. Before it can “fix the affordable housing mess,” the task force has an obligation to first show us whether there is an affordable housing problem in New Jersey. That is, do we even need a state-sponsored affordable housing program? Or does New Jersey already have a reasonable affordable housing stock?

The answer lies in the census data. Judging from a simple review of this data, low- and moderate-income earners in New Jersey towns already have housing. The problem is, that does not serve developers, who need to demonstrate “a need” before they can justify laws that make the public subsidize their private development projects.

The executive order appears to be an effort by the Christie administration to fulfill the governor’s campaign promise to “gut COAH.” However, this initiative is also clearly an attempt to prevent Senator Ray Lesniak’s S-1 bill from wreaking havoc on NJ municipalities.

S-1 opens by abolishing COAH, and unsophisticated legislators seem to be quickly migrating toward the bill, looking for a quick political win. They seem to have read no further than the words “abolish COAH.” However, S-1 is regarded by knowledgeable COAH watchers as a quick and dirty political reaction to the outrage vented by NJ citizens and municipalities against the state office whose mandate to deliver affordable housing has been used by developers as an excuse to sidestep land use law and local ordinances.

S-1 actually creates a new superstructure of state bureaucracy to oversee the delivery of affordable housing under the state’s Fair Housing Act. Municipal officials point to the bill’s failure to protect towns from litigation by builders. The bill clearly signals an onslaught of “builder’s remedy” lawsuits that would descend with its passage in the current form.

It seems the governor is seeking to take the initiative with this executive order, and to apply pressure to reshape Lesniak’s bill to eliminate the onerous burdens it has put on municipalities. The question is, will the governor’s office first ask the logical question? Does New Jersey need an affordable housing program? Or are the governor and the legislature merely creating new leverage to force development where it does not belong?

The late Henry Hill, one of the leading attorneys in the COAH wars, used the COAH rules to sue towns into submission, forcing massive development like The Hills in Bedminster. Hill famously said that “these cases are about as sporting as clubbing baby harp seals” because COAH rules and NJ affordable housing law favor builders over taxpayers.

Will the governor’s new initiative merely result in giving a new club to developers and affordable housing extremists, or will it first reveal the facts about what NJ towns really need in the way of affordable housing?

COAH and the current affordable housing laws are widely recognized as abyssmal failures. They have failed to deliver the housing promised. All that’s been accomplished is to give builders a way around local ordinances and state land use law, to permit massive development where it does not belong. Any bill from the legislature intended to deliver affordable housing must first prove that New Jersey has an affordable housing problem. Indications are that New Jersey property taxpayers have been subsidizing private developers — not affordable housing.

A review of the census data shows that representative samplings of towns in New Jersey have 15% or more residents whose incomes fall into the low and moderate ranges that qualify for affordable housing. These residents already live in these towns. Where is the affordable housing crisis that extremist COAH advocates talk about?

(Recently a group of 20 towns filed suit against COAH when the towns learned that COAH fabricated reports about New Jersey’s “affordable housing need” and withheld the results of studies conducted by COAH’s own consultants. The towns stand as representatives of taxpayers against COAH and a group calling itself The Fair Share Housing Center, which politically terrorizes both the legislature and the New Jersey courts with its extremist demands for “social justice” — while promoting sprawl, higher taxes and advocating that private developers be given ever bigger clubs with which to club municipalities. FSHC, operated by lawyers Peter J. O’Connor, Kevin D. Walsh, and Adam M. Gordon, calls taxpayers “racists” and demands unlimited housing development. FSHC has an interesting offshoot — a private company called Fair Share Housing Development, Inc., which builds, rents and operates affordable housing. Upon the governor’s issuance of his executive order, the FSHC launched an attack on Governor Christie and “NIMBY towns.”)

Governor Christie’s election has brought this larger controversy to the surface: The racket that developers have been running in New Jersey, under the guise of “providing housing for the poor.”

The governor’s executive order and the pending legislation reveal that what’s unaffordable in New Jersey is not housing — what’s unaffordable is property taxes. A big contributor to property taxes is the unnecessary subsidization of unnecessary housing — and the subsidization of the private developers behind it.

For over a decade, COAH and the Fair Share Housing Center have dominated state and local land use policy — yet by all accounts COAH has failed to deliver the numbers of housing units promised. COAH has been an abject failure. Yet, what of the low- and moderate-income earners in New Jersey? Where are they?

