What time is the debate

I am sitting at the debate and am floored by what I have heard from Mr. Griffith and Ms. Shutzer. "Immigrants don't pay taxes" (Mr. Griffith) "If we consolidate our schools with the township, we will need to pay our teachers the same rate as the township and we have some of the lowest paid teachers in the state". WOW. No wonder they wanted the GOP here, they need allies.

Does it take more courage to listen to an argument and change your mind or to never look at an issue again once you have made up your mind?

I heard Sharon Shutzer try to distinguish herself from Dan Xavier many times tonight by saying she was "realistic" while Dan was "idealistic" definitely provoked much thought.

First, I noted that American history is filled with Idealists. Great Ideals inspired everything that is great about this country. The proposition that an under-supplied American militia could win independence from the Crown was not realistic. We do not read much about the realists. I think "realist" is often used as a euphemism for "pessimist." I do not want my leaders to be pessimists, and "we can't" was a central theme in Sharon Shutzers presentation tonight.

Personally, I can remember a particular conversation I had with my fifth grade reading teacher. I'll never forget it. I wasn't doing very well with my school work. The teacher asked me what my goal was for her class for the next quarter. I told her I wanted to earn an A in her class. Her response was that I ought to be more "realistic". Sharon's comments about her realism versus Dan Xavier's idealism tonight brought me back to that conversation. I went on to graduate with honors at the top of my high school class, earned a degree from the Rutgers School of Business, and then graduated toward the top of my law school class at Seton Hall Law. Approaching our future with pessimistic realism will guaranty we move in no positive direction. I think Dan Xavier has the right positive attitude to help us all in town.

I think Mrs Shutzers comments are being taken to the extreme here. I have spoken to Sharon many times and if there is one part of her I truly admire it is her sense of being realistic. I think Xaviers ideas are nice but not realistic in the current economy we live in. Sharon has served for many years and knows the battles with the budget etc., we face. I can stand up there and say I want to lower taxes, make our schools better and raise the quality of life in the Boro, these all sound nice but are they realistic right now? I haven't had many conversations with Dan but I can honestly say I see him as a dreamer, which isn't a dig at him, just not sure in these current times if that would serve the Boro in a positive manor. I also believe Dan is connected to a few "old" democrats from town and this too will hurt him during this primary. I do give Dan credit for putting his name out there but honestly I don't see him standing a chance in this primary. I also see if he does some how sneak through the primary, he will almost assure the GOP a double victory in this town. There seems to be some division from Dan and people he has served with, i.e., the fire department and the board of education. I do like Dan personally but IMHO, he is NOT what the Boro needs right now.

The other thing I looked up is the validity of Ron's idea to get interns from the School of Public Policy at Rutgers. Inters, if they are to be unpaid, must do no meaningful work. You can not hire someone, call them an intern, and not pay them. So, they wouldn't be able to do the research, grant writing, etc that Ron wants unless we pay them. There may be money in the budget for it, but I imagine the bargaining units might have something to say about it.

"I am not an advogate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions. But laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."

Thomas Jefferson

I was so disappointed that I couldn't make the debate. But the coverage with the twitter feed was GREAT!

Here are some concerning comments from Dan from the debate....

1. "something we don't have in this town, new ideas" I STRONGLY disagree here. Jaye student council, Mayors bike ride, and many of John Newmans bike regulations. Oh yeah and these are just from the last few weeks. That seems like a very negative picture to paint of Freehold. Maybe these three examples aren't saving tax money but they are positive for the community.
2."give police more money or whatever it takes" I'm sure every resident thinks our department is excellent, which it is, but where is this money coming from, higher taxes? These men and women deserve all we can give to help them be safe and up to date, but Dan is over the top here!
3."not Keansburg" extremely negative and ego driven comment, You should NEVER put another town down, how would Dan feel if people used Freehold in a negative light?

Seems to me most of Dans ideas were more "perfect" world then realistic. He seems to be very ego driven which doesn't work in the Boro. I have lived here for 30 plus years and seen people promise the world and lose big, i.e., Ted Miller. Having new ideas is great, being a dreamer with unrealistic promises makes you a bad politician!

One thing I want to say in general is that last night was such a great thing for the town! I never walked into a voting booth before with as much knowledge about the local candidates as what was made available at this debate. No matter who might have won your vote last night, this kind of vetting seems so healthy for our town. Sharon deserves credit for stepping up and accepting the challenge, unlike every challenged incumbent before her ever since I moved to Freehold Boro.

