And their Hudson County friends
Ok, for the umpteenth time, property taxes did not go up 21.7 %. Only the municipal portion, which comprises about a third of the tax bill, went up 21.7%. Nobody gets separate tax bills for the school, the County and the municipality. You get a tax bill period and your tax bill went up about 8%.
On their next point, pretty much all of the additional spending is for liabilities incurred under the Doherty administration.
On their third point, I checked their footnoted Press article and it’s about season badges for seniors and handicapped persons going from $15 to $30. So for the people who buy season senior or handicapped badges the cost of going to the beach in Belmar…not living in Belmar…the cost of going to the beach in Belmar went up a whopping $15 a year.
And about those polo shirts………….
I submitted an OPRA request on Friday for Matt’s orders from Screen Styles while he was mayor. I’ll publish it as soon as I get it.
64 Comments
Admin, I believe you are missing their point about the shirts. It’s not that since Doherty did it, it should be acceptable. It’s the fact that in a time of major tax increase, when there was nothing else the council could cut, there is still spending happening that most taxpayers would disapprove of. Unusual of you to try and justify it.
There is a lot of Jim Bean bashing recently. If that man was on council, this purchase would have never happened because he would have called everyone out for it.
Just looking at Dirty Doherty makes me sick.
Do THAT many people actually disapprove of the shirts? Come on! They’re really reaching here! They won’t answer or acknowledge any questions about some of their extremely costly & unscrupulous actions in the past but, OMG, those shirts!!! SMH…
BTW – I guess it was OK & no one questioned it when Doherty had the shirts back then – because there always seemed to be extra $$$ laying around!
#1 – This was a typically sleazy Doherty hit piece. Council members don’t get to vote on whether to make a purchase like this. They only get to vote for or against the budget. Department heads authorize purchases. By the time this payment of bills list came before the mayor & council, the shirts would already have been printed and delivered. OPRA PO#19-00838 if you want to know which department head authorized the order and how many shirts the order included. Then do the math on how much McCracken and Carvelli’s 2 shirts cost. Online these shirts run a whopping $35 a piece.
Its was order by April Claudio and signed by Mark walsifer on May 7th. The council knew our financial situation and said nothing.
I have a hard time believing Dept head April ordered these without direction.
My taxes went up $1377 a year. That’s every year going forward. Blame Doherty, blame McGovern, blame everyone but the people actually in charge. The next person to say “its no big deal”, Please send me check for how much my taxes went up and I will stop complaining.
There was a time in my life my finances were so tight this would have broke me. I guarantee there are people just like I was in town now. For all of you justifying a couple of shirts for a thousand dollars, its pathetic. That’s other peoples money they are blowing that could be used for needed personal expenses.
#1 – Amen! Jim Bean for council.
#5 – How about we just send you whatever percent of your tax bill went toward covering the expense of the shirts?
Thank you Ken.
Let’s concentrate on the dirty dark PAC money from God knows where being used to influence our voters. The scary thing is there are actually people who fall for this stuff.
I’m thinking Doherty must be getting very nervous about what is being uncovered at borough hall. That or he’s just a sick little boy who can’t get over his inability to climb the political ladder.
Any one who thought he was going quietly doesn’t know just how twisted and ruthless he is.
Their friends are not from Hudson County, but rather State Democratic Bosses who set up Mr. Joe Waks and the Progressive Values Committee as a front to support candidates apparently with nasty flyers against any opponents. This was done most recently in the Paterson mayoral election in 2018. If you’re interested check out the July 17,2018
report filed with the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission by the Progressive Values Committee to see which Belmar LLC received $72,430.00 for mailers and walk cards. I wonder why the DEM bosses are so interested in little Belmar?
Like I said Ken. People buy into this stuff as Free Money proves. Notice he doesn’t care about being manipulated by dark money. Or that his increase in taxes would have been much less if Doherty hadn’t buried us in 30 million dollars of debt. Or that he used trickery to tout his no tax increase mumbo jumbo. He’s worried about an internal order of uniforms for staff. I guess they shouldn’t have fixed the leaky roof or painted the walls or put new flooring in to replace the moldy carpets.
Nor does he care about your explanation that the council have no say about individual expenditures.