Perhaps New Jersey’s affordable housing joke is revealed in recent reports about “the exodus of the wealthy” from New Jersey. If the governor and the legislature aren’t careful, if they appease development interests and impose yet more onerous costs on municipalities and taxpayers, they will force the exodus of more of our wealthy residents — leaving those low- and moderate-income folks to subsidize unnecessary “affordable housing” while developers get rich building it.

Governor Christie’s new task force and our legislators in Trenton should realize that property taxpayers have wised up. We finally get it. We have finally figured out that “affordable housing” is a ruse — a shell game. It takes tax dollars we can’t afford — none of us, whether we are rich, moderate- or low-income folks — and subsidizes developers who otherwise can’t get their projects approved.

The only legitimate way for the new task force to start its work is to look at the census data and ask, Do we have a problem? before it suggests a solution.

The only legitimate way for Senator Lesniak and the legislature to think about S-1 is to look at the census data and ask, Do we have a problem? before passing new laws that merely look good.

Last November, COAH was a big election issue. It’s still an issue. Governor Christie gets it. We still get it. Do our legislators and the new task force get it?

Who’s going to be the last one out who turns off the lights?

Posted in COAH | Leave a comment

Oops! Tom Borkowski did it again!

Posted on January 7, 2010 by admin

Oops! Tom Borkowski’s January 7 letter to the Hunterdon Democrat reveals once again that he belongs to a school of politics founded on an age-old idea: If there’s nothing in your opponent’s record that you can attack, lie and make the attack personal. Because people will believe what they read.

There is nothing in my public record that Borkowski can attack, so he makes things up. I challenge him to substantiate his claims. Let’s look at Borkowski’s claims and at the public record.

Borkowski says my administration was ethically challeged, yet like his buddies Spencer Peck and Lou Reiner, he offers no public record or evidence to support his accusations. Frustrated by the truth, he lies. Borkowski claims I hired Steve Balzano. The public record — the minutes of the town council meeting — show that as required by law I recused myself when the council voted to hire Balzano.

While I was mayor, my municipal attorney served on the N.J. State League of Municipalities Ethics Committee. NJSLOM further recognized her with its 2008 Award for Ethics in Municipal Government.

What about Borkowski’s municipal lawyers? Donald DiFrancesco was recognized by the New York Times, which noted “in 1998 that he had violated legal-ethics rules and should be removed from his job [as municipal attorney of Scotch Plains].” DiFrancesco’s firm continued to represent Clinton Township throughout Borkowski’s term.

Borkowski claims I moved our COAH obligation out of my back yard and into someone else’s. Our affordable housing has to be built somewhere. In 6 years as mayor, Borkowski never did figure that out, and consequently at the end of his term COAH acted to rescind our substantive certification due to his administration’s failure. The public record shows that the COAH plan my administration submitted to the state includes affordable housing “in my back yard” on the Windy Acres property. How much lying is Borkowski willing to do to cover up his own failures? My administration cleaned up the COAH disaster Borkowski left behind.

He claims I turned the administrator’s position and police director into political appointments. The administrator is hired by the mayor and council, just like Borkowski’s adminstrator was. While Borkowski was mayor, he was also Public Safety Director, which means the police chief reported to him — the mayor.

While Borkowski was in control of the PD, it was such a shambles that it was constantly under investigation by the county prosecutor. I quickly eliminated the mayor’s individual power over the police department by shifting the title of Public Safety Director to the township administrator. When I was mayor, I was not in charge of our cops like Borkowski was. It’s on the public record. Why does Borkowski claim otherwise? It’s simple Machiavellian tactics: Falsely accuse your opponent of your own misdeeds to deflect attention from yourself, and trust that people will believe you.

Borkowski claims that people won’t run for office for fear I will attack them. Yet when the Republican Committee voted on Kevin Cimei’s replacement for Council, over a dozen candidates turned out — because I encouraged them. Henry Kuhl said that never in its history has the County Committee had so many people step up to run. Far from discouraging people from politics, I spurred them on and angered the Committee by breaking its lock on elections. That’s the public record.

Borkowski says I “bully with my pen and my computer.” America has a proud history of literate pamphleteering. (Perhaps Spencer Peck can educate him about that.) When I see lies and wrongdoing, I turn to the public record. I hold it up. If Borkowski has a lousy public record, that’s his doing, not mine. Is anything else in Borkowski’s letter believable?

