Lots of stammering when the BOE was asked about photos on Facebook of Leone with Loreen Joe and Ben at one of their wine and cheese parties. They aren't even smart enough to keep incriminating photos private

Leone: Done deal weeks ago, word on the street ( @ Water Street & Office Lounge) was correct ! Whine ( wine ) & Cheese go together..now don't they !

Same story different players..Democratic crooks this time

Why isn't Lnda Garvey doing prison time along with her cronies? Despicable.

Injecting politics into the appointment of the board attorney...
that is laughable...
and the appointment of Gilmore for 20 years was NOT political... Ritacco's personal attorney.
Linda Garvey should be ashamed of herself.
Did she ever vote NO to the Gilmore firm during her time on the board.

I don't know party affiliations of the Clean Slate crew...
but I believe 4 of them are Republicans... Giovine is definitely democrat...
I would have to say... that is non-partisan if all 6 voted for a democratic law firm.

JD your ability to twist and turn is better than an Olympic gymnast ! This group is BLATENLY POLITICAL then act shocked when people call them out on it.

I'm not a fan of Garvey but she has a valid point that you are once again diverting attention from JD. This group ran on the "end the Ritacco era" platform and a number of things have already come to light. Jobs were promised long before the election ...Leone. Back room dealings...Joe Torrone. A former TRRS teacher e lected, who according to YOU JD MUST have been a 3.0 student, who had no resume, and was CONNECTED TO RITACCO...Rhine. YOUR WORDS ARI'm not a fan of Garvey but she has a valid point that you are once again diverting attention from JD. This group ran on the "end the Ritacco era" platform and a number of things have already come to light. Jobs were promised long before the election ...Leone. Back room dealings...Joe Torrone. A former TRRS teacher e lected, who according to YOU JD MUST have been a 3.0 student, who had no resume, and was CONNECTED TO RITACCO! YOUR WORDS ARE COMMING BACK TO HAUNT YOU JD!

The only reason I can think of for someone to still support any member of the old board would be that they were on the take as well. So if you want to support them, be my guest. But the hole's just getting deeper.

Sorry I had Rhine for AP computer science. You get the point JD

To restate ...I'm not a fan of I'm not a fan of Garvey but she has a valid point This group ran on the "end the Ritacco era" platform and a number of things have already come to light. Jobs were promised long before the election ...Leone. Back room dealings...Joe Torrone. A former TRRS teacher e lected, who according to YOU JD MUST have been a 3.0 student, who had no resume, and was CONNECTED TO RITACCO...Rhine. YOUR WORDS ARE coming back to haunt you JD

It never ceases to amaze me that we still keep getting lawyers and others who are connected to everyone else. So, those connected to the school board are connected to those on the OCC board, connected to . . . and on it goes.

Christie was correct, how can we expect our kids to become normal adults when the people responsible for their education are a bunch of thugs and closet case gangsters.

Well at last Haelig got the BOE under his control. Watch out Ward elections this coming year, now that he has the BOE , next will be control of the local municipal election.

Hey Giovine...watch out for JD....you know him right? He proposed to have your BOE nominees backs but has turned quickly. Read his posts!

@buffoon wrangler, I don't know where you have been for the last 20 years, but what do you think the past board has been doing? Garvey's husband works for the town, Vasil, works for the Freeholders, her husband had a job with town, got fired and then got a nice payout for being fired. The rest, have relatives and friends working in the school system. Just how do you think this happened? Judge Pisano estimated Ritacco and friends took 25 million from the district, should we be thanking Gilmore and Monahan and the BOE for protecting the taxpayers. Leone's practice can't do any worse than Gilmore. The sad fact about running for the BOE you can't keep either political party out because, they want to have the school budget in their pocket, that's how they make their money and influence people.

Get your facts straight, Mr. Bressman. My husband does not and has never worked for the town. He has his own law firm in TR and does work for insurance companies. He gets hired because he is a good and honest attorney not because of any political affiliations. Where have YOU been for the last 20 years. Please stop spreading lies!

