Welcome to Point UNpleasant

I don't even live in Point Pleasant yet I cringe and feel embarrassment every time I read a story about local gov't news dealing with the boardwalk. Martell's and Jenks should close down for a summer and see how quick the mayor and board misses the taxes they collect from these businesses. Then when they have to raise property taxes to cover expenses, watch how quick the residents are crying for them to open up again. Do they have any idea how much money is generated by parking tickets and other violations from the very same people they "think" they despise.

an apology for sure...

Amen

It's called "helping your neighbor"....I hope they help you when and if you require it...

Hmmmm ... I did not realize how simple the solution was. 'Rules is Rules'! The opening in the damaged bdwlk does not factor is somewhere? That huge pile of debris in Silver Lake lot isn't an unusual use of town property? Aren't the rules concerning garbage at the curb being bent a little bit too?

town's garbage and garbage at the curb is what the town asked people to do

Town council and the mayor lack character....crisis or not. Glad I moved out of that town.

More like putting on a show. This entire town lacks "integrity" when one is watching or not.

I agree with you Peg Born, well said.

Well said is right...besides lacking character...they lack respect for their town. They are all just full with their own egos....nothing else. Oh, I'm wrong..one more thing. Spite....full of spite.

I was just going to post about this very article. Martells hosting a Sandy benefit for families of the Beach. Maybe they should cancel, you know, act "small" like the mayor said. Be petty and vindictive. That seems to be the way the Beach council and mayor, the "big" people in this dispute, go about doing business.

I have all the information and math related to the "buy a Board" program. I would love to bring this all to the next town meeting but was told that the decision was already made as to how our boardwalk was being rebuilt and by whom... sad too because we would have been able to build a walk that would have been considered "storm proof". Is there a committee for our boardwalk by OUR people??

We should get a town wide peititon going to over-turn the council and give Maretll's the parking lot to re-build.

From what I've read, even if every single resident of Point Pleasant Beach signed a petition in favor of Martell's using the parking lot, these four idiots still wouldn't have the common sense to do the right thing and what the people of PPB wanted.

David Daur, The last petition did not go well in this town. I doubt many would sign anything.

how dare you suggest a two way street. don't you get it, drop the lawsuits they don't have to do that, but the town has to let them use town property because they want to

Contact news outlets! NOW! This has to stop. This is such an embarrassment and abuse of an elected position. Something has to be done about this. If you have contacts in the media.... get moving and contact them!

The businesses are the ones who contact the news outlets and are on the radio pushing their views. They are big sponsors with all the money and power. I think it is the wrong thing to do.

Da Poppa...The new beach school system is far from precious. This is not the same school it once was. It has changed for the worse. Please don't blame the students or parents. We really have no control even though they want others to think we do. The top leader lacks "integrity" that has the trickle down effect on the employees going right down the line to the school boards who also lacks "integrity" They crafted such and allowed the schools to become tainted.

Fed, these guys completely IGNORED a town wide vote. What makes you think that a petition would make any difference? They simply don't care about our opinions. It's THEIR town, not ours and Town Hall is THEIR clubhouse, we're only allowed in because they haven't figured out how to hold their meetings in secret.

I agree 100%. A petition must be started immediately for the RESIGNATIONS of these council members.

No, I'm not suggesting that anybody do anything "in order to get" ANY sort of quid pro quo. I'm just hoping that, after surviving a 500-year storm, perhaps both sides will come to realize, simultaneously, that the ONLY thing of any importance, right now, is rebuilding this devastated community. Does anyone seriously imagine that, 50 (or even 10) years from now, this squabble will matter the tiniest bit to anyone? Maybe it did on October 30th. It doesn't any more. For a great many local residents, still mucking out their houses, it no longer matters even now. And that is what I consider "getting real."

I just paid over $300 in permit fees to the building department. So stop with the money grab nonsense.

Sounds like you are carring a grudge..."Former" tiki manager.

I feel majority of the businesses made it a tradition on buying friends, loyalty and support.There is lackeys on all sides of the fences.

