Economy Hits Battered Women in Monmouth County

Manna House has completed two years of difficult negotiations with Monmouth County on the provision of transitional housing for homeless women and their children under ever-worsening economic circumstances. Manna House has agreed to "operate at higher capacity" in an arrangement worked out with Monmouth County officials, according to a rather nebulous Monmouth County press release. The deal involves some sort of "merger" between Manna House and Spring House, a similar transitional housing operation that has served Eatontown since 1990.

I have lots of questions. Is Spring House closing in this arrangement? It's unclear. The press release speaks of a county transitional housing facility called Linkages that will take the portion of homeless that an expanded Manna House cannot handle. That sounds ominous for the continued operation of Spring House. The reprise of operations by the spokesman for Spring House also suggests an ending there. So what's the story? What were the financial considerations? The budget changes? What is the new status for each of the private institutions? And what's the new role of the county facility?  It isn't spelled out, but I suspect a significant reduction in county and/or state funding, on top of a likely shortfall in private donations, has prompted what can optimistically be called a consolidation.

This press release appears at a radio station website, Matawan-Aberdeen Patch, and the Atlantic Highlands Herald website, as well as a host of other sites. But its prevalence doesn't help us understand what is really going on here. Repeated presentations of what the county wants us to know isn't analysis. I hope someone does some digging because something's not right here. These facilities have insured the safety and security of battered women and their children for twenty years, so our community should be sure this new arrangement is proper and well thought out.

These changes begin 1 September 2011.

UPDATE 20 August 2011: I just noticed that The Independent offered its own version of this story on 11 August. They interviewed a Monmouth County official who explained that county-wide requests for transitional housing are down over 25% because victims are unwilling to enter the county's long-term care program. The number of domestic violence victims is surely on the rise in these troubled times, not falling, so perhaps the numbers of requests are down because of the county's program? Anyone who reads the region's papers knows that women are being found dead on the side of the Garden State Parkway as victims of domestic violence, so things aren't 25% better. Are you kidding me?

Spring House families will move to Manna House on 1 September and all referrals from Monmouth County will be directed to Manna House as the primary provider of transitional housing. No one will say it outright, but Spring House is being merged out of existence. Its parent corporation is left to "explore other ways" to serve the homeless. At least we learned that much from the local press. More than a few details remain.

African Americans in the Matawan Journal - 8 May 1886 and 20 Nov 1886

The 8 May 1886 edition of The Matawan Journal (p 213/221) reports on the beginning of the May Term of the Monmouth County courts the previous Tuesday. Judge Walling was presiding over a court room with two dozen grand jurors.

The Journal described events this way:

Judge Walling made a brief charge, in which he referred to the lynching of the negro, Mingo Jack, at Eatontown, and urged the Grand Jury to inquire with great care into the matter, to vindicate the fair fame of our county for law and order.

The New York Times article of 5 May 1886 offered a small blurb, much the same as the above excerpt.

The County Board of Chosen Freeholders discussed over a thousand dollars worth of bills related to the investigation of the lynch mob at a July 1886 meeting, at first approving the payments then reversing their decision, directing the matter instead to be reviewed by their auditor, per the 17 July 1886 edition of The Matawan Journal.

The 20 Nov 1886 edition of The Matawan Journal tells of a great controversy within the county over the Supreme Court's order requiring the County Board of Chosen Freeholders to pay over a thousand dollars in expenses related to the Sheriff's search for the lynchers and other costs of processing the Mingo Jack prosecution.

The obituary for Mingo Jack's alleged victim, a woman whose situation prompted the rage that prompted the lynching, relates the local version of events at that time. It appears in the 27 May 1893 edition of The Matawan Journal:

The Victim of Mingo Jack Dead.
Red Bank Register

Angelina Herbert, daughter of Tbomas S. Herbert of Poplar, died on Monday of last week, aged thirty years. Her death recalls the only lynching that ever occurred in Monmouth oounty.
 
On March 6th, 1886, Miss Herbert was attacked on a lonely road near her home by Samuel Johnson, better known as Mingo Jack, a colored man of dissolute habits who lived at South Eatontown.

She was knocked down and dangerously assaulted by Johnson, who then carried her unconscious form into a clump of bushes by the roadside. When she regained her senses, Miss Herbert crawled to the house of a neighbor and told her story lo the family. Officer Liebenthal was summoned and he went immediately to Mingo Jack's house, The man was eating his supper and when the officer stated his errand he denied all knowledge of the affair.

Johnson was arrested and taken to tlhe little wooden jail along the railroad track. Later that night a mob assembled and broke into the jail. They clubbed tho man mercilessly and then hung the almost lifeless body just outside the jail door. Before the lynchers dispersed, they riddled the body with bullets.

The county authorities worked for weeks to discover who the lynchers were, but they were unsuccessful.

