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The Smear Tactics continue from the Old Bridge Democrats (but who is really surprised?)

2012-05-25T11:56:08Z

STILL CRANKY over getting swept in last November’s election for Mayor & Council at Large, the Old Bridge Democrats have continued to LIE, DISTORT and SMEAR when it comes to the very important issues that face Old Bridge. So let’s compare and contrast their lies with what the actual truth is.

OB Democratic LIE – The Phillips/Gillespie regime left the Township of Old Bridge with a surplus of $7 million dollars.

The TRUTH – In Fact, after eight years of Phillips/Gillespie and 14 years of the Democrats controlling the Council, Old Bridge was in a DEFICIT of approximately $7 million dollars. Last year alone, they sold 300 ACRES of land to the OBMUA for $5.6 million dollars and stole another $1.3 million from the OBMUA reserve, just to make payroll!!!! Not only did the Democrats raid the OBMUA, but due to their malfeasance, the OBMUA had to raise Water & Sewer rates!

OB Democratic LIE –The Township’s Budget woes somehow miraculously started on January 2, 2012, the day Mayor Henry was sworn in.

The TRUTH – Old Bridge was facing a fiscal “Tsunami” caused by the Democrats through uses of one-shot revenues. This was reinforced by the Township’s auditors as well as the NJ State Division of Local Government Services. The Democrats were consistently selling off Township owned property to balance budgets and not getting any return in the way of revenues.

OB Democratic LIE – The Calogera/Volkert Plan would save the Township money.

The TRUTH – Political Patronage at its best. This “plan” was nothing more than more of the same from Democrats, kicking the can down the road like they have done in the past. Raising the average collection rate in a down economy and over-forecasting an already over-forecasted municipal court revenue stream is just plain dumb. In fact, Councilman Butler abstained from voting for this, one can only assume why.

OB Democratic LIE – Mayor Henry is going to use one-shot revenues by selling the Laurence Harbor Senior center to the Housing Authority.

The TRUTH – Wow, now this is a whopper. A one-time member of the Housing Authority and former Democratic Council at Large candidate suggested that the Township look into building a facility for Veterans in Laurence Harbor in conjunction with the Housing Authority. Mayor Henry publically stated he thought that was a worthwhile opportunity and his administration would try to make the Veteran Center a reality. Again, Wow.

OB Democratic LIE – Mayor Henry gave a no-bid contract to the Law Firm representing Old Bridge and hired the Township Business Administrator without Council Approval.

The TRUTH – The Law Firm representing the Township was picked via the “Fair and Open” process and that process was open to any and all Law Firms to bid on. The Firm has a not to exceed contract of $250,000 for one year, which can be renegotiated at the end of 2012 and saves thousands of dollars versus under the Phillips regime that had an Attorney, an Assistant Attorney and a Secretary. The Mayor via executive order (within his rights as Mayor under the Faulkner form of Government) appointed the New Business Administrator. The Council voted to approve his new salary of $150,000. The salary of $150,000 is still well under the spending levels under the Phillips administration when there was a fulltime Business Administrator, an Assistant Business Administrator and a Secretary.

OB Democratic LIE – That Mayor Henry was responsible for the Police layoffs because he didn’t set aside money in the budget for the arbitration ruling.

The TRUTH – The PBA and the FOP knew that a favorable arbitration ruling could lead to layoffs, because MAYOR PHILLIPS told them so!! Mayor Henry attempted to bargain with both Unions and was only able to reach an agreement with the FOP. However, he has to date brought back 3 of the laid off policeman and is working to bring back more if possible.

OB Democratic LIE – The Republicans refused to repeal part of the Lifetime Benefits plan

The TRUTH - The Democrats passed a Healthcare ordinance that changed the eligibility to receive lifetime healthcare benefits from 25 years of Service in Old Bridge to only 15 years in Old Bridge as long as you worked 10 years anywhere else in the State system. They did this purely and simply as a political favor to a certain sitting councilman whose son would benefit from that change. The Republicans reversed that bad piece of legislation and reverted it back to 25 years. Separate from that awful piece of legislation, the Democrats attempted to lump in a Pension ordinance that allows employees who are 65 years old and have 15 years of service with Old Bridge to be pension eligible. This is one of the many pension options the State of New Jersey offers and oh by the way, was enacted by the OB Democrats! Mayor Henry did a study and concluded that changes to this ordinance would have a negative fiscal impact on the Township and as such, the Republican majority voted any changes to the ordinance down.

