Former State Senator John Bennett was honored as an Urban Angel by the New York Theological Seminary last night.
Jim Purcell has the story and commentary on Bennett's career at InsideClamDigger.
I find Bennett to be something of an enigma. He is an extremely likable and generous man.
Yet, there is no question that in his career in public service that he exploited a faulty system with multiple public jobs,double and triple dipping, from which he made a great deal of money and is enjoying hefty pension benefits.
I believe the Asbury Park Press went way too far in "Bennettizing" John over his billing errors.
I also believe that if Bennett had heeded then Monmouth GOP chairman Bill Dowd's call to withdraw from his 2003 re-election bid, that the Republicans would have maintained a closer margin or maybe even have controlled the State Senate. How different would New Jersey be if our government were not in complete Democratic control these past four years?
I don't understand what Bennett is doing running for County Committee in Red Bank and doing so in a way that alienated the current Red Bank GOP leadership. Certainly a man with Bennett's skills could find a way to contribute in a way that would be welcomed and not divisive.
Despite the negatives, I think Bennett has a great deal to contribute to New Jersey and to Monmouth County. I wish that his public image could be rehabilitated such that his contributions could be more than in the background.
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4 comments:
You Know John Bennett is a nice guy. In some ways I feel sorry for him. He was unfairly accussed of dishonesty on the double billing issue. lets set the record straight on a few things.
First of all these groups do not pick honorees based on there contributions to society. They pick politicians who have the ability to sell a bunch of high priced tickets.
Two what got John Bennet in trouble was greed. he played the system to the max and then beyond.
he did nothing illegal or technically unethical but he made a substantial living off of politics. The public is tired of that.
hat Purcell calls a statesman able to work with the other side I call someone who did not want to buck the system and was an ineffective legislator. The moderate or "middle of the road Guy" Standing in the Middle of the road gets you run over..
Please name one piece of substantial legislation this man had a hand in. Not ineffectual fluff something that really changed things for the better.
Like I said a truly nice guy. Not a bad person. But not the type of person we need in politics. We need people who are not in it for the buck and who really want to change the system for the better.
John Bennett is a winner and a great person. Unlike the bloggers who profess to have all the answers but have none and are too cowardly to actually run for office and do something, John did a great deal for NJ and the County. These BS posts trying to trash him again are old and tired. Why not let the guy run for County Committee? What are you all afriad of? One could argue that Jim Ginnell has only lost elections year over year and is a tired old hack and so maybe he should step aside, right? So if he can stick around and keep trying to be relevant, why can't John? Think about what would have happened had Ginnell not fouled up several conventions where we picked BAD candidates that HE pushed for. What might Monmouth look like had HE not done that? Rather than two D's we'd probaly have 0 on the dias up there. So be careful with your revisionist history and trashing of John Bennett. John did more to help real working people in one hour than these blogs will ever do. Bunch of cowards you all are.
Its nice to see that John Bennett reads and comments on your Blog Art. Too bad he uses anonymous as his name. I find it ironic that the poster calls bloggers cowards, yet can't use his/her real name.
I still think that its Mr. Bennett.
Rick,
I don't think that was Bennett. I'd bet good money that it wasn't.
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