History: Matawan Creek Bridge (1915)

Profile and cross section of the proposed new Strauss Bascule Drawbridge over Matawan Creek.

On the occasion of the construction of a new bridge over Matawan Creek by the Monmouth County freeholders, the 22 Apr 1915 edition of The Matawan Journal discussed the history of transit over Matawan Creek between Matawan Point and Keyport and provided details about the then-current bridge project.

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The location over Matawan Creek, at which point the new bridge to be constructed by the Board of Chosen Freeholders of Monmouth County is to be placed, has been used as a crossing point for a very long time. It is understood that the Indians which inhabited this section of our county, were the first to use it in order to reach their brethren at Chingarora Point from Matawan Point.

Long after the Indians had been driven out a raft was used to transport persons from one side to the other. Along about the year 1854, the late John K. Kuhns, Cliffwood, started a ferry by which he could transport wagons and persons across the stream. This mode of transfer was in effect for a number of years, as the owners of the vessels sailing in and out of Matawan on Middletown Point Creek were successful in fighting off the efforts of the people of Keyport in having a charter granted for a pay drawbridge.

Keyport-Cliffwood Direct

The boatmen were aided in their efforts to hold up the charter by the merchants of then Middletown Point, now Matawan, as all wagon traffic was compelled to make the long drive around Matawan to Keyport via what is known as the P. V. Heyer farm at the upper end of Matawan Creek, at which place was the only bridge at that time.

At first when the question of a bridge was agitated, the owners of the sailing vessels, aided by the merchants of Middletown Point, were powerful enough to defeat legislation which would permit the construction of the bridge for a number of years. About the year 1858 the late Joseph Rose, who had moved from New York to the farm known as the Rose farm and who frequently went to New York City by boat from Keyport, became interested in the proposition and created such a sentiment for the building of the bridge that the "bridge party" were successful in electing members to the Senate and House from this county, who had a law enacted empowering the company to build a bridge and charge toll. This was in 1857.

Charged Tolls Then

The bridge, as a toll bridge, was maintained for a number of years and up until the county purchased it from the company and made it a free or county bridge.

The first bridge built was constructed of wood, and lasted until the year 1888 when it was replaced by the present iron bridge at a cost of about $19,000. At the time the trolley road was extended to South Amboy, an enlargement was made by the county, whereby the trolley company was permitted to use the bridge in connection with the county. As the iron bridge, when built, was not meant to carry the traffic to which it was then subjected, it soon began to show the strain which it was compelled to carry, and it has been necessary to do considerable work on the bridge to keep it in condition for use. For the use of the bridge the trolley company pays one-half the operating expenses, repairs and the cost of any new structures which the Board of Freeholders felt it necessary to erect.

Trolley Shared It

Several months ago the Board decided to replace tho present bridge with a new and modern structure, and the designers of what is known as Bascule, or "Jack Knife" bridge were requested to submit plans, specifications, and approximate prices for a new bridge.

Among the proposals submitted was one from the Strauss Bascule Trunnion Bridge Company, of Chicago, Ill. After the Board of Freeholders and the representatives of the Jersey Central Traction Company had gone over the various plans of bridges submitted by the competitors, it was the unanimous conclusion of the Board and the trolley company that the Strauss Bascule Trunnion Bridge was superior to any other style or type submitted, and a contract was made with this company to furnish the plans and specifications for same.

The preliminary drawings were completed and the specifications outlined, when it became necessary for the County Engineer to go to Chicago to go over same in conjunction with the Chief Engineer of the Strauss Bridge Company. The work of checking up the plans and specifications was done last week by the County Engineer, and we have been able to obtain the following facts in connection therewith.

Shift Location

The new bridge will be located directly along the present structure on.the southwest side of same. It will have a thirty foot roadway with a street car track in the center and will be built for traffic and in the most substantial manner. The trunnion pin will be 10 1/4 inches in diameter. The bridge will consist of three stationary spans, each about seventy feet long, and in addition a double leaf bascule span of the Strauss type, which will give a clear unobstructed channel for navigation of fifty feet. This type of "Jack-knife" or "bascule" bridge is recognized throughout the country as the best form of movable bridge and it is remarkable for its speed of operation, because it affords the best possible conditions for shipping and because the bridge itself acts as the most efficient safety gates for the roadway traffic, the leaves of the bascule span, closing up the roadways entirely when the bridge is partly or fully open. There are a1ready twelve of these bridges built for neighboring counties within the State of New Jersey.

