Turning Kenilworth Into Slums

It may not have been planned (at least well):

But that’s where it’s headed – and Kenilworth taxpayers are on the hook for it:

Harbor Hopes – Scotch Plains Edition

Democrats did not get elected this year in Kenilworth which gives republicans a 4-2 advantage on the council so the tenement project is in doubt and the pay-to-player engineering firm that pushed the project, Harbor Consultants, is also in doubt for 2022. However donation records show that, if Kenilworth falls through, Scotch Plains can step up as there the democrat triumphed.

Working Union County is one thing as that is a big pot but going after Kenilworth or Scotch Plains might get some notice.

Scotch Plains billing records just came in so here is how much Harbor Consultants donates and how much they get back. We’re talking Oatman money.

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Oh Christ!

When anyone other than a lickspittle comes to the microphone:

That was not meant for me as I have been banned from speaking at Kenilworth council meetings. That was after the local lickspittle brought up a flyer that the opposition party sent out that included a claim that Kenilworth Democrats “added an additional 19 Borough employees.”

Telltale Coattails

Republicans in Kenilworth won by a landslide. Was it a vote against the democrats in Kenilworth or Murphy as governor?

Looking at the Union County website with detail for 2021 on votes by district for both governor and council tells a tale.

Post Election Day Prediction

Still a toss up in the race for governor in New Jersey and I see a recount with the party running the recounting finding enough votes to win.

As I recall, in Kenilworth last year the race was so close that it took about two weeks for the republicans to put up ‘Thank You’ stickers over their campaign signs. That is not the case this time around:

Election Day Prediction

If you happened to be tooling around Kenilworth today on your way to vote you may have come across these signs which started appearing on Sunday as near as I can tell:

The signs do not tell you who to vote for which may make it alright for them not to contain a ‘paid for by’ sticker. Even though the Democrats came out with their lawn signs around Sunday as well and those signs did not have a ‘paid for by Harbor Consultants’ disclosure so they have their own ghosts.

But as to how this will impact the election outcome:

Harbor Hopes

If Democrats get elected tomorrow in Kenilworth the tenement goes up and traffic, which at peak hours often backs up to the Parkway on the Boulevard side and Route 22 on the Michigan Avenue side could occasionally be backed up to Roselle Park. However, for Harbor Consultants it likely means augmenting the quarter million dollars in fees that they are getting from Kenilworth taxpayers annually. Which is why, despite being called on making donations in the past to politicians who give them ‘contracts’, with so much on the line they can’t help themselves. The latest candidate filing on the NJELEC website has Harbor Conslutants donating $600, though not from Anthony Gallerano individually this time.

Donation records also show that, if Kenilworth falls through, seeds are planted in another Union County municipality.

Cloud of corruption lingers over city

nj.com has this gimmick where they give you just enough of a headline to get you interested but leave out a major piece of information, in this case the name of the city, to get you to either impluse-subscribe or pay $5 for the paper. It worked this Sunday with this story headlined:

Corruption has long been pervasive in New Jersey. Was this the state’s most corrupt city?

From no-show jobs and sweetheart deals, the business of government in New Jersey for some can be a game of opportunity.

I did buy the paper for the first time in years and it was worth it as I found a lot to relate to. In appreciation to nj.com I will keep the name of the city secret, substituting a K for wherever the city name appears and initials for names of people.

Election Predictions – 2021

Based on past history the governor and commissioner outcomes are set. Notwithstanding the prevalence of Jack signs (and the welcome dearth of any commissioner signs at all) in my travels (which have been mostly in Morris and central Union County) Murphy will win by about 55% to 45% of the vote and the incumbent commissioners will ride that to about a 20% margin when you consider the Elizabeth and Plainfield super majorities.

The interesting race will be in Kenilworth where Republicans would take over with a sweep of the two council seats up for election and that is what I will focus on after a look at the history of gubernatorial election polls and outcomes as taken from RealClear Politics that make me believe that Murphy is a lock.

Kenilworth Contracts – Suplee Clooney

On September 8, 2021 I sent the following OPRA request to Kenilworth for:

1) Contracts between Kenilworth and the following vendors for services to be rendered in 2020 to Kenilworth:
Suplee Clooney & Co.
Harbor Consultants
Reliance Insurance

2) Proof if any of these contracts were awarded through a Fair and Open process

Among the 10 pages of material in the response was: