(From left) Ocean Gate Police Reece J. Fisher, Councilman and Public Safety Committee Chairman Dave Kendrick, Mayor Paul Kennedy and Office of Emergency Coordinator Tom Fitzgerald met in the OEM office at generator-powered borough hall on Saturday afternoon, November 3rd, to discuss still-flooded areas, restoration of power, debris removal, maintenance of generators to the water and sewerage systems, nearby shelters and food and goods distribution sites, public safety and more. At the time, it was the seventh straight day the emergency office was open for officials to meet and tackle the effects of Hurricane Sandy. Erik Weber / Ocean Signal

In the early morning hours of October 30th, 2012 things went somewhere I’d never been before. Sandy was already upon us, evacuations had been ordered 48 hours prior, and yet some decided to stick it out. Water was coming into the tiny little Borough of Ocean Gate – only a half square mile in size – and it was coming from both the Toms River and Barnegat Bay. It didn’t stop for hours. When the water finally started to recede many, many hours (and in some places days) later, the reality of devastation was very evident. Over the next few days people attempted to get to their homes to see what was left, and as in many places throughout the Jersey Shore, it was truly unbelievable. Peoples’ whole lives were out on their front lawns, their driveways, the street. In some cases entire generations of family belongings were gone, some from as far back as the early 20th century when Ocean Gate was, for many years then, a seasonal town where people came in on the train from Philadelphia to spend the summer months together. A summer town that later became a borough and this coming August will celebrate its 95th birthday.
After seeing all of this devastation I felt compelled to act and act quickly. I knew deep down there was no way the borough nor its private sanitation hauler would be able to remove the mounds and mounds of debris. By the Saturday after the storm, the debris hauler was in town and working. Approximately 10 days later the debris was off the streets, off residents’ lawns, out of their driveways; all of their personal belongings and memories just sitting in a huge pile on the borough ball field, gone from their damaged homes and days later gone to the landfill.
Soon after, people were comforted by the American Red Cross, local church groups, local volunteer groups and the like. The outpouring of kindness and support that so very many people and organizations gave to my residents was quite overwhelming. People came from all over New Jersey; some even came from North Carolina and Florida. And they all came to help. The cleanup help was tremendous and for the most part all went well, and once most had cleaned out what they could, the big question was, “Where do we go from here?”
To help them find that answer, I called an informative meeting for all residents on a Sunday afternoon to explain to them what help was available to them and how the borough was proceeding with the restoring and rebuilding process. The meeting room had never been so crowded, and I believe most left with some relief. Still, none felt anywhere near normal; that will take quite some time.

Large debris piles of household items and interior fixtures became a common sight along borough streets as residents removed items unsalvageable from the flood waters of the Toms River and Barnegat Bay as a result of storm surges from Hurricane Sandy. Pictured here is Angelsea Avenue, facing north, on November 5th. Erik Weber / Ocean Signal

Throughout all of this devastation, I had to deal with my own personal home and loss as well, but still do what was needed to make sure that the residents of Ocean Gate were safe, comforted, and on their way to getting back into their homes. I took a leave of absence from my full time job for approximately two weeks, without pay, to deal with all of it. My family had been out of our home for nearly two weeks – not all that bad when I look at the big picture – but trying to explain this to my 13-year-old daughter wasn’t easy. But now we are back home, more fortunate then some, but still trying to get to the way it was. In dealing with FEMA, insurance companies and the like it has been and still is a tiresome project. Hopefully someday life will return to the simple, day to day routine it was.
While home sick with the flu during the 12/12/12 Hurricane Sandy fundraiser concert held in Madison Square Garden, I saw lots of local Ocean County people “live” on this national broadcast, and hearing of the $52 million being raised already, I felt obligated again to try and get some of this grant money to help my residents of Ocean Gate. That night I looked up the Robin Hood Foundation and contacted them via email. When I didn’t initially hear back, I sent several more emails over the next two weeks until FINALLY!!! I received an email back and then a questionnaire to fill out and send in a request. On this paperwork it stated clearly that not all applications were accepted, as it’s a huge organization, and many different areas were devastated by Sandy.
A short time later I received a phone call from the foundation and from then on it was weekly emails, conference calls and information given to them about what Ocean Gate really needed. Then the site visit where the Robin Hood Foundation fell in love with our little community of 2,000 residents. They knew that they could make a difference, and several weeks ago I received a call on a late Friday afternoon that the foundation awarded a grant of $300,000 to be used to primarily get residents back in their homes.
There are very strict requirements that have to be followed for people to be helped. One very big thing that came up in this process was to have a non-profit organization help with the applications, research, and distribute the grant money. I chose the local non-profit Hometown Heroes based out of Toms River, and they agreed to handle everything for this project. The main objective is to do whatever it may take in so many different situations, whether it’s repairing a furnace so there is heat, replacing a hot water heater, paying a utility bill, and on and on. An important point is that ALL of the funding goes to Hometown Heroes and then on to the proper contractor, utility company, etc.; NOT to a homeowner. Homeowners will not receive any of this funding directly. All those affected can apply at njhometownheroes.org or by calling (732) 473-9400. The Borough of Ocean Gate has nothing to do with the funding and its process at all.
In just over four months things are on their way back and I truly believe the residents of Ocean Gate will be back stronger than ever, with many thanks to ALL those who have helped, especially the Robin Hood Foundation and Hometown Heroes.

