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  • Who pays for these trips

    I had the displeasure of having to sit through the above ceremony, involving the county manager’s wife, at a recent freeholder meeting. The entire spectacle which included speeches and pictures, took longer than the peoples business discussed at a prior agenda meeting which took all of 14 minutes to appropriate [...]
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    Posted: November 20, 2009, 8:08am EST
    by Tina Renna

  • League of Municipalities Conference

    The League of Municipalities Conference is only one of 30 conferences Union County Employees attended in 2008. Although they didn’t go as far as Hawaii where they traveled to a conference at a cost to taxpayers of approximately $18,230 in 2005, they’ve traveled around the country costing tens of thousands [...]
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    Posted: November 18, 2009, 9:10am EST
    by Tina Renna

  • Union County Citizen’s Forum 11.12.09 Regular Meeting

    [...]
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    Posted: November 17, 2009, 10:03am EST
    by Tina Renna

  • Citizen requests disease be removed from Sheriff’s Department

    Submitted by: Bruce Paterson Statement read at the Union County Freeholder meeting on 11/12/09. Good evening, acting Chairman Sullivan, ladies and gentlemen of the freeholder board, this is Bruce Paterson, Garwood, NJ. When I think of the term sheriff I think of a position of integrity, that we should feel of sense of [...]
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    Posted: November 13, 2009, 8:18am EST
    by County Watchers

  • Settlement document obtained in prisoner’s wrongful release suit

    The County watchers previously reported that a lawsuit had been filed and settled by an inmate who had to have her toes and parts of her heels removed due to frostbite because even though she was found to be a threat to herself and others the county wrongfully released her [...]
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    Posted: November 07, 2009, 8:38am EST
    by Tina Renna

  • Union County Citizen’s Forum 11.5.09 Agenda Meeting

    Feedback: Good morning, Tina: In regard to your reporting on the Freeholder meeting last evening, I have information regarding your comments on Senate Bill 1861. The bill did not die in May, but in fact is alive. According to legislators, it has an opportunity to be enacted upon before the session ends at [...]
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    Posted: November 06, 2009, 8:32am EST
    by Tina Renna

  • Fixing Open Government in NJ

    The Fixing Open Government Symposium, recently held at the State House and sponsored by the New Jersey Foundation for Open Government, is now available on the web. The keynote address by NJ State Comptroller Matthew Boxer is a must see for all local government watchdogs to appreciate how difficult their [...]
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    Posted: November 04, 2009, 5:25pm EST
    by Tina Renna

  • Prisoner’s wrongful release kept secret through two county prison escapes

    At the October 8, 2009 freeholder meeting CHAIRMAN MIRABELLA, approved the settlement of pending litigation entitled Lynette Baker-Blevins v. UC, et als, Docket No. UNN-L-0297-09. This is the first time this litigation appeared on the radar. You won’t find anything about this case on the prosecutor’s press release web page or [...]
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    Posted: November 01, 2009, 10:50pm EST
    by Tina Renna

  • Closing of Oak Ridge Golf Course Protest Rally

    [...]
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    Posted: October 29, 2009, 5:16pm EDT
    by County Watchers

  • Elect DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick

    I proposed four questions for the Union County freeholder debate last week.  Two were asked and answered, somewhat.  But the one I really wanted to know about wasn’t asked: Union County, which spends anywhere from $1.5 to $2 million on inside counsel, sees fit to spend millions more on special counsel [...]
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    Posted: October 27, 2009, 10:42am EDT
    by John Bury

  • How Freeholders Get Elected - 2

    In 2009 we will have an election in New Jersey where any candidates unknown to the general public (i.e. freeholders) will rely on the strength of the gubernatorial candidate on their line as my study shows.  What about when there’s a national election?  Same deal. Freeholders generally get, within Union County, what the presidential candidate topping [...]
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    Posted: October 27, 2009, 10:42am EDT
    by John Bury

  • Good lawyers know the law; but it’s better to know the judge.

