The Hammonton Democrats wanted to express their excitement about the recent willingness that our opponents have shown in having a debate among the candidates. A debate would allow the citizens to truly understand the differences among the candidates and determine who will best serve the Town. In their desire to make the debate a true exchange of ideas rather than a publicity stunt, the Hammonton Democrats suggest the following format:
90 minute debate moderated by a representative from the League of Women Voters
Five minute introductory remarks and five minute concluding remarks from each slate
Each slate will ask the other two slates each a separate question; the party to whom the question was directed will have a five minute response and the party who was not asked the question will have three minutes to provide input; the questioning party will have a two-minute rebuttal
Each party will be allowed ten guests.
Hammonton Democratic Club President Sam Mento III explained, The Hammonton Democrats believe in action not slogans so we have come up with a real plan for a debate. We invite the other two parties to work with us to refine this plan. However, we do not think that the Town Council meeting is the right forum for such negotiations. In addition to having a theatrical debate about debates on television, we do not believe that it is proper for the Town Council to regulate political debates.
As explained in the California Case of Stanson vs Mott, elections are the foundation of democratic systems. When. a government uses its official voice to affect elections, it can undermine its own legitimacy and subvert the principles underlying a democratic society.
The Town Council consists of four Hammonton First Party members and three Republicans. Any vote on a debate would not express the views of the Hammonton Democrats constituency and place Republican constituencies at a disadvantage. Town Council Candidate Jim MacLane stated, I do not think that John McCain would allow Nancy Pelosi and Congress to regulate the presidential debates nor would Barack Obama allow George W. Bush and the White House to regulate a debate.
New Jersey recognizes the potential conflict of interest as well. The New Jersey Municipal Management Association has in its Code of Ethics a provision prohibiting municipal managers from actions that show preference to any political party. Even Hammonton has a precedent of keeping politics out of Town Council proceedings. In 2006, when the candidates for Freeholder discussed the election during a meeting, Mayor John DiDonato under advice from Solicitor Brian Howell ended the discussion.
Town Council Candidate Anthony Falcone, who was one of those Freeholder candidates, remembered, My opponent asked me questions about the actions of my campaign and I attempted to answer them. The Mayor ended the discussion. So the idea of Council now stepping into the election is odd. I know the Mayor has said recently that we must forget the past. Is this what he had in mind?
Town Council Candidate Michael Perrotta added,All three parties have nominated honorable individuals. So I cannot understand why they want to politicize the Town Council to an unprecedented level. Perhaps, they feel they are running so far behind that they have to move the goal posts. Or maybe they want to limit our ability in a debate to ask tough questions like why they want to give millions of our tax dollars to Stockton.
Sam Mento made a final point: Our candidates are ready to debate. We are convinced that our ideas are the right ones for this Town. The cornerstone of our platform is balanced and fair representation on Town Council. However, we cannot have fair representation without fair elections. It is the only way we can make Hammonton better for everyone.
This debate would be a three ring circus. I would charge $100.00 per ticket......what a comedy this would be. Can you imagine the grandstanding that would be on display with this debate?
Although I doubt a 9 person debate would allow the public to gain any insight into the individual candidates.....it would be very funny.
Can someone at least check the microphone on the right side of table. Every time the guy talks it cuts in and out. Makes it sound like the guy is stuttering.
The debate will be great Here is what will happen: Sam "I'm a blow heart" Rodio will talk about nothing. Tom" I"m not from Hammonton" Gribbon will tell us about his roots in Town Jeanne " do nothing" Lewis will talk about Stockton
And there you have it...a whole lot about nothing.....
I must say Tom Gribbons appears to have some intelligence which is why he won't work well with Hammonton First. They like puppets. As for his roots his wife has the community roots and she comes from a good family. But it's okay to move to Hammonton and actually love the Town as most of us do and want to help. Notice I said help not profit from. That being said I'm still voting for all three Democrats. We need people on council that will approach business with good intentions not a "what's in it for me" attitude. While the town is looking much better is all surface cosmetics. I want people on council that will worry about what's underneath the surface and do things correctly and not viciously as darn near all of Hammonton First has done.
