Broschart II
The Middle Road
By Rich Kohler
September 28, 2005
Each election season, in order to faithfully practice and protect our right to self-governance, responsible American voters attempt to sort through noisy rhetoric from and about incumbent and prospective politicians.
In my attempt to assess my choices for the 2005 election, I noticed that the Hazlet Republican Party is unusually quiet regarding the special election to fill the unexpired term of former mayor, Paul Coughlin.
Normally, a large committee of district leaders, within each local party, peruses résumés, checks references and credentials, conducts interviews, and then convenes to select the appropriate person or people to represent the party at the polls. Through their district leaders, party-affiliated residents have a voice in the selection of candidates for open seats on Hazlet’s Township Committee. Voters rely on the political parties to be accountable for ensuring that each candidate meets the basic standards of professional conduct. The winning candidate, after all, would be responsible for managing the municipality’s business on behalf of all its residents. The selection process gives a voice to the people and limits our obligation to the whims, influence, or personal agendas of any chairpersons and/or incumbent politicians at the local, county, or state level.
Under a little known and even less utilized rule, the chairperson of the Monmouth County Republican Party does have the power to appoint a municipal candidate in a special election, but according to the chairman of the Hazlet Republican County Committee, Steve Grossman, “this obscure rule hasn’t been used in a township election for at least twenty years.”
There was no shortage of Republican contenders for this special election and in the weeks following former Mayor Coughlin’s resignation, Chairman Grossman set the candidate selection process in motion. However, with inexplicable, supposedly accidental, unannounced, and barely acknowledged impropriety, Chairman Fred Niemann, the boss of the Monmouth County Republican Party, exercised his power to silence the voice of Hazlet’s Republican Party by single-handedly placing interim Committeeman Scott Broschart on November’s ballot.
Last year, Monmouth County Republicans criticized Chairman Niemann’s predecessor, Bill Dowd, for hand-selecting their candidate for Freeholder. Along with support from New Jersey State Senator Joe Kyrillos, but seemingly without cause or the support of many other party members, Mr. Dowd removed well-respected incumbent Freeholder Ed Stominski from the ballot and named former Matawan Mayor Rob Clifton as the party’s candidate. Unwilling to pilfer the voices of its members, the Republican Party in Monmouth County subsequently removed Mr. Dowd from his long-held seat at the top of their organization. And now, Chairman Niemann has disenfranchised Hazlet in the same manner that Mr. Dowd betrayed the Monmouth County Republican Party.
This newspaper has since linked Freeholder Clifton and Senator Kyrillos to shady campaign contributions from a developer seeking approval for the redevelopment of Matawan’s Train station. Like most towns and cities in Monmouth County, Hazlet’s most pressing challenge is to prevent developers and contractors from “owning” our political leaders.
On September 7, the Hazlet Township Committee passed an ordinance that prevents candidates from accepting campaign donations from people or companies doing business with the town. While this legislation is an appropriate first step in reducing corruption, it still allows candidates to accept such a donation, as long as the money filters through a political party at the county level.
Interim Committeeman Broschart, who introduced and championed this latest pay-to-play ordinance, will now have a record of “reform” to flaunt during his upcoming campaign. The new ordinance does kick the pay-to-play money out of town, but those newly prohibited campaign donations will likely be waiting for Candidate Broschart in the county coffers.
The last Hazlet Township Committee meeting inspired a steady barrage of frustrated residents with questions for or about Committeeman Broschart. Why does his résumé claim that he raised almost $20,000 more for the 2004 Sachs-Antonucci campaign than the amount on file with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission? Did he misappropriate the money or lie on his résumé? Why did Chairman Niemann usurp the power of the Hazlet Republican County Committee to choose its own candidate? What motivated Senator Kyrillos to employ Scott Broschart after he became a member of the Hazlet Township Committee?
Hazlet residents must stridently demand reasonable answers to these and many other questions, especially if Senator Kyrillos, Chairman Niemann, and Committeeman Broschart wish to keep their respective positions of power within a legitimate political organization and a legitimate governing body. Otherwise, we will only have ourselves to blame for allowing unaccountability, backroom politics, and corruption to compromise the quality of life in our own community.
