Steve Lonegan

Steve Lonegan (Born April 27, 1956 in Teaneck, New Jersey) was the mayor of Bogota, New Jersey, a small community just west of New York City, from 1995-2007.Hester Jr., Tom. [http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080212/NEWS01/80212036/1006 "Lonegan positioned as Republican leader"] , "Courier-Post", February 12, 2008. Accessed February 12, 2008.] In the 2005 race, Lonegan ran for Governor of New Jersey. He lost the Republican nomination for governor to businessman Doug Forrester and 2001 nominee and former Mayor of Jersey City Bret Schundler in second place.

Lonegan was born in Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, New Jersey. He grew up and graduated from Ridgefield Park High School where he set several high school track records. Lonegan has a B.A. in Business Administration from William Paterson College and an Master of Business Administration degree from Farleigh Dickinson University.

Lonegan built and managed retail, custom homebuilding and manufacturing businesses employing dozens of workers, prior to becoming Americans for Prosperity state director for New Jersey.

Married to the former Lorraine Rossi, Lonegan lives in Bogota with his daughters Brooke and Katherine. The Lonegan family attends St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Church in Bogota.

Mayor of Bogota

Lonegan was elected Mayor of Bogota, defeating incumbent Democrat Leonard Nicolosi. As Mayor, he immediately began cutting municipal spending, eliminating unnecessary public employees, merging and streamlining municipal departments and privatizing some services. Lonegan took on the Police Unions to allow the hiring of civilian dispatchers to save the borough money and was reelected in 1999 [ [http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-23921781.html MUNICIPAL RESULTS AT A GLANCE -- BOGOTA] , "The Record (Bergen County)", November 3, 1999. Accessed July 31, 2008.] and 2003 by double-digit margins.

The 2003 Mayoral election in Bogota was chronicled in the documentary "Anytown, USA". [Benson, Josh. [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E4D71F3EF935A15755C0A9639C8B63&scp=1&sq=%22Anytown%2C+USA%22+lonegan&st=nyt "WORTH NOTING; Star of Stage and Screen If Not the Ballot Box"] , "The New York Times", June 26, 2005. Accessed February 12, 2008.]

As Mayor, Lonegan kept municipal spending and town debt virtually frozen for twelve years -- and far below the inflation rate and municipal tax hikes stayed below the cost of living as well. Lonegan voluntarily limited himself to three terms and did not seek reelection in 2007.

Besides his tightfisted record on finances, Lonegan's conservative leadership allowed Republicans, long in the minority in Democratic-leaning Bogota, to keep control of the municipal council for eleven straight elections. As Mayor he successfully fought the implementation of LOSAP (Length of Service Award Program) which gave pension payments to volunteers, passed the Taxpayer Protection Act that requires that union contracts exceeding inflation be put to voters for approval and passed the first municipal referendum in New Jersey restricting Eminent Domain Abuses.

Opposing state debt

Lonegan's lawsuit against Governor of New Jersey Christine Whitman and various state agencies challenging state debt sold without voter approval was filed in 2000. The decisions in "Lonegan I" 174 NJ 435 (2002) and "Lonegan II" 176 NJ 2 (2003) gave two basic reasons for not requiring voter approval of that debt:A. First this massive borrowing for public schools was “sui generis”, or one of a kind, since the court knew of no other case where a state borrowed money without voter approval to build facilities required by the state’s constitution.B. Second, because the contract to repay $8.6 billion with interest over many years never received voter approval, that debt was not backed by the full faith and credit of New Jersey, and future lawmakers could refuse to honor that contract at any time.

On July 28, 2008, Lonegan filed a third lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court in Bergen County against Governor Jon Corzine and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority challenging the sale of $3.9 Billion in additional state debt, purportedly for school construction, without voter approval. This suit is expected to be heard in the Fall of 2008.

topping McGreevey's gas tax increase

Shortly after the 2003 mid-term elections where Democrats took complete legislative control, then Governor Jim McGreevey attempted to push through a fifteen-cent per gallon gasoline tax increase above the existing 10.5 cent direct tax and 4.0 cent indirect tax already affecting motorists. The plan was to push the increase through during the "lame duck" session.

With time of the essence, Lonegan enlisted radio talk show hosts to lead a grass-roots effort that gathered over 10,000 petitions to the Governor and legislative leaders and enough pressure to stop the gasoline tax increase.

Campaign for Governor

In mid-2004, Lonegan announced he was running for Governor. His campaign was based on the premise that a new conservative leader was needed to take on Jon Corzine in the November 2005 contest. Hampered by a late start and a lack of organizational support, Lonegan finished in the middle of the pack.