Listen #5 i am no fan of the way government in general and at all levels spends most of its money obtained from the citizens it purports to serve. And my tax bill went up more than yours. And i remember those tight years and am sure you are right that there are many in town for whom any substantial increase in taxes is a real strain.Where you and i part company is allocation of the blame and responsibility for the higher year over year cost. The shirts are a pittance {but a nickel[or was that penny]saved is a nickel earned}but compared to the problems the prior M&C left there is no comparison. A million here,a million there and 600k over here etc are what drives a tax increase like this so you don’t become insolvent and lose your local control. Did i mention unresolved lawsuits? are the storm water infiltration into sewer problems paid for? how about the roads that are getting raelly rough to drive due to deferred maintenance. If the current council had the two women candidates the mindset wouldn’t change. Their stuff is so political and to me nonsensical we might as well reelect Doherty. I want Bean as a tightfisted but realistic voice. Too bad no one else running really demonstrates those characteristics.
#11 – Exactly! Why can’t some people see (admit) that our significant financial problems are due to the actions of the prior mayor & council? #5 – My taxes also went up more than yours, but I know who really is to blame.
I think most are missing the true point. How does one, with a straight face, say they are watching overtime and blah blah blah and scrutinizing bills when they are wastefully spending ANY amount of money. How bout we try this again. Cut ALL budgets 10%. I don’t care how you do it, just do it. Furloughs, layoffs, whatever. Sell off property. Charge for parking every where, marina included. Do SOMETHING to show me you are making an honest effort at controlling costs and then perhaps people wouldn’t bitch about a $35 shirt that apparently some idiot up there felt we needed. Bye, Bye incumbents, vote new people in regardless of there party, which means absolutely nothing in this small town.
#13 – Really? Just vote in new people regardless of the fact that they have stated nothing about how they plan to work the budget? Just blindly put new people in who have yet to demonstrate how they will serve the community? New people that just regurgitate whatever they are told to say? Yeah, that sounds like a great plan.
did the Council President get a Nike polo shirt?
#13 I am all for voting in new people regardless of their party. I am not all for voting in people that are vacant proxies for the very person that put this town in financial jeopardy. Yes the tax increase sucks. We all agree on that but do not let your anger over the 8% increase (that’s actual) blind you to the truth. Allowing McB and Russo on to the council will send a message to Matt Doherty that it is ok to lie and cheat and steal in order to further your own self interests. We cannot let that happen. This election needs to be a further referendum on the Doherty administration. If we fail at that simple task, then we don’t deserve an honest government.
#16 – Here Here!
The fact that people are getting more upset about shirts rather than the 36 mil in debt McDirty and the Dems got us in is laughable. Your taxes went up 8% because of them! Now you wanna vote in more Dems? Get lost.
Checks and balances my friends. The ONLY way this could happen is with people of different parties(beliefs) and ideas, especially with this form of government. That these people, up on council, can blindly support and vote yes on EVERY SINGLE path the MAYOR leads us in is ridiculous. Regardless of whom the mayor may be. This government has to go.
Bean started this polo shirt nonsense and the women jumped on that bandwagon.
It’s just another example of how he is a divider. I’m sure he’d never spend on polo shirts and I like him for that. But if he really wanted to help Belmar he’d see that his divisive ways cause more problems than solutions. Sure they get him in the spotlight, and he can never be wrong because he’s not in power.
We have to vote the Republican ticket and make sure these women don’t get in. Bean can run next time around.
Dave or Jim Bean – would you be so kind as to post any mailers or ads from Jim? I got one awhile back but I don’t have it anymore.
I’ll post any flyers people send me. These are the only ones I’ve gotten so far. (As always, I will protect the identity of anyone who sends me anything.)
#15 I would think he did not get one from what I hear you had to pay for them out of your own pocket and Tom is a very frugal person with his money not yours.
I really do believe Bean will be the person that will be the most honest and transparent. His letter was spot on and answered the questions I had. I am sick of all these people “taking sides”. We are a small town. Vote in the person who you trust to make the best decisions for you and your family. I vote Bean.
Jim is playing right into Matts hands. Jim’s ego is causing this divide and Matt is laughing as he cruises his big black Cadillac down the parkway.
But Jim won’t ever see that because he thinks he’s the only one that has Belmar’s interest in mind.
The case of the dueling egos! Sad.
WOW! Katrina, you really drank the Kool-Aid!
#23….loved your observation
I am voting for one person only, that’s full time resident Jim Bean.
#24 I don’t trust Jim Bean to make the best decisions for me and my family. He knew by running he’d split the vote and give the women (a.k.a. Matt) a chance to pull the strings.
