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Monday, August 30, 2010

PERTH GARBAGE SPIES?

City Mulls Dumping Surveillance Effort

(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Aug. 25, 2010) PERTH AMBOY — City officials are considering instituting new regulations to control illegal dumping that would include surveillance, monitoring and tracking of garbage-collection with the goal of decreasing Perth Amboy’s disposal numbers and increasing its recycling efforts. Research conducted by City Law Director Mark Blunda’s associate Neha Patel regarding Sanitation Ordinance changes came-up with some startling findings about local attitudes toward garbage-collection. City residents are “often unaware that what they’re doing is illegal,”  Patel told City Council members during their last Caucus session. On separate occasions before the meeting, both Councilman Fernando Gonzalez and Mayor Wilda Diaz rode with sanitation workers to see first-hand some of the problems faced-by them. Councilman Kenneth Gonzalez also was scheduled to go-out on a garbagetruck.
Patel suggested that what is essential to bring garbage costs under-control is a comprehensive educational program to show residents that what they are doing will keep their taxes higher than they would be otherwise while also contributing to a lower standard-of-life. “What’s vitally-needed is an outreach program to citizens educating them on the problems of illegal dumping,” she said. Patel said that specific “hot-spots” for illegal dumping have been identified by her that should be given “special surveillance” to begin to break the habits that lead to unlawful acts taking-place on a regular basis. The use of “volunteer citizens cuts-down on the cost” of such efforts, she said. “Enforcement of the Ordinance would result in a misdemeanor offense, plus there could be an impound and forfeiture of any cars involved in illegal dumping,” Patel told the Council. “These would be handled through administrative hearings that would be appealable to the courts.” Other proposals she made included the collection of bulk-items through “a fee system that could be the imposition of a flat fee for four items in any on e pickup, or a sticker system with fees collected by color-coded stickers identifying types of items, charged depending-on collection-costs involved.” Patel suggested that the city might want to limit the number of “special collections” per year per address — perhaps, to two or three each year — and hold one yearly amnesty or FREE day, maybe calling it “Citizens Cleanup Day.” At a Special Meeting of the Council which was held at the Training Room at Fire Department Headquarters, New Brunswick Avenue, in late July, Public Works Director Paul Wnek joked about Perth Amboy’s garbage-trucks arriving at the Edgeboro Landfill, East Brunswick, and their drivers being asked, “How-many cities are you collecting?” But Wnek agreed that the massive quantities of garbage, trash and debris consistently-collected by the Sanitation Division are no joking matter. At that meeting, he took this issue so-seriously that he, too, proposed sending-out “sanitation inspection crews” to enforce how disposables are set-out for collection through existing and new fines and regulations. Wnek and Supervisor Eddie Perez participated in a discussion of possible changes to Perth Amboy’s Sanitation Ordinance at a that meeting which followed a closed-to-the-public tour of the city’s $89 million Pulic Safety/Municipal Court/Community Center Complex, New Brunswick and Amboy Avenues led by Joseph Nigro, Project Supervisor for Imperial Construction Group Inc., Elizabeth. Wnek showed officials photographs of massive apartment-complex collections, many of the city’s 300 street-baskets overflowing less than one hour after they were emptied, various bulk-item collections. and opened bags displaying construction-material being thrown-out as trash. “We have around 58 full-time employees daily out of a total of 72, and we’re getting a lot of work done,” he said. “But one of the changes we really-need is to require a list of what’s on a ‘special pickup’ so we don’t get the neighbors piling their stuff on-top-of that.” Wnek also said that he believes “some absentee-landlords with properties in other cities are bringing-in stuff at-night from properties they own in other cities where they’d have to pay.” Some pickups involve “a half-a-block of plastic bags piled six- to eight-feet-tall,” he said. “It’s just-not-normal what’s out-there.” Wnek said the average Perth Amboy home generates “2,000 pounds of garbage and 750 pounds of recyclables” when it should be in reverse-order. Perez said there have been 40 incidents of injuries to sanitation-workers since January 2009 because of the materials being put-out with regular garbage, further-reducing the number of available employees. “I’ve even suggested putting-out six-yard dumpsters so people can bring the stuff from their houses to put it in the dumpsters,” he said.

Council OKs Delilah’s Den Settlement After 15-Year Battle

(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Aug. 25, 2010) SOUTH AMBOY — The City Council voted unanimously last week to authorize a settlement by and among S.A. Holding Co. LLC, Delilah’s Den of S.A. Inc., 86 Broad Street Corp. and the City of South Amboy, thereby closing-for-good Delilah’s Den on Route 35 north, the final adult nightclub in the city. Delilah’s has relocated to Route 35 north in Sayreville. The Resolution was moved by Councilman William Schwarick, seconded by Councilman Mark Noble and adopted 5-0. The settlement, which ends litigation that began in 1995, is still subject to approval by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. The nightclub’s owners “agreed that they’re not going to be reopening,” Council President Fred Henry said in response to questioning by resident Nancy McLaughlin.
“Someone-else is in the process of purchasing the property,” Business Administrator Camille Tooker added. “Under the settlement, they have to abide by the zoning that’s currently in-place.” Under terms of the six-page Settlement Agreement, a copy of which has been obtained by the Amboy Beacon, all parties agree to stipulate to the dismissal of all lawsuits, 86 Broad Street will be allowed to seek reinstatement of its liquor-license by the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission (ABC), and the property can now be developed with a use that is permitted within the Redevelopment Area. However, a clause in the Agreement specifically allows the property’s owners or their successors “to seek any variance of the applicable zoning that affects the property,” so-long as they “comply with all municipal requirements.” “I fought it all-the-way since Day One, ever-since our local electrician was there,” resident Eileen Ryan declared. Her reference was to Mayor John O’Leary’s father, former City Electrician Jack O’Leary, who worked on the building before Delilah’s Den opened. In a prepared statement released early last week, the Mayor — who did not attend last week’s Council meeting — hailed the settlement. “Through the commitment of elected leaders over the years, we’ve finally accomplished what we set-out to achieve,” he declared. O’Leary noted that when he was first sworn-in as Mayor in 1986, South Amboy “was known for its sea of unruly bars and venues for adult entertainment that attracted people from all-over.” He pointed out that in his initial political campaign and in subsequent ones,he vowed to rid South Amboy of every single adult business that did not fit with his stated “vision of the city as a quiet, safe, family-friendly waterfront hamlet. “Over the past quarter-century, we’ve worked within state law, using every device at our disposal to have unwelcome businesses operate legally or weed them out,” O’Leary added. As for Delilah’s Den, “This business started-out in South Amboy as a club use with a liquor-license and ended-up being an all-nude business, after giving up its license,” the Mayor said. “The city has fought this entity at every turn, from First Amendment challenges to bankruptcy court. We’re happy to finally be rid of this all-nude operation.” In 2001, Delilah’s Den’s owners reached an agreement with the city to shut-down the club, but when the time came to do so, owner Joseph Shamy “refused to close, claiming the city was in breach of its agreement because the city’s zoning restricted what he could build on the property. “The property is zoned for high commercial use, such as medical offices or retail,” O’Leary said. “The owners of Delilah’s Den proposed a large number of housing units which would have required a change in zoning for the site. In addition, the proposed use would have increased traffic in an area already congested with traffic.” The city sued Shamy, seeking to enforce the 2001 agreement to close, and a Superior Court Judge was preparing to rule on the case when Delilah’s Den filed for federal bankruptcy protection in 2005. That legal maneuver bought the club time because the Bankruptcy Court took jurisdiction of the case.

From The Editor’s Desk

(Editorial, Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Aug. 25, 2010)

A Local Government Ethics Law complaint filed by open government activist John Paff against 12 South Amboy officials for failing to file their required 2008 Financial Disclosure Statements (FDSs) was dismissed recently by the state Local Finance Board. Among those failing to file FDS forms for 2008 were Planning Board Chairman Michael Wilday, Vice Chairman Mark Noble, now a City Council member; Ryan Tooker, son of Business Administrator Camille Tooker; Robert Senape and Alternate Lawrence Stratton; Zoning Board of Adjustment Chairman Frank Farrell and members Jamie Stratton and Richard Moran; Redevelopment Agency member Kevin Mezsaros and Counsel Craig Coughlin, Tax Assessor Brian Enright and Police Captain Darren Lavigne, now Police Chief. These officials’ failure to file their 2008 FDS forms — along with a list of eight South Amboy officials failing to file their 2009 FDS forms when due — was published in a front-page story in the Amboy Beacon on Sept. 2, 2009, entitled “12 Fail To File.”
On Aug. 25, 2009, Mr. Paff, who chairs the N.J. Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project, filed complaints with the Board against the 12 “Local Government Officers” serving in the City of South Amboy who were required by law to file FDS forms in 2008. “I filed this complaint because each of those officers had failed to file the Financial Disclosure Statement (FDS) that the Local Government Ethics Law required to be filed on or before April 30, 2008,” Mr. Paff explained. “Note that when I filed my complaint, the FDS forms were over 15 months overdue. “After I filed my complaint, the 12 officials filed their tardy FDS forms, and the city forwarded the completed forms to the Local Finance Board on Sept. 15, 2009,” he added. “On July 28, 2010—more than 10 months after the city had filed the tardy forms—the Local Finance Board notified me that my complaint was ‘dismissed’ because it ‘no longer (has) a factual basis,’” Mr. Paff said. “In other words, the fact that none of the officials had filed by the April 30, 2008 deadline does not, in the Local Finance Board’s view, constitute a violation of the Ethics Law. Thus, local government officers are free to simply ignore the FDS filing requirements, knowing that they can simply file their tardy forms in the unlikely event that someone complains.” Mr. Paff said he has complained “for years” about the Local Finance Board’s failure to “meaningfully-enforce” the Ethics Law. Instead of being “intended to actually-punish wrongdoing” by holding local officials accountable by ferreting-out unethical conduct, the Ethics Law appears to be “intended to placate the public and create an illusion” of oversight, he said. While such Ethics Law violations could result in fines of $100 to $500 being assessed against non-filing officeholders, Mr. Paff has noted that “the Local Finance Board, to my knowledge, has never actually fined anyone for failing to file an FDS. “I predict that these 12 non-filing officers can simply file their tardy FDS forms anytime during the next several months and, unless the Board departs from its standing procedure, it will dismiss my complaint for ‘no longer having a reasonable factual basis,’” he stated before filing his complaint. Last week, we published actual photocopies of FDS forms for 2009 and 2010 filed by Democratic City Council candidate Michael “Mickey” Gross before the statutory deadline of April 30, 2010, but the information provided is incomplete and so-illegible as to render it virtually-useless for ethics-violations purposes. Does anybody REALLY believe the Local Finance Board will do anything? We say that it’s long-overdue to fire the Local Finance Board.

Auditor Probe?

(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Aug. 25, 2010) PERTH AMBOY — City Council President Kenneth Balut requested at the Council ’s last meeting that City Law Director Mark Blunda look-into a possible lawsuit against the auditing firms that might have overlooked the alleged theft of $216,495 from the City of Perth Amboy by insurance brokers who have been charged with collecting payments for a non-existent “wellness program” for city employees. Such a recovery was advocated in an editorial published in the Aug. 4 Amboy Beacon, which stated, “We also call for the immediate hiring of a forensic auditor to scour the district’s books and a special counsel to pursue the recovery of ALL funds due the district, including reimbursement of payments that were made to those responsible for protecting the taxpayers’ money from any predators, both inside and outside the district.”  That reference was to the alleged theft of $2,593,400 over nearly six years from the Perth Amboy Board of Education by insurance brokers who have been charged with collecting payments for other healthcare-related programs that never existed. Blunda was requested by Balut to “investigate if the old auditors can be held-accountable for not catching this.” The alleged schemes are believed to have been uncovered as the result of a year-long investigation by both federal and state authorities into contracts between local governments and school boards and the insurance brokers who manage their policies. Sources indicated that there have been separate ongoing probes of insurance contracts in about 30 municipalities and school districts in at-least 10 counties throughout the state for about a year by both the State Attorney General’s Office and the FBI. However, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark would neither confirm nor deny the existence of a federal probe, and nobody has been charged in connection with any federal investigation.

