Gloucester City Mayor William James released the following information to further explain the details surrounding the City\’s new senior Citizens Community Room.

It reads as follows:

\”This money was a grant from the state Department of Community Affairs; the grant is scheduled to expire in November of this year. The fire hall is owned by the Gloucester Heights Fire Company. Original stipulations of the grant called for the construction of senior citizen community center but now due to time constraints and the soft costs related to land acquisition, engineering and architectural work a new avenue was sought out.

With the input of the Senior Citizen organization and their executive board, the Gloucester Heights Fire Hall was chosen as a sight. The money will be used to purchase the building excluding the Fire Bays which will still house the trucks and the fire company for response. The fire department hopes to build above the bays for their offices and related uses. The entire hall area inclusive of kitchen and bar area will be available to the senior citizens.

Construction costs estimated at $75,000 will be supplied through the purchase agreement to place a pull out barrier across the hall giving the Seniors their own private area and security as they rightfully deserve and need. There will be a kitchen and serving section of this described area along with other amenities and furniture available for everyday usage. In the event they need extra room for their meetings and events they can open the barrier and have full access to the hall.

The area outside the barrier will be available for rentals and the monies from these rentals will supply the Seniors with an escrow for hall management and cleaning as the seniors don\’t want or need the added responsibility.

Just so everyone knows where the money goes after it is given to the fire company, it is used for their portion of the building with construction and the daily running of their organization. The fire department is hopefully always going to exist at that location as it is a necessity. In the event the department disbands for whatever reason the money is then given directly to non-profit organizations throughout the community the same as was done with the disbanding of Highland Park Fire Hall.

It\’s a shame that some people don\’t have enough confidence in our integrity or the integrity of Councilman Bill Hagan and the Gloucester Heights Fire Association to not take our efforts as honest and sincere.

I feel as though this great opportunity for the Senior Citizens of our community and the hopeful acquisition of the property is a positive and forward movement for our community. I also feel as though every step we have taken in this regard has been totally transparent and only with the interests of and the backing of the Senior Citizen Community.

This information has been supplied to the community in several venues and a full report will be coming on the progress in the near future.\”

 

Three candidates were on the ballot running for the two seats open on the Board.

 Mark Dickerman 86

Tracy Farrow 85

Dorothy Heade 59

Voters were asked to approve a $1,017,497 spending plan.

YES 78

No 38

There will be no increase in the school levy. As such the tax rate of $1.50 per hundred of assessed valuation will remain the same as last year.

Please help save the GAF Power Plant, which put out power for 116 years from 1868 to 1984 and supported the major industries in Gloucester City, including Pusey and Jones and the New York Shipbuilding Company.

Between them, they produced many great ships, including in 1911 the USS Arkansas, the oldest attack battleship in WWII.

Also, the USS Indianapolis, the last ship sunk in WWII, which also delivered the atomic bomb to the Enola Gay.

Also, the USS Savanna in 1958, the first nuclear powered cruiser ship, and the USS Kitty Hawk in 1963, which is still in the Navy today.

The power plant also helped to fuel the paper industry and the smokestack industry along the Delaware River waterfront.

To help save the GAF Power Plant, write to Norman Hill at 14 A North Sussex St., Gloucester City, NJ 08030.

Thanks for your support.

Norman Hill, Gloucester City

Storm photos submitted by Rick Gonzales taken in the area of Charles Street, Gloucester City.

Rick writes, \”This is the area behind 890 Grove St. It is immediately adjacent to the area designated for redevelopment. Please ask the LAME–DUCKS if each condo gets a personal small boat with the purchase? Some of the water in these photos is more than two feet deep. I couldn\’t get down Water St. to take pictures of the area as it was flooded all the way up to King Street.\”

Thanks Rick for the help, Bill
If you have any storm photos to share send them to [email protected].

New Jersey\’s Weather Forecast for Gloucester City on Tuesday calls for a possible 50 % chance of rain or snow showers in the morning. Then a chance of rain showers in the afternoon. Highs in the upper 40\’s. Northwest winds 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph. If you can hold for a couple more days the weather forecast for the weekend calls for temperatures in the mid-sixties. 

A Great Candidate for School Board

I am writing this letter in support of Patrick Hagan for a continued term of school board. I have known Patrick since he was a seventh grader at Gloucester City Junior Senior High School. He has always been committed, responsible and active young man in our community. He has been involved and interested in the community sports games and has been a positive role model for the young men and women of our community. Patrick is a paid Firefighter/EMT, contributing his time and commitment to the safety and welfare of our community.

As a personal friend, Patrick possesses a wonderful personality; he is respectful, positive, responsible and a good leader.