I think Dan and Sharon performed very well. It's just a matter of which candidate "speaks to you." I think Ron should be a little embarrassed for what he did in his closing remarks. Chalk it up to an error in judgment on his part, and I'm sure he would have handled that point differently if he had the chance to do it again.

The most awkward part of the debate was definitely the question dealing with how to bridge the gap between Freehold's Latino community and the rest of the town. Dan shared some of his thoughts on the topic and then Sharon and Ron only spoke from a national level, stating that many of them are illegal, Ron was talking about ID numbers and Sharon claimed she never heard of anyone mistreating anyone. It would have been nice to hear more genuine answers from them to that question, but I understand it is, like Sharon pointed out, not something that most people want to discuss.

One other point that was very important raised by Dan last night was regarding the claim that 7.9% of our budget goes to a "surplus", where the League of Municipalities only recommends that 3% go into such a fund. Sharon never rebutted this, so I assume for the moment it's true. There may be a good reason for this, but an explanation of this from the council would be useful.

Kevin,

Hello to you as well! Hope all is well with you and your family!

I can see your point of Dan and the whole outlook for young families etc. I agree with that and disagree as well. If I was sick and needed to go to a specialist, a young doctor may be attractive due to his knowledge of newer medicine and testing, yet I would have greater faith in a doctor who has seen it all before and knows how to adjust to any issues that may come about. Sure, I know my example of the subject is different but both fall same in my eyes. Another avenue to look at Kevin is many younger residents also have older family members still living in the town, myself included. While I understand things are getting more expensive but as a younger person I can adjust with my salary or getting a side job, can this be asked of our senior community members? I feel as a younger family, we owe something to these men and women(the seniors) that have helped fight through the times that make Freehold a great town. I may not be a resident in the Boro now, but that doesn't mean my family doesn't interest and properties here. I like Dan personally but do not feel he is ready for council! Also, I have seen a letter he wrote awhile back in regard to our library and was very offended by it. For those of us who grew up in town, we know how special the library is to our memories and foundation of our early learning.

Again, great chatting with you friend! hope to see you soon!

Personally, I like to review the candidate's responses; sleep on them and then solidify my impression the next day. Though I could not attend last night's debate and can't factor body language into the equation, I have 30 years experience in recruiting and staffing and am pretty good at inferring from an individual's responses, how they did. Also, having served with numerous others on the council over ten years, I can also weigh in on what is do-able versus that which is smoke and mirrors.

In my honest opinion, it would seem to me that Sharon Shutzer won the debate, over all. I am not surprised, She has the most direct experience of the three people on the stage. She is right when she says, "been there done that." She has. I would like to hear some new ideas from Sharon, though. We must never say we "can't," (do something) and must always look for new ways to accomplish our goals.

Dan seems to have finished in second place. I am not surprised, either. He has sat on the BOE, which runs meetings and deals with budgets and issues similar to the town council. Dan also has smarts, energy and grit. Sure, not everyone will always agree with him and he will stand up for himself. The people challenging him will not be happy - but if he is speaking with conviction - THAT IS GREAT!

Ron seems like a good man with good intentions, but he has to give us more than Rutgers interns to solve the Boro's complex issues. He has also been absent from Boro life for awhile.

Marc,

FYI.....my above comments were not directed towards you! I feel the way I do and have no problem airing my thoughts out but I can assure you it wasn't directed to Marc LeVine!

Marc,

Question for you. I agree you have many years of experience so I throw this question at you....Dan's comments that were negative towards another local town are extremely inappropriate and insensitive to that towns residents. As a Boro resident, wouldn't this scare you away from Dan with the main concern being insensitivity of his comments? Comments like that (which were degrading) as a councilmen could leave the Boro open to bad press at the least and possible lawsuits.

Mike: I think we are being a little too politically correct here. I didn't think you were a politically correct sort of guy. But, that being said I see no problem when an elected official compares one town with another - giving one an advantage or disadvantage. However, in the future, it is best that the elected official or candidate be specific in what way one town is doing better than the other and using facts to support his/her claim. In other words, Keansburg historically suffers from a long history of zoning problems in which it is common to find a home, bungalow and shack on the same property. This is not as prevalent in our town, so I think our town may be superior in that area. Fact checking may support that claim.

