T hree Monmouth County residents are seeking a threeyear term on the Monmouth County Board of Freeholders in the Nov. 3 election.
Sean Byrnes Republican John P. Curley is a resident of Middletown. He is the vice president of Jim Curley Pontiac, Buick, GMC in Lakewood.
Democrat Sean F. Byrnes is a resident of Middletown. He is an attorney in private practice in Red Bank. He is a current member of the Township Committee in Middletown.
Stan Rosenthal is running as an independent. He is retired and lives in Holmdel.
Democratic Freeholder Barbara McMorrow is not seeking re-election as she completes a three-year term.
According to the Monmouth County Directory, the Board of Freeholders oversees five mandatory functions of county government delegated to it by the state. Each freeholder is assigned responsibility for one of the functional areas.
Each candidate for the office of freeholder was asked and responded to the following questions:
What educational, professional and civic background or experience do you have that you believe qualifies you to serve as a Monmouth County freeholder?
John Curley John P. Curley: I was instrumental in building a family auto truck business and worked arduously to survive the economic downturn. As a Red Bank councilman (in his previous town of residence) I served on the Planning Board, chairman of finance, chairman of parks and recreation, Special Improvement District, code enforcement, human relations, and historic preservation. I voted against line items and tax increases, changed council meeting times to the evening, stopped construction of a helipad, a bulky solid waste station, and placed spending caps on all accounts.
Sean F. Byrnes: Public service has been a running theme throughout my life. I attended St. James Grammar School and then Red Bank Regional High School. I then attended the U.S. Coast Guard Academy and received a Bachelor of Science degree in government.
I also served for 20 years in the Coast Guard, seven on active duty and three of those working for Coast Guard chief of staff in the Budget Division at Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, D.C. In this capacity, I prepared operating budgets for Coast Guard units throughout the United States.
Stan Rosenthal I received my law degree in 1992 and began my career in law. Since then, I have worked for one of the largest firms in the state, a mediumsize firm, and now I currently own and operate my own practice.
I have served on the Red Bank Board of Education (in his previous town of residence), Red Bank River Center and I still serve as one of the founding members of the board of trustees for the Parker Family Clinic in Red Bank, which helps provide health coverage to people without insurance. I serve on the board of directors for the Community YMCA, Red Bank, serving for two years as chairman of the board and as the chief volunteer officer.
I believe that all of these experiences contribute to my qualifications to run and serve as a Monmouth County freeholder. My experience in governmental budgets, as well as my ability to work with others in volunteer organizations, I believe, provide me the necessary skills to be an effective freeholder for the people of Monmouth County.
Stan Rosenthal: I graduated in 1964 with a degree in public accounting and have over 40 years of financial experience in public, private and nonprofit work.
I am currently on the board of trustees for the Community YMCA, Red Bank, Youth and Family Services in Matawan, and also serve on the audit committee of the Community YMCA with oversight on budgets and financial statements.
I co-created the Open Door Lunch Program in Freehold Borough, now in its seventh year. Last year we served 23,000 people.
I created the Freehold Clergy Association’s emergency housing program. Over the last five years, we have sheltered homeless men during the winter. There are currently six houses of worship that allow us to use their facilities. I saw a need and went about working with diverse groups of people to solve a problem.
My work experience includes three years of public accounting, three years as controller of a division of a New York Stock Exchange company, 10 years as the chief financial officer of a privately owned manufacturing company in Manhattan, and 19 years as a financial consultant with Merrill Lynch, retiring in July 2000. I currently work parttime helping my son at Raymond James and Associates in Shrewsbury. What do you believe is the most pressing issue facing county government, and how will you address this most pressing issue?
Stan Rosenthal: Oversight in many areas is poor, causing the county to spend a lot of money and in some cases not using money that has been set aside through grants. The county just lost a lawsuit on appeal so that they might have to write a check for $500,000 that, according to the judges, was poorly prepared. None of the freeholders seemed to know whose job it was to look at the county counsel department. I reviewed grants and found that in some instances money that had been granted by the state had gone unspent.
While some grants are very specific, I am recommending that a senior person at Human Services review all grants to see if money can be better spent. The overall theme is about money in these difficult times, and my mission would be to be sure that the county’s $500 million budget along with access to $500 million in grants and trust funds is spent in the best interests of the residents of Monmouth County.
John P. Curley: Affordability is impossible! Rising property, income and payroll taxes are strangling us. We are unbalanced when the furnace of the private sector earns less than the public sector. In the past eight years, 15 public jobs have been created for every private sector job.
I would demand zero-based budgeting, with a 5 percent across-the-board cut. I would cut consultants, cut patronage jobs, eliminate the Monmouth County Youth Detention Center (saving $2.7 million), place caps on all accounts, cut jobs through attrition, review heavy-duty equipment purchases, publicly post legal billing hours, and expand shared services, saving municipalities thousands of dollars.
Sean F. Byrnes: The most important issue facing county government, as with all governments, is taxes and spending. The county receives the bulk of its funding from property taxes, and the first priority must be to reduce the tax burden on our county residents. I have a four-part plan on how we can begin the process of reining in county spending that I would seek to enact if elected.
This includes: increase transparency in the budget process; put all budget documents online, including proposed budgets from department/division heads; identify and eliminate areas of wasteful spending; identifying areas of current wasteful spending to cut; an across-the-board cut of 10 percent. All budget submissions from department heads for the 2010 budget should reflect a 10 percent cut in operating expenses. Seek out and implement structural, long-term savings; reform the bidding process; always should go with the lowest qualified bidder.
Also, require that all county positions have job descriptions and justifications by the end of 2010; partner with municipalities for sustainable savings; county-wide tax assessor (save municipalities money); extend the bulk purchasing power beyond the Monmouth County Improvement Authority (MCIA).
What other county issues do you feel you need to address as a freeholder?
Sean F. Byrnes: I believe that second only to reducing the tax burden is the need to make Monmouth County government more open and transparent.
I would seek to put all resolutions online in their full text well in advance of any meeting; move all meetings to night meetings so the public can attend; put all minutes online, not just the freeholder board, but all boards and commissions as well; enact a strong code of ethics that contains mandatory training for all staff and elected officials; establish a strong, unpaid board of ethics.
This is not about criminal prosecution, it is about creating a climate of ethical behavior that permeates throughout county government so that all parties involved understand that ethics is a top priority and will be closely monitored.
Stan Rosenthal: Term limits should be instituted so that no one person or persons can have control of county government. I would recommend two terms. Shift emphasis back to people. In these difficult times and in following the wishes of the residents pursuant to the findings in the strategic plan, I would move money that had been cut from the Human Services budget last year. Move meeting times to the evening. This would lead to more transparency and would enable more people to add their knowledge and creativity to the process.
John P. Curley: Stop political patronage. I won’t add additional layers of political patronage positions. Monmouth County is now being controlled by urban Democrat political bosses who are placing their own political hacks from across the state. We choose to live in Monmouth, not Union, Camden, Middlesex or Mercer counties. I will maintain our quality of life and open space that provide us a wonderful quality of life and help to maintain our property values. We are blessed with 38 parks consisting of 14,500 acres servicing 5 million visitors per year offering 4,000 programs and 120 miles of trails.