    New York County Supreme Court building at 60 Centre Street FACT: If Union County Democratic Chairman Charlotte DeFilippo were to become a Union County Superior Court judge she would be allowed to preside over cases brought against the party faithful and their family members from the bench. Union County Superior Court Judges [...]
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    Posted: October 21, 2009, 11:52pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • How Freeholders Get Elected

    Out of habit there will be a Union County freeholder debate tomorrow, Thursday, from 7:30 - 9:00 at Cranford town hall.  We may learn something since professional reporters will be posing the questions this year but it will have absolutely no impact on the election.  Neither will any endorsements, campaign signs#, or [...]
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    Posted: October 21, 2009, 4:30pm EDT
    by John Bury

  • Freeholder debate is always amusing

    The League of Women Voters Union County Freeholder Debate will be held this Thursday at 7:30 pm at the Cranford Municipal Building located on Springfield Avenue. The debate usually proves to be entertaining, if not informative. In the past the audience would submit questions on que cards, the process was hijacked [...]
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    Posted: October 19, 2009, 5:47pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Lesniak’s family and friends are draining our resources and making a mockery of our public safety

    Last Monday I had a medical emergency in my home, my husband called 911 while I helplessly watched over our daughter. Cranford Police and EMS arrived in less than a handful of minutes. That is public safety worthy of our property taxes; in fact I would have signed away my [...]
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    Posted: October 18, 2009, 12:05pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Pursuing Campaign Cash

    What frist struck me about spending in Union County was how much went to defending lawsuits. It seemed every month more resolutions were on the agenda increasing in $10,000 increments amounts for special counsels. I wondered how other governmental bodies did it. I started in Kenilworth.  The borough has two [...]
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    Posted: October 17, 2009, 8:45pm EDT
    by John Bury

  • Union County Citizen’s Forum 10.8.09

    Praise for the Citizen’s Forum: Tina I think this was a great idea. I really enjoyed watching and learning about whats going on in Union County. I only wish we could get a petition going to move these meetings out of Elizabeth. If I recall, the meetings were held in Union [...]
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    Posted: October 09, 2009, 7:36pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Unjustified criticism of the Rahway Valley Sewrage Authority

    Submitted by: Anthony Gencarelli There recently have been two Internet postings of the results of an extensive OPRA inquiry that was made concerning expenditures made by the Rahway Valley Sewerage Authority (RVSA). There has been a lot of recent scrutiny of the Authority’s expenditures that is justified because of a dramatic [...]
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    Posted: October 06, 2009, 6:26pm EDT
    by County Watchers

  • Bob Hope on Union County Freeholders

    [...]
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    Posted: October 05, 2009, 10:21am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Citizen’s Forum Launched

    Tina Renna is the President of the Union County Watchdog Association. She can be reached at tinarenna@unioncountywatchdog.org [...]
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    Posted: October 01, 2009, 10:59pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Citizen’s Forum Launched

    Ci [...]
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    Posted: October 01, 2009, 9:52pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Gov. Corzine must find Open Government issues to be extraordinarily boring

    Four months after an appellate court ruled against the state’s Government Records Council’s (GRC) advisory opinion requiring records custodians to require official forms from requestors seeking public records, the GRC is still posting the advisory opinion on their state website. The GRC administers the state Open Public Records Act and [...]
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    Posted: September 28, 2009, 10:48pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Street Campaigning 101

    Though some consider the Independent candidate for governor, Chris Daggett, a likely non factor in this year’s gubernatorial race I imagine that he too would agree that the rules of campaigning on public streets should be afforded to all candidates ,even to a non-factor. However there are some who prefer [...]
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    Posted: September 27, 2009, 2:24pm EDT
    by Patricia Quattrocchi

  • Comparing County Taxes

    New Jersey is the highest taxed state in the nation according to a study released this week that ranked tax burdens by county.  But, according to Union County manager George Devanney in his public comments last night, Union is doing the best they can and, when you compare taxes to total revenue, [...]
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    Posted: September 26, 2009, 9:50am EDT
    by John Bury

  • More Thanks for Musicfest

    James Neville of Springfield said it well in his recent letter thanking Union County taxpayers for last week’s musicfest.  Though there are others to thank:  Golfers for the use of their course.  What might generate revenue over 6 months under different management will serve as an archery range, bike path, and concert [...]
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    Posted: September 22, 2009, 7:57am EDT
    by John Bury

  • County Counsels

    Governments get sued all the time. Union County could be juggling twenty lawsuits right now. In addition there’s in-house consulting to be done. Based on my review of budgets, counties expect to spend about $28 million for legal work in 2009, down from $29 million in 2008, but how they [...]
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    Posted: September 20, 2009, 11:02am EDT
    by John Bury

  • MusicFest 2009 - Ask them yourselves

    People have been calling, emailing and even stopping me on the street to ask about the cost of MusicFest 2009. I’ve told them I was never able to find out the costs of MusicFest 2008. And as of the 8/20/09 freeholder meeting, the freeholders didn’t know the cost of MusicFest [...]
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    Posted: September 15, 2009, 6:27pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Apology now available for viewing

