News
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
Today the Reason Foundation released their 21st Annual Report on the Performance of the State Highway System. This report ranks the quality and spending on the state highways based on data reported by each state for 2012 and part of 2011. Our legislators should be hanging their heads in shame while the taxpayers should be sharpening their pitchforks.
The condition of New Jersey highways ranks very low while spending per mile far outpaces the rest of the nation. New Jersey spends 12.5 times more than the national average per mile. This is over 3 times more than Massachusetts, the next lowest spender.
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- Written by: Webmaster
- Category: Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
As a result of pressure from the NJ Libertarian Party's Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project, Manville has repealed three loitering and curfew ordinances.
An article announcing the repeal has been published by The Manville news. A recent letter sent by by committee chair, John Paff to the Borough of Manville is below.
Manville was originally scheduled to repeal this ordinance one year ago.
Does your town have an outdated ordinance? If so contact us and we will see what we can do.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
Asserting that "the criminal investigation has concluded," Gloucester Township (Camden County) municipal attorney David F. Carlamere has disclosed police reports of a "theft of services" allegedly committed by former Township Public Works Director Len Moffa. I have previously blogged about this lawsuit here.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
In a September 3, 2014 letter, Perth Amboy (Middlesex County) City Attorney Mark J. Blunda, provided a redacted copy of a two-page police report regarding an alleged sexual assault by one Perth Amboy school teacher against another. The letter and the report, on-line here, bring my lawsuit, which I blogged about here, to an end.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Preempted Ordinance Repeal Project
Hon. W. Jeffery Hamilton, Mayor, and members of the
Paulsboro Borough Council
1211 Delaware Street
Paulsboro, NJ 08066
Via e-mail only
Dear Mayor Hamilton and Council members:
For the reasons that follow, I believe that Chapter 28 of Paulsboro's Code, establishing a juvenile curfew, is unconstitutional and that a person against whom enforcement is sought may have a viable lawsuit against the Borough.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
I just learned today that Roy Rogers, the Gloucester Township Housing Authority's (GTHA) former director, filed a lawsuit against the Authority earlier this year alleging that he was improperly fired on February 27, 2013 and that he "was terminated for his objection to unethical GTHA policies and actions." The lawsuit is on-line here.
The most specific allegations start on page 9 and include charges that Mayor David Mayer "became visibly angry and frustrated" when Rogers objected to awarding a contract for a development project to a person who did not submit a bid. He also charged that he upset Township officials when he "refused to request campaign donations at fundraisers from private contractors for GTHA commissioners and Township officials and candidates." He also claimed that he verbally objected to a land transfer made by GTHA Commissioner Cindy Carlamere and her husband, who is Gloucester Township Attorney David Carlamere, stating that it was "unethical and procedurally improper."
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
On August 29, 2014, I blogged an entry entitled "Thirteen recent ethics cases against Perth Amboy school board members" concerning several school ethics matters filed by former Perth Amboy school superintendent Janine Walker Caffrey and former elementary school principal Alvaro J. Cores against members of the Board of Education.
In my blog, I noted that there were two other ethics matters, bearing Case Nos. ECC-11709-13 and ECC-00806-14 that had been " withdrawn by agreement of all parties in anticipation of settlement or mediation." I promised to submit an additional OPRA request for records pertaining to those two cases.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
NEWS RELEASE
September 5, 2014
For immediate release
Contact: Hyde Post, President, NFOIC
State Open Government Activist is 2014 FOI Hall of Famer
Well known for his public advocacy and a frequent panelist and speaker throughout New Jersey, John Paff this year becomes the 15th inductee into the State Open Government Freedom of Information Hall of Fame. Known as the “Heroes of the Fifty States,” the joint initiative of the National Freedom of Information Coalition (NFOIC) and the Society of Professional Journalists recognizes the recipient’s “long and steady effort to preserve and protect the free flow of information about state and local government that is vital to the public in a democracy.” Formal induction takes place on October 24 at the 2014 NFOIC Freedom of Information Summit in St. Petersburg, Florida.
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- Written by: Alex Pugliese
- Category: Selected Blogs
The recent news that the ISIS terror group has among its ranks Americans and citizens from other western nations forces two questions to be asked: What would make an individual join a terrorist group and what do these groups look for in a recruit? While I believe that the answers vary, the main twelve reasons, in my view, are the following that a terrorist group would look for:
- A person who has a sense of emptiness, who is going through a challenging time and has a yearning to find meaning in his or her life.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
On August 5, 2014, West Berlin attorney Donald M. Doherty, Jr. filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) lawsuit on my behalf against Gloucester Township (Camden County). The lawsuit, John Paff v. Township and Gloucester and Rosemary DiJosie, Township Clerk, Docket No. CAM-L-3147-14 is on-line here.
The lawsuit's basis is a tip from an informant that those in power in Gloucester Township government sought to remove a high-ranking employee from his position so that they could give the job to another person who was politically connected and favored. In order to prod the employee into leaving his position, those holding political sway allegedly arranged for the employee to be caught doing something illegal and then used a threat of arrest and prosecution to coerce him into resigning.