Bascule Or Jack-knife

The characteristic feature of this particular type of lift bridge is the counterweights which balance the two leaves in the same manner as the ordinary railroad crossing rate is balanced. These counterweights are of concrete, are suspended as a pendulum from a rear extension of the carrying girder but, of course, these counterweights will not be seen, since they are below the bridge floor and confined entirely between the girders of the adjacent approach spans.

Altogether the appearance of the lift span will be very much the same as of a small plate girder arch, and it will be noted from the appended cut that the appearance of the structure will be very pleasng. That the structure is no small affair will be understood from the fact that each of the above mentioned counterweights will have a weight of more than 100,000 pounds.

The bridge will be operated by electricity by an operator stationed in the operator's cabin on one side of the bridge and all the latest safety devices will be employed in the electrical and machinery equipment of the bridge.

The bridge is being designed by The Strauss Basou1e Bridge Company of Chicago, which are specialists in this class of work, and tenders will probably be asked within a month or so.

The Quantities as estimated by the engineer are as follows:

Structural Steel, Gullace and Anchorage
Bascule span           100,500
Fixed span               235,800 lb
                                320,000

Cast shoes                   1,000
Trunnion and pins        3,000
Trunnion bearings,
   sleeves, etc               4,000
Operating and lock
    machinery              12,000
Counterweight, 50 cu. yds.
    concrete               200,000
Reinforcing basis         800
Electrical equipment:
    2714 hp. operating motors
Plant flooring about   33,000 ft
Operator's house, machinery,
     enclosures, navigation
     signals, etc               5,000
Trolley poles, wires
     and pins                  14,300
Substructure Excavation   150 cu. yds
Cofferdams, as needed
     concrete                       100 cu. yds
Reinforcing steel               1,000 1bs
Piling from 65 to 90 ft.         112 pts
Fender piles                           45 pcs
Timber in fenders,
    about                             6,000 ft

The whole machinery will be operated from the operator house, which shows in the cut.

The hand or guard rail will be 2 1/2 inch galvanized iron with globe fittings, and will give the structure a neat appearance.

Cost To Be $40,000

Because of the slight change in the location of the bridge about 10 feet south of the present structure, it will be necessary to straighten the road on both sides of the bridge, and the procuring of the necessary land, and permissions are now under way. It will take all the summer to put in the sub-structure, and the draw will probably be placed next winter when the creek is frozen, and navigation closed as it will be impossible to swing the present draw when the new one is being erected. It is estimated that the total cost of the structure will be about $40,000. When the lift is up it is a positive barrier to any vehicle which might, with the old style bridge, force its way into the creek as did the automobile on the Passaic Bridge recently, in which accident four persons were drowned.

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Bids to provide all labor, tools and materials for the construction of the bridge were to be submitted to the freeholders by 8 Sep 1915, according to a notice in the 2 Sep 1915 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 3 col 5).

The bids appeared in the 9 Sep 1915 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 1 col 5). A decision was postponed until 16 Sep 1915.

The 9 Sep 1915 article named the road where the bridge would be built as the Keyport-South Amboy road. It would be part of Route 4 when the latter was established by the Egan Bill in 1916, and in 1927 would become part of today's Route 35, established by Chapter 319 of New Jersey public law. (See Wikipedia's History of state highways in New Jersey before 1927 and 1927 New Jersey state highway renumbering.)

The bridge could have been part of a statewide plan to improve the roads system in New Jersey and certainly made a longer highway possible, whatever the intentions. Turnpikes between Middletown and Keyport, founded in the 1850s, would have stopped at Keyport because of the inadequate crossing at Matawan creek. The wooden bridge would have been inadequate, and the iron bridge, built in 1888 and replaced in 1916, was not built to sustain turnpike traffic.

The 16 Sep 1915 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 1 col 5) reported that the bridge over Matawan Creek failed on 12 Sep 1915 and was closed to both automobiles and trolley traffic. There was some debate whether the bridge would be closed until the new bridge could be built or if some temporary solution could be found. This article identified the bridge as a drawbridge between Cliffwood and Keyport.

