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Belmar under fire of lawsuit

Seeks overturn of bidder ordinance, claims mayor had conflict of interest

BELMAR — A group of residents have filed a lawsuit against the borough, seeking to eliminate the borough’s “responsible bidders ordinance” on the grounds that it was unlawfully adopted, and that Mayor Matt Doherty had a conflict of interest when choosing to adopt said ordinance.

The lawsuit was filed on Sept. 23 with Monmouth County Superior Court by the law firm of Pringle, Quinn, Anzano, where former mayor Ken Pringle is a partner……..

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29 Comments

  1. Guest wrote:

    At least in belmar we buy votes with free parties at djays http://www.reviewjournal.com/trending/feed/campaign-manager-charged-buying-texas-school-board-votes-cocaine

    Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 11:55 am | Permalink
  2. madame.snark wrote:

    And don’t forget all those gift cards.

    The photo in the above (Texas) link reminds me that I would love to see the mayor doing the “perp walk” – head lowered with his jacket pulled up over it to cover his face. I can just wish.

    Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 12:52 pm | Permalink
  3. Anonymous wrote:

    More proof that Matt Doherty doesn’t represent the citizens of Belmar. The only thing he cares about is making money for his wife’s clients. Every Belmar resident should be furious.

    Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 2:42 pm | Permalink
  4. Guest wrote:

    Will we receive another mailed letter from this mayor or his wife explaining their defense?

    Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 5:48 pm | Permalink
  5. Brian Pringle wrote:

    What are the odds he says the lawsuit is “Frivolous” love it when he says that.

    Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 6:31 pm | Permalink
  6. madame.snark wrote:

    Why listen to those “spinmeisters”? Who pays for the postage on those letters? This mayor is too expensive to the borough, what with all those “frivolous” lawsuits that he loses.

    Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 6:40 pm | Permalink
  7. Benny go Home wrote:

    Matt Doherty, is a North Jersey Carpetbagger, send him back over the Driscoll Bridge where he came from.

    Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 6:57 pm | Permalink
  8. VITO CORLEONE wrote:

    How did it get this bad? Michael there just wasn’t enough time….Bean for Mayor

    Thursday, September 25, 2014 at 7:04 pm | Permalink
  9. Robert wrote:

    Loved today’s letter from Chairman Claire Deike….what position does she still have…..I guess I should expect letters from anyone next……

    PS – they were out in full force tonight at D’Jais….Matt, Claire, Brian, Jennifer all had the same “Doherty for Mayor” T-shirt, only Janis wasn’t there…

    Friday, September 26, 2014 at 11:01 pm | Permalink
  10. Guest wrote:

    Just goes to show the true purpose of all of the D’Jais giveway events in the fall. Isn’t there a volunteers party and seniors party still to come? They better have more t-shirts.

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 8:54 am | Permalink
  11. Social Scientist wrote:

    Cannot wait till Nov.5th.. Anyone who knows the social sciences, knows that people are political by nature,. It is who we are. Therefore there is nothing more stupid than a campaign slogan, “people not politics”. That’s like people not trade or people not sex.

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 10:36 am | Permalink
  12. DR. ZAIUS wrote:

    Where does one read this letter from “Claire”? My fellow apes said she is no longer a council member.

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 12:29 pm | Permalink
  13. Claire Deicke wrote:

    Robert-Glad you liked my letter and the shirt I was wearing last evening-glad you took attendance-it was my pleasure to support Mayor Matt-his list of accomplishments is endless-no doubt you’ll be hearing from me and others again during this campaign-you’re right on with that statement! Also, for social scientist-the slogan was my idea-sorry you don’t get the gist……people not politics-the emphasis on all of the good things the Mayor and Democratic Council have done for people-the Mayor is constantly assisting people-once organizing a group of workers to build a ramp for a young teen who lived with his grandmother-the teen was living with his grandmother and couldn’t leave his house because he was in a wheelchair–my efforts on behalf of the people were not politically motivated-I undertook and intiated many projects including the health fair (which David Schneck opposed),) skin cancer screenings at the beach, food drives for our council of churches,chaired the ADA committee, etc. Janis has taken over, and expanded upon my efforts. Jennifer Nicolay was present day and night at our relief center during/after the storm, as was councilman Magovern-historically, the Democratic Party is the party of the people…..think of Presidents Roosevelt and Kennedy and other Democratic leaders throughout our history…..hope this clears things up for you…..the emphasis for us is not smearing the reputations of good people…..if that’s what you mean by politics…..the administrator of this blog allows people to post unfounded things (comments) with negative tones about people-is that what you mean by……”people are political by nature?” Claire Deicke

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 1:24 pm | Permalink
  14. Guest wrote:

    Screw Djais and their buy a vote party https://haleybehre.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/1-23-14-djais.pdf

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 2:01 pm | Permalink
  15. Guest wrote:

    Kool-Aid drinkers. It sure is beginning to smell a lot like something around here and it sure isn’t not Christmas!