    At its August 20, 2009 meeting, the Union County Freeholders read an apology to the public that it negotiated with the New Jersey American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to avoid a First Amendment law suit. The apology was clumsily read by Chairman Mirabella, who was the only freeholder to mention [...]
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    Posted: September 12, 2009, 7:11pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Please-don’t-squeeze-the-UC-Directions-Newsletter

    Submitted by: Brian Keane Each MusicFest VIP tent Celebrity Porta John should feature a toilet roll issued with the UC Directions Newsletter.. Photo’s taken day after MusicFest 2007: VIP Tent Celebrity Porta John Tax Payers Porta John [...]
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    Posted: September 10, 2009, 10:11am EDT
    by County Watchers

  • MusicFest is this weekend, are you invited?

    The Union County MusicFest is this weekend. To the county, entertainment has become the most important service they provide. More resources, staff time, money and energy has been put into these two days of MusicFest, and for the first time this year four days of a county carnival, than any [...]
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    Posted: September 08, 2009, 10:46pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • State AG Should Immediately Investigate Akbar Investigations

    OP/ED - As posted on www.PolitickerNJ.com By PATRICIA QUATTROCCHI Rahway councilman Bobby Akbar has seemingly worked overtime to get himself embroiled in one bad situation after another. The rookie council member was recently suspended with pay from his teaching job when accusations came to light that he had [...] [...]
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    Posted: September 07, 2009, 8:49pm EDT
    by Patricia Quattrocchi

  • Musicfest: Pro and Con

    The inconvenience to Union County residents of having a musicfest in their backyards is not the main problem with it. We’ll get through that. The county has become good at putting on these events and they’ll make this the biggest and best musicfest ever. Placards are everywhere. It makes one [...]
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    Posted: September 07, 2009, 10:55am EDT
    by John Bury

  • Judge John Malone strikes again

    In June 2009 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that elected judges must step aside from cases when large campaign contributions from interested parties create the appearance of bias. New Jersey Superior Court judges are appointed by power brokers. Shouldn’t they be made to recuse themselves from politically charged cases? Consider recent [...]
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    Posted: September 03, 2009, 9:54am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • “MusicFest outgrew Nomahegan Park in Cranford”, George Devanney New York Times

    Photo by: Alexi Friedman/The Star-Ledger Union County work crews filling in sand traps at the former Oak Ridge Golf Course in Clark now that the property has been turned into a multi-use park. New York Times August 30, 2009 Spotlight | Clark A Bigger Setting for a Musical Stew By TAMMY LA GORCE Organizers of the Union [...]
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    Posted: September 01, 2009, 5:03pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Listen to public*

    Though allowing questions of nepotism at Union County freeholder meetings is a step in the right direction, there’s farther to go to get government to operate for the greater good of the governed instead of the governing. Public input must not only be tolerated but heeded. I’ve been atttending Union County freeholder [...]
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    Posted: August 31, 2009, 3:59pm EDT
    by John Bury

  • More apologies are long over-due

    During the last freeholder meeting a crowd of about 70 supporters of the UCWA came out in response to a recent meeting where I was once again bullied by a county official and tossed out of a meeting and another resident was kept from talking about rampant nepotism. The American [...]
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    Posted: August 25, 2009, 9:13am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • “THE MAN” vs. the Political Machine

    The newly sworn in mayor of Hillside, Joe Menza, is rapidly becoming a hero of sorts as is often the case when the little guy puts up a gallant fight against “the machine.” Menza was the winner of a runoff election in a town that has what are known as [...]
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    Posted: August 19, 2009, 11:43am EDT
    by Patricia Quattrocchi

  • Questioning Nepotism

    I can understand wanting to stifle public discussion of possible nepotism in government hiring when it’s your family name under discussion. But for a politician in New Jersey? Let’s be honest. New Jersey is a cesspool of corruption and most of it is legalized. If it helps a special interest or a [...]
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    Posted: August 18, 2009, 8:47am EDT
    by John Bury

  • ACLU vs Union County

    At its August 20, 2009 meeting, the Union County Freeholders will read an apology to the public that it recently negotiated with the New Jersey American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to avoid a First Amendment law suit. The County’s letter to the ACLU in which it agreed to apologize is on-line [...]
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    Posted: August 16, 2009, 10:50pm EDT
    by County Watchers

