NJ Herald continues its attack on reality

Let's be clear, the New Jersey Herald is not a non-profit entity representing Sussex County.  It is owned by the for-profit Quincy Media corporation of Quincy, Illinois.  It is mainly a broadcast company, owning radio and television stations throughout the mid-west.  The corporation's only holding on the east coast, one of two newspapers it owns, is the New Jersey Herald. 

This corporation makes its millions in profit off advertising revenues.  It is not the words written by the reporters or the news shows on radio or television that matter -- they simply get eyes on the page -- it is all those advertisements for vinyl siding, used cars, socks, and suppositories.  That is where the money is, let's be clear on that.  Let's also be clear that the Herald isn't published for the benefit of the community, it is published to make a profit by a for-profit corporation over 1,000 miles away.  The day it doesn't make money and they see no hope of it making money, it will be gone. 

The Herald is still pissed off at Senator Oroho for suggesting that property taxes could be reduced by not requiring state, county, and local governments to pay media corporations to place all those public legal notices and advertisements in the back of newspapers.  Governmental entities have their own websites on which they could publish all those notices and advertisements for free.  Forcing them to pay newspapers to do so appears redundant and it costs taxpayers millions in property tax revenues.  It's like a mandated direct government subsidy to the newspaper/advertising industry.

Has the Herald ever covered this subject?  Have they ever written about it?  This is millions in property tax revenue that could be saved.  Doesn't that at least warrant a discussion?  But instead of a mature, honest, above-board discussion about a way to save taxpayers' money and maybe use that money to cut property taxes, what we have instead is a hissy fit followed by the big hate.

So now the Herald is in hate mode.  Big hate.  They want to screw somebody, and to do so they will blatantly ignore the facts about an issue, and will fashion a narrative by selectively using the voices of others, while preventing some from being heard.  This is accomplished by publishing letters to the editor from people who are attacking the object of the newspaper's hatred, while not publishing others.  On the comments page, they permit some to post comments but not others.  Both the Herald staff and its attorney admit to doing this by applying selective "criteria" in determining who gets to post -- something unique to the Herald.

Sunday's Herald was a case in point.  The New Jersey Herald published the letters of three Oroho haters (Nathan Orr, Troy Orr, and Bob Klymaz) who often publish in the Herald.

One letter, by Assembly candidate Nathan Orr, takes aim at Watchdog itself and calls us "an anonymous blogger".  Now as every reader of this website knows, we are a collective and we print whatever is sent to us and withhold names only upon request.  We do so in keeping with the longstanding American tradition of anonymous speech.  Benjamin Franklin published his attacks against the establishment of the day, anonymously, and one of the central documents in our founding are the Federalist Papers, also written anonymously.  Indeed, no less than the United States Supreme Court has defended the right to publish anonymously.  In its 1995 decision in McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission, the Court ruled:

"Anonymity is a shield... It thus exemplifies the purpose behind the Bill of Rights and of the First Amendment in particular:  to protect unpopular individuals from retaliation."

Ask yourself this question:  What would have happened to the county worker who tipped us off about the unsafe work environment in its offices a couple years back?  We published, the Herald and others followed, and the situation was corrected.  If we had published the name, that employee would have been retaliated against and when the Herald reporter called, too scared to tell the truth.  The same goes for the scheme to sell the county dump and a dozen others.   

When citizens had information regarding the solar scam, it was Watchdog -- NOT the NJ Herald -- who brought their information to the FBI, the United States Justice Department, and Attorney General's office.  It was Watchdog -- NOT the NJ Herald -- that arranged those meetings. Where was the Herald? This website has protected the anonymity of dozens of whistleblowers.  Would candidate Orr have us turn whistleblowers over to be punished? 

Just last week, the NJ Herald was ignoring the upcoming solar presentation until we published and they followed in the nick of time to help make sure citizens turned out.  But where is the Herald's editorial about the NO-BID CONTRACT handed to the law firm that both George Graham and Gail Phoebus said should have been fired for their handling of the bailout?  There is none. 

It was left to Watchdog to point out this turnabout by Freeholder Director Graham, who is now the biggest cheerleader for the firm he wanted fired last year.  The Herald doesn't rock the boat with advertisers.

In his letter, candidate Nathan Orr makes much of the 11 percent he picked up in the 2015 Republican primary for Assembly, in which he edged out Marie Bilik for third place (Parker Space and Gail Phoebus won easily).  What candidate Orr doesn't realize, and any political scientist will tell him, is that in a highly contested, negative-filled primary like that was; one in which every candidate was being attacked -- except for Orr, who was being entirely ignored -- he served as a kind of "none-of-the-above" opt-out for voters.  People weren't so much voting for him, because he did nothing to communicate his message, as they were voting against everyone else.  In fact, Nathan Orr has tested so poorly in subsequent polling, that he is no longer tested at all.  It is a waste of a question because nobody knows him.  Sorry.

