The relationship murphy has with the frum askanim is unprecedented in nj politics. Most of the things we get from him we will never know (vehameivin yovin).
They may have a good relationship, but what good is a good relationship if it is not leveraged for the things we really need.
Yes, I would also have a good relationship with someone who gets me all the votes with asking for only relatively small things in return. But are we selling ourselves short? Should we support someone who has not promised us any of the real big-ticket items we need?
And yes, although many members of the public are not aware of some of the things they have gotten, most of the things are not secret, and are written outright on the VAAD's second flier that came with the Voice. Including many of the things I mentioned in my previous post...
The VAAD and Avi Schnall have a working relationship with Murphy, and they have gotten certain things from him. Those things are not insignificant, but they are not necessarily the things Lakewood cares about most.
Things the VAAD/Schnall got:
Hands-off approach to Lakewood during most of Covid
Funding for LSTA every year (though not without teeth-pullilng)
Intervention by State to Facebook about Rise Up, plus strong stance on anti-Semitism
Increased funding for private school security, technology, special-ed, etc.
A good line of communication, so that they can bring potential issues directly to the governor's top brass
Most important things Lakewood residents really want:
Rabbi Eisemann not to be hounded
Route 9 widened
School funding formula fixed
Property taxes lowered
Jack Ciatterelli has promised to address the top priority items, though nobody really knows what he'll actually do once he's elected. The VAAD sees Murphy as a safe choice, because Ciatterelli could be worse, while much of Lakewood sees Murphy as not having done enough, and thus they'd rather bet on an alternative.
That's my assessment of the prevailing sentiment about the two choices.