Sorry folks, this isn’t cupcakes and candy canes here – you have to vote the best case scenario not the best person. If you don’t like the Republicans or the Democrats you must vote for the lesser evil…the safest bet is to vote the Republican ticket. It may be unfortunate, but this is politics.
#29 i am usually in full support of republicans running for anything vs democrats due to my belief that my tax money will be spent,or more importantly not spent, more wisely by said repubs than by any democrat..the logic is not perfect but in more than 9 out of 10 cases it is correct …i believe the mayor and his council repubs should have and could have found some budget lines to reduce or eliminate to make a statement and show a mindset of frugality in their first budget and at a time it is clear their predecessors left a fiscal disaster to be dealt with… i believe Bean is prepared to argue for fiscal prudence that i believe we need and which i found disappointingly lacking in the present group… but it starts at the top so Mayor, get your fiscal hard hat on and take the wheel.
#30 you may be right. But that doesn’t mean you should vote for Bean. A vote for Bean is a vote taken away from the republicans and if one of the women has more votes than Bean, she gets in. Voting for Bean is a surefire way to get the Democrats elected. So, like I said before, you have to vote the lesser evil, which I believe you’re saying is the republicans, so you don’t wind up with the democrats.
If you want to shake up City Council, many political insiders will tell you to vote for one at-large candidate and one at-large candidate only. This tactic is known as “bullet voting,” and the idea behind it is that by voting for just one candidate, you don’t run the risk of elevating another candidate who could beat your No. 1 choice.
Until now, we didn’t know very much about the prevalence of bullet voting, or how effective it is, in Philadelphia. That changed when City Commissioner Al Schmidt on Tuesday released a study about bullet voting in the primary election. “This was a massive undertaking,” he said in a press release, “and has never been done before.”
Thank you #30, you are absolutely right. The repubs will lose seats, hopefully not both, and you can all blame your mayor. People are pissed at the massive tax increase. They don’t read this blog and don’t realize it is Matts fault in the end. The M&C have done a very poor job in telling the residents why their taxes went up. And just wait how bad these mailers are going to be as the big day comes. You ain’t seen nothing yet. Mark my first handed words.
How can more Belmer residents be made aware of this blog? It needs some PR.
#32 you must be Matt Doherty because you are the only and I mean the only one who would gain anything from a bullet vote.
#35 – It could be his supervisor, Maggie.
Or it could be Jim who is helping him the most.
#32+: In NJ Democrat ward politics, a ticket always had an Irishman, a Pole and an Italian. Bullet vote strategy always brought out the people for at least 100 years if not more. Huge parties with alcohol fueled registered voters were hosted and then they were brought to the polls with palm cards (and $5.) so they’d know who the host wanted them to pull their candidate($) lever.
Well#31 lets just say if they cannot act like repubs why do i need them? and i am not a math major but i think Bean can only displace one repub ,not two, so if neither of the repubs is strong enough to defeat at least one of the apparently inept dems then as someone else said the town is doomed to suffer more of the Doherty way and will deserve what it gets
You can never really tell with people but during my campaigning yesterday, all the vibes were extremely pro Bean. Interestingly, some people from surrounding towns (Avon & Spring Lake) are very Anti Doherty. I’m going out campaigning every day it doesn’t rain this week.
#31 it’s simple math the Bean team wants to bullet vote so that means no republican or Democrat gets a vote by a Bean voter.Lately council seats are not won by more than 10 percent so if Bean gets more than 10 percent both democrats win.And personally I don’t see Bean getting more than 250 votes he is not as popular as they make him sound on this blog.
All this hand wringing. Just vote your conscience and let the chips fall where they may. The worst case scenario is that Russo and McB get on the council. Then what? They’re not exactly intellectual giants. Matt will lean on Tom Brennan to vote lock step with them but I think Matt’s influence over Tom has diminished since Matt tossed him out like an old condom. Meaning for most important issues they will be the minority vote. Once Tom’s seat comes up (he won’t run again) then Jim can run for that . And mind you, this is the WORST case scenario. If you want to vote for Jim, vote for Jim. If you don’t, don’t. The most important thing of all is that you vote.
#42 – it’s not the worst case scenario….the worst case scenario is that financial investigations are thwarted or at least revealed to Matt. He’ll have a spy in the house. We need to finally break free of the damage he caused AND make a statement to all others running or getting hired to work here that we are not corrupt.
Dear Belmar Democrats,
Please remember that your votes are confidential. Look at what all the candidates have to offer (and what they’re lacking) and do the right thing for your community.