Deborah Sheehan, Gloucester City

Patrick Hagan Seeks Support for Election

Hello, my name is Patrick, \”Pat\” Hagan and I would like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to the citizens of Gloucester City. I am currently seeking election to the Gloucester City School Board, a position I was appointed to this past November. As with the four generations of my family before me, I have been a lifelong resident of Gloucester City.

After graduating from Gloucester High in 2002, I became a professional firefighter for the city. As an active Union member, I became the youngest in the state to achieve lifetime state membership to the Firemen\’s Mutual Benevolent Association. The position of Vice President of the local FMBA recently held by me gave me much valued and needed experience in the bargaining process and the language of contracts.

As a volunteer member of the Gloucester Heights Fire Association since 1999, I now hold the position of Secretary of the Gloucester City Firemen\’s Relief Board. Also, after attending classes at Burlington County College, I recently became a licensed Fire Inspector.

Many in town believe that the future of Gloucester City depends on new businesses and redevelopment. Although I realize the benefits in this; Gloucester City\’s strengths historically has always been its sense of community and its citizens. I strongly believe that the \”future\” of Gloucester sits in our classrooms. I am asking for your support and help in making our \”futures\” educational experience a promising one.

I request that if any of you have a question, concern, or solution to any issue, please seek me out. I pledge that I will listen to you and act accordingly. If I can\’t give you an immediate response, I will pursue that matter until I can.

Thank you for your time, and please vote on April 17^th.

Patrick R. Hagan, Gloucester City

VOTE FOR BOB BENNETT SR.

I am asking the good people of Gloucester City to support me in the School Board Election on April 17.

I am Robert H. Bennett Sr., and have already served as a school board member for 18 years. I lost in the last two years when you chose not to re-elect me. I was also denied two times by the School Board when two members had resigned. I thought, with 18 years experience, I would have made a good choice. I learned that was not so.

I took great pride in being a school board member. I always put what was best for our students first, and still do.

The Board has its work cut out for itself, with the upcoming budget cuts. I fell the state has let us down.

I hate to see people lose their jobs and programs be cut. We were a school district that was improving every year and now we have to cut back. It will hurt us a lot. As a board member, I would fight to get us back the funding that we need from the state.

I am a person who is independent. I have no group, organization, or party backing me. I vote according to what I feel is right. I have served on the many of the committees of the school board, including Policy Negotiation, Finance, and Property.

I work as a crossing guard at Broadway and Monmouth Street, wave to those going to work or taking their kids to school. It is the best job that I have ever had. I enjoy talking to the students and listening to their problems.

I am very involved in churches in our city. I am a member of Trinity Methodist Church. I also go to Highland Park Methodist Church, where the pastor is Joyce Mooney. I go to the Baptist Church on Wednesday night. Their pastor is John Hill. Monsignor Curran even allows me to come to his beautiful church, Saint Mary\’s. I attend their 9 a.m. mass and their 5 p.m. mass on Saturday night.

I like to wish the other candidates good luck in this election. They are all good people.

There are five candidates running for three, three-year terms. Please vote for Bob Bennett on April 17.

Bob Bennett, Gloucester City

 

 

 

Brooklawn NJ-The photos were taken today (April 16) by Doreen Wentzell, of Brooklawn. Check out the ducks swimming in the \”pond\” that has formed in the backyard of a house on Third Street because of the heavy rains.

Kudos to the Brooklawn Volunteer Fire Department for their help to the residents of the community during this terrible storm.

If you have any photos of the storm damage you like to share, forward them to [email protected].

\”Thank you Doreen, I appreciate your help.\” Bill

6abc.com UPDATE ON STORM New Jersey was placed under a state of emergency Monday as more than 1,400 residents were evacuated due to flooding from over a day of heavy rains and strong winds from a potent nor\’easter. One person died after being trapped in their car.

With several major rivers and streams overflowing their banks, acting Gov. Richard Codey declared the emergency, giving him extra powers to handle storm-related problems. Codey urged residents to stay home from work and off the roads, if possible.

However, the number of evacuations due to flooding was growing by the hour, Codey said, and up to 40,000 people were without power.

Transportation officials said travelers should expect clogged roads and closures around the state, flight delays and cancellations, and behind-schedule mass transit.

More than 50 roads were closed or partially closed throughout the state, transportation officials said. Among the blocked highways were the main routes into Camden, Routes 30 and 130. Access to other urban areas, such as Hoboken and Jersey City, was also hampered because of flooding.

 

Cherry Blossom Viewing Is A Very special Season In Japan.  

Commentary By Hank F. Miller Jr.

