CHEERS AND JEERS FOR MARCH 2010

BY Bill Cleary

SPECIAL KUDOS-One administrator stands out above all the others. Joseph Cirrinicione, superintendent of Lower Township schools in Cape May County is cutting his own salary by more than $115,000, and plans to return to work in the fall at a starting teacher’s salary of $43,660 with no benefits.-

CHEER–To Gloucester City for the respect that they showed my brother Steve at both the viewing and funeral. The chief would\’ve been proud of the city and his brother officers. Next time anyone bashes either the City or police officers just remember when you treat people with respect you\’ll get the respect in return. Thank you mayor for taking part with the bag pipes. It was what he wanted and to have a friend playing made a fitting part of the funeral. signed Steve’s little brother JOE

JEER – A resident writes, Stray cats are overtaking our neighborhood from the feral feline group; there are 3 that sit on my porch two in my yard. If I wanted cats I would get one. But my daughter and I are allergic to animal dander. Make this group change their ways.

CHEER-To the Mt. Ephraim police department for their extraordinary efforts during the recent snow storms. You did a remarkable job tag teaming with the borough workers keeping the residents safe. Thank you for all your hard work.

JEER-Lehigh Avenue, Princeton Avenue and Harvard Avenue (Gloucester Heights) are filled with pot holes. The streets are terrible. Spring is here, and now is the time for the Highway Department to fix them before someone ruins their car driving over one of the deep holes.

JEER-Some of the people who work for Waste Management who pick up the recyclables throw the buckets all over the streets. It would only take a minute more for them to put the buckets back on the resident’s property.

CHEER-To the Mt. Ephraim borough workers for working so hard during the recent snow storms. They did a remarkable job keep the streets plowed, working long sleepless hours to keep our residents safe. Thank you for all your hard work.

CHEER- The Montclair Education Association has voted to forgo a raise. The union’s decision will save the Montclair School District about $900,000 and enable the district to retain some staff members slated for dismissal due to the insufficient budget. Also every person employed by the West Essex Regional School District has also agreed to a wage freeze for the next school year to avert job losses and program cuts.

CHEER-Gloucester City Mayor and City Council have recently passed a resolution reducing their annual compensation by 20 percent. The mayor receives $2500 annually while council members are paid $1000 a year. Councilman Dan Spencer is donating his total salary to the St. Mary Grammar School Development Fund. Spencer is the only member of council who doesn\’t accept paid City health benefits nor does he accept reimbursement for opting out as other members do.

JEER-For years the 5^th and Market Streets parking lot owned by the City of Gloucester City has been used by people to dump their empty beer cans, trash, and other junk. These individuals sit in their vehicles at all times of the night drinking beer, smoking pot, and doing other illegal drugs. The remnants of their parties can be found lying all about. The City is aware of this problem but never cleans the lot. It is blight on the entire neighborhood.

CHEER- To the 7th and Market Street area neighborhood for picking up trash even though they may not have thrown it on the ground, for saying hello to passers-by even though they don\’t know their names, and for stopping a moment to chat at any time of the night or day!

CHEER-On Sunday March 14 Brooklawn’s seventh and eighth grade boys’ basketball team battled to repeat as 2010 Memorial A.A. Tourney Champions. The Brookers beat Merchantville by a final score of 31-29. Brooklawn was behind with three seconds left on the clock when Mike Davis’s shot fell in the basket to give them the win.

JEER- To the Mr. Softee guy that drove down Market St at 40 mph, playing his theme song while talking on his cell phone. Didn\’t he see the little old lady jumping up and down in front of 700 Market St? Didn\’t he know that is the universal signal for \”I want an ice cream\”? Do I really need to shoot out his tires to get him to stop? Geez.

CHEER-On March 5^th the St. Mary’s Boys Varsity basketball team squared off against Christ the King (Haddonfield) for the Camden County Catholic Athletic League Championship. In front of a standing room only crowd both teams battled hard the entire game with the lead changing hands many times. In the end the Hawks, guided by Head Coach Tom Quinn and Assistant Coach John Nolan, lost 40 – 35 in a game that came down to the wire. The team, led by co-captains James Burkhardt and Phil Dickinson, finished the season with an impressive 18 – 4 record. These young men represented St. Mary School and Gloucester City with the utmost pride, determination and sportsmanship all season. Congratulations to the outstanding coaching staff and all the players on a great season.

JEER-It is important for everyone to have health care. However, the cost of the recently approved federal government health care program is ridiculous…$2.5 trillion. As such the government will now control 17 percent of the US economy. That alone should scare all of us. Just look at the record, government controlled programs such as social security, Medicare, the post office, Amtrak are all bankrupt.

Contributors to this month’s column in no particular order, Dawn Watson, Theresa Babcock, Mildred Stubbs, Joe Farrell, and two anonymous people.