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- Written by: Steven Uccio
- Category: Letters to Editor
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Steven Uccio of East Windsor is a Libertarian candidate for Mercer County Freeholder. This letter to the editor appeared in The Times of Trenton. |
While our property taxes and debt climb, the Mercer County freeholders are focused on other things. What could be more important than making living here more affordable? Plastic shopping bags and new taxes.
Our freeholders want to levy a 5-cent per bag tax on each plastic shopping bag used here in Mercer County. First, I consider it a waste of time, when there are more important things to be done. Second, let the actual stores worry about their shopping bags. The freeholders should mind their own business; the stores can charge a fee if they deem it necessary. Most grocery stores already sell reusable shopping bags and some offer a discount to those who use them. I've never seen any reason that the county government had to step in.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Open Government Advocacy Project
I have tracked down the following thirteen ethics matters that are pending or have recently closed against members of the Perth Amboy Board of Education. The New Jersey Libertarian Party's Open Government Advocacy Project, as a public service, has provided links to the source documents regarding each of these complaints.
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- Written by: Jay Edgar
- Category: Latest News
The NJ state Casino Reinvestment Development Authority is attempting to seize private property once again. They are attempting to use eminent domain to seize the home of Charles Birnbaum in Atlantic City. Mr. Birnbaum’s parents purchased this home in 1969. Mr. Birnbaum uses the home as a base for his piano-tuning business and rents the apartment in the house. The Declaration of Taking filed in February by the CRDA presents Mr. Birnbaum with a sum of $238,500 for the taking of his property. Zillow estimates the house worth to be $381,161.
The filing indicates that the property is being condemned, yet the property is in excellent condition.
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- Written by: Patrick McKnight
- Category: Candidates and Elections
New Jersey is slowly rejecting the two-party system. Voter participation and congressional approval ratings are both at record lows. Yet the courts have issued interpretations of election law that discriminate in favor of the two establishment political parties.
The establishment political parties are guaranteed the first two columns on every ballot. Meanwhile, the Libertarian Party (the third-largest and fastest-growing party) is “lucky” to receive the third column and is often relegated to the fifth or sixth column. This is unfair. All political parties should be treated equally under the law during the construction of the ballot.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
On July 12, 2013, the Township of Gloucester (Camden County) agreed to pay $167,765.38 to two roommates who sued members of the Gloucester Township Police Department for allegedly entering their home without a warrant, falsely charging and beating them.
In their suit, Marc Pizzo and Jamie Slimm said that on October 17, 2010, Slimm had called the Gloucester Township Police Department's non-emergency number to make an inquiry "regarding Pizzo including but not limited to the status of a past citation." This call allegedly caused Sergeant Mark Benton and Police Officers Dwayne Pietzsch and Paul Bertini to respond.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
On July 21, 2014, the insurer for two Waterford (Camden County) police officers agreed to pay $260,000 to a father and his parents who sued them for alleged harassment, unlawful arrest and use of excessive force.
In their separate suits, Tracey Miller and his parents Ronald and Lavina Miller said that Waterford Police Sergeant Joseph McNally is a "very close friend" of Thomas Watson, who is the father of Tracey's ex-wife Jennifer Miller. According to the complaints, the divorce between Tracey and Jennifer was "highly contested" and involved a domestic violence complaint and custody of the couple's child.
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- Written by: John Paff
- Category: Police Accountability Project
On February 23, 2013, the Township of Winslow (Camden County) agreed to pay $42,500 to a local man who sued members of the Winslow Police Department for allegedly applying excessive force upon him.
In his suit, Ronald Brown said that on September 18, 2008 he was sitting in parked car when Officer Sean Richards approached on a bicycle and ordered him to exit the vehicle and place his hands on the car. He claimed that after he complied, Officer Richards handcuffed him and threw him on the ground. Brown claimed that his injuries were serious enough to warrant a one-week stay in a jail infirmary.
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- Written by: Jim Tosone
- Category: Letters to Editor
Among the many advantages the Republicans and Democrats have conferred upon themselves is their privileged position on the voting ballot. The establishment political parties are guaranteed the first two columns on every ballot. The other political parties, such as the Libertarian Party, are then put in lottery drawing for columns three and above.
According to state election law, the Republicans and Democrats lose their special columns on the left of the ballot if neither can "poll" at least 10 percent of the votes cast in the previous Assembly election. In 2014 only 8 percent of eligible New Jersey voters participated in one of the two taxpayer-funded primaries. Some 10 percent of 3.7 million votes is 370,000. The law is clear. Neither party even came close.
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- Written by: Mark Richards
- Category: Letters to Editor
A recent letter to the Suburban Trends expressed outrage that some business groups take their holdings offshore to avoid U.S. taxes.
The writer shows a complete ignorance of economics and a hostility to private business.
Business and industry flee America because of the anti-free market environment they have to deal with thanks to the politicians and unelected bureaucrats. No business leader in their right mind would want to set up shop where they will be penalized for being productive.