Freeholders gave raises to 50 insiders... stiffed regular workers

If you want to know why the county workers who plow the snow and fix the roads are so up in arms, consider this:  What were Freeholders Rose and Lazzaro thinking to be in the middle of contract negotiations with the county's blue-collar union workers, telling them you need to hold-the-line on spending, while handing out big raises to 50 of your white-collar cronies?   

Are these guys stupid, clueless, arrogant, or all three?

Actually, it is much simpler than that.  They do as Freeholder Boss George Graham tells them, and he is in the middle of doing some serious Empire Building.  Like taking over the Sheriff's Department, so he can turn it into the kind of patronage den they have back in Hudson County, where Graham, a former Democrat Party political consultant, ran campaigns for the Mayor of Bayonne and the like.

A recent letter from a reader explains it:

SOURCE: Freeholder Minutes, May 9, 2018

Now there is a justifiable anger from those county employees who have not been on the receiving end of the largesse of Freeholders Graham, Rose, and Lazzaro. For the first time in memory, the CWA employees union made an endorsement and endorsed their opponents. Such is the anger out there. 

It is clear that the three Freeholders have lost the moral high ground by handing out raises to their friends.  They cannot be agents for fiscal responsibility while they behave in such an irresponsible manner.  Perhaps two new freeholders, without the baggage of having taken care of their cronies, can argue on behalf of the taxpayers, for fiscal restraint, that we are all taxpayers and in this together?

Perhaps they can.  Because the incumbents certainly cannot. 

Freeholder Rose is supporting anti-gun candidate John McCann. What's up with that?

Maybe the Tea Party is going soft?  

At Freeholder Jonathan Rose's fundraiser last month, the young libertarian got up and formally threw his support to John McCann, formerly of the Democrat Bergen County Sheriff's office, and now a GOP candidate for Congress.  Among those present at Freeholder Rose's announcement was former Franklin Councilman Dave Fanale, a controversial figure who resigned from the Council after leading a particularly disturbing anti-police campaign. 

Rose's support for McCann, a decidedly liberal Republican on issues like abortion and the Second Amendment, came at the explicit direction of Freeholder Boss George Graham, who also instructed his gal Maria Alampi to put together an NRA-type event for McCann, in order to create the impression among pro-gun Republicans in Sussex County that McCann shares their views.  This follows what Graham did for Dan Perez last year.  Perez, a liberal Democrat running for Sussex County Freeholder against Republican Herb Yardley, enjoyed the support of Graham, Alampi, and the Freeholders Graham controls -- Jonathan Rose and Carl Lazzaro. 

Strangely enough, at last night's meeting of the Skylands Tea Party, none of those questioned why Freeholder Rose is endorsing John McCann for Congress over conservative Steve Lonegan, a Tea Party favorite.  Members of Skylands Tea Party have first-hand knowledge of McCann's refusal to fill out the NRA questionnaire to reveal to the pro-Second Amendment community where he stands on the issues. 

McCann also refused to fill out the New Jersey Right-to-Life questionnaire, leaving his exact position on that issue in doubt, although McCann has described himself variously as "personally Pro-Life" and "Pro-Choice" on abortion.  What is McCann concerned the voters will find out? 

Why Jonathan Rose -- who claims to favor transparency -- should support such a murky character is open to interpretation.

As for Rose's running-mate and fellow Freeholder Carl Lazzaro, he has yet to express a preference for either McCann or Lonegan.  Lazzaro spoke at last evening's Tea Party meeting but saved his attacks for Sheriff Mike Strada, who is suing the Freeholder Board and those three named Freeholders -- Graham, Rose, and Lazzaro -- for wasting taxpayers' money and interfering in the operations of his department for political ends.

What all this amounts to is a pay-day for Freeholder Boss George Graham, who maintains a political consulting business as a principal source of income.  Graham appears to have delivered the Tea Party to McCann -- along with Freeholder Rose and the Alampi wing of the NRA... and this is the amazing thing... despite McCann's refusal to tell the NRA where he stands on gun rights.  A remarkable feat indeed.

Lots of Questions for the Freeholder candidates

Tomorrow evening the New Jersey Herald will be holding a public debate between the four candidates for Sussex County Freeholder.  Voters will get to select two.  The candidates are:  Jonathan Rose, Republican; Carl Lazzaro, Republican; Harvey Roseff, Independent; and Robert Walsh, Independent.  The Sussex County Democrats did not come up with a candidate for Freeholder this year.

The debate is being held at Newton High School.  It begins at 6pm and will take about an hour.

Sussex County is in transition.  With its tax base shrinking and job hunters moving away, there are a lot of issues that will have to be tackled by the next Freeholder Board.  The solar scandal exposed the extent to which cronyism and back room dealing has corrupted the process of government in Sussex County. To address these issues moving forward, we need a county ethics committee, the registration of county lobbyists, and a clear ethics policy that every elected official, employee, and vendor signs off on.

Other issues that need to be discussed include the future of transportation in the county -- both in terms of improved roads and bridges with quicker repair schedules and mass transportation to points outside the county and within.  How we address this will determine whether or not we will have the infrastructure to grow and provide jobs for our future. 

Solid waste is another.  The county has a great asset in its solid waste facility but past Freeholder Boards have wanted to sell it off to politically connected operators at a bargain basement price.  We shouldn't allow it to become the next homestead nursing home sale -- with both the asset and the income, and now even the windfall, gone. 

Transitional healthcare sounded good but it has to be re-examined to see whether or not it is a good deal for taxpayers.  And part of that examination will have to be the relationships between health care corporations and county officials both past and present. 

The county's 9-1-1 program has also ended up being less than advertised.  We went from a program that worked to one that still works but costs a whole lot more.  Some say a million dollars a year more, with half of Sussex County actually paying twice for the service.  

Sussex County's solar debacle began as a sole bid contract.  Sole bid contracts have become a usual and customary way of doing business in Sussex County.  The biding process must be made more open -- both in transparency of process and in advertising bids. 

These are just a few of the many issues that you need to ask questions about tomorrow evening.  No doubt you have some of your own.  Please take an hour out of your week and attend the debate, ask questions, and take back your county.

The rest of this week we will be looking at each of the four candidates for Freeholder, so stay tuned.

Wipeout

(Courtesy of the New Jersey Herald)