Your kidding me right?? You have the ability to own and operate anything you want, why haven't you? Your bitterness should only be against yourself. If they built this business from the ground up, passed it down to their family members who have been a part of their business since its conception, why is that wrong?? Are you forced to be a patron? To give them your money?? Be realistic, you did not accomplish YOUR American Dream and are now resentful to those who have...

your town is lucky to have you in their goverment.

Thats not even the issue you phenomenal dolt. You people that can't look 1 inch past your faces have me astounded. Its Point Pleasant Beach as a whole and single ecomomy. Maybe someone doesn't go pay the $20 cover but they do rely on that tourist magnet to sell their coffee afterwards, or tshirt, perhaps just the pride that we live in a BEACH TOWN THAT CARES and makes headlines for the right reasons as opposed to this ridiculous bickering and nonsense. Hope the view is nice from the cheap seats "NY" we really have a leadership crisis here and after the worst natural disaster EVER there couldn't be a worse time.

Just because you feel it isn't worth your money due to your own inadequacies doesn't justify your deplorable and rude comment, but then again, ugly is ugly...and no high cover or expensive drink will help you anyway. Merry Christmas...

Yes... they pay property taxes... i don't know how much... jenks pays a lot but they own most of the beach...

By virtue of the wonderful Internet, I was quickly able to find out that The Martell's pay $93,960 for 2011/12 taxes.

93000 out of 25 million what would we due if they went away

PennyStocks, so you are stating Martell's paid $93,960 toward taxes. What is that for just the tiki bar and beach? Am I missing something. Are you saying Martell's made 25 million. So that answers that question. The business needs the town more than the town needs the business. You can remove one police officer for what the officers make in that beach town. I am sure it cost more money in police every year in boardwalk problems alone. How much does the other business owners pay for just the boardwalk business? It is also funny how after police officers get through using the town they go work for the boardwalk businesses. Maybe Chris Christie our governor needs to put a cap on how much police officer's should make in all these towns. It gets very expensive, especially in all these beach resort towns. Give the towns a break and the power and authority to hire seasonal police and teachers. Hire a Police for 6 months and a Teacher for 9 months. Pay them for the time and hours they actually work.

Junior, the majority of the police "hired for the boardwalk" make $10 an hour. They are hired for the 3 month summer season. Teachers work 9 months and get paid for 9 months. Yes, some choose to have that 9 month pay split over the 12 months of the year.

You really should get a basic clue as to what you are speaking about before showing your ignorance of some simple facts.

This town has 23 full time officers who make 6 figure salaries for a one mile town. The town does not need that many officers full time. It is a seasonal townThe reports are a bunch of bull. The town needs to lay off some full time officers. They have it fixed in their contract that the town can't hire the specials at $10.00 per hour or part time police officers until they hire all the full time officers back first. Isn't that connivence. It is just as bad as tenured teachers who can't lose their jobs.

A Resident, If that is the case then the "Teachers" and "Regular full time police" are WAY OVERPAID! This is a seasonal business of 3 months summer season town (your words) Hire more of them and get rid of a lot of the full time police officers that are not needed full time. I have seen the back and fourth fighting on the "Patch" about all year round. Just more fictional bull donkey from the officers themselves.

Vito and Junior, the NJ Division of Consumer Affairs disagrees with you. They were responsible for the report saying PPB should have 25 full time officers. According to the report (which the State created) PPB PD is 2 short.

But go ahead and continue to think that nothing happens in PPB during the 9 months of "off season" time.

YES. PETITION TIME. Get these council members OUT!! We need a strong presence at the next meeting of residents and business owners.

BUY A BOARD!!!

As Voltaire said: "Common Sense is Not So Common" - unbelievable. I'll be at Martell's Wed December 13th and anyone wanting to get together to discuss some proactive solutions then I'll be ready and waiting...

Anyone who quotes Voltaire should become Mayor of PPB. Work with your Chamber of Commerce,they have more clout and forget about the M&C. Your town needs the businesses not the "business" from your local government.
Everyone, meet Mr. James Ward on Wed. Dec. 13th at Martell's! He'll be wearing a red carnation and a look of determination on his face!