Mayor Paul J. Kennedy
Ocean Gate

Ortley Beach after Hurricane Sandy. Photo by Phil Stilton / Ocean Signal.

By Phil Stilton

OCEAN COUNTY–In an online poll, conducted by The Ocean Signal on our popular “Ocean County Police Blotter” facebook page, private beach front property owners found little support in their quest to rebuild those private beaches.

Under the law, property owners in Jersey Shore beachfront communities must agree to grant an easement to their township or borough in order to receive federal assistance in the way of dune replenishment from the Army Corps of Engineers.

Dunes proved critical in protecting the Ocean County shoreline during Hurricane Sandy.  In towns such as Lavallette and Seaside Park, where dune construction projects had built large barriers over the years, the towns were spared major damage which was seen in communities such as Ortley Beach and Mantoloking, where homeowners and local governments chose ocean views over ocean protection.

The poll, which 315 area residents participated in, showed people overwhelmingly are not sympathetic to the plight of beach front property owners.

93% say they want the Army Corps of Engineers to rebuild the dunes at the Jersey Shore.

51% would like to see the Army Corps of Engineers rebuild the dunes, but feel that if taxpayer funding goes towards private beaches, those beaches should become free to public access.

42% of those who participated feel that if the private beach front owners want dunes built, they should not receive any federal funding and should pay for it themselves, if they wish to keep their beaches closed to the public.

3% felt that the government should pay and the beaches should remain private.

Just 2% felt that the government should pay, but the beach owners should be able to collect fees for public beach access.

2% of those polled said the private beach front communities should not be allowed to rebuild their homes lost along the coast.

Visit our facebook page for a new local poll each week. This week’s poll is what to do with Lakewood’s Tent City, where there has been a spike in police and fire activity in recent weeks.

L-R; Chief Michael Osborn, Sheriff William Polhemus, Undersheriff William Sommeling. Phil Stilton/Ocean Signal

By Phil Stilton

During the 2012 election season, one of the hot topic stories in Ocean County revolved around the campaign of Sheriff William Polhemus, with much written in the media, online blogs and campaign flyers of the sheriff’s opponents regarding his age and abilities.

After much delay, in October, we were granted an interview with Sheriff Polhemus. Unfortunately due to print deadlines in our publication and other obstacles, the interview was never published until now.

The Interview

As I walked into Sheriff Polhemus’s office, he kindly greeted me and introduced his staff, including Undersheriff William Sommeling and Sheriff’s Department Chief Michael Osborn, who both remained in the room during the interview.

Starting with small talk, the sheriff spoke about an incident where the Libby Prison Minstrels, a local music troupe that performs in historical celebrations regionally, performed at an event he attended and he couldn’t believe it.

“These guys were playing the tunes called Libby Prison and I told them I have an original copy of discharge papers from Libby Prison,” he said, referring to the Confederate prison in Richmond, Virginia, during the Civil War. “One of the guys in the office said, ‘no it’s a replica,’ so I showed it to them.”

Switching gears, Sheriff Polhemus handed me a pile of documents ranging from organizational charts to policy information for the department. He also put together a nice ‘care package’ of sheriff’s department programs and marketing materials.

“Here you go, you’ll need a sack to carry all of that crap out of here,” he chuckled before getting down to the business at hand.

“Okay, what is it you want to know?”