History: The Iron Bridge, Matawan (1885-1887)

Little Street crossed the Mill Brook ravine using this iron bridge, which was built for the Monmouth County Freeholders by Dean & Westbrook in late 1887. It connected downtown Matawan with residents living to the east. (Photo: 1914)

Below are some news articles on the iron bridge built over the Mill Brook ravine in 1887.

The 13 Jun 1885 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 2 col 5) reported: "An iron bridge that was bought by the county but found too small for the place intended, is to be utilized by the careful forethought of Freeholder Dunlop, of this township, in being placed across the stream known as Mill Brook, east of Matawan on the continuation of Church street toward the water-power mill of Cartan & Co. The bridge will be placed on stone abutments and raised three or four feet higher than the present one, and the road graded up to it."

The 14 May 1887 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 2 col 4) reported: By resolution passed by the Board of Chosen Freeholders on Thursday morning, the entire Board will meet at the Matawan House, in Matawan, on Wednesday next, May 18 at 2 PM, to take into consideration the iron bridge over the ravine east of town."

The 30 Jul 1887 edition of The Matawan Journal contained an advertisement for J S Harris' grocery store, located at Little and Main Streets, which announced: "The new iron bridge will be built at the foot of Little Street in Matawan. . . ." Week after week through the summer and fall, this ad would speak of the bridge's construction in the future tense.

The 6 Aug 1887 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 2 col 4) reported: "Stone has been carted this week for the abutments for the new iron bridge over the marsh at Little street. E Sylvester has the contract for building them."

The 3 Dec 1887 edition of the Matawan Journal (pg 3 col 3) cited $5,000 as the amount of Monmouth County's first payment to Dean & Westbrook for the Matawan iron bridge, as per the county's semi-annual income and expense report as of 8 Nov 1887.

The 10 Dec 1887 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 2 col 4) reported: "The first skating of the season was on the 2d inst on the marsh near the new iron bridge. It did not last long." (Reference was made to 2 Dec 1887.)

The 17 Dec 1887 edition of The Matawan Journal (pg 2 col 3) reported this item from the December 1887 meeting of the Board of Chosen Freeholders: "An invitation from Dean and Westbrook for the Board to meet at Matawan on the 10th of January next, to examine the new bridge, was accepted." The Harris grocery ad (pg 3 col 3) continued to say the bridge ". . . will be built . . ."

The 24 Dec 1887 edition of The Matawan Journal contained a revised advertisement for J S Harris' grocery store, which announced: "The new iron bridge has been built at the foot of Little Street in Matawan. . . ."

UPDATE: Bridgehunter.com added this bridge to its website about historic and notable bridges of the US on 6 June 2014.

History: Main Street, Matawan (c 1905)

 What can we see in this post card image of Main Street, Matawan, New Jersey published as A6545 by the American News Company?

The turn in the road in the distance suggests that we are looking north from near Ravine Drive. Here's a roughly equivalent view in today's Matawan.

The chimney on the right in both images might lock the perspective of the old image.

The three story building on the right in the far distance is likely the Matawan House, which was located at the bend in the road at that point. It was torn down in 1930. See "Around Matawan and Aberdeen," page 102, to see an image of the Matawan House. The two-story A-frame building to the north of the Matawan House is large and distinctive but I cannot immediately identify it. Can you?

The Methodist Church steeple might be visible within the tree immediately to the right of the carriage on the right side of the street.

The presence of one or more horse-drawn carriages suggests this image is dated before 1908, when vehicles started to share local roads in earnest and cause some issues with horse-drawn vehicles.

Utility poles were installed in 1899, when Main Street received electric street lights, so the image could be after that date. Then again, no wires are visible, so the poles could be for kerosene lamps setting the date for the image prior to 1900. Thoughts?

I'd welcome any building identifications or thoughts on the date of the image.