  • 2009 Rhythm & Blues By The Brook lacked salt & pepper

    I’ve been remiss at paying attention to the Rhythm & Blues By The Brook concert in recent years, which takes place in June and is held at Cedar Brook Park in Plainfield. This concert is the poor step child to the much bigger and widely promoted Musicfest. I checked into the [...]
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    Posted: August 11, 2009, 11:31pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Our Trial

    It’s not the envelopes of cash being passed between developers and politicians that account for New Jersey being the highest taxed state in the nation. Such obvious corruption has always been and, after a decent interval, will continue to be prevalent in the Soprano state. The real toll is taken [...]
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    Posted: August 09, 2009, 11:00am EDT
    by John Bury

  • Being on the wrong side of the machine

    A Roselle council candidate has been charged with the crime of voting twice in the June primary. Marc Baltimore was not aligned with the Union County Democratic Committee and this would appear to make all the difference with the prosecutor’s office when you are on the wrong side of the [...]
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    Posted: August 07, 2009, 8:33am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Indicted Campaign Treasurer Walks

    UNION COUNTY—The campaign treasurer accused of stealing money from the election fund of a former state assemblyman was admitted into a pretrial intervention (PTI) program over the objections of the state Attorney General’s office. Rosemary McClave, 66, of Hillside, was indicted on March 23 with one count of third-degree theft by [...]
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    Posted: August 06, 2009, 10:44am EDT
    by County Watchers

  • Is It Time For UNION COUNTY TO GET SMART?

    Coincidentally while the County Watchers were sharing with readers what we had learned about the new vehicle buy that the county made for four employees, the City of Newark was touting the arrangement that they made to participate in a one year trial with MINI USA a business unit of [...]
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    Posted: August 01, 2009, 12:32pm EDT
    by Patricia Quattrocchi

  • Regulators close county depository

    Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Union) was the board’s vice chairman The FDIC has reported that on Friday, July 31, 2009, First BankAmericano, Elizabeth, NJ was closed by the New Jersey Department of Banking and Insurance, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was named Receiver. No advance notice is given to the [...]
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    Posted: August 01, 2009, 8:44am EDT
    by County Watchers

  • What Freeholders Cost Us

    The average county freeholder makes $44,025 a year. In some counties (Essex, Gloucester, Hudson, Mercer, and Ocean) it looks like a full-time position while in other counties (Burlington, Somerset) it’s cab fare. Here’s the breakdown which shows that line item either decreasing significantly or staying stagnant. Most freeholder boards, if [...]
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    Posted: July 31, 2009, 9:06am EDT
    by John Bury

  • Figuring Out How Government Slices Costs - Maybe

    Sometimes you have to figure things out on your own using the official line as a starting point. At two Union County freeholder meetings I brought up a budget item that seemed out of line. The cost for unemployment insurance for 2009 was $2,488,300, as compared to $168,300 in 2008, [...]
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    Posted: July 29, 2009, 9:06am EDT
    by John Bury

  • Court finds that Union County violated suspects Miranda rights

    On July 21, 2009 the Appellate division turned down the Union County Prosecutor’s bid to reverse a lower court order suppressing incriminating statements made by an alleged murder. The defendant was in police custody at the time when he had agreed to respond to the officers’ questions after being informed of [...]
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    Posted: July 27, 2009, 9:17pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Sen. Lesniak is against cronyism, not sure about nepotism

    Last Tuesday The Star-Ledger reported that Senator Raymond Lesniak and Nicholas Scaturi (both D-Union) questioned Attorney General’s Milligram’s nomination for N.J. civil rights chief. This gem of a quote was within the article: “(Milgram is) choosing her personal friends for this position and not even considering New Jersey lawyers,” Lesniak said. [...]
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    Posted: July 26, 2009, 9:56am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Auditing County Budgets

    I have now gotten most of the county data sheets for 2009 and OPRAed the rest. Budgets are what counties do and that information should be readily available to any voter interested in being informed. That Bergen, Hudson, and Mercer have chosen to hide this information and Essex charge $27 [...]
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    Posted: July 23, 2009, 9:13am EDT
    by John Bury

  • Economic Crime/Inspection Bureau Chief is a former furniture salesman

    The Chief of the newly-created Economic Crime/Inspection Bureau, Richard Childs, used to own a furniture store, not that there’s anything wrong with that. What’s interesting is that a county press release dated May 14, 2009, county communications director Sebastian D’Elia describes Childs’ background going all the way back to his days [...]
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    Posted: July 20, 2009, 7:00am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Property Tax Index - Municipalities Rated