The bottom line is this………….

Mayor Henry and the Republican Council Majority were able to introduce and adopt a budget that is fiscally sound and does not rely on one-shot revenues like the Democrats have done year after year. In fact, at $52.5 million, the budget is 6.3% less than the $56.05 million dollar budget passed by the Democrats last year. Yes, it was a painful process, but the PAIN was caused by the DEMOCRATS, Mayor Henry and the Republicans are simply cleaning the mess up. Going forward, Old Bridge’s future looks bright, we have a new Hotel to look forward to which will bring jobs and revenue to Old Bridge, a potential public/private partnership to complete Mannino Park, the completion of the expansion project for Raritan Bay Medical Center, the list goes on and on.

Joe Kyrillos is getting his message out and new polls back that up!

2012-04-13T11:44:37Z

http://www.politickernj.com/56140/kyrillos-closes-menendez

Councilman Calogera needs to look in the mirror

2012-03-04T15:54:22Z

I just finished reading the article in the March 1, 2012 addition of the Suburban titled “O.B. lays off workers to trim budget deficit” and I felt compelled to comment. In particular, I need to correct the record based on comments made by Democratic Councilman Kevin Calogera. Mr. Calogera’s comments in the article are disingenuous, politically motivated and quite frankly totally inaccurate.

Mayor Henry, not two full months in office, was forced to implement these layoffs due to the severe structural budget issues he inherited. In doing so, he has been open about the Township’s finances and has made every effort to minimize the affect the structural budget would cause. Mayor Henry sought assistance from the State to delay his presentation of the budget (and was granted a waiver) so he could better analyze all of the inputs of the budget and come up with a plan that balanced the needs of the employees with the needs of the taxpayers. To that end, the Mayor formed and convened a Finance Committee meeting which included myself, Councilman Richard Greene, Councilman Kevin Calogera, the Business Administrator and the Finance Officer. That meeting took place on February 16, 2012, a full week before Mr. Calogera alleges he knew of these layoff’s (February 24). At the meeting which lasted approximately two hours, Mr. Calogera was an active participant and knew full well the financial difficulties facing Old Bridge. To state that he was made aware of the layoffs on February 24^th is inaccurate.

Mr. Calogera goes on the say that “We (I assume he means the Democrats) were closing the [budget] gap through attrition, but they (I assume he means the Republicans) want to do it as quickly as possible no matter how it affects the employees…” Mr. Calogera shows a significant naivety or lack of business sense with this statement. To say that natural attrition (employees leaving the Township payroll on their own) is a solid strategy to balance a budget is ludicrous at best. The fact of the matter is, Mr. Calogera and the Democrats, who controlled the Township council for the last 14 years and the Mayor’s office for the last 8 years, created this structural deficit. Additionally, during the Finance meeting on February 16^th, he was also made aware that there was not enough expected attrition to close the budget gap. If this problem was small enough to solve through attrition, layoffs would clearly not have been implemented. The fact of the matter is that the Democrats have kicked the proverbial can down the road and have not dealt with the financial issues facing this Township.

Finally, we have a Mayor who is going to take actions that stabilize the Township’s financial woes so we can start to grow and get this town back on track.

Mr. Calogera needs to simply look in the mirror to see why these layoffs occurred. These layoffs affected people’s lives and for Councilman Calogera to use this as some sort of political football is completely inappropriate and I think he owes those employees that were laid off an apology.

Brian J. Cahill

Council President – Councilman at Large

Old Bridge Township

Democratic Healthcare Ordinance Repealed!

2012-02-08T20:43:59Z

The Healthcare ordinance that the prior Democratic administration jammed down our throats is no more. The public spoke loud and clear and we listened! The Old Bridge Republicans stand for fiscally conservative principles, not politically motivated high jinks.

http://sub.gmnews.com/news/2012-02-09/Front_Page/Hardfought_retirement_ordinance_off_the_books.html

Old Bridge Republicans keep our promises!!