Even though I spend all day every day - 7 days/week in Point Pleasant Beach I do not "live" here so I cannot run for Mayor - although "Ward Realty" has served this beautiful town for over 87 years (I'm a 4th generation). I don't know about the red rose but I'll be there on the 13th just the same...

More like "goofy"

pd you are so right with their inactivity, but I sure hope the three "no's" and the one "i would have voted yes" are out meeting with the beautification committee to plant a row of Money Trees in town, cause everytime we turn around they are costing us more of it.

WMS826, most of PPB is happy to see the Polar Bear plunge leave. It cost the town money to have that event here. The Town did not make any money from it...all the cash that was spent was in 2 of the boardwalk bars.

And the number of covered up drunk driving accidents resulting from it has now gone to 0. Can't say that for each year the plunge was here. And why were they covered up?......must have something to do with who the drivers were each year and wanting to keep their jobs.

WMS826, you don't know what you are dealing with when it comes to the "Beach" They are not happy individuals. They don't like anyone that is not originally from there. They don't like any new resident that move their. Sure, they will put on a show for a while and eventually the true colors will come out. They don't like tourist or groups such as the Polar Bear plunge either. They pretty much complain about everything. We are all considered "bennies to them" You are dealing with a bunch of "inbreeds." This fighting has been going on for years. This current council is no different then previous council when I lived there. Same problems businesses and residents going at it, councils going at it, everyone just has a short term memory and gets on the bandwagon. No one has a mind of their own and if they do most likely they will be scolded for it. Personally I feel they are all at fault and bring it upon themselves. It is a downer of a town and exhausting town to live in. I am so happy we were able to get out in time. I feel for those who are stuck there or moved under the "pretense" that the schools were so great. This is one fictional town. The people from there are so proud of that, they refer to themselves as we live in the "beach bubble" they like it. I am glad I moved up into to Monmouth County and loving it. My sons are in a private school and my daughter is in a public school and there is no comparison to the "beach fictional town.

Let the lawyers and the courts hash out the litigation. This is whole thing is turning into a PR nightmare for the M&C. They represent you, the homeowners, the residents, the taxpayers. Is this how you would like to be viewed?

Jenks' doesn't have a parking lot that is accessible from the beach, like the one on the foot of New Jersey Avenue. That is why they want to use that lot....for the open beach access.

I was referring to Jenkinson's north.

I believe the boardwalk at Jenks North is still in place, thereby limiting the "beach" equipment from accessing the lot. They will most likely be using equipment running on tractor treads, which don't like cement and/or boardwalks too much.

Either way....it's a shame the Town Council could not Okay 10 days worth of use for the lot.

The council and District 4 cabal is under some sort of delusion that they can shutdown the boardwalk businesses and turn the Beach into some sort of Sea Girt or Spring
Lake. They're chasing away summer tourists, and putting boardwalk businesses out of business. What they don't realize is, the Beach never was and never will be Spring
Lake South. The business taxes and tourist dollars are what's keeping your town propped up, and those precious schools ticking. Take that away, and you will become Asbury Park South. you've been treading down this path for the past few years, and a natural disaster, which bought other town together to rebuild, is accelerating the destruction of your town. You are doomed.

dont think anyone asked them to drop anything just said no to use of town property by someone suing the town

These three as you refer to them are people of extraordinary character who have time and again done what they believe to be right. If you disagree with them on this decision so be it but I am tired of hearing about their character.

Government Work

One day a boy and his father were at the dining room
table working on the boy's Social Studies homework,
the chapter about government. The boy turns to his
father and asks, "Dad, how many people work in the U.S.
government?"  The father replies without hesitating,
"Oh, about half of them."

