Toms River: Independent-Democrat Mayor Paul Brush, who promised in October to "cut the costs of government in Dover Township by millions of dollars", and then proceeded to increase spending, called a press conference Friday to try to justify nearly $900,000 in pay-for-play appointments since he took office on January 2nd.

Phoney Says He Was "Restricted" By The Small Number Of Resumés

Brush, who repeatedly promised during his campaign to "subject each and every professional appointment to competitive bids," said he was restricted by the "small number of resumés and letters I received from lawyers and engineers," and implied the "narrow field" restricted his choices to the twenty pay-to-play card-carrying Democrat and Republican attorneys and engineers  he and the GOP council have appointed in his first two months in office.

"You Never ASKED For Resumés," Noted OCP Editor Schiff,
Who Brush Tried To Blackball From Press Conference

"You never asked for resumés," noted OceanCountyPolitics editor Rich Schiff, who attended the town hall press conference after being tipped off by a council member that Brush had invited everybody but him.

Brush hemmed and hawed, but Schiff zeroed in and restated his question: "You never asked for resumés, except from the lawyers you had already decided to hire - this is the competition you promised?"

Brushed Off With Another Lame Excuse

Brush changed his tune, and invented another lame excuse: "Legal deadlines and other issues left me with little choice but to appoint attorneys and engineers with whom I was acquainted, or were recommended by the council."

The Mayor tried to fudge his actual campaign pledge by admitting he "campaigned on a platform with the concept that no one would be rewarded on the sole basis that they had made a contribution to my campaign."

Brush Promised A Lot More Than A "Concept"

His actual pledge was a lot broader than that: He promised numerous times to "obtain competitive bids" and, in an ad placed in OceanCountyPolitics and sent to nearly 30,000 Dover Township residents, Brush said: "We will eliminate pay-to-play through competitive quotes and competition in hiring lawyers and other professionals."

Pay-For-Play Pledge Was Big Factor In Brush Win

There were several important reasons for Brush's 398 vote win over former Mayor John Russo Jr. last November. The very clear pay-for-play competition pledge was one of them.

A couple of weeks ago, Brush promised he would receive reports March 1 from the individual subcommittees on his "transition team."

"Transition Team" Reports Promised, But Not Delivered, March 1st

The "transition team" was assigned to cover every aspect of township government except the campaign promise to cut spending, a commitment which has not been mentioned (or even whispered about) by Brush or the Council.

The reports promised March 1 have not been received, and were not even mentioned at the press conference, which concluded with some phoney posturing about limits on campaign spending.

Lots more on these issues very soon.    (for March 5th)

Click Here For Video Of Mayor Brush Press Conference

Click Here For Recent Schiff Editorial On Pay-To-Play

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