Matawan Seeks to Stop Paying Benefits to Criminals

The 20 May 2014 Matawan Borough Council meeting minutes try to avoid spelling out what the borough is doing to the local municipal code. They planned to pass an ordinance changing and/or augmenting the wording of some unnamed portion of the General Ordinance 2-15 dealing with the fire department. The agenda said the wording was attached herewith, but I guess that herewith didn't mean online.

Here's all the borough provided online:

Borough of Matawan

STATEMENT

The ordinance published herewith has been finally adopted by the governing body of the Borough of Matawan, in the County of Monmouth, State of New Jersey, by the recorded affirmative votes of at least two-thirds (2/3rds) of the full membership of the governing body on May 20, 2014, and the twenty (20) day period of limitation within which a suit, action or proceeding questioning the validity of such ordinance can be commenced has begun to run from the date of the first publication of the statement."

Karen Wynne, RMC

Municipal Clerk

ORDINANCE 14-08
AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING
THE REVISED GENERAL ORDINANCES OF THE
BOROUGH OF MATAWAN
CHAPTER II – ADMINISTATION, SECTION 2-15, ET SEQ
FIRE DEPARTMENT

The borough was required to post the full wording somewhere, so I searched the web and found it at EZNotice. Click here or view the pertinent text below.

Municipal Clerk ORDINANCE 14-08

AMENDING AND SUPPLEMENTING THE REVISED GENERAL ORDINANCES OF THE BOROUGH OF MATAWAN
CHAPTER II - ADMINISTATION, SECTION 2-15, ET SEQ -
FIRE DEPARTMENT

WHEREAS, it is necessary to amend the Administrative Code for the Borough of Matawan Fire Department to address issues concerning the membership and removal of membership of individuals who are members of the Borough of Matawan Fire Department and its component companies; and

WHEREAS, the Governing Body feels that the following amendment should be undertaken with respect to the Administrative Code for the orderly administration and composition of the Borough of Matawan Fire Department.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED that the Borough of Matawan amends the Administrative Code, Section 2-15.7 and adds the following language:

a. Any member of the Fire Department of the Borough of Matawan and its constituent recognized fire companies who is convicted of a crime or felony in the State of New Jersey or in any other state during membership in the Fire Department shall tender his or her resignation upon such conviction. If a member does not tender a resignation within thirty (30) days of conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction or a plea of guilt to a felony or criminal offense, the Mayor and Council shall cause the Municipal Clerk to notify the member that he or she will be removed from membership in the Borough of Matawan Fire Department, and all privileges, rights and benefits, including LOSAP contributions, if any shall terminate within thirty (30) days of the action of the Governing Body.

In all other respects, the remaining parts of Ordinance 2-15 remain unchanged

Then I wondered what Ordinance 2-15.7 said before this text was added. I found it at Clerkbase. (Go to Chapter II ADMINISTRATION and move through the text until you get to 2-15 FIRE DEPARTMENT. Then go to subsection 7.) Click here or read the excerpt below.

2-15.7      Resignations, Transfers and Deaths.

       All resignations, expulsions, transfers or deaths of active members from the Department shall be promptly reported to the Secretary of the Board of Fire Officers and to the Borough Clerk. (1971 Code § 15-1.6)

I suspect the key to all this is the borough doesn't want to pay Length of Service Award Program (LOSAP) benefits to convicted criminals, so they've added wording to the code allowing them to cease paying these benefits thirty days after sentencing if the individual hasn't already resigned. (Click here to read up on LOSAP.)

Matawan hasn't published the minutes of any Council meeting since September 2013, but the public notice says the ordinance passed.

You can debate the pros and cons of paying this benefit, but you must concede that your municipal government should be more open about what it is doing. It's time that Aberdeen and Matawan began providing more information online, not less. A good place to start would be to make the wording of attachments to resolutions available online along with the agenda. After about twenty minutes of research I was able to learn something the borough could have added to its website in two minutes.