David Daur:

I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that you do not live in PPB, because if you do you should be ashamed of your comment. Our employees as well as our volunteers busted it before during and after Sandy. Our police were out in the middle of it as was DPW. After the storm, they were out in the cold to insure the safety of the public and DPW worked non-stop for nearly 3 weeks. Our administrator was in her office late into the night and continues to put in her usual long days. If you want to make uninformed comments feel free, but stay away from our employees, you are not in their class

Vince Barella:
As I have stated in previous posts, I am not a resident of PPB but I feel the embarrassment for your community every time you throw your town into the local media. Most people would understand my post that you chose to reply to was nothing more than a silly joke about government... but not you! If you feel the need to force my hand (being an outsider) this comment was posted about you and your three cronies. If in fact you are the Mayor, hasn't any of your family or friends told you to stop answering each and every post about yourself. You look like a buffoon in doing so, but more importantly, what Mayor whose really trying to make a difference would have the time or common sense to do so. It's like you have diarrhea of the mouth and can't help your ego from posting at every possible chance. What other town makes the news like PPB does? I almost called it "your town" again but I'm sure that's what your inflated ego would like to hear. Get off the blogs and go make a real change, a positive change for which you have been elected (and recalled) for. It's time to wake up from your deep sleep of incompetence and join the rest of our productive society in this time of need during post Sandy, where everyone besides the PPB mayor and town council are lending a helping hand. Shame on you Mr. Barella.

David Daur, Not that I don't agree with some points you are trying to make. You have no idea what is really going on in this town and you are the one who sounds like they have diarrhea of the mouth.

for someone who doesnt know much you have a lot to say you must be a liberal

@spooner ... I wouldn't call that a conflict of interest, but it certainly does show a serious negative bias towards the businesses of the Beach by member of the council and their family.

I wonder how you would react if someone told you you had to close your business earlier than any other business in town, or any other business/competition in neighboring towns. How would you deal with the loss of business and money? How would you react if the town blocked off access to your business, or harassed your customers. You're a liar if you say you wouldn't do anything, becaus if you did, you'd be out of business, and all your employees would be out of work.

You come out here posting disjointed derogatory comments and calling people names. You must be a D4 resident, thinking that chasing away businesses and their customers is going to make your town better. If you do, you're not a liberal or democrat, a republican or conservative, you're an myopic dolt.

The difference is, it's not their driveway. It's a public parking lot that belongs to the PPB taxpayers.

@kf I'm not sure what your point is. Everyone is making this driveway analogy, and it doesn't make sense. It's nobody's driveway, and it is a public, town owned parking lot. Martells has request temporary use a space in that lot to stage construction material to rebuild their business. It's not blocking anyone's access to their own property or business, the lot is not being used, and there is no loss in parking revenue because the town does not collect parking fees in the off season. Martells has hosted a thanksgiving day dinner for Beach families affected by Sandy, and will be hosting a fund raiser for the same people. In the spirit of the season, and for the rebuilding effort of this town, the council played it "big" and said no. I guess they thought it was their driveway. Someone needs to educate them.

@Da Poppa I think you misunderstood me. I completely agree with what you are saying. I was trying to point out that the parking lot does not belong to the council, it belongs to the taxpayers, including Martells. I'm well aware of the charity work that has been done by the business owners in PPB over the years. I would personally sue the council members for being arbitrary and capricious. I think the citizens of PPB need to get these people out of office as soon as legally possible before the damage they do, both financial and to the towns reputation, becomes too much to reverse.

Good question. I would probably start with the root of the problem, why am I being sued?? But after that question, being that I was to represent a town who IS relying on businesses and knowing it would help them to recover from a tragedy....no brainer, why would you even ask that ridiculous question??? That is the exact reason we have these problems, think outside the box, think for the greater good, not off the cuff.

Hello again, Do not have time to start with the political divide, have issues of my own being I lost the whole first floor as well as everything below grade. I will say that I agree that the town should let them use the lot, even if it was for a month.....

Sorry to hear that Part Timer , I can emphasize!
Da Poppa ; perhaps I was being obtuse.

I do wish you would come to a council meeting and register those complaints that you have regarding how I have comported myself both before and after the storm, so that those who know might set you straight.

beachmon46, I can vouch that Mayor Barrella was not sitting in his house waiting for church delivered meals. I spoke with him often at firehouse #2 where he pitched in to help the many emergency volunteers, the county crews, the PD, etc. He may not have "enjoyed" all of our conversations.....but I would not say he hid in his house at all.

And while he thanked and congratulated all the workers....."Great Job Men" while standing watching was not something I would accuse him of.....others maybe...but not him.

