Former Highlands Mayor Rick O’Neil recently paid an $800 fine as final disposition in his settlement with the Local Finance Board, stemming from actions he violated the Local Government Ethics Law when he was mayor in 2017.
The decision concludes a six-year-old ethics complaint that began when the Local Finance Board, the state’s chief enforcer of state ethics law, alleged O’Neil, while he was mayor, had himself, his brother, cousin and two sons perform and receive compensation for snow removal services for the borough in 2017 and 2018 without formal authorization or approval from the governing body.
In 2023, the Board ruled O’Neil had committed two separate violations by using his official position to secure unwarranted privileges for himself and his family. It also found that he improperly used his public office and non-public information for financial gain, bypassing established hiring processes for snow removal work.
He was fined $500 for each of the four violations for a total of $2,000 in 2023 which O’Neil appealed. The matter was referred to the Office of Administrative Law for a hearing; however, the former mayor came to an agreement with the board before the hearing was held.
O’Neil admitted to the essential allegations, and the Local Finance Board agreed to reduce the fine to $800. The Local Finance Board agreed to the settlement and O’Neil paid the fine in December, 2024.
O’Neil, a native of the borough, had served as mayor in 1996, then again from 1999 to 2007, and again from 2017 to 2019 when he lost the 2019 election by a single vote to current Mayor Carolyn Broullon.
Let’s hope more municipalities take the lead of Mayor Broullon and start questioning if it’s really necessary to pay thousands of dollars a year for legal advertising. Especially since there is now a cheaper, easier, and more reader-friendly way for the public to keep informed.
Not many people look at the cost of advertising those legal notices; actually, it’s doubtful how many people actually search to the back of a newspaper and read the fine print that costs all those dollars to print.
There is no doubt the public has the right to know and no doubt that everyone should be made aware of everything the government at every level is doing. It was Thomas Jefferson who first said a free press is necessary as a watchdog to keep citzens informed and involved in government affairs. He also said the press had an obligation to ensure accuracy in reporting.
But in the 2st century, there are other, more economical, more easily accessible, and more readily available means of the public being kept informed of every action its governing body is taking. Welcome to the world of official websites.
It doesn’t cost anything to go on to a borough website. Minutes are always on display on official sites, along with such news as where to buy a dog license or the date of the next planning board meeting. People can easily access all that information and more, without it costing a dime.
The law requiring legal advertising for notices and ordinances came about before there was an internet, before municipalities had official pages. Times have changed. And in this case, so should the law .
Let’s hope more municipal leaders look at the high cost of legal advertising in newspapers, see that its official website is a viable option, and write their legislators demanding swift action to modify the law to enable towns to save money, let citizens have access more easily to what’s going on, and quit relying on newspapers to carry their message.
For the most part, newspapers do not even send reporters to over their meetings on a regular basis. If a newspaper doesn’t care enough about what is going on in a community, why should the borough encourage its taxpayers to pay a newspaper …are there any less than a dollar these days?… to get their official word on action they are taking.
Schools Students, teachers, athletes and artists of the month were recognized at the Henry Hudson Board of Education meeting last week, together with the announcement Evelyn Knox will be representing Henry Hudson at the next level of the Poetry Out Loud competition for high school students.
Ms. Knox won the Poetry Out Loud contest at Henry Hudson and is advancing to the state level in the nationwide contest
The national program, started in 2006, is aimed at creating community and connection through students participating in a poetry recitation competition designed to improve public speaking skills, help build confidence, and teach about literary history and contemporary life.
A partnership of the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Foundation, and state and jurisdictional arts agencies, Poetry Out Loud® provides free lesson plans and other educational materials to teachers and organizers, including an online anthology of 1,200 classic and contemporary poems.
Ms. Knox was cited as the Artist of the Month during the presentation ceremonies.
Christopher Parker was cited as the Highlands Elementary School Student of the month, both for his patience and attitude as well as always being respectful.
Lily Lawson earned the honors as Atlantic Highlands Elementary School student of the month for being a hard worker, achieving exceptional growth and helping others to the pit she serves as a role model to her class.