Monday, August 23, 2010

NO TAX HIKE FOR 2010

Transition Tab Continues Same Rate

(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Aug. 18, 2010) PERTH AMBOY — The municipal portion of the local property-tax bill will remain the same until the end of the year as a result of City Council action taken last week. Taking-up where the “old Council” left-off, the “new Council” voted unanimously to introduce a Transition Year 2010 Budget to bridge the gap between the Fiscal Year 2009-10 Budget and the Calendar Year 2011 Budget. The Resolution was moved by Councilman William Petrick, seconded by Councilman Kenneth Gonzalez and adopted 5-0. Councilman Joel Pabon Sr. voted for introducing the proposed six-month TY 2010 Budget, which covers the period from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2010, although “I still have some issues” with it. The Council’s action sends the spending plan to the state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) for its approval. A public hearing date of Wednesday, Sept. 22, at 7 p.m. at City Hall, High Street, was tentatively-set by the governing body.  A copy of the 66-page TY 2010 Budget Worksheet has been obtained by the Amboy Beacon. The Amount To Be Raised By Taxes is $27,607,153 over six months, exactly one-half of the Amount To Be Raised By Taxes over one year for FY 2009-10 ($55,214,306). However, the total TY 2010 Budget is $38,280,092, which is $737,483 less than half of the FY 2009-10, Budget ($39,017,575). Rather than simply halving line-item accounts, the TY 2010 Budget includes substantial increases for such things as the Reserve For Uncollected Taxes — from $998,726 for FY 2009-10 to $2,321,906 for TY 2010 — and the Reserve For Tax Appeals — from $185,000 for FY 2009-10 to $1,000,000 for TY 2010. Apparently, the city is anticipating future difficulty in tax-collections because of the sputtering national economy, even-though the Tax-Collection Rate for FY 2009-10 was a healthy 94.8-percent. Out of 101 appropriation line-items, 43 are increases, 43 are decreases and 15 are unchanged. General Liability Insurance for TY 2010 is $745,000 for six months, compared to $735,000 for a full year in FY 2009-10. Workers Compensation Insurance for TY 2010 is $1,749,895 for six months, compared to $2,365,000 for a full year in FY 2009-10. On the other hand, Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) — $484,624 in FY 2009-10 — is down to $15,000 in TY 2010, while Emergency Management — $102,300 for Salaries & Wages and $6,500 for Other Expenses, or a total of $108,800, in FY 2009-10 — is zeroed-out in TY 2010. In an attempt to head-off a projected financial crisis down-the-road, the previous Council voted unanimously on May 26 to enact an Ordinance authorizing reversion from a Fiscal Year (July 1-June 30) Budget to a Calendar Year (Jan. 1-Dec. 31) Budget. In reverting to Calendar Year budgeting from Fiscal Year budgeting, Perth Amboy followed the lead of neighboring South Amboy, which was the first municipality in the state to revert from Fiscal Year budgeting to Calendar Year budgeting in 2009 under a new state law giving municipalities which were mandated to change from Calendar Year budgeting to Fiscal Year budgeting — like Perth Amboy and South Amboy — the option of going-back to Fiscal Year budgeting. However, reversion had a negative impact upon South Amboy, whose officials had not anticipated a tax increase for the average city home, assessed at $266,000, of $571 or 38 percent.

Gumbs Released Until February To Undergo Surgery

(Reprinted from the Amboy Beacon, Aug. 18, 2010) PERTH AMBOY — Superior Court Judge Frederick DeVesa, sitting in New Brunswick, last week ordered the temporary release of former Social Services Director Jeffrey Gumbs Sr. from the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Center, North Brunswick, to undergo surgery to allow him to eat more-comfortably while he continues serving his sentence. Hearings are scheduled to get underway in the corruption trial against former Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas and his longtime Mayor’s Aide Melvin Ramos in U.S. District Court on Monday, Sept. 13, with Gumbs and Vas political advisor Raymond Geneske, his former high school History teacher, scheduled to testify against Vas under plea-agreements dropping some of the charges against them. Conferencing on charges contained in two state indictments against Vas and Ramos is planned to get started on Monday, Nov. 4. Over the objections of the state Attorney General’s Office, DeVesa granted a motion by Gumbs’ attorney, former Middlesex County Prosecutor Robert Gluck, to release his client temporarily because Gumbs, who suffers from diabetes and obesity, has been having difficulty eating in jail because of recent weight-loss surgery that restricts the types of food he is able to eat. DeVesa agreed to release Gumbs to obtain additional surgery to adjust a band around his stomach, but he must return by Feb. 28 to complete his 364-day jail sentence. In June, Gumbs was sentenced by DeVesa to 364 days in jail, a probationary term and 100 hours of community service after pleading guilty to Theft, Tampering with Public Records and Misappropriating Government Property. Gumbs admitted that he conspired with Vas to steal some of the $6,235 in misspent City of Perth Amboy funds used for personal purchases and expenses for Vas and himself, including $1,200 in city funds used to pay to send his son and the former Mayor’s son to basketball camp. In the same venue, Geneske was sentenced to three years probation after pleading guilty to Money Laundering. Geneske admitted that he accepted a substantial contribution from local developer Eddie Trujillo, who has not been charged, and funneling that money into the Vas for Congress campaign coffers for the 2006 Democratic 13th Congressional District primary election through an elaborate “straw-donor” procedure allegedly used to obscure the money’s origin. Under their plea-agreements, Geneske and Gumbs are required to testify truthfully against Vas in both his federal and state trials. The trials against Vas and Ramos have been transferred to Monmouth County from Middlesex County because Ramos is related to Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves, sitting in New Brunswick, through marriage.The defendants also are charged with a Pattern of Official Misconduct for their alleged acts, and each of those charges carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison without parole because they involve conduct that occurred on or after April 14, 2007. Ironically, those mandatory minimums were established under a law signed by former Gov. Jon Corzine in March 2007 that significantly-enhanced the punishment of government officials convicted of abusing their office and violating the public trust — a law sponsored by Vas as a then-19th Legislative District Assemblyman.