I think it's a safe bet to say jerry is the low vote getter in this election. He had his two years, hey it least he got to see rome and the pope. I see a lot of number 1 signs. I would like to see all nine in a true open debate.
I think it's a safe bet to say jerry is the low vote getter in this election. He had his two years, hey it least he got to see rome and the pope. I see a lot of number 1 signs. I would like to see all nine in a true open debate.
More and more Republicans have switched to Hammonton First. I hope those who know the truth vote Democrat.
Is Hammonton First supporting Obama? I saw a first sign with an Obama sign, that fits Sam Rodio real good. Rodio, Corzine and Obama all perfect together.
Is Hammonton First supporting Obama? I saw a first sign with an Obama sign, that fits Sam Rodio real good. Rodio, Corzine and Obama all perfect together.
That's Ironic. That's like when some people had Support the Chief and Hammonton First signs on their lawns at the same time. Firster supporters are clueless and/or brainwashed.
Did you read about Hammonton First's Special Neighborhood Amassador Program which some nicknamed SNAP. They will report you in a SNAP if you don't comforn to their views. Some people I talked said that they know of neighbors who were pressured into putting their campaign signs on their lawns.
I seriously doubt Sam Rodio is for Obama for President. I would bet that even the democratic council candidates are for John McCain. I know alot of local Democrats who are supporting John McCain this election cycle.
Didn't that school board VP, Joe Girolo, just pay out a nobid contract for 600,000 dollars to an architect to design a new school?
How much does former Republican Joe Girolo want this town's taxes to go up? he's the biggest spender in local government!
How come he didn't recuse himself of the vote to give the teachers pay raises?
If you ask me, I wouldn't want that guy's support, he's the biggest porkbarrel spender in Hammonton! Not only that, I read in the Gazette how he's the treasurer of a private Republican campaign fund, funneling money to who-knows-where.
For the Republicans' sake, I hope its true they are kicking this guy out of the club at the next meeting.
joe . g does a great job on school board ,so don't complian because he is speaking his mind. Most, if not all on this site could not walk in joes shoes. Joe does more in a day for the school then jerry did his whole two years on council. I support him ,jerry's gotta go. I give joe credit for standing up to the reps on this one. The rep club has to be rebuilt from the ground up. good job joe. bye bye jerry.
joe . g does a great job on school board ,so don't complian because he is speaking his mind. Most, if not all on this site could not walk in joes shoes. Joe does more in a day for the school then jerry did his whole two years on council. I support him ,jerry's gotta go. I give joe credit for standing up to the reps on this one. The rep club has to be rebuilt from the ground up. good job joe. bye bye jerry.
your right that most, if not all, could not walk in his shoes. most people would have recused themselves on payraise votes for teachers when their own family are teachers.
and your right that joe does more in a day at the school. he's gonna raise youre taxes through the roof with another shoddy no-bid school building contract. at least jerry never raised our taxes.
The only reason Joe Giralo got on the school board was to get his wife a teaching job and vote big raises for her. The first year he was on the school board, he hired his wife. Jerry Vitalo is against Giralo and also Jim Bertino. Jerry is disgusted also with Bertino pocketing cash and making the town pay for his cell phone. This year a lot of people are switching to the Democrats beacuse of all these problems. Maybe Vitalo should switch too since the Republicans are stabbing him in the back.
That's it bash away . joes wife is a teacher she and all theachers got raises. she does her job very well. the no bid contracts came from the dems/jimmy boy mclain. so dont blame joe for that. Joe will be around a long time after jerry and his mortar mixer are long gone.
That's it bash away . joes wife is a teacher she and all theachers got raises. she does her job very well. the no bid contracts came from the dems/jimmy boy mclain. so dont blame joe for that. Joe will be around a long time after jerry and his mortar mixer are long gone.
Republicans against Republicans. That's the reason Hammonton First was created because Republicans couldn't settle their differences. There's even division in Hammonton First over some of the ordinances and abolishiments of commissions the last two years. We need to elect people that can tell everyone on council that Enough is enough.