Aurora O’Neil is Henry Hudson’s student of the month, cited for her excellence in many areas, primarily writing.
In addition to Ms. Knox being named the artist of the month, Matteo Mosca was named Athlete of the Month for Henry Hudson.
Lori Anthony was cited as the Highlands Elementary School staff member of the month cited for her excellence as an aid in the 6th grade classroom. Lisa Commander was cited as the Atlantic Highlands staff member of the month and Ryan Patrick as Henry Hudson’s staff member of the month for his work in athletics.
In other business, the board hired Benedict Yenella as full time head custodian for the remainder of the school year at the salary of $50,000, approved the extension of Kayla Scalericio’s contract as a long term replacement teacher for the Pre-K class at the Atlantic Highlands school at the rate of $62, 580, and Michelle Bavaro for the after-school reading program under the Reading Intervention Program at The Atlantic Highlands School. The program has been expanded for two additional days a week for February through April and is funded under the Title I grant
Highlands Mayor Carolyn Broullon and the Borough Council fired off copies of their resolution in support of changing legal advertising laws to enable a borough to publish their legal advertising on a local government’s official website at their meeting last week. Their action calls on state legislators to take swift action that would save thousands of dollars for municipalities yet still keep the public informed.
For many years, municipalities and all public entities have been required to publish all their legal notices, including ordinances, meeting dates, in a newspaper circulating in their area.
That has become more difficult over the years, Broullon pointed out, both with the closure of many newspapers as well as the expense to residents to purchase newspapers. Newspapers themselves have made many adjustments to meet the higher cost of publication, including a local weekly which several months ago changed its status from a profit-making organization to a nonprofit organization. Printing legals that are required by the borough means taxpayers are funding a non-profit without knowing specifically what they are supporting with their tax dollar.
With the need on some occasions to print a legal notice within 48 hours, it is often necessary for a municipality to use a daily newspaper, whose overall circulation makes the legal fee even higher.
The costs for legal advertising run into thousands of dollars for Monmouth County taxpayers, as well. Meeting legal requirements to advertise for foreclosure sales, as an example, cost more than $3,000 in a recent issue of a local weekly newspaper.
Last December, the legislation passed P.L.2024 c.106, which allowed publication of required public notices and legal advertisements in newspapers for an extended period regardless of format. That action was taken as a temporary solution that allowed local governments to comply with public notice requirements in time for annual reorganization meetings last January.
However, with the March 1 provision imposed on that law, Broullon is calling for the Legislature to act quickly and enable municipalities to save legal advertising money quickly.
“ Local government officials serve as the stewards of property taxpayer dollars and should no longer be required to subsidize the newspaper industry with revenues college from publishing legal notices,” the resolution, which was passed unanimously said.
The resolution cited changes that have taken place in the newspaper industry that indicate changes for the legal advertising policy should also change. “The media has become almost exclusively digitized and struggled to retain staff, resources and publications,” Broullon said, making it increasingly difficult for government officials to comply with the current public notice requirements.
Allowing municipalities to public all their legal notices on its own official website, she continued, “will streamline an antiquated and overly burdensome process and save valuable time, resources and property taxpayer dollars.”
Broullon and the Highlands council are urging state officials to pass the necessary legislation that would authorize municipalities, as well as counties, school districts and all local governments to make public their legal notices “in a clear, transparent and timely manner “ on an official website.
Gagliardi The Porzio firm has put Shore Regional Board of Education on notice it has until Thursday at noon to withdraw its plans to hold a special election March 11 asking voters in the four towns in its district to approve a $51 million bond issue for improvements to the 60-year-old school.
Vito Gagliardi, Jr
Porzio attorney Vito Gagliardi, Jr., who represents the boroughs of Sea Bright and Highlands, wrote Geoffrey Stark, Mount Laurel attorney representing Shore Regional, that the proposed referendum it seeks is unlawful for several reasons.
