Wednesday, February 08, 2006

As the Bayshore turns...

It's been quite the week in Bayshore/Monmouth news and politics, and I'm not quite sure whether to make heads or tails of it, so I'll just sit back and watch.

1) Middletown Superintendent David L. Witmer suspended

Middletown was a-buzz with the news that Witmer was suspended from his duties last week. The Board of Ed kept mum on the reasons until yesterday when charges were filed with the state Department of Education alleging that Witmer misappropriated his vacation and sick leave time.

2) Matawan Borough Council meeting

There was a bit of verbal sparring at the Matawan Borough Council meeting last. I'll refrain from talking about in depth since I plan on writing an article about it for next week. I will say that Councilman Paul Buccellato read a statement last night alleging that a family member of one of the new Democratic council members attempted to obtain confidential insurance information from municipal employees.

3) Keyport

Mayor John Merla was indicted on new charges earlier this week. At the council meeting, members of the governing body again asked Merla to resign. Merla has maintained his innocence.

There was also a big to-do during the public comments portion of the meeting by a Planning Board member about inaccuracies in news reports by an area newspaper (nope, not The Courier).

(An aside: As a reporter there are bound to be a group of people who like you and group of people who really hate you. It's kind of a bad idea to firebomb an entire town and have everyone aching for your spleen. ...but, hey, that's just my opinion.)

4) Monmouth County

TWO people have thrown their hats in the ring to challenge Fred Niemann. Out of personal curiosity, does anybody know how many municipal chairmen and county freeholders actually support Niemann these days?



...anywho, I will be up in the northern part of the state tomorrow, so the website update may be slightly delayed. I'm keeping my lips zipped as to why, but wish me luck.

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7 Comments:

At 3:37 PM, Blogger Honest Abe said...

I take it from the way you posted it that the person Buccellato referred to is not a borough official? If so, there might need to be some explaining done by both the council member and the family member.
Let's see how it plays out.

 
At 7:33 AM, Blogger Art Gallagher said...

Good luck! Would you be going to Newark?

 
At 5:48 PM, Blogger Jackie Corley said...

Buccellato wouldn't say publicly who the family member or council member was.

 
At 5:49 PM, Blogger Jackie Corley said...

Will,

Very close, but no cigar.

 
At 6:56 PM, Blogger Art Gallagher said...

Jackie Corley said...
Will,

Very close, but no cigar.

You always keep me guessing. :-)

 
At 1:55 AM, Blogger DS Irvin said...

Hold on a second Rudy.

Little, as an immigration lawyer, does NOT help illegal aliens commit crimes, nor does she assist aliens by providing them with illegal employment. Her job, as I understand the profession to be in its most general sense, is to make sure that illegal aliens are not illegal anymore. Her job is to make sure they can legally hold jobs and that they can legally participate in the economy of the United States of America. That means she makes sure immigrants are fully naturalized, paying taxes, and participating in this society.

She does not "encourage or induce aliens to reside in reckless disregard to the fact that such residence is in violation of law." Instead, she helps them reside in this country UNDER the law!

Now that we have her job description out of the way, we can begin to discus whether or not she will be a strong candidate based on the merits of her character.

Instead of tossing baseless invectives around the marketplace of ideas, we should be discussing her policies. Perhaps, we can discuss the strength of her constitution. Is she a leader? We should be talking about this. We can even discuss whether or not she has good moral values. Ah! This is where you can make your argument: moral values. Is Little immoral because she helps immigrants? Are immigrants immoral? Weren't we all immigrants? Are we all immoral then?

I'm getting carried away, and I do not wish to stray. Nevertheless, suffice it to say, I believe a fair and objective discussion about our leaders is what we need. I no longer wish to waste my words on this issue. I've spoken my mind. I'll save my energy for another day.

 
At 9:38 AM, Blogger Honest Abe said...

He's baaaack...

 

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