Red Bank Councilwoman Kathy Horgan Will Be Nominated To Fill 11th District Vacancy

(Councilwoman Sharon Lee, Mayor Pat Menna and Councilwoman Kathy Horgan)

Monmouth County Democrats will nominate Red Bank Councilwoman Kathy Horgan tonight for State Assembly in the 11th District. Horgan will run with businessman Vin Gopal of Long Branch for Assembly and former prosecutor Ray Santiago of Freehold for State Senate.

Horgan, who has served one term on the borough council, works for a nonprofit organization which is dedicated to AIDS research. Horgan will replace Asbury Park restauranter Marilyn Schlossbach, who stepped down last week due to her restaurants getting hit hard due to Hurricane Irene.

Disaster Food Assistance For Storm-Impacted Families

Monmouth County to begin taking applications on Sept. 12

FREEHOLD, NJ – On Monday, Sept. 12, Monmouth County will open four locations where residents can apply for a Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) benefit if they experienced extensive material losses due to Hurricane Irene or subsequent flooding.

“Hurricane Irene and the flooding in her aftermath have negatively impacted many of our residents,” Freeholder Amy A. Mallet said. “The D-SNAP and supplemental benefits programs are ways to help families now so that they can recover from the devastating effects of the storm.”

D-SNAP is a one-time food assistance benefits that can be used only for the purchase of certain food items. Individual and families not currently receiving SNAP benefits and whose storm-related expenses include damages beyond the loss of food due to power outages may be eligible.

Monmouth County will process D-SNAP subsidy applications from Sept. 12 to Sept. 20 at temporary sites in Middletown and Asbury Park in addition to the county’s two Social Service Offices. The locations are:

– Monmouth County Division of Social Services, 3000 Kozloski Rd., Freehold
Monday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday and Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

– Monmouth County Division of Social Services, 2405 Rt. 66, Ocean Township
Monday, Thursday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tuesday and Wednesday from 8:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.

– Croydon Hall, 900 Leonardville Rd., Middletown
Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

– Asbury Park Municipal Building, Council Chambers, Bangs Avenue entrance, Asbury Park, Monday through Friday 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Residents are encouraged to apply at any one of the sites according to the first letter of their last name. The schedule is as follows:

Monday, Sept. 12 A –B
Tuesday, Sept. 13 C- F
Wednesday, Sept. 14 G- K
Thursday, Sept. 15 L- M
Friday, Sept. 16 N- R
Monday, Sept. 19 S- T
Tuesday, Sept. 20 U- Z

The application process will ease requirements around documents necessary to apply for D-SNAP and will weigh disaster-related expenses when considering eligibility. There is an income test that includes liquid financial resources such as checking and saving accounts. Benefits are electronically applied to a card similar to a debit/credit card for the purchase of certain food items.

Individuals and families currently not receiving SNAP benefits and whose storm-related expenses include damages beyond the loss of food due to power outages may be eligible.

The state Department of Human Services’ Division of Family Development, which administers SNAP through the counties, is coordinating these processes with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Services.

Residents also should be sure to register for FEMA assistance at http://www.recoveryassistance.gov and to check http://www.nj211.org for valuable disaster-related information. including how to: acquire clean-up kits; schedule home inspections, and; exercise renters rights.

36th Friends of ClearWater Fest This Weekend in Asbury Park

If anyone is looking for something to do this weekend make sure to check out the 36th annual Friends of Clearwater Festival in Asbury Park on Saturday.

If you care about the environment and want to become active in protecting it, attending the festival is a good start, there will be plenty of information on hand as to what you can do to lend your support.

And don’t forget the entertainment, there will be some great music being played through out the day. It is sure to be a great and informative day.

Sunset Park, Asbury Park, NJ

Saturday, August 20, 2011

11:00am – 7:00 pm

FREE! ONE DAY ONLY! FREE!