Not sure, but Keanburg's crime rate may be higher than Freehold's. If facts prove that out, then it can be publicly claimed.

Yes, Mayor Pringle of Belmar got in big trouble - personally - with Staten Island when he claimed that all of the wild "Guidos" lived there. That is different. No facts, would ever support that one. More Italians in Staten Island than Belmar? Probably, there are. But, calling Italians "guidos" is something totally different. In his debate remarks, Dan didn't remotely go that far. Not an issue. Nitpicking.

Can Marc & Mike call each other? We get who's defending who......just sayin

For Marc and Dan,

The Library letter i was referring to was from after Mrs McMorrow had already resigned from her Freeholder position on March 26, 2009...Below you will find some of the letter....
Sent: Tue, November 23, 2010 5:12:36 PM
Subject: Library
(just a paragraph)
"During the past 5 years there have been numerous complaints regarding the fact that Borough residents are not permitted to utilize the Monmouth County system - despite enjoying the status of being the County Seat. And as everyone is aware, the substantial population growth of Freehold Borough since 1900 (nearly an 800% increase) has placed quite a strain on the limited capacity of our town's historic - albeit small - historic 1903 Carnegie Library. However now that our own's educational system has once again failed to achieve the state-mandated AYP testing standards, there's been a sudden realization that maybe our out-sized little library may have played an unintentional contributing role in placing our students at a severe learning disadvantage. It is with this consciousnessthat I've written the attached letter for your review and hopefully ultimate submission to the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders."

Am I wrong or is a BOE member using the Library to explain testing scores?

Yes you are wrong, IMHO. It sounds to me like the BOE member is suggesting that the library in town is too small to adequately support the needs of the growing community. And that if more people had access to library services that could translate into higher test scores. Consider the fact that most colleges and universities deem it necessary to provide an on campus library to their students. It's seems completely logical that access to a larger library system could help the school district improve test scores as well is improving the quality of life of residence not currently attending school. All this without an additional cost sounds like a really good idea to me.

I was at the debate and will have to disagree with you in regards to Dan idealistic views compared to Ron and Sharon's "realistic platform". This country was founded on idealistic dreams. Those views by dreamers like George Washington and Ben Franklin made our great nation. I believe even on the local level today we can have idealistic plans and with hard work those plans can come to fruition. I know Dan as well as you say you know Sharon. When he puts his mind and energy to a plan he sees it through to the end. What I witnessed from the other two candidates in the debate was very limited in vision. There plan to integrate the illegal citizens into our community and penalize them and give them I'd numbers was discomforting to hear. That been done in the past and didn't end well for anyone. Speaking as a 30 something middle income parent I felt like i was forgotten in the realistic platform of Ron and Sharon. Most of there points of tax relief was aimed towards the senior citizens. As much as I feel that the senior citizens are vital part of our community, there income is low and believe they do need help. We are all feeling the hit in this economy and all need tax relief in our town which is part of Dan's idealistic plan. His plans for shared services and more code enforcement will bring us into a better financial position. Dan needs to be commended for being Gentleman through the whole debate. It was sad to see the other two candidates end the debate with personal attacks.

Above comment is for Mike I ran out of character space.

Today I found a highly unusual campaign postcard in my mailbox. The material read "vote Xavier/Shutzer".

Last time I checked councilwoman Shutzer's running mate is Mr. Giffiths, as sanctioned by the boroughs democratic committee.

This campaign material was void of any campaign disclosures, such as "paid for by the committee to elect John Smith , John Doe treasurer". This is the second piece of campaign material lacking the required legal disclosure . I also took notice that the campaign lawn signs as well have this information missing.

This raises the question about who's running the campaign where is the funding coming from and who is the campaign treasurer.

Candidate Shutzer would never had approved her name to be included on candidate Xaviers campagne material.

These blatant campaign disclosure omissions, compounded with the unauthorized use of another candidates name, leads me to conclude that there is a lack of ethics, poor character and a selfish disregard for running a clean campaign on the part of candidates Xavier.

Intentionally misleading your fellow democrats is just poor form, exhibits bad judgement and this is the last thing we need on our council.

This is exactly why nobody ever runs for a seat in this town, just can't keep it clean and honest and stick to ISSUES only and let the best person win. It's a sign of desperation when you start attacking a candidates character. (in my opinion)

C. Hauser,
You say lack of ethics, poor character and disregard of running a clean campaign, you obviously were not at the debate Thursday night. Do your research.