He says I didn’t look him in the eye recently at a meeting. In fact I did, and I shook my head at him. He has devoted himself to dishonestly trashing me and my administration because his own was such an abject failure. After six years in office, he left Clinton Township a massive mess. I challenge him to back up his accusations with evidence. The man is a lawyer, he knows what evidence is. As a lawyer, he also knows when you have no evidence, you grandstand.

As for Borkowski’s campaign for freeholder, it was similar to all his campaigns — loaded with misrepresentations. Oops! He did it again.

Citing his high fiscal principles, Borkowski attacked the freeholders’ exorbitant employment contract for attorney Guy DeSapio. Yet his public record shows that while he was mayor of Clinton Township, Borkowski gave an exorbitant sweetheart deal to Al Steinberg, the CFO he hired. That contract is part of Borkowski’s public record. He cannot hide from it.

What’s in the contract? If you pay taxes in Clinton Township, it’ll make you weep. Wouldn’t you like a contract where you get paid $63,554 — to work 2 and a half days per week, from home or anywhere else you like, get lots of benefits, a virtually unlimited expense account, and the right to cancel your contract without penalty?

Look carefully at the golden parachute on page 3. If the Township terminates Steinberg at any time, Borkowski made the Township liable to pay Steinberg “dollar for dollar” for the entire 38-month contract. That’s Borkowski’s public record. That’s who ran for freeholder on “his history” of fiscal responsibility, saving taxpayers money and “ethics.”

In 2006 Borkowski’s Director of Public Works, Charles Cerami, was indicted. One of his leading supporters, former Sheriff Bill Doyle, was indicted last month. As mentioned above, the head of the law firm he hired to represent Clinton Township, Donald DiFrancesco, was exposed in the N.Y. Times for unethical municipal dealings, resulting in DiFrancesco dropping out of the race for N.J. governor. It’s in the public record.

I offer no apologies for pointing out Borkowski’s public record — or that of any other public official who mismanages our government and our public funds. I’m still waiting for Borkowski’s buddy Spencer Peck to show proof of his claims that I “raided the public till” and “violated the law” while I was mayor. These are the ongoing pathetic accusations of a pathetic bunch of frustrated politicians.

When Borkowski and his clan are confronted with their lousy public records, they cry they are being attacked and bullied. When I shine the light on their records, they claim I am “negative.” Because there’s nothing in my public record to attack, they lie. They call that “positive campaigning.”

The trouble with politics is that anyone can lie. Bad people get elected when too many voters believe the lies they read. They don’t look at the public record. That’s the shame of Clinton Township.

.

Posted in Municipal, Tom Borkowski's Greatest Hits | Tagged | Leave a comment

Spencer Peck: One-man government

Posted on December 11, 2009 by admin

Spencer Peck has been on the Clinton Township Council less than a month and he already thinks he’s running a one-man government. Having promised to make sure the people are involved in all decision making in his campaign, he has already cut the people (and the mayor and council) out of government decisions, behaving as though he is the government.
 
At the Dec. 9 Clinton Township council meeting, the council disavowed policy statements that newly elected councilman Spencer Peck made to the County Freeholders.

Peck claimed he was acting “on behalf of the Mayor and Council” but had no such authorization. (See The HC News, LETTER TO EDITOR – recycling out of CL TWP, 12/5/09. The letter also appeared in the Hunterdon Review, titled “Clinton Twp. Council blasts freeholders on recycling” and in the Hunterdon Democrat.)
 
The letter opens: “The following statement was made at the December 1st Freeholders meeting” by Peck, “on behalf of the Mayor and Council.” The letter/statement listed 7 recommendations to the county relating to recycling, formulated by Peck himself.
 
Peck’s recommendation #5 is to create a county “Solid Waste Administrative Commission” that would be “responsible for the budgeting and disbursement of all recycling related moneys (sic)…” This would create a new county agency that would control and spend public tax funds. It would be another layer of government that would be controlled by officials who are not elected by the people. Spencer Peck is designing and promoting bigger government that takes control away from the people.
 
This is something Peck and his “YourCouncilTeam” partners Jim Imbriaco and Peter Marra promised not to do.
 