Publishing the minutes of meetings every couple of months is bad enough, but every 9 months seems a bit much. When the Council members run next time, think about all they haven't told you.

Walgreens Adding Store Near Garden State Parkway Exit 120

We just can't seem to build enough pharmacies. Walgreens is building a new store in Old Bridge near the Pizza Hut on Laurence Harbor Parkway, just across the street from the CVS on Morristown Road.Why not? There's plenty of room, right?

Why do we need a new drug store? Perhaps the new store will be more convenient for those coming and going from the Garden State Parkway at  Exit 120? Exxon and CVS didn't seem to think so. That very spot used to be a convenient place to fill up your tank. And CVS moved from that shopping center years ago to where it stands now across the street.

Don't forget, though, that there are pharmacy departments in every local Shop Rite, Stop n Shop, A&P, Target, Walmart, Costco and BJ's Club. And, heaven forbid, we also have a Rite Aid in the area and several local pharmacy businesses. Of course, we had two drug stores on Main Street in Matawan before going downtown became passe. At least we still have the Matawan part of the Matawan Drugs sign to give us comfort.

Maybe the idea that we need a new store isn't even the question? Walgreens only had four pharmacies in the immediate area, while CVS had added a new store in Hazlet to bring its number to six stores. Could a little competition between major drug store chains be the actual reason for this new construction?

Need an aspirin? Shouldn't be an issue.

This Patchwork No Longer Serves Its Communities

The New York Times said in a 16 Dec 2013 article that The Patch is on its way out. That's not news to readers in Matawan and Aberdeen, where the service started with considerable promise but soon became an advertisement-ridden website filled with public service announcements, human interest features, and little news of local interest or import.

Tonight's Top News starts with job opportunities at Sleepy's, the Aberdeen Registrar's Office's new expanded hours, a local high school's art show win, and the latest home sales. Oh, and Lifestyle offers to teach you how to make buttermilk-battered fried chicken. And don't forget the big lottery ad: $2 million is only a scratch away.

The local editor who started The Matawan-Aberdeen Patch left the online newspaper a while ago and her replacement had no local roots and served at least two sites. Matawan-Aberdeen is now managed by a regional editor whose umbrella covers half the county. Articles these days are derived from news releases from law enforcement, school districts and municipalities.

The Patch had the worthy goal of filling the gap in local news coverage that staff-starved newspapers like the Asbury Park Press and Newark Star-Ledger were unable to produce. But The Patch produced few if any hard-hitting articles that might challenge our local governments, likely fearing that if they bite the hands that feed them, they will lose access to local officials. And what little true journalism was on display in those early years is virtually gone.

All in all, the coverage provided by The Patch doesn't protect its communities through what is recognized as the power of the Fifth Estate. Its patchwork of websites has been a placeholder for whatever comes next. What came before -- in print or online - has let us down.

What Next For The Cliffwood Beach Waterfront?

Mayor Fred Tagliarini had a close call in the recent election and wondered aloud on election night whether he needed to do a few things he promised but didn't delivered on, one of those being the Cliffwood Beach Waterfront revitalization. He pointed out that there's no point to fixing up the place if it is going to continue to flood, something I agree with.

Councilman Greg Cannon announced a development project to deal with the flooding of the beach onto Lakeshore Drive by improving drainage and engineering the dunes to withstand storms, things that the township might be able to get state or federal funding for but seem wishful thinking, engineering wise.

The roadway and park are literally immersed in a flood zone and nothing short of a seawall is going to keep out the Raritan Bay. And not for the long term, even with a concrete structure. The tide has been cutting a path towards Greenwood Avenue and regularly floods the woods behind the homes there. After Sandy and Irene, people were kayaking on Lakeshore Drive. No mound of sand, no matter how well engineered, is going to keep out the bay.