Mr. Brodeur, I agree with your sentiments. No one in this town should be criticized for accepting help when it was offered. I don't think Mayor Barrella is a good mayor or acts appropriately in his role, but I would not begrudge him receiving help as I know that his home sustained damage, too. That being said, while so many in town were able to put their differences aside to lend a hand where it was needed, I am outraged that Barrella, Tooker, Corbally and Gordon, could not do the same when Martell's asked to use the township's parking lot. St. Mary's church didn't ask people whether they were a member of the church before supplying people in need with meals. The football team didn't ask people whether they had contributed to the Boosters, the school, or had come to a game before they offered help. There is simply no excuse for the public comments the Mayor made about Bassinder at this meeting, and Tooker's comments about use of a driveway? Certainly, Tooker would have the right to deny access to her personal driveway, but this is the township's parking lot. It's not her property. It belongs to the taxpayers, and that includes Martell's and Bassinder, personally.

you need to remember there are insurance liabilities which need to be discussed involved with what now becomes a storage lot. If property is stolen,damaged,burned or if someone becomes injured by any of the items left on the lot,whether the injured party is at fault or not. One further thing,having worked on many numerous construction projects, things rarely get accomplished on time. What is estimated as 5-10 days could just as easy turn into 2 or more weeks. Again as I said above,once the door is opened for one entity to use public land there becomes a precedent set for any person,homeowner,property owner to have the same usage rights as granted to Martells.

Clamdigger, in the article, it says that Martell's lawyer said that they would post a certificate of insurance to guarantee compensation for any damage caused. As for potential delays in completion of the project, this parking lot is an empty lot, used primarily during the tourist season. Do we even charge people to park in that lot at this time of year? I know that the meters on the street don't go into operation until the Spring. As for "opening the door," I am sick and tired of hearing that excuse to legitimize a decision that fails to recognize the specifics of a certain situation. Martells had a pier that was destroyed by Sandy. I think it's the only pier in PPB that was destroyed. Are we really so concerned that other people are going to come before the Council and ask to use that lot to store supplies so that they can rebuild? And, if other people truly need to use it, then they should be allowed to do so. We're dealing with a natural disaster of unheard of proportions, and it's time that we stop worrying that people are going to act like children and scream "that's not fair." Fairness dictates that we treat people in similar situations similarly, and as far as I can tell, Martell's is the only business in town to have lost a pier to Sandy. But, I would not be opposed to others using the lot for similar reasons if necessary. We need to help everyone rebuild.

@Nick Carraway; I'm not against Martells using the lot,it doesn't make a difference to me. As for my comment of you are sick of hear re: "opening the door",well that's just the world we live in. There are plenty of people who could expect the same entitlement to use of public space. As far as I'm concerned,if they do get the lot,Martells should pay to have the space as well as provide temp fencing installed to not only protect their materials as well as prevent any "accidents" from happening.

Mr. Happy, I think that many of the people in our town have done and continue to do an extraordinary job helping one another. The value of living in a small town has truly become clear during these past weeks since Sandy. However, I disagree with your optimism regarding the issues between the Barrella bloc and the boardwalk working themselves out over time. How much time is that going to take? It's been months since the Barrella bloc adopted that midnight bar closing ordinance, and the ordinance remains on the books. The Barrella bloc will remain in control of the Governing Body for at least the next year. Irene took a portion of the boardwalk away from us, and to date, that portion has not been repaired. Sandy took the rest of the boardwalk away. While other towns are moving quickly to rebuild the boardwalks that were lost, the Barrella bloc is sitting on its hands. I don't think that PPB should have to wait another year before the boardwalk is rebuilt simply because Barrella has a vendetta with the Boardwalk businesses. Waiting to voice our opinions until November is not good enough if we are to have any hope of seeing our boardwalk rebuilt.

Nick, just like your creator F. Scott Fitzgerald, you are proving to be a writer of creative fiction. You lose all credibility with your vendetta nonsense.

No one is sitting on their hands. The process is moving along the way it should. PPB is way ahead of other towns in terms of clean-up. Some on council believe that the commercial sections should be done first and the rest can wait. I continue to hope that the entire length of our boardwalk will be open for Memorial Day. The preparation of bid specs have been authorized and I expect that we will go out to bid shortly. Other towns have an advantage of sorts in that they can secure their debt with beach revenues, we don't have that ability.