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 4:20 pm | Permalink
  16. Social Scientist wrote:

    Claire:
    A man and his son were at church. The son noticed a man who had fallen asleep
    in front of the during the service. The son said to his father,” Father, aren’t I more holy that that man, since I am praying and that man in front of us has fallen asleep ? The father said, ” yes if you hadn’t had asked the question.”

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 4:26 pm | Permalink
  17. Belmar Resident wrote:

    Claire:
    Smearing the reputation of good people? You are the one who coined the expression ” that element”. Now you are speaking into an almost 60% “element” of registered voters. The Mayor assured us that it was only a radical FEW. Oh Well!
    Dial back to last election and your
    Headline via Belmar Democrats:
    When the Tea Party has their way, everyone suffers…
    (Photos of distressed seniors and children)
    Text: Tea Party Republicans TOM BURKE and DAVE SCHNECK are running for Belmar Council.
    A vote for Burke and Schneck in November is the same as a vote for TEA Party Republicans in Belmar:
    Property tax increases to subsidize out of town beach goers.

    Elimination of Belmar’s RECREATION SOCCER AND BASKETBALLL PROGRAMS

    Shut down senior luncheons and programs

    Cancel the Friday Night Concerts in Pyanoe Plaza

    ALL DIRECT QUOTES…. lions and tigers and bears OH MY!. Thanks Gene for OZ reference, I felt inspired.

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 5:23 pm | Permalink
  18. Claire Deicke wrote:

    Belmar Resident-Guess you haven’t read some of the comments allowed on this blog-can’t compare with your accusations-don’t get your feathers in a knot…some of the comments include words like pimp, poinsoning the minds of her students (posted about me on this blog)….. ..insulting postings about Councilwoman Nicolay who is one of the best people I know…horrible comments about the Dohertys…and, by the way, I don’t hide behind fake names-such as you and others do who post on this blog-tell me who you are….have the courage of your convictions-your comments carry little weight unless you reveal yourself-people who post insulting, inappropriate things about others would never write them under their actual names…..I’m going to review old posts on this site and get back to you with more examples of what I’m referencing…..whether you believe it or not ( and you won’t believe it) element was meant to mean grooup or section of the community…..it was the administer of this blog who put a negative spin on the term….supporting this statement is that I never degraded anyone at anytime during any election….I don’t reference Republicans as Tea Party Republicans-I refer to them as our opposition-did so in the letter just mailed out to the public-some of my favorite people are/were Republicans-such as my Mom & Dad……but, Believe what you will-Claire

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 6:18 pm | Permalink
  19. admin wrote:

    “Residents have not wavered in their support of him despite the negativity perpetrated by a certain element of our population.

    In fact, support for Matt is stronger than ever, as people are basically disgusted with the movement afoot to have Belmar spiral down to an all-time low.”

    Sunday, September 28, 2014 at 8:08 am | Permalink
  20. ms.perspicacity wrote:

    Jefferson Davis was a Democrat and Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. Yeah, things have changed, but really, Claire, I think you should have been a social worker. Elected officials swear to uphold the law and not find wiggle room and loopholes and not create cozy jobs for themselves doing what they love, like social programs, etc.

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 6:20 pm | Permalink
  21. Claire Deicke wrote:

    Social Scinetist-what a great lesson you’re attempting to teach me……don’t know if it fits anything relevant, though-

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 6:23 pm | Permalink
  22. Social Scientist wrote:

    The Lesson, though missed, was that there are many good people “in political opposition to your candidate”.
    Good is a moral statement ie: good and bad”. I know the good work that they do BUT THEY WILL NOT use it to advance their agenda. That’s all I meant. I am sorry you feel that it is not relevant. How can we reach consensus, when we cannot attribute the basic kindnesses ( turn the other cheek) to our POLITICAL opposition? Are you saying that those who have publically opposed Matt Doherty’s decisions are incapable of or have refrained from acts of kindness and concern towards their neighbors?