4th Annual

NJ ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE ROUNDTABLE

Urban and Workplace Leaders Discuss Environmental Issues Disproportionately Affecting the Young & Poor People of NJ

2:00pm, Sited Between NJFC and COS Areas

>Join Congressman Jared Polis in Asbury Park on May 26th

>

U.S. Congressman Jared Polis

invites you to join the 11th District Democratic Team

Ray Santiago for SENATE
Marilyn Schlossbach for ASSEMBLY
Vin Gopal for ASSEMBLY

Co-Hosted by:
Chairman John McCarthy, Hon.Babs Casbar Siperstein, Chairman Jeff Gardner, Ed Potosnak, Chairwoman Amy Quinn, Hon. Randy Bishop, Hon. Edward Zipprich, Jay Lassiter, Chairwoman Ann Baker, Tim Horn, Tom Mannix, Joe Woerner, Harriet Bernstein, Luisa Paster, Rod Siberine, David Pascale

The Berkeley Hotel
1401 Ocean Avenue
Asbury Park, NJ

Thursday, May 26th 2011
7:00pm to 9:00pm

Friend of Equality: $50
Supporter of Equality: $100
Defender of Equality: $250

* An American entrepreneur and philanthropist, Congressman Jared Polis is the first openly gay man to be elected as a member of the United States Congress. He will help the District 11 Democrats formally launch their GLBT outreach *

* Senator Jennifer Beck is the new representative for District 11. She voted against marriage equality – help us defeat her by electing three pro-equality legislators in the 11th District. *

Please make checks payable to any of these four accounts:

‘District 11 Election Fund’ – ‘Santiago for Senate’ – ‘Schlossbach for Assembly’ ‘Gopal for Assembly’

RSVP to vin.gopal.2008@gmail.com or 732-299-5625

**Your donation will help elect THREE Pro-Equality Legislators in Monmouth County**

>Reform Party of NJ Plans Anti-Eminent Domain Gathering In Asbury Park Jan.22nd

>

Press Release –

(Long Branch, NJ, 01/06/2011) – Jacob Zychick, chairman of the newly created Reform Party of New Jersey, recently visited the largely vacant storefronts of downtown Long Branch. The oceanfront resort’s business district, located along Broadway, is populated primarily by empty structures, a reminder of a failed “Broadway Center” redevelopment project.

Long Branch garnered national controversy in the early 2000s when the city, seeking to redevelop the boardwalk, utilized Eminent Domain to evict homeowners along the city’s oceanfront. Similar tactics were to be implemented on Broadway, however, the plan is largely viewed as dead, leaving the city’s once bustling business district an empty shell. In August of 2009, a New Jersey court ruled against the city in its redevelopment case.

“Long Branch is a city suffering economic stagnation,” said Zychick. “The public sector has let the people down, and now it is time to call them out on it!”

The Reform Party of New Jersey was first conceived in 2009 by a group of student activists seeking to form a viable alternative to the two major parties. The party is the successor to the original NJ Reform Party, which was founded in the wake of independent Ross Perot’s presidential bid in 1992.

While the original NJ Reform Party was dissolved in 2000, the new organization has made great strides over the past year, even sending members to Dallas to meet with national party leadership (and Ross Perot) in October 2010. The party, which seeks to serve “Main Street and not Wall Street,” has become vocally critical of Eminent Domain abuse, and local government’s failure to acknowledge their own flawed policies.

“Long Branch will become just a city-wide strip mall,” said Zychick. “The continued implementation of Eminent Domain abuse has caused a rapid deterioration in the city’s once prized character. This attempted corporate gentrification has, ironically, resulted in the loss of almost all businesses; I counted only one open business on the eastern portion of Broadway.”

Zychick plans on leading a group of Reform Party activists toAsbury Park, another oceanfront city plagued by Eminent Domain abuse, to discuss the issue with local business owners.

“The residents cannot allow the city’s government to blame the national economic downturn for this loss of businesses,” said Zychick. “They must remember that it was the lack of true
leadership that brought cities like Long Branch and Asbury Park to their own economic demise.”

In the wake of Zychick’s visit to Long Branch, the Reform Party of NJ has announced a meeting of anti-Eminent Domain activists to take place in downtown Asbury Park, on January 22nd, 2011.

The group hopes to meet with local business and homeowners, many of whom live under the constant threat of having their properties seized. The reformers will congregate in John F. Kennedy Park, located on Grand Avenue, starting at 2:30pm.

Further details and scheduled guests will be announced. “If you are as angry as I am,” said Zychick, “then join the Reform Party of New Jersey’s activists on our visit to downtown Asbury Park on January 22nd, 2011!”

Visit www.reformpartynj.org or e-mail

ReformPartyNJ@Gmail.com for further information or to confirm attendance.