I dug right in. “You’re 84. Your opponents and the media are saying you’re no longer fit for office. What do you have to say about that?”

After all, let’s get right into it.

“My opponents say I’m too old, but they don’t say anything about Lautenberg.  I’ve been doing this a very long time and [I'm] proud of the accomplishments we made during that time,” he replied, initially referring to 88-year-old Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ). “This is an administrative position, almost like a CEO of a company, but I don’t think they know that; I don’t think they understand fully what the position is.”

The sheriff also questioned why his opponents weren’t concerned about their own party member’s age who governs a far greater region and scope than he.

“I have many decades of successfully holding public office,” he said. “I have many years of managing departmental budgets in a manner that is fiscally responsible knowing full well that I am spending taxpayer dollars. I have actual experience managing both law enforcement and civilian staff. I always give back money to the county at the end of every year.  Who best can be sheriff than that person who is sheriff of a department that has been running successfully and efficiently for so long, regardless of outside misconceptions?”

I asked him again about age and his opponents’ claims that it was an issue.

Sheriff Polhemus wasted no time in setting his story straight.

“Now this guy, McMenamin, who left the police department to retire and ran for mayor and beat Carl [Block]…” He then burst into laughter. “We thought that was funny!” Mr. Block is a prominent member of the Ocean County Republican Club and now serves as Ocean County Administrator.

“Anyhow, he has some experience, but this isn’t a police department, although we perform the functions of a police department and assist the police department to do what they have to do, if they want it. Now, my opponent, whatever his name is [Bob Armstrong], said he’ll take our people and put them on the streets.   Our mission is to guard the courthouse; that’s our mission,” the sheriff said. “We don’t just take [sheriff’s officers] out and do that.”

So I replied, “but if that’s what he wants, is there staffing available to do that? Can he just pull sheriff’s officers out and put them to work policing neighborhoods?”

“We have to do that when called upon. Police work for us is the Criminal Investigation Unit [CIU] when the local municipalities ask, and we do that and have done that and we assist them and lots of times we help them get the perpetrator,” he replied. “Another thing they’re saying is, ‘Why not send a civilian out there to serve warrants?’ The thing is, who is going to be behind that door. You know, it’s simple, that’s why we don’t do it.”

Sheriff Polhemus grew frustrated at this point and lost his train of thought for a second.

“I don’t see the need to burden taxpayers with a duplication of services for patrolling municipalities,” he added. “We already support all 33 agencies in the county with crime scene management. The municipalities aren’t equipped to deal with crime scenes and we fill a much needed void.”

“Core functions are ordered by the attorney general; these jobs we have are not just jobs that we dream up,” the sheriff continued, before formally introducing his staff and explaining each person’s role in the department. “Each of our people are qualified. This man [pointing to Undersheriff Sommeling] is qualified to be sheriff, so is Chief Osborne, but he doesn’t want. I don’t know, he might someday. But this is what we’re all about.”

Undersheriff Sommeling then explained that the core mission of the sheriff’s office is not to patrol municipalities, but to protect the courthouses and assist with crime scenes on an everyday basis.

Sheriff Polhemus broke into the commentary and said that due to changes in state law regarding pensions, his department, like others, had suffered a hit in the past year.

“We have nine people in the academy now, nine scheduled for this year and nine scheduled the year after that because during this time last year, the state said they were not going to give people the same retirement insurance as before,” he said. “So they all started leaving, you know. So now we have to basically start all over again, but we still have many good people who are able to do the job and they will do the job. We’ve lost 26 officers.”

The sheriff also took the time to set the record straight on criticisms of the Ocean County Jail annex project: “That’s the business of the jail and freeholders; again, it has nothing to do with our department.”

“In that information I gave you, there’s a population quote. Every year that population grows and every year there’s more work for this department,” he said before suddenly starting to chuckle over a news article in his hand. “Here’s a good one – it says real police work. I mean, what is real police work?  Our CIU, who does the criminal investigation work, does more in the criminal end than anyone in these police departments. That’s what we have them for, to help the local people – and they like them.”

“I’m not saying we’re perfect, we’re far perfect,” Sheriff Polhemus declared. “There’s nothing perfect, but they’re talking about running a jail. Did they ever run a jail? They’ve never run a jail. Did they ever do any police work? Well, the one guy did and the other guy didn’t. What the hell is he talking about?”