    I originally titled this “Most Efficient Towns” intending to put a number on what each resident in each town pays for municipal services and highlighting the lowest taxed. But upon reflection the 41 towns by county that I single out for a MET award might not be the most efficient. [...]
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    Posted: July 16, 2009, 9:21pm EDT
    by John Bury

  • What it takes to follow the tax dollars in Union County

    Without the Open Public Records Act it would be impossible for a citizen to know about purchases like the recent one reported here on the County Watchers, the 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid Limiteds pimped with top of the line voice activated navigation systems. Attending a public meeting, where the public’s [...]
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    Posted: July 14, 2009, 10:00pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • New Navigation systems will help employees find their way to work from Europe

    The county purchased new vehicles for four employees recently. The new vehicles are 2009 Ford Escape Hybrid Limiteds (base price $26,231), featuring the Limited Package ($2,230) and side steps ($625.00) and a top of the line voice activated navigation system ($2,131.55). These prices include an 11% discount that I can [...]
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    Posted: July 12, 2009, 11:01am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Old news & a note about county propaganda

    When a prisoner escaped recently it was the County Watchers Blog that broke the story. We noted that the county was frantically trying to keep the escape quite and that they didn’t have news of the escape on their home page which features press releases that the county calls “news”. One [...]
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    Posted: July 11, 2009, 4:25pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Prisoner still free after one week

    Letter to the County Watchers Although I moved to California one year ago, I continue to track what is happening in my home area, where in 2004 my late son Geoffrey Gelfand suffered in horrible pain as a Union County Jail inmate, his throat cancer having been completely neglected, undiagnosed and [...]
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    Posted: July 06, 2009, 8:39am EDT
    by County Watchers

  • Top Towns - Tax Wise

    In my last blog I tried to compare property taxes paid per person among New Jersey towns using objective criteria to get some idea of who to praise and who to blame. Since you get your property tax bills directly from your town your instinct is to believe they control [...]
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    Posted: July 05, 2009, 8:24pm EDT
    by John Bury

  • The clock is tick, tick, ticking

    [...]
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    Posted: July 01, 2009, 9:51pm EDT
    by County Watchers

  • Prisoner still-at-large – just like the freeholders

    It’s been 24 hours since the County Watchers broke the story of a prisoner escaping from the Union County Jail; approximately 34.5 hours since the prisoner walked out of the jail and 17.5 hours since the Star-Ledger reported on the incident. Some facts and thoughts: 1. The prisoner is still at-large (maybe [...]
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    Posted: June 30, 2009, 10:52am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Prisoner escape

    A source within the county administration has told the Union County Watchdog Association that there was a prisoner escape around midnight today. The prisoner was working on the cleaning crew and just walked out the front door of the jail. We are told that the county is furiously trying to keep [...]
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    Posted: June 29, 2009, 9:54am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • No County Park! in New Providence

    [...]
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    Posted: June 27, 2009, 2:11pm EDT
    by County Watchers

  • OPRA form lawsuit has far reaching effects

    “Mrs. Renna wasted twenty-seven thousand tax dollars on this lawsuit.” Freeholder Daniel Sullivan, June 26, 2009 freeholder meeting in a statement read about the county setteling a lawsuit they lost pertaining to the official use of forms for OPRA requests. Actually Danny it was $28,307.80 and quite frankly I’m tired of [...]
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    Posted: June 26, 2009, 9:39am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • County Budgets - The Search

    County governments in New Jersey will spend over $6 billion in 2009. What do they spend that money on and how do they compare? This is the first part of what I expect to be a detailed examination of every appropriation and revenue item in those 21 budgets that’s of [...]
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    Posted: June 21, 2009, 12:44pm EDT
    by John Bury

  • All the King Street Men

    Word on the “internet street” has it that all the “King Street Men” supposedly are busy gathering cash for Union County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Charlotte DeFilippo’s legal defense fund. Served with subpoenas in October 2007 to produce documents pertaining to both her personal business dealings and those of the Union [...]
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    Posted: June 13, 2009, 10:02pm EDT
    by Patricia Quattrocchi

  • UCWA a powerful positive for the community

    At the last freeholder meeting in her closing statements – you know when a citizen has to sit there and allow themselves to be abused, rather than being at the microphone where you can defend yourself - B.J. Kowalski whined about my being a pain in the butt and stated [...]
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    Posted: June 08, 2009, 9:03am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Politicians Serving Themselves

