December 09, 2020

2021 Action: Ciattarelli Rolls Out Endorsements In Singh’s Backyard

December 09, 2020/ Steven Kush

Republicans are starting to pick sides in the 2021 gubernatorial primary and the field hasn’t even been set. As for me, I will remain solidly on the fence until the field is set.

There are two announced candidates, former Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli and former beauty pageant winner Hirsh Singh. Other potential candidates are Assembly Minority Leader Jon Bramnick, NJGOP Chairman and former Lopatcong Mayor Doug Steinhardt and retired landscaper/washed-up out-of-work actor/keyboard warrior Joe Rudy Rullo.

Ciattarelli, Singh and Rullo all ran four years ago when former Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno won the primary. I was a Ciattarelli supporter in that primary and am still impressed at the amount of mileage Guadagno got out of showing up at all the county party rubber chicken dinners before the primary season kicked off.

Ciattarelli obviously decided he isn’t letting that happen to him again because the guy has been everywhere, fundraisers, happy hours, county party breakfasts.

Singh, the other announced candidate, didn’t learn the same lesson. While he’s been seen at a few rallies he mostly stuck with social media and filing lawsuits, though he did recently turn up at the Camden County GOP fourth quarter meeting and holiday party. Maybe his strategy is changing.

But, back to Ciattarelli. The guy has been busy! On December 1 he rolled out a list of “Nearly 90 Republican leaders” across Somerset County who have endorsed his candidacy for Governor. Admittedly, I ignored it because Somerset is Ciattarelli’s home county.

Then, on December 4 I received a Jack4NJ email with the subject “Introduce Myself.” It was from Mike Friedman who served as the lone Republican on Voorhees Township Committee from 2011-2019. Admittedly, I ignored that too, because I already know Mike and didn’t feel the need to be introduced. I probably should have read the email because Friedman informed readers he has “…stepped up to serve as the Camden County Coordinator for the 2021 Jack Ciattarelli for Governor campaign.” That’s a pretty solid endorsement out of Camden County.

Yesterday and the day before, Jack Ciattarelli got my attention! His campaign walked into Hirsh Singh’s Atlantic County backyard and scored some big endorsements. Ciattarelli’s first stop was in western Atlantic County where he scored key endorsements in Hammonton. I know some of the folks in Hammonton, they were very supportive of former Assemblyman Sam Fiocchi in his 2018 bid for Congress. Experience has taught me the Hammonton folks will work hard for who they endorse.

Scoring the Hammonton endorsements wasn’t enough. Ciattarelli then headed east the next day and rolled out endorsements from the “Republican Club of Atlantic City, as well Atlantic City Councilman Jesse Kurtz.”

Atlantic is Singh’s home county and he allowed the only other announced candidate in the race to walk into his county and score big endorsements. Perhaps he should have learned form Jack and made sure to protect his home turf first, just like Ciattarelli did in Somerset.

The field is still taking shape but it looks like 2021 could get exciting, so stay tuned. And, eventually I will learn how to spell Ciattarelli without going to his campaign website to copy and paste it.

Update: New Jersey Globe reports Bramnick will not run for Governor.

December 07, 2020

Stratford Mayor’s Son Set To Make More Per Hour Than If The Position Were Full-Time

December 07, 2020/ Steven Kush

Last week, thanks to some good reporting by NJ.com, we told you the story about a guy who sued the Borough of Stratford for attempting to cut his pay and was awarded a $75,000 settlement and kept his job only to years later cost the Borough of Stratford a $125,000 settlement for allegedly sexually harassing a male coworker. Around the time of the $125,000 the guy, John Keenan Jr, retired from his position in Stratford.

Fast forward to last week and we learn that despite that history the Borough of Stratford, at their November 10 council meeting, decided to re-hire Keenan who happens to be the son of Stratford Mayor Josh Keenan. The younger Keenan is being brought back as the temporary part-time Borough Administrator for $60 per hour (according to the town’s salary ordinance the title is Borough Administrator though Business Administrator has been used in meeting minutes and legal notices, the terms appear to be interchangeable in Stratford).

While I was considering what to blog about today I decided to search legal notices to see if the Borough of Stratford advertised for the position of part-time Borough/Business Administrator. I found nothing, this does not mean there was no advertisement, I simply couldn’t find it and will keep looking.

What I did find was a legal notice that states:

…it has become necessary to amend certain salaries set forth in ordinance 2020:08 NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by Mayor and Council of the Borough of Stratford, County of Camden, and State of New Jersey that Ordinance 2020:08 is amended to include the salary range for the following positions as follows: Section 1: Business Administrator Part Time $55.00-$65.00 per hour

Ordinance 2020:08 was passed and adopted on August 11, 2020 according to a published legal notice:

So, why three months after adopting a salary ordinance did the Borough of Stratford find it necessary to amend the ordinance?

My answer is that if one looks at Ordinance 2020:08 one will see the position of Borough Administrator has a salary range of $70,000 - $90,000. An hourly rate for a $90,000 per year job is $43.27. The younger Keenan was hired at $60 per hour. Obviously, they had to change the salary ordinance to give the younger Keenan the hourly pay raise.

So far it appears being the mayor’s son in Stratford pays pretty good and makes it easy to get a job.

It does look like the folks in Stratford do still have a chance to stop the mayor’s son from getting paid more per hour than a full-time administrator. The second reading and final passage of Ordinance 2020:10 is tomorrow evening, December 8 at 7:00PM via Zoom. I can only assume you have to call the Borough Clerk to get the link for the meeting.

As for us, we are not done looking into things in Stratford. Stay tuned!