Candidate’s Filings Incomplete

(Reprinted from the Amboy Beacon, Aug. 18, 2010) SOUTH AMBOY — Democratic City Council candidate Michael “Mickey” Gross filed his Financial Disclosure Statement (FDS) form for 2010 before the statutory deadline of April 30, 2010, but the information provided is incomplete and so-illegible as to render it virtually-useless for ethical-violations purposes. At the top of the first page of the FDS filed by Gross on March 17, his middle-name appears to be “12,” while in the Personal Information Section, it looks like “R,” yet at the top of the second page, his middle-name is clearly “X.” The form asks to “Please Type or Print,” but there is script throughout both pages of the form that is unreadable. In the Financial Information Section, the word “NONE” appears four times without any indication of what it means. “Middlesex County” at “Bayard St” is listed as a source of income in excess of $2,000, with both “Self” and “Spouse” checked, but with no further information. “Middlesex County College” and “Edison Township” are listed as sources of income in excess of $2,000, with “Self” checked for each, but with no further information. “NONE” is given for their addresses. “Mutual Funds” is listed in another handwriting as a source of income in excess of $2,000, with both “Self” and “Spouse” checked, but with no further information. In the portion of the form dealing with “real property,” the Gross family home in South Amboy and another property in Wildwood Crest are listed without block and lot numbers, but it is unclear whether Gross or his wife Susan owns the properties, or whether any rental income is derived by Gross or his wife or both of them from the Wildwood Crest property. The form does not provide-for optional categories, and property-ownership and any income derived therefrom are critical in a disclosure form. After his selection by the the South Amboy Democratic Organization (SADO) as a Council candidate, Gross was identified in a prepared statement released by SADO as the head of the Middlesex County Environmental Health Division since February 2009, yet he failed to disclose his reputed $90,000 county job as a “source of income” as required by the state Local Government Ethics Law on FDS form for both 2009 and 2010. Copies of both forms have been obtained by the Amboy Beacon and reproduced above. The Beacon identified Gross in a front-page story in its Sept. 2, 2009 issue as one of eight South Amboy officials failing to file 2009 FDS forms on or before April 30, 2009, as mandated by state law. Gross filed his form on Sept. 2, 2009 — the day the Beacon’s story appeared, and over four months late — while omitting what is believed to be his largest source of income.
Also missing from both forms is a part-time position with the Edison Health Department in which Gross reportedly makes another $20,000 yearly. The SADO statement noted that Gross started-out with the county as a Sanitary Inspector in June 1982, and rose steadily through the ranks. He was required to file an FDS form in 2009 and 2010 as a member of the city’s Zoning Board of Adjustment. What is represented to be his signature appears on the bottom of both FDS forms under a certification which reads, in part, “I am aware that if any of the foregoing statements made by me are willfully-false, I am subject to fines and possible disciplinary action.” The Local Government Ethics Law was enacted by the State Legislature so that the public could detect possible conflicts-of-interest by certain local officials. Failure to report any sources of $2,000 or more of income is subject to a fine of $100 to $500. However, watchdog John Paff, Chairman of the N.J. Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project, has stated that those penalties may be an empty threat because he is unaware of any instance in which the Local Finance Board “has actually fined anyone for failing to file.” Recently, a Local Government Ethics Law complaint filed by Paff against 12 South Amboy officials for failing to file their required 2008 FDS forms was dismissed by the state Local Finance Board. Among those failing to file FDS forms for 2008 were Planning Board Chairman Michael Wilday, Vice Chairman Mark Noble, now a City Council member; Ryan Tooker, son of Business Administrator Camille Tooker; Robert Senape and Alternate Lawrence Stratton; Zoning Board of Adjustment Chairman Frank Farrell and members Jamie Stratton and Richard Moran; Redevelopment Agency member Kevin Mezsaros and Counsel Craig Coughlin, Tax Assessor Brian Enright and Police Captain Darren Lavigne. On Aug. 25, Paff filed complaints with the Board against these 12 “Local Government Officers” serving in the City of South Amboy who were required by law to file FDS forms. “After I filed my complaint, the 12 officials filed their tardy FDS forms, and the city forwarded the completed forms to the Local Finance Board on Sept. 15, 2009,” he added. “On July 28, 2010—more than 10 months after the city had filed the tardy forms—the Local Finance Board notified me that my complaint was ‘dismissed’ because it ‘no longer (has) a factual basis,’” Paff said. “In other words, the fact that none of the officials had filed by the April 30, 2008 deadline does not, in the Local Finance Board’s view, constitute a violation of the Ethics Law. Thus, local government officers are free to simply ignore the FDS filing requirements, knowing that they can simply file their tardy forms in the unlikely event that someone complains.” (NOTE: To view copies of the actual FDS forms referred-to in this story, send $1.50 for the complete Aug. 18, 2010 issue to: Amboy Beacon, P.O. Box 1639, Perth Amboy, NJ 08862. QUANTITIES ARE LIMITED!)