Breaking into his jolly chuckle again, he added, “he’s here goddamn snooping around, but he doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about.”

At that point, the sheriff handed me the paper he was using for notes during the discussion. “Here’s some questions [another] paper [He later said it was the Asbury Park Press] asked me to fill out. They say I wouldn’t answer their questions, but here they are. I answered them, but they didn’t run them in their paper.”

He said was offended by any allegations that he wasn’t fit to run his department.

“We’re qualified, we’re all qualified, we all went to the police academy,” Sheriff Polhemus stated, adding that there were more obstacles in the way of running the department than his opponents realized.  “Here’s one, on my desk now – I just got a resignation from a sheriff’s officer; he’s going to be a police officer in Waretown. We’ve already trained him; they got a gift from us. He’s a good kid and I hate to lose him and hate to see him go, but that’s the way it goes.”

“The county freeholders write a budget and budget every department in the county. That budget gives us the money we need to run our departments for 365 days,” he said. ”We get our money from the county, I have turned back roughly $12 million in the past 12 years from our budget.”

So I asked the question many were asking in political circles: “Why won’t you debate your opponents?”

“The reason I don’t appear with these guys is because I don’t want to tell them what I know,” he replied. “Why the hell should I educate them? The guy doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about and I’m not going to teach him. At 67, he’s rather old to start a new function in life, besides not knowing what you’re doing, because we have plenty of people here who do.”

He then pointed at Undersheriff Sommeling.

“Here, this is going to be the new sheriff some day,” he joked. “And soon, but that’s if he wants it.”

The conversation then turned to the past and criticism of his compensation.

“People make an issue of money. If you remember Wayne Rupert from Manchester, he had 43 years in here, then he retired, then he retired and got a pension and salary and some people were all pissed off at him,” the sheriff said. ”I mean, he’s got more money than I got; God bless him.”

Sheriff Polhemus then explained the realities he faces.

“We’re just like any other government agency; we have unions to deal with too. I can’t just go and do the things these guys say I should be doing. It doesn’t work that way,” he said, before directing Chief Osborn to explain all of the programs in detail within the county from the K-9 unit to CIU to the child fingerprinting program.

When asked about consolidation of the Ocean County Jail and the Sheriff’s Department, the sheriff said the question was not relevant in this day and age and sharply criticized the notion made by his opponents that he was the one who split the two departments or that it was done for his or his party’s benefit.

“The freeholders took the jail over a year before I got here,” he snapped. “That’s their business. I can’t tell them what to do but it’s been running well ever since, so why would we want to change it?”

We decided to conclude the formal interview after that, as by then the sheriff and his staff had given me nearly an hour of their time.

Seeing I was interested in his stories about history, Sheriff Polhemus then spent more time after the close of our formal interview recapping a few events that stood out in his mind. In hindsight, I should have kept recording, but I didn’t. I asked him if it was okay to return after the New Year to continue the discussion on local history once the election was over regardless of the outcome, and he shook my hand firmly and said, “Anytime; I don’t know why they’re saying I’m not talking to anyone, my door is always open here. That guy from the newspaper last week just came in without an appointment; he even said that in his article.”

On the way out the sheriff made sure that I left with a copy of the 2000 edition of the “150 Year History of the Sheriff’s Department, 1850-2000.”

Sheriff Polhemus ended up winning his bid for re-election against the opponents who criticized him, but died one month later due to complications from a medical procedure on December 14th, 2012.

The Long Road to Polhemus
For two months I debated whether or not to publicly publish this interview, but decided it’s a telling part of history about a man many of us on the outside never actually knew. I realized we never knew him not because of the walls put up by those around him, but because we never made the effort to go through those walls; walls he apparently might not have been aware of from what I gathered during our discussion.

Many were divided about the campaign. His own party was even split; GOP insiders and allies to the sheriff had confided to me off the record that they weren’t going to support him. Some said he pushed his political clout to get on the ticket one last time. Others said they felt he should have stepped aside to let others who have punched the clock for the party carry the torch.

Yet others outside his GOP network said the “old man” was past his prime. I had to find out for myself as a journalist where the truth lay.

On October 16th, 2012 I met with Sheriff Polhemus and his high ranking staff as recounted in the article above. Arranging the meeting was no easy feat, with the sheriff being attacked from all sides of the media and his opponents over his age. After all, I was an editor for a small magazine in Jackson Township and he was the 84-year-old lifelong lawman about to begin his 10th term as sheriff.