Members of the council stated that the council did not discuss or deliberate over the recycling recommendations that Peck made to the county. Councilman Charles Howard asked that the Township send a notice to the County that the Township Council has not yet prepared a position or recommendations about recycling, and that councilman Peck’s statement does not represent the mayor and council. The council authorized Township Administrator Marvin Joss to send the notice to the county.
 
Spencer Peck is known for passionate speeches about the importance of “the people” having input in government decisions, and about the importance of full public disclosure of government business. Yet less than a month after being sworn in, Peck personally wrote and delivered a policy statement “on behalf of the Mayor and Council” to the Hunterdon County Freeholders without any public deliberation or any opportunity for the public to provide input. In fact, not even the council itself had an opportunity to provide input.
 
When confronted during the council meeting with his action, Peck responded that he delivered the recommendations to the freeholders because “it was a short fuse situation” and he had to act, and stated that he was elected by the people to represent them.
 
Peck claims a doctorate degree. How is it he has not studied the rules of serving on the council? No individual council member represents the mayor and council without authorization by the rest of the body.
 
But the real problem with Peck’s action lies in his personal agenda for bigger government. Peck’s recommendation #5 would create a new government entity responsible for managing and spending public funds and for policymaking. The entity would not comprise publicly-elected representatives, but rather appointed officials. In his campaign for office earlier this year, Peck promised less government and more decision-making by “the people.” Now he recommends to the county freeholders — and drags the mayor and council into his recommendation — more government by unelected officials who will control public funds, without bothering to consult the public.
 
It is perhaps no surprise that councilman Peck also advocates against dissolving the Clinton Township Sewer Authority — a body of appointed officials managing public funds. It seems Mr. Peck is working double-time in his short time on the council to promote and create more government, more layers of bureaucracy, and more costs to taxpayers, while Governor-Elect Chris Christie has warned municipalities that NJ government will shrink dramatically, sacred cows will be slaughtered, and that everyone had better get ready to give up some special interests — for the sake of smaller, more efficient government.
 
Peck regularly holds forth with authority about government, democracy, and the Magna Carta. Yet it seems he has not bothered to the time to study the rules and process of government — to properly execute the responsibilities of an elected official. It seems that Peck believes his personal position on a policy matter supercedes — in fact, stands in for — the council’s and that of the voters who elected him.
 
On the council less than a month, Peck has already disregarded and dismissed public participation in decision-making, and already Mr. Peck has attempted to misrepresent his personal agenda as that of the mayor and council. Peck’s term ends at the end of 2010. He is up for re-election in the coming June primary.

(Facts are facts and opinions are the prerogative of the editor.)

Posted in Municipal, Spencer Peck's Greatest Hits | Leave a comment

Spencer Peck is in control

Posted on December 5, 2009 by admin

In a recent letter to the editor in the Hunterdon County News Online, Clinton Township’s newest Council member Spencer Peck states “on behalf of the Mayor and Council” that “We oppose making Hunterdon County into a police state over recycling.”

Small problem. There is no record of any authorization granted by Clinton Township’s Council permitting Peck to express the Mayor and Council’s official position on recycling to the public or to the County. Nor has the Council authorized Peck to make disparaging comments about the County on its behalf.

Peck has in the past repeatedly lambasted municipal officials for taking actions not authorized by an explicit vote of the people. Now two Council meetings into his term, Peck has not yet studied the rules of serving on the Council, nor does he care that he needs authorization of the elected body to make official statements on behalf of the Township. He has apparently assumed control, speaking on behalf of the Council and the Mayor at his whim.

(Spencer Peck claims a doctorate.)

Posted in Spencer Peck's Greatest Hits | Leave a comment

Dr. Sarah Palin in Clinton Township

Posted on December 3, 2009 by admin

Clinton Township Council voted last night 4-1 to submit a petition of intent to opt into the Highlands Regional Master Plan, which does not constitute a commitment at this point, but which does preserve the Township’s right to cut its COAH obligation in half.

The Highlands Act and the Highlands Regional Master Plan were implemented by the N.J. legislature to protect water quality in the Highlands region of N.J.

Spencer Peck was the lone NO vote. Among his reasons for voting no: “What if this land contained oil?”

That came after he cited the Magna Carta.

Dr. Sarah Palin gave his speech, voted no, then was informed he had to wait until the matter came up for a vote. (Peck claims a doctorate.)

Posted in Municipal, Spencer Peck's Greatest Hits | Leave a comment

Spencer Peck for Council: How stupid can we get?

