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Pringle joins Governor Corzine, Commissioner Dilts and other NJ transportation officials at opening of widened Driscoll Bridge

PQA Partner and Belmar Mayor Ken Pringle joined Governor Jon S. Corzine, NJDOT Commissioner Stephen Dilts, Assembly Transportation Committee Chairman John Wiesniewski, Highway Authority Commissioner Michael Dupont and other transportation officials at a press conference on May 21, 2009 marking the completion of the $225 million construction project to widen the Garden State Parkway’s Driscoll Bridge. The Driscoll Bridge now has more lanes of traffic than any bridge in the nation, and will be able to accommodate 300,000 vehicles a day. Pringle, who is also a member of the 7-person Board of Directors of New Jersey Transit, spoke about the benefits the project will confer on the Jersey Shore and its tourism industry.

Pringle honored by Jersey Shore Partnership with 2009 Elected Leadership Award

The Jersey Shore Partnership recently announced it will honor Belmar Mayor, and PQA managing partner, Ken Pringle with its 2009 Elected Leadership Award at its 13th Annual Summer Celebration at Fort Hancock, Sandy Hook on June 8, 2009.

A little more than a year after Pringle was first elected mayor, Mother Nature battered the Jersey Shore with a one-two combination: the Halloween Storm of 1991 and then, a year later, the devastating Nor’easter of ‘92, which destroyed much of the coastline include large sections of Belmar’s boardwalk and a number of Belmar’s older beachfront pavilions. The Jersey Shore Partnership was formed in response to those events, and for nearly two decades has been a strong advocate for shore protection, beach replenishment and other initiatives that are of vital importance to the Jersey Shore. Pringle has worked closely with the Jersey Shore Partnership and others since then to advocate for federal beach replenishment funding, and a dedicated source of State funding for shore protection. In 1997, Belmar part of the largest beach nourishment project in U.S. History. In 1998, Pringle was invited to testify before the Committee on Environment and Public Works of the United States Senate in support of the Water Resources Development Act of 1998, which contained important elements regarding federal funding for shore protection.

Previous recipients of the Jersey Shore Partnership’s Elected Leadership Award include Congressmen Frank Pallone and Robert Saxton.

PQA Wins Dismissal of $245 Million Suit

PQA won a stunning victory on April 22, 2009 in a civil matter pending before Judge Daniel M. Waldman in the Superior Court of New Jersey in Monmouth County, in which the plaintiffs were seeking $245 million in damages from PQA’s client. PQA was retained in July 2008 to defend a client in a highly-publicized case brought in Monmouth County by the shareholders of a subsidiary of his former employer, an international securities firm that is publicly traded on the NASDAQ exchange.
The suit alleged a breach of fiduciary duty and claimed damages in the amount of $245 million, which the plaintiffs’ contended was the loss in the value of their shares attributable to the alleged breach. The allegations in the New Jersey action mirrored allegations that were the subject of an earlier filed New York matter as well as those asserted in an arbitration proceeding before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (”FINRA”). PQA’s client was separately represented in those matters by Stephen Harmon and Matthew Aaronson, Esquires, of the New York City office of Troutman Sanders, LLP.
Before the plaintiffs could commence discovery in New Jersey, PQA moved to dismiss the New Jersey action on three grounds: (1) the filing of the suit in New Jersey violated the forum selection clauses contained in the shareholders agreement, option agreement and employment contract to which the parties were bound; (2) the New Jersey court should defer to the courts of New York pursuant to the first-filed doctrine, as recently enunciated by the New Jersey Supreme Court in Sensient Colors, Inc. v. Allstate Insurance Co., Inc., 193 N.J. 373 (2008); and (3) the plaintiffs lacked standing to bring their claims against PQA’s client because the claims they asserted were derivative of the claims of the corporation of which they were shareholders, and could only be brought directly by that entity.
On April 22, 2009, Judge Waldman handed down a 31-page opinion, deciding in favor of PQA’s client on each of the above three issues, and dismissing the case in its entirety. PQA Managing Partner Ken Pringle argued the motion before the Court, and was assisted on the brief by PQA Associate Denise O’Hara.

Pringle appears on PBS special, “A Green Revolution Takes Root in the Garden State”

PQA’s Ken Pringle appears on the NJN Public Television Special, “A Green Revolution Takes Root in the Garden State,” which premiered on NJN on Sunday, April 19, and began running nationally on PBS stations beginning on Monday evening, April 20.  The show will be rebroadcast on NJN on Saturday, April 26 at 3 pm. (Other PBS affiliates may present the show at different times, so check your local listings.)  The documentary was filmed in Hi-Def format, and includes several stunning clips of Belmar, whose green building efforts are highlighted in the documentary. Pringle discusses his efforts to promote sustainable development as the mayor of Belmar.

“A quiet green revolution in the building world is evolving, and a first wave of innovative green design projects large and small have already hit the ground. NJN’s one-hour high definition special “Green Builders” profiles a cast of green building pioneers who have taken the leap into making their part of the ‘built environment’ a more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly place,” according to the NJN advance about the documentary.  “Collectively, the green builders are building the foundation for a more widespread movement toward making America’s built environment less harmful to the dwindling supply of healthy natural resources and even less expensive to operate. Their homes and offices are the proving grounds for green building, and their personal experiences reveal that building greener is less complicated and expensive than you probably thought, and more rewarding in the long run.”  The segment about Belmar starts at about 35:20 into the video.

Another clip featuring Ken Pringle can be seen here: NJN / Kenneth Pringle

Pringle Named Parade Grand Marshal

PQA Managing Partner and Belmar Mayor Ken Pringle has been selected as the Grand Marshal for the 2009 Belmar-Lake Como St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which will be held on March 1, 2009. The parade, which has been an annual Jersey Shore tradition since 1973, is the largest St. Patrick’s Day Parade in New Jersey, and one of the largest in the nation.