2012-02-02T14:16:09Z

The controversial healthcare ordnance passed by the prior administration and democratically controlled council will be repealed.

http://sub.gmnews.com/news/2012-02-02/Front_Page/OB_council_to_repeal_retirement_ordinance.html

Owen Henry Endorsed by the League of Humane Voters

2011-11-03T20:02:15Z

The Old Bridge Republican Team-2011 is proud to announce that the League of Humane Voters has formally endorsed Owen Henry for Mayor of Old Bridge.

From the Endorsement page:

ENDORSEMENT: Old Bridge Mayoral Race

Candidate for Mayor Owen Henry (R)

In a questionnaire submitted to the League of Humane Voters of New Jersey, Owen Henry, candidate for the position of Old Bridge Township Mayor has stated the following:

He is supportive of Trap-Neuter-Return for outdoor cat populations

He would support a Township program and/or ordinance that endorses TNR as it has "worked in other towns and has proven results"

He does not support feeding bans or Trap and Remove as they do "not solve the problem and are cruel and inhumane"

The current mayor, Patrick Gillespie, has not responded to our questionnaire.

Owen is the proud owner of 4 rescued dogs and is in the process of adopting another. He strongly believes in T-N-R but also believes that the Township can and should do a better job at partnering with reputable adoption agencies in the area in an effort to find loving homes, when possible, for the outdoor cat population.

The Old Bridge Republican Team of Owen Henry, Brian Cahill, Debbie Walker and Jim Anderson are each proud of their own animal family members and wish to thank the LOHV for this wonderful endorsement.

Press Release-Old Bridge Democrats inventing “alliances”, breaking ELEC laws and smearing Republicans

2011-11-03T16:45:26Z

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 2, 2011

Old Bridge Democrats inventing “alliances”, breaking ELEC laws and smearing Republicans

Desperate to remain in power, Democrats have gone wild

Old Bridge, NJ: More than a dozen concerned citizens of Old Bridge contacted the Old Bridge Republicans over the weekend to alert the candidates of two disturbing letters sent to an unknown number of residents in Old Bridge. Letters alleging to stem from the “Hispanic Alliance of Old Bridge” and the “Senior Alliance of Old Bridge” were sent or mailed from the Post Office Box belonging to the Old Bridge Democrat County Committee. The phone number on each letter belongs to the Democrat Chairman, William Flynn. Copies of each letter are attached hereto for the Press’ convenience.

In light of the shockingly appalling and untrue allegations set forth in the letter, including unfounded and irresponsible claims of racism and a desire to “kill” seniors, a request for a full investigation of their deceptive and possibly illegal actions was requested on Monday. A copy of said request is likewise attached.

The Old Bridge Republican team of Owen Henry, Brian Cahill, Debbie Walker and Jim Anderson made the following statement:

“This obvious attempt to deceive these particular voting blocks and to knowingly smear our campaign clearly demonstrates the Old Bridge Democrats are unwilling and clearly unable to run on their record. This is a prime example of gutter politics, not surprising though, considering the ties the Old Bridge Democrats have with the Middlesex County Democratic Machine. We are confident that the voters of Old Bridge will reject this vile form of politics and demonstrate that in the voting booth on November 8th."

Facing their record of $8 million budget deficit, $5.1 million in new, unfunded lifetime health care benefit spending and record job losses, the Old Bridge Democrats have taken their election-year politics to a new, despicable low. The Old Bridge Republican team of Owen Henry, Brian Cahill, Debbie Walker and Jim Anderson have campaigned on their positive 6-point “Framework for Change” in an effort to show residents that they are the team that can fix Old Bridge’s fiscal mess.

Because they cannot run on their dismal record of waste, cronyism and higher taxes, the Old Bridge Democrats have resorted to the worst kind of smear tactics available. They have attempted to smear Republicans with allegations of racism and worse, using fictitious “alliances” whose addresses refer back to William Flynn, Old Bridge Democrat Chair and the Old Bridge Democrat Committee. Ultimately it leads back to interim Mayor Pat Gillespie, Ed Testino, Kelly Ellis-Foster and Jack Gillick.

