By Sunayana Prabhu
FREEHOLD – At the second annual state of the county address held Jan. 19, Monmouth County Commissioner Director Thomas A. Arnone highlighted 2022 accomplishments and goals for 2023.
The Elephant In The Room
The address was held amid emerging details about voting irregularities in the county’s general elections in November.
Inaccuracies with machines in four Monmouth County towns – Fair Haven, Tinton Falls, Ocean Township and Belmar – caused some votes to be counted twice, a mistake Election Systems & Software, the county’s voting software vendor, attributes to human error.
“For anyone to say that they are demanding an investigation or the involvement of authorities is, quite frankly, a day late and a dollar short,” Arnone said, noting the county has been working with the State Attorney General’s Office to investigate the matter.
Election Systems & Software “will take responsibility,” Arnone said, adding that he would be meeting with company officials “to talk about how and why this is happening with their election software system so that Monmouth County can be sure the issues are fixed.”
“Monmouth County is leaving no stone unturned to fully get to the bottom of this and to make sure that it never happens again,” he said.
Ferry Fracas
Another “controversial” development in 2022, Arnone said, was the county’s decision to award the contract for ferry service from Belford to New York City to Seastreak over longtime vendor NY Waterway. “Obviously we switched providers with our ferry system this past year. But I want to be clear when I say that that was a decision that we stayed strong on with the help of counsel and help of our administrator.”
NY Waterway’s bid was deemed noncompliant because it included a letter of credit to assure financial stability instead of the required Consent of Surety. Its court challenge of the decision failed. NY Waterway operated the ferry service for 20 years and continues to operate routes at other terminals from Jersey City and Hoboken with plans to open a new route from South Amboy this spring.
“It was decided on by the courts,” Arnone said, noting the county wanted to ensure it had “the same or better” ferry service for commuters.
“I feel comfortable that (Seastreak) vessels are newer, they’re larger, they’re faster,” he said. When Seastreak initially took over, county commuters lost service from Belford to Jersey City, but Arnone announced that “at the end of this month,” Seastreak will be adding that route.
Sharing Is Caring
Arnone called the county’s shared service program a “model” for other counties. “For years we were the only one with a shared service coordinator. Now we’re seeing people follow what we do here and that’s great.”
Through its Municipal Assistance/Shared Service Program, the county contributes toward certain projects and services as a way to help municipalities cut costs. “We put a plan together, a robust shared service program that has worked out not just for the county, but for the 53 municipalities” in Monmouth County, Arnone said.
According to the county website, municipalities can request services from the county as varied as street sweeping, snow plowing, the installation of guardrails, and washing trucks.
“At the end of the day,” he explained, the goal of the commissioners was simple: buying in bulk to pass that savings on to the municipalities. For example, when the county buys large quantities of something like road salt, towns can purchase from the county for less than if they purchased it directly from a supplier. “The municipality save(s) on that cost, we gain the revenue, put it back into our budget. It’s a double savings,” Arnone said.
He also alluded to an upcoming announcement about a shared services partnership with Brookdale Community College and the county sheriff’s office “that’s going to be a huge savings to Brookdale and, quite frankly, they’ll be a safer place.”
Other Highlights From The Address
• In July 2022, 93 nonprofit organizations received nearly $25 million from the Monmouth County American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) COVID-19 Community Recovery Grant Program. Since nonprofits played a big part in helping the community through the pandemic, Arnone said, giving back to them was paramount. “And that’s exactly what we did” with the ARPA money.
• In an effort to clamp down on auto thefts in the county, Arnone, fellow Commissioner Sue Kiley, Sheriff Shaun Golden, other state and local officials, and the Middletown Township Police Department attended a press conference Jan. 17 hosted by Middletown Mayor Tony Perry. Arnone asked the state to end bail reform policies that he feels are contributing to the thefts and urged the public to back the new Safe Streets N.J. program.
• Arnone provided updates from the Department of Public Works and Engineering about roadway improvements along County Route 12A (Navesink River Road), and the installation of a new pedestrian path by Huber Woods Park starting on or around Jan. 23. The construction will occur in three stages to avoid unnecessary delays and disruptions to the area. “The future of our infrastructure is in place and we have a plan,” he said, noting the county has estimated an investment of $8 million every year for the maintenance of Monmouth County roads.
• The next Made in Monmouth event will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, April 29, at Brookdale Community College in the Robert J. Collins Arena & Recreation Events Center. An email will be sent to all Made in Monmouth vendors on the county contact list announcing the opening of registration, which is anticipated to be in mid-February.
• The Monmouth County Park System brings “8 million visitors a year” to the county, Arnone said, taking the opportunity to remind residents and visitors about activities available during the winter tourism season. “While everyone associates Monmouth County with its remarkable beaches, summer nightlife and outdoor adventures during the warm weather months, Monmouth County has plenty of events and activities to take advantage of year-round,” Arnone said, encouraging residents to check out activities in the county parks and libraries and to visit the establishments involved in Brewed & Distilled in Monmouth.
The full state of the county address can be viewed on the Monmouth County Facebook page and YouTube channel.
The article originally appeared in the January 26 – February 1, 2023 print edition of The Two River Times.
