2015 bond for Lake Como
project to be amended;
*
Amount borrowed to
increase by 450%!
Ordinance 2015-24; July 2015:
(2015-24 also happened to be the ordinance that unbundled the Taylor funding from the Como funding. Remember the fight over that dirty trick?)
Ordinance 2019-32; September 2019:
My guess is we might have gotten bad news about getting reimbursed on the $600,000 engineering tab from Maser. Also the legal dispute with Bird Construction could be a factor.
Anyway, here’s the rest of Tuesday’s agenda:
56 Comments
I can’t stand it – the hits keep coming. Those responsible really need to be prosecuted. CFO’s shouldn’t have to inherit these messes just because people don’t care about what politicians do.
Can t even get the damn roads paaved.
To the two woman running for council at the request of Matt Doherty: You want to keep Belmar affordable? You believe that it is the current administration that caused such a financial black hole? Please please please knock on my door. We shall have a eye opening discussion about your benefactor.
To the Matt supports from all those years- Talk to us. You still think he is a stand up guy? You still think he had Belmar’s best interest at heart? Please, don’t be shy. Defend him, defend your position. We are all ears.
I would like to hear from this Mayor & Council what legal actions will be taken against the past Mayor, Councilpersons, or any other public employees who were complicit in any of this irresponsible and possibly dubious behavior.
How did the people of Belmar get stuck with this leaky bag. It seems to me that the Lake Como Benefits other surrounding towns a whole lit more that it does Belmar. Another BS political move with his buddy Brian to make himself look good. Does this guy have mirrors in his home?
And then there is the Harmon lawsuit still out there. The borough and Harmon’s settlement talks went no where. Hold on for this one… it’s going to implode on the town
there are 3 people running for council today that supported Mayor Doherty’s re-election. How did a Doherty supporter out rank Vickie Renner, Jim Bean or even Josh from 2 years ago? What is wrong with the Republican in this town? I don’t know which way to turn.
Where are the budget cuts ?
#7 Just vote for Jim Bean only. It’s a start
7 – My guess is that those 3 names that you mentioned will not walk the Walsifer line?
Maybe Councilman McCraken will finally answer the 27 budget related questions asked back in May. My guess is that he probably will not yet since the election is still 2 months away.
Wow a veritable feast on this post.#1 it is frightening that it doesn’t end…too bad the malefactors in public office are so protected from prosecution but not sure the thrust of your comment on CFO’s? #3 right on #4good luck with that #5 yes, it is not clear how we got to be the stuckee but here we are…and ‘Mirror Mirror on the wall’, of course there are mirrors #6 so we ain’t seen nothing yet? #7 so we are devoid of hope from either of the big parties…time to change back to non partisan elections? if not too late #8,9 10 concur ….#11 so he needs to be seriously pressed if he wants the questioners’ [hopefully many] vote..whew
Anon (#12) – I’m thinking not only of us taxpayers but of non political people with financial backgrounds who get jobs with municipalities – that they shouldn’t feel pressured to skew the books. And they shouldn’t inherit those skewed numbers (which has taken long months of detective work to uncover the mess). Good people with financial minds shouldn’t be afraid to become municipal CFOs. Only legal retribution will prevent Mayors from committing financial fraud. It will keep taxpayers safe and encourage good CFOs to work for municipalities.
13 – “… months of detective work”? A blind bat could have found the shell-game issues withing the first weeks of reviewing the boroughs books, and they did. Nothing new has arisen since the winter months, so where were the budget cuts? Answer, there were NONE. Jim Bean for council!
#13 agreed on the financial people need to be protected against pressure to skew the books, of course would that not be whistle blowing protection which i think[?] is already in place….i am not up to speed on what you must be referring to, Robbin Necklen Kirk was our CFO, are you saying she or someone else skewed the books for the Mayor and council due to pressure? and did not help the new people to unskew them after the Mayor got dumped?… I also agree with the legal retribution you are advocating. There are those who will say this will deter people from pursuing/entering the public sphere but those who this would deter are people who shouldn’t be in office. Doherty has left us with the bag and we have a long way to go if the current crew is an example to unload that burden.