Posted on November 2, 2009 by admin

Spencer Peck is still running for Clinton Township Council. Below is an e-mail he sent out today in support of his campaign. It includes a “forward” of a spam e-mail, which Peck uses to demonstrate his political position on various matters.

Peck claims the information in the spam e-mail has been authenticated by Snopes.com, the website known for investigating urban and online myths. He also claims the data presented are from “Professor Joseph Olson.”

Snopes.com reports the information is “mostly false.” Olson vehemently disclaims and denies the data and quotes attributed to him. In fact, Olson says, “It is entirely BOGUS as to my authorship. I’ve been trying to kill it since December 2000.”

Spencer Peck, the man running for Council, relies on spam e-mail, bogus claims and false data to convince you of “his point.” No one seems to know what this Village Idiot’s point really is, except that he wants to represent you on the Council.

If you’ve been paying attention, you know that this is just another example of Peck’s fantasy facts which he’s used to whip Township residents into a frenzy again and again. How many “agains” will this town tolerate?

Spam for Council. How stupid can we get?

 

=======BEGIN E-MAIL: Odd formatting and fonts left intact=====

From: Spencer Peck <spencerpeck@comcast.net>
Sent: Mon, November 2, 2009 9:44:29 AM
Subject: Be Sure to Vote Tomorrow 
Clinton Twp Voters
This is to thank all those township voters who supported me for town council in the June primary. With just a few hours to go, the New Jersey Governor’s race has real national significance. As Governor Corzine asked us to “hold him accountable” and, as he is a clear surrogate for President Obama and his policies; we have a very clear choice. That choice is to vote the entire Republican line. This will send a message that we treasure our values, our way of life, our nation and its Constitution and oppose those who daily assault our Rights & Liberties.
Your vote is important on Tuesday. For your families, for your children, for your futures, for your nation; exercise your right to vote.  Thank you in advance for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Spencer Peck
Clinton Township
PS: The message below is authentic via snopes.
Also, President Obama signed a bill on Friday removing the restriction on immigrants with aids. This via WOR radio and the Saturday Star-Ledger.
Begin forwarded message:
YOUR CHOICE – MAKE A GOOD ONE – VOTE

OBITUARY
 

Born 1776, Died 2008

It does not hurt to read this several times.

 

Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law, St. Paul , Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning last November’s Presidential election:

Number of States won by: Democrats: 19   Republicans: 29
Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000   Republicans: 2,427,000
Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million   Republicans: 143 million
Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
Democrats: 13.2   Republicans: 2.1

Professor Olson adds: “In aggregate, the map of the territory Republicans won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country.

Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in low income tenements and living off various forms of government welfare…”

Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the “complacency and apathy” phase of Professor Tyler’s definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation’s population already having reached the “governmental dependency” phase.

If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years.

If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message.

If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.

=======END E-MAIL=====

Posted in Election 2009 | Leave a comment

The New Republicans: Shilling for big money

Posted on August 31, 2009 by admin

In this highly volatile economy, practicing politics means feeding the fears of the public. In Hunterdon County, there’s a new breed of Republican — shills for big money. These are the “grassroots” political operatives who vie to rub elbows with the rich and powerful in the party. They are the shills who attack the people who protect our towns, our county and our state.

Their main tactic: They claim we are against Democracy and the Constitution. Their methods are Machiavellian: Accuse your opponents of what you yourself do, and stimulate public sentiment against them without facts, evidence or logic. The strategy is old as witch hunts: Keep repeating lies until the general public starts to believe them.

The solution is to expose the individuals doing this and to teach people to educate themselves before they vote.

The single biggest danger to democracy is people who vote for whom their friends tell them to vote — rather than study the issues and judge the candidates on their records.

This new cult of “influencers” is easily identified: They dismiss facts and rant about “Democracy” and “the Constitution.” They decline to answer for their own records, and their records stink. They rant and attack. The media, of course, love this because it sells newspapers. No publication has been more guilty of such yellow journalism and stilted reporting than the Hunterdon Democrat. With the exception of reporter Warren Cooper, the Democrat does no critical reporting on the issues and no investigative journalism. In the world of yellow journalism, the ink goes to the attacker.

Robo-posting shills are permitted to dominate the nj.com public discussion forum and crank letter writers are permitted to spout bile and to misrepresent the public record without critique or accountability by the press. How is it that a resident of one town repeatedly attacks the government of another town in letters to the editor, but the Democrat does not report anything at all about that individual?