Hudson Trail One Day Will Cross Garden State Parkway

The Hudson Trail doesn't really "stop" just north of Church Street in Matawan and resume at Lloyd Road and Clark Street in Keyport. It's just sitting dormant, with quite a bit of work to be done before that section can be opened. One day it will cross the Garden State Parkway, passing through Aberdeen Township. Check the images on Google Maps, especially the crossing at the Garden State Parkway. Contact the county freeholders to press this issue.

Below is a map of the Hudson Trail, south to north, viewable in three sections. The straight line from bottom left to top right in each picture is the Hudson Trail, both open and closed sections.

Hudson Trail at Matawan (1 of 3)

Hudson Trail at Aberdeen (2 of 3)

Hudson Trail at Keyport (3 of 3)

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.

What Ails Your County Employees? Inquiring Minds Wanna Know

Monmouth County Freeholders are considering the idea of spending over $17,000 to have Blue Cross Blue Shield conduct a health review of county employees to see what ails them. For some reason the bill writer thinks it would be in the best interest of the county to look at the overall health of county employees and identify the main areas of concern.

I'm not sure what the county expects to find or what they could even do with such health statistics once they obtained them. Seems like a lot of money to discover that county employees, like the rest of us, need to lose some weight or stop smoking.

My health plan offers me a free health review that develops a personal health profile with a personal response program. My health plan? Blue Cross Blue Shield. Sounds to me like the county is being sold a bill of goods.

Freeholders Consider Challenge to State's Diversion of Local Revenue

Our Monmouth County Freeholders will vote this evening on a resolution to support the League of Municipalities in their call for the State of New Jersey to restore Energy Tax Receipts to local governments. The state has been diverting these revenues to its own use in recent years in what has become something of a bad habit. The net effect has been higher property taxes.

New CERT Flood Response Trailer

Monmouth County plans to accept a new flood response trailer and associated equipment from the New Jersey Office of Emergency Management (NJ OEM) at the Freeholders 12 July 2012 regular meeting.. The trailer is being received by the county's OEM for the benefit of Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) operations within Monmouth County.

The 2012 United trailer and equipment are being provided for free to the county through the New Jersey State Citizens Corps Council, the local branch of FEMA's Citizens Corps.

The resolution does not say whether the county will operate the new trailer on behalf of local CERT teams or if they will lend it out to them as needed for flood emergencies. Presumably our local CERT coordinators will be apprised of its availability in coming weeks and told of their options for its use.

Whence Monmouth County Newsletters?

Monmouth County used to publish a variety of newsletters. Monmouth In Focus ran quarterly from Spring 2007 to Summer 2009 and then lapsed. There's a video series called Monmouth In Focus,but the undated episodes are focused on specific topics of a timeless, informational nature. The 16 Feb 2011 edition of The News Transcript said that Monmouth In Focus was beginning its fourth season.

The county's newsletter Senior Newslines ran monthly in 2007 and then quarterly from Fall 2008 to Spring 2010. The Monmouth County 4-H and Rutgers Extension ran a couple of newsletters between 2006 and 2009, but those too have disappeared. You can still subscribe to county newsletters at the county website, but don't hold your breath expecting anything.

The county is up to date on its press releases and publishes them regularly. You can also subscribe to a variety of county email lists that will push to your virtual mailbox just the sorts of information you want. When you register, you pick and choose what categories of information interest you, such as press releases, special alerts, park system notices, business, 4-H, county golf news, etc, etc.

Perhaps the email notices have supplanted the newsletters?

Monmouth Freeholders Make Way Clear for Bid Rig II

The all-Republican Board of Chosen Freeholders started their new session by rescinding pay-to-play campaign finance restrictions, according to The Asbury Park Press. The tough rules were imposed in 2008 after a baker's dozen of politicians were arrested in Operation Bid Rig. Check out this APP editorial.

History: County Neglects Aberdeen Road Bridge Over 40 Years (1935)

According to the 25 Jan 1935 edition of The Matawan Journal (page 1 col 4), for over forty years the Monmouth County Freeholders eschewed their obligation towards the bridge over Matawan Creek on Aberdeen Road. Apparently the Board had been recently reorganized back in 1892 and the matter was either forgotten or put out of their minds.

Upon the 'small' board of freeholders taking over the management of the county, and none of the new members being particularly interested in the needs of the township, the ownership of the roadway soon passed from their minds and it was grossly neglected as to upkeep by the county, altho the unjustness of the attitude was brot to the attention of several subsequent boards.

