JANUARY 2011 CHEERS AND JEERS

JEER-To Gloucester City Mayor and Council who continue to accept payments for their health benefits. You are part time officials who volunteered for the positions you hold. Freeholder Damminger said it best, \”We put our residents first, not ourselves. Public service is about service, not about benefits.

CHEER-To the Lady Lions basketball team on their dynamic victory over the Lady Rams in January. Johanna James\’ buzzer shot will go down in history. All the players deserve recognition for their work ethic and cohesiveness as a team. Congratulations also to the leadership of Sean and Joe Gorman.

JEER-To the City of Camden for its plan to raise taxes a whopping 23 percent. For years the Camden politicians have been taking state aid (your tax dollars) to run their City and they never planned for the day when the funds would stop coming. The State and Camden politicians should be booted out of office for their lack of foresight. This large tax increase could have been avoided if those in charge had planned better.

CHEER-A layup early in the first quarter gave Gloucester High School senior Cori Conner her 1,000th career point as the Lions cruised to an 81-22 Tri-County Conference Classic Division victory over Pennsville Jan. 31. 

JEER –Regarding Camden City police layoffs, State Senator Stephen Sweeney said on January 25, \”Camden’s problem is everybody’s problem. Once [the criminals] bleed Camden, you don\’t think they\’re going to be looking at Gloucester City and Westville?\” Sweeney and his fellow Trenton politicians are responsible for the mess in Camden City, no one else. As for the spillover of crime, more political rhetoric. If there are no police patrolling Camden the criminals are going to stay in Camden! 

JEER-Gloucester City Mayor James stated at the January council meeting that he would not tolerate any negative comments against members of the governing body or city employees. In other words you or I will be gagged if we say something that the mayor feels is \”political incorrect.\” President Harry Truman said it best Mr. Mayor, \”If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen!\”

JEER-Once again the Gloucester City Public Works Department did a much more thorough job clearing streets on the east side of town than they did on the West side of town. As they have done in the past, the workers did a mediocre job clearing streets between Broadway and King Street. WE are ALL residents of this town and should be treated with the same concern as those who live in the Heights and on the East side of Broadway. ~Signed, Tired of the Discrimination

 CHEER-A Gloucester City Water Works employee replaced my water meter battery in January. He was on-time, even considering it was the day after the big snow storm. More importantly, he was very friendly and didn’t mind the flow of questions coming from my 5-year old Granddaughter, Isabella. He just chugged along while fielding her questions and asking about her snow play. ~A resident

JEER-To Barry Obama for proposing \”investments\” in his SOU to mask his continued, clueless, out of control and irresponsible spending binge. Nice try BO, we’re not as clueless as you are, we get it, you don’t. 

CHEER- Thanks to my son, my guardian angel who has been my main support helping me through my illness. God Bless him. Love MOM

JEER-Gloucester City Mayor and Council recently raised the water and sewer rates. How are the elderly, the unemployed and the disabled going to handle this increase? On top of that they have to worry about the increase in butter, eggs, milk, bread, gas, food and clothing. No cost of living again for these people although the Washington politicians got a pay raise.

CHEER-The Gloucester City Public Works Dept. did a great job on the streets in the snow storms this winter. The streets have been cleaned by morning. Get another cup of coffee guys. 

 CHEER-To Chief of Police George Berglund for his open communication with citizens and his willingness to discuss concerns. I appreciate his respectfulness and the fact that George is easily approachable. 

~Bernadette Gorman

KUDOS-A big cheer for our Gloucester City Police Department. My husband gets up for work at 3 am and the first thing he does is start his car so it will be warmed up. Our doorbell rang and it was a police officer checking to see why the car was running and if everything was okay. It is great to know that these fine gentleman are watching out for us all hours of the day or night. A great big thank you to our police department for doing an outstanding job! Thank you! ~A resident

JEER-To the owners of the Crescent Trailer Park for not even attempting to remove snow from streets during every storm this winter. The residents will be snowed in until the spring thaw.

CHEER-To our neighbors on South Hannevig Ave., Brooklawn for helping us during the snow storm. They dug out both of our cars, and shoveled our sidewalk. We are so thankful to them for their kindness and hard work. An extra cheer for Anthony, Shawn, and Pat, you should get the worlds best neighbor award! Thank you guys so much. ~Earl Foster

 JEER-To those who fail to clean their sidewalks after a snowstorm!! On Browning Road, Bellmawr, where children have to walk in the street to go to school, because Annunciation Church and the vacant Rite-Aid building are never clear. Aren\’t there ordinances on the books to make them obey the law? This is an accident waiting to happen! 

 CHEER-To the people who keep the Bellmawr Fire Department website up to date with detailed incident information, photos and statistics.

CHEER-Thank you to those who helped with this column: Mildred Stubbs, Charles Harry Sharrard, William John, Debra Morse, Earl Foster, Ray DeVoe, Bernadette Gorman, John Hindsley, Mark Matthews