NJ marijuana legalization: Ocean County says no

TOMS RIVER - A resolution against the legalization of marijuana for recreational use is expected to be adopted Wednesday at a meeting of the Ocean County Board of Freeholders.

“A resolution is in the process of being drafted and revised,” said Donna E. Flynn, a spokeswoman for the five-member all-Republican panel.

The resolution is symbolic and carries no legal weight. The Monmouth County Board of Freeholders, which is also entirely Republican, approved a similar resolution last month.

Before Gov. Phil Murphy, who is a Democrat, took office on Jan. 16, he had pledged to legalize marijuana in his first 100 days of office. Many business leaders and entrepreneurs in New Jersey think there is a fortune to be made if the state permits legalization, listen to them speak in the video above.

In recent weeks towns such as Toms River, Berkeley, Point Pleasant Beach, Lavallette and Seaside Heights have all adopted resolutions against legalization, which would need the approval of the state Legislature before Murphy could sign such a bill into law.

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At the same time that Ocean County will be declaring its opposition to a key tenet of the new governor’s agenda – the drug would be taxed at the point of sale, generating an estimated $300 million in tax revenue – the freeholders will also be asking Murphy for a favor.

The county government does not want Murphy to replace Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato, whose term expires next month. Moreover, the freeholder board will say so in the form of another resolution on Wednesday – which is also symbolic and carries no force of law.

Coronato, 68, a Republican from Toms River, was first appointed Ocean County’s top law enforcement officer by Gov. Chris Christie in March 2013.

County prosecutors serve for terms of five years and are then subject to reappointment or dismissal. Traditionally, governors of both political parties have nominated county prosecutors who are members of their own party, since the prosecutor is an extension of his or her administration’s Attorney General’s Office.

Indeed, Murphy appears to have Coronato’s successor already in mind. The New Jersey State Police has been conducting a background investigation or “vet” of at least one potential candidate – attorney Bradley D. Billhimer, 47, a Democrat who practices criminal defense law in Toms River.

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Flynn said that to her knowledge the county has never adopted such a resolution for any other outgoing past prosecutor.

Coronato succeeded Marlene Lynch Ford, a Democrat, who had been appointed by Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine. Ford is now Ocean County’s assignment judge in state Superior Court in Toms River.

At the time that Christie decided not to renominate Ford for partisan reasons, Ocean County Freeholders John C. Bartlett Jr. and Jack Kelly called Ford “one of the most outstanding prosecutors” Ocean County had ever had.

However, they also both noted then that elections have consequences.

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com