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Today’s Letter

I expect over the next six weeks the mayor will be using enough paper to kill more trees than an entire ipe wood boardwalk would have.  (Where’s Jeff Tittle when we need him?)

Anyway, this is today’s:

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The petitions, signed by 418 voters, don’t ask for a special election.  They ask that the language favoring certain union companies be removed.  

If the mayor and council refuse the will of these 418 voters, the remedy is a special election.  Also note that given more time, a lot more signatures could have been collected.

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 You don’t know “bullet” points.  You only know points.  (Those points can be bulleted in a letter.)

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I don’t know if he’s talking about the rest of the language in the ordinance or specifically the language that we find offensive, but I think that probably not one signer of that petition gives a crap about what the New Jersey Chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors thinks of the ordinance.

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Obviously if the signers believed that to be true, they wouldn’t have signed.  It looks to us like it was enacted to protect the mayor’s cronies.

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This is impossible right on the face of it.  How could limiting bidders to union shops who support union apprenticeship programs not raise the cost of projects?  

And paying journeyman’s wages makes any bidder completely uncompetitive.  I am told that this language raises the labor costs of a project by around 40%. 

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Again, they may have a similar ordinance but without the specific language we are objecting to.  What I do know is that over 500 towns in New Jersey have no such restrictions on bidders.  And they get a lot more bidders than we do.

 It is unacceptable that we had to choose from only three bids received on the most recent pavilion plan.

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If a company is non-union they have to pay journeyman’s wage.  Non union companies will not even bother trying to get work in Belmar.

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Again, I don’t know how similar the language was, but like I said at the last Council meeting if we are going to follow New Jersey’s example we are heading for certain bankruptcy.

Anyway, I guess the mayor didn’t want to mention that the bill he is referring to was VETOED by Governor Christie.  

And as far as Rible and Kean voting in favor of that, I guess you all should have voted for me when I ran against them as a Libertarian in 2011.  I would have voted “no”.

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We don’t need a special election.  Just do what the people ask.  

And if we end up needing a special $17,000 election, it will still be cheaper than living with this law in place…..a lot cheaper.

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First of all, he can avoid a costly special election by doing what the 400+ signers asked him to do, which is to revert the ordinance back to the way it was.  

I really can’t see how a compromise can be made, but he’s not even going to give the specifics until October 1.  I hope he doesn’t expect an answer on the spot.  And actually it would be unethical for the committee of petitioners to compromise with the mayor without consulting first with all the signers.  

The compromise should have come before the petitions were collected.  At this point, if he won’t just cede to the wishes of the petition signers, we might as well just have the election.  As I said it would be a lot cheaper than the long term cost of not having it.

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15 Comments

  1. Guest wrote:

    It’s a good thing he will be presenting his plan on Oct 1st because if he waits until after the election he might be limited to 5 minutes.

    Wednesday, September 17, 2014 at 8:41 pm | Permalink
  2. Guest wrote:

    Does Matt really believe that we don’t see through this horseshit. This ain’t Edison, Matty boy.

    Wednesday, September 17, 2014 at 9:14 pm | Permalink
  3. Eugene Creamer wrote:

    Typo @ the beginning of second paragraph from bottom …. “In an effort remain…” …. a real confidence builder!
    Belmar doesn’t need a “Responsible Bidder Ordinance” …. Belmar needs a “Responsible Management Ordinance” …. More waste of taxpayer money on postage and paper …. Where is the compromise document?

    Wednesday, September 17, 2014 at 10:04 pm | Permalink
  4. Anonymous wrote:

    What this town needs is an experienced man running the town. Not a person who makes his living shooting off his mouth. You don’t get experience you need sitting endlessly behind a desk. And experience comes from living. Such a man as Jim Bean has that experience and a man like Matt (or, God forbid, Brian M. if Matt does win and then moves on/upward somehow) doesn’t.

    Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 5:37 am | Permalink
  5. Tom Burke wrote:

    Excellent post…..to the point and points well taken. Attacking the words and the facts is what works for me.

    Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 6:20 am | Permalink
  6. VITO CORLEONE wrote:

    Ok if you want to limit the number of pitchers on a baseball team just make this rule. Only left handers apply….Same thing..So very foolish that the Mayor thinks the people are stupid. Go Jim Bean…The five families like your style.

    Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 6:21 am | Permalink
  7. Teddy Ehmann wrote:

    Gene:
    I am sure that the mayor will publish his proposed revision (compromise language) in the two newspapers prior to
    their first reading on Oct. 1 as required. Aren’t you?

    Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 7:34 am | Permalink
  8. Tax & spend wrote:

    Ok, the ipe wood analogy really made me chuckle. Reminds me of the true comparison Dave made of bonfire smoke being emitted on the beach compared to that of cigarette smokers. I guess it’s more about symbols of righteousness.

    Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 4:46 pm | Permalink
  9. Guest wrote:

    That letter is a sign of a desperate person. Unfortunately the Belmar taxpayers keep paying thousands of dollars each time this Mayor feels it’s time to get his politically motivated messages out. Shame on the voters of Belmar if this guy gets reelected.

    Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 5:08 pm | Permalink
  10. Eugene Creamer wrote:

    Ted:
    I don’t expect to read anything in the press………
    The letter expressing ‘compromise’ is self-serving and disingenuous…. Cancellation of scheduled public meetings is evidence of true intent.

    Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 5:45 pm | Permalink
  11. Guest wrote:

    Why did Matt cancel the meeting, does that help him avoid the petition?

    Thursday, September 18, 2014 at 6:10 pm | Permalink
  12. Thick headed wrote:

    How much money has Doherty wasted, that is the article to write. He has had 3 defeated plans of the boardwalk, each plan with architectural drawings costing tens of thousands.
    1. Public changing rooms with private showers – defeated
    2. Rooftop mini golf on 8th Ave pav. – defeated
    3. 2 story pavilion at Taylor – defeated
    4. Total projected defeated at the polls.

    Honestly Jim Bean deserves a chance to restore Belmar

    Residents first, we have had 4 years of outside business owners being first.

    Friday, September 19, 2014 at 7:25 am | Permalink
  13. Robert wrote:

    The town needs to start to vote them out….and get representation from all sections of town – not just North Belmar….the southern part (12 south) is sliding and becoming an unattractive place….with the lack of code enforcement / packed year round rentals…

    Friday, September 19, 2014 at 12:20 pm | Permalink
  14. Belmarbeachchic wrote:

    Don’t even get me started on north and south differences, lack of code enforcement (neighbor “renovating” a small locker to 100 sq foot plus “shed” too close to property line allowed), and packed year round rentals…these are hot topics and have been for our family for years!!! Time to stand up for our town, vote the rascals out and do the right thing for all residents.

    Friday, September 19, 2014 at 2:54 pm | Permalink
  15. Eugene Creamer wrote:

    The view on Inlet Terrace is different …. there are no group rentals, nearby bars, restaurants or parking problems …. life is good!

    Friday, September 19, 2014 at 9:33 pm | Permalink

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