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

DATES SET FOR VAS CORRUPTION TRIALS

Federal Hearings Start Sept. 13; First State Trial Conferencing Nov. 4
Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Aug. 11, 2010

Legal wrangling over the corruption trials of former Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas and his longtime Mayor’s Aide Melvin Ramos may be leveling-off for now, as dates begin firming-up around the federal and state indictments that apparently will be taken-up quickly in hearings at U.S. District Court in Newark and Monmouth County Superior Court in Freehold. Early last week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office dropped six counts of Theft of Honest Services against Vas, responding to a U.S. Supreme Court decision severely-limiting that charge’s use. Federal prosecutors are beginning to lay the groundwork for their trial of the former 18-year mayoral incumbent on 12 remaining counts accusing him of using city funds to pay-for personal purposes and money-laundering to circumvent federal campaign-finance laws in his quixotic challenge of former Assembly Speaker Albio Sires in the 2006 Democratic 13th Congressional District primary election.
The day after the six federal counts were dropped against Vas, two officials whose firm oversaw construction on the still-unfinished $89 million Public Safety/Municipal Court/Community Center Complex, New Brunswick and Amboy Avenues, President Frank Dominguez and Vice President Richard Briggs of the Imperial Construction Group Inc., Elizabeth, which oversaw construction on the building, pleaded guilty in Superior Court to Submitting a False Government Contract. Hearings are scheduled to get underway in U.S. District Court on Monday, Sept. 13, with Vas political advisor Raymond Geneske, his former high school History teacher, and former Human Services Director Jeffrey Gumbs scheduled to testify against Vas under plea-agreements dropping some of the charges against them. Conferencing on charges contained in the two state indictments against Vas and Ramos is planned to get started on Monday, Nov. 4. Geneske was sentenced in June in Middlesex County Superior Court in New Brunswick to three years probation after admitting accepting a substantial contribution from local developer Eddie Trujillo, who has not been charged, and funneling that money into the Vas Congressional campaign coffers through an elaborate “straw-donor” procedure allegedly used to obscure the money’s origin. In the same venue, Gumbs was sentenced to up to 364 days in jail, a probationary term and 100 hours of community service after admitting that he conspired with Vas to steal some of the $6,235 in misspent City of Perth Amboy funds used to pay for personal purchases and expenses for Vas and himself, including $1,200 in city funds to pay for his son and the former Mayor’s son to attend basketball camp. After attorney Alan Zegas, representing Vas, told U.S. District Court Judge Susan Wigenton that he strongly-opposes any references to pending state charges in the federal trial as being prejudicial to his client, Wigenton agreed to hold a separate hearing on that issue. Under their plea-agreements, Geneske and Gumbs are required to testify truthfully against Vas in both his federal and state trials.

Meanwhile, Dominguez and Briggs admitted before Judge Anthony Mellaci Jr. that they padded Imperial’s billing by $58,006 to pay for a catering job in conjunction with a “Grand Opening” celebration on behalf of Vas at the incomplete Complex as a way to enhance the former Mayor’s 2008 campaign for re-election, which he lost to political newcomer Wilda Diaz by almost 1,200 votes. Dominguez said that Ramos and then-Business Administrator Donald Perlee suggested in a telephone call in April 2008 that the ceremony’s cost could be recouped by Imperial by inflating its billings for inspections.  Perlee, who has not been charged, is cooperating in the investigation, according to state Deputy Attorney General Diane Deal. The state’s cases against Vas and Ramos have been transferred to Monmouth County from Middlesex County because Ramos is related to Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves, sitting in New Brunswick, through marriage.
The defendants also are charged with a Pattern of Official Misconduct for their alleged acts, and each of those charges carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison without parole because they involve conduct that occurred on or after April 14, 2007. Ironically, those mandatory minimums were established under a law signed by former Gov. Jon Corzine in March 2007 that significantly-enhanced the punishment of government officials convicted of abusing their office and violating the public trust — a law sponsored by Vas as a then-19th Legislative District Assemblyman.

Ethics Complaint Dismissed Against 12 S. Amboy Officials

Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Aug. 11, 2010 SOUTH AMBOY

A Local Government Ethics Law complaint filed by open government activist John Paff against 12 South Amboy officials for failing to file their required 2008 Financial Disclosure Statements (FDSs) was dismissed recently by the state Local Finance Board.  Among those failing to file FDS forms for 2008 were Planning Board Chairman Michael Wilday, Vice Chairman Mark Noble, now a City Council member; Ryan Tooker, son of Business Administrator Camille Tooker; Robert Senape and Alternate Lawrence Stratton; Zoning Board of Adjustment Chairman Frank Farrell and members Jamie Stratton and Richard Moran; Redevelopment Agency member Kevin Mezsaros and Counsel Craig Coughlin, Tax Assessor Brian Enright and Police Captain Darren Lavigne. These officials’ failure to file their 2008 FDS forms — along with a list of South Amboy officials failing to file their 2009 FDS forms when due — was published in a front-page story in the Amboy Beacon on Sept. 2, 2009, entitled “12 Fail To File.” On Aug. 25, Paff, who chairs the N.J. Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project, filed complaints with the Board against the 12 “Local Government Officers” serving in the City of South Amboy who were required by law to file FDS forms. “I filed this complaint because each of those officers had failed to file the Financial Disclosure Statement (FDS) that the Local Government Ethics Law required to be filed on or before April 30, 2008,” Paff explained. “Note that when I filed my complaint, the FDS forms were over 15 months overdue. “After I filed my complaint, the 12 officials filed their tardy FDS forms, and the city forwarded the completed forms to the Local Finance Board on Sept. 15, 2009,” he added. “On July 28, 2010—more than 10 months after the city had filed the tardy forms—the Local Finance Board notified me that my complaint was ‘dismissed’
because it ‘no longer (has) a factual basis,’” Paff said. “In other words, the fact that none of the officials had filed by the April 30, 2008 deadline does not, in the Local Finance Board’s view, constitute a violation of the Ethics Law. Thus, local government officers are free to simply ignore the FDS filing requirements, knowing that they can simply file their tardy forms in the unlikely event that someone complains.” Paff said he has complained “for years” about the Local Finance Board’s failure to “meaningfully-enforce” the Ethics Law.
Instead of being “intended to actually-punish wrongdoing” by holding local officials accountable by ferreting-out unethical conduct, the Ethics Law appears to be “intended to placate the public and create an illusion” of oversight, he said. While such Ethics Law violations could result in fines of $100 to $500 being assessed against non-filing officeholders, Paff has noted that “the Local Finance Board, to my knowledge, has never actually fined anyone for failing to file an FDS. “I predict that these 12 non-filing officers can simply file their tardy FDS forms anytime during the next several months and, unless the Board departs from its standing procedure, it will dismiss my complaint for ‘no longer having a reasonable factual basis,’” he stated before filing his complaint.

