Promise and Accomplishment: Hornik looks back on three terms and plans his fourth

By Jonathan Hornik, Mayor of Marlboro

Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik

When I was first elected Mayor, I detailed my ‘Plan for Progress…100 Days and Beyond’.  As a lifelong resident of Marlboro and business person, I stressed the need for investment in public safety and infrastructure including roads and open space preservation while getting our fiscal house in order.  Especially in light of the great recession and the severe storms which we weathered as a community, I am pleased that we have been able to accomplish as much as we have, and my focus for the next four years will be on these same critical areas.

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Marlboro’s Proposed Budget Reduces Property Taxes

Marlboro Township Township’s governing body introduced their 2019 Municipal Budget with a plan to reduce property taxes, Mayor Jonathan Hornik announced.  Scheduled for passaged at the April 11 Council meeting, the budget as proposed will lower the municipal portion Marlboro property taxpayers annual bill. For average household valued at an estimated $494,605, the cost for all municipal services such as police, parks, public works, and road improvements will be $1,867.

“The challenge of managing the extreme weather conditions of the last several years continues to drive the Township’s cost of operations. Our budgets have had to absorb the increased costs of snow removal, in particular, which has increased more than 300% since 2007,” said Mayor Jonathan Hornik. “We also continue to grapple with State mandates including an 11% increase in our New Jersey Pension System contribution. Despite these pressures, we continue to deliver and expand the services our residents expect while remaining $1.95 million below the State levy cap and $1.24 million below the State spending cap.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Marlboro Governing Body Condemns Congresswoman’s Anti-Semitic Remarks

Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik

Mayor Jonathan Hornik and the members of the Marlboro Township Council today issued a public letter condemning the Anti-Semitic remarks of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota).

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Hornik will seek fourth term as Marlboro mayor

Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik

Jonathan Hornik will run for a fourth consecutive term as Mayor of  Marlboro Township.

The mayor announced his candidacy on the Tommy G Show Tuesday afternoon during MMM publisher Art Gallagher’s guest appearance on popular drive time radio show.

First elected in 2007 when he defeated incumbent Republican Dr. Robert Kleinberg in a race that got statewide attention when Kleinberg incurred the pubic wrath radio personality Jim Gearhart and Asbury Park Press columnist Bob Ingle by falsely claiming Gearhart’s endorsement.  Kleinberg then went on the air with Gearhart the day before the election to argue with the host and defend his campaign mail.

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Mayor Jonathan Hornik asks Marlboro Council to support legislation allowing property taxes payments as charitable contributions

Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik

Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik is asking the Township’s Council to support Governor-elect Phil Murphy’s proposal to allow New Jersey residents to make charitable contributions in lieu of property taxes as an end around the tax reform legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Trump last year.   The new federal tax law limits the deduction for State and Local Taxes (SALT) to $10,000.

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S&P rates Marlboro AA+

Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik

Standard and Poors, the international credit rating agency, has rated $21.957 million of general obligation bonds, water utility bonds and recreation utility bonds authorized in 2014 and 2015 as AA+. The AA+ differs from the top AAA rating only to a small degree, according to S&P.  The rating means that S&P considers Marlboro’s ability to meet its obligations is very strong.

“This is tremendous news for Marlboro”, said Mayor Jonathan Hornik. “This rating upgrade affirms the difficult decisions made over the last eight years to reduce the size of government and run it more efficiently. It also represents a reflection of the overall financial stewardship of the municipality. ”

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Hornik Calls For Suspension Of Tax Assessment Program

Marlboro Mayor Jon Hornik and Councilwoman Randi Marder at a campaign event last month. photo via facebook

Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik called for the immediate suspension of the controversial tax assessment program, Assessment Demonstration Pilot Program(ADP), in a press release issued Tuesday evening.

Responding to an “investigate report” in the Asbury Park Press that alleges cronyism, nepotism and ethics violations on the part of Monmouth County Tax Administrator Matt Clark, former Tax Commissioner Daniel Kelly and the companies that won the contracts to provide the inspections and appraisals of all Monmouth County properties that are assessed through ADP, Hornik said, “I am heartened by the recent call by the Asbury Park Press for an investigation of the Monmouth County Tax Assessment Demonstration Pilot Program,” said Mayor Hornik. “I have been a vocal critic of this program since its inception, and I expressed, in no uncertain terms, that the program did not fairly and accurately reflect market value, that it inappropriately interfered with local tax assessors and that it had a disproportionate adverse effect on residential and senior citizen property taxpayers.”

Hornik joins Freeholder John Curley in calling for ADP to be suspended and investigated.

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Marlboro Camp Counselor Gets PTI For Sexting Charges

Matthew Kleinstein. Photo via FelicianAthletics.com

Freehold, NJ- Robert Honecker, Esq. smiled broadly as he left Judge Ronald Lee Reisner’s courtroom at 9:10 a.m. on Friday morning, followed closely by his client Matthew Kleinstein and the Kleinstein family.

Judge Reisner was not on the bench. A reporter sat in the last row of the courtroom with a perplexed look on her face. Kleinstein, the former Marlboro Camp Counselor who pleaded guilty in August to 4th degree Cyber Harassment after sending images of his penis to four 11-13 female campers in his care the previous summer, had his sentencing hearing outside of the presence of the media.

It is a rare occurrence that Court proceedings start promptly at 9 a.m. when so scheduled.  If you’re summoned to Court at 9 a.m. and bring an attorney, chances are pretty good that you’ll be paying for an hour or two of his/her time to work on other cases from his/her phone and/or laptop computer.

Judge Reisner started his calendar promptly on Friday morning.  Maybe even early.  He dealt with the Kleinstein matter and then apparently left the bench as approximately 30 other defendants patiently waited in the courtroom for their sentencing hearings.

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Marlboro Camp Counselor Pleads Guilty To Sexting With 4 Teen Campers

Civil suit alleges that Marlboro Recreation Department failed to supervise, protect children and attempted to cover up sexting incidents

Matthew Kleinstein

Matthew Kleinstein, 20, of Marlboro Township, pleaded guilty to fourth degree Cyber Harassment on August 17, 2015 in Monmouth County Court.   Kleinstein had also been charged with 3rd degree Endangering the Welfare of a Minor after he sent pictures of his genitals to four female campers, ages 11-13, via text message and SnapChat, during his employment as a Camp Counselor with the Marlboro Department of Recreation at Marlboro High School during the summer of 2014.

Kleinstein has applied for Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI).  He is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Ronald Lee Reisner on October 9th at 9 a.m, according to Charles Webster, spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office.  If accepted into the PTI program, Kleinstein will avoid serving jail time and have his criminal record expunged upon successfully completing the program.

A civil lawsuit filed by one of the victims and her guardian on September 18, 2015 alleges that Kleinstein’s father, Darrin Kleinstein, Vice Chairman of the Marlboro Recreation Advisory Committee, obstructed the investigation into his son’s actions by the Marlboro Recreation Department and the Marlboro Police Department.  The suit alleges that the elder Kleinstein contended that the allegations were false and manufactured with the intent of harassing his son.

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Is Marlboro in play?

Labor Day is still a week off, but the political season is already underway in the most unlikely place; Marlboro Township where Democratic incumbents Mayor Jon Hornik and Councilwoman Randi Marder are running for their third terms with newcomer, Councilman Mike Scalea who is running for his first full term after replacing Frank LaRocca on the governing body.  LaRocca resigned from the council and quit politics to become the Municipal Judge in Keyport in January.

Both the Democrats and Republicans have launched their campaigns on social media and both have major campaign events this week.

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