 

But that hasn't stopped Nathan Orr from giving us all the benefit of his "wisdom" on some very complicated issues.  Orr is fond of stating the obvious, such as "our Legislature should be decreasing taxes" and even more so of putting down others with snarky, juvenile comments.  Nathan Orr is Sussex County's Rachel Maddow.

Here are some questions for this candidate and public figure:  Have you worked out a detailed plan to solve any problem, even a little one?  Can you come up with even a minor reform and then follow it through:  Meet with your legislators, ask them to set up a meeting with the Department of Transportation, and show them your better way?  Have you ever gone down to Trenton to testify for or against a piece of legislation?  Any legislation?  Anything at all?  Do you get involved in the local government of your town?  On an economic development committee even?  Have you ever worked with a democratic body of any kind to learn how difficult it is to find agreement?

And while we're at it, let's pose those questions to the other letter writers who seem to have all the answers, but who somehow never show up to do any of the hard work to actually make it happen.  Frankly, the NJ Herald letters page is beginning to sound like a stream-of-consciousness play set in a bar. Everything is simpler looking through the bottom of beer glass.  "Come on Joe, let's have another, if we keep drinking like this we'll solve all of America's problems and the world's too!"

Nathan Orr is a particularly young version of an Ann Smulewicz type.  The comment pages of the Herald are full of this type:  People who are in politics but who lack the honesty to own up to it.  Instead, they push the idea that elected officials are some alien life form -- "bad", to their "good".  And corporations like Quincy Media exploit this to sell newspapers. 

They dehumanize fellow human beings so they can more easily urge others to destroy them.  So Steve Oroho, a neighbor, the football coach at Pope John, active in community organizations and charities, is portrayed as this evil alien being.  And they've done the same thing to farmer Parker Space, and military mom Alison Littell McHose, and businesswoman Gail Phoebus, and high school sports hero Gary Chiusano, and platoon leader Mike Strada, and businessman Jeff Parrott, and the list goes on and on.  All our neighbors, all people we know, all people who we can walk up and talk to anytime. 

The Nathan Orrs of the world don't talk to people, they talk at them.  They dehumanize them, turn them into "things" that need to be destroyed.  And corporations like Quincy Media exploit this to sell newspapers.  Maybe it's time we've learned more about the person behind the corporate label -- Mr. Ralph Oakley of Quincy, Illinois -- before allowing him to manipulate us into hating our neighbors?

Former Freeholder candidate in murder plot

Yep, as we never stop trying to tell you, voters have to be very skeptical about what they are being sold by county "insiders".  It's the game of whisper that you have to worry about.  The things that they won't put down on paper and the people they promote (or bad mouth) that way.

Whisper, whisper, whisper... and that county goodfella they were promoting ends up being a pedophile.  Whisper, whisper, whisper... and that candidate for a job in law enforcement they all told you was so great ends up getting convicted as part of an attempt to kidnap and eat (yes, "eat" -- these are self-identified cannibals) a woman and her daughter.  Whisper, whisper, whisper... and that solar program -- yes, the "no brainer" that "couldn't fail" -- ends up costing taxpayers millions and the end is still nowhere in sight.

Gary Chiusano has been on the receiving end of these noxious whisper campaigns more than once.  When he was nominated by Governor Chris Christie to become Surrogate in 2013, a whisper campaign was mounted against him with the lie that he was doing so to "boost his pension".  In fact, Gary had voluntarily given up his pension when he was elected to the Legislature in 2007.  But that didn't stop the whisperers and it didn't stop them finding a candidate to run against him. 

Gary had tough primaries every step of his career.  He faced tough opposition in his 2007 run for Assembly and in his 2002 run for Freeholder.  Now that former opponent is in the news again.  Chris Thieme was once an up and coming player in Sussex County Republican politics.  He picked-up 3,000 votes against Chiusano in the 2002 Republican primary.  Once upon a time this critter had whisper going for him.  He was the "next big thing".  But a funny thing happened on the way to fulfilling the promise of all that insider whisper.  We'll let the Herald take over from here:

A Newton man and former Sussex County freeholder candidate has been arrested by federal authorities and charged with attempting to pay a hitman $25,000 to kidnap and kill a Paterson woman, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Christopher Thieme, 35, was arrested on Monday and charged with one count of murder-for-hire and one count of attempted kidnapping.

The murder-for-hire charge carries a maximum of 10 years in prison and the attempted kidnapping carries a maximum of 20 years. Each charge also carries a $250,000 fine.

"During multiple telephone conversations and text messages exchanged during this time period, Thieme explained to the individual that Thieme wanted the victim kidnapped and held for a week or two, during which time Thieme would empty the victim's bank accounts and sell the victim's real property for his own profit," a criminal complaint against Thieme said.