    It’s hard to think of Union County freeholders as public servants when they spend so much of their time, energy, and verbiage maligning the public. We are in a depression. The economy is collapsing around us and government, on all levels, should be focused on containing taxes, providing only essential [...]
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    Posted: May 31, 2009, 2:00am EDT
    by John Bury

  • County Manager Needs Reminder

    There is something terribly wrong going on here in Union County. When did it become acceptable for county employees to be abusive toward the public? Just when did the county manager, who in actuality is nothing more than a hired hand like any other CEO or COO of a corporation, [...]
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    Posted: May 29, 2009, 7:09pm EDT
    by Patricia Quattrocchi

  • CHER & BEYONCE vs SHARON & JERRY

    So what is up in Plainfield???…..Just this past Sunday over the Memorial Holiday weekend my husband and I took the scenic route home from my niece’s house in Somerset. In an effort to avoid a divorce after 28 years of marital bliss he wisely decided to avoid Route 22 altogether [...]
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    Posted: May 27, 2009, 12:46pm EDT
    by Patricia Quattrocchi

  • UCWA wins OPRA Form Lawsuit

    NEWS RELEASE Contact: Tina Renna, Plaintiff on behalf of the Union County Watchdog Association 908-418-5586 TinaRenna@UnionCountyWatchdog.org Richard Gutman, Attorney 973-744-6038 (voice and fax) rickggg@yahoo.com Appellate Division strikes down bureaucratic obstacle to public record access Court holds that OPRA record requestors are not required to fill out official request forms; Written requests, including e-mails, are sufficient Trenton, May 21, [...]
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    Posted: May 21, 2009, 11:16am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Top 10 reasons Union County created an in-house Audit Bureau

    10. Union County Prosecutor wants to kick back and relax 9. Make sure all employees & vendors are chipping in so county manager can continue to get free vacations & all upper management can get flat screen TV’s at their birthday parties 8. Mirabella is looking to find the guy who keeps [...]
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    Posted: May 20, 2009, 7:55am EDT
    by County Watchers

  • UCWA asks State Comptroller to shine light on county payroll

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Contact: Tina Renna, President Union County Watchdog Association tinarenna@unioncountywatchdog.org 908-418-5586 The Union County payroll list is less than transparent. It’s impossible to tell what employee’s are assigned to do; therefore the public can never know if an employee is in fact doing their job. More importantly, there is no accounting of county [...]
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    Posted: May 17, 2009, 1:06pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Putting the Dog Before the Cart in Union County

    Kenilworth decided this week to table the building of a new public safety building because taxpayers could not afford it. Cranford is looking to fire cops. Scotch Plains is looking at layoffs. Union County even laid off 28 people and closed Oak Ridge golf course, in part to have their [...]
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    Posted: May 15, 2009, 7:38am EDT
    by John Bury

  • $653,372 going to the dogs

    The Freeholders voted to move forward with plans to renovate the county Dog Park last night. Currently the park consists of a fence. The funds will come from the Open Space Trust Fund. There was no public discussion on the Dog Park, in fact there was no public information at all [...]
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    Posted: May 15, 2009, 7:38am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Union County Government Audit Issues

    In view of the serious deterioration in the New Jersey State and County governments` financial condition, which has been further weakened by rapidly declining revenue and continuing wasteful spending, there has been a growing concern that oversight of government financial reporting, records and controls has been ineffective in stemming spending [...]
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    Posted: May 13, 2009, 11:32am EDT
    by County Watchers

  • Bribing the Media

    Running a newspaper is a business and you make money from it primarily by attracting advertisers, even if they’re the people you cover. Last January I whined about losing my column in the Union County Local Source just months before an election because that paper was seeking to curry favor [...]
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    Posted: May 11, 2009, 2:00am EDT
    by John Bury

  • UC Getting Bamboozled Again

    Could County Residents be Funding the Latest Road Trip to Zanzibar??? Friday, May 1st was the day that the first installment, $5,000, was due from those who are planning to participate in the Love Hope and Strength Foundation’s latest musical journey. This year, 2009, the 30 “trekkers” will be climbing to [...]
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    Posted: May 06, 2009, 1:46pm EDT
    by Patricia Quattrocchi

  • Can you close a public golf course like that?