That's it bash away . joes wife is a teacher she and all theachers got raises. she does her job very well. the no bid contracts came from the dems/jimmy boy mclain. so dont blame joe for that. Joe will be around a long time after jerry and his mortar mixer are long gone.
There was never a no bid contract while I was on the BOE. The bidding process is the foundation on which we can save the taxpayers a huge amount of money. You never saw the Board I was on split up projects so they could be awarded to friends and relatives without bids like the current Town government has done!!!
That's it bash away . joes wife is a teacher she and all theachers got raises. she does her job very well. the no bid contracts came from the dems/jimmy boy mclain. so dont blame joe for that. Joe will be around a long time after jerry and his mortar mixer are long gone.
Noone is complaining about her. The commentary was about Joe Girolo.
Jim , I will give you a free lesson . Only because i feel you may win a council seat and you will be way better then jerry. But, I hate to break this to you . The change order for your boses field house is just like a no bid contract. It was not in the orginal spec and was built to order and priced that way. also the extra 20 k you gave to you know who and his co worker ? There just like no bid payments because no one knew about it, or approved until after the fact. Please , please, don't go there. Keep that in mind if you win. Thank you As far as bashing Joe G. Good luck the people of Hammonton in all Three clubs support JOE . You wanna know why ? JOE GETS THINGS DONE.!!!!!! THAT'S WHY. Joe has been on a board in Hammonton for over 20 years? He served reps , dems and hf too. That's called putting Hammonton First. Good Job JOE. BYE BYE JERRY.
You can't give a free lesson when you don't understand the facts. Doing a change order is not like giving a no-bid contract because there were no awards to any different contractors and there was no change in the money being spent, so no one made any more money by way of any change order. All the change order did was find a better way to spend the districts money to create more educational space within the high school. If you recall, locker room space was moved to the building by the field (which was on the plans from day one) so that we could convert the space in the high school building to more educational space.
And the money spent for the two administrators was always in the project as money for the project management. We were able to save over $500,000 in those expenses and upgrade areas within the school with that money. This was authorized by the Board before the payments were negotiated. The Solicitor at the time told the board since this was an extension of their contract, no other contract need be voted on. It was the vindictive atmosphere created by a couple of Board members which caused the BA to draw up the contracts that were retroactively approved.
If the BOE had picked HF hand picked person to design the addition and renovation work it would have been good business. Funny thing is their "man" does not hold any of the necessary paperwork to do the job. Had the Boe picked him even though his price was more it would have been all good.So post away HFer may be we can find another job for some in the HF family.Maybe we can give free sidewalks and sewer to the down town owners. Its' all good they are frauds.Of course maybe we should talk about the HFers and how their relatives hired them at the BOE and in town hall.. Watch what you wish for you may not like what is about to come your way Mr. HFer.Your group is far far from clean and by the way the addition and roof project that Mr. Girolo ran at the middle school was on time and UNDER budget as stated in the Gazette and the Hammonton News.
Here's a new twist in Hammonton Politics. Drive down Orchard St, and check out hte GOP sign on the school board vp's lawn. It says
Vote
Bertino
Marino
*** BLACK TAPE ****
Guess Jerry isn't getting rank and file support from the GOP???? Maybe his handler Spinchenzo should have a talk with him...
Can we get this guy replaced on the ticket????
Please....
Jerry is the worst councilman ever.... I heard a rumor the GOP is bringing Vince Maione back.....
I have to admit, this is a new one. The Party's Treasurer puts up a sign and tapes over one of the candidate's names? I had to drive by Orchard Street myself because I couldn't believe it. This one is funny enough for Saturday Night Live.
Seems like Councilman Vitalo has a lot of class. I spoke to him today about it, and his quote was "Joe Giralo is a good man, and I've supported him consistently in the past. He has all the right to support who he wants, and promote who he wants."
Jerry IS a class act. He just doesn't flaunt his money like one party does.
Why is Joe Giralo injecting himself into this campaign? What is he angling for now? Joe Giralo has been very political for along time but his attack on Mr. Vitalo is a little low.
