REPUBLICAN ASSEMBLY MEMBERS ASK NEW YORK TO

RESCIND DISCRIMINATORY TOLL HIKE ON NEW JERSEY

 

NEW YORK METROPOLITAN TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY SET TO

DISCONTINUE E-ZPASS DISCOUNTS FOR NEW JERSEY DRIVERS

 

            Five Assembly Republicans sent a letter to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, asking the New York agency to rescind a policy that will discriminate against New Jersey motorists.

 

            Beginning July 12, E-ZPass users who did not purchase accounts through New York agencies will be charged the same rate as cash-paying customers. That means New Jersey E-ZPass users will face a 30 percent toll hike this month while those with New York accounts will have a 10 percent increase.

 

            “Although anyone may register for E-ZPass in New York , this decision discriminates against the multitude of New Jersey residents who already have registered for accounts in their home state,” the letter states.

 

            A copy of the letter – signed by several Republican northern New Jersey Assemblymen including Assembly Transportation committee member Scott T. Rumana, Republican Leader Alex DeCroce, Assemblyman Jay Webber, Assemblyman John Rooney and Assemblyman David C. Russo – is attached.

Meanwhile, where is our Dear Governor on this issue? Is he standing up for New Jersey drivers, particularly those who have to commute into New York for their livelihood? As usual, he’s nowhere to be found.

Cross-posted at Red County and Conservatives with Attitude!

The District 40 primary is about to take an ugly turn. Assembly candidate Anthony Rottino is suing his opponent, Scott Rumana, for defamation. The suit was brought on due to some accusations in a Rumana mailer and magazine advertisment that Rottino’s development company used taxpayer funded bonds to build low income housing in Newark and East Orange. From PolitickerNJ:

The vicious Republican primary fight in District 40 just turned even nastier.  

Assembly primary challenger Anthony Rottino is suing incumbent Assemblyman Scott Rumana (R-Wayne) for $350,000 over a mailer and magazine advertisement that he said made false accusations about his development company building low income housing. 

The suit charges that Rumana’s campaign piece falsely claimed that a company Rottino has a stake in, P.C. Development, used $16.5 million in taxpayer-funded bonds to develop low-income housing in Newark and East Orange.  That, according to Rottino’s attorney, Matthew DiBrino , is a “blatant lie,” as was a photo of a building purporting to be one that Rottino developed. 

According to the court filing, the ad reads: “While Rottino profited from building low income housing, Scott Rumana fought against it.”

The D-40 primary has already been hotly contested to say the least. Challengers Rottino and Caruso have been consistently hammering Rumana as a faux Republican who has failed to stand up for party values. When Rumana had a chance to meet with D-40 voters last week at a BCYR event, he didn’t show up. Now, this law suit raises the stakes that much higher.

Suffice it to say, a lot of eyes will be awaiting the outcome of this primary on June 2nd.

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude and Red County.

Pimienta operates Impact PAC, and is a major donor to Bergen County Democrats and their indicted former chairman Joseph Ferriero.

Pimienta has, according to the Record newspaper, donated more than $90,000 to Bergen Democrats and in return received a no bid contract that paid him more than $250,000.  

The most recent Republican Alliance flier has drawn the ire of two mayors in Rumana’s district, Randy George of North Haledon and John Coiro of Totowa. Each mayor was named in the flier while neither is supporting Rumana’s candidacy. They are also upset about being linked in any way to Pimienta and, thus, have demanded that their names be removed from the flier.

“I do not support Scott Rumana or any organization allied with him and I do not want my name used for any function that is run my Mr. Rumana or Mr. Semeraro, “ said Mayor George.  

“As far as I am concerned Scott Rumana and Mark Semeraro are a big part of what is wrong with the Republican Party in Passaic County and I will not have my good name used to support the selfish political goals of Mr. Rumana,”  added George 

Mayor Coiro said  he is not party to the June 4 event and using his name to  raise money for Rumana amounts to deception.

“People reading this flier and considering buying a ticket to the event might get the impression that I am supporting Rumana and Semeraro. That is absolutely not the case,” said Coiro. 

“The Republican Alliance is a front group for Rumana. It is not a group interested in helping Republicans win campaigns. I do not want my name associated with such an organization,” added Mayor Coiro.  

Mayor George added that anyone thinking about attending the June 4 event should reconsider. “If you want to support ineptitude in the Republican Party, then by all means support the Republican Alliance,” said George.  

Assemblyman Rumana, along with Assemblyman Russo, of course, are facing a primary challenge from conservatives Joe Caruso and Anthony Rottino. Caruso and Rottino likewise had harsh words for their rivals earlier this week, likening them to Republican turncoat Arlen Specter:

Rottino, of Franklin Lakes, labeled Rumana, along with his running mate, Assemblyman David Russo: “Corzine Republicans” for their near 80 percent support of the Democrat governor’s initiatives.
 
“Arlen Specter finally woke up and realized he was in the wrong party, Assemblymen Rumana and Russo should do the same thing and let Joe Caruso and I represent Republican Party from District 40 ,” said Rottino an entrepreneur with several businesses in North Jersey.