It might be time to start pondering a different approach to the beachfront. Perhaps a new bridge to connect Greenwood Avenue with Ocean Avenue? A bridge could provide secure vehicle transportation between Monmouth and Middlesex counties. It could also support a walkway/bike path connecting the Laurence Harbor seawall with the Cliffwood Beach seawall, eventually linking them to the Hudson Trail at Keyport. At the same time, we could develop a saltwater marsh at Cliffwood Beach instead of building basketball courts. A green approach could attract game bird hunters, fishermen, bird watchers and envirotourists. And generous funding at the state and federal levels.

History: Equipment for Home Laundering (1921)

The 28 Apr 1921 edition of The Matawan Journal provided advice to women on the proper placement, use and care of the latest laundry equipment. Most women were coping with poorly placed machines that required them to stoop awkwardly into the tub to reach their clothes, leading to fatigue. Wooden tubs were difficult to care for: kept dry and they would crack and fall apart; kept moist and they would become slimy and develop a disagreeable odor. Galvanized steel tubs were preferable for the modern woman.  

The story included drawings of a folding ironing board, a rack for holding an ironing board, a cold mangle, and multiple types of washing machines (rotary or cylinder type, washboard type, pressure and suction type, and dolly type).

Inkspeare Reviews Aberdeen NJ Life

Thanks to Inkspeare for a wonderful review of Aberdeen NJ Life!

History: Abortion in Monmouth County Newspapers (1883 - 1958)

With all the pressure to make legal abortions difficult if not impossible to obtain, it seems a good time to review the history of illegal abortions in Monmouth County and the many women who were hospitalized or even died after seeking to end an unwanted pregnancy. Below are an assortment of articles from The Matawan Journal and The Red Bank Register between 1883 and 1958 on the topic of abortion.

Ocean Grove druggist C. Huestis was being pursued on charges of seduction and abortion after evading capture, according to the 26 Sep 1883 edition of The Red Bank Register. The 4 Jun 1884 edition of the same paper elaborated on this, saying that Dr Cornelius Hustis had been captured earlier that week, adding that Hustis had been sought on charges placed by his victim, Emma Howell, of Ocean Grove.

The 13 Jan 1892 edition of The Red Bank Register said, "Thomas Timothy, Jr., of Holmdel township, was arraigned on a charge of abortion. He had betrayed his sweetheart, an immigrant girl named Ella Patrula, and had then induced her to take Paris green. He pleaded not guilty and will be tried on Tuesday, January 26th."

The Matawan Journal's coverage of upcoming arraignments in the Monmouth County Courthouse in ithe newspaper's 2 Feb 1895 edition, page 8, column 5 included a case of conspiracy to commit abortion. A woman named Rosalene Brady had sought and apparently received an abortion in Matawan. Those who performed the procedure were to be arraigned in Monmouth County court for conspiring with Ms Brady as well as for committing assault and battery against her.

Mrs Viola Bowers, a housekeeper in Howell, died of blood poisoning due to an abortion, according to the 11 Apr 1907 edition of The Matawan Journal. A coroner's jury was unable to name any culprits while hearing the matter at Freehold, but they were given only limited information. A doctor from Belmar and her employer in Howell were under bond to testify before the grand jury related to the matter.

The Monmouth County physician, in his annual report, cited one death in the county in 1925 due to abortion, according to the 8 Jan 1926 edition of The Matawan Journal.

Mrs Stella Patterson, of 14 West Main Street, Keyport, accused a juror of soliciting a $400 bribe to quash an indictment against her, according to the 20 Dec 1935 edition of The Matawan Journal, front page. Mrs. Patterson had been charged with performing an abortion on Mrs Eleanor Hopson, 24, of Long Branch. Mrs Hopson died in Hazard Hospital in Long Branch due to the alleged operation. The juror was indignant at her charge against him and called her a liar, while the other jurors called it a frame up.

Red Bank PD arrested one person for abortion in 1943, according to the department's annual report, which appeared in the 10 Feb 1944 edition of The Red Bank Register, page 2 column 1.

Patrick Santangelo of Red Bank was indicted in Monmouth County court for an abortion he performed in Red Bank in August, according to the 5 Sep 1946 edition of The Red Bank Register., page 3.

The Monmouth County Medical Society, at its February 1948 meeting, was to hear a presentation on the prevention of abortion and premature labor, according to the 4 Mar 1948 edition of The Matawan Journal, page 3, column 2.

NJ State Police and Bergen and Passaic County Police broke up a $2,500-per-day abortion ring operating weekends in Red Bank and weekdays in Paterson, according to the 16 Aug 1951 edition of The Red Bank Register..

A doctor from Atlantic Highlands was charged with abortion and tax evasion, according to the 9 Apr 1953 edition of The Red Bank Register, page 8 column 5. At the same time, the doctor was involved in a civil suit/counter suit involving the man who managed the doctor's dairy farm.

Anthony "Tony" Siciliano of Eatontown was charged in Monmouth County court of performing an abortion on Miss Jane Harrison of Long Branch, allegedly causing her death, according to the 25 Feb 1954 edition of The Red Bank Register. Harry Neuwirth, of Long Branch, allegedly aided and abetted the abortion by soliciting Mr Siciliano's services. The defendants were seeking a delay in the court proceedings to prepare their defense, according to the 24 Jun 1954 edition of The Red Bank Register. Mr Siciliano was found guilty two years later, as can be found in the 11 Oct 1956 edition of the Register, pg 2. That edition included a second abortion charge against Mr Siciliano, as follows,"Another indictment against Siciliano, charging him with performing an abortion on Miss Joan E. Rollins, 20, Falls Church,. Va., a college student at Lakewood, is also pending. Miss.Rollins died during August, 1954, after an abortion in an Ocean township motel. Prosecutor Vincent P. Keuper has said he would wait for the sentencing of Siciliano and review of the pending Rollins case before deciding whether to proceed with a trial in the second one."

Dr Leopold Brandenburg of Middlesex Road, Matawan, was found guilty in Hudson County court of conducting an abortion 12 years earlier in Union City, according to the 17 Nov 1955 edition of The Matawan Journal. The woman testified that she and her ex-boyfriend visited this doctor in 1943 and he had charged her $200 to conduct the operation. Dr Brandenburg lost his license in 1947 and served 44 months in a federal prison on narcotics charges.

The 16 Feb 1956 edition of The Red Bank Register carried the following story:
"Abortion Ring Trio Arrested
FREEHOLD — Mrs. Harriet (Hattle) Marks, 38, Southard, charged with performing an abortion and being the central figure in an abortion ring, pleaded not guilty Tuesday and was held in $10,000 bail for grand jury action.
   Prosecutor Vincent P. Keuper said Mrs. Marks had performed about 200 illegal operations during the last 20 years for a statewide ring.
   Identified as one of the key persons in the ring is Robert J. Croameans,, 35, Neptune City, who operated a soda fountain in Red Bank and is free in $10,000 bail awaiting a hearing Monday before
County Judge Elvln R. Simill.
   The complaint in this case is based on an alleged abortion performed last Sept 8 in a Wall township motel on Miss Gladys Bennett, 22, Plainfield. Mr. Keuper said Cremeans has been the go-between in many of the cases in which Mrs. Marks allegedly performed the abortions."

Susan Seward was in Monmouth County court charged with performing a $50 abortion in July 1956 on Mrs Helen Leonard, of Montclair, at the New Shrewsbury home of Sarah Jackson, according to the 15 Nov 1956 edition of The Red Bank Register. Ms Seward claimed that Mrs Leonard conducted the operation on herself with the help of Ms Jackson. Mrs Leonard spent three weeks in a Mountainside hospital recovering from the operation.

Mrs Anna Trzaska of South River was charged with performing an abortion in August in a Keyport home on a 21-year-old Keansburg woman, according to the 2 Oct 1958 edition of The Matawan Journal, page 15, columns 7-8.. Trzaska initially pleaded not guilty but ultimately did not contest the charges, according to the 8 Oct 1959 edition of The Matawan Journal, which noted that the Keansburg woman had been hospitalized but responded to treatment and was released.

Wright's Law - NY Times

I listen to podcasts on my commute. Occasionally I come upon a really good one. Wright's Law is a wonderful and touching story about a teacher. I highly recommend this New York Times piece.

Aberdeen Township 2013 Reorganization Meeting Agenda Lacks Details

The Aberdeen Township Council reorganization agenda scheduled for 2 Jan 2013 lacks the necessary attachments to know who is being nominated and what policies are being proposed, etc. Who are the nominees for zoning and planning? What is the planned schedule for Council meetings this year? What are the official depositories for Township accounts? What is the interest penalty rate for delinquent accounts? What are the recreation fees? Will you be releasing the budgets and target enforcement zone designations? 

Over The Cliff

Here we go, over the cliff. They said it would never happen. They were all supposedly just playing politics and would kiss and make up at the last minute.

Oh, but don't you see, it will only be a short fall, then the House is going to catch us in their loving arms and put us down gently. Yeah, that's it. McConnell's and Biden's hands are already sticking out of the rocky crags offering a helping hand. Can't you see them? It was all on the news. Crisis averted. No worries. Right?

But why do I still have this sinking feeling? I don't like it when we go through this sort of thing without a safety net. And what if something unexpected happens on the way down? Like electronic stock and bond trades? Or foreign currency market fluctuations?

Ah, relax. What could happen?

Facebook Friends and Privacy

I've been getting posts on my Facebook wall from friends urging me to jump through a few odd hoops that they assure me will protect their privacy. The process isn't difficult, but it isn't accomplishing what they think. All they are effectively doing is asking all of their friends to stop receiving any of these friends' photographs, comments, etc.

The best thing you can do is make sure your privacy setting is set to "friends" or narrower. And make sure one's friends on Facebook do the same. Don't select "public" or "friends of friends" or your personal pictures and comments will go everywhere. Asking your friends not to receive your Facebook activity is only going to make you very lonely.

Check the article at SNOPES titled Facebook Privacy before you launch a privacy campaign with your Facebook friends.

Where Have the Adults Been?

In an interview with Ezra Klein on The Rachel Maddow Show on Friday night, Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) interjected this comment into a discussion of the fiscal cliff: "The question that ought to be asked is How is it that in this country we would let ourselves get in this position? Where have the grownups been to make sure it doesn't happen?"

Indeed, where are the grownups? And, by extension, who are the children that need babysitting? I think I can identify the bad boys in this sad drama, Senator Coburn. The guilt isn't balanced between the two sides of the aisle. No, Tom, the dysfunction in Washington is personified by a Republican-led House of Representatives that struggles in vain with a radical wing that would see us all on the street with a tin cup, or selling pencils if we're lucky. Oh, and it resides in a Senate minority sworn to rabidly thwart all programs promoted by President Obama.

Don't come out at the end of December, Tom, and pretend to be the reasonable faction of the Republican Party. Ask where YOUR leadership has been. And while you're at it, ask where your party's spirit of civil service is? And where is your party's understanding of democratic politics? What's gone on for the past two years is sickening and things are only getting worse.

JCP&L Needs to Go

In the wee hours of Thursday morning, we had a power outage in Cliffwood Beach. My power backups beeped in the middle of the night to warn me that the electricity had failed, then those batteries died. My house grew cold by morning and I had to get candles out to get around. In the end, my power was out for about six hours and I missed a day of work.

My neighbor was outside with his dog and witnessed the outage. He heard a loud pop and saw the street lights in the neighborhood go dark, so he called JCP&L to report the outage. They challenged his account, noting that no one else had called (at 4 am). Then they warned him that filing a false report would result in a large fine.

JCP&L is obviously not working to improve their public image or customer service. In comparison, Optimum Online called and sent an email apologizing for the outage of service we'd experienced. I never heard anything from the electric company. Perhaps it is time that JCP&L found a new line of business and got the heck out of New Jersey? We couldn't do any worse.

Reigning Cats and Dogs

Sorry for the brief ad. You can skip it after a few seconds. This is just so funny.

Time to End the Gun Bazaar Fueling the Madness

Gun hobbyists, hunters and Second Amendment aficionados who demand unlimited access to the purchase and possession of weapons and then flood the airwaves with their propaganda about various threats to gun ownership do so at a cost: mass killings in our schools, our shopping malls, shootings in our homes, our groceries, and elsewhere in our communities.

Women think they're safer with a gun in the house, but more often than not they become victims. Like this recent madman's mother, who owned three guns and died at her son's hands before he killed so many others. It's simply wrong-headed to think having a gun in the house makes you safer. The statistics tell us otherwise. But the NRA and its associated groups won't tell you that.

Guns -- legal and illegal -- are everywhere these days. The US is an armed camp. And people who are depressed or sadistic or angry can get hold of a weapon and ammunition without much trouble.

The money from nearly unrestricted gun sales in some states feeds the gun lobby in Washington and brings terror to those who have strict gun controls.. States Rights means gun dealers can go to Virginia and purchase guns in bulk and sell illegally in the North. NRA lobbyists have the most money to hand out in Washington, and they pull our representatives' strings.

The Second Amendment wackos think the Blue Helmets are coming for their treasured guns. They have visions of hopping into their uncle's pickup truck to fight Soviet paratroopers in the Montana hills. They want you to know that you'll have to take their guns from them when they've died trying to protect their Second Amendment rights. They will tell you guns don't kill people, people kill people; so if you only would enforce the laws already on the books you wouldn't need to consider adding more intrusive and annoying gun control legislation. That's what they'll tell you. Maybe not today, when a man with a gun exercised his Second Amendment right to kill lots of children. But they'll start telling you this as soon as the coast is clear.

My personal gun rights muse emerged last week to tell me over the fence that the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty was a devious scheme to take away his Second Amendment rights. ATT would give his rights to a world power determined to harm America. He read it somewhere and wouldn't believe my evidence to the contrary. He told me we were wasting our money at the UN, that even though we helped the Dominican Republic after their hurricane, the Dominicans couldn't be bothered to help us after ours. He was glad that the Senate had voted down the international arms treaty last week because the Blue Helmets were surely out to get us all.When he came out today to spew his ill-informed nonsense over the fence, he was walking on eggshells. Even he knew that today's shootings were beyond the pale. But his hesitance wasn't a change of heart. No, he's still a true believer. It was a mere pause to avoid an uncomfortable situation.

So, what is to be done now?

• We need to make it clear to President Obama that he must challenge the NRA's stranglehold on our lives. We need immediate action.
• We need to remember 12/14 like 9/11. We mustn't forget. 
• We must nag all our Congressional leaders to do something substantial and do it right away. There have been countless such shootings and each time we say it must stop. Then more people die. Just think how far back this could have been fixed. There have been many perfect occasions to have drawn the line on gun violence.

The alternative to doing something about gun sales and violence is to start training our children at a painfully young age to defend themselves in armed combat. At school. At the movies. At the mall. You name it, guns are invading that space. Even the Hunger Games didn't involve elementary school age children going off to fight for their lives.It's wrong and we need to do something about this sad state of affairs as soon as possible.

The King Is Dead. Long Live King Curley

The chain of events that led to Peter Burnham, former President of Brookdale Community College, landing in jail, has been pressed and strained to extract praise for the fiduciary wisdom of the actions of John Curley and the Monmouth County Freeholders. Anyone with a halfway decent grasp of business as usual in New Jersey politics can see that the Freeholders led a politically driven fishing expedition into Burnham's vouchers after the Chosen became annoyed with him over a supercharged budget issue related to Brookdale tuition hikes and county funding of the school. Something had to give, and it was Burnham's career and now even his freedom.

