Post by BrianSullivan on May 12, 2011 9:21:58 GMT -5
I attended the May 2nd council meeting. After seeing the articles from other media it is time for my response. There was certainly a lot to cover and emotions ran high. In my opinion, Councilman Newman did all the right things and the democrats on council acted so poorly.
I will start with one of the more difficult council people for me to criticize- Sharon Shutzer. I say difficult because I genuinely like her and think highly of her. Other media reported on the commentary about the senior citizens party and concerts. Sharon really did hone in on this and while I think she was sincere in her statements and tears, I have to point out a couple of things.
John did mention this as one of many areas to cut back on. He was right to do that. If in fact senior citizen activities are paid for with tax dollars, or any public monies, then it is fair game. If this governing body is serious about cutting taxes, reducing waste, and saving the tax payers money, the all things paid for by tax payers is fair game and belongs on the table for review. That is just the way it works. Public money belongs to us, the tax payers. The governing body does not own that money, they are stewards of our money. Common sense dictates that everything that gets put on the table will not be cut. The wise thing to do for the senior activities, if putting them on the table for budget review is too painful, is to seek other ways of funding it.
The other thing Sharon mentioned was politics finding their way to the senior center. She appeared really upset about this, but I have to point out that she directed her ire at the wrong person. John did not play politics or bring politics to the senior center. The borough democrats did. One need only look at the BOROUGH DEMOCRATS CAMPAIGN WEB SITE to see that this has been used as a campaign issue by the democrat party.
Freehold Borough Democrats - Platform Page
From that page:
Senior Citizens:
• Sponsors senior concerts, holiday party and other cultural activities.
• Monthly senior meetings with council representative.
Provides Borough bus for senior transportation needs.
Sharon needs to find the person responsible for that web site content and direct her ire there. The democrats have politicized the seniors and John just pointed out what is already there. Sharron stated that she hates politics, but that politics is coming from within her own party.
Now, the rest of the council each had their moments. Even known gentleman like Jaye Simms and Mike D had a couple of bad spots. Mike D said John was playing games and in a fairy tale. ( Like the dems don’t do that?! more on that later) Jaye’s saving grace was that he spoke before John so he couldn’t really come as unhinged as the rest. He was a bit disruptive which is out of character for him.
Mayor Wilson was in really good form. I think he must have been sleeping for the past many years because he actually had the brass ones to make the bogus claim that in his thirty years on council the GOP has never had ideas and only complains. Did the mayor miss everything that Newman had just said? Ideas that some on council even admitted had merit? Has the mayor missed the issues that John has brought to the table and gotten passed through the council since he has been there? Has the mayor missed the GOP campaigns over the past several years? Somehow I do not think so, considering the dems have enacted several of the the GOP ideas after the GOP lost. ( Granted, the GOP has not always articulated its platform very well) Really, the only difference we have seen between the two parties is that the GOP brought up 287(g) while the dems buckled under pressure from radical outside groups and appointed an illegal alien who lives out of town to a town committee. That was only fixed after the dems were embarrassed.
As far as GOP complaints, it is no different than anybody else. When we see the schools struggling badly with a 71 percent population of economically disadvantaged children, rentals causing problems, law suits costing tax payers money, illegal restaurants, higher than acceptable crime etc, who are we supposed to complain to? The mayor and democrats of course! They own those problems!
That leads me to may favorite, El presedente George Shnurr. Geo gets the award for the most unhinged and dishonest comment of the evening. ( par for the course for him) Of all people George should not have been accusing anyone of playing politics for political gain. He is one of the two bozos on council ( one gone now) who lied about me a couple of years ago for their own political gain. Considering that I have been on the receiving end of this guy, I can say from experience that his credibility is shot.
Geo’s real bomb of the night is when he accused Newman of being in the pocket of the Freehold Land Lord association. That is absolutely absurd! This deserves a thread of its own, but to sum it up, John has stood out not because he is in the pocket of the FLLA, but because he has realized that the rental issue needs work, and lots of it. The dems have not been perfect here and at times very unresponsive. Though, you might not know it by the cheap and tough talk we often hear. It is a fact that the democrats have pushed our town into another law suit that they will lose and will cost us money. ( they have already lost ground in mediation) All so the dems can show how “tough” they are. To borrow from the mayor, Geo is full of balderdash and poppycock.
To sum it all up, I brought up some points and comments that were not found elsewhere. The dems cannot handle challenge very well. That is probably because one party rule does not offer enough of those opportunities where we see real discussion. John did the right thing by bringing issues and ideas into the public arena. That is where they belong. He is not beholden to the dems and he does not have to play their games their way. John is doing what he was elected to do, serve the people, ( Not the dem council) and offer reasonable and civil ideas counter to what we have seen. He may only have one term and I know he is trying to make the right impact while he can.