 

April is the season to view cherry blossoms and the Japanese have a special affection for the cherry tree with its transient blossom. The subject of cherry blossom viewing has long occupied an important place in Japanese fine arts and literature.

Even today cherry blossom viewing is very popular among the Japanese. When cherry blossoms are at their best, groups of friends or business colleagues arrange picnics under the trees in popular viewing sites such as Ueno Park in Tokyo,Yoshino in Nara,Arashiyama in Kyoto and here at the Kokura castle Park here in Kitakyushu city.

Cherry blossoms under a clear, blue sky are beautiful, and when seen at night, they are enchanting. Some people enjoy their beauty in a quiet mood, while others spread straw mats under the trees and go on drinking, dancing and singing spree.

For many Japanese, cherry blossom viewing is merely a pretext for having a drink at an outdoor party.

Warm Regards from Kitakyushu City, Japan

So many mistakes; no wonder taxes have increased year after year after year

By Bill Cleary

Watching the Channel 19 broadcast of the March Gloucester City council meeting I am amazed how the \”Lame-Duck\” incumbents (Loebell, Kaye, and Kormann) tried to defend their practice of giving some city employees longevity pay increases and vacation bonuses.

For years certain employees have been receiving vacations bonuses of between four and nine percent. Do the math; a vacation bonus for some supervisors at the tune of $9,000 or more would be quite possible.  

Research by Councilman Jay Brophy revealed that practice was done away with years ago by the majority of communities in the state.

The outgoing office holders said those employees should continue to receive the perk. The hell with the residents, Kaye, Kormann and Loebell, voted \”No\” against the City\’s new spending plan. In doing so they endangered Council\’s chance of obtaining extraordinary aid from the State.

It is evident the \”Lame-Ducks\” still don\’t understand that their way of doing things is over. Instead of acknowledging they were wrong they remain bold and argumentative.

I just don\’t understand their logic?

As the hidden deals from the past are made public you would think they along with those who told them how to vote would want to fade away.

Nevertheless it has become apparent over the past 10 years or more Gloucester City has been run by incompetent people.

Need proof?

In January it was discover the $425,000 spent to purchase the old Dooley property with plans to turn the building into a seafood restaurant was a bogus election promise. The incumbents were asked to produce a written agreement between the City and the restaurant owner. They admitted there wasn\’t one!
see story

By the way, Reel Fish Seafood, the company supposedly going to run the restaurant is out of business.

The Dooley building was run-down. The owner should have been told before it was sold he would have to bring it up to code. After the deal was completed the City found the building was beyond repair. Demolition cost, $35,000.

It gets worst.

We were just informed that in 2005 the City received a $400,000 state grant to construct a senior citizens community building. Why wasn\’t the $400,000 used when it was received in 2005? Why didn\’t the City Administrator, the past Mayor or somebody on council make mention of it? Was the money misplaced?

When the \”New\” Democrats arrived in January they immediately began to work on finding a place for the senior citizens utilizing the $400,000 grant. Good thing. The grant expires this year.

Need another example?

At the March meeting Councilman Marchese said because of lack of management by the previous administration (s) $1 million in grants for our community were lost in 2006. The reason, the time to use the money expired.

The Finance Chairman also said the previous administration (s) mismanaged the City\’s Bond Debt which is presently $13 million. The City needs a new Water Treatment Plant, cost of $10 million. \”This will increase the bond debt to $23 million a figure that is entirely too high. \”

There is still more.

In 2006 the City purchased a semi-detached property in the unit block of Burlington Street. No one told the City Water Works Department. The pipes broke during the winter flooding the basement. Extensive water damage was caused to the City property and the adjoining property. The cost to taxpayers is unknown.

We all remember how the plans for the $3 million City Marina was revealed right before the mayor election a couple years back. What we didn\’t know until recently was the city was sued by one of the contractors. A settlement was reached last year at a cost to taxpayers in the amount of $260,000. The law firm of Parker McCay, who employed former City Solicitor Jim Maley got paid $300,000 plus.

Sitting by watching all this happen apparently without a \”peep\” were the \”Lame-Duck Threesome\”.

What other secrets have been hidden from the public? One can only guess? I am willing to bet more will be uncovered. How about you?

reprinted with permission of Blue Jersey by: njdem Sun Apr 15, 2007 at 11:39:18 AM EDT

Everyone try to stay dry out there today and watch out for flooding. Looks like its gonna be some nasty weather. On to the days news… Governor Corzine\’s second surgery was successful yesterday, but the NY Times says that his crash adds uncertainty to New Jersey Politics. An issue we have discussed here on the blog, Assemblyman Caraballo questions the outcry over Don Imus\’s statements and the lack of a response to the Jersey Guy\’s content. more