Rensselaer L Cartan, chairman of Matawan Borough Council's street committee, appeared before the Board of Chosen Freeholders armed with a copy of the 1892 minutes book and made the Borough's case for the county's obligation towards the bridge. He took the opportunity to suggest that the county work with the borough to renovate the bridge in such a way that it facilitated the borough's plan to build a second dam and form what would soon become Lake Matawan.

. . . it was suggested that now the matter of ownership being finally determined, federal aid be asked for, so that the road might be raised six feet and widened so that when the present bridge becomes obsolete the creek can be filled in, which would make a dam.

The area between the proposed dam and Lake Lefferts could be flooded to a depth of three feet, and provide another lake to Matawan's chain. The work could be arranged so that it might be done by federal loan, while the material could be provided for a trifling cost, if any. Should the project go thru, it would provide labor for all of the relief help, as well as for the trucks needed for hauling the earth.

Monmouth County Board of Freeholders - Jan 2012 Reorganization and Beyond

More Monmouth Musings provides a useful brief on what the January 2012 reorganization is expected to bring to the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders. There is also discussion of Freeholder candidates for upcoming elections and their likely supporters on the current board.

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.

Commission Must Pay Its Own Way at County Fair

The Monmouth County Human Relations Commission was established by the Freeholders in 1990 to fight bias and discrimination in the county through public speaking, advocating for victims, improving relations between communities and their police departments, educating employees and employers, and providing resources for schools. The Commission maintains a hotline for residents to report bias and discrimination incidents.

With such a broad mandate, it seems odd that the Commission would have to pay $325 to have a booth at the County Fair, as mentioned in the recently published May 2011 minutes of the Commission's Executive Committee. It's worrisome that most of the Commission's programmatic initiatives seem to be stalled because commissioners aren't attending the meetings. Membership cleaned house by voting off a number of inactive members in May but named no new members. The Immigration Working Group sounds like a vital part of Commission work but there was no report. One report that probably was too detailed by half involved Incident Response and Reporting. Assessments of bias hotline callers, like website passwords, should probably remain offline.

Two Independents Register to Compete for Monmouth County Freeholder Seats in November

Two additional candidates met the registration deadline Tuesday to run as independents for Monmouth County Freeholder, according to APP. Patrick Noble, 18, the Socialist Party of Monmouth and Ocean County, of Red Bank, and Thomas Markowski, 52, of Spring Lake Heights, will run this November against Republicans Burry and Rich and Democrats Mallet and Shea. Good luck to all!

Freeholders Say No to SCAT

Republican Freeholders are scrambling to put the right spin on recent actions taken against Senior Citizen Area Transportation (SCAT) and other non-profit transportation services by Monmouth County Freeholder Director Robert Clifton and Kathleen Lodato, the new director of the county's Division of Transportation. Each has taken abrupt steps to rein in county funding of senior citizen and disabled persons transportation. According to APP, MCDOT has stopped funding SCAT and is seeking reimbursement for funding already received in 2010 and 2011. If these services don't go away completely, rates will be rising.

Lodato, President of the Monmouth County Federation of Republican Women, is being paid less than half the salary of her predecessor and has little if any practical experience for the job. She worked in Republican legislative offices for nearly a decade as an events coordinator, then spent five years with a now-defunct home builder. She's unwilling to discuss her resume after 2007. According to APP, the Republican Freeholders signed up Lodato outside of regular Board business.

Dragged Through the Mud

When Brookdale Community College blamed the Monmouth County Freeholders for a huge planned increase in tuition earlier this year, the Freeholders unleashed their venom against now former Brookdale President Peter Burnham, according to the Huff Post. They took his compensation package to the media and sent his expense vouchers to Trenton for investigative scrutiny, expressing their surprise at his outrageous pay and benefits, prompting a public frenzy against Mr Burnham.

The typical resident of Monmouth County isn't a corporate CEO or university president, so Burnham's high salary and benefits, touted in article after article in our newspapers as if evidence of a crime, naturally tended to rub the man on the street the wrong way. And close scrutiny of expense vouchers at this level is bound to dredge up some dirt -- maybe enough to have someone reprimanded or even fired but not a criminal act. Yet his credit card receipts have been "being reviewed by the Attorney General" for quite some time now.

