Zoning Board Bozos

On September 9th, the Barnegat Zoning Board voted by majority to disallow the application of Cingular Wireless to erect a cell tower on Lower Shore Road.

Clearly, this was consistent with the will of the dozens of townspeople who argued against the application. In fact, Ms. Jamie Griffin reached deep into her own bank account and retained skilled legal counsel to represent her formal objection to the application.

DowntownBarnegat.com bestowed a special award upon Ms. Griffin, The honor was richly deserved.

The purpose of this column is to highlight the utter stupidity and lack of concern for our town manifested by two members of the Zoning Board, Maria Capriotti and Fred Bost.

When voting to approve the cellular tower application, Capriotti commented that it met all legal requirements. She was silent concerning the fears and objections of her neighbors in another part of our one zip code paradise.

Besides, Maria Capriotti is not an attorney. She is not qualified to decide what is legal or illegal.

This is a stark contradiction to the actions Capriotti took when she found herself disturbed by Shoreline Sand and Gravel. In fact, it is pure, unadulterated hypocrisy.

Maria Capriotti lives along Nautilus Drive. It seems that noise from Shoreline's LEGAL business operation disturbed her peace and tranquility. Zealot that she is (pun intended), Mrs. Capriotti rose in righteous indignation and did everything she could to handicap a LEGAL business operation that contributes to the tax coffers of Barnegat and also provides employment to a number of people who call 08005 home. She even appeared in court.

The court did not agree with Capriotti's position. The court - not Maria Capriotti - knows what is legal and what is illegal. It was a disgrace that Mrs. Capriotti tried to manipulate the legal system for her own personal gain. Perhaps Shoreline should have sued her for damages. Hell, maybe they still can.

It would seem that Maria Capriotti has two faces. And she wears the one that suits her purpose depending on whose ox is being gored.

Capriotti felt it was okay to devastate land that has been used for meaningful recreation. She turned a blind eye and a deaf ear to the evidence presented by those who testified in opposition. Maria Capriotti could give a damn about the quality of life in Barnegat unless it is her own personal fiefdom that is in jeopardy.

Shame on you, Mrs. Capriotti. Shame, shame, shame!

Fred Bost is just a jerk. Hell, get a load of his pearl of wisdom.

When he voted in favor of Cingular's application, Bost merely justified his position by sagely opining: "It would be a fallacy to go through all this and not approve it."

Can you imagine? This department store dummy hasn't got a clue. Given his history in a more northern area of New Jersey, it is no wonder. ET thinks Mr. Bost is intimately familiar with the meaning of the word I N D I C T M E N T.

Why Hartman, Melchindo and Cirulli voted to appoint this misfit is a question they should answer.

Neighbors, Cingular's application was in hearing for well over one year. And ET believes the process took overly long.

Of course, the hearings could have concluded sooner. But current Zoning Board Chairman Anthony Gorman made some off-the-wall rulings that made it go on and on and on. Gorman was the campaign chairman for Thomas "Hopeless" Hartman before Hartman was ordered to drop out of this year's election by the Toms River Republican machine.

It was Anthony Gorman who ruled that former Zoning Board Chairman and seven year Board member Fred Rubenstein could not be sworn as a witness for the objectors. It was not until the last night of the lengthy proceeding that Barngat learned what it was that Rubenstein had to say.

Reading from a prepared statement, Rubenstein stated that he had been pressured by Hopeless Hartman to speed up Cingular's application and make sure it was approved. Rubenstein refused. And that is probably the real reason Hartman and the other Republican thugs on the township committee did not reappooint him.

What makes this situation special is that Rubenstein wanted to testify under oath but Anthony Gorman - who probably knew what he was going to say - ruled that he could not. Rubenstein has volunteered to speak with prosecutors and even went so far as to agree to submit to a polygraph (lie detector) examination.

ET would pay big money to see Thomas Hartman make a statement while hooked up to a polygraph.

Better yet, the day Rubenstein met with Hartman, he was there to help Hartman get a job after Hartman had, again, been fired. Imagine, the guy extends himself to Hartman and is then stabbed in the back. How do you spell "scumbag" - H A R T M A N.

Barnegat Township has become a cesspool of thugs and political hijinx. Our town is in the sorry state of affairs it is because jerks like Fred Bost, Maria Capriotti and Anthony Gorman are appointed to serve on Boards and Commissions that make the decisions which directly impact on the quality of living and property values.

Every single one of them were put there by Jeffrey Melchindo, Alphonse Cirulli and Thomas Hartman.

It is high time for a housecleaning, neighbors. Political whores like Mayor Jeffrey "The Cigar Store Indian" Melchiondo and Alphonse "Big Al" Cirulli must go. These bums are the puppets of a political machine led by crumbs like Gorgeous Geoge Gimore and Diamond Jack Kelly.

Hell, you remember Kelly. He's the failed candidate for United States Congress who stole a job at an area airport. ET says "stole" because it was revealed that Kelly accepted appointment from the South Jersey Transportation Authority even though he lacked the professional qualifications.

George Gilmore is the luxury lawyer whose firm has made millions via fees paid for 100% by taxpayers like us. And what has Gilmore given us in return? A bunch of local political dirtbags who have driven the tax burden up into the stratosphere.

Thanks to public pressure, Hopeless Hartman leaves the township committee in disgrace on December 31. And that day cannot come too soon for ET. Hartman has been the root cause of irreparable damage to Barnegat.

Hartman, Melchiondo and Cirulli are directly responsible for the exorbitant tax burden that everyone who reads this column must pay or face losing their home or business.

Martin Lisella and Kenneth Matthews are not the ones to fix things. Their campaign slogan of "Leading the Way" is the route to even higher taxes and more home foreclosures.

More on that as ET presses forward to election day.