Maybe we missed the memo. At some point the officials of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority came up with the notion that just about the only people with legitimate concerns about the future of Monmouth Park were Democrats.
That’s the only explanation for a 13-member Stakeholders Commission that has just a single elected Republican, Monmouth County Freeholder Ed Stominski, among its members. There are five other elected officials, Democratic state Sen. Ellen Karcher and Assemblyman Michael Panter, along with Oceanport Mayor Maria Gatta, and two ostensibly non-partisan elected officials, Long Branch Mayor Adam Schneider and Tinton Falls Mayor Ann McNamara, who both have ties to the Democratic Party.
If you were thinking that maybe the makeup of the committee is just a coincidence, you might want to contact 11th District GOP Assemblyman Sean Kean.
When Kean sought a seat on the panel he was told, "Sorry, no more room."
That decision is not only wrong because it shortchanges Kean’s constituency, which includes residents of several towns neighboring the racetrack’s host community of Oceanport, it is shortsighted.
There are many issues surrounding the future of the track, and considering how slowly the wheels of government turn, there is no guarantee that those issues will be resolved in the next year or two.
Just as assuredly, there is no guarantee that the Democrats will control the levers of power in the state when it comes time for the decisions on the fate of the track to be acted on.
Giving Kean a seat on the panel at least ensures that the GOP on the state level will be informed about, if not on board with, whatever decisions are made regarding the future of the track.
Excluding him increases the chances that another governor, or a Legislature with a different makeup, may want to take its own look at options for the future of the track. If that happens, the time and effort this committee has put in won’t mean much, except to the consultants who have been payed to work with the committee and authority.
How Stominski got in under the partisan Democratic radar is anybody’s guess. It makes sense to give him some GOP company.