Gagliardi called on Stark to confirm the referendum will not go forward and gave him has until noon Thursday, February. 19 to respond.
Geoffrey Stark
Absent withdrawing the referendum vote, Gagliardi also told Stark that “Sea Bright reserves all right to the extent you fail to do so”
In his letter dated February 14, Gagliardi cited state law that clearly states that once a municipality applies to a county superintendent of schools to look into the advisability of withdrawing from a school district, “the board of education of the regional school district shall not incur any additional indebtedness for capital projects” pending either the rejection of the municipality’s proposal at a special school election or an effective date of withdrawal as determined by the Commissioner of Education.
Gagliardo pointed out that means Shore Regional is prohibited from moving forward on the planned election inasmuch as the County Superintendent has not yet announced a decision on the petition submitted by Sea Bright and Highlands seeking permission for Sea Bright to put the question of leaving Shore Regional to its voters.
Sea Bright had passed a resolution calling for its withdrawal from both Shore Regional and Oceanport districts so it could join the newly former Henry Hudson Regional School District. That resolution was affirmed by the Appellate Division, the matter currently pending on a certification petition to the New Jersey Supreme Court.
Sea Bright and Highlands had also filed an amended petition with the Commissioner regarding Sea Bright’s intention to withdraw from the two school districts, Shore Regional and Oceanport. That petition remains pending and is currently before the County Superintendent.
Gagliardo cited the state laws in his letter to Stark that spell out the process used by the borough are covered under the law that prohibits specific actions, including the recently announced referendum sought by Shore Regional.
Should Shore Regional fail to cancel the referendum and let Gagliardi know by Thursday, Gagliardi put the attorney on notice Sea Bright “reserves all available rights, including the right to seek injunctive relief,” That action that would restrain Shore Regional because of the harm it would cause.
Gagliardi is the managing principal of Porzio, Bromberg & Newman, P.C., and president and CEO of Porzio Compliance Services and Porzio Governmental Affairs. He also co-chairs the firm’s Litigation Practice Group, and its Education and Employment Team.
He is certified as a civil trial attorney by the NJ Supreme Court Board on Trial Certification and a distinguished fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers.
He has a reputation for success in precedent-setting cases before the Supreme Court, simplifying complex facts and evidence to judges and juries resulting in a track record of successful dispute resolutions through trial or negotiation.
Gagliardi’s experience with boards of education, colleges, universities, APSSDs, charter schools, and businesses including Fortune 100 companies is well known and he is perceived as an attorney with strategic counsel in state and federal courts.
With relation to regionalization issues specifically, Gagliardo has been the lead counsel on several precedent-setting matters of regionalization and redistricting, including the creation and dissolution of regional school districts and the creation and termination of sending-receiving relationships.
He was counsel for the only three regional school district dissolutions in New Jersey history, Union County Regional, Lower Camden County Regional, and South Hunterdon Regional, resolving hundreds of issues and defeating all litigation challenging any aspect of the dissolution.
Stark, who is with the Capehart and Scatchard firm in Mount Laurel, concentrates his practice representing boards of education and charter schools in all areas of school law including labor and employment, special education, student discipline, Anti-Bullying student residency, civil rights, tenure, OPRA, OPMA, and staff tenure matters.
Prior to joining the firm, Stark served as a Deputy Attorney General in the Education and Higher Education Section of the state Attorney General’s office and earlier had been a Judicial Law Clerk to Joseph F. Lisa, P.J.A.D.
He graduated from Rutgers Law School in Camden Magna Cum Laude with a Juris Doctorate degree, and where he had been both staff and managing editor for the Rutgers Law Journal.He also holds an undergraduate degree from Radford University in Virginia and a Master of Arts from Ohio State University.
Week It’s difficult to tell whether the Atlantic Highlands Council simply doesn’t want its residents to attend meetings, make suggestions and ask questions, or whether it doesn’t bother to check anything before making year-long decisions, or whether officials simply doesn’t communicate with anybody. But it is their action that has resulted in tomorrow night’s fiasco……it is the regular meeting for Highlands and Atlantic Highlands borough councils, AND the Henry Hudson Regional Board of Education. Week
With such a vital issue as “the second step” of regionalization….should Sea Bright come into the school district and bring in its $2 million split the cost of education three ways instead of two, wouldn’t you think the council would want to be involved?