I genuinely like some of the dems council members. But on this night, they all allowed emotion to get the best of them. They made lame and bogus accusations. After whining about political games, they managed to stoop even lower.
I will start with one of the more difficult council people for me to criticize- Sharon Shutzer. I say difficult because I genuinely like her and think highly of her. Other media reported on the commentary about the senior citizens party and concerts. Sharon really did hone in on this and while I think she was sincere in her statements and tears, I have to point out a couple of things.
John did mention this as one of many areas to cut back on. He was right to do that. If in fact senior citizen activities are paid for with tax dollars, or any public monies, then it is fair game. If this governing body is serious about cutting taxes, reducing waste, and saving the tax payers money, the all things paid for by tax payers is fair game and belongs on the table for review. That is just the way it works. Public money belongs to us, the tax payers. The governing body does not own that money, they are stewards of our money. Common sense dictates that everything that gets put on the table will not be cut. The wise thing to do for the senior activities, if putting them on the table for budget review is too painful, is to seek other ways of funding it.
The other thing Sharon mentioned was politics finding their way to the senior center. She appeared really upset about this, but I have to point out that she directed her ire at the wrong person. John did not play politics or bring politics to the senior center. The borough democrats did. One need only look at the BOROUGH DEMOCRATS CAMPAIGN WEB SITE to see that this has been used as a campaign issue by the democrat party.
Freehold Borough Democrats - Platform Page
From that page:
Senior Citizens:
• Sponsors senior concerts, holiday party and other cultural activities.
• Monthly senior meetings with council representative.
Provides Borough bus for senior transportation needs.
Sharon needs to find the person responsible for that web site content and direct her ire there. The democrats have politicized the seniors and John just pointed out what is already there. Sharron stated that she hates politics, but that politics is coming from within her own party.
Now, the rest of the council each had their moments. Even known gentleman like Jaye Simms and Mike D had a couple of bad spots. Mike D said John was playing games and in a fairy tale. ( Like the dems don’t do that?! more on that later) Jaye’s saving grace was that he spoke before John so he couldn’t really come as unhinged as the rest. He was a bit disruptive which is out of character for him.
Mayor Wilson was in really good form. I think he must have been sleeping for the past many years because he actually had the brass ones to make the bogus claim that in his thirty years on council the GOP has never had ideas and only complains. Did the mayor miss everything that Newman had just said? Ideas that some on council even admitted had merit? Has the mayor missed the issues that John has brought to the table and gotten passed through the council since he has been there? Has the mayor missed the GOP campaigns over the past several years? Somehow I do not think so, considering the dems have enacted several of the the GOP ideas after the GOP lost. ( Granted, the GOP has not always articulated its platform very well) Really, the only difference we have seen between the two parties is that the GOP brought up 287(g) while the dems buckled under pressure from radical outside groups and appointed an illegal alien who lives out of town to a town committee. That was only fixed after the dems were embarrassed.
As far as GOP complaints, it is no different than anybody else. When we see the schools struggling badly with a 71 percent population of economically disadvantaged children, rentals causing problems, law suits costing tax payers money, illegal restaurants, higher than acceptable crime etc, who are we supposed to complain to? The mayor and democrats of course! They own those problems!
That leads me to may favorite, El presedente George Shnurr. Geo gets the award for the most unhinged and dishonest comment of the evening. ( par for the course for him) Of all people George should not have been accusing anyone of playing politics for political gain. He is one of the two bozos on council ( one gone now) who lied about me a couple of years ago for their own political gain. Considering that I have been on the receiving end of this guy, I can say from experience that his credibility is shot.
Geo’s real bomb of the night is when he accused Newman of being in the pocket of the Freehold Land Lord association. That is absolutely absurd! This deserves a thread of its own, but to sum it up, John has stood out not because he is in the pocket of the FLLA, but because he has realized that the rental issue needs work, and lots of it. The dems have not been perfect here and at times very unresponsive. Though, you might not know it by the cheap and tough talk we often hear. It is a fact that the democrats have pushed our town into another law suit that they will lose and will cost us money. ( they have already lost ground in mediation) All so the dems can show how “tough” they are. To borrow from the mayor, Geo is full of balderdash and poppycock.
To sum it all up, I brought up some points and comments that were not found elsewhere. The dems cannot handle challenge very well. That is probably because one party rule does not offer enough of those opportunities where we see real discussion. John did the right thing by bringing issues and ideas into the public arena. That is where they belong. He is not beholden to the dems and he does not have to play their games their way. John is doing what he was elected to do, serve the people, ( Not the dem council) and offer reasonable and civil ideas counter to what we have seen. He may only have one term and I know he is trying to make the right impact while he can.
I genuinely like some of the dems council members. But on this night, they all allowed emotion to get the best of them. They made lame and bogus accusations. After whining about political games, they managed to stoop even lower.
