Our Montville

Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen - The Week Just Past

The Week Just Past-March 5, 2010

 

““Another 36,000 Americans lost their jobs in February, and yet the President and Congressional leaders continued to focus only on health care and virtually ignored private sector job creation this week.  Once again, the efforts of President Obama, Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid to ram their government takeover of health care through Congress dominated Washington.  

 

“From listening to my constituents and large and small businesses, I know that this health care ‘reform’ effort is one of the issues, along with higher taxes and more regulation, that is discouraging new hiring.  The prospect of higher business costs is actually lengthening the economic slump. 

Nielson looks back on her term as Montville Twp.'s mayor

 A new year in Montville Township has brought some changes to Town Hall. Former Deputy Mayor James Sandham, Jr. now takes over the duties of mayor from Deborah Nielson and Don Kostka joins the five-member Township Committee (TC) in the seat formerly held by Democrat Jean Bader, making this an all-Republican governing board.

While her time as mayor may have come to an end, Nielson remains a member of the TC. She took a moment, at Neighbor News' request, to reflect back on her two years as the township's 53rd mayor.

Her term coincided with one of the roughest economic time periods of recent memory, a situation which continues into the foreseeable future.

Continue Reading The Neighbor News.

Democrats in Montville shut out of meeting place

Club says it will sue township.

The township's Democratic Club has been shut out of its monthly meeting place for refusing to comply with an ordinance that requires all organizations using municipal property to annually submit their financial information.

The township informed the organization last week that its failure to comply with the rule would prohibit its further use of the Senior House on Main Road, where the club has held meetings for the past several years.

But the club has refused to submit its fiscal documents, citing a belief that the ordinance is unconstitutional, and members say they plan to sue the township on those grounds.

Of the 28 organizations the currently use municipal property, the Democratic Club was the only group that did not submit 2008 data by the mandated June 12 deadline, said chief financial officer Frances Vanderhoof.

Continue Reading Daily Record.

Bader Easily Wins Democratic Primary

Democratic incumbent Jean Bader easily defeated newcomer Truscha Quatrone in Tuesday's primary, and won the right to defend her three-year seat on the township committee and a possible third consecutive term.  Bader, a longtime township resident who operates a family-owned farm in Pine Brook, received 232 votes to Quatrone's 154 votes, township officials said. The results did not include absentee ballots.  

Bader will face Republican Donald Kostka for the one open seat in November.  See Daily Record and related article.

Montville attorney files for governor as independent

Gary T. Steele, a 53-year-old lawyer, will run for governor as an independent, after filing a nomination petition with 1,050 signatures with the state Division of Elections in Trenton on Monday.

Steele, who lives in Kinnelon with his wife and two children, said he has been a Democrat and a Republican in the past, but recently changed his voter registration to unaffiliated.

Steele joins Christopher Daggett of Basking Ridge and Kostas Petris of Trenton as independents seeking the governorship in November. Republicans and Democrats will choose their nominees in today's primary.
See Daily Record.

Grant Attacks Bader

From: xxx 
To: xxx
Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 10:07 PM
Subject: Message from Dan Grant

An Open Letter to Committeewoman Jean Bader, Democrat
From Dan Grant, Democrat                
 
In support of Truscha Quatrone and the Democratic Party on June 2, 2009.
 
The simple fact is that when you are the only Democrat on the Montville Township Committee you have two responsibilities.
 
        1. To represent the citizens of Montville Township especially when the Republican governing body isn’t. That means to speak out on behalf of citizens who are not being represented. That means when the Township Committee wants to pass a sewer rate increase at 11:30 at night you should condemn the action and let people know what is happening to their pocketbooks.  It also means that you stand up when the Committee wants to pass intrusive Ordinances against the interests of the volunteer groups that use Township Facilities, which they as taxpayers paid for. You don’t vote with the Republican majority so they will like you.
 
        2. As the elected head of the Democratic Party your job is to support and promote Democratic ideals and try to get qualified Democrats appointed to boards and commissions and not let them just be shut out without a fight. You are the loyal opposition, not a fifth vote for the Majority. We Democrats have been there before and don’t want to be shut out. I was the only Democrat for many years and still managed to get qualified Democrats appointed, including you, Jean Bader, to positions on the Board of Adjustment, Library Board, Recreation Commission and Open Space Committee among others.

Democrats to Contest June Primary

Six year incumbent Jean Bader (D) will once again face a primary challenge as she seeks a third three year term on Montville's Township Committee.  First time candidate Truscha Quatrone filed a last minute petition to seek the only one of the five Committee seats to be contested in 2008.

Bader, whose family Bader farm has been a fixture on Changebridge Road for generations, easily defeated Michael O'Brien in the 2006 Democratic primary.

The winner of the June primary will face Library Board member Don Kostka, CPA, (R) in the November general election.   For more information see The Neighbor News

Nielson and Sandham easily win re-election

Township voters overwhelmingly returned two incumbents, Mayor Deborah Nielson and Deputy Mayor Jim Sandham, Jr., to office, rejecting Democrats Dan Grant and Carl DeBacco.  With 6,173 votes, Nielson led the voting, followed by Sandham with 5,998. Grant and DeBacco followed with 3,628 and 3,457 votes respectively.  Grant's defeat was his third in a row, and record eighth overall in Montville.

Nielson, a longtime resident who won her second consecutive term on the township committee along with Sandham, said the Republicans feel “vindicated” following a hard-fought campaign.

“The voters have spoken. It’s a good night for Republicans in Montville,” she said, after learning the results. “It’s a good night for Montville in general and reaffirms all the hard work that we’ve done and proves we’re on the right path towards the future.”

The re-election of Nielson and Sandham ensure a GOP stronghold on the five-member committee for the next three years with Jean Bader, who openly supported Nielson and Sandham, as the lone Democrat.  See Daily Record.

Welcome to FundRace 2008

Want to know if a celebrity is playing both sides of the fence? Whether that new guy you're seeing is actually a Republican or just dresses like one? If your boss maxed out at that fundraiser or got comped? Whether your neighbor's political involvement stops at that hideous lawn sign?

FundRace makes it easy to search by name or address to see which presidential candidates your friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors are contributing to. Or you can see if your favorite celebrity is putting their money where their mouth is.

FundRace gives you the technology to do what politicians and journalists have been doing for years: find out where the money's coming from, see who it's going to, and solve the mystery of why that crazy ex-roommate of yours is now the Ambassador to Turks and Caicos.

O'Brien drops out of Montville race

One of the two Democrats vying for seats on the township committee has withdrawn from the race, citing personal reasons, and the township's Democratic County Committee is weighing three possible candidates to replace him.

Mike O'Brien, who ran unsuccessfully for the township committee last year and in 2005, informed the township's Democratic Committee of his decision to drop out in a formal letter more than a week ago. His decision was announced to the media on Monday.

"I explained to them that my time is under such pressure this fall that I cannot devote my time to my family and to that endeavor as I really should," said O'Brien, 61. "It would be unfair to the committee and to the electorate to really do that."

The departure of O'Brien, a longtime history teacher at Montville High School, means the Democratic slate currently consists of Carl DeBacco, a former longtime Montville police chief and Pine Brook resident.  See Daily Record.