The Freeholders and their delegates to the county's Board of School Estimate should have known about Burnham's compensation arrangement, and if they didn't they weren't doing their job. If they'd bothered to ask they would have learned that Mr Burnham had a glittery compensation package because the trustees had to match a compensation package offered to him by a much larger institution. The trustees could have let him leave, and upon reflection that probably would have been the wisest course, but they decided to pay him to stay. And that involved a club membership, a fancy vehicle, and costs for his kids to attend college. It was a negotiated compensation package. Presidents of colleges make obscene amounts of money these days. Compare it to how much your local school superintendent makes. Not that much different, actually.

So why didn't the Board of School Estimate object to the deal long ago if it was so outrageous? Because they didn't conduct proper oversight. Freeholder John Curley is trying to make up for lost time and will eventually overstep. But for now he's pressing his advantage and making some headway.

You probably aren't aware that no official charges have been leveled against Mr Burnham and he didn't resign, he retired. After all, it isn't a crime to get paid. There is the matter of disputed credit card reimbursements, but those aren't sexy enough to be rehashed in countless news articles. No, it is his compensation and benefits that keep getting brought up. And those issues aren't a crime.

Mr Burnham's lawyer addressed the vouchers in brief comments to The News Transcript. The paper's 4 May 2011 edition said Mr Burnham and the county simply disagreed over which expenses were part of the current contract. But the media hype has resulted in coverage like that seen in The Gloucester County Times, which equated Mr Burnham's dispute over reimbursed credit card expenses with forgery charges being brought against a local community college president in southern Jersey.

This whole shock and outrage act we've heard from the Freeholders in the past two months has been disingenuous. The Board of School Estimate and, by extension, the Freeholders, were as much a part of the problem as anyone. And let's not forget Governor Christie's cuts in state aid to education, which were the root cause of BCC's planned tuition spike this year, not Mr Burnham's salary and benefits.

I agree that reform is needed, but that shouldn't require Mr Burnham's reputation to be dragged through the mud. Mr Curley and the Freeholders ought to cease and desist against Mr Burnham, accept their share of the blame, and get on with the county's business.

Mallet Misses Her Mark on Human Need

In a letter to the editor of the Atlantic Highlands Herald, Freeholder Amy Mallet points out that Monmouth County's budget for its Department of Human Services was reduced 6% in the face of a 51% increase in food stamp applications in March over the previous year and a 64% increase in applicants between 2007 and 2010. She commends the department for its efforts on behalf of the people of the county, who are suffering through this poor economic climate as much as anyone in the nation.

Her letter, unfortunately, lacks a clear "So what?" She tells the members of a county department that the budget doesn't address the obvious need of thousands of people they are meant to serve but thanks them for trying their best during this difficult period? Is that it? I'm glad she brought it up -- she's clearly concerned -- but she makes neither a criticism of current policy nor a recommendation on what to do next.

Monmouth County Freeholder Meeting Audio Recordings Now Online

The News Transcript says audio recordings of Monmouth County Freeholder meetings are now available online. As of tonight, I see the work session and regular meeting audio recordings for 24 March and 13 April.

Actually, the Freeholder audio recordings are only one part of the county's Open Public Records Search System, which contains agendas and minutes as well as historical documents like the 1875 NJ State Census, Court of Common Pleas records (1810-1817), and Civil War bounty pay and muster rolls. I haven't tried it out yet but will soon. Let me know if you have good results, especially with Matawan records.

GOP Splits Three Ways on Freeholder Candidate; Tea Party Favorite Wins By Two Votes

The Monmouth County Republicans split 25-23-22 on their choice of candidate to run for Chosen Freeholder with incumbent Lillian Burry this November, according to APP. The Bayshore Tea Party favorite Gary Rich narrowly edged out two other GOP candidates; the tight race suggests sharp divisions within the Party. The Republicans are no doubt in turmoil as their adopted stepchildren pass out poison pills to their more moderate colleagues. Meanwhile, the federal government teeters on the edge of continuing devolution.

The Dems are scheduled to pick their candidates on Saturday.