Can it be know for those that do not know both Leone and Monahan serve on the Board of Trustees at OCC...Business as usual in Ocean County.

Has anyone on here who is complaining even tried to make a difference in this town other than complaining? Just wondering? Man so much energy about all the problems in Toms River and none of it is directed in actually solving anything. Always have a solution for the problem at hand before you complain. Also some of you can run for office or the board to try to make a change but then you may get some of the criticism that your spewing on here! Slippery slope. And no I have no relationship with any of them however the ranting and raving on here is insane LOL

Good. How long till we hear Gilmore and Monahan sharing cell with Mike?

All of this criticism of the new board is so pathetic. These baord members volunteer their time. They do not get paid. They campaigned to get rid of the Ritacco Cronies and appointees, which they seem to be doing. According to the Ocean County Board of Elections Data, the Clean Slate team has 2 Democrats, 2 Republicans and 2 Independents. They appointed 2 law firms last night. Leone's firm is Democrat. The Labor Attorney's firm is Republican (according to their website, Republican Assemblyman Sean Kean works for them). Time will tell as to whether they will keep doing the right thing. Most of the commenters here just seem to be making things up and spewing filth with NO FACTS. Get a life.

Letsgetreal is exactly correct in his statement. While there are some posters that care enough to attend BOE meetings and question their dealings. It seems others are just happy enough to sit on their butts in front of the computer a spew lies. All behind a false identity. I for one hope the new BOE can get it together and get TR Schools back to where it once was. I hope they can get the school BE to work out a plan with the schools and various sports teams and clubs to make the Pine Belt Arena,and the Bubble's concession stands to become profitable as they should,not what they've been in the past. When we think about how much money was funneled away from the students and the schools in general it's sickening . Let's all just give the new BOE some time and see what they do.

@Linda Garvey, 13 of those 20 years I've been trying to get you and the rest of the BOE out of office, I knew there was bad things going on all those years but never to this extent. You and the rest did what i couldn't do, you let the kids down and the taxpayers. As far as your husband goes, I don't think I said he he was honest or dishonest attorney, or whether he was a good attorney or a bad one, I don't even know your husband. I just said he worked for the town. Does working for the town somehow make a person dishonest or bad? Just asking?

@ jamie, It's the professionals who make the money, not the BOE, they got the benefit of getting their friends and family in positions within the town and school district. I'm sure you knew that, right?

I am dizzy with all these comments...Who is new board attorney..only name repeated is Linda Garvey.is she new attorney...signed not political..not connected..tax payer in ocean county..wow..you guys here have wrath....who is new firm??

who cares

No, KATHY, Mayor Kelaher and my husband are not partners. If the mayor is a friend of yours, you might want to remind him to update his bio. And, no, KATHY, my husband has never done insurance defense work for Toms River Township. I now see why most people on this site are too cowardly to put their full or real names on their posts. It allows them to say things that are not true without any consequences. Feel free to speak to me face to face, KATHY. My husband and I are not involved in local politics.

Wow, Kathy, you really are confused. By the way, what's your last name? Not fair that you know who I am. Or is your name not even Kathy? It's Robert Ballou that is my husband's partner, not Juan Bellu. Garvey, Ballou and Rogalski does not do work for Toms River Township and certainly did NOT donate to Kelaher's re-election campaign. Why in the world would they do that after they split from him? If you have proof otherwise, please come forward and show it to us. Kelaher's new law firm is Kelaher, Van Dyke and Moriarity. You might want to check with them about the insurance defense work for the township. My husband doesn't know anything about that and is getting rather irritated that you keep posting that. But, as I said, it's so easy to lie anonymously, isn't it?

Talk talk talk Just remebr this board was elected and now they can do anything they want . Right Joey.

By the way JD. You are such a hippocrite. If this was done by the formwe board youu wold be up in arms. Is this how you exist on the handouts of these people to try and defend them. And your distaste for teachers. I wonder if you would be willilng to lay down your life for students. Probably not because you area a coward.

