Christie Administration Proposes ‘Streamlined’ Coastal Permitting Rules

Christie Administration Proposes ‘Streamlined’ Coastal Permitting Rules (via Toms River Patch)

Environmentalist questions relaxing some permitting rules The state Department of Environmental Protection on Tuesday said it would recommend technical revisions to land use rules for coastal areas, streamlining the process for projects such as marina…

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Golden Wins!

GOP Chairman Shaun Golden

Monmouth County Shaun Golden has been elected Chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Committee.

Golden defeated incumbent Chairman John Bennett 335 votes to 282.

UPDATED: June 11, 2014

There was brief confusion when County Clerk Claire French presented the results to Bennett. Bennett misunderstood the results and thought he had won. He and his daughters started to celebrate but were quickly corrected.  Bennett then announced that Golden was the new County Republican Chairman and left the room with his family.

Golden thanked the convention and promised to conduct his new office with dignity and honor.

Unaware that MMM already had published the vote count, Golden declined to release the results to The Asbury Park Press, saying he would release them today.

Golden did not announce his choice of Vice Chair. Rather, he will announce a leadership council and a diversity team to reach out to ethnic groups that traditionally do not vote Republican before the week is out. Members of the leadership team will serve as “co-vice chairs” with one of them holding the title as a formality.

Golden is retaining Executive Director Tom Symanski’s employment with the Party. “Tom has done a good job and we worked well together on the campaign last year,” Golden said this morning, ” we’ll give him more direction and support going forward.”

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The Polls Are Open

Voting has commenced at the Monmouth County Republican Convention.

Credentials were issued to 626 County Committee members who are choosing between incumbent Chairman John Bennett and Sheriff Shaun Golden.  Registration and credentialing remains open .

The theme of the evening has been unity, and the nominating speakers, Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon for Bennett and Freeholder Tom Arnone for Golden, stressed that all Republicans must come together when the voting is complete.

Both candidates repeated the themes of their campaign’s during their speeches to the convention, with Golden emphasizing his energy and growing the party with enhanced communication and outreach to diverse demographics, and Bennett emphasizing the successes of his two years in office and his 40 year career in politics.

Bennett did not raise the issue of a conflict of interest for a Sheriff being Chairman, as he had through most of the campaign.

Sheriff Shaun Golden

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Bridgegate’s 30 Pivotal Hours: How Kevin O’Dowd Missed The Signs

Bridgegate’s 30 Pivotal Hours: How Kevin O’Dowd Missed The Signs (via NJSpotlight)

Kevin O’Dowd, Christie’s chief of staff, entered Drumthwacket, the governor’s mansion in Princeton, as usual by the side entrance, filing through the kitchen and the dining room, where he was surprised to see Gov. Chris Christie sitting huddled…

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United Airlines to award frequent-flyer points based on dollars spent, not miles flown

United Airlines to award frequent-flyer points based on dollars spent, not miles flown (via NJ.com)

NEWARK — The days of United Airlines frequent fliers earning points based on how many miles they fly is coming to an end. United will instead begin awarding points based on dollars spent beginning in March, the airline announced today. The changes…

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5 former NJ inmates charged with stealing $100K in unemployment benefits while in jail

5 former NJ inmates charged with stealing $100K in unemployment benefits while in jail (via NJ.com)

Five former state inmates have been charged with stealing approximately $100,000 in unemployment insurance benefits while they were in county jails and ineligible to receive them, the state Attorney General’s office said today. The inmates, along…

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Monmouth GOP Convention Tonight

The Monmouth County Republican Committee will convene to elect a Chairman this evening at iPlay America in Freehold, at 7PM.

Only credentialed County Committee members will be permitted to vote.  County Committee members are urged to arrive at 6PM in order to check in and receive their credentials.  Only Republicans on the County Committee list generated by the Superintendent of Elections will be credentialed.  Municipal Chairmen and Chairwomen are urged to verify that their accurate and complete list of committee members is submitted to Superintendent Bertha Sumick this morning.

In lieu of a debate, the candidates for Chairman of the Monmouth County Republican Committee have agreed to a round of Cosmic Battle Laser Tag at 5:30PM. Arrive early! You don’t want to miss the Cosmic Battle!

Just kidding.  The amusements are on the opposite side of the building from the Event Center where the convention will be held.

iPlay American is at 110 Schanck Rd, on the southbound side of Route 9.  When you enter the parking lot look for signs for the Event Center, which is on the far side, the north side, of the building.

There are five restaurants inside the iPlay America complex, one of them just next to the room where the convention will be held. Arrive early and relax with other Republicans from throughout the county.

Get directions to iPlay America here.

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Costigan exits on a high note

Howell GOP Municipal Chairman Juan Malave and Monmouth GOP State Committeeman John Costigan celebrate Malave’s election.

Monmouth County Republican State Committeeman John Costigan, the GOP Municipal Chairman of Howell Township for six years, and Vice Chair under the late Noreen Kelly for six years before that, convened the reorganizational meeting of the Howell Republican Committee this evening and promptly placed the name of former Councilman Juan Malave into nomination as the new Municipal Chairman.

Costigan lost his County Committee seat in last Tuesday’s primary.  The incumbent slate of Council Members, supported by Malave, beat back a primary challenge from a slate believed to be backed by Costigan.  Costigan denied backing the challengers but said he was glad they were running.

Many Republicans throughout Monmouth County were expecting Costigan to attempt to retain his Chairmanship, despite losing his seat. But the State Committeeman chose to bow out in a gracious gesture of unity by nominating Malave.

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Electrical Connection Failure Might Be The Cause Of Union Beach Fire

An electrical connection failure may have been the cause of the Union Beach fire on Sunday that resulted in the death of volunteer fire fighter Robert “Hawk” Myer.

“The failure of an exterior electrical connection cannot be ruled out as the cause for the fire that ripped through a Union Avenue business Sunday evening where a Union Beach volunteer firefighter died from cardiac arrest,”announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni from Afghanistan where he is ten days into a six month deployment. Gramiccioni is a Lt. Commander in the Naval Reserve JAG Corps.

Union Beach firefighters responded to a 5:56 p.m. report of a structure fire at Hydrair, Inc., located at 615 Union Ave. and upon arrival struck a Second Alarm to bring additional resources to the scene. The fire was eventually elevated to Four Alarms with firefighters from the Middletown Fire Department, North Centerville Fire Department, Hazlet Fire Department, Keyport Fire Department, Holmdel Fire Department, East Keansburg Fire Company, Keansburg Fire Department and Red Bank Fire Department responding.

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Golden’s closing letter to the GOP County Committee

By Shaun Golden

Shaun Golden

Dear County Committee Member:

On June 10, 2014 at 7pm, at iPlay America in Freehold Township we will come together to decide who will serve as our next Monmouth Republican Chairman. I thank you for all of your support throughout this campaign and I humbly ask for your vote at our Monmouth Republican Convention.

Over the past month, I have shared my positive vision for the future of our Party in Monmouth County. As an organization, we must be the leaders in innovation, technology, outreach and communication. We must boldly meet our challenges with the commitment to never rest on our laurels and never stop sharing our message of conservative values, fiscal responsibility and ethical leadership.

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