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Dear Ocean County Taxpayer:
 In recent years,
the local media, once owned by people with a vested interest in the
County, has been overtaken by one of the largest news distributors in
America, the Gannett Corporation, who now own both the Asbury Park Press
and the Observer. No other voices are heard. In that kind of
environment, few pertinent questions are ever asked of the people
entrusted to govern our affairs. this lack of investigation can allow
many deals and arrangements to be made without fear of exposure.
Ocean County Politics will endeavor to be that magnifying glass,
pointing out discrepancies where they are found, and attributing
accountability where ever it is clear. In times like these a free and
independent press is needed. There are Quality of Life issues that face
this County, and the land consumption, at the cost of the environment is
already one of the most obvious failures of government to echo the
attitudes and desires of the community.
20 years ago the nature of this community was very different. Many new
faces came into politics and they have become the hardline, entrenched
personalities who have kept control in spite of the massive shifts in
both population and environmental change. It is hard to believe that in
the entire state of New Jersey this County is free from the possibility
of temptation, leading to corruption, when there is so much of value
being transacted. The newspapers stop at the surface.
OceanCountyPolitics.com will go deeper beneath the
surface. We are impartial. Our only goal is the bottom line-truth or
lies!
This is not intended to punish any elected or appointed official. This
is not intended to extol the civic virtues of any politician, either.
Both may result from close examination of the facts.
Our reporters recently covered the Home Depot plan that went to the
Ocean County Planning Board. We observed a smugness that was
intimidating and insulting to the taxpayers, who should never have to
bring important issues to the table hosted by insensitive and ignorant
officials. We could not believe our ears when we heard a planning board
member confuse commercial development as being different from developing
office buildings. This kind of mistake should not be possible in
something as important as the protection of the environment, when so
many trees have already fallen to the developers axes. There should not
be anyone appointed to a Planning Board who does not know that
commercial development includes Office buildings! With officials unable
to make obvious differentiations, the County could be in more serious
shape than we are willing to accept. |
