Larry Chatzidakis

Assemblyman Larry Chatzidakis announced today that he will vote against the budget -- ironic, since his decision not to return from a vacation in Greece last year for a budget vote after the state government shutdown was a major factor in a decsion by Burlington County Republicans to dump him from their '07 ticket. Chatzidakis, a six-term incumbent, is not seeking re-election.

His longtime running mate, Francis Bodine, was also denied party support for re-election; Bodine has become a Democrat and is running for the State Senate.

Francis Bodine may have switched parties, but he hasn't moved out of the legislative office he shares with State Senator Martha Bark and Assemblyman Larry Chatzidakis. Republican legislators in the eighth district have split an office for years and that didn't change when Bodine left the GOP to become the Democratic candidate for State Senate.

Glen Beebe, a Republican who served as Deputy Executive Director of the Assembly when the Republicans were in the majority, has been Bodine's top staffer since 2001 -- his entire $95,000-a-year salary is paid out of Bodine's staff budget -- yet he continues to divide his time between the three legislators. Bark and Chatzidakis are not seeking re-election.

Burlington County Republicans will retire Assemblyman Francis Bodine, and have picked three new faces to run for the Legislature in the 8th district: County Clerk Phil Haines for State Senate, and Freeholder Dawn Addiego and former Medford Mayor Scott Rudder for Assembly.

State Sen. Martha Bark is retiring, and Assemblyman Larry Chatzidaks was also asked not to seek re-election.

Former Cinnminson Mayor Joe Donnelly will run for Freeholder. Incumbent Vince Farias is not seeking re-election.

There is much speculation among Burlington County Republicans that the lineup of candidates for the eighth district could be changed over the next few weeks. County Clerk Philip Haines was expected to become the GOP Senate candidate for Martha Bark's seat, but now some insiders say that Freeholder William Haines, no relation to the Clerk, could emerge as a candidate for State Senator. Phil Haines would then run for Assembly on a ticket with incumbent Francis Bodine; Republicans are expected to drop the other incumbent, Larry Chatzidakis.

Former Medford Mayor Scott Rudder, who had been slated for the Chatzidakis Assembly seat, might wind up running for the open Freeholder seat now occupied by Vincent Farias; that would make Cinnaminson Township Committeeman Joseph Donnelly, who had been viewed as the leading candidate to replace Farias, as the loser in a GOP game of musical chairs.

The internal Republican contest to replace State Senator Martha Bark in the eighth district is expected to become a two-man race between Burlington County Clerk Phil Haines and former Medford Mayor Scott Rudder, assuming that Col. Michael Warner, the GOP County Chairman, declines to run. Insiders say that Haines and Rudder are both headed to Trenton, either as a Senator or as an Assemblyman, replacing incumbent Larry Chatzidakis. If Burlington Republicans decide to also dump incumbent Francis Bodine, watch for Freeholder Dawn Addiego to run for the Assembly as well.

BODINE-CHATZIDAKIS BILL TO REQUIRE PUBLIC CONSENT TO SALE OF THE NEW JERSEY TURNPIKE

PROPOSAL WOULD PROTECT MOTORISTS FROM THE UNKNOWN EFFECTS OF A HASTILY CONCEIVED SCHEME

BODINE AND CHATZIDAKIS SCORE HAT TRICK WITH THREE BILLS APPROVED BY GENERAL ASSEMBLY

BILLS INCLUDE MEASURE REQUIRING THE DEVELOPMENT OF GUIDELINES BY STATE POLICE FOR MISSING PERSONS AND A NEW CONSUMER PROTECTION LAW

CHATZIDAKIS BILL DEDICATES ALL SALES TAX HIKE REVENUE TO PROPERTY TAX RELIEF -- HALF FOR SENIORS

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT DEDICATES REMAINING HALF-PENNY OF LAST YEAR'S ONE CENT INCREASE TO PROPERTY TAX RELIEF FOR SENIORS

Assemblyman Larry Chatzidakis has introduced a constitutional amendment that would dedicate half of the revenue from last year's one percent sales tax hike to property tax relief for New Jersey seniors -- in addition to the one-half cent already dedicated to general property tax relief.

