Sunday, March 08, 2009

4 To Vie For Monmouth GOP Freeholder Nod

Five candidates have submitted letters of intent to seek the GOP nomination for Freeholder to Chairman Joseph Oxley.

They are:

Kim Spatoloa of Atlantic Highlands. Member of the Henry Hudson Regional School Board. Former Council person, Atlantic Highlands, former member of the Atlantic Highlands Harbor Commission.

John Curley of Middletown. Former Red Bank Councilman. Freeholder candidate last year.

Gary J. Rich of Spring Lake. 3 term Spring Lake Councilman.

Joseph Ficalora of Manalapan. No previous public service experience.

Chairman Oxley will convene a meeting of his screening committee on March 28 to advise him on the selection of a candidate. The screening committee consists of all past and present elected state and county officials in the county, as well as all current municipal chairs.

The Affiliated Club will have a Freeholder candidates night on March 20th at Doolan's in Spring Lake Heights.

32 comments:

ESedler said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

dimaso didn't want to lose for the fifth time? what happened to kean? i thought she was running?

Art Gallagher said...

Eric,

I don't know Rich. Reviewing the Spring Lake Boro site, it would appear that he is not currently a councilman.

Googling "Gary J. Rich, Spring Lake, NJ" revealed an APP article about a noise ordinance in 1998 that quoted him, a listing as a realtor with Coldwell Banker, and a coaching listing to a site that is not up.

Unknown said...

Gary Rich appears to have just been elected. There's a reorganization meeting minutes from January in which he took the oath of office. Also found through Google, but using advanced googling skills. :-)

Unknown said...

Forgot the main point.

Based on their record, I don't think Ficalora and Rich stand any chance. Should be between Curley and Spatola. Maybe Art should put up a poll on the website.

Anonymous said...

could it be Spring Lake Heights??..looks like the lady teacher vs. the lady ex-teacher is a good matchup..

Anonymous said...

is it 4 in, or 5?..

Art Gallagher said...

Anonymous said...
is it 4 in, or 5?..

4. Eileen Kean formally withdrew this afternoon.

Anonymous said...

Looks like Curley should get a second bite at the apple.

Anonymous said...

I think that all Republicans supported Curley last year. Since that did not happen it is time to move on. I think that Kim Spatola is an outstanding candidate and has the appropriate qualifications and background and would compliment our current freehoolder board. She will work as a team member to regain control of the board. She served as a member of the municipal council for 6 years. Served as council president, harbor commission for 5 years, is a member of the Henry Hudson Board of Education, was teacher of the year in Hazlet
school System in 2007. She was the OotM Judge & Coach - represented NJ 2 times at the World Finals. As a candidate, Kim has the admiistrative ability to carry the GOP leadership to controling the board.
We have the opportunity to changing the control back to Republican. Lets work to do this.

Please come out and meet Kim on Friday night at Julia's First Ave Atlantic Highlands at 7 pm. Call 732-741-0700 for advance reserevations.
As the GOP chairman in Atlantic Highlands, we need a candidate who can go head to head with Barbara McMorrow and Kim is the person who will work and make it happen.. Lets get behind Kim Spatola, the candidate who will go out and knock ondoors to regain control of the Freeholder board. No one can matche her credentials.... Support KIM for freeholder!

Anonymous said...

disagree- Rep. women on the County level much more successful last 4 yrs..Go, Kim!.

Anonymous said...

Curley hasn't earned a second bite of the apple. Negative name id isn't a good reason to run him again. Kim matches up very nicely with D ex-teacher.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't discount Gary, Chris. I wouldn't be shocked if he got the nod.

If Oxley really is calling the shots (although it is with the advice of a large committee), this could be very mixed.

The guy from Manalapan probably has the least shot, but who knows. I don't think he was the one Oxley was holding "close to the vest" though.

Spatola is a wild card, but something tells me supporting Lonegan (or being his candidate) will hurt her.

Curley is happening over Joe's dead body. Crazier things have happened though, maybe they reconciled their differences. The problem with Curley is the results on him were divided, and the opinions as well. Now that he's in Middletown, he has no real base except remenants in Red Bank. He's not a Middletown candidate, because the only people in Middletown who know him are whose door he knocked on. And just how many doors he did is a different answer depending on who you ask. Curley's plus is the name recognition from running before, or the "Amy Mallet" bonus, but McMorrow has equal to or superior name recognition, so the point is mute.

Which makes Mr. Rich the one not to count out. Was he's Joe's "Close to the vest candidate"? I think we'll be able to figure it soon enough.

In the meantime, the one question that those municipal chairs should be judging on is this:
Which one of these candidates can beat Barbara McMorrow. Who would have the best shot.

There's your candidate.

Anonymous said...

It appears that is the problem with our party as- we lack staying power! Yes John Curley ran last year and is not the sitting Freeholder today however we must look at the big picture. First, we must take into account the Obama factor- the number of voter in towns like Neptune and Asbury were unprecedented- the fact that John Curley was defeated by such a narrow margin truly must give us all food for thought. Secondly- John Curley already has countywide name recognition- with the economy the way it is raising money will be difficult why not use the candidate we have already invested both time and money in. We as a party must learn committment to our candidates- not all races can or will be won with the first bite at the apple, let's not be such a contrary group. Let us show our candidates the same kind of loyalty we demand of them, we must have staying power and not behave in such an emotional manner.We must moving forward become a more inclusive group,a group that is developing a so-called bench of up and coming candidates and start grooming them with the name recognition that is so important. As I see it John Curley is the candidate this year. We should all get on board and save our "beloved" Monmouth County from any further harm under Dem control

Anonymous said...

