* * Another Berkeley Update * *

Berkeley GOP Chairman Says County YR Leader Who Described Double Dipping On Health Insurance As “Stealing From The Public” Was “NOT Rejected” By Berkeley GOP As A Candidate For Council

Amato Says Martin’s Candidacy Was “Embraced By Me And Many Of Our Members”, But The Screening Committee “Chose Candidates With Current And Prior Government Experience”

Amato Also Announced That Former Berkeley Mayor And County Consumer Affairs Director Kenneth Leake Is “No Longer” Grabbing Free Double Dip Health Benefits At The OCUA

Berkeley Township: Scott R. Martin, the Ocean County Young Republican leader who described the practice of double dipping on taxpayer funded health benefits as “stealing from the public” was not “rejected” as a “possible council candidate” according to Berkeley GOP Chairman Carmen F. Amato Jr.

Amato said Martin was “one of eight total candidates for Mayor and Council-at-large”

“The (screening) committee chose candidates with current and prior government experience”, according to Amato. The chairman said Martin “would have been an excellent candidate for office in this election” and said Martin was backed by him and “many of our members”.

“Mr. Martin, an organization person, chose to nominate the three Council-at-large candidates at our meeting, instead of mounting a divisive floor fight”, Amato noted.

“That shows Mr. Martin’s outstanding leadership qualities and proves that he plans to be in Berkeley politics a long time”, Amato said.

Amato Announces That Leake Is No Longer
Double Dipping At The OCUA

Amato also announced that the number of county employees currently scamming the public by grabbing double health benefits compliments of the taxpayers has apparently been reduced by one.

According to Amato, Consumer Protection Director Kenneth Leake “no longer has benefits as a Commissioner of the Ocean County Utilities Authority.”

Amato did not explain why Leake did not make the double dip rejection announcement himself, but Amato’s disclosure comes within a week of Martin’s non-rejection as a “possible candidate for council”, and three weeks after Martin described the double-dip health benefits scam as “stealing from the public.”

Martin Is The Only Berkeley Republican
To Denounce Double Dip Scam

It should be noted also that Martin is still the only Berkeley Republican to specifically denounce the practice of double dipping on health benefits, despite Amato’s announcement with respect to Director Leake, and should be noted also that none of the mayor and council candidates nominated by the Berkeley Republican organization have even commented on the subject, despite the extra cost to county taxpayers that may exceed $500,000 a year.

Leake, former Berkeley mayor and county Consumer “Protection” Director, for more than four years made consumers pay double for the Health Insurance benefits he got free from two government agencies.

Many Victims Of The Leake Scam Can’t Afford Health Insurance

As they paid twice for Leake’s two expensive duplicate comprehensive medical coverages, many of these same consumers were unable to afford even minimum health insurance coverage for themselves.

Leake, in charge of the county’s program to expose consumer abuses and go public with them, never once advised the public he was committing a virulent species of consumer scam himself.

OCUA Plunders Consumers Leake Is Paid To “Protect”

Director Leake allowed the source of his second free health coverage, the OCUA, to further plunder the very consumers he is supposed to be protecting.
The OCUA, with Leake’s support, gave Berkeley consumers the highest county sewer rate in New Jersey, a factor which resulted in a 23% increase in Berkeley sewer rates last year.

Amato did not comment on the OCUA sewer rate, or on other county and local employees and officials who may be double dipping on health benefits, or may have done so in the past.

Captain Bunnell Heads Republican Slate

The GOP selected Police Captain Charles Bunnell to run for Mayor. The Republican council ticket includes former Councilman Sal Mastroberti, former township committeeman Harry Morey and Central Regional School Board member Richard Kimmel.                       (4/23/03)

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