BODINE-CHATZIDAKIS EXPRESS CONCERNS ABOUT DEMOCRATS
'VANISHING PROPERTY TAX RELIEF' PLAN

WITHOUT COMMITMENT TO RECURRING STATE REDUCTION,
PROPOSED 20 PERCENT CUT COULD VANISH IN FOUR YEARS

Assemblymen Francis Bodine and Larry Chatzidakis today expressed their concerns that the 20 percent property tax relief plan being discussed by Democrat leaders may simply vanish after four years - gobbled up by continued increases in local taxes.

"While the idea to cap local property tax increases at four percent will help, simple math dictates that without a recurring state funded cut, the initial 20 percent reduction will soon vanish," said Bodine, R-Burlington. "If the state provides a 20 percent reduction this year, but not in subsequent years, after just four years of these four percent increases property tax bills will start climbing again."

Republican Assemblymen Francis Bodine and Larry Chatzidakis view themselves as potential State Senate candidates when embattled incumbent Martha Bark finally announces next year that she will not seek re-election to a fifth term. But GOP sources in Burlington County say that not only are Bodine and Chatzidakis -- neither viewed as legislative giants -- not under serious consideration for the Senate seat, but they could get tossed from the Assembly as well.

The 77-year-old Bark is reportedly the subject of a state Attorney General's investigation into her employment with the Burlington County Bridge Commission and the Burlington County Institute of Technology between 1997 and 2003.

Bodine, who turns 71 next month, has been in the Assembly since 1993 and in public office for thirty years, wants to move up to the Senate. Burlington Republicans historically move people up the ladder -- Mayor to Freeholder, Freeholder to Assembly, Assembly to Senate -- but it's been years since the last opening. By virtue of his seniority, Bodine views the Bark seat as his.

Chatzidakis didn't impress his party earlier this year when he missed all the state budget votes. He was on vacation in Greece and refused to return to Trenton, even though state government was forced to shut down during the budget impasse. At the time, some Republicans from his home county suggested that his $49,000-a-year part-time job should at least ensure his attendance during budget votes.

But Burlington Republicans are running things a little differently these days, especially after losing the race for Surrogate (their first loss in a countywide election since 1989) and the recent admission by lobbyist and ex-GOP operative Robert Stears that he over billed the BCBC for hundreds of thousands of dollars. In response to the threats to their electoral future, Republicans last week picked a political unknown with few ties to party heavyweights to succeed Garfield DeMarco , once the Burlington GOP boss, as BCBC Chairman.

Voter registration in Burlington is almost evenly divided between Republicans (52,078) and Democrats (50,825), with 58% of the voters without party affiliation. Democratic U.S. Senator Robert Menendez won Burlington by 7,063 votes and a Republican statewide candidate hasn't won there since Bob Franks' 3,721 vote win six years ago.

Next year, Republicans will have to defend the seat of five-term Freeholder Vincent Farias, who lost his bid for Surrogate. Many Republicans believe Farias will not run in 2007.

There is some speculation among Republicans that Col. Michael Warner, the County Chairman, could decide to push Bark, Bodine and the 57-year-old Chatzidakis into retirement. Ironically, the problem for Warner is the huge backlog of talent that comes from the same three legislators serving together for a dozen years. By picking three fresh faces to represent the solidly-Republican eighth district, Warner would have to turn down the dozens of others who want to move up. For a party leader, sometimes it is easier to do nothing than to say no.

Warner could opt to pick himself as the GOP Senate candidate. The retired Army Colonel and former state Deputy Commissioner of Military and Veterans was on the short list of legislative candidates before he succeeded Glenn Paulsen as Republican County Chairman in 2004. The conventional wisdom has been that Medford Mayor (and current Deputy Mayor) Scott Rudder is a likely candidate for an open seat, as are Freeholders Dawn Addiego and William Haines, Jr., whose whose father represented the district in the Assembly and Senate from 1981 until his death in 1996.