For me, the interview was initially just part of our yearly election cycle of interviewing candidates.   I had read reports that his campaign was not allowing media interviews. I had read other newspapers and bloggers saying the campaign was refusing interviews. But I’m not one for ever taking no for an answer.  My quest to interview Sheriff Polhemus began on August 19th, 2012.

At first, I went through the formal channels with no success. It wasn’t until the following Sunday that I decided, like I always do,  to skirt the chain of command, a skill vital to any journalist. I learned that fellow Jackson Township resident and Councilman Scott Martin was recently chosen to lead the Ocean County GOP election campaigns. I asked Mr. Martin for an interview, thinking our professional reporter-to-councilman relationship over the years would carry some weight. It didn’t. I thought to myself, “our kids played soccer on the same team last summer, surely this is going to work.”

I’m not sure if Mr. Martin tried to pull any strings for me through his status of campaign manager, but ultimately, I was rejected.

Another month passed and the newspapers were continuing to file stories about the Ocean County GOP protecting Sheriff Polhemus and rejecting contact with the media and with other candidates. At first I dismissed these reports about Republicans when they came from liberal-slanted media agencies (I also dismiss news when it comes from conservative slanted news agencies, for the record). I honestly felt the man was not being given a fair shake in the news, and I was equally puzzled as to why the Ocean County GOP appeared to keep him under lock and key.

I tried everything during that month. I emailed quotes and snippets of the negative articles from other newspapers and blogs attached to them and told the powers that be that I would give the man a fair shake. I was drawn in by the mystique being created by the media and his opponents. As a lifelong resident of Ocean County, I knew the accomplishments the man had under his belt. I’m also wise enough to know that even the best Major League Baseball hall of fame-caliber player at some point needs to hang up the spikes, despite their best efforts.

I was relentless over the next few weeks. In an email correspondence with Mr. Martin, I explained that I was also seeking interviews with the other two candidates, Bob Armstrong and Bob McMenamin. I told Mr. Martin that our next issue of the magazine was coming out and if it was one sided, with an interview of the opponents blasting the sheriff, not to blame me since I was denied access. I again promised to give the man a fair shake, as we always do. I thought our fairness in covering Jackson politics over the years would bear value, but still, nothing.

The deadline for our October issue, the last chance to get the interview in our magazine had come and gone. It was now October 11th. A week later, on October 20th, I even sent a questionnaire for the sheriff to have prior to any potential interview. I used the age-old tactic of trying to understand the fears of the GOP. “I think it’s important for you to break this image of the sheriff being hidden behind a glass wall and afraid to debate.  [Your opponents] are really pushing the age issue…” I wrote in the e-mail.

Later that day, I got a spark of life on the GOP end. A reply from Mr. Martin: “Have you gone to print?”

“Monday morning,” I replied. I knew I wasn’t being completely forthcoming. It was Thursday. We were going to print the following Monday and I had not yet interviewed candidate McMenamin and had no plans to yet, since I had previously written off the Polhemus interview.

That night, I got call from Mr. Martin. “Tomorrow, 11 am, you can interview the sheriff.”

I was shocked. I didn’t think it was going to happen. After seeing a recent interview by a reporter who is in the obvious good graces of the GOP, I thought for sure it wasn’t going to happen and that the campaign was comfortable with the favorable story that was published a few days prior.

I have to admit, for an election that really wasn’t directly in the scope of our publication, I was excited that night. I prepared the questions and rehearsed the scenario, expecting confrontation after reading what was, in the eye of local media, a non-media friendly group protecting their candidate.

Upon my arrival that Friday morning, the reception at the office was warm and friendly. I had never met the sheriff before. I had only seen him in passing at events during my life and through different programs in the schools what seemed like eons ago. I came equipped with history. I knew his history and his accomplishments. I had researched articles in local newspapers going back about twenty years to prepare for the interview. After all, I’ll admit, I knew nothing about the Sheriff’s Department itself coming into this other than they’re the ones who secure the courthouses and transport prisoners.

Looking Back

I went into the sheriff’s office with uncertainty that day, but saw he was a man with his wits about him and who understood the position and seemed capable of being in the role, but being just a few weeks past 40 years old, he was still more than twice my age and there was still the young person inside me wondering if he could put in three more years. I left his office knowing that I had spoken to a true American elder statesman and career law enforcement official whose career and accomplishments spoke for themselves.