Yes, "KATHY," I'm sure the firm of Kelaher, Garvey, Ballou and Van Dyke donated to Kelaher's FIRST campaign, but you said RE-election campaign in your first post, and I can assure you that the firm of Garvey, Ballou and Rogalski did not donate to that. The split was not recent. It's been almost 2 years. And, I certainly hope that any firm that Kelaher was associated with was not doing work for the town while he was Mayor. That would be a huge conflict. I am certainly looking forward to you having the time to provide me with your facts. Will you be providing me with your name at the same time? If not, nothing you say is even credible.

@letsgetreal, There are two SCI reports from the state investigations, one in 1997 and another one done in I believe 2000 or 2001, the information was out there, along with years writing to the press and debating the BOE members when I ran for the BOE, I can remember going to lake Ridge, they were all a buzz about what I said, but in the end they voted for the incumbents. I knew they were bad and plenty of teachers knew they were bad, but if you wanted to keep your job you shut your mouth, that's the way is was. Not even those SCI reports that I laid out there could sway voters, in the end Ritacco took $25 million from the taxpayers, that's the price the taxpayers and kids paid because people were silent. So if people are bitchin' as you put it that can't be a bad thing, prior to Ritacco getting caught nobody said anything. just sayin'

Is no one else concerned that Kathy has repeatedly claimed (in her 9+ comments on school board articles) that she is tracing user's IP addresses? Unless they have been publicly posted, I am not sure you should admit you have hacked into user's accounts. Unless of course you made that up. You need a life (and to brush up on your computer skills.)

Aha, ??KATHY?? Now I know what you're talking about. Peter Van Dyke was the attorney for the Fire Commissioners in TR. That is an autonomous organization. It is not the township. I would have no idea if he still is. He hasn't been associated with my husband for almost 2 years. You seem to be a person who is on the "fringe" and not really in the "know". No wonder you refuse to say who you are.

Ms. Garvey, Can you give an honest estimate as to how much money Michael Ritacco was able to steal from the Toms River Schools while you were a member of the school board?

@ Linda Garvey, be prepared to have people using fake names to talk about you, or say negative things about you, as you well know I've been dealing with this for the 13 years since I ran against your BOE and Ritacco.

Wow, Barbara or whoever you are, you have just accused me of a crime. Your comment is called libel per se. If you weren't such a coward, and I knew your identity, I could file a lawsuit. You might want to consult an attorney.

Typical Ritacco response Linda.
But you were taught by the master.
Intimidate, harrass, threaten, etc.
What Barbara wrote is not libel or libel perse or defamation. If you filed a complaint, the burden is on YOU to not only show what Barbara said was false, but that Barbara knew it was false. That is a heavy burden for you to show.
Your main witness would be Ritacco, if it survive dismissal, which it wouldn't. First question would be, did any friends or family get jobs at TRRS during your time on the BOE.
And if you file a complaint, please tell us so that we and probably the Patch can follow the proceedings.

There is also such thing as Innocent until proven guilty. If any board member, school administrator, or school employee were guilty of a crime, why haven't they been prosecuted? And no, don't say it's only the beginning because it's been nearly 3 years, with plenty of time to indict and sentence the guilty. Today's society ignores innocent until proven guilty and invokes innocent until anonymous bloggers and patch.com commenters say so. Let me know if you need my IP address Kath!

Not sure where you got your law degree, KATHY, or whoever you are, but the burden of proof would be on Barbara to prove her statement with facts. Would love to chat face to face. Please let me know how I can get in touch. I don't normally post on sites such as these. However, I find it to be a crime that people are allowed to ANONYMOUSLY say things that are not true and don't have to back up their statements with facts.

I repeat, Kathy, who are you?

This exchange is hilarious. L.G. threatening to sue for libel is freaking priceless.

Interesting info on the Ocean County Police Blotter Facebook page today about the campaign finances of the Clean Slate Candidates. It seems that Giovine, Torrone (Mrs.) and Pavliv were well acquainted with the political operative who has run the campaigns of many Ocean County Deomcrats, Clear Edge Consulting - President, Mitch Seim. They paid him almost $5,000 or 20% of the money they took in. The info comes from the website for campaign finances. Nothing yet on the 2012 Clean Slate candidates. Can't wait to see.