Fitzgerald also observed "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." So let us try to function together. Looking towards next November & other polarizing ideals aren't helping anything at all and I disagree with it as much as I opposed the recall debacle that also did nothing but aid in our status as a laughingstock.... We don't need new leadership as much as we need strength from the ones we have. Mayor Barella has the type of personality that can tell the world to "get the hell back to our beach"... Point Pleasant Beach can SMOKE Belmar with the 10's of thousands of people who would buy a board - we can have a significant event to raise funds for our relief efforts, to bring us and those who love our beach closer together, we can do something to help poor Inlet Drive - instead the type of exchanges amongst town leaders at that meeting have me weeping for this town - lets make headlines for the greater good for a change, anyone with a functioning brain cannot possibly witness that comedy of dysfunction and think its anywhere in the realm of "OK"... Its just not and we need to get it together...

Hear Hear. Mr. Ward for PPB Advocate !! What a beautiful and insightful rendition of the possibilities!

And I appreciate that help. I especially appreciated the help of a father and two sons who drove from Lancaster, PA to help and ended up at my house for almost the entire day, apologizing for having to leave at 6:00 PM. Their help saved us. I also had people from South River and other towns at my house, as well as one or two from from PPB. In addition, my neighbors helped us and we helped them.

The council has been focused on those in need of help and has taken steps to facilitate the recovery in the Beach. We are way ahead of a lot of other towns.

You know it is funny though that you know how many times I "called." But the point is I called, just like residents came to a council meeting asking for help and the council responded and Mr. Lamanna although represented by an attorney came to the council meeting and sat in the first row while asking for a favor. They didn't send a three line request and the lead litigator in their action against the town to ask for the favor they sought. Like me they asked personally and without any sense of entitlement.

"One or two" from town that helped you, Mr. Mayor?

Mr. Barrella

Please consider the Buy a Board program that is being implemented in other beach resort communities affected by the same tragedy. It will pay for itself and it will be safer. Allow me to present the information to you for your interest.

Yes Ruth and one of them was your son Stephen Schneider and I appreciate that and thanked him at the council meeting.

Please stop using our school kids as pawns for the political nonsense that goes on in this town. The school does it all the time and that is disgraceful in itself. There is no room for politics in the school. It should not be allowed and the Administration should be setting the tone. No Politics from the teachers, coaches or especially the Administration. Last time it was a disastrous scare tactics that was upsetting to a lot of kids and parents.

Mr. Barella, there's nothing wrong with your style of leadership although it may be better suited for running a country like Egypt instead of Point Pleasant Beach. You could declare a proclamation that your rule cannot be questioned and see how that goes over. I'm sure a collection would be taken quite quickly for a one way ticket to Cairo for you!

Not going to get into it, but according to some David Bassinder is not a business owner in PPB. Your desire to constantly make this about the borough attorney, who by the way was first appointed by Mayor Tom Vogel and who has been described by former Councilman Mike Loughran as brilliant demonstrates either professional jealousy and perhaps a desire to get that position for yourself or even worse a darker side

Mayor, I find it interesting that, of the comments I made above, you decided to focus on two: 1. whether Dave Bassinder is a business owner and 2. the qualifications of the Boro Attorney. You can split hairs over whether Bassinder is a business owner in town, but you cannot dispute that he is also a residential property owner. As a residential property owner, he is therefore a PPB taxpayer, and, as I stated, is therefore owed the same level of obligation from you, as an elected officials, as you owe to other taxpayers who are your friends. You have an obligation, as an elected official, to all taxpayers of PPB, whether they are your friends or your advesaries, and that is a responsibility you accepted when you were sworn into office. As to Gertner's qualifications, I think that you both missed and simulataneously proved my point by your response. Some think Gertner is "brilliant." You, personally, have supported having Gertner as our Boro Atty for all of the years that you've been in office, too. Obviously, you must respect him and trust in his ability to legal advice. So, why is it that when Gertner publicly stated that Mayer did not have a legal conflict in voting on the Martell's matter, that advice wasn't good enough for your pal, Corbally? That was my point. I think it's absurd that Corbally tried to make smoke where there was no fire, even when Gertner publicly gave his legal advice. It's Corbally, not me, questioning Gertner's legal abilities.