Two months later, I was saddened and shocked to hear that just a month after winning his fight against his critics, both in politics and the media, the Sheriff did succumb to complications involving a heart procedure on December 16th. The world truly did lose a good man that day.

On our Facebook page, I browsed through the comments our readers left when we announced his passing. There were dozens of comments from residents who Sheriff Polhemus had touched in some way; each one praising the him, but one theme was constant. Sheriff William Polhemus was a good man who did a lot for many people in Ocean County.

While the he will be missed by many, I can say, as a journalist, it’s a great honor to be able to present his final interview to the public.

Toms River-(PR)–What started out as an idea on facebook has quickly grown to a community of over 12,000 in just over one month.   In September, the publishers of JTOWN and Toms River Magazine launched a bold new initiative to inform Ocean County residents about growing concern of crime at the Jersey Shore, called “Ocean County Police Blotter“.

The page is a collection of public documents and reports from all of the county’s municipal police departments, the New Jersey State Police, Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, Ocean County Sheriff’s Departments, local fire companies and state and federal attorney general offices.    Each day, fans of the page can see what’s going on in the underbelly of Ocean County and the surrounding area.

“After four years of publishing our local community publications in Jackson and Toms River, we felt branching out would be appropriate since residents in other towns frequently asked us, ‘when are you coming to OUR town?’, so we decided last month, now is a good time,” said Phil Stilton, editor of JTOWN Magazine. “It’s a natural progression in the growth of our services.  We’re all about building communities and we have been building online communities since 1995.  We first went to all of the local police departments and after seeing that they would be interested in participating, we went ahead with this.  It’s a great way to really know what’s going on in our communities without the sensationalism normally found in the local news.”

Stilton says that the Ocean County Police Blotter fan page posts information received from local law enforcement agencies as is and unedited, aside from spelling and grammar checks.  ”Who are we, as journalists to inject our own view on something we did not witness?  We’re not out to sensationalize or make a bigger deal out of something than it is, it’s just about passing the word along to the public in a centralized location and to create awareness,” he said. “The community has also received this page well and it allows for residents to discuss the local events as they are reported.  In some cases, I’ve been told, it has led to tips to help police departments find perpetrators, which is always a plus. If we can help our local law enforcement agencies in a time when budgets are spread thin and most have just had a mass exodus due to pension reform legislation, then that’s just a bonus for us.”

Since it’s creation in early September of 2012, the page, as of this report, has 12,881 ‘likes’.     Aside from police blotter reports, the page also focuses on fire and emt operations in the county, public service announcements from both law enforcement and fire safety and supports local charities and fundraisers which benefit police, fire, emt and military service personnel in the county.

“I think our advantage here is that we’re an Ocean County based business and everyone who works with us and contributes are all life-long Ocean County residents.  In the end, this page is about building a community, not building a business, that comes second for us.  It’s a service the community needs and we don’t need to be fed regurgitated reports by global media companies on things that happen in our backyard.  This is essentially, for locals, by locals, which is the overall theme of everything we do here,” Stilton, a lifelong resident of Toms River and Jackson, concluded. “Just like our community magazines, the OCPB is ‘Authentically Local’ and we wouldn’t have it any other way.”

If your department or agency is interested in participating in the Ocean County Police Blotter, visit the page on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ocean-County-Police-Blotter/423813954320813?fref=ts.

 The Ocean County Police Blotter is operated by Stilton Company, LLC of Jackson Township and is not affiliated in any way with any law enforcement agencies.

This year, a few Jackson Schools Board of Education members are asking Jackson residents to be re-elected to office.  Almost all are qualified individuals and all are worthy of support by the town’s residents.   There is one that I feel does not deserve a second chance, because moral character is something that is sorely needed in all elected duties.

Understood, politicians are people and they face the same daily problems we all do.   The same frustrations, the same angers and they all live in the same Jackson we live in.  We’re all human.  There are times in life when you need to represent yourself in a professional manner, especially if you hold public office.

Tracey Murnane, is one person who should consider another path of community service, because I don’t feel she is deserving of representing my children or my neighbors children.

Murnane operates a blog called “Catootes” and gives the public a chance to peel back what we see of her as she sits on the board.   She also serves as Vice President of our school board and is next in line to be school board president.