    The first time most people knew that Oak Ridge Golf Course in Union County would never open again was January 22, 2009 with the release of County Manager George Devanney’s executive budget letter for 2009 recommending closing Oak Ridge to save $740,000. The decision was finalized on March 4, 2009 [...]
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    Posted: May 05, 2009, 8:09pm EDT
    by John Bury

  • OPRA Day

    Enclosure: [download]
    There are things that the Union County Watchdog Association checks regularly by placing Open Public Records Act requests. I then pick up and/or review the records at the County Administration Building about once a month. The following are items of interest that probably wouldn’t make it into a separate blog [...]
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    Posted: May 02, 2009, 2:09pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Don’t try this at home folks

    The county has been busy cutting down huge trees at the Galloping Hill Golf Course to make way for a driving range which will replace the 9-hole pitch-and-putt course in part of its plan to close Oak Ridge Golf course and possibility make the two remaining courses more attractive for [...]
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    Posted: April 29, 2009, 10:30pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Next phase of County Open Space Trust Fund: Land grabbing

    In 2004, based on overwhelming voter approval, New Providence implemented a one penny per $100 of assessed value to create their own Open Space Trust Fund. Funds were limited to the acquisition of open space, but in 2008 council sought voter approval to expand use of the funds to include [...]
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    Posted: April 26, 2009, 6:06pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Not discussing layoffs in Union County……..But

    The 2009 Union County budget with a 5.3% tax increase was passed unanimously on April 16. Comments on the budget were entertained and there were a lot of them - almost all praising the freeholders for doing a great job on this budget from people who might have benefited directly [...]
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    Posted: April 21, 2009, 9:51pm EDT
    by John Bury

  • As Published on PolitickerNJ.com

    A few weeks back a letter from a Cranford resident appeared in the Sunday Star Ledger critical of the Union County Freeholders and what was than still a proposal to close the county owned Oak Ridge Golf Course in Clark. Since than the course has been “officially” closed, “officially” renamed [...]
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    Posted: April 18, 2009, 9:01am EDT
    by Patricia Quattrocchi

  • Art imitates life in Union County

    I’ve been busy lately and have skipped a few freeholder meetings. There is a freeholder meeting tonight and at this writing I’m sure the all-democratic freeholder board passed the county budget 9-0 as they pass everything on their agenda. I’m also sure the usual 2 people from the public showed [...]
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    Posted: April 16, 2009, 11:05pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • One County’s Budget - One Direction

    Union County took a pension deferral of $9.4 million, closed a golf course, laid off the engineering department, instituted a hiring freeze, and still saw their 2009 budget rise to $442,573,639 ($265,056,170 from taxes). Here are the summary numbers and my take: OVERVIEW …………………………………2008…………………2009……..CHANGE Total Appropriations……437,757,959…………442,573,639………+1.1% Less: Surplus……………(18,500,000)…………(18,500,000)………0.0% Less: State/Fed Rev……(52,306,664)………….(50,957,568)……..-2.6% Less: County Revenue..(115,293,632)………..(108,059,901)……..-6.3% Raised by Taxation…….251,657,663…………265,056,170………+5.3% APPROPRIATIONS [...]
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    Posted: April 13, 2009, 1:17pm EDT
    by John Bury

  • Emails to county go unanswered

    Submitted by: Peter Schull The following emails to the Director of Public Information and the County Manager have gone unanswered to date: —– Original Message —– From: barbara scull To: Sebastian Delia Sent: Friday, March 27, 2009 1:45 AM Subject: Star Ledger article Mr. D’Elia: a column by Paul Mulshine in the Thurs., 3/26 issue of the [...]
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    Posted: April 12, 2009, 10:15pm EDT
    by County Watchers

  • The Man Who Would Be King

    Recently, while dining at what is now our favorite eatery based on our level of affordably, my husband and I spied some cardboard crowns lined up on the window sill. I must confess that the crowns took me back to the days when my oldest children, who are now well [...]
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    Posted: April 09, 2009, 10:30pm EDT
    by Patricia Quattrocchi

  • Two County Budgets - One Direction

    Last January I did a comparison of 2008 budgets for two counties comparable in population. Morris County had a budget of $294,298,045 with $193,480,382 to be raised by taxes. Union County had a budget of $437,757,959 with $251,657,663 to be raised by taxes. Going into 2009 the talk was hiring freezes, [...]
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    Posted: April 07, 2009, 7:22pm EDT
    by John Bury

  • An open door helps citizens avoid bad government

    Every third year freeholder Alexander Mirabella is up for re-election and he will have guest commentaries in the weeklies leading up to Election Day. You won’t hear from Mirabella in years 1 and 2. Because he’s an elected official he will have special billing on the editorial page, sometimes with [...]
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    Posted: April 05, 2009, 9:48am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Politically charged employee lawsuit headed to court on Monday

    A former Union County employee of 18 years, Robert Travisano, is claiming in a law suit that he was forced to retire in lieu of termination. The county manager is singularly left if the case and has two remaining causes of action against him pending: aiding and abetting discrimination and [...]
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    Posted: March 28, 2009, 1:59pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • If it looks like a golf course, why not play golf?

