Jackson

ASSEMBLY ENVIRONMENT CHAIR WELCOMES NEW DEP APPOINTMENT
 
Assemblyman John F. McKeon, chair of the Assembly Environment and Solid Waste Committee welcomed Governor Jon S. Corzine's appointment of Mark Mauriello as the commissioner of New Jersey's Department of Environment Protection.

JACKSON - An Election Day sweep by a bipartisan ticket led by Jackson Mayor Mark SedaDemocrat Michael Kafton propelled citizens to the microphone at a Thursday night council meeting to complain about Mayor Mark Seda’s efforts to privatize the city’s building department.

At the head of the charge was the newly victorious Kafton, who called on Attorney General Anne Milgram to investigate Seda’s efforts even as the mayor’s father faces a $30,000 building department fine.

He also chastised the council for failing to join him.

"The council is either closing their eyes or not strong enough to stand up to him (Seda)," said the councilman-elect and former mayor. "I demanded the council get to the attorney general’s office."

Ocean County Local Elections: Boss Gilmore’s Candidates Lose Badly In Jackson And Manchester, A Body Blow To The Greedy Political Machine

JACKSON - Team Kafton figured if they kept hitting the Council candidate Michael Kaftonopposition with gypsy moths, taxes and Mayor Mark Seda's salary increase, they could beat incumbent GOP Councilwoman Emily Ingram and her running mates on Election Day.

In a few hours, they will learn the effectiveness of their repeated mail attack pieces coupled with five debate forums in which former Democratic Mayor Michael Kafton and his running mates kept pointing to Ingram's alliance with Seda.

"He's working the senior communities hard," campaign spokesman Pat Politano said of Kafton. "He's wandering everywhere. Mike's been all over town."

JACKSON - Team Ingram braced for a last weekend hit from the Council candidate Todd PorterKafton campaign, which came in the form of a mailer depicting Councilwoman Emily Ingram and her running mates as the puppets of Mayor Mark Seda.

Seda's unpopular in town at the moment owing to property taxe hikes.

Former Mayor Michael Kafton and his running mates, Bobbie Rivere and Mike Reina, see an opportunity to bump the mayor's ally, Ingram, off the town council, while also denying her running mates, Charles Garafano and Todd Porter.

ORANGE Candidates for mayor: At-Large Councilman Donald Page, North Ward Councilwoman Tency Eason, West Orange Patrolman Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., Zoning Board Chair Janice Morrell, activist Betty Brown, Planning Board Chair Dwight Holmes.

ORANGE - Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) has invested his time, name and $2,600 in Eldridge Hawkins, Jr., son of his former seat mate in the Assembly, who voted in his first Orange election just last year.

Codey’s political enemies will crow if his candidate fails to get anything short of a first place finish, but the former governor’s pick of a 28-year old with "it factor" potential could pay political dividends in the future.

LANCE URGES JACKSON TO MAKE PETTY'S ISLAND 1ST PRIORITY
Commissioner Designate Should Address Petty’s Island at Confirmation Hearing

Senate Republican leader, Leonard Lance, (R-23), announced today that the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services, (OLS), is drafting a Senate Resolution at his request urging the incoming Commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection, (DEP), to reconsider accepting the donation of Petty’s island from the Citgo corporation.

JACKSON AND SCHINDLER WRONG AGAIN ON "FACTS"

PRESS RELEASE FALSELY CLAIMS ONLY DEMOCRATS REDUCED BUDGET

OFFICIAL RECORD PROVES REPUBLICANS CUT BUDGET IN 1990'S

JACKSON AND SCHINDLER 'IN DENIAL' ON STATE DEBT

CANDIDATES DENY PUBLISHED REPORTS ON GROWING STATE DEBT

IS DENIAL DUE TO SHODDY RESEARCH OR DESIRE TO FOOL PUBLIC?

EITHER WAY, THEY DON'T BELONG IN THE LEGISLATURE

Jon Corzine's latest problem is published reports that he has made more than $5 million in donations or loans to black churches in New Jersey since he became a candidate for the United States Senate in 1999. His charitable foundation's 2004 report shows more than $2.5 million last year alone. Corzine won the endorsement of the Black Ministers Council of New Jersey and their Executive Director, Rev. Reginald Jackson. Last year, Corzine helped finance Jackson's bid to become an African Methodist Episcopal Bishop.

This may be a strategy that works for Corzine: during his 2000 Senate primary, Corzine got into some trouble for telling jokes that were interpreted by some as offensive toward Italian-Americans and Jews. Corzine's damage control included support from Italian-American and Jewish organizations. That fall, reports showed that Corzine's foundation made large charitable contributions to many of the same groups.