First, let me share with you her blog: You can read passages from this Google search here.

here are some excerpts:

Tracey Murnane on Her Neighbor:

“I’ve held off complaining about the Asshat neighbor, he of the continuous fireworks noise, and his recent disregard of neighborly boundaries …Waving my arms, yelling DUDE, WHAT THE F-CK? because I am so classy like that, I started across the front of the yard, shovel in hand, imagining myself beating him over the head with it, repeatedly…Excuse me Asshat, but you’ve lived there for almost 3 years now and there is no way in hell you did not know my driveway was there. It’s kind’ve hard to miss, as it is ACROSS from your front door, you f-cksack!”

Very diplomatic and elegantly worded.

On handling past issues from her childhood:

“drowning the high school mean girl or Corey, you can suck it…”

On the fact of living on a major road in Jackson:

“I’d really like to clothesline the guy who rides the really f-cking loud motorcycle past my house at 9 o’clock at night. Does he need extra loud exhaust pipes because his other pipe underperforms? Methinks this is the case. I don’t care how shiny your bike is. It’s f-cking annoying to hear you coming up the road. Go the f-ck away.”

On social confrontation:

“Swallow some maturity pills, put on your big girl panties, cinch up your bra straps and grow the f-ck up.
That ditzy “oh, I’m so cute and helpless” act you slip into like a second skin might have been appealing when you were in your early twenties, but now? It’s absurd.”

This woman’s blog site is very full of colorful language, self-righteous nagging, complaining about everything from neighbors, to kids crying in her ears to people riding their motorcycles down her beloved road and even some harsh criticism of children and parents alike.

Is this really the person you want representing our children?  She spends a lot of time criticizing the people of Jackson for their actions in this blog, especially parents who break her social rules, but perhaps she needs to be a better role model herself.   As a publicly elected representative of the people of Jackson, she needs to bring herself above the boil and I find this entire blog immature, foul mouthed, critical and condescending to everyone in this town.

I urge anyone who votes this November to take a look at the link:  http://bit.ly/QsJNj8, and read a few passages from this woman before voting for her to represent YOUR child.

Can you imagine if any other candidate in any other election had publicly stated and said such horrible things about the people they purport to represent?

No thank you Ms. Murnane, you have no business near our children and I hope children in Jackson don’t stumble across this board member’s blog accidentally.

To think, this is a person who was pushing ethics on others a few months ago.

A Concerned Resident,
Jackson NJ

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This is an opinion letter to the editor and does not represent the opinion of JTOWN or TR Magazine and/or its affiliates.  Do you want to send a letter to the editor in about any upcoming November elections?  Make your voice heard, email your opinions and letters to news@trmagazine.com

As a Jackson township business owner, I would like to say that I think this year’s Jackson Day was terrific, and thank everyone who made it possible. Thank you to all the Township employees and local business owners who were a part of it!
This is just a small taste of what this day could really be. The date of next year’s event needs to be booked as soon as possible and not last minute as we did this year. We need to give the sponsors enough time to budget for what they would like to provide. The schools need to be notified so that they can pass the information on to their sports teams and parents clubs, so they can have time to prepare for their exhibition. The Jackson Chamber of Commerce should promote the event within their members. The event should be on e-back pack, the local cable stations and much more publicized., including more professional signage donated by local sign companies. Next year, there should be no businesses turned away for lack of room, as we had more than enough space to accommodate twice the amount of vendors. Different levels of sponsorship – platinum, gold, silver and bronze, would provide more of an incentive to participate at a higher level. Plagues can be donated by local trophy and awards businesses, so they can be given to the sponsors as a thank you.

A special thank you goes out to my running mate Raymond Cattonar. Ray did a great job obtaining thousands of dollars of sponsorship monies to offset the cost of the rides for the kids. I personally witnessed how he volunteered countless hours of his personal time to solicit to every business he could think of who would be interested in being part of this day. He was asked to step down from the Jackson Day Committee when he announced his candidacy, but he continued to wrap up the loose ends to ensure it was done correctly. Even though my offer to help was turned down, Ray kept going. The day brought together businesses in a way that Jackson has never seen. These types of venues are important, as it allows businesses to see what Jackson really could be. A Community. A place where your business can really thrive. It is important to maintain the quality of this year’s event and upgrade it even further to more of a class act. This is all possible with the help of more volunteers and more refreshing ideas. With the right people and enough time, Jackson Day can be twice as big as this year! Why not throw a corporate sponsorship into the mix to really make things exciting!