During the campaign, Lonegan attracted notice by highlighting controversial issues he felt Republicans as a whole needed to talk about. On December 20, 2004, Lonegan organized a Christmas Carol singing protest outside Columbia High School in Maplewood after the school board banned any music -- even instrumental music -- that had any religious themes from the annual "Winter Festival." The next month on Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday, he stood outside the King Court House in Newark and called for an end to affirmative action "to fulfill Dr. King's dream of a color-blind society where people would be judged not on the color of their skin but on the content of their character."

Americans for Prosperity

Lonegan is the New Jersey state director of Americans for Prosperity. As state director, Lonegan began organizing Taxpayer Action Seminars in towns around New Jersey. However the main focus of Lonegan's AFP was attacking Jon Corzine's liberal economic and regulatory policies.

As AFP state director, Lonegan led the fight against three ballot questions in the 2007 election and defeated two of them. The two questions defeated, one supporting Embryonic Stem Cell research and the second, dedicating one cent of the sales tax for "property tax relief", were the first ballot questions defeated in the state since 1990.

The organization under Lonegan's leadership has also been active in fighting Paid Family Leave, Low Income Housing mandates, Taxpayer funded legislative elections, new mandates for sprinklers in fireproof high rise buildings and Governor Corzine's proposed budget.

Arrest in Middle Township

Shortly after Governor Jon Corzine announced his plan to "monetize" state highways for an estimated $38 billion, Lonegan announced that Americans for Prosperity would be fighting the proposal. At a stop in Middle Township on January 19, 2008, Lonegan was arrested after he refused to order a sign protesting the Governor's proposal moved away from outside the public high school where the Governor was appearing. The charges were dropped shortly thereafter.

In a chorus of finger pointing, the Governor blamed Middle Township officials for ordering the arrest while Middle Township Police blamed the Governor's staff. Lonegan has threatened a civil suit to force discovery into the matter.

"Putting Taxpayers First"

In mid-2007, Lonegan published a book, "Putting Taxpayers First", which he calls a Blueprint for Victory in the Garden State. Lonegan describes how New Jersey Republicans went from 27 Senators and 58 Assemblymembers on the day Christie Whitman was elected to just 18 Senators and 31 Assemblymembers just a little over a decade later. Lonegan predicted Republicans will continue to remain the minority in New Jersey as long as they continue to avoid controversy and try to accommodate liberals, public employee labor unions, the media and other special interest groups.

McDonald's billboard controversy

In July 2006, Mayor Lonegan called for a boycott of McDonald's, after the chain posted a Spanish-language billboard in the borough promoting its iced-coffee, as he felt that the use of Spanish in the ad sends a message that Hispanic immigrants do not need to learn English. [ [http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-3/1152334632215530.xml&coll=1 Spanish McDonald's ad prompts talk of a boycott: Bergen town's mayor calls billboard 'divisive'] , "Star-Ledger" July 8, 2006] In the United States 2000 Census, 21.32% of Bogota's population identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino of any race although nearly all speak English, according to these same Census figures.

In an October 17, 2007 interview with Julio Sanchez Cristo at Colombia's W Radio, Lonegan stated that he is an advocate of an immigration reform but that he does not support President George W. Bush's proposal of a guest worker program that will not lead to a legal permanent residence in the United States. In this interview, Mr. Lonegan expressed that he would like for Bogota, New Jersey to become a sister city with Bogotá, Colombia. [ [http://www.wradio.com.co W Radio Colombia ] ]

Illegal Immigrant Controversy

In October 2007 it was discovered that Lonegan, known for his hard line stance against illegal immigration, had hired two allegedly illegal immigrants to work for him. Critics quickly shouted "hypocrite", but Lonegan maintained that he made every effort to ensure that both men were legal citizens. Both men were subsequently located and when interviewed by Spanish-speaking media, denied that Lonegan made any attempt to ascertain their citizenship. [Miller, Jonathan. Both men were subsequently located and when interviewed by Spanish-speaking media, denied that Lonegan made any attempt to ascertain their citizenship. [http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/16/nyregion/16immig.html "A Mayor With a Tough Stance on Immigration Is on Both Sides Now"] , "The New York Times", October 16, 2007. Accessed October 16, 2007. "But recently, the conservative Mr. Lonegan — who has gained national attention for his views — suffered an attack of the ironies when the police discovered two illegal immigrants working at a home he owns, prompting critics to heap scorn on him, a onetime candidate for governor and House of Representatives."]

References

External links

* [http://www.americansforprosperity.org/index.php?state=nj Americans for Prosperity: Lonegan's blog]
* [http://www.njlawman.com/Editorials/Lonegan.htm NJ Police on Steve Lonegan]