Yes – I’m saying that Robin is complicit in this.
Robbin Kirk (Necklen), Colleen Connolly, and Matt Doherty all need to go to jail! Throw McGovern in there too!
#16 i am saddened to hear that,i was not aware, she and her family are Belmar from long before Doherty arrived … i am at a loss as to why she would not have told Doherty she would not go along with his duplicity, i.e. blown the whistle… i do believe both she and her husband had positions in neighboring towns and were not totally at Doherty’s command [of course there is much unknown about the circumstances]. But we taxpayers will be the ones left to pay the price .
I can’t believe that someone, somewhere didn’t have insurance to cover this. The Borough, the engineering firm, the lawyers that overlooked the contract. Someone, somewhere had to have insurance. Isn’t this malpractice?
Why even use professionals if mistakes like this fall back on the taxpayers? This is the reason we pay big bucks to law firms and engineering firms.
I don’t want to smear Robin. She’s a good person. She didn’t make the decisions. She just tried to do the best she could with a boss with a spending habit. She’d have to quit and possibly give up her pension if she blew a whistle. Not easy. This is what I mean when I say CFOs shouldn’t have to deal with this nonsense. But yeah – she went along…
retired? … Robbin Kirk is Spring Lake CFO and Farmingdale Tax Collector
https://www.springlakeboro.org/departments/finance.html
http://farmingdaleborough.org/departments/administration
20 – She DID quit, It was called retirement and pensions are protected under the whistle blowers act, as long as she was not complicit in any criminality herself. Why didn’t she “blow the whistle” at that point last December?
16 and 20-You don’t want to smear Robbin? “Complicit “ is a pretty damning word. In her position as Belmar’s CFO, she was monitored and evaluated in her job every year by state officials as are all CFOs . There was never a hint of impropriety cited; in fact, she received rave reviews-always. If state officials found her to be above board, who are you, self-appointed judge and jury-to deem otherwise? From the Bible : “Let he who is beyond reproach cast the first stone.” You have no knowledge on the subject-facts, figures or otherwise. You are dangerous with your commentary.i hope you think twice before “not Smearing “ another person. You speak with forked tongue..good person and complicit don’t go together very well.
Certainly do not want to or trying to ‘smear’ Robbin #23. But I do have a question ‘what are we being told by the new m&c and new cfo was done that was incorrect practice under municipal finance rules?’…#14 says a shell game? would that not have been discovered in the ‘state officials’ review?…my concerns are strictly the burden on the people who pay taxes here and the need to get the straight scoop from our paid professionals if things are not being done honestly by our elected officials.
Robbin Kirk was exemplary in her job. Those who wish to smear her should be held accountable.
24- If you have heard nothing negative about our Former CFO, then there is nothing negative about her. Don’t you think state officials would have called her on the carpet about anything in appropriate? Aileen is so wrong about her attack on Robbin Kirk. Robbin performed her duties honestly and professionally. What gives Aileen the right to smear Robbin. Aileen has no clue. She just wants to destroy a person’s reputation.
If you read all my comments starting with the first one you’ll see the message I am sending is that I feel bad for people in Robin’s position. I don’t mean to smear her at all. I stated that it’s not fair to Robin and all those in her position. Didn’t mean to make her in particular look bad. I believe if she wasn’t “complicit” she would have been fired. My point was that CFOs shouldn’t be bullied into doing things based on their Mayor’s whim, and that is what I believe happened. Our municipal bookkeeping had a lot of discrepancies and it has taken a long time to make sense of it. Don’t take my word for it, do your own research.
#26 I would never want to destroy Robbin’s rep. But I do want to correct everything from mistakes to financial fraud, which I think Matt and Colleen committed and I think, unfortunately, Robbin didn’t stop.