Why is it Atlantic Highlands the one at fault? Because they changed their regular meeting night at their January reorganization. Instead of making it two nights a month on a regular basis, they unanimously adopted a schedule where those two nights a month they say they set aside for municipal business only happen five months out of the year.
Then there are the two first Mondays of the month, what they say are their regular meeting nights, that fall on holidays. So they change those two meetings to, not another Monday, but another day during the week. Like the same Wednesday as the Henry Hudson Board meeting.
The other five months of the year, if you’re counting the borough council schedule, ,they only have one meeting a month. Just to be clear, their regular meeting nights of the first and third Mondays of the month only occur five months of the year. Some planning, huh?
Tomorrow night is also the regular meeting night for Highlands Borough Council. It’s been that way in the past and was not changed at its reorganization. Council members have openly lamented the fact that the Hudson Board that no longer exists also selected the third Wednesday since that prevents the borough’s council representative from attending the meeting of the board that controls the highest part of the tax dollar.
The Henry Hudson board meeting was set at the reorganization meeting of a board of education that no longer exists yet the new board of education, the first elected board for this brand-new regional district, has not changed it yet.
Hence, tomorrow night there are three meetings of the three different boards that control the tax dollars for Highlands and Atlantic Highlands taxpayers.
If officials at the highest levels of local government cannot even get together to explore meeting dates that would also enable the public to attend both meetings, how can they be expected to truly be watching out for their residents?
Whether it is a lack of communication or a downright desire to prevent people, elected or not, from attending meetings that impact their lives so much isn’t the question. The question is how is a public supposed to be informed, ask questions and get answers if all major bodies governing the tax dollar meet the same night in Highlands and Atlantic Highlands?
The sewing machine exhibit at the Shrewsbury Historical Society museum will continue for several months and visitors, either as individuals or groups, are welcome by appointment.
Society president Donald Burden announced the exhibit, which features a variety of sewing machines and accoutrements will remain in place until summer.
The display, which features both domestic and factory style machines from several different companies, highlights models of Singer Sewing machines in addition to machines by several other companies manufactured dating back to more than a century.
Exhibits portray the history of the Singer company, first established in 1851 in New York, but best known for its largest factory for mass production of the machine in Elizabeth in Union County. Two years after obtaining its first patent, Singer became the largest manufacturer of sewing machines in the world, creating an average of 13,000 machines a week. Its original design has bee recognized as the first practical sewing machine for domestic use.
The company also played a major role in both world wars. in World War I Singer halted its production of its own machines to produce artillery shells, fuses, grenades and airplane parts as well as horseshoes for the nation’s military effort. In World War II, it repeated its efforts for the nation and again had government contracts for weapons manufacture.
Burden noted that the Society features a variety of exhibits throughout the year and invites interested persons to become members of the Society.
Annual membership dues for the Society are also due for renewal now. Individual dues for a year’s membership in the Society are $15, with family and other special memberships also available.
All dues support the organization and its presentation of numerous displays, programs and events that encourage an appreciation of local history.
SHS is supported by membership dues and contributions. SHS is an independent organization and does not receive subsidies or other financial support from the Borough of Shrewsbury.
One of the oldest signers of the Declaration of Independence, New Jersey’s John Hart was one of six signers in their 60s at the time when he signed the docket that would forever make him an enemy of the British King. Benjamin Franklin, at 70 years of age, was the oldest Signer.
Although it differs in other sources, Hart’s official Congress biography cites 1713 as the year of his birth. He was born in Stonington, Connecticut but the family moved to Hopewell Township New Jersey when he was young. Records show he was baptized at the Maidenhead Meeting House, now the Presbyterian Church in Lawrenceville, the son of Captain Edward Hart, and grandson of John Hart, a carpenter from Long Island who had settled in Hopewell.
