Month: August 2012

Marine Staff Sergeant Joseph D Augustine

Honoring a Fallen Marine in His Home Town

Rep. Garrett honors the life and sacrifice of Waldwick native
Marine Staff Sergeant Joseph D’Augustine on the House floor.

On March 27, 2012, the United States of America and the state of New Jersey lost a great Marine, a beloved son, a loyal brother and dedicated friend when Staff Sergeant Joseph D’Augustine was killed in action in the Helmand province of Afghanistan serving the country he loved. A 2001 Waldwick High School graduate and New Jersey native, Joseph gave the ultimate sacrifice in the name of freedom and he will never be forgotten.

To honor the memory of this brave young man, I have introduced legislation to re-name the United States Post Office building located at 1 Walter Hammond Place in Waldwick, NJ the “Staff Sergeant Joseph D’Augustine Post Office Building.” This tribute will act as a reminder to Waldwick residents and visitors alike of the life Joseph led and his legacy as an American hero.

Staff Sergeant D’Augustine was assigned to the 8th Engineer Support Battalion of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group out of Camp Lejune and was a specialist trained to dismantle bombs and land mines. His dedication and focus on the job protected and saved the lives of countless men and women in uniform by fearlessly going out before the rest and literally clearing the way. Joseph was on his fourth tour of duty overseas and his second in Afghanistan when he was killed, just two weeks before he was scheduled to return home.

Beyond his professional life, Joseph was a high school athlete, a sports fan and, by all accounts, a person you just wanted to be around. He enjoyed fishing, golfing and other outdoor activities and even helped his father start a youth wrestling program in his home town. There is no greater evidence of how well liked he was than the outpouring of support from friends, family and the thousands of people who lined the streets of Waldwick to remember Joseph and pay their final respects.

Joseph was proud to wear his uniform and fight for his country; he achieved his lifelong dream of joining the United States Marine Corps the very day after he graduated high school. At Joseph’s funeral, fellow soldier Eddie Thompson, who served with D’Augustine in Iraq in 2004, said, “I trusted him with my life.” There is no more honorable thing that can be said about a person.

Words cannot describe the gratitude our community and our country has for Joseph’s commitment to protect his fellow Marines and American freedom. On behalf of New Jersey’s 5th District and the Waldwick community, I will see that the Waldwick post office is re-named to honor this young man and remember his final sacrifice forever. May we never forget Staff Sergeant Joseph D’Augustine’s selflessness in the line of duty and the family and friends he left behind.

Sincerely,

Scott Garrett

Menendez Stalls Wall Street Reform; Puts Politics First

“Families who have suffered the consequences of big bank recklessness must be watching from afar and wondering who would actively block us from simply beginning the work on Wall Street accountability…” Senator Robert Menendez, 4/27/2010

Middletown, August 1… When Senator Menendez asked families to wonder who would block Wall Street accountability he neglected to mention himself. Yesterday, New Jerseyans were shocked to read in the Wall Street Journalthat efforts to regulate the same monetary funds that roiled markets in 2008 were stalled by the self proclaimed “fighter for the middle class” Robert Menendez.

The WSJ reported that lobbying efforts against such regulation included the hiring of Menendez’ former Chief of Staff. The Menendez response: Let’s wait and see. But documents filed with FEC also show that those same interests have given over $22,000.00 in campaign cash to Menendez to defeat Wall Street accountability. It makes one wonder just who Senator Menendez is really fighting for and has earned him the Outrage of the Week.

“Once again Senator Bob Menendez is putting politics ahead of people “ said Kyrillos Campaign Manager Chapin Fay.

“It’s outrageous that Senator Menendez would block the very reform he’s claimed to support and doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that after taking over $8 million in Wall Street and special interest money, Bob Menendez ain’t fighting for the middle class.”

Frugal Habits of the Super Rich
By Andrea N. Browne | Kiplinger – Fri, Jul 27, 2012 1:00 PM EDT

Becoming wealthy and staying that way takes a certain level of discipline. Sure, an occasional splurge won’t put you in the poor house, but frequent frivolous spending on things that aren’t necessities can quickly put a serious dent in your wallet. The frugal habits necessary to achieve financial success and maintain it are often lessons learned early on.

In this article, meet seven entrepreneurs, business leaders and famous faces, including Google’s David Cheriton, Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett and Hollywood’s Hilary Swank, whose modest living — from clipping coupons to clipping their own hair — has helped them amass and/or maintain vast fortunes.

As Knight Kiplinger wrote in his classic column The Invisible Rich, “the biggest barrier to becoming rich is living like you’re rich before you are.”

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/frugal-habits-of-the-super-rich.html

Editors note: the NJ Supreme Court has cost New Jersey Tax payers billions of dollars over the last 20 years and countless jobs with all its failed social engineering schemes. These schemes have had little to no success and many would argue have made things far worse” 

PJ Blogger 

Playing politics—politicizing the High Court

When I started covering New Jersey politics and government, in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, we didn’t ask what political party a state Supreme Court Justice belonged to. The person was a Justice; that’s what counted.

Today, anyone who follows the state scene can probably tell you that Stuart Rabner and Barry Albin are Democrats, Helen Hoens and Anne Patterson are Republicans, and Jaynee LaVecchia is an independent. Over the past decade or so, the Court has become politicized.

What does that mean exactly? To me it means two things: 1) we think of the justices more in terms of their party affiliation, at least as it existed in their backgrounds, and 2) we think that justices who have not yet achieved “lifetime” tenure are more likely to shy away from a particular position for fear of offending the governor or legislators and thus jeopardizing that tenure.  (Aron for NJ Spotlight)
https://www.njspotlight.com/stories/12/0802/2030/

Photo by Boyd Loving

N.J. allows utilities to impose special rate hikes that target leaky pipes

The state has made it easier for water utilities to raise their rates so they can repair thousands of miles of leaky, aging pipes across New Jersey that lose billions of gallons of treated drinking water each year.

