In the News

JACKSON-Gianna Isabella, one of the top 24 finalists on this year’s Fox television show American Idol had a pep rally held in her honor today at her high school, Jackson Memorial High School.

She said she was leaving tonight to return to Hollywood and thanked her friends and classmates for their support.  She also shed some light on her American Idol experience to date.

When asked if she has her entourage yet, Isabella said she relies on her mom and dad.   She referred to her mom, Brenda K. Starr as her “Momager” and her dad, who handles her social media pages as her “Hashdad”.

 

 

Check out the full story and her complete interview in the next JTOWN Magazine!

Photos by Phil Stilton/JTOWN Magazine

 

TRENTON-Deirdre K. Hartman, Deputy Director of Representation for the New Jersey Public Employment Relations Commission (NJ PERC) has given the green light to the formation of a new public workers union in Jackson Township that will consist of department directors and supervisors.

On December 7th, Hartman determined that a nearly two-year effort led by municipal engineer Daniel Burke and DPW Director Fred Rasiewicz is valid under New Jersey law.

The new union is called Jackson Township Municipal Supervisors (JTMS).

“JTMS has satisfied the requirements for certification based upon its authorization cards from a majority of unit employees,” Hartman said. “All regularly employed, supervisory employees of the Township of Jackson, including but not limited to the director of community development, director of public works, supervisor of public works, tax assessor, tax collector, zoning officer, construction code official, electrical subcode official, building subcode official, plumbing subcode official, fire protection subcode official, assistant recreation supervisor, recreation program administrator and principal accountant.”

Despite Burke’s effort to include the municipal court Judge Daniel Sahin in his union, who is not a township employee, the state rejected the judge and several of the new union’s other  requests.

Excluded from the union were managerial executives, confidential employees, and non-supervisory employees; craft employees, casual employees, chief financial officer, township clerk, deputy township clerk, municipal court judge, business administrator, senior computer service technician, assistant municipal treasurer, personnel officer and all other employees employed by the Township of Jackson.

The township employees 12 confidential employees who are generally politically appointed workers who cannot join the labor unions.

The original union petitions were filed between August 27, 2014 and May 15, 2015.

Jackson Township employs 250 employees.  Most of the employees are organized into the following negotiations units: a non-supervisory white collar employee unit; a non-supervisory blue collar employee unit; a unit of public safety telecommunications operators; a rank and file police officers unit and a superior officers unit.

“On May 15, 2015, Daniel Burke, the Township’s Municipal Engineer and Director of Community Development (DCD), filed a representation petition on behalf of JTMS seeking to represent the Township’s supervisors,” the township said in a filing with NJ PERC. ” Burke submitted with its petition signed authorization cards from a majority of petitioned-for unit employees. The cards set forth clear language designating the JTMS as the exclusive majority representative of unit employees for purposes of collective negotiations over terms and conditions of employment.”

On May 18, 2015 the township requested that Burke provide it with the positions to be included in the new  manager’s union.

The township balked at several of Burke’s inclusions, including Tax Collector, Tax Assessor, Director of Community Development, Director of Public Works and Construction Code Officials, stating their inclusion into a union would be a present a conflict of interest for the township.

The township also rejected the request by Burke that Judge Daniel Sahin, an independent contractor and political appointment who serves as township municipal judge be included as he is not a township employee.

Fred Rasiewicz, the Public Works Director’s membership into the union was disputed by the township claiming his membership would be a conflict of interest since he is an executive level manager within the township.  In the end, the state disagreed and allowed Rasiewicz to be included in the union.

Jackson Township also claimed that Burke and Rasiewicz had engaged in coercive practices to form the union.

“The Township also objects to the validity of JTMS’s authorization cards, asserting the cards were solicited by Burke and the Director of Public Works, Fred Rasiewicz, and that their status as directors over several unit employees was A inherently coercive,” the township said in a legal briefing.

The state disagreed and determined the pair did not coerce other supervisors into joining the union.

“We have not received any communications from unit employees indicating they were coerced, harassed, or misled into signing cards,” the state said.

The township still felt that with Burke and Rasiewicz being department heads and management executives would, “Engender an impermissible conflict of interest.”  A secret ballot vote was requested by the township.

In the end, NJ PERC allowed the formation of this new management union with several exceptions.

According to NJ PERC, the following employees of the township were identified by the union:

Daniel Burke (Director of Community Relations/Municipal Engineer), who earned $134,502 in 2014; Fred Rasiewicz (Director of DPW), who earned $103,142 in 2014; Toni Nagle-Rowe (Tax Assessor), $96,488; Michael Campbell (Tax Collector), $99,812;  Jeff Purpuro (Zoning Officer), $74,848 and several other lower earning supervisors within the township.

A copy of the state filing can be read in full here.

TOMS RIVER– Newly appointed Ocean County Freeholder Virginia “Ginny” Haines said one of her main goals as a freeholder is to work on the problems of poverty and homelessness in the county.  Haines took office just over a week after a high profile incident involving a homeless man in Lakewood made international headlines when he was ridiculed into pouring coffee on his head for $5, bringing the plight of the county’s homeless problem back into the political spotlight.

On Thursday, Haines sat down with Jeremy Grunin on his “Wake Up With Jeremy” program on WOBM talk radio 1160.

• Listen to the full interview here. 

“I don’t know if we can 100% solve the poverty issue, because it has always been around, but it’s on the forefront of everybody’s mind,” Haines said. “I am going to be meeting with all of the department heads I am assigned to because I want to talk to them.”

She added that she needs to take inventory of what services the county offers and to look at the possibility of bringing in new ones.