Spatola supports Lonegan over Christie--and that is plenty to send off the alarm bells in my mind. While female candidates have faired better in recent years, I believe it had more to do with who those females were than their gender. Nobody knows who spatola is no matter how many teacher awards she has. That would be like curley mentioning awards for how many Buick's he sold last year as if anyone outside of his family's dealership would care. Curley is the best we got right now and we need to get behind him. I think he has matured since his experience last year.

Anonymous said...

Anybody but Barham.

Anonymous said...

The candidate was decided long ago, can we end the dog and pony show and just be told who it is?

Anonymous said...

John Curley is the logically candidate this year Even though he may have had so miss steps he certainly deserves the party's support this year. He is a hard worker and loves Monmouth County with hard work and all republicans supporting John we will once again gain control in Monmouth County

Anonymous said...

Haven't seen any signs of maturity. In fact he is still blaming the MCRC for not doing more. He squandered a golden opportunity last year by attacking his party and fellow republicans.

Anonymous said...

There was never a "close to the vest" candidate. This was a figment of Wayne's over active imagination.

Anonymous said...

nothing wrong with tring to increase interest and speculation: we need to ALL pay attention, and support wholeheartedly whomever gets the line...those hoilier-than-thou D's who ran and pledged to end the "old-boy" system are not only replacing R's, they're just quickly taking out non-politicals who've been around doing their jobs for years, doing give-backs to their $ people, and unions, and big-town plurality results, because they can.. if that bothers anyone, then wouldn't we rather have proven good R's running the county we built?....

Anonymous said...

Support whoever gets the line? Isn't that how we got so much corruption in the County GOP? Didn't bid rig teach you anything?

Anonymous said...

Don't forget, Operation Bid Rig swept up Democrats, too.

Anonymous said...

Is McEnery bringing yet another "Never served the community before" candidate?

Remember, Andrew Lucas Just got elected for the first time when he ran for Freeholder. Experience must not be in McEnery's vetting process!

Anonymous said...

It's HOW one gets 'the line' that matters. If the 'ol' boys' way of getting there applies, the 'bid rig' issue could play in the Dems' favor. That is why the Republicans could benefit from a democratic process....even if it be a dog and pony show. Isn't this the legislation that Allen and Beck and McHose and the others are promoting?? Smart, if you ask me....if you want to win again in Monmouth.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 5:46

You don't get it. The process is set and your candidate still:

Hasn't shown any signs of maturity. In fact he is still blaming the MCRC for not doing more. He squandered a golden opportunity last year by attacking his party and fellow republicans.

HOW he is seeking the nomination is by being busy spreading rumors about his fellow nominees. Sad!

With or with out your nominee we will win the 2009 election in Monmouth. Smart, if you ask me.....

Anonymous said...

Oh, get over your judgmental self,11:12, for heaven's sake: 8, yes, just 8,of 3500 workers, were dumb, got punished,and hurt us all!!.. I'm talking about whomever WINS the Primary,on the Rep. LINE, to run for OUR party, as a Republican, for the office of freeholder in November!..it's called the statutory process of putting forth your candidates-that's all!..if you don't want to participate in the Primary, then the rest of the party nominates the candidates for you.. this is the most "stuck,", grudge-ridden bunch of people I've ever seen.. so stay in your grumpy corner,and let the educated,optimistic, participating folks,who are simply trying to get the county back into the right hands, do the work, as usual: am sure you'll keep complaining/finding fault at every turn, no matter who's in charge, or who gets it,anyway..see, the 1976 national "malaise" of the awful Carter years is pervasive down to here,again: history repeats: the only way back is for Rep's to get their act together,send a clear message, tough it out, and win!..it's like dealing with spoiled, whiny children around here sometimes,really!!

Anonymous said...

This guy Ficalora is your typical McEnery candidate...no experience...no name...was not even a Republican until recently. Where does he find them?

Anonymous said...

Joseph Ficalora of Manalapan has only voted in 3 of the last 10 elections. That is how much he cares about Monmouth County! He just became a Republican. Let's reward his lack of committment by letting him run the county.

Ohhhhh McEnery, you've done it again. Thanks for bringing us more uncommitted, loser candidates!

Anonymous said...

Curley, Curley he's our man, if he can't do it, no one can!

Anonymous said...

Just to set the record straight:

Whoever anonymously posted that Joe Ficalora was not a Republican until recently is lying. Ditto for the anonymous person who posted that Ficalora only voted in 3 of the last 10 elections. But it is true he has no prior public service experience, he's been busy earning a living and raising a family not living off taxpayer dollars...

Anonymous said...

anyone's better than what we have running a dictatorship in Freehold, now.. still, we need a woman vs. the woman..remember, it's the only County office up this year, and is couched in-between the assembly and your locals..most of all,we need those working moms, and need to split that NJEA teacher-vote!- go, Kim!..