The new Dover Township government has become something out of the Twilight Zone: Council President Gregory McGuckin, a lawyer and one of the major beneficiaries of pay-to-play and the no-bid contract syndrome, has set himself up as a spokesman for local taxpayers on pay-to-play policies.

Mayor Paul Brush, who may have lied more than a dozen times about the world-class spending and tax increases foisted on the public by him and the Republican Council since they took office last year, has lied again about the bogus emergency appropriation for accumulated employee sick time.

Councilman Michael Michael Fiure is denouncing as "liars" anybody who connects the dots between his useless $90,000 political payoff "job" as "confidential" assistant at the county parks department (appointed December 15, 2003) and his motion to hand GOP County Chairman George Gilmore a $90,000 no-bid township contract (1/03/04).

Councilman Carmine Inteso, still smarting from his OCP designation as one of the ten worst public officials in Ocean County, finds it offensive that citizens think Twilight Zone policies of the mayor and council remind taxpayers of the Twilight Zone.

Gilmore & McGuckin's Partner Raised $1.3 Million In 2004

McGuckin dominated the discussion and "negotiations" on pay-to-play as civic leaders associated with the Common Cause reform group appeared to compromise their position that a bogus reform ordinance pushed by Republican County Chairman George Gilmore and McGuckin's law partner, Ocean County Republican Chairman Jerry Dasti, could be successfully amended to serve the interests of the public.

The ordinance adopted in the December double-cross of the Common Cause group exempts contributions of $400 or less from pay-to-play provisions, leaving Gilmore and Dasti (and McGuckin) as the only ones easily capable with their statewide connections and influence of manipulating campaign sources to put as many as 50 or 100 of these contributions on the table at the same time, with nobody able to trace the sources of the money.

The election laws exempt contributions of $400 or less from any reporting requirements whatsoever, so the public will be royally screwed once again if the common cause leaders allow themselves to be duped by McGuckin, Mayor Paul Brush and the Republican Council (not to mention Gilmore and Dasti).

Four Republican council members will be candidates for re-election this very year as the two party system in Dover Township is tossed in the can by the Axis-Of-Greed leadership.

Two Party System Protections Are Trashed

Mayor Paul Brush, a Democrat, has made it clear that the Democrats will nominate only token opposition because he and McGuckin and the GOP have handed themselves the most outrageous conglomeration of expensive political payoffs and crony food in the history of this or any other community, and Brush is very comfortable just the way it is.

In a recent editorial, the Asbury Park Press said

It’s important for the public to attend the Council meeting on March 8th when these issues can be addressed by citizens concerned with real accountability and pay-to-play reform.

                                            Frank Kenny

This article prepared for publication March 8th, 2005.