My point is it shouldn’t be Robbin’s job to thwart financial fraud. It should simply be her job to balance the budget and advise her Mayor when he can and can’t spend. As to your comment about state officials – they may do just that with our town. And my point was that they should – so that CFOs and biz admins feel free to tell Mayors what’s right and wrong.
They should make a law in Trenton that mayors and their gangs can only steal a certain percentage of the taxpayers money according to how much is collected. If they’re found stealing over that amount allotted to their town, then there should be severe penalties such as loss of driving priviledges for a whole week – that’ll put a stop to it.
28-then why did you post that Robbin was “complicit” in the first place? Why did you choose to attack her? I hope she reads your posts and reacts. Now you’re trying to retract your words. You post too many inappropriate accusations. You are all over this blog with personal attacks with no backing. You were not privy to any borough information. Why do you choose to destroy reputations?
28 -Then why did you use the word complicit to describe her? You now realize that you have done Robbin harm. What right do you have to be so high and mighty about our borough? You know nothing , and are grasping at straws to harm people. I hope Robbin takes action.
28-Now you are trying to squirm out of your bashing of Robbin. Never should have used the word complicit. You are so uninformed about Borough business, and yet you choose to accuse people who are honorable. Why are you so determined to bring down people working for the borough? You are the kind of person who hurts the town with false accusations.
How could Ms. Kirk have NOT known what was going on? Dilute her purview by sharing her with Spring Lake?
28-Who are you to”correct everything? “ Are you some type of investigator? You have no experience in borough business. Now you are making excuses for you calling Robbin complicit. You have a superior concept about yourself. You are inexperienced, have no personal information about the borough. I find your accusations dangerous and unacceptable. Freedom of speech yes-but you are harming others.
28- You are full of baloney. The more you state, the more ridiculous you sound. You absolutely want to condemn our borough employees. No you be was ever found guilty of any crime. All I n your imagination. Why are you so determined to accuse the people running our town? They were never found guilty of anything. Plenty of oversight from state officials. You are not an expert-as you present yourself-on anything.
#26 Oh calm down with the fake indignation. Yes Robin is a good person but come on. We know for a fact that Matt and Coleen and co screwed with the books royally and as the CFO, Robin either didn’t notice or turned a blind eye to it. It’s up for you to decide which is worse. Maybe she was afraid to lose her job if she dared question his majesty? Sounds to me like #28 is only pointing out what is already known. If you think that it’s ok for s CFO to miss such obvious malfeasance, then that’s your right, but you can’t ignore what we now know happened.
#25 let’s hold Matt and Colleen accountable for egregiously violating the public trust first . Then, if there’s time, we can hold private citizens accountable for having opinions. Are you a George Orwell fan?
28-State officials never reported any wrong doing ever. Why would you wrongfully assume they would?
Self righteous Aileen. Self-appointed in besmirching people with no proof. What gives her the right?
We all know that the NJ State government is devoid of corruption.
Everything is still fine. People are making up things to cause trouble and demean the former administration.
38 She had an audience for 15 minutes and felt her oats. Nothing but a blowhard.
Claire (#38) why anonymous? Only you use the word besmirch.
Sorry guys – I’m angry that wrongdoings were overlooked. I’m angry that the town is now fighting about who to elect instead of correcting the wrong. I think only prosecution will stop the wrong from happening again – not a new M & C.
When someone says something unpopular (on this blog), reactions are to take aspirins, misspell words in an effort to mock stupidity, and call people self righteous. I post about what I think is going on in town, right or wrong. Isn’t that what you do?
#s 38,39,41 Read this mornings post from admin.
If Robin wasn’t aware of any of that, then she was not a very good CFO. If she was aware of it and didn’t do anything about it, then she was complicit. Your choice.
Stop with your BS. ‘You hope Robin takes action’? Against the thoughts of a private citizen? We are still allowed to have thoughts in a free society, no?Of all the things to hope Robin takes action on. Personally I wish she took action when Matt Doherty was robbing us blind!!! Do us all a favor- read. Research this information and then come back and tell us that Robin didn’t know anything or that Jen Nicolay is a sweet person or that Brian McGovern isn’t a moron.