From The Editor’s Desk

(Editorial)

Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Aug. 11, 2010

I’ve got to admit that I’m not a person who readily adapts to change, but even I have had to modify my outlook on the new technology somewhat. One habit I haven’t been able to break, though, is HOW I read newspapers, both my own and others. I just haven’t been able to get-used-to reading a newspaper on-line. My personal preference is to hold a newspaper in my hands so that I can readily turn-back to something I want to re-read. I want to have access to newspapers without having to turn my computer on, and I suspect that there are many of you out-there who feel the same way I do. I was approached by a young couple about 10 years ago who predicted then that there would be no physical newspapers in just five years. Well, despite the massive increases in costs for newsprint (the paper newspapers are printed-on), printer’s ink (which actually is a very-fine paint), plates, film and everything-else that goes-into a newspaper’s production, we’re still here. The daily newspapers are having a rougher time of it than the weekly newspapers because all of their costs are multiplied many-times over. Their numbers are dwindling rapidly, while the number of weeklies is on the rise. I predicted many years ago that New Jersey would eventually have only five daily newspapers, and I stick by that. The point of all this, in a roundabout way, is to let our readers know that we’ve launched AMBOY BEACON BLOG — NOT to REPLACE the newspaper you’re holding in your hands, but to AUGMENT it by reaching-out to an expanded audience which hasn’t heard-of us yet. What we plan to do is to pick-out our major news-stories — and our best editorials — and put them on AMBOY BEACON BLOG each week. We’re going to try to avoid the mistake that “the big boys” made by putting the stuff from the PREVIOUS week, NOT the CURRENT week. We want our readers to continue picking-up our print version. We’re running just text to start-off, but we hope to add photos after a while, and maybe even sell advertising-space later-on to help defray our expenses. We’re also going to avoid another mistake that “the big boys” made, by continuing to cover local meetings and events so that our readers can continue being informed about what’s REALLY happening in their hometowns, not filtered-through some politician with a personal axe to grind. In all of this, we believe that we’re providing a valuable service that you can’t get anywhere-else, so we’re gambling that our readers will mention us to the businesses they patronize for the goods and services they use every day so that they’ll spend their (limited) advertising-dollars wisely. Of course, when it comes-to advertising, we realize that we’re not the ONLY game in town, but we can make a great case for being the only game in town that’s WORTH spending those (limited) advertising-dollars. WHY would a local business in Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Sayreville or Woodbridge Township spend money advertising in a daily newspaper that goes-to Bridgewater? Does anyone REALLY believe that someone’s going to travel from Bridgewater to Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Sayreville or Woodbridge Township to, say, go to a hairdresser? WHY would a local business in Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Sayreville or Woodbridge Township spend money advertising in a monthly newspaper? Does anyone REALLY believe that someone’s going to remember if they saw your ad in a monthly newspaper? Better yet, WHY would a local business in Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Sayreville or Woodbridge Township spend money advertising in a quarterly coupon-book? Does anyone REALLY believe that someone who’s interested in what’s happening in their community is going to read your ad in a quarterly coupon-book? And WHY would a local business in Perth Amboy, South Amboy, Sayreville or Woodbridge Township spend money advertising in ANY newspaper that’s tossed in their driveway, whether they want it or not? Does anyone REALLY believe that anyone’s going to read your ad in a newspaper that’s rotting inside a plastic bag in their driveway?

Friday, August 6, 2010

Two Members Boycott Closed Session To Fill Board Vacancy

Reprinted from AMBOY BEACON,

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010

PERTH AMBOY — Despite warnings by resident Alan Silber of potential legal
repercussions, the Board of Education — minus two of its members, who
remained at the meeting-table — retired into closed-door executive session last
week to discuss the seating of a new member to fill the vacant seat of former
Board President Kenneth Gonzalez, now a City Council member.
The question of secrecy was raised by member Mark Carvajal, who was elected
in April. “Why not have it out-in-the-open?” he asked after Board
President Samuel Lebreault suggested a recess into closed-session would be taken.
“We cannot discuss the pros-and-cons of prospective Board members without
embarrassing certain people,” Lebreault replied. Longtime city school activist Milady Tejeda, who was appointed by the Board in June to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of former Board
President Austin Gumbs, moved to go into closed session to discuss whether to
appoint Janelle Rodriguez, a freelance translator, or Armando Tamargo, a
solar-power contractor, both of whom were interviewed in-public earlier that
evening by Board Attorney Victor Medina. Her motion was seconded by Kurt Rebovich Jr., who was elected in April, and was adopted by a vote of 6-2, with “no” votes by Carvajal, who was elected
with Rebovich, and Israel Varela, who was elected in April after being appointed last July to the Board vacancy created after Raymond Geneske, indicted on federal and state corruption charges, resigned his Board seat. When the six other Board members returned from their private meeting, Varela moved and Carvajal seconded the appointment of Tamargo, which was approved 8-0.
This was the second time that Rodriguez, interviewed before Tejeda was appointed, was rejected by the Board. Tamargo was interviewed last year before Varela’s appointment. Silber, a frequent speaker at both Board and Council meetings, stood-up and raised a point-of-order before striding to the podium.