I received the ad. Seemed like a very straight-forward, positive piece to me -- I do not understand why C.Hauser is so upset by it. It was clearly identified on the post card that this was from XavierForBoroughCouncil. Obviously C. Hauser was able to figure that out. The other voters have too.

Here is the part of the above post that bothers me though:

"Candidate Shutzer would never had approved her name to be included on candidate Xaviers campagne material."

It doesn't matter whether she approved the ad or not. It does not anywhere state that she approved it. Candidates mention others in their ads regularly, usually with highly unflattering material. It's the First Amendment at work -- A freedom that one of the candidates (Xavier) risked his life defending in military service to our country. It's amazing that a combat veteran gets dressed down on the internet over what is not even a negative advertisement.

Xavier has been taking the high road from the start and continues to do so by endorsing Shutzer and obviously himself for counsel.

Don't know about anybody else but I'm a little tired of reading opinions from people who are not even residents of Freehold.

I've heard that some former residents of FB still come in and vote illegally. That's election fraud, a crime, and I understand this year there will be an effort to aggressively crack down on it.

Xaier's postcard is completely appropriarte. It forces no one's hand to vote one way or another. It merely suggests one possible outcome - obviously the one that Dan and his supporters would hope for. If this postcard confuses anyone, they are not fit to vote for any of the candidates running in Freehold Borough. It would be a travesty for anyone to enter the voting booth and not know enough about any of the candidates to make an informed choice.

More statements from the mysterious Ben Dover. Takes a lot of courage to participate in discussions about right and wrong hiding behind a perverted screen name. I really doubt anyone on here will take your comments seriously hiding behind such a immature screen name. If you have ever witnessed a campaign at the state and federal level you would see mudslinging and bitter accusations thrown at each other. I know personally Dan keeps Sharon in high regard and has seen her years of service as a good thing. That's why he mentioned her on his ad not attacking her but promoting her. Only thing i agree with you is Mr Simms does a admirable job as Councilman balancing his work, public service and parenthood very well. There is nothing wrong with Jaye who is newer blood on the council. He works hard as Councilman, as would Mr Xavier is he gets the chance to improve this town and become a Council man. I would also say the same for Councilman Newman who does a great job and cares about his community who is the newest member of Council who works very hard for Freehold. Ben I think you should act like a adult and post comments under your real name.

I have to agree with Ed here, your name is perverted and extremely immature, which is a shame because some of your point is very valid and quite good. With all respect to everyone on council, Jaye, IMHO is the strongest councilperson we have had in a very long time. It seems to me that you have something against Marc, which without any facts seems very baseless. Marc and I have disagreed on many issues but no one can question his involment for the Boro.

Kevin, your wondering about people living elsewhere and coming back here to vote seems a stretch. The turnout of voters in the Boro is historically low, so how many people can you be referring to 10? I don't think a handful of people doing this(which you claim to know of, I have never heard of) wouldn't mean anything to the election. I agree its wrong but don't believe its a major issue here. I would love to see them crack down on people up for election illegally placing signs on properties without permission or having the signs to close to the poll stations, that's a bigger issue! I could give you some examples if you would like.

My point in all of this is Sharon is a dedicated hard working councilperson whom deserves to be up there and I hope Freehold people realize that! Between Ron and Dan, its a coin toss, I just don't think Dan will work on the council!

Good Morning! I am benng completely serious with the following. I have just received a text message from the incoming Worshipful Master of Olive Branch Lodge #16 in the Boro, of which I am a member. Someone placed a Shutzer/Griffiths campaign sign on Lodge property without permission. The Lodge may be issuing a public statement regarding this later today. I suggest whomever placed it there remove it immediately. The Lodge has NOT endorsed these candidates. In addition, Ben Dover - whomever you are - the attacks against Dan Xavier from our party are disgusting. Many of us are disgusted at this behavior, realizing that after tomorrow, we still remain Freehold Boro Democrats.

Ben Dover made me puke in my mouth. PS - he's one of the people he referred to in his post.

RESPONDING TO MR. GRIFFITH'S COMMENT ABOVE

Mr. Griffiths –

I respectfully suggest you re-review each of the Freehold Borough Municipal Budgets from the last 10 years. If you do, you’ll very quickly realize that our town’s “Surplus Fund” has consistently been above the League of Municipalities recommended rate of 3%. (In fact until very recently our town was contributing a whopping 10% annually into this fund.) The reason why this fund is so large has little to do with this year’s anomaly of a mild winter…

As far as your claim that having more money in the “Surplus Fund” will reduce the need to borrow, I think we only need to examine the spending & new borrowing levels of the first 3 months of 2012 to disprove this theory. (During this 3 month period, Freehold Borough outlaid more money through spending and new borrowing than in any other 3 month period in the entire history of our town.)