“People get upset about rates going up, but we have some very old infrastructure and you’ve got to maintain it,” said Stefanie Brand, head of the state’s Division of Rate Counsel, which advocates for utility ratepayers. “It’s a very difficult issue.”

New Jersey’s water utilities have some of the oldest pipes in the country – some date back more than 100 years — and many are riddled with leaks. The federal Environmental Protection Agency has estimated that in New Jersey alone, $4.7 billion needs to be spent on the water transmission and distribution infrastructure over the next two decades.  (O’Neill, The Record)

https://www.northjersey.com/ho-ho-kus/NJ_allows_utilities_to_charge_special_rate_hikes_that_target_leaky_pipes.html

Speaker Boehner: Obama has ‘never even had a real job, for God’s sake’
By Justin Sink – 08/02/12 03:21 PM ET

House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) lashed out at President Obama during an interview Tuesday, saying the president has “never even had a real job, for God’s sake.”

Boehner was discussing the presidential election, and accusing President Obama’s campaign team of using “over-the-top” rhetoric to distract from his economic record.

“Sometimes I have to catch my breath and slow down because the rhetoric in this campaign is just so over-the-top,” Bohener said during an appearance on “Kilmeade and Friends.” “And that’s because the president’s policies have failed. Listen — 93 percent of Americans believe they’re a part of the middle class. That’s why you hear the president talk about the middle class every day, because he’s talking to 93 percent of the American people.”

https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/241937-boehner-obama-has-never-even-had-a-real-job-for-christs-sake

photo by Boyd Loving

Rating system gives Ridgewood high marks in public protection
Thursday August 2, 2012, 1:28 PM
BY  DARIUS AMOS
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

The village will be bumped up to the second highest level of public protection ratings, according to municipal and Ridgewood fire officials who cited findings by the Insurance Services Office (ISO).

The Ridgewood Fire Department has earned a Class 2 grade based on the surveys conducted through the ISO’s Public Protection Classification system. A rating of 1 is considered the best, while a 10 indicates no recognized protection, according to the ISO website.

Ridgewood is one of only 11 fire agencies in New Jersey to have earned a Class 2 grade or better. Less than 600 of the 47,648 communities in the country that were evaluated by ISO received either a Class 1 or 2 rating, putting the village in the top 1.3 percent nationally.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/164767726_Rating_system_gives_Ridgewood_high_marks_in_public_protection.html

Warning from Ridgewood Police: No more warnings
Thursday August 2, 2012, 1:31 PM
BY  LAURA HERZOG
STAFF WRITER
The Ridgewood News

When it comes to pedestrian safety, the Ridgewood Police Department is past issuing warnings, for the most part.

The department’s pedestrian decoy program has led to the issuing of many more summonses than warnings to drivers this summer who failed to yield to plainclothes officers about to cross the street, said Ridgewood Police Chief John Ward.

In the month of June, 35 tickets were given to drivers who failed to stop; police also issued 34 cell phone violations.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/164768216_Warning_from_Ridgewood_Police__No_more_warnings.html

Yellow-light times found to be too short at 3 red-light camera intersections

A survey by engineers and experts for a motorist advocacy group of four intersections with red-light cameras found that three have shorter yellow-light times than a formula in the law says they should.

The surveys, done this week by experts working with the National Motorists Association New Jersey chapter, found short yellow-light times at intersections in Cherry Hill, New Brunswick and Gloucester. An intersection surveyed in East Brunswick had the proper yellow-light time for the speeds that 85 percent of the traffic was traveling at.

“The NMA’s position is fix it, or end it (the Red light Camera program),” said Steve Carrellas, NMA New Jersey chapter coordinator. “A short yellow light is unsafe and a scam.”  (Higgs, Asbury Park Press)
https://www.app.com/article/20120801/NJNEWS/308010125/Yellow-light-times-found-too-short-3-red-light-camera-intersections?nclick_check=1

Kyrillos: “Judicial Independence Is Not Judicial Supremacy”
July 24, 2012

Senator Joe Kyrillos (R- Monmouth), co-sponsor of New Jersey’s landmark public health and pension benefits reform legislation, issued the following statement on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s ruling striking down provisions of the law that pertain to the judicial branch of state government:

Judicial independence does not mean judicial supremacy and exceptionalism. The judicial pension system is in arguably the worst financial shape of all the state’s retirement accounts, and judges pay the least of all state employees for the best benefits.

Judges should be treated no differently than any other state employee or private sector worker. The cost of bailing out their troubled benefits plans should not fall exclusively to the taxpayers of New Jersey. If righting this wrong requires changing the state constitution, let’s do it.

Zabriskie Schedler Property , Ridgewood

Builders can see waivers to DEP regulations as new rule takes effect

A rule allowing the Department of Environmental Protection to consider regulatory waivers went into effect today, as the state Senate has not yet advanced a resolution to block it.

“Too many times we’ve heard of conflicting regulations — not just in the DEP, but in other agencies — which stifles economic development and creating jobs and getting the economy moving,” said Michael Egenton, senior vice president of the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce. “This rule gives flexibility to the DEP as it’s looking at various projects, and it will help them get through the regulatory maze in bureaucracy.”  (Eder, NJBIZ)

https://www.njbiz.com/article/20120801/NJBIZ01/120809983/Builders-can-see-waivers-to-DEP-regulations-as-new-rule-takes-effect