“I’d like to make a formal complaint before you go-into closed-session,”Silber stated, issuing a challenge to the criteria used by the Board in determining that the subject-matter was valid to meet the exceptions that are
listed in the state Open Public Meetings Act, commonly-known as the “Sunshine Law,” to conducting business in-public. Medina said he was “advising the Board” that the subject-matter was “a deliberative matter” that could be discussed in-private. Silber noted that “deliberative matters” are not an enumerated exception in the law before insisting-upon being granted the opportunity to speak on
the matter as an “agenda-item” under the Board’s rules. “I think I have the right to speak as a citizen of Perth Amboy on the narrow issue of why you want to go-into closed-session to discuss the appointment of an elected official, not a personnel issue,” Silber stated. He also pointed-out that “we don’t even know who submitted the questions, although we do know that the persons being interviewed got the questions
in-advance.” Silber went-on to describe how the Gloucester County Superior Court Assignment Judge recently decided to place that county’s Board of Freeholders under his watch for six months to keep it from improperly conducting public business behind closed doors. Assignment Judge Francis Orlando Jr. will appoint an independent monitor to observe the Freeholders’ meetings and report on whether they are complying with the “Sunshine Law.” Last summer, an Appellate Division panel suggested that the Judge consider corrective action, saying that while it “found no authority” for this type
of review, such a review might be warranted if “a pattern of wrongful
conduct” was found. The Freeholders had been accused of violating the Open Public
Meetings Act, commonly-known as the “Sunshine Law,” more than 50 times in
recent years. Although attorneys on both sides of the case said they had never heard of a
state monitor being charged with overseeing an elected Board this
way, Orlando said the Freeholders had failed to offer any reason as to why they voted
in private to create public positions, establish officials’ salaries, make
special payments to lawyers, adopt policies, and authorize payment of legal
settlements. Orlando said the Freeholders should have followed the intent of the law,
which is to be transparent and “to err on the side of openness,” instead of
citing questionable exemptions to the law. He pointed to the Appellate
panel’s finding that “secrecy undermines the public faith in open government”
before ordering lawyers on both sides to come-up with suggestions of retired
Judges who might be suitable as monitors.“We should know who’s asking what questions, not a charade with the lawyer asking questions that were given to the candidates ahead-of-time,” Silber
said. “That’s part pf the right of the public to be-aware of the deliberative process and policy formulation. Secrecy undermines the faith of the public in elected officials.”
As for the closed-session, he said, “I hope you took good minutes because I
think you made a big mistake.” “The position being-filled today is going to represent the people,”
Carvajal said. “The selection should be transparent, shoul;d be open.
“I will sit here, and I will not be going inttto closed-session,” he stated.
“I’m going to stay in my seat also, because I do not want to
break-the-law,” Varela declared.Challenged almost-inaudably by someone-else at the Board table because he,too, had been appointed to a Board vacancy, Varela responded, “As a Board
member, my job is also to learn.“Inside me, I feel I may be breaking-the-law, and I won’t do it,” he added.
“I, personally, am conflicted,” another Board member, Obdulia “Obi”
Gonzalez, said. “I’ve voted to appoint three indivuals in my tenure as a Board
member, and I expect to have some level of confidence in what Mr. Medina
says.” This time, Medina said, “The Board has the right, but not the obligation,
to go into closed-session.“The subject of what’s debated is best-served by going tinto
closed-session,” he continued. “There are privacy rights involved here. As a practical
matter, the public has the right to investigate right-after the new Board
member is seated when confidentiality is no-longer needed.”
No Appellate Division rulings could be found as to whether elected public
bodies must fill their vacancies in-public — which would be binding statewide
— although much case-law at the Law Division level has found this to be so.
However, public entities on the losing side have not filed appeals, thereby
restricting application of such decisions to the county at-hand.
The enforcement authority under the “Sunshine Law” would be the Middlesex
County Prosecutor’s Office, and Carvajal, Varela or Silber would have
standing to file formal charges against the six Board members. A finding of
violation could bring a personal fine of up-to $1,000 for each of those members.

$2.6M Theft: District ‘Hoodwinked’