Caruso noted that Rumana supports the governor’s low income housing initiative; never once opposing the new constitutional right to a taxpayer subsidized affordable house that Corzine created last summer.

Rottino pointed out that both Rumana and Russo have been supported public sector union bosses and in return keep giving generous pension and health benefit plans to public employees while the middle class people suffer.

‘They are big government legislators who somehow wandered into the Republican Party. It’s time they wandered out,” said Rottino.

Caruso added that Rumana has taken large doses of campaign money from Democrat law firms and political action committees closely related to indicted Bergen County political boss Joe Ferriero.  

“Scott Rumana is supported by the same people who have been helping Joe Ferriero beat Republicans in Bergen County.  There is no way he can explain that away. He’s in the wrong party.  He should stop masquerading as a Republican and join the party that suits his views,” said Caruso.

Despite Rumana and Russo’s poor Republican voting record and Rumana’s ties to Ferriero cronies, BCRO Chairman Bob Yudin remains behind the incumbents’ candidacies – making the District 40 race one to focus on as we head into the June 2nd primaries.

Previously: The District 40 Battle

Cross-posted at Conservatives with Attitude! and Red County.

Bergen County’s District 40 will be a compelling and important race in this year’s GOP primary season.  Incumbent Republicans David Russo and Scott Rumana are facing a challenge from conservative businessmen Joe Caruso and Anthony Rottino. The race is symbolic of the divide between moderate, establishment Republicans and the conservative base within the New Jersey GOP.

The decision of Mr. Caruso and Mr. Rottino to challenge 2 incumbent Republicans has, to no surprise, ruffled the feathers of those in the establishment. My fellow CWA! poster Sharon Soon detailed as much back in February.

However, if conservatives are to win back their party and control its destiny moving forward, it is these kinds of races that must be won. We simply must root out those Republicans who are unwilling to stand up for conservative values.

Mr. Caruso and Mr. Rottino also have a keen understanding of the issues facing New Jersey and will fight hard to keep taxes low and bring fairness to how our dollars are spent. There is no better example of this in New Jersey than the inequities in education spending and state aid. On this issue, Caruso and Rottino vow to fight for their district’s fair share.

WAYNE NJ, April 22, 2009 – District 40 N.J. General Assembly Republican candidates Anthony Rottino and  Joseph Caruso are offering their congratulations to the victorious school board candidates in yesterday’s election and vowed to work hard to bring more state education aid back to the district if elected to the Assembly.

Rottino said the concerns of local school board officials  regarding the lack of state funding are legitimate, but have gone unrecognized by the District 40 incumbents David Russo and Scott Rumana   

“I want to say to those school board members who ran on a platform of fighting for more  state aid – especially those in Wayne, where state aid is an major  issue – that Joe and I share your concerns and we will fight for more aid for the suburbs,” said Rottino.  

Wayne school board candidates  James Jimenez, Franco Mazzei and Jane B. Hutchison specifically made an issue of the lack of state school aid. Rottino, a graduate of Wayne  Valley High School,  said he wants to work with them to bring more money back to the district. He noted that Wayne  gets just $6.7 million in school aid , or $790 per pupil, while Paterson receives more than $420 million in school aid or $16,000 per pupil.  

“That aid  disparity is appalling and we will not allow it to stand,” said Rottino, who is running with Caruso in the June 2 Republican Primary Election.

“The unfortunate fact of life for Wayne residents and all those in District 40  is that Scott Rumana sits on the Assembly Education Committee and has done nothing to cut state aid to cities and send more aid to the suburbs,” said Rottino, a father of four. “Our position is that too much taxpayer money is being  wasted on urban education.”  

 

Caruso said he and Rottino have been pointing out wasteful education spending for months and noting the ridiculous sums of taxpayer money that are propping up urban school bureaucracies while little trickles down to the middle class school districts.

  

“More than $4 billion dollars is pumped into a handful of urban school districts in New Jersey  every year while the suburban taxpayers have to dig deeper into their pockets every year to educate their children,” said Caruso, the father of two young children and a Packanack Lake resident.

  

Caruso noted that while people in Wayne, Franklin Lakes and Wyckoff typically pay about 85 percent  of  their local school district’s needs, residents in cities like Paterson and Newark have more than 85 percent of their school costs paid by people who live in the suburbs.

“The education funding system has to be changed now,” said Caruso. “Currently the system exists to benefit administrators and the bosses of  the teachers’ union – not the taxpayers and,  in too many cases –- not the children either,” said Caruso.  

“Anthony and I, unlike the two incumbent Assemblyman, are not bought and paid for by education bureaucrats and union bosses. We will be in Trenton fighting for change and we will be in constant contact with the school boards in District 40. You can count on that,” added Caruso.

So, for those of you in District 40, I would urge you to get behind Joe Caruso and Anthony Rottino in their assembly bids.  For more on their campaign, you can visit their web site: BetterWay09.org

Cross-posted at Red County.