    Oak Ridge Golf Course closes due to budget cuts [...]
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    Posted: March 27, 2009, 7:52am EDT
    by County Watchers

  • Nobody in politics got swagga like Holmes

    Somewhere someone referred to Freeholder Chester Holmes as John Shaft (not to his face), and it clicked. Every time I lay eyes on Homes the theme from Shaft plays in the background of my mind. If you ever saw Holmes in action you could dig it. Freeholder Chester Holmes of Rahway [...]
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    Posted: March 25, 2009, 9:17pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • As Posted on PolitickerNJ

    February 8,2009 Patricia Quattrocchi   Public Courses Can Grow Local Talent               When someone referred to my dad as a “sweet old duffer” I was slightly taken aback because obviously that person really did not know my father very well or what he loved most in life besides my mother. Far from being a [...]
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    Posted: March 24, 2009, 3:21am EDT
    by Patricia Quattrocchi

  • Meeting the Real Bosses to Get Action

    Apparently the Elizabeth campus of the Union County Vo-Tech school will be closing at the end of this term. I would link to an article on the closing but I can’t find one. I only learned about it at the Union County freeholder meeting this week when about 40 students [...]
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    Posted: March 23, 2009, 9:37pm EDT
    by John Bury

  • Prosecutor won’t investigate Sunshine Law violations, defends dinner meetings

    County prosecutor’s offices are empowered to investigate complaints regarding alleged violations of the Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA), N.J.S.A. 10:4-6, also known as the Sunshine Law. The prosecutor’s office is also authorized to seek the imposition of monetary penalties upon any person who knowingly violates the provisions of the OPMA. [...]
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    Posted: March 21, 2009, 12:38pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • Boobs, Boobs, Boobs

    The title is not a cheap ploy to up google hits but rather refers to the term I applied at the last freeholder meeting to New Jersey state senators Stephen Sweeney and Raymond Lesniak (Union County Manager George Devanney’s uncle) who were one of 63 legislators voting for the pension [...]
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    Posted: March 20, 2009, 7:43am EDT
    by John Bury

  • Targeting County Employees

    Union county was planning on laying off 84 more employees. They informed the state. They named names. However, the pension deferral scheme, that I personally feel is misguided, went through and only 7 will go this time. But what about next year or next month or tomorrow? The freeholders have [...]
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    Posted: March 18, 2009, 12:53pm EDT
    by John Bury

  • Union County public information online

    An initiative of Sunshine Week 2009 was to survey government information online across the nation. While more and more government records are being posted online, some of the most important information is being left off line. Union County is a perfect example of this national problem. In 2005 the Union County [...]
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    Posted: March 16, 2009, 11:59pm EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • County Watchers celebrate Sunshine Week March 15-21

    Sunshine Week is a national initiative to open a dialogue about the importance of open government and freedom of information. Participants include print, broadcast and online news media, civic groups, libraries, non-profits, schools and others interested in the public’s right to know. Though spearheaded by journalists, Sunshine Week is about the [...]
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    Posted: March 15, 2009, 2:00am EDT
    by County Watchers

  • Musicfest Moved to Oak Ridge/Financial Crisis/Employee Layoffs/Tax Hikes

    Enclosure: [download]
    While employees still haven’t been officially notified of their eminent layoffs, and others that have been notified must be wondering what pot they’ll have left to piss in the county had a meeting where about 20 employees and consultants gathered to finalize plans to move the county manager’s next birthday party [...]
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    Posted: March 10, 2009, 10:46am EDT
    by Tina Renna

  • New layoff list - The connected will still be Connected to you!

    Dear employees on this list, I take no glee in informing you that you are targeted for layoff. I believe you haven’t been officially notified yet, your only warning has been word of mouth. In a memo dated March 5, 2009 to the state’s Division of Local Human Resource Management, appointed [...]
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    Posted: March 08, 2009, 12:14pm EDT
    by Tina Renna
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