I fully understand my obligations to all of Point Pleasant Beach and have consistently adhered to that principle. In fact, it is my unwillingness to elevate some to a priority status over the rest of the town is what has been the source of friction for a number of years. Just because someone owns a lot of property or pays a lot of taxes does not entitle them to special treatment.

You obviously missed the meeting because if you had attended the issue at least for me was not be whether under a hyper technical reading of a state statute one does not have a "technical" conflict. Some of these relationships, both past and present, quite frankly are to say the least very troubling. You think it is ok for someone to work for a company owned by a father while voting in a manner favorable to a company owned by a son or negotiating on behalf of the council while a relative is in the process of securing a job with the person or entity you are negotiating with, I do not, especially when the council as a whole is not made aware of the facts.

One should not check their common sense or sense of smell at the door.

Nick, you are on the money. Anyone can see that this whole thing could have been easily avoided and in the midst of all this, you have leadership that is thinking or should I say over thinking of a possible hyper technicality, instead of from the heart. No wonder nothing has been done regarding the rebuild of the boardwalk. It's about effective communication and actions, not hyper technical interpretations, which our own town attorney easily cleared up.

Mayor Barrella, thank you for publicly admitting your unwillingness to follow the law when following the law doesn't suit you. In this case, I'm specifically referring to the law regarding conflicts of interest. I cannot comprehend what purpose it served to go into Lurie's employment background when Lurie wasn't even present at the meeting to vote. The issues that you raise that, in your mind, "smell bad" are typical issues that arise when you live in a small town. I have always been impressed by the fact that PPB is such a wonderful town that children choose to move back here to raise their families, so that we have many extended families living in town. The parents live here, as do their adult children and their children. When people live in the town where they grew up, they naturally know a lot of people, and interact with adults who they've known since childhood. It is, quite frankly, this type of history that has served our town well during these difficult times since Sandy. As for employment history, again, you encounter these types of problems when you have political officials engaged in private industry. In that regard, I find it interesting that the public knows so little about the clients Mr. Davis has represented over the years. Don't be so sure that I wasn't at that meeting.

Perhaps you should read the Ocean Star and my letter thanking all those who volunteered. I was speaking of my situation and who helped me. As for how someone knew how many times I called, I just found that to be curious, perhaps you don't, but I do. Trust me, I know it is not about me and quite frankly what I tried to do was stay out of the way and support our professionals and volunteers the best I could. Let me also tell you that Gordon and Tooker were out there volunteering as well. The one group I forgot to thank were the Boy Scouts Troop 6 who also spent almost an entire Saturday helping me and then hosted a Turkey dinner for the people of the Beach on the Saturday before Thanksgiving.

Where are you getting this I "called the town employees" three times. I never called the town employees for anything. Perhaps you might consider a refresher reading course.

Don't brag the schools are not what they use to be,

There you go again, spewing nonsense and venom

Vinny Barrella is always on the defense because he is a manipulative individual who is still bitter about the recall. He still has not replied to me about any of his positive accomplishments over the last five years he has been in office. If he does not have the boardwalk replaced for the upcoming summer he should resign . Every other beach front town is well underway in their plans to welcome the summer residents with open arms . Not Vinny he is scheming to find out how to tax them.

beachmom46 and ppb1955

There you go again, spewing the same tired nonsense

beachmom- it's a broken record with Barrella. Remember when he defeated Vogel, thanks to the motel group thinking he'd be their "knight in shining armour". . .only to be double crossed. And of cause the Mayor denied he made any such promises to repeal the motel tax...

...you also remember John Mullen's lawsuit against the Driftwood Motel, whose employees re-graded the motel's dunes to accommodate a wedding party. . .well guess what...according to what Mr Mullen posted here...the town as appealed the Appellate Court ruling. . .so there's more fighting coming.

http://njlaw.rutgers.edu/collections/courts/appellate/a5823-10.opn.html