So someone points out that the CFO knew about the financial misdeeds committed by the former administration? Oh mY God! Call the obvious police.
Robin was CFO during Matt’s reign. He committed (along w Colleen) financial wrongdoing. That is actually a fact. Your condemnation of the person that brought it up is based on anger and personal opinion. I’m going to go with the one that’s based on facts. You can keep living in la la land.
Sorry Aileen. Not me. Struggling with cancer treatments Could care less about any of this. Got a call that you posted my name. Haven’t checked in with the blog in a while
Good luck Claire. You came out of this before and you can do it again! You are a fighter!
In the discussion of other financial issues the posts of#5 and #19 have been left with out response. Yes we took point on the Lake Como solution but did we not get any backup from any of the other towns with a stake in the matter and if not why not? And yes #19 clearly the errors of others are being dumped on the taxpayers and surely our professionals carried E&O coverage. Doesn’t Maser still have invoices on our list of unpaid bills against which an offset claim can be made? And #43,help me out, i am not finding admins morning post, must be blind.
They mean the short post I made last night.
#46- Yes, admin is right. It’s the post called “the hits keep coming”. It runs down the list of some more nonsense committed by Matt and co. I was hoping the folks, that are soooo indignant over the mere suggestion that Robin may have been aware of the financial improprieties, could explain how the CFO missed the Lake Como engineering debacle and the 1mil in over paid Sandy funds (not too mention the dozen other things we’ve learned about). Go ahead folks, you’re so angry over the Robin comment, explain how a CFO misses these things. I look forward to your well researched response.
#46 Did’t we (Lake Como, Belmar and Spring Lake) get a grant to cover the outfall pipe? Matt, Colleen and Maser still cost us money.
If you draw a straight line from 22nd Ave beach to Main St. at the start of Marucchi Park, Spring Lake is south of that line. The lake curves in toward Belmar and Lake Como town. Maybe since most of the lake is ours and Lake Comos, we took on the project? I’m sure Matt was happy to be able to rub Maser’s back once again.
The Grant debacle was a phony bone to get the Fitzgerald South End people to vote for his gang!
#48 … Agree
‘Complicit’ = ‘involved with others in wrongdoing’
The AG’s letter, and DEP meeting notes, justify blog commentors’ use of ‘complicit’ … and a subpoena to appear … if the matter goes to court
http://blog.commonsenseforbelmar.org/who-knew/
Thank you Eugene. Appreciate it.
Thank you #50. Political BS, like taking over the policing of Lake Como to run for Monmouth County Freeholder. BS. It NOW costs the people of Belmar more to even police our town, regardless of how much Lake Como pays us. Also,who do you think gets stuck paying for the medical coverage on retirement of these additional officers that we were required to hire to police Lake Como, WE DO. Mr. Walsifer, show me some cuts. I am slowly becoming one of those people (a third of your residents) on a fixed income that will have to move due to these costs. Wake up. The other two thirds make up the second home owner rich people and slum-lords, both could give a rats about taxes. Sorry, I don’t live on Ocean Ave.
#53 – I am a “second home owner” in Belmar. I do not rent out my property. Therefore, I suppose, I am not a “slum-lord.” In addition, I am certainly not rich and do not live on Ocean Ave. My property taxes have increased over 27% over the last few years. Please do not generalize. I actually do “give a rats about taxes.” The political situation in Belmar is quite alarming.
#54- Quite alarming??????? Where have you been the last five plus years. I hope you have been one, like myself, that has gotten to speak up in front of the former Doherty regime and were belittled and called names. If not, perhaps it’s time that you too ask these new guys for some budget cuts because I can guarantee you the tax increases will continue, all in the name of blaming the Doherty crooks.
#55 – I have been around for over 25 years. I have gone to meetings and spoken to quite a few of Belmar’s political & community leaders – including Matt Doherty. Unfortunately, once most realize I am not a “voting” member of the community, my voice is lost. (However, my tax payment better show up on time!) Very frustrating.
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