The People of Old Bridge deserve more competent and professional leadership than the irresponsible children in power now.

On Tuesday, November 8^th, they will have the chance to realize that.

For more information, please call Kelly at 732-952-5120 or visit our website at www.oldbridgerepublicans.com

The Real Story Behind Property Taxes in Old Bridge - 48.5% Increase.

2011-10-25T18:15:31Z

By now, you have probably seen those ridiculous signs littering Old Bridge put out by Interim Mayor Gillespie and the Democrats saying they are going to “Freeze” property taxes. We've seen some Election year politicking in this town, but this one takes the cake!

As we like to say, “Facts are stubborn things” so let’s look at the facts. The Democrats have had control of the Township Council since 1998. Over that 14 years period, your taxes have continued to rise. The chart below is a simple bar graph that plots out how much in taxes you paid in Old Bridge and is represented in cents per $100 of assessed value on your home. As you can see, in 1998 the average homeowner was paying a rate of 66 cents per $100.

Fast forward to 2011, you are now paying a rate of 98 cents per $100 which is a 48.5% increase!

Couple these facts with a projected $7-8M budget shortfall starting in 2012, you can clearly see that the Democrat’s claims that they will “Freeze” property taxes is not only silly, it is disingenuous and insulting. The Democrats cannot run on their record (obviously) so they resort to Election Year politics in the hope that the Electorate (You) will be fooled.

Our team-Owen Henry for Mayor, Brian Cahill, Debbie Walker and Jim Anderson for Council- has a plan to stabilize tax rates and to get Old Bridge back on track, it’s called “A Framework for Change – Putting Old Bridge Back on the Right Track”. This six point plan applies good, solid business principles to a daunting task, trying to close a huge budget deficit, created by those that claim to want to Freeze property taxes. This task won’t be easy; it will be hard but we are the proven business leaders to institute this positive change.

Please join us as we prepare to take Old Bridge back and restore Fiscal Sanity, please support us on Line “A” on November 8^th.

Debbie Walker & Jim Anderson

For Council-at-Large

UPDATE: Old Bridge GOP Video on Lifetime Healthcare Ordinance that Will Cost Millions

2011-10-22T01:03:21Z

via SaveJersey.com

While Save Jersey is primarily a site that deals with state government issues, we believe that it is important to cover certain events at the local level from around the state, particularly when we feel that the issues at hand is one of particular importance. This is not the first time we have covered a specific local issue, but its the first time we are going to acknowledge it as a future pursuit of this website. Posts in this vein will from here on out be dubbed “Save Jersey Local” and will likely be the precursor to a great many enhancements to our site in the future:

Save Jerseyans, I want you to suspend your attachment to reality for one moment, and imagine a municipality, not a city, not a county of state, that has a budget deficit of nearly $8 million. Crazy right? Now imagine Old Bridge, NJ in Middlesex County. Now realize that the fantasy town in your mind and Old Bridge are the same place. Yesterday evening I found myself in Old Bridge, NJ, just at the top of LD12, Bob Brown territory, for a press conference being called by the local candidates, both incumbents and challengers.

This press conference was called on an issue that we have previously covered here at Save Jersey. Old Bridge recently passed an ordinance along party lines that lowered the minimum amount of years that an Old Bridge employee must work to receive taxpayer funded health benefits for the rest of their lives. The previous year minimum was 25, it is now 15.

The Mayor of Old Bridge claims that this will be a savings to the town with the $8 million dollar structural deficit. What a joke. Yes, maybe clearing people off the payroll by making early retirement seem more attractive, but that would only help for so long before the long term costs catch up. However, this is par for the course with this long time Democrat regime.

Old Bridge has had a structural deficit for the last few years, and every year the Democrats find some back door method to plug the budget hole. Usually it is some sort of land sale to Middlesex County, or some sort of accounting trick where they raid the MUA surplus. But this year it was far worse. Not only did the Democrats raid the surplus of the local MUA, but they also sold land to the MUA for over $5 million. Why is that so bad? Because some MUA board members are also council members! They were negotiating the sale on both sides of the table! This sort of thing should be illegal in government, and life in general.