#43. I guess you my be right but I don’t see those two thwarting anything. Also, once the see on paper the the malfeasance don’t you think they may rethink their allegiance?
You’re right tho. Best to keep them away Plus, a significant loss by the two of them will help show the Dohertys that Belmar is not for sale.
#45 – I do see them thwarting things. So far they have shown us that they are no more than Matt & Maggie’s puppets. I do wish they would speak up for themselves, but that’s not why they were selected. Will they “rethink their allegiance?”….. – why haven’t they rethought it yet? They can’t be that in the dark. Don’t they wonder why they’re not allowed to do candidate forums & other similar appearances?
Maybe Russo and McBride are really smart, in other words, ask them no questions publicly and they cannot/will not tell you any lies.
#47 – That’s exactly why they’re not talking. Remember who their mouthpiece is.
#48 So they are either in cahoots with the Doherty program or have become aware of their dilemma and are not talking. Maybe they hope they lose, if the latter is so. Either way, no one else has volunteered to run for office. The Belmar Democrats may have fallen apart because of an awakening. Anyway, a full sweep happened in the last election, something that speaks volumes to me. If the women volunteered to run to be tools of a corrupt machine, well, that is pitiful and scary, very scary. Question: if that is so, when did the Democrats become evil? (OK, someone will respond that the Democrats are not evil and represent the common man, but, come on, do Matt and Maggie care about Mr. and Mrs. Joe Schmo?)
#49 – “The Belmar Democrats may have fallen apart because of an awakening.” I agree, and also think it’s more than that. I think the Belmar Dem Committee is not the best alliance for any smart Democrat who wants to run. Mark Levis was perfect. He wanted to work on K and L St. flooding, was not happy about over development, and was totally equipped to handle complex problems. If I were him I’d not be able to run a campaign “under” that committee. I’m not speaking for him as I really don’t know, but I would bet on that.
At this point in time we are too far gone with partisan politics and we need to switch to a non partisan form of government.
#50 from your lips,etc…..i still remember Taylor, Maclearie and John F…..things were done with the towns interests foremost, not dems and repubs… i think even Ken who was a prime mover as i recall to change things has seen what Doherty has done to put his political cronies first and doesn’t like it in his town…the surrounding towns with a non partisan form seem to have a lot more going for them
#503 – Yes! Yes! Yes!
#50 #51 So start a petition, get the signatures to change this form of government. I thought this was brought up already and Ken Pringle said he thinks it’s still the best for Belmar. Clearly many don’t agree, so do what you have to do .
Yes #53 ,a good idea for you young folks. And where did Ken express that view? Cannot say i recall seeing it.
I think the time wasn’t right a few months back but after this election I believe it’s the way to go. I’m super busy but I’ll work on it and maybe gather others who are interested. I hope to get your signatures. Remember, you have to sign your real name;)
#55 – Would homeowners who do not live in Belmar full-time be qualified to sign such a petition?
I think if you are registered to vote in Belmar you can sign. It shouldn’t matter if it’s your vacation house – if that’s where you vote, that’s where you vote.
#57 – Well, that’s the problem. I have owned a home in Belmar for 25+ years. We spend each summer there and many weekends and holidays throughout the year. No renting. We love the town – and have since my parents started vacationing there as children, many years ago. But, we vote where it’s considered our “primary residence”. I read this blog with differing amounts of humor, shock, happiness, & horror. As a Belmar taxpayer, I do wish we could have a voice in your local elections. Anyway, I guess I will not be qualified to sign the petition. I wish you good luck! After reading some of the statements on here lately, I think non-partisan may be the way to go.
Independent voters make the difference in the outcome of elections in Belmar.
As it should be Ms. Dean. I find independent voters to be, ” independent thinkers”. To vote for someone based solely on their political party affiliation is in my opinion, the definition of stupidity. I feel sorry for those that vote party lines, rather than for the person best qualified for the position. Foolish. Sheepish.
#58- Just make Belmar your primary residence. I’m sure the town that is currently your primary residence doesn’t need your vote as badly as we do. You’re the kind of down to earth, thoughtful voter we kinda need right now.
You may find more residents are willing to run and hold a seat on the council in a non partisan form of government. I would be terrified to run for anything in this town with a D or R behind my name, or even consider associating myself with either party. I’m looking forward to voting on Tuesday for the best candidate/s for Belmar.
Mr. Bean has posted misleading information.
39 Nike polos with embroidered logo
$30 each
#62- Bingo. You are painted with a broad brush before anyone hears a word you say. Nonpartisan is the way to go.
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