These are irrefutable facts and public record.

Dan Xavier
www.xavierforboroughcouncil.com

@ Mike, I know it sounds like I have brought up a devisive issue and I know that anyone who is thoughtful and ethical will see the s/he represents all the people in the Borough but there is a difference between having someone represent your people and having one of your own in power. Even though that one is then also a representative of all the people, there is a particular identity that the people of the same demographic feel towards "their" representative. It is my expectation that feeling is needed to enfranchise the Latinos, whom I have observed pulling back and away, "staying in their place" rather than risk the displays of hatred, disgust and outrage so many have been subject to. I only mention Dan because while he is not worried about the Greek/Italian thing, he has expressed concern about the representation that the worries of young families such as his have received. To put it another way, if both Ron and Sharon lost (never will happen) would the seniors then be happy if some young twerp was given the job of representing them?

Jane,

I understand your argument but I STRONGLY disagree. We have a council which is on the younger side, Schnurr, Newman, Sims, (just to name a few) what more do we want? I can tell you for a fact that these three gentlemen care and focus on young families in the Boro. I also believe our current council takes seniors, young, male, female all into consideration. I feel that the "youth" stance Dan seems to be using is ridiculous, maybe someone like Sharon has adult children but couldn't she have grandchildren? To me to use the "age" card is a stretch and shows how out of touch Xavier is. I can tell you Marc LeVine is a middle aged man and he would also think of the youth and future not just people in his age demographic if he was running! Any politician that focuses on one age/family type is doing a diss serve to the people he is representing.
I hope regardless of this primary that all the residents in the Boro are represented by the current and future council! I also hope in the future we have "unity in the community", a few people whom are commenting on here, Dan included,

Regardless of political feelings, we shouldn't call those who served our country "twerps."

Richard I think that when you get to be 75+ you will be calling the youngsters twerps, at least amongst your cronies. Amazing how the last sentence of my comment about representation of different groups was glommed on to and the rest ignored. Guess you people are glad I gave you something to think about other than the Latino population! I was commenting based on others' comments that all the candidates blew it when addressing the Latino questions.

There are two parts to the Latino issue. 1) The federal government must decide the issue of illegal immigration. 2) Legal or not, people are people and need to be treated with dignity and respect. While living in the Borough, the best possible strategy is to reach out to them to form an active dialog, so they understand, accept and agree to adhere to our laws, ordinances and (be respectful of our) cultural differences (and we understand and be respectful of their's), [BOTTOM-LINE]encouraging them to follow the legal guidelines of living in the US, NJ and Freehold Borough. Cooperation can only be gained when two parties enter the conversation.

Jane,
Since you are coming off arrogant with your comments, why don't you tell us, the "people" as you refer to us, how you would handle the Latino Community.

Marc,
Excellent points and well said. I remember while I was on the CIC bringing up a "Unity in the Community" event and it not getting raves from the then said council. Maybe a community festival celebrating all of the residents in Freeholds backgrounds would be a nice "olive branch" to the Latino community. I small event with food, traditions, could bring all the diverse heritages in the Boro together and get the ball rolling! I believe it would be a nice show of faith to the Latino community that we are inviting you to be involved with us!

Mike,

I would totally help organize that. What if we did something downtown with the restaurants doing a "tasting?" How about folk dancing at the hall of records? Artists in the parking lot behind the statue? Facepainting and pony rides for the kids?

It could be a lot of fun.

Yes, Mike an international festival on town would be nice. Food, music and dance. Councilman Coyne and I wanted this years ago, instead of the Latino Festival. It was a heated time and the Latino Alliance held its ground in wanting their own event. Today, heck the more festivals the better. The downtown ends up being a winner in every case.

Michele,
I brought this up 2 years ago at CIC meeting, I was a current member at that time. To me it seems like a no brainer. We have a Latino community in town like it or not, they are not going anywhere. I say, instead of debating how to get these people out, lets help teach them how to become active citizens in the Boro. Teach them how to try to become citizens, help them learn laws, become contributors of the Boro. True Freehold residents have always known the cultural diversity of the Boro, its 2012, lets embrace it. I hope SOMEONE out there gets this rolling, we need to bring the Boro together, this event needs to be without any of the Boro political BS too!

