Kevin O'Toole

Senator also calls for a Special Legislative Hearing

After a critical report came out last week faulting Rutgers University for its handling of its Athletics Department budget, Senator Kevin O'Toole (R-40) is urging the State Comptroller to release the results of its investigation of Rutgers Athletics Department as soon as possible. The comptroller's office has sought documents detailing the finances of the school's Athletics Department to determine if an audit is warranted.

Two state senators today endorsed Assemblyman Mike Doherty (R-Washington) to replace outgoing State Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Flemington).

The moderate state Sen. Kevin O’Toole (R-Cedar Grove) said that Doherty “has worked diligently both in his district and across the state to represent the principles and values of the Republican Party.”

State Sen. Joe Pennacchio (R-Montville), a conservative, called Doherty a “gallant fighter for conservative principles.”  Pennacchio received Doherty’s endorsement for his own U.S. Senate campaign earlier this year after Doherty decided not to run.

North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos

NEWARK – Among Newark elected officials, the election of Barack Obama last week sparked hope for healthcare reform, more federal aid, a re-invigorated sense of American leadership - and a special place on the president’s to-do list for the Brick City.

Inevitably, the Democratic victory also opened up questions about the future of Mayor Cory Booker, a supporter of Obama’s from the beginning of his campaign, who now serves on the president-elect’s transition team as it relates specifically to urban affairs.

As mayor of one of New Jersey’s biggest and one of America’s oldest cities with a battered infrastructure, Booker will join over 20 other New Jersey mayors in Newark on Wednesday for a conference to redefine urban needs for the new administration.

MARLBORO – Mayor Jon Hornik and his Republican guests from the 12th Legislative District look like old pals at this charity ball the mayor throws on a Saturday night, as revelers groove on the dance floor at the Battleground Country Club.

The cover band strains of “You’re just too good to be true” sweep through the ballroom and the mayor floats happily among guests, including state Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth), Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon (R-Little Silver) and Assemblywoman Caroline Casagrande (R-Colts Neck).

“Come on, that’s over,” a smiling Hornik ribs O’Scanlon about the Nov. 4th presidential election between Democratic frontrunner Sen. Barack Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain.

Politicians spin for a living, but they're rarely held accountable for what they say after the fact. So today I'm taking a look back on what they were saying about Alaska Governor Sarah Palin when she was announced as John McCain's vice presidential running mate.

State Sen. Bill Baroni predicted that Palin would appeal to "a broad spectrum of New Jersey voters," especially the state's "vast independent voting bloc." Asked about accusations that she pressured the former Commissioner of Public Safety to fire a state trooper, Baroni replied: "There's no evidence of it. It will be completely vetted [in] the next 48 hours."

In fact a bipartisan legislative panel found that Palin violated the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act when she "abused her power in pushing for the firing of an Alaska state trooper."

Baroni wasn't as far off on the other point, though. In the latest Survey USA poll, McCain leads among independents in New Jersey by 45 to 40 percent, although voters who identify as "moderate" break for Obama by 58 to 36 percent. Still, Obama has a 15 point lead in the poll.

State Sen. Kevin O'Toole called the Palin pick "a stroke of brilliance." If this is his idea of brilliance, I don't want to know what other good ideas O'Toole has in store.

If I had a world of my own, everything would be nonsense. Nothing would be what it is, because everything would be what it isn't.
-- Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, by Lewis Carroll

Legislation would prohibit sports teams from selling Personal Seat Licenses

Senator Kevin O'Toole (R-40) introduced legislation today that would prevent sports teams in New Jersey from selling personal seat licenses ("PSL"). The bill is a direct result of plans by the New York Giants and New York Jets football franchises to charge season ticket holders a PSL fee upward of $25, 000 for the right to buy season tickets. The proposed bill would ban the Giants, Jets and any other team in the state from requiring fans to purchase PSLs.

State Sen. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Union): Politicker photoSUMMIT - As far back as 2004, Sen. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Union) recalls himself and others - state Sen. Leonard Lance (R-Hunterdon), then Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole (R-Cedar Grove) among them - complaining about the lack of transparency in the way legislators obtained money for projects in their respective districts.

Now on the heels of George LeBlanc’s testimony in the corruption trial of former Sen. Wayne Bryant (D-Camden) in which the Senate budget officer highlighted how legislators in 2004 and 2005 siphoned money from a dedicated $40 million property tax relief fund, Kean wants answers.

"The next step is to get our hands around what occurred," the senator told PolitickerNJ.com. "Who was spending and what was being spent? The most important thing now is to expose to the light of day what was happening - expose the process.

"We're talking about a system in which information was being held not just from the public but from other members of the Legislature, a system that resulted in massive overspending with no oversight, which made New Jersey more unaffordable, in which members of the (Codey) administration were complicit."

Two-and-a-half years before a state budget aide brought back to light a slush fund that gave key legislative leaders sole discretion over millions of dollars in state money, Assembly Republicans were suspicious of the program and sought to learn more about it.

They didn’t get very far, however, according to documents the Assembly Republicans provided to PolitickerNJ.

The Property Tax Assistance and Community Development grants program became the subject of controversy again yesterday when Democratic Senate budget staffer George LeBlanc, testifying at former State Sen. Wayne Bryant’s corruption trial, said that Bryant got $4 million from the fund to distribute at his own discretion. $200,000 went to his employer, UMDNJ. LeBlanc also testified that former Senate Majority Leader Bernard Kenny also was allocated $4 million.

The struggle of the late political consultant Tom Blakely’s widow to secure payment from the life insurance policy her husband signed just days before he died may lead to legislation in New Jersey. 

Last month, four state Senators wrote a letter to TransAmerica Life Insurance Corp. CEO Patrick S. Baird inviting him or a representative of the company to meet with them over legislation they plan to propose next month that would change the way life insurance companies operate in New Jersey.

TransAmerica has been assailed by prominent New Jersey Republicans ever since it challenged the validity of Blakely’s second policy with the company.  Blakely was a co-founder of Jamestown Associates, a top Republican consulting firm, and died in March after collapsing during a 5K race in Bordentown.