Tuesday, April 20, 2010

BAM Wins Middletown BoE, Budget Defeated

Vincent Brand, Chris Aveta and Michael Mascone swept out the incumbents in the Middletown Board of Education election, according to unofficial results posted on the Monmouth County web site.

The board budget was soundly defeated, 58% no to 42% yes. 12,657 people voted on the budget question in the 45 or 46 districts reporting as of this posting.

My completely unscientific perusal of the budget questions throughout the county indicate that the vast majority of budgets went down. Tinton Falls being one notable exception. Well done Mr. Laffey.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

A major victory for Christie and the taxpayers. With the media attention and the pocketbook issues voters finally learned that the little April election is where the big money gets spent. Probably the biggest school board turnout in Monmouth County history and a significant double digit win for those who believe that just spending money does not solve any problems. Hopefully the town committes will now have the guts to make major cuts and Christie and the people of New Jersey can stand strong in the brewing budget showdown in Trenton. Hopefully the voters will remember to keep voting in future April elections.

Bea Sena said...

Fair Haven's budget also passed.

The teachers agreed to freeze their wages for 2010-11 just before the polls opened at 4pm.

Anonymous said...

bye, bye patty!

Anonymous said...

And once again by a wide margin the voters of Middletown rejected the Pat Walsh. What will she run for next? That should be a topic of your next story.

Anonymous said...

Christie rallied the troops. Best turn-out in years, and finally a NO to most budgets in Monmouth County! Taxpayers are listening...lead the way Governor Christie! We Thank You for fighting the fight for the children and taxpayers of NJ, we are behind you!

stopthesocialists said...

This was as much a referendum on union excess as it was on BOE spending. When will the unions join the rest of us in the real world. Wonder if the town council can force the unions into a wage freeze?

James Hogan said...

I feel like the bigger and more notable news might be the "high" voter turnout at 24% for BoE/School Budget elections. IMO, the turnout is still too low in a nation where voting is still free and generally safe from suicide bombings and the like, but certainly an improvement over the usual 10%-15% or so. I, for one, am glad to see people cast their vote, either way.

Anonymous said...

Go Governor Christie! Also, Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno received rave reviews on Jim Gearhardt's radio program (101.5 FM) this morning.

Howell Township defeated the budget by 65% to 35%. 11,454 (35%) of the voters came out to vote.Two of the three non-NJEA candidates won seats. Thank you Lord.

Anonymous said...

How about the Police Benevolent Association??? Talk about excesses,Mr. Christie, take on this group who also know how to fleece the public.

And also put a stop to the local political trough swillers like the Sewage Authority in Middletown that provides health benefits to that group who have NO SHAME!!

Governor Christie DO A CLEAN SWEEP of corrupt politicians everywhere and really prove you mean business. Spare no one on either side of the aisle!!!

Anonymous said...

I remember Middletown had a similar turnover about 10 years ago. They elected a group that was only interested in cutting the budget. A guy I knew in high school got elected. I didn’t go to high school “with him” because he was a pot head who dropped out. He beat a guy who had a PHD.
That group didn't control the board for long.

Anonymous said...

That group that was "only interested in cutting the budget"; let's see - what did they do?

They passed the first budget in about 7 years. They worked with the taxpayers group (Middletown Taxpayers United) to pass the budget. They passed a multi million dollar referendum to improve the middle and high schools.

They even hired more counselors in the lower grades to identify and assist students in need.

Then they got rid of the board attorney who it turned out owned a private, for profit special ed school that the BOE was sending children to. Just never bothered to tell the new group he was doing it.

The group was even accused of being Republicans (they actually were) but they wound up hiring for the largest political patronage job in Monmouth County (BOE Attorney) an attorney from Red Bank who was the democratic party's candidate for mayor.

Hopefully this new group will emulate some of the accomplishments of that older group.

Anonymous said...

'Then they got rid of the board attorney who it turned out owned a private, for profit special ed school that the BOE was sending children to. Just never bothered to tell the new group he was doing it."

please I knew that attorney and it was no secret he owned that school. It was common knowledge.

Furteher it is an excellent special; ed school and he was one of the best school board attornies in the State of NJ.

The Middletown schools have gone down hill since I gradusted from them. Glad I moved out. But what do you expect in a town that would elect a high school drop out and now has elected BAM

Anonymous said...

art could you pleease ad a spell check feature to your cite to compensate for my poor typing and editing skills?

Anonymous said...

give me a break - Pete Kalac and Howard Newman were not the best attorneys, IMHO.

It was not common knowledge they owned the Children's Center of Monmouth County in Neptune. I heard none of the newer BOE members even knew about it.

A lawyer said...

Peter Kalac sure as hell was one of the best school Board attornies in NJ and a dam smzrt guy to boot.

If the new school board members did not knowabout the school I would say they weren't too swift.