Like most men of that time and circumstances, Hart was not formally educated, but did read, write and do math. He was known for being a man of common sense and was recognized as someone who knew the law and was familiar with business matters and money. He married Deborah Scudder in 1741, and the couple had 12 children before her death in 1776.
A property owner both on his own and with his father, Hart purchased a 194-acre Homestead Plantation in what is now Hopewell in the late 1730s. He donated a large portion of it in 1747 to the Baptists, who wanted to build a church in a convenient spot in the area. He was a Presbyterian, and this endeared him to the Baptists in the area, who appear to have supported him later when he ran for office. Until well after the revolution, the area was thereafter called Baptist Meeting House.
Hart first entered public life in 1755 when he was named Justice of the Peace, earning him the title of Esquire and giving him the authority to act in minor legal issues and county business including tax collector audits.
He was next elected to the board of freeholders for Hunterdon County and later elected to the Colonial Assembly for New Jersey serving in that capacity until 1771. He was named to the local Committee of safety and the Committee of correspondence and gained the nickname of Honest John after he became a judge in the Court of Common Pleas.
Hart was elected to and served as vice president of the provincial congress established in New Jersey in 1776, the group that replaced the First Continental Congress for New Jersey which had been established earlier. That Congress opposed independence and was replaced by the provincial or Second Continental Congress. Just one month before the Declaration was introduced in Philadelphia, Hart was named one of the New Jersey delegation with full rights to vote and sign the Declaration of Independence.
Hart served on the Congress until August, being one of the first to sign the Declaration before leaving to be named Speaker of the newly formed New Jersey General Assembly.
When the Revolutionary war started, and the British advanced into Hunterdon County by December 1776, Hart had to seek refuge to escape the British and hid out in the Sourland Mountains. But his farm was raided and damaged by British and Hessian troops. The patriot was able to return home when the Continentals captured Trenton.
Two years later, the night before Washington and his Continental Army of 12,000 men accepted Hart’s offer to occupy and make camp on his farm before going on the next day to win what has been termed the turning point of the Revolution.
Hart was still serving in the Assembly in 1778 when he returned home one night, indicated he was ill and suffered for six months before dying May 11, 1779 at his home in Hopewell. He is buried in the Old School Baptist Meeting House, the church cemetery to which he had donated his land several years before.
John Hart died owing money. Due to the shortage of hard money, depreciation of colonial money, and a glut of land on the market as Loyalist land was confiscated and sold, most of his property was sold for a pittance.
The obituary in the New Jersey Gazette at that time read:
On Tuesday the 11th instant, departed this life at his seat in Hopewell, JOHN HART, Esq. the Representative in General Assembly for the county of Hunterdon, and late Speaker of that House. He had served in the Assembly for many years under the former government, taken an early and active part in the present revolution, and continued to the day he was seized with his last illness to discharge the duties of a faithful and upright patriot in the service of his country in general and the county he represented in particular. The universal approbation of his character and conduct among all ranks of people, is the best testimony of his worth, and as it must make his death regretted and lamented, will ensure lasting respect to his memory.
Congressman John Hart Brewer a New Jersey Congressman in the late 1800s, and former House Majority leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland are descendants of the Signer from New Jersey.
Roadways named after Hart include Hart Boulevard in Flemington, Hart Avenue in Hopewell, and Hart Lane in Ringoes. His home still stands in Hopewell at 60 Hart Avenue. OIt is a private residence and not open to the public.
Read About John Hopkinson, another New Jerseyan who signed the Declaration of IndependenceHERE
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With the cost of eggs soaring to the ridiculous, many families are looking for other means of getting the protein, magnesium and other vitamins and minerals they need for healthy living.
It might be the time to try Tofu, even if you’ve never tried it before or have tried it and find it too bland and tasteless.
Tofu is actually soy milk, processed a bit like cheese so the curds left in the process can be made into blocks. Nigari, which is a solidifier left over after the salt is extracted from salt water, is used in forming the blocks, and is full of minerals that make Tofu even more recognized for healthy eating. Best kind to purchase at the food market is the firm or extra firm tofu.
