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Sweeney on the Hot Seat in Gloucester County
GOP takes dual-office holding party boss to task over independent monitor in Gloucester County
Woodbury, August 7, 2010 - Proving beyond the shadow of a doubt that its Republicans - not Democrats - who are on offense in the Gloucester County Freeholder race, GOP candidate Larry Wallace took dual-office holding party boss Steve Sweeney to task in front of the television cameras Wednesday night over who should be held accountable for the unprecedented appointment of an independent judicial monitor to oversee Gloucester County government due to repeated violations of the open public meetings act.
"Someone must be held accountable for this fiasco," said Wallace. "Either Mr. Sweeney and his colleagues got awful legal advice and its time to fire the county's chief legal counsel or, as we have been saying for months, Mr. Sweeney is just flat-out incapable of handling both the Senate Presidency and his responsibilities as Freeholder Director. If that's the case, he should immediately resign his county post and stop short-changing the taxpayers of Gloucester County."
More Coverage:
Philadelphia Inquirer: Gloucester County freeholders placed under judge's watch
Courier Post: Monitor approved for Glouco lawsuit
GC Times: Judge: Gloucester County Freeholders weren't open
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Plan Dems’ “Completely Neutral” Ethics Monitor Employed By Law Firm Paid $500k Annually By County Freeholders
GOP Candidates Wallace & Nestore blast the move; Renew call for truly independent monitor
For Immediate Release
Woodbury, July 12, 2010 – Saying it will be impossible for retired Judge Allan Vogelson to serve as an independent ethics monitor for Gloucester County because he’s employed by a law firm that receives a $500,000 per year contract from the all-Democrat Freeholder Board he will be responsible for monitoring, Republican Freeholder candidates Larry Wallace and Vincent Nestore, Jr. today renewed their call for a truly independent special monitor through the end of the year.
Wallace and Nestore originally proposed their idea back in May in response to repeated violations of New Jersey’s Open Public Meetings Act by the All-Democrat Freeholders and following a lawsuit against the Freeholders that led to a Superior Court Judge voiding a secret decision by the freeholders authorizing a settlement of up to $25,000 for County Clerk Jim Hogan after an alleged slip and fall at the office.
“Judge Vogelson may be a great guy, an upstanding guy,” said Wallace. “But the fact that he is a former Camden County Democrat Freeholder Director, who was a politically-connected attorney appointed in Democrat towns prior to that, and is now employed by a firm that gets a half-million from the very people he is supposed to monitor – on what planet does that sound like someone who is capable of being ‘completely neutral?’ Is he really going to expose malfeasance by the same people who are one of his firm’s biggest clients? I doubt it.”
Nestore said the move was akin to hiring a fox to watch the henhouse.
“The American Heritage Dictionary defines independent as ‘Not dependent on or affiliated with a larger or controlling entity,’” said Nestore. “Based on that definition alone, it is impossible for Judge Vogelson, as an employee of Parker McCay Law Firm, to be independent when it comes to the Gloucester County Democrat Freeholders. We demand the Freeholders drop this charade and appoint a truly independent monitor immediately and we challenge our opponents to join us in asking them to do so.”
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Christie to visit Greenwich, push tax cap
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
By Christina Paciolla
cpaciolla@sjnewsco.com
GREENWICH TWP. Gov. Chris Christie will visit Gibbstown Wednesday morning for a town hall meeting to discuss his proposed 2.5 percent tax cap.
The cap is a set of two resolutions that propose a constitutional amendment which, if supported by voters in November, would impose a 2.5 percent cap on tax levy increases at all levels Ð county, state and school.
"I have signed on as a supporter for 2.5," said Greenwich Township Mayor George Shivery.
The governor's office contacted Shivery last week and asked if the township would be interested in hosting the town hall meeting.
"We have the perfect place," Shivery said.
Christie will be speaking at the Broad Street School on West Broad Street at 11:30 a.m. The air-conditioned auditorium holds about 650 people.
The crowd is expected to be large, so township officials are encouraging guests to arrive early. At 10:30 a.m. the same morning, members of the New Jersey Education Association plan to protest Gov. Christie's cuts to public schools.
After Christie's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session.
More than 200 mayors have endorsed the reform bill that would bring the tax cap to life, and Shivery is one of eight mayors from Gloucester County who have announced their support. All are Republican.
Recently, Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney, D-3, said he wants to limit annual increases to 2.9 percent and do it through law, not a constitutional amendment.
"It's going to be interesting," Shivery said. "It's a pretty big deal for Gibbstown."
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