My goodness, KATHY, I thought that stfu was a typo. My son had to explain it to me. Not very ladylike of you, or are you really a guy? Pretty tricky of you. None of my lady friends speak like that. And, no, I don't have any family members working for TRRS. My daughter doesn't live in NJ. That would be a really long commute. And, what threat are you talking about?!! I would simply like to know to whom I'm speaking. Don't you think that is a reasonable request or are you not a reasonable person? I'll be at the BOE meeting next Tuesday. Feel free to say "hi". I'm really a very nce person.

Oh, and, by the way, KATHY, I didn't run in 2009. That would have been Kakavas, Reuther and Jubert.

Kathy Lazaro? Took me a minute but it has to be you, Mr. Torrone or Pavliv. Interesting archive article on patch.com:

"Seaside Park resident Mitch Seim remarked that he had never seen any type of board vote on a budget when not all of the members were privy to its complete details, an action he called 'placing blind faith in the administration.' Roselli pressed Seim on whether his occupation is the running of political campaigns, which Simon admitted was the case.." Mitch must have been gearing up for big campaign. "Clean Slate" needs to take the garbage out because something stinks! Same old nonsense.

Seriously, where did $28,000 come from in 1 day!!!

Probably not from Leone or Mitch, Ms. Lazaro.

Can someone tell me why the entire office lounge knew Mr Leone was getting the job months ago?

Sounds like I'm getting to you Linda. Give it up. Let it rest. Your friends lost the election. Get over it.
Just the facts on your campaign. $30,000 paid to Moriarity??

We think this Kathy is either bi-polar or has a multiple personality disorder, wow.

Sounds like I'm getting to you myself. Give it up. Let it rest. My friends lost the election. Get over it.
Just the facts on your campaign. $30,000 paid to ??

Do you need another minute to track my IP Address. I wish I was Garvey I don't have anyone this obsessed with me. You sounded so intelligent in your previous comments and I had hope for you, but now sound like a scorned, obsessed woman (or man, who knows.) The issue I was trying to point out to you had NOTHING to do with Garvey, but was an issue about the current attorney and his connections with the campaign manager. Do you remember that this was the original purpose of the article?

I think we can all see that KATHY (the original one or otherwise) is crazy! On my way to the BOE committee meetings. They are open to the public. Talk to ya later, KATHY!

Wow! You people are freakin' nuts!

Wow. Crazy people.
Sounds like Linda Garvey is going to run for Baxters seat in November.

Not for nothing:

The letter says Garvey made “ridiculous” comments that were “disparaging” to reputations of some administrators and board members.

“While you cannot control a Barnegat staff member, you can
certainly do something about a Toms River Board of Education member,” the letter advises. “Her public display was horrifying. … She exhibited such a lack of control that myself and many other parents are worried that she will not be able to control herself with the children either.”

The writer says she omitted her name out of concern for her daughter entering fifth grade.

Now I can see why the voices of Galante or Carol Benson with legitimate concerns have been lost over the years - when you associate with someone like Lazaro who just likes to see her name in the paper (again – Google Search. She has been quoted in countless number of APP articles, Patch.com articles) you lose your credibility. Run for the BOE Kathy if you want to make a difference instead of posting 30+ comments a day on Toms River Patch. Although, I may propose BOE membership require a mental health screening so you and 90% of the other people posting on this page may be out. Well I must get to work now – I am assuming you don’t work with all the time you spend calling the Patch & APP. I had hoped TR could bounce back but my faith is fading. Christie should abolish BOE's or significantly change the requirements.

I thought you were tracking my IP address, so you should be therefore able to see that I am not Linda? I work a full time job actually, and look forward to my hard earned tax dollars supporting your unemployment.

lol, should not comment, cause i was the first one she was gonna sue. but hopefully she not subbing at my granddaughters school.........

10 -20 points for kathy!!! lol you go girl........