Excellent! Let's plan something for the fall. It sounds like we need the Neighborhood Pride Committee, the CIC, Downtown Freehold, FBAC, as well as some of the ethnic groups representing. All I can think of is to start with the churches. St. Rose must have a Hispanic Ministry person right? How about the other churches?

Mike, Michelle and Lisa,

As a member of the FBAC I can tell you that the FBAC does have a very strong interest in filling the various art voids that exist in our town. Among those voids is the Latino arts. We do have a very strong desire to cater to that arts niche. Like any other great idea, it is just a matter of time and I know it will happen.

Mike, speaking from a personal perspective, I agree with you and your aversion to politics being involved. I am a firm believer that there is a huge human relations element within the arts. With the arts we can bring people together for the right reasons. Politicians and activists only get in the way.

As it is, the mural project was very encouraging in that we brought together all parts of the borough community. That includes immigrant families. To me, bringing us all together for some fun and community pride was key to the success.

@Brian. There is STILL one more aspect of our community we need to bring together - YOU AND ME. I extend to you an olive branch, if you'll accept it. The two of us have made many some mistakes in relationship-building over the years. It's time to mend our fences and move on. I do not hold grudges, forever. What was...was. Today is a different day. We will always disagree on points of view, including politics (287G, etc). If Bill Clinton can enjoy George H.W. Bush's friendship and still disagree about the quality of W's leadership, we can surely do the same in little Freehold Borough.

Besides, my recent bloodwork results were NOT good...if my time is shortened - hopefully not - I would never want to leave the earth on a sour note wth anyone. :)

Wow! What a wonderful plan! Just what I was hoping by bringing the subject up. I am a firm believer in the unifying power of people celebrating together. Be sure to bring this to the particular attention of community leaders, including the Latino leaders, and stand back. This could be bigger than OId Freehold Day!

There is wisdom is going beyond the political in welcoming people. Families are the backbone of Freehold and families are not politics. At any time I am happy to see the kids being kids and to dodge strollers.

Sounds like we need a meeting. Anyone a member of St. Rose that would be willing to get the ball rolling there?

Michelle, Jane, Brian,Marc
Lets set something up! I am a life time St Rose Parrish member.! How can we all contact each other?

And Mike, do you want to contact the parish and see if we can get a space?

Michele, Marc, Mike and Brian,

This is so gratifying to read! Wishing you all the best of luck in taking your vision to fruition. When the time comes to write a release about this, I'm a simple email away.

There is a smaller but still significant group at the Methodist Church within the Amistad Program. There are some of the Latino community leaders attend the church. Pastor Ramon Evangelista is a good contact. This is where I have been volunteering in the after school homework help program and where the Literacy Volunteers hold their English reading, language and citizenship classes. The after school program is now off til the end of September but Pastor knows all the contacts. I can't see St. Rose not being a location but if it doesn't pan out, maybe a cooperation between the Presbyterians and the Methodists might work out- we are about one block apart on opposite sides of the road. This set of comments is getting too long. Would it be good to get a Facebook page started on it? BTW- from what I've heard by asking the families in the program there are more unchurched Latinos than those who go to church, so there should be other ways to reach out than just churches.

Ask and ye shall receive. FB page set up. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Freehold-Boro-Cultural-Arts-Festival/313268762089949

Good, I am putting you in charge of food vendors. :)

to learn about the outcome of the primary, you can click the clerk's website after the polls close to get a glimpse of the returns as they come in. I have never watched it on primary night, but on the night of the general election the returns don't really start to come in until 8:40 and afterwards. http://www.visitmonmouth.com/ElectionResults/Election%20Result.htm

@Brian. Good. I'm glad that's over with. Thanks for your good wishes.

Thank you Dan Xavier for your experiment in Democracy. Hold your head high. You have nothing to be ashamed of. Your name and your view are now better known to all. It's very difficult to overcome a local party's loyal base and bring the casual voter into the mix. In retrospect, this was a great political cycle for Freehold. Because of you, the debate has started earlier than ever and you, Sharon and Ron engaged our residents in a great way. Now, it it time to out all differences aside and unite our party. Best of luck to Sharon and Ron AND to John and Marianne, too.