It seems that someone is pressuring Joe Giralo into taking a hardline stance against Jerry Vitalo. This decision by Giralo seems ackward and shows very little class. I have always supported Joe Giralo in the past but I do not like his showmanship with this petty move against Mr. Vitalo.
As far as bashing Joe G. Good luck the people of Hammonton in all Three clubs support JOE . You wanna know why ? JOE GETS THINGS DONE.!!!!!! THAT'S WHY. Joe has been on a board in Hammonton for over 20 years? He served reps , dems and hf too. That's called putting Hammonton First. Good Job JOE. BYE BYE JERRY.
This is the most honest thing a Hammonton First member has ever said. Joe Giralo truly does have the Town, the School and the Citizens best interest at heart and does his jobs with pride and intelligence. He'll be the first to admit when he's wrong and the first to find the person with the right answers for you. I to agree Jerry Vitalo needs to go.
If Joe Giralo admits when he makes a mistake, he should immediately apologize to Jerry Vitalo, Anthony Marino and Jim Bertino. Joe Giralo could have supported Hammonton First in the background without publicly hurting a fellow member in his own political party.
The move is sleazy and I am sure Joe Giralo will apologize when he thinks about his actions. Why is Joe helping Hammonton First?
If Joe Giralo admits when he makes a mistake, he should immediately apologize to Jerry Vitalo, Anthony Marino and Jim Bertino. Joe Giralo could have supported Hammonton First in the background without publicly hurting a fellow member in his own political party.
The move is sleazy and I am sure Joe Giralo will apologize when he thinks about his actions. Why is Joe helping Hammonton First?
How do you feel he's helping Hammonton First? If the Republican Party had a brain in their head they would have taken Jerry off the ballot themselves. He's a tool and doesn't belong running our government. Replace him now with another quality candidate. No one has anything against Bertino and Marino. Both make intelligent statements and know when to shut their mouths and when to push ahead. Jerry whether he means to or not comes off as a loud mouth with an opinion on everything and makes no one bit of sense while spouting. Sorrow but he doesn't have my vote nor anyone else's vote. Because of him most people are voting either all Democrat or all Hammonton First.
Actually, I only see HF signs at relatives of the candidates and at rentals owned by HF contributors.
I actually think there are equal HF and GOP signs.
I think the community is a tad bit "quiet" in terms of showing support.
Although I found the house with the Obama and HF sign comical. Proves that birds of a feather flock together. Both believe in big government run by sophisticated folks, high debt and higher taxes.
-- Edited by Voice of the People at 17:49, 2008-09-16
Party outcasts and School Board cronies Joe Giralo and Tommy Costa are joining up with Democrat Bullwhip Rich Jacobus to start the Whiners First party!
They will be putting bags of sour grapes on everyone's door!
I don't believe any of the local council candidates are supporting Barack Obama over John McCain. The polls in New Jersey are very close with South Jersey going strongly for John McCain.
Towns like Hammonton will be close to 2 to 1 in favor of John McCain. Hilliary Clinton won Hammonton by 2 to 1 in the primary but most of the Clinton primary voters will support John McCain.
I don't believe any of the local council candidates are supporting Barack Obama over John McCain. The polls in New Jersey are very close with South Jersey going strongly for John McCain.
Towns like Hammonton will be close to 2 to 1 in favor of John McCain. Hilliary Clinton won Hammonton by 2 to 1 in the primary but most of the Clinton primary voters will support John McCain.
I agree with the math but the 1 in the 2 to 1 are most likely HF supporters. Obama and Hammonton First , perfect together.
Joe Giralo is a thief. He voted to gie out a big raise to his own wife. He voted to give out a $600,000 no bid contract t a crony. Now Giralo and Jimmy Bertino are attacking Jerry Vitalo. Bertino takes insurance kick backs and makes the town pay for his cell phone. He has to go.
Man there's so much Republican vs Republican. More and more reason that we have to vote Democrat. This town is being torn apart by Republicans in both Hammonton Republican parties.
The Republicans are refusing to even be intereviewed on HammontonTV by themselves. There is no way they are debating with actual people. They will talk a big game but the will drag their feet because they don't want to debate facts with Falcone and MacLane.