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 7:09 pm | Permalink
  23. Belmar Resident wrote:

    Claire: there is a big difference between an anonymous blog comment ( not by the blog master) and an official mailer from the Belmar Democrats. Give me a break.

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 7:13 pm | Permalink
  24. Claire Deicke wrote:

    social Scientist-Never said Republicans weren’t kind and generous folk-the best people I’ve known in my life were/are Republicans…….opposition doesn’t necessarily mean Republican-can mean anyone who doesn’t support us….I’m saying that the opposition has made nasty remarks on this blog about people who have done nothing to ddeserve it-sorry that you missed my point…..

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 10:28 pm | Permalink
  25. Claire Deicke wrote:

    Belmar Resident-Give you a break? Then you condone the mean-spirited remarks on this blog?

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 10:30 pm | Permalink
  26. Claire Deicke wrote:

    Ms Perspicacity-Your comment makes no sense-
    what loopholes? Create social programs for themselves? amazing…..lack of understanding at its highest level…confused……Wow……

    Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 10:39 pm | Permalink
  27. Claire Deicke wrote:

    I was born at night, but not last night…making me the bad guy doesn’t change the fact that you allow (and don’t censor) people who cast aspersions on those whom they dislike , under false names……..go back to your comment posts and take a reality check-and, by the way, I use my actual name….to make me the bad guy so as to cover for the rude comments on this post doesn’t work…..the above comment was written because of all of the extremely negative things that the opposition was putting out there about the mayor…..another thing that I noticed-you and others can throw dirt unfairly about council members, but heaven forbid anyone comes back in response….how dare we! And by the way, who died and made you Henry Higgins? Correcting grammar and punctuation?? Come on, administrator-granted, I did that for one post on this blog because the comment was so poorly written with errors in every word that I couldn’t understand the message-you allowed that message to appear making no effort to go back to the person to ask if they could do a better job……come on, Mr Administrator…….punctuation corrections……really?? How petty can you get…

    Sunday, September 28, 2014 at 10:06 am | Permalink
  28. Robert wrote:

    Well it is nice to see a going “conversation” here and no 5 minute limit.

    In my opinion (and it is just my opinion), the town is sliding to a place I may not want to live in. And I feel that it is the duty of the elected officials to correct that. I believe that this slide began with the prior administration, however continues with the current one.

    I believe that the elected officials should work to improve the town’s “attractiveness” and property values to those who live here – and not the attractiveness to visitors. I would rather see money spent on better services for residents. Instead of a 5th Ave pavilion, why not spend that money on joining the county library system, or adding a 2nd floor to town hall – and making that a modern library (computer stations, reference rooms etc; leaving the current one as is for children library).

    The biggest driver (again in my opinion)is the number of rentals in the southern part of town. When the summer group rentals were forced out of town, they were replaced with year round rentals. A good part of these are not maintained and become a detractor to the street. since these are year round rentals they put an increased strain on the town’s services (police, schools,etc). I would also guess that these rentals are not inspected by code enforcement every 3 years or when the tenants change, which is a town ordnance. I would guess that these yearly rentals are the source of most quality of life issues; including the heroin issue no one seems to want to publicly comment on. (I read two weeks ago that there was an arrest on 12th & D of someone with 150 bags of heroin?!@!?)

    It seems that over the past 10 years the level of enforcement of town rules/ordinances has dropped to near nothing. And it falls on the shoulders of the elected officials to correct this. If the code ordinances are strictly enforced I am sure some rentals will be sold back to owner occupied, and generate some home ownership pride and improve the area and town and get the town moving in the right direction.

    And it all goes back to the saying – actions speak louder than words. So stop with the costly mailings and start doing (and completing) measurable actions that result in a Belmar that is better tomorrow than it was today.

    Sorry – just my Sunday morning 2 cents / rant.

    Sunday, September 28, 2014 at 10:10 am | Permalink
  29. Tulip wrote:

    For all the taxpayers in this town that are referred to as ‘THE ELEMENT’. Maybe we should withhold the water and tax payments that come due until we are treated with the same respect that the people that do not pay are accorded. We should also request an investigation into the voting lists to look for the non resident voters. How is that for a start to clean up some of the “Real Element”.

    Sunday, September 28, 2014 at 12:41 pm | Permalink

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