“What are the programs?  How are they working, what can we do to make them better,” she said. ” I want to check with other areas of the state to see what they have that we don’t have. Maybe we tried them, maybe we haven’t”

“It’s important for me as a Freeholder to get to know all of the departments that I have,” she added. “To get to know them, get to know what we’re doing.  Maybe I can come up with some new ways we can help individuals to help them with the poverty  issue and homeless issues.”

Haines said after Hurricane Sandy there were few options for displaced individuals and many had to leave the county.

“The freeholders have done everything they could do to combat this,” she said.  “If we could, it would be a miracle for us to prevent poverty 100%.”

Haines will be the board’s liaison to the Department of Human Services, Board of Social Services, Transportation and the Planning Board.

“What are the other guys doing?” Grunin joked to Haines. “They gave you all the meat.  They’re all high-fiving that Ginny is on board. Once you get those things tackled, give us a holler and we’ll give you some more things to talk about.”

Under Governor Christine Todd Whitman, Haines was appointed as the New Jersey State Lottery Commissioner.

She is also a national GOP committeewoman.

According to the GOP website:

Ginny Haines was elected as the National Committeewoman from New Jersey in June of 2004. She serves on the RNC Site-Selection Committee, the Rules Committee, the Ethics Committee, and was recently elected as the Co-Chair of the RNC Northeast Region. Ms. Haines also served on the Contests Committee and was Vice-Chair of the Credentials Committee at the 2012 Republican National Convention. She has attended six Republican National Conventions and was the Co-Chairman of Housing for the New Jersey Republican National Convention in 1988.

Ms. Haines is politically active as a member of the NJ Federation of Republican Women, a parliamentarian for the Toms River Republican Organization, a member of the Ocean County Federation of Republican Women and she serves on the County Committee District 9 Toms River TWP. She is also active in her community and serves on the board of directors of the Toms River Student Loan Fund, on the executive board and treasurer of the Ocean County College Foundation Board, on the Board of Directors of the Monmouth-Ocean Food Bank, and on the advisory boards of the Jersey Shore Girl Scouts and Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Ocean County. She is a member of the Rotary Club of Toms River, the Commissioner of the Toms River Municipal Utilities Authority, she serves on the executive board of the Jersey Shore Council of Boy Scouts and as the Republican State Committeewoman for Ocean County.

Previously, Ms. Haines served as a State Assemblywoman, the Assistant Majority Whip, the clerk for the New Jersey General Assembly, and the Executive Director of the NJ State Lottery among many other positions.

 

Officials from Joint Base MDL denied reports that shaking felt from New Jersey to Connecticut were the result of a sonic boom from one of their aircraft shortly after officials from the U.S. Geological Survey’s National Earthquake Information Center reported a sonic boom over Hammonton.
“We’ve also received reports of ground shaking here in South Jersey. We do not have any aircraft capable of producing a sonic boom and our training ranges are currently clear of operations. We’re working with local and civilian authorities to determine the cause of the incident. As soon as we have an update, we’ll be sure to post the information,” the Joint Base said. “Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst – The USGS did report it was a sonic boom. Usually media outlets will attribute this to nearby military bases. However, it takes a special and very fast type of airplane to produce a sonic boom. We love our big jets here at MDL, but they are all too slow to go supersonic. We’ll have an update as soon as we have any information to pass along!”

 

 

 

by Chief Lisa Parker,
Manchester Police Department

 

Manchester Township—During the blizzard this past weekend, the Manchester Township Police Department’s Communications Section answered hundreds of calls for service, ranging from first aid calls, to disabled or stuck vehicles to residents reporting storm-related damage and everything in between. Many do not realize that behind the scenes, the unseen first, first responders are prepared and standing by for calls coming in from the public for assistance.

Prepared for the worst, Manchester Township’s Public Safety Telecommunicators, led by Supervisor Dom del Pino, camped out at Police Headquarters during the storm, some for the entire weekend. “We are an important part of the emergency response system and you cannot have someone fail to show for work because the roads are impassable. For this reason, we encouraged our team to stay at police headquarters instead of risking dangerous driving conditions,” said Supervisor del Pino.

During the storm, dispatchers were treated to homemade chili, snacks, hot cocoa, and a relaxed dress code. Additionally, cots were provided by the Office of Emergency Management.

Manchester Public Works, assisted police, fire and medical personnel by clearing roads and shoveling so that stretchers and other emergency equipment could reach our residents. Manchester’s three fire departments also assisted First Aiders by shoveling and clearing snow so officers and First Aiders could reach snowbound residence. “This was truly a group effort by all to assist every resident who was in need,” said Chief Lisa Parker.

Whether paid or volunteer, First Responders are never off duty. This is especially true during States of Emergency such as this past weekend’s storm. Many first responders from the firefighters, First Aiders, Deputy OEM Coordinator, and Police Officer’s all pulled extra duty some even camped out at their respective headquarters waiting for calls from the public.

Photo left to right: All Telecommunicators Jessica Francis, Mark Pellecchia (also OEM Deputy Coordinator), Jasmine Vaccaro, Domiano del Pino (Communications Supervisor), Tyler Riker.

On Thursday, Lakewood police officers responded an E. 5th Street home after receiving a call that a 26 year old male was having an inappropriate relationship with a minor.

Further investigation by Officer Nathaniel Reyes revealed that 26 year old Cesar Martinez of Lakewood was having a sexual relationship with a minor teenage girl over the last two months.

Martinez was charged with sexual assault and endangering the welfare of a child. Bail was set at $150,000.00 by Judge Basen.

JACKSON — It seems as though New Jersey “American Idol” viewers will again have a talented local teen to support this season. Gianna Isabella, a 15-year-old belter from Jackson, kicked off Wednesday night’s “Idol” airing of the Philadelphia auditions, an episode that frankly didn’t have many bright spots and was a letdown after a strong premiere…

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