The complaint alleges that after two dates, the victim attempted to cut off contact from Thieme.

Thieme allegedly told the undercover agent that he would make the victim's death look like a heroin overdose, the complaint alleges.

On Jan. 4, Thieme took the undercover agent to the victim's home and other frequented locations before being dropped off in Caldwell and being arrested shortly after by the FBI.

The above are excerpts.  Read the full story on the Herald here: 

http://www.njherald.com/article/20160107/ARTICLE/301079985

You can't trust the whisper of county insiders.  They are corrupt scam artists who work by spreading rumors.  Beware, who knows, the next person whispering in your ear just might be a cannibal. 

Save the bears... eat the people.

Does Sussex County have a politicized police force?

The Republican primary to nominate a candidate for the open 24th District Assembly seat being vacated by Alison Littell McHose had a lot of strange elements to it.  None stranger was candidate Marie Bilik's attempts to politicize the police departments of Sussex County.

It began a few days before the start of the Memorial Day weekend, when Bilik campaign chairman Molly Whilesmith sent an email to police chiefs asking them to mobilize their departments in opposition to Freeholder Gail Phoebus, a candidate for Assembly.  At a Blairstown debate, Phoebus had suggested that some police chiefs received excessively large payouts and that some police officers were able to access their pension benefits too early. 

Both positions are perfectly defensible -- particularly in a Republican primary.  In 2013, Assemblyman Gary Chiusano -- then a candidate for Surrogate -- took a much harder line on police pensions and went on to crush a well-funded primary opponent by 20 percentage points. 

But Freeholder Phoebus went to great lengths to claw back her statements.  She personally apologized to individual police chiefs and officers, and she sent out at least two written apologies that we know of.  But apparently, it wasn't enough.  Embracing the idea that having an enemy is better than having a friend, some of the cops went all out to stick it up the poop-chute.  Perhaps they're just those kind of guys.

Watchdog has learned that Whilesmith -- who is a paid representative of Concord Engineering/ Energy, as well as an elected Sparta councilwoman -- organized a meeting of seven police chiefs, for the purpose of coordinating campaign operations against Phoebus.  At a PBA dinner held in Sparta, Bilik was the only candidate invited.  And there was a Facebook campaign organized to get police to vote for Bilik, along with Phoebus running mate Parker Space.  They even made a video ad to aid their efforts.

We've learned that the Phoebus camp was somewhat perplexed by the behavior of the predominately male members, refusing to accept the apology of a woman, more determined to make threats and carry them out.  One memo, obtained by Watchdog, referenced polling numbers on this issue and closed with the term "Assmonkeys", whatever that means.

In the end, this campaign appears to have helped Freeholder Phoebus, whose numbers were much closer to those of incumbent Parker Space than expected.  This is evident when compared to the last contested primary for an open Assembly seat, in 2007.

2007                                                                          2015

McHose (incumbent)        9,600 (35.5%)         Space (incumbent)            6,533 (40%)

Chiusano                               7,705 (28.5%)         Phoebus                    6,048 (37%)

Zellman                                 5,701 (21%)             Bilik                            1,696 (10%)

Woods                                   3,950 (14.5%)         Orr                             2,010 (12%)

Memo to the people who jumped on this scheme:  If you are going to publicly screw an elected official, don't come back with numbers like these.  Apparently however, Phoebus is a genuine friend of the police and a significant contributor to their causes.  She has stated that she looks forward to representing them in Trenton. 

That's a pity, as far as Watchdog is concerned.  We can't say we agree with her.

The bigger issue here is the politicization of the police.  Do we really want police chiefs behaving like party bosses?  Do we really want ward heelers with guns?  Instead of sobriety checks, how about traffic stops to check your voter ID?  Does anybody think having political cops is a good idea?

If the police want to become politicians, they should leave the force and run for office.  Law enforcement and the judiciary should be party blind if they want to maintain their integrity and the public's trust.

Bilik campaign attacks Alison McHose

In 2003, Alison Littell McHose gave up a full-time job to serve the people of the 24th Legislative District.  Legislators receive only a part-time salary of $49,000. 

During the 12 years she's held office, McHose has become known as an independent conservative voice for reform in Trenton -- crossing the aisle to work with reformers of both parties to pass legislation like the Party Democracy Act.  Time and again, reforms in Trenton began with McHose's lone voice.

 

In January, McHose announced that she would be stepping aside and would not be running for re-election.  The reason for her departure was that her two sons are approaching college age so she had decided to work full-time again as the administrator of Franklin Borough.  McHose and her husband, a U.S. Army Sergeant who served three tours in the war on terror and just returned home from Afghanistan, also have a young daughter.