Finally, one of the council members, a man named Bob Volker, voted for the ordinance. He had a direct conflict of interest due to the fact that his son, a local police officer, stands to benefit from this new rule. A determination of the validity of Volker’s vote is now being tried in court with a writ expected to come down on Friday.

What also disgusts me about this whole thing is that after all of the hard work that was done this year, on both sides of the aisle, to pass comprehensive pension reform, a town would go and do something stupid like this that completely negates the purpose of the reforms. What do I mean? Those reforms saved money by asking state workers to pay a small percentage into their own health insurance, just like everyone else does. Now these Democrats are bypassing that reform, and costing tax payers more money, but allowing workers to retire early, and letting them take home health insurance of the rest of their lives, all courtesy of Old Bridge taxpayers.

I would say that I am afraid of this ordinance spreading and popping up in other Democrat towns, but honestly Save Jerseyans, I don’t think any other Democrats could be this stupid. This ordinance will likely be born in Old Bridge, and die here after the 2011 election when the GOP takes control of the town.

Watch the video below for highlights of the press conference.

The Democrats Want to "Freeze" Property Taxes? Seriously?

2011-10-18T17:19:55Z

No, not seriously.

As you know, the #1 issue in all New Jersey political races is Property Taxes. Whether it is here in Old Bridge, at the County level or at the State, every political discussion leads to a discussion on property taxes. Property taxes in our town are of course a huge concern for our citizens. I have spoken to thousands of residents over the course of this campaign and there is a recurring and consistent message;get the Property Tax situation under control. I agree. In fact, one of the main reasons I got involved and decided to run for Mayor was my frustration with the tax and spend mentality of the Democrats, and in particular my opponent (the Interim Mayor).

Since the Democrats have been in control, Property Taxes here in Old Bridge have risen 40%! Which is why I was curious when I saw my opponent putting out lawn signs and making you tube videos about how he was going to Freeze property taxes? Did my opponent finally see the light and realize that our residents are being squeezed and strangled by these huge increases? HARDLY. My opponent is not only un-willing to freeze property taxes, he is also unable.

Old Bridge faces a $7M - $8M budget deficit starting in Jan 2012 that the Interim Mayor helped to create. He has no plan to resolve this huge gap except to say he will employ a 60 year old budgeting technique (Zero Based Budgeting) and complain to Trenton that Old Bridge needs more funding. That doesn’t sound like a man with a plan to freeze taxes. Further, he has demonstrated his un-willingness to get serious about taxes through various recent actions he has taken, here are a few;

Voted to deplete the OBMUA reserve two years in a row $1.4M & $1.3M respectively
Voted to sell Township land to the OBMUA for $5.6M to plug a budget gap under the pre-text of reducing water rates 25 years from now! Land you paid for with your Water & Sewer bills!
Proposed a plan during the FY 2010 budget discussions to defer making pension payments that would have cost the Township an additional $1M. Fortunately, even members of his own party thought that was a bad idea and voted against it.

What Old Bridge needs is a REAL PLAN and I have one. I call it “A Framework for Change – Putting Old Bridge Back on the Right Track”. It is a 6-point plan, with very specific ideas on how to grow this town, get efficient and become more resident friendly. I like to say it is a fluid document that can change over time with input from you, the residents. You can find our plan on our website www.oldbridgerepublicans.com and I’d love to hear your ideas.

The bottom line is, I am going to run this Township and my administration like a business. You are my customers, I am going to be honest with you, not make un-realistic promises I can’t keep, but I will be the hardest working Mayor this town has seen in a long time. With your help, we can turn this town around and we can stabilize taxes. It’s going to take a good deal of hard work, that’s why I’d ask you to support my running mates, Brian Cahill, Debbie Walker and Jim Anderson. All fine individuals with terrific business sense who know how to get things done. It would be an honor to be your Mayor.

Owen Henry – Republican Candidate for Mayor