Consider the following: In 2005, Mary Aufseeser garnered 30% more votes than her opponent. Two years later, running as the incumbent mayor, she won by 1 vote. In 2007, 30% fewer people voted in Matawan and Aberdeen than in 2005. The Democrats in Aberdeen won four council seats with only 48% of the votes. The Democrats swept nearly every seat in Matawan and Aberdeen because the Republicans failed to run an effective campaign.
Here’s where the Republicans went wrong:
Taxes, Taxes, Taxes
The Republicans did not offer a single proposal for lowering taxes except through the controversial Transit Village Project. The party of limited government couldn’t think of a way to cut expenses.
Missing Voters
The Matawan Republicans only needed to bring a dozen more voters to the polls to win the mayoral election. Both Republican parties should have gone through the 2005 election rolls and contacted each Republican voter to get assurances that he would vote again and see if anyone needed assistance getting to the polling stations. (Editor's Note: The candidates assure me they made extensive efforts to bring people to the polls but the locals were uninterested. Editor's Second Note: Aufseeser's lead has dropped to 1 vote. Buccellato has begun the process for a recount.)
Debate
The Democrats did not have a strong record to run upon. The Republicans should have forced them into a public debate.
Short Campaign
A political party never stops campaigning. Both Republican parties should be building relationships with local reporters and constantly working themselves into the newspapers.
Political Naiveté
The Aberdeen Republicans made two giant mistakes in regards to the Green Party. First, they should have tried convincing the Greens to run on a unified ticket. Putting Alice Osipowitz on the Republican ticket would have been a huge boost. Not only would they have captured Green votes, they’d have captured women votes as well. In Aberdeen, each candidate received votes in direct proportion to his placement on the ballot. The first name on each ballot got the most votes with each succeeding name getting less. The only two people to buck the trend were Democrat Janice Gallo and Green candidate, Alice Osipowitz.
The other mistake was befriending the Green Party to the point of sending mailers that encouraged people to vote Green. The Republicans should have said loudly and repeatedly that splitting the vote would return the Democrats to power.
Lack of Ideas
The Republicans were running on disaffection with the current administrations. That doesn’t work. People vote because they like you or hate the other guy. They’re not going to vote if they don’t recognize a significant difference between the parties. The Republicans never gave the citizenry a good enough reason to vote.
If the Republicans want to win the next election, they’ll need to earn the votes through vision and competence. >>> Read more!
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Why the Republicans Lost
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Local Election Results - Democrats Win (Barely)
Following are the unofficial election results. There will likely be a recount in Matawan's mayoral election but Mary Aufseeser appears to have won re-election. The only non-democratic seat was won by Republican Councilwoman-Elect Linda Clifton in Matawan. All of the elections were extremely close. The Democrats of Aberdeen won by a plurality, not a majority. Republicans would have swept all the elections in Matawan with a half dozen swing votes.
Mayor - Matawan
7/7 100.00%
Under Votes 64
Over Votes 0
Vote Count Percent
Rep - Paul BUCCELLATO 946 49.68%
Dem - Mary AUFSEESER 947 49.84%
Write-In 9 0.48%
Total 1,894 100.00%
Borough Council - Matawan
7/7 100.00%
Under Votes 202
Over Votes 0
Vote Count Percent
Rep - Linda CLIFTON 949 25.50%
Rep - Debra BURAGINA 922 24.77%
Dem - Robert T. BUNYON 917 24.66%
Dem - Kevin R. MENDES 933 25.07%
Write-In 0 0.00%
Total 3,710 100.00%
Councilmembers-At-Large - Aberdeen
13/13 100.00%
Under Votes 771
Over Votes 0
Vote Count Percent
Rep - Anthony GARAGUSO 1,329 10.86%
Rep - John GARTLEY 1,296 10.59%
Rep - Thomas ALJIAN, Jr. 1,255 10.25%
Rep - Leon MATCHIN 1,222 9.98%
Dem - Vincent VINCI 1,524 12.45%
Dem - Wilhelmina GUMBS 1,439 11.76%
Dem - Owen DRAPKIN 1,415 11.56%
Dem - Janice B. GALLO 1,470 12.01%
GRE - Paul RINEAR 345 2.82%
GRE - Mark E. TEICHMAN 313 2.56%
GRE - Philip W. PETRIGNANI 308 2.52%
GRE - Alice OSIPOWITZ 323 2.64%
Write-In 2 0.02%
Total 12,241 100.00%
>>> Read more!
Goodbye, Mr. Quinn
Today is Superintendent Bruce Quinn’s last day at the Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District. He will be assuming the position of Assistant Executive Director of the New Jersey Association of School Business Officials. I wish Mr. Quinn well on his new journey. I’m glad to see him go.
His associates certainly have some very nice things to say about him.
Mr. Quinn is proud of his accomplishments, such as his Response to Intervention program and reorganizing the elementary schools. Although he had a rocky relationship with the Board of Education, he credits them with approving all his budget proposals.
Before Mr. Quinn leaves, I would like to ask him one question – What happened to the $250,000,000 we gave you to educate our children? Would any normal person look at the progress our children made in the last five years and say “Yeah, I’d spend two hundred fifty million dollars for that”? That’s about $9,000 for every man, woman, and child in Matawan and Aberdeen.
We have endured one of the highest tax rates in the county, and would be willing to pay more, for the sole purpose of educating our children. Where did the money go? Our children score below the state average across the board. Our schools are ranked among the lowest in the county. Could anyone argue that the $250,000,000 under Mr. Quinn’s direction was well spent?
Not one of his associates commended him for his strength in education. Not one of his fans talks about his ability to raise educational standards and expectations. No, to the contrary, he has been the vanguard of diminished expectations.
His Response to Intervention program will not be used to improve educational standards but rather to explain why they’re so low. Already, they’re claiming that nearly 20% of our students are learning “challenged”. Already, they’re considering intervention programs for kindergartners.
Rather than acknowledge the schools have failed to educate our students, Mr. Quinn’s administration was busy “proving” that the onus was on the students and community.
Though school officials often prefer to discuss delicate matters using nuanced and politically correct terms, the crux of their position is that our children are too stupid and emotionally retarded to do any better. They would rather steal from the taxpayer and rob from our children’s futures than admit that they are the ones who have failed us.
Goodbye, Mr. Quinn. I hope your departure will be a blessing for all of us. >>> Read more!
Monday, November 5, 2007
Aberdeen's Election Issues
The Democratic Party has controlled Aberdeen's Town Council for the past 12 years. This election will be a referendum on that control. Aberdeen Township is also a democratic enclave within Republican Monmouth County and both county and national politics will likely play a role in Tuesday's elections. Every voter should familiarize himself with the issues and the candidates prior to casting a ballot.
Below are the major issues facing Aberdeen . Due to time constraints, I have been unable to get detailed responses from the Green Party and felt it would be unfair to extrapolate their positions solely from their party's platform. Instead, I would encourage voters to visit www.aberdeengreens.org. I would also like to thank Republican Tom Aljian for explaining his party's positions. Regarding the Democrats, as the party in power for the last dozen years, their position is public record.
>>> Read more!
Democrat – Allow continued residential development to build neighborhoods and support local businesses
Republican - Residential development hikes property taxes by burdening our school system. Permit limited residential development to entice developers into other projects
Democrat – Office and retail development near the train station and in the Anchor Glass Factory area
Republican - Develop comprehensive master plan rather than phased development
Democrat - Construct low income housing for the elderly, purchase some allowances in neighboring towns, and postpone the rest until absolutely necessary
Republican - Abide by state mandates
Democrat – Work with the Board of Education to find new ways to improve education and control spending
Republican - Use the power of the bully pulpit to influence the Board of Education
Democrat – While some traffic can be reduced through road improvements, current traffic congestion is normal for a town of our size and location
Republican - Push county for more road improvements
Democrat – Working with officials at all levels to obtain financing for special projects such as funding for the Sea Walk Enhancement project
Republican - Hire a professional grant writer to pursue additional grants
Democrat – Build office, retail, and residential units on the property
Republican - Light commercial, light industrial, limited residential
Democrat – Restore the beachfront through successive small projects until private developers find the area worthy of investment
Republican - Float a municipal bond to properly finance beachfront development
Democrat – The municipal tax rate is stable and the town is not responsible for the school budget
Republican - Keep surplus money in "Rainy Day" fund. Avoid election year financing gimmicks
(Note: The Green Party has been circulating a chart showing municipal property taxes have risen 36.1% over the Democrats' 12-year tenure. The chart, however, does not account for inflation. In both real dollar terms and as a percentage of household income, municipal taxes have remained flat over the past twelve years. School taxes have risen sharply.)
Democrat - The town has been actively maintaining the streets and sewers and will continue to do so
Republican - Continue the town's maintenance schedule
Democrat – 10-story office buildings, 7,000 new parking spaces, and limited residential development
Republican - Must coordinate all transit area development with Matawan
Democrat – Parks will continue to be maintained and enhanced such as the new lighting for the Oakshades Park
Republican - Refurbish playground facilities where needed
Democrat – The current bidding process is open, fair, and competitive
Republican - Avoid emergency no-bid contracts
Friday, November 2, 2007
Our School District’s New Website
The Matawan-Aberdeen Regional School District launched its new website this week. I submitted an online comment commending the site design but questioning the cost. I was quite pleased to receive a response the next day from Darlene Gallagher. She thanked me for my interest and informed me that the cost was $28,063.00 at startup plus an annual fee of $7,500. That’s about $50,000 over a three year period. $50,000 for a website? It’s a beautiful site but I can’t justify the cost.
The website, www.marsd.org, was built by SchoolWires, a company that specializes in school websites. SchoolWires normally charges over $15,000 per year plus startup fees so I should be pleased that we’re getting such a bargain. But $50,000 over three years is still a huge sum to spend on a nice looking website.
When our students are scoring below average in every single standard exam, we can’t afford to spend $50,000 on a website we don’t need. Moreover, the school could have used the student body to build and maintain a new website. Or they could have used Gmail to provide free email services.
Does anyone believe the faculty would prefer this new website over $50 gift certificates during the holiday season? Does anyone believe $50,000 on a website will do more for our children’s education than spending the money on prizes for educational projects? Is there no one on the school board who couldn’t think of a more creative way to spend $50,000?
The Board of Education does not understand the simple concept of limited funds. It does not understand the concept of fiscal responsibility. Nor does it realize that its sole mission is to educate our children without unnecessarily burdening the taxpayer.
Nice website but we’re better off without it. >>> Read more!