By Rich Kohler
September 28, 2005
Each election season, in order to faithfully practice and protect our right to self-governance, responsible American voters attempt to sort through noisy rhetoric from and about incumbent and prospective politicians.
In my attempt to assess my choices for the 2005 election, I noticed that the Hazlet Republican Party is unusually quiet regarding the special election to fill the unexpired term of former mayor, Paul Coughlin.
Normally, a large committee of district leaders, within each local party, peruses résumés, checks references and credentials, conducts interviews, and then convenes to select the appropriate person or people to represent the party at the polls. Through their district leaders, party-affiliated residents have a voice in the selection of candidates for open seats on Hazlet’s Township Committee. Voters rely on the political parties to be accountable for ensuring that each candidate meets the basic standards of professional conduct. The winning candidate, after all, would be responsible for managing the municipality’s business on behalf of all its residents. The selection process gives a voice to the people and limits our obligation to the whims, influence, or personal agendas of any chairpersons and/or incumbent politicians at the local, county, or state level.
Under a little known and even less utilized rule, the chairperson of the Monmouth County Republican Party does have the power to appoint a municipal candidate in a special election, but according to the chairman of the Hazlet Republican County Committee, Steve Grossman, “this obscure rule hasn’t been used in a township election for at least twenty years.”
There was no shortage of Republican contenders for this special election and in the weeks following former Mayor Coughlin’s resignation, Chairman Grossman set the candidate selection process in motion. However, with inexplicable, supposedly accidental, unannounced, and barely acknowledged impropriety, Chairman Fred Niemann, the boss of the Monmouth County Republican Party, exercised his power to silence the voice of Hazlet’s Republican Party by single-handedly placing interim Committeeman Scott Broschart on November’s ballot.
Last year, Monmouth County Republicans criticized Chairman Niemann’s predecessor, Bill Dowd, for hand-selecting their candidate for Freeholder. Along with support from New Jersey State Senator Joe Kyrillos, but seemingly without cause or the support of many other party members, Mr. Dowd removed well-respected incumbent Freeholder Ed Stominski from the ballot and named former Matawan Mayor Rob Clifton as the party’s candidate. Unwilling to pilfer the voices of its members, the Republican Party in Monmouth County subsequently removed Mr. Dowd from his long-held seat at the top of their organization. And now, Chairman Niemann has disenfranchised Hazlet in the same manner that Mr. Dowd betrayed the Monmouth County Republican Party.
This newspaper has since linked Freeholder Clifton and Senator Kyrillos to shady campaign contributions from a developer seeking approval for the redevelopment of Matawan’s Train station. Like most towns and cities in Monmouth County, Hazlet’s most pressing challenge is to prevent developers and contractors from “owning” our political leaders.
On September 7, the Hazlet Township Committee passed an ordinance that prevents candidates from accepting campaign donations from people or companies doing business with the town. While this legislation is an appropriate first step in reducing corruption, it still allows candidates to accept such a donation, as long as the money filters through a political party at the county level.
Interim Committeeman Broschart, who introduced and championed this latest pay-to-play ordinance, will now have a record of “reform” to flaunt during his upcoming campaign. The new ordinance does kick the pay-to-play money out of town, but those newly prohibited campaign donations will likely be waiting for Candidate Broschart in the county coffers.
The last Hazlet Township Committee meeting inspired a steady barrage of frustrated residents with questions for or about Committeeman Broschart. Why does his résumé claim that he raised almost $20,000 more for the 2004 Sachs-Antonucci campaign than the amount on file with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission? Did he misappropriate the money or lie on his résumé? Why did Chairman Niemann usurp the power of the Hazlet Republican County Committee to choose its own candidate? What motivated Senator Kyrillos to employ Scott Broschart after he became a member of the Hazlet Township Committee?
Hazlet residents must stridently demand reasonable answers to these and many other questions, especially if Senator Kyrillos, Chairman Niemann, and Committeeman Broschart wish to keep their respective positions of power within a legitimate political organization and a legitimate governing body. Otherwise, we will only have ourselves to blame for allowing unaccountability, backroom politics, and corruption to compromise the quality of life in our own community.
posted by Rich Kohler at 7:33 PM
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