Miss Herbert's death was due to consumption, though it is said she never recovered from the injuries she received.

MAPL: Note that the 23 May 1885 edition of The Journal is actually over 200 pages long and appears to include all of the "missing editions" of the paper. Based on the 1885 and 1886 directories of newspaper images, the company that produced this data set seems to have lost track of the images for editions after 23 May 1885 and before 22 May 1886. I suppose those images could be separated out and linked appropriately by issuance date.

African Americans in the Matawan Journal - 14 June 1935

The Second Baptist Church of Matawan was to celebrate its 23rd anniversary from 24 to 30 June 1935 at its location on Orchard Street near Church Street, according to a Matawan Journal article published seventy five years ago. Preachers were to include the Reverend George Crawity, of Lakewood; the Reverend E T Carter, of South River; the Reverend W A Parham, of Freehold; the Reverend N S Hargrave, of Keyport; the Reverend W H Hebron, of Eatontown; and the Reverend Hall of Atlantic Highlands, who would deliver the anniversary address on the last day. The pastor of the church at the time was the Reverend W J Hutcheson. The clerk was Samuel J Harrison.

14 June 1935, page 2, column 1

An Alternate Route to Monmouth Mall

When I want to go to Monmouth Mall in Eatontown, I typically take the Garden State Parkway from Exit 117A to Exit 105. Simple enough. But when there is beach traffic and I need to avoid the GSP, or when I simply want a leisurely ride, I take the back roads. Here's my route. You may know others.

From Aberdeen, take Holmdel Road south to Crawfords Corner Road, where you begin to parallel the GSP just to the south of it. You'll pass Holmdel government buildings, Holmdel High School, and the back way into the PNC Arts Center. (If you turned right you'd soon be at Monmouth County's Holmdel Park, its Longstreet Farm and arboretum.) The road turns into Everett Road before you pass the big water tower and office park that signifies Lucent/Bell Labs (or whatever it happens to be today). Bamm Hollow Country Club is off to the left. After you pass the Lincroft Presbyterian Church you are almost to Newman Springs Road (Route 520). Across the street is Monmouth County's Thompson Park. Turn left. You'll soon pass Brookdale Community College in Lincroft.

Turn right at the Lincroft Inn onto Swimming River Road, which roughly parallels the GSP a bit to the west. Monmouth Reservoir passes on your right and then you're soon surrounded by the beautiful horse country of Colts Neck. When you reach Route 537, cross at the relatively busy intersection and proceed left onto Tinton Avenue. Wend your way through what apparently is the hamlet of Cooks Mills. Soon Tinton Avenue goes off to the left, but continue straight on what becomes a somewhat desolate Wayside Road. The Monmouth County Mosquito Commission has its office down here. Soon you're at the Wayside Road entrance to Route 18. Off on your right in the woods is US Naval Weapons Station Earle. Turn left onto Shafto Road (Route 547), which becomes Wyckoff Road once you cross Hope Road. The mall is down Wyckoff Rd a ways on your right.

News Updates as of 1 August 2009

• Matawan woman arrested, accused of embezzlement from the Manhattan investment firm where she worked. She reportedly put in a pool, invested in her personal business, and gave money to family and friends to the tune of $1.7 million. See the NY Post and many other sources for the story.
• A young man from Cliffwood Beach died when he went off the road in Old Bridge in the wee hours of July 23, per MyCentralJersey.
• The editors of the Asbury Park Press took it on the chin again as another resident sent a letter calling them to task for their unbalanced school board coverage. I concur completely, Bob. Nice letter.
• Patriot Consulting Group, of Matawan, continues to lobby for regionalization of garbage collection services in Monmouth County on behalf of the membership of the Central Jersey Council of Governments, according to APP. The status of this debate doesn't seem to have changed since this consultant floated the same story back in December. Also, I find no website for the Council and wonder if it is a paper tiger.
• Summer theatre is at it again this year. Matawan Regional High School is producing Rock-a-Bye Broadway this weekend. Check out APP for details, including pics. Shows through Sunday.
• Read about Gerard Canonico, of Matawan, and his Broadway career at APP.
• 2004 graduate of MRHS Nicholas Blevins back from National Guard duty with Iraqi Freedom, per Independent.
• Check out this Flickr slideshow. He's added some nice photos of sunset at Cliffwood Beach. If you don't want to view the slideshow, check out his Flickr site for pics of the Monmouth County Fair, Red Bank, Matawan, and lots of other great stuff.
• Check out APP for its discussion of area plays. Locally, Once on This Island, the Spotlight Players current show, is playing at the First Presbyterian Church, Route 34, Matawan. The article also discusses shows at the Two River Theatre in Red Bank, the Center Playhouse in Freehold, the Eatontown Playhouse, and the Spring Lake Community House.
• For those who can't get enough of the Matawan shark story, the Fishhead blog at the CourierPostOnline carries a lengthy rendering of the event.
  