Have you noticed how local news stories always mention Burnham's supposedly outrageous pay and benefits package? Keep in mind that the Freeholders oversaw his pay and benefits during all those years. The whole shock and awe campaign is an apparent effort to justify the Freeholders' probe. Curley and company were lucky they found something to hang their hats on during their witch hunt. I doubt they would have gotten a court order for a search warrant to dig around to see what they could find. Burnham, after all, isn't going to jail for sending his kids to college on the school's nickel, or for his spa membership, or his fancy vehicle. Yet those things always get churned in press articles.

When the Freeholders found that Burnham had been using his office credit card for personal purchases for eight years, the Freeholders were praised in the media for their amazing sleuthing, when in fact they should have been reprimanded for exercising inadequate oversight of the school's auditing procedures. A few of the Freeholders serve on a special board of oversight at Brookdale. Their job is reviewing the budget and assuring proper financial management. They obviously weren't minding the store. And now we're congratulating them for a job well done?

Let's say I used my company credit card to buy sneakers and Costco memberships. It wouldn't be long before my accounting department would be calling me on the carpet. Failing that, auditors would come down on both me and the accounting department - me for the misuse of my company card and the accountants for failing to call me to task and for exercising inadequate financial controls. That's called proper financial management.

So, Peter Burnham used his Brookdale credit card to spend the royal sum of about $10 a day, something that should have been stopped long ago through routine financial controls. And he screwed up in his handling of a transaction involving his kid's college tuition banking. The fraud charges stuck and he's off to jail. But just keep in mind that he gave the County Freeholders a major political headache over school funding and prompted them to dig into something they hadn't bothered to look at for years. And here we are.

Reddi-Made Gender Roles

Lots to chew on about gender roles in this short whipped cream commercial.

Inkspeare

Maria Diaz, the writer of Inkspeare ("To blog or not to blog. . . ."), published a blog article with photographs about her neighborhood in Cliffwood Beach in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy and in anticipation of the Nor'easter that was then approaching. She also wrote a blog article about her preparations for Sandy, again with a lot of interesting photographs chronicling the steps she took to ready her house and precious keepsakes.

Maria is a free-lance writer and writes about that, but some of those articles can easily apply to anyone who runs their own small business. For example, she recently wrote a broadly-applicable series on building your brand (Building Your Brand, Building Your Brand - The Challenges, and Building Your Brand - The Rewards). She writes poems, posts photos of her watercolors, tells us about her cat, and updates us on a wide range of projects she's pursuing.

Her blog is quite interesting and of local origin. I recommend it.

Aberdeen Town Council to Add Vendor to Contractors Co-op List

The 4 Sep 2012 agenda for the Aberdeen Town Council includes Resolution 2012-88, which resolves to add a vendor to the 2012 Monmouth County Co-op List. The name of this vendor is "attached" to the hard copy of the resolution but not provided online.

Aberdeen Township Resolution 2012-22 permits the Township to make certain no-bid purchases from approved NJ and Monmouth County contract vendors.

UPDATE 4 Sep 2012: Councilman Greg Cannon was kind enough to write and provide the name of the vendor as McGrath Municipal Equipment. The Township hopes to purchase a portable asphalt hot box recycler from McGrath for the Department of Public Works. He explained that adding the company to the Monmouth County Co-op List will save the Township on attorney's fees and advertising costs. He assured me that all public procurement laws are being followed and the township's purchasing agent, Jackie Struble, is getting the best possible price for the taxpayers. The omission of the name of the vendor was an oversight.

A Matter of Perspective, or Zoom

A local company, in an apparent attempt to attract quality staff to its location, has gone a bit too far in boasting about Matawan. Above is their photograph of how close Matawan is to Manhattan.  Really? They have enhanced the perspective to bring the city closer. In fact, we're over twenty miles from the Big Apple as the crow flies, and more like an hour by car or an hour and a half by train -- each way. And you won't be popping over to the city to unwind during your breaks or out to our fine beach to dive into the surf and walk a boardwalk after work. Local beaches are for boating and fishing but not for swimming.

Matawan is a great place to live and work. I just wouldn't want people thinking it's as close to Manhattan as Hoboken, or as hopping as a Jersey Shore beach town in summer.