            In November of 1935, a project was started on the Ridgeway branch of the Toms River to prevent the flooding of the town we now call Toms River, and parts of Berkeley Township.  President Roosevelt approved an application to construct a dam and create a detention/retention facility, now called Pine Lake.  The work was to be done by the W.P.A., the “Works Project Administration”, a work stimulus program developed to provide some relief from the job losses during the “Great Depression”.

            The water detained/retained in Pine Lake originates in more than a half dozen tributaries located throughout Jackson Township and parts of north Manchester.  These tributaries collect run-off from thousands of acres of both farmland and residential complexes.  While the water in Pine Lake may not be polluted at any given moment, the condition is determined by the amount of rainfall.

            This large detention/retention facility was never proposed to be a swimming lake and because the magnitude and the number of streams, brooks, and yes rivers that feed into Pine Lake, the prospect that it will ever be safe for swimming for any extended period of time is remote, if not impossible, in our lifetime.

Michael Fressola,
Mayor, Manchester Township

I remain concerned about how we will pay for this tax cut, given the projected budget shortfall. The revenue situation has gone from bad to worse. Revenue collections are lower than they were five years ago. Standard & Poor, one of the nation’s major rating agencies, questioned the Governor’s unrealistic revenue projections. New Jersey continues to lag behind the nation in economic recovery by almost any measure.  It is clear that we need to pass a modest surcharge on those making over $1 million to pay for vital property tax relief.  To that end, I will introduce legislation instituting a millionaire’s tax and dedicating the revenue generated to fund the Senate property tax relief plan.

Now that the Governor has acquiesced and supports the Senate property tax relief plan, it is time for him to get his act together and get serious about job creation.

Barbara Buono

We didn’t end the week on a good note, with a horrific school bus accident and the guilty plea of former schools superintendent Michael Ritacco, but a few people asked us why we don’t dig deeper and do what the newspapers and online blogging websites do in our stories.     The reason is, we are not a newspaper and we’re not just an online blog.  We’re a family and community magazine with a mission to promote the good things that make Toms River what it is and that mission comes first before trying to sensational news items for a few extra gawkers.

We provided a report from the courts on the Ritacco plea.  That’s the extent of our coverage.  We’re not going to hound school officials or plaster our front page with sensationalism in order to draw in readers.   It happened, it’s done, we gave the facts and now we hope everyone can move on, learn from these experiences and help each other heal and help the families of those affected.   We’re not so pretentious as to think people care what our opinions are on news items or how we can re-draft a public press release to include sensationalism or to stir further controversy and debate.

We had a horrible accident yesterday.  You will never see us hounding the parents of accident victims or relatives of the deceased.    It’s why we started this whole thing.   We’ve grown tired of news reporters prying into the emotional tragedies and sensationalize unfortunate events and ignoring personal and emotional celebrations of those in our community.

Some in the “news” industry might say we’re not doing our job because of this.   I say we’re doing the job we intended to do which is to report facts and present them to our readers and let them discuss opinions.  It’s not our place to push our opinions on our readers.  We’re not going to rewrite press releases from the police department or schools, change a few words, slant it one way or another and then claim it as our own.

I hope the Toms River Schools can close this ugly chapter in an otherwise wonderful history and move on beyond these incidents.     Let’s hope the district can now run an event and have it reported on without the report squeezing in the words “Ritacco”, “scandal” or “FBI” for sensational appeal.       Lets hope reporters can report on an event at the Pine Belt Arena without feeling the need to point out the obvious “…formerly called Ritacco Center, because…”   We all know the story and how it ended now.

With that being said, have a great week.  Enjoy your vacation and remember to consider others in your community and how your actions affect others before putting your words, which may hurt or harm the feelings of others.   Sometimes, there’s more important things in life than getting the scoop or being the definitive source in a scandal.

Phil Stilton
Editor, Toms River Magazine

Mr. Armstrong will present his credentials to the media and the public.  He believes that his experience in the U.S. Air Force, the FBI and the NJ State Commission of Investigation, among many other law enforcement agencies, makes him worthy of the office he seeks.  Mr. Armstrong also believes that the residents of Ocean County are ready for a new Sheriff with new and innovative ideas to modernize the Sheriff’s Department.

Mr. Armstrong invites the media and the public to join him at the press conference Monday.