It’s been around for more than 2,000 years, first used by the Chinese and still popular in many of their recipes. It’s also a must-have among vegetarians potassium calcium and magnesium and has very little or no cholesterol.
Granted, it is neutral in flavor and rather soft in cooking, so it does not have much taste. But because it is so soft and does not have a flavor of its own, it picks up the flavors of the vegetables and herbs it is cooked with.
Tofu can be baked, fried, crumbled, marinated, grilled, or eaten taw. When it’s pan fried, mixed with corn starch, its comes out golden, crusty, and great for topping salads. It’s terrific in the air fryer for the same reasons, 10 minutes to cook, crispy and crunchy on the outside.
Commuters heading north of the Middletown train station pass it every day a few hundred feet past the station in the commuter parking lot, but the Middletown Historical Society has taken the time and energy to restore the original train station that has been on the site since 1876.
Tom Valenti welcomes crowd
This weekend, there was a waiting list for persons eager to hear Society President Tom Valenti explain what has been happening inside the three-room structure that is owned by the township and leased to the Society as a haven for many of items in their historic collection. The Society plans to use the station as an exhibit space with an official opening in 2026, coinciding with the building’s 150th anniversary and the nation’s 250th.
The Township Committee and Society agreed on the lease last September, and Valenti, Peter Van Nortwick and other Society members lost no time in beginning interior restoration to portray not only Middletown’s history but specifically the history of the railroad in Middletown as well as the trolley station in Campbell s Junction and numerous other historic sites in the township.
Saturday Valenti and Van Nortwick, along with other Society officers, ran tours every 30 minutes through the station, which includes the main waiting room, the clerk’s office where he told tickets at the window, and the baggage room where merchants brought their wares for the rail trip to New York.
The society president noted the station opened the year after the New York and Long Branch began its route along the Jersey coast, and it is one of only three original stations still in existence on the route, Red Bank and Matawan also dating back to the early era as well.
The Middletown station is the only one in this design, he said, noting the waiting room included a pot belly stove and a window to the ticket office. The building was retired in 1986 and was used first by a non-profit, then the Middletown Police Department, before the society’s current lease with the township last year.
Some of the rail exhibit at station
Currently, the station is filled with dozens of pieces of memorabilia including maps, photos, train timetables and schedules, letters, and even a desk from the Campbell’s Junction trolley office when a trolley ran through New Monmouth and Middletown Village enroute to Red Bank.
“We have been looking for a physical home for quite some time, and are very grateful to the mayor, Township, and Police for making the historic train station available to us, “Valenti said. “We can’t wait to provide this new historical resource to the people of Middletown.”
Valenti said work is continuing on restoring and maintaining the building, with grants sought to cover costs. Next projects to be funded and completed include the roof, currently covered with asphalt shingles, gutters and doors. He invited any interested persons who want to play roles in the restoration and preservation of the historic building to contact him at the Middletown Historical Society’s webpage. Volunteers are especially needed for fund raising ideas, and restorative work.
Mayor Tony Perry
“As Middletown Township celebrates its 360th birthday this year, and the nation honors its Sesquicentennial in 2026, it’s the perfect time to partner with the Middletown Township Historical Society to use this historic building as a museum to showcase our rich heritage,” Middletown Mayor Tony Perry had said earlier, in supporting the restoration by the Society.
Valenti also extended an invitation for all to become members of the active historical society. Further information is available by visiting the society’s webpage at Middletown Township Historical Society.
The Society also maintains pictorial history of Middletown in the main foyer of the Middletown town Hall, Kings Highway.
The Society was officially registered with the State of New Jersey as a non-profit corporation on May 28, 1968, with federal 501(c)(3) status following. Its first project was securing the Shoal Harbor Museum which has served as the Society’s headquarters and meeting place and was opened to the public as a marine and folk museum.
Train Station Train Station Train Station Train Station Train Station