Red Bank Gets a Dose of MOM's TLC

The classic if neverending political fracas lovingly referred to as MOM -- the Monmouth-Ocean-Middlesex rail line project -- has added yet another grizzly episode to the pantheon of Jersey polemics. The News Transcript says a panel consisting of officials from NJ Transit, NJ Transportation Planning Authority, and each of the three counties involved, drafted a plan that names Red Bank as the lucky junction (at the moment anyway) to connect Lakehurst with New York.

The line to Lakehurst would include intermediate stops along an existing freight line through Shrewsbury, Eatontown, Tinton Falls, Colts Neck, Wall, Howell, Lakewood, Jackson, and Toms River. There would also be a spur from Freehold to Farmingdale. No new stations would have to be built, according to this plan.

Officials in Red Bank and neighboring towns are putting candles in the church tower and drying their powder, watching anxiously for the rascals to dare approach. Freeholder John D'Amico, who says the plan is the best the panel could muster, is reportedly not in good stead with his colleagues in Freehold because they had to first hear about the decision in the media. Marlboro's mayor is throwing Red Bank under the bus, apparently just happy that the panel didn't choose a plan that would ruin his town.

While D'Amico says an announcement is imminent, others say nothing is settled. It's hard to believe the plan could become a reality without broader support at the county level, but they do call it "railroading" after all. The possibility of a Matawan junction is mentioned in the article, but it continues to be one of the lesser options.

I'm sure it is hard to draw a line through such populous counties and find a solution acceptable for all. But no plan is better than a bad plan. I personally like Red Bank and would hate to see its unique cultural atmosphere destroyed through traffic congestion. And I'm sure those in Red Bank don't wish harm to befall Matawan and its neighbors. There must be a better alternative.

Central Jersey Council of Governments Holds First Meeting

The inaugural meeting of the Central Jersey Council of Governments (CJCG) was held on 7 April 2009, according to the Bayshore Independent. At the encouragement of Governor Corzine, representatives of our area's governments will strive through this new body to find innovative ways to share municipal services and save the taxpayers money. HardNewsNJ reported in December 2008 that the council will likely initiate a regional solid waste management feasability study as its first project. Middletown's mayor confirmed this to the Independent last week, saying a pilot program to collect trash county-wide could begin as early as spring of 2010. The initiative would save individual governments 20% on local trash collection services, according to the consulting firm that looked into the matter.

Aberdeen Township is not listed as one of the governments that have proceeded to join the new council, at least not in the news articles above or in the Asbury Park Press. And I found no mention of the council in a search of the township website, which leads me to believe there's been no action in the township council.

Actually, obtaining or even deriving the list of member towns is a puzzlement. You sort of need graph paper, a calculator, Silly Putty, and lots of patience. For example, the APP article suggests that the council has 22 or more members and provides a precise list of those attending:

The Central Jersey Council of Governments consists of: Asbury Park, Atlantic Highlands, Bradley Beach, Colts Neck, Eatontown, Englishtown, Freehold Borough, Freehold Township, Hazlet, Manalapan, Marlboro, Middletown, Neptune City, Wall. Another eight or more towns have passed resolutions to participate but were not at Tuesday's meeting, according to Marlboro Mayor Jonathan Hornik.

... while the Independent, written more recently, suggests the council has only 20 members and mentions 7 municipalities that weren't named in the APP article:

The organization is dedicated to seeking shared services across Monmouth County. Towns involved in the group include Eatontown, Hazlet, Little Silver, Long Branch, Matawan, Middletown, Ocean Township, Oceanport and Sea Bright. "Twenty municipalities joined together in what is the largest group of municipalities in the state," Middletown Mayor Pamela Brightbill said last week.

As far as I can tell, the webpage of the Office of the Governor provides no details on these new regional councils in general and ignored the 7 April event entirely, even though Gov. Corzine reportedly spoke to the mayors at that first meeting of CJCG and is supposed to be an advocate for regionalization. I consider myself a pretty good researcher, but I've come up empty looking for information about these councils, or CJCG in particular, at both the official website for the State of NJ and Monmouth County's website.

Too many cooks already?

High Style Burgers at Monmouth Mall

I'm hearing more and more about how the popular chef Bobby Flay has opened a burger joint at Monmouth Mall. Bobby's Burger Palace was even reviewed recently by Capital Spice, a Washington, DC-based blog. Chowhound began the discussion in March 2008 when it reported that the Eatontown planning board was allowing a major expansion at the mall, which would place Flay's new restaurant on the outskirts of the property somewhere along Route 35.

Be sure to check out Sally's reviews of the new Zebu Forno in Freehold and McDonagh's Pub in Keyport. Add a comment or a question at her blog site and she'll be happy to give you her thoughts on local cuisine and culture.