What’s most interesting is that in this complex and volatile political scene, the Democrat has written no articles about the political controveries themselves — there is no analysis about why the Hunterdon Republican Party is so fractured, no articles about who the attackers are, and no reporting about the battle for public opinion. It’s far easier to quote cranks and move on.

The weakness that these shills exploit is ignorance and gullibility. Voters uncritically accept what they read.

The people behind these shills are the ones who personally benefit. When public sentiment is turned against those who have been assertively protecting our towns, they step in as “the solution” — and they get elected because the public wants something new.

But look closely: These candidates either have lousy public records burnished to a sheen by the media, or no substance. They don’t talk about issues, they merely attack. The smartest of them say nothing at all. They let their shills do the attacking while they portray themselves as “statesmen.” Then the fun begins: Big money takes over our towns.

Watch. It’s happening all over Hunterdon and NJ. The media don’t make people smarter. The media make big money more powerful. In Hunterdon County, the “new Republicans” are shilling for big money.

Posted in Hunterdon County | Leave a comment

North Court’s chickens have nowhere left to roost

Posted on June 26, 2009 by admin

4 towns are now acting to leave the North Hunterdon Court, after the court’s management got them all to sign on for another 5 years last year.

In a Sept. 6, 2007 Democrat article, the head of the North Hunterdon Court Committee, Tewksbury Mayor Shaun Van Doren said:

Mr. [Shaun] Van Doren said Mr. Corcodilos’ court would also face a challenge. “There are a lot of start-up expenses” in creating a court, he said. If Clinton Township can’t get others to share the costs, “I’m not sure their volume justifies” the expense, he said.

The Clinton Township Municipal Court processed more cases in the past year than the North Court handled for its 8 member towns with a staff 1/3 the size. The Clinton Township Court was designed to operate in the black by itself, without any other towns joining. In spite of former mayor Borkowski’s claims about the Clinton Township Court’s finances, the Township’s budget reveals the Township is not losing money. The same cannot be said of the court that Borkowski demanded we remain a part of.

In a Jan. 17 2008 article, N. Court Prosecutor David Bunevich said:

“Why did they tinker with something that was working well?”

It wasn’t working well. The only reason the North Court stayed afloat was because Clinton Township was absorbing the bulk of the losses. Today, those same losses are spread among the remaining towns, which are no more able to handle them than Clinton Township was. How did Van Doren and the North Court’s auditor, William Colantano, not realize they were driving 8 towns toward financial disaster?

Mr. Van Doren described this year’s budget [2008] as offering “major cost savings to all members.” But will the municipalities fare better this year than they did last year? “It will take all of 2008” to learn that, he said, because the costs each municipality pays increase as its share of the court’s revenue increases.

And that was always the problem. No one ever knew how much the North Court was making or spending until each year ended. Nor did they care, as long as Clinton Township was paying the bulk of outrageous expenses without recourse. That’s why tiny Lebanon Boro suddenly saw its court membership costs swell from $8,000 to over $80,000 per year. So much for Van Doren’s disingenuous claim about “major cost savings to all members.”

Former Clinton Township Mayor Tom Borkowski has pleaded with Mr. Corcodilos to reconsider his plans. “We don’t have to leave the court,” Mr. Borkowski said.

Turns out we did have to leave. The other towns now finally face the same losses Clinton Township did — without having Clinton Township to absorb them any longer.

When an operation does not know its costs or its revenues until the end of each year, it’s clear there is something very wrong with the structure of the operation. After spending more than a year trying to save the North Court, Clinton Township recognized that simple truth and decided to leave.

Former mayors Tom Borkowski and Shaun Van Doren unwisely used the court issue to make political hay. Now the hay has caught fire and the barn is burning down. For over a year, the “management team” of the North Court pretended the Court was fiscally sound when they knew better. What’s sad is how much this delay in facing reality will now cost so many towns. Was making political hay for a short time worth the pain this will cause all these towns?

The Administrative Office of the Court carefully oversaw the creation of the Clinton Township Municipal Court. Who at the AOC approved the restructuring of the North Court, after that court’s charter expired at the end of 2007 and it was re-formed (with a new name) in 2008? How long can New Jersey taxpayers afford mismanagement and political hay?

There seems to be no place left for the chickens to roost.

Posted in Municipal, Taxes | Leave a comment