(Freehold, NJ) – Monmouth County Commissioners Thomas Arnone and Dominick “Nick” DiRocco continue to evade taking accountability for the commissioners’ blatant disregard for property rights when the county board spent almost two years and hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars in a botched attempt to violate the private property rights of the owners of the Monmouth Executive Airport, says Katie Kelliher a conservative Republican candidate for county commissioner in the June 10 Primary Election.

Kelliher, a real estate professional, says commissioner Arnone and DiRocco must be held accountable for their egregious abuse of power, which included trying to use tax dollars and eminent domain to seize a family business.

“It is almost two years since the county commissioners secretly started plotting to take a man’s business and his property, yet the taxpayers and residents of Monmouth County still do not know why the county wanted the airport or how much money was spent on their venture without approval from the taxpayers,” says Kelliher, who added that the commissioners should provide the public with a detailed list of their expenditures on the attempted airport condemnation.

Available evidence from published reports and OPRA requests indicate that the county spent approximately $750,000, but the commissioners refuse to reveal the actual amount of money wasted on the attempted condemnation of the airport.

THE REIMBURSEMENT JOKE

When the commissioners finally backed down from the eminent domain claim on March 13 – out of fear that their assault on the airport would damage their chances for re-election in the June Primary - county officials said they would recoup the taxpayers’ money spent on lawyers, engineers and other consultants by making application to the state and federal governments for grants to reimburse the county. Kelliher said the county’s reimbursement statement is a joke.

“Many people, including me, want to know where the county would go to in the state or federal government to get taxpayer money to reimburse the county for wasting taxpayer money on their reckless threat of eminent domain,” said Kelliher.
“What department in what state or federal agency would entertain the thought of giving away more taxpayer money to a group of elected bullies who tried to steal a man’s livelihood,” asked Kelliher. “If such an agency exists, I want Elon Musk to investigate it.”

Kelliher, a staunch defender of property rights added: “I want Commissioners Arnone and DiRocco to tell us now, before the Primary Election, where they applied to get a grant to cover the cost of a massive over-reach of county government. What lawyers or consultants did the commissioners hire to try to find this mystery money?

Kelliher, running under the slogan Monmouth County Conservative Republicans, says neither Arnone nor DiRocco gave a plausible reason why the county needs an airport or how the county was going to pay for it. She says many people are still struggling to understand why the county commissioners sought to take - not just the 340-acre airport - but another 400 acres surrounding it, that is also owned by Mr. Antaki.

“The cost of purchasing the property at fair market value would amount to hundreds of millions of dollars because of its redevelopment and income producing potential,” said Kelliher. “Where was the county going to get that money?”

Kelliher said it is likely that if the commissioners grabbed the airport property it would be sold to a friendly developer, “who would make a fortune turning that mostly vacant land into townhouses, apartments and commercial buildings. Who is that developer?”
Kelliher stated, “They want access to a private family's land while using nearly a million dollars of taxpayer money to satisfy the whim of Commissioner Arnone – who said in a 2024 speech regarding the airport, that his “pet peeve” is that wants no other county to have something that Monmouth County does not have – in this case an airport.”

‘Monmouth County cannot be properly governed by a politician’s pet peeves,” said Kelliher. “The egregious overreach by the county commissioners on the airport shows exactly why they need to be replaced!”

“The true story of the commissioners’ attempted condemnation of the airport remains untold. It may never come to light unless someone like me is elected to pierce the veil of secrecy that the county commissioners operate behind,” Kelliher concluded.