Marie Bilik's campaign chairman is Molly Whilesmith, a Sparta councilwoman and former mayor.  Until recently, Whilesmith was a Democrat.  Now she claims to be a Republican, so we were surprised when she posted a link on her Facebook page to a letter to the editor by a leftist Democrat operative that attacks Alison McHose for seeking full-time work to stay close to home.

The writer takes a reform championed by Alison McHose and Parker Space and then lies about it.  McHose and Space successfully pushed legislation that ended the ability of an elected office holder from retiring and collecting a state pension while collecting a public salary.  It closed the loophole on double-dipping so that an elected official can no longer do both.

The writer is a clever liar who conflates this reform with an elected official having a second working income from a public source.  The loophole McHose and Space closed has to do with pension income and not holding a second source of public income.   That would take separate legislation and all such attempts have been blocked by the Democrats who control the Legislature.

In Alison McHose's case, she is not running for re-election and is temporarily holding two public positions, as full-time administrator and part-time legislator, only long enough for the people to choose her replacement at a primary held on June 2nd.  As was reported in the Herald and elsewhere, McHose had wanted to resign from the Assembly  immediately upon taking her new position.  However, with memories of the controversies surrounding Gary Chiusano's departure from the Assembly in 2013 and the opposition to county conventions voiced by the Herald and others, McHose decided to remain in office until the voters had their say in an election.

For this McHose is being attacked by Molly Whilesmith, the chairman of Marie Bilik's campaign.

Many elected officials do have a second working income from a public source.  Take the Bilik campaign's Molly Whilesmith as an example.  She has attended public meetings in municipality after municipality and lobbied on behalf of a corporation that sells its services to county and local governments.  In her work, Whilesmith is often accompanied by Wendy Molner, another Bilik campaign person and the Vice President for Government Relations of Concord Engineering/ Concord Energy.  Official government minutes are available off the Internet showing the role the two play.

Curiously however, while Molly Whilesmith's relationship with this energy vendor is demonstrable from local government documents, she failed to record it on her state mandated Financial Disclosure Statements for 2014 or 2015, covering her activities as Mayor, Member of Council, and Member of the Planning Board.

Looks like Mayor Whilesmith has some explaining to do.

Update on Friday, May 1, 2015 at 11:27AM by Sussex County Watchdog

We got this great comment from a Warren County Republican.  Please excuse the expletives.

I wish these people would make up their f**king minds. 

Everybody was pissed off over the idea of a convention choosing her successor.  Alison wanted to leave in January but nobody wanted her to leave.  Now this as*hole is attacking her.

I wish I could vote for her again.  These people are s*ck. 

The strange world of Herald comments

Could there be another Rick Meltz among them?

If you want to see the sick side of human behavior -- the jealousy, spite, and rage that lurks behind those Sussex County smiles -- you need go no further than the webpage of the New Jersey Herald.  A recent story about Assemblywoman Alison Littell McHose accepting a job as the town manager in the town she was born, raised, resides, and is raising her three children in brought out those rage drunks who have made Littell-hating a sport since before old Sheriff Littell tried to close down that Nazi Bund camp near Newton.

Many of those posting were probably in attendance at the funeral of the late Senator Bob Littell, who died in November of last year.  They stood in line and swapped stories about how the old Senator had come to their town's rescue with needed money.  About how much their property taxes would have had to go up if the Senator had not come through for them.  They reminded each other about how he helped them all and they consoled his widow, embraced her, smiled.

Now two months later they were in a hot sweat posting anonymous hate-barbs against Bob Littell's widow, barely managing to suppress orgasms.  Calling her the "wicked witch" they even attacked the late Senator's son, who many of them had forgotten until seeing him again at his father's funeral.  One anonymous commenter dug up a lawsuit against the son -- someone with no connection to politics at all -- and the Herald left it on its website.  As if the Herald and its owners and employees had never had a lawsuit to contend with.

Deep into their orgasmic, head-thumping rage, the Herald web comment team even attacked County Clerk Jeff Parrott and Surrogate Gary Chiusano with a vicious old lie hatched during the 2013 primary between Chiusano and lawyer Alicia Ferrante.  When Gary Chiusano tried to politely correct them, they lost it, they popped their corks and released an ocean of hate-filled spew.

About the only person some of those commenting appear to like is former Freeholder Glen Vetrano, whose six-figure pension was defended on the grounds that he had been a public employee in Paterson. While there can be a reasonable difference of opinion on the state's pension laws, it is unreasonable to defend a six-figure pension for a state employee while attacking the much smaller pension of a soldier just returning from Afghanistan.  Paterson may not be the safest city in America, but it is not Afghanistan. 

There is a lot of dark, closeted rage out there.  We see it come out from time to time in forums such as that provided by the New Jersey Herald.  What other forms it takes may be less obvious but could be more serious.