Reprinted from AMBOY BEACON,


Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010

PERTH AMBOY — The theft of $2,593,400 from the Perth Amboy school district over nearly six years, for healthcare-related programs that never existed, occurred because of “a mastermind scheme” in which “funds were diverted from our health-benefits account” by people with “superior knowledge” that “was, for all intents and purposes, undetectable” because it was “designed to avoid detection.” So said Board of Education Attorney Victor Medina last week, after he was asked by Board President Samuel Lebrault to discuss the recent “criminal matters” involving Frank Cotroneo, 59, a Bernardsville insurance broker who has admitted that he bilked the Board out of those funds, and allegations in an indictment handed-up by a State Grand Jury two days later charging brokers Francis Gartland, 69, of Baltimore, MD; Brian Foley, 36, of Summit and two of Gartland’s companies, Gartland & Co. Inc. and E-Administrative Systems Inc., with participating in the same alleged scheme. Cotroneo also agreed to pay restitution of $2.6 million to the Board, along with a Public Corruption Profiteering Penalty (PCPP) of $2.9 million. Professionals working on the district’s behalf “had looked-over everything and were sure that everything was Kosher,” Medina said. “Nobody could find what had occurred; couldn’t find what they did — that’s how-well they covered their tracks.” On the other hand, the Board Attorney said that “the district has made a number of changes in its procedures so this can’t happen again,” so that there is “a limited opportunity for any other entity or individual to hide what they’re doing.” As “one of the additional steps” to protect the school system from similar problems in the future, the Administration was proposing to the Board “to bring-in an additional auditor to look-over our controls and procedures” to further guard-against “a violation that should never be allowed to happen again,” Medina said. However, Board members unanimously agreed to table a Resolution that would have awarded a $40,000 contract to Nisivoccia & Co. LLP “to perform an audit of procedures and internal controls.” The motion to table the Resolution was made by Obdulia “Obi” Gonzalez, seconded by Mark Carvajal and adopted 9-0. Prior to the vote, questions were raised about the scope of the proposed audit and why there was only one response to the Request For Proposals (RFP). “Is this a forensic audit or a general audit?” member Israel Varela asked. “Couldn’t we have someone actually go in and examine this in-depth?” “This is not going to be a normal audit,” Board Secretary/Business Administrator Derek Jess replied. “This is a controls audit,” Lebrault said. “How did we select who does the audit?” member Milady Tejeda asked. “We asked for proposals from any company that does this,” Jess responded. “The proposal was what we needed.” “How many companies did we get?” Tejeda asked. “One,” Jess replied. “I would like to see more than one,” Tejeda said. “Why couldn’t we put it out for rebid?” Gonzalez asked. “The Board can’t control how many people respond, so you cannot reject a bidder just because there’s only one bid,” Medina stated. “If you decide to reject an otherwise-qualified bidder, that subjects the Board to a possible legal challenge.”The Board’s only alternatives, he said, are to “abandon the project entirely or find that a mistake was made in the specs (specifications).” “Can we broaden the scope of the audit?” Rodecker asked. “The Board can pull and rewrite it, or issue a change-order,” Medina said. “If applicable, it could require an additional expenditure of funds, with Board ratification.” “I’m a little confused myself,” Board Vice President Kenneth Puccio said. “It’s unbelievable that, in this economy, only one company responds. “It would behoove us to get more than one bid,” he added. This is NOT the first time I’ve seen one bid. Something seems wrong; maybe we need to change the way we advertise. One bid doesn’t cut-it for me.” “Maybe we should table this,” Gonzalez suggested. “We need to be aware of the scope. If a ‘mistake’ is part of it, that might make it cost more.” “We’ve been under the microscope for the past year or so,” Puccio noted. “We’re taking a lot of heat for things that happened before any of us sat up here.” “It’s not a ‘mistake,’ but maybe the Board wants to substantially-expand the scope of this audit,” Lebreault said. “Believe me, I want this to be done the right way.”On the other hand, under “New Business,” the Board voted unanimously, on a motion by Kurt Rebovich Jr., seconded by Puccio, to appoint Medina — with no contract or even an item on its agenda — for “initiation of the recovery effort” to secure the $2.6 million. Armando Tamargo, who was appointed to the Board earlier that night, urged his new colleagues not to pass-judgment on those who were tricked by outsiders. “We own this now; we’re not looking-back,” he stated. “We can set the standard going-forward.”However, some audience speakers were not so charitable toward the Administration.“It wasn’t impossible to find or to detect,” resident Alan Silber said of the stolen $2.6 million. “It happened at the same time the teachers were being asked to contribute one-and-a-half-percent for their healthcare.” He noted that Gartland has “contributed thousands of dollars to political campaigns, including $18,000 to our ex-Mayor (indicted former Mayor Joseph Vas).“Someone who sat there (on the Board) was convicted of a crime, and some of his unindicted co-conspirators sat there and praised him,” Silber said. “I would be amazed if our Superintendent actually did something-wrong, but he
has to be held-accountable.”City Council President Kenneth Balut claimed vindication after questioning
the insurance investigation for months “and being stonewalled.“Somebody should watch what’s going-on,” he declared. “They throw elaborate parties down there (at the N.J. School Boards Association convention) in Atlantic City. Where do you think that money was coming-from?” Balut criticized “the lawyer appointing himself to investigate,” adding, “Maybe you should get a new lawyer. “Was it rocket-science what they did? ‘Elaborate’? No way! Somebody should have looked at the checks,” he said.“In the real world, if $3 million is stolen, somebody’s got to go, somebody’s got to be fired,” resident Victor Coronado declared. “This is totally-unacceptable. “The new Board has a golden opportunity, with the high school Principal resigning (retiring) and the Superintendent’s contract possibly not being-renewed, to make serious changes,” he continued. “Ultimately, your job is to hold the Superintendent accountable, and you’ve got to get the most-qualified guy in-here. “I’m a big believer in parental-choice, and there’s a bill right-now in the Legislature to give money to the parents instead-of to the districts,” Coronado added. “I’m as ‘left’ as they come, and I find myself agreeing with Rush Limbaugh on something.” In a lighter moment, Perth Amboy High School Class of 2011 President Janibell Rodriguez and Vice President Vanessa Garcia came to the podium to request that the Board reconsider its earlier unanimous vote tabling a Resolution to approve the Senior Class Trip to Orlando, FL, at no cost to the district. Rodriguez said the Class was able to secure a price of $447-per-student,“which went-up $7 since June.” Puccio and Carvajal, who had earlier moved and seconded tabling the measure, moved to “untable” it, and then moved to approve it, both times with unanimous Board support.

From The Editor’s Desk

(Editorial)


Reprinted from AMBOY BEACON,

Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010

If Perth Amboy Board of Education Attorney Victor Medina’s explanation is to be accepted, the theft of almost $2.6 million from the Board over nearly six years for healthcare-related programs that never existed occurred despite the employment of a chief administrator repeatedly-credited with “watching every penny,” and yearly audits by outside firms costing tens of thousands of dollars. According to Mr. Medina, the theft was accomplished through “a mastermind scheme” in which “funds were diverted from our health-benefits account” by people with “superior knowledge” that “was, for all intents and purposes, undetectable” because it was “designed to avoid detection.” Accountability means that those who actually committed the theft —Bernardsville insurance broker Frank Cotroneo, who has admitted that he bilked the Board out of those funds, and others who were named in an indictment handed-up by a State Grand Jury, if they are found guilty: Baltimore, MD brokers Francis Gartland, Summit broker Brian Foley and two of Mr. Gartland’s companies, Gartland & Co. Inc. and E-Administrative Systems Inc., all of whom have

been accused of participating in the same scheme — must pay. But accountability also means that those who allowed the theft to happen, whether willfully or through incompetence or irresponsibility — members of the school district’s Central Office staff, the auditing firms which were paid substantial sums of money over the years and members of the state agencies which are there to monitor “special needs” districts like Perth Amboy — need to be investigated for their roles in this economic disaster. We agree with resident Alan Silber that a theft of such magnitude over so-many years “wasn’t impossible to find or to detect.”

It took former Councilman Robert Sottilaro — who is not, to our knowledge, a financial wizard — about three months as a member of the Insurance Commission to detect the existence of a similar alleged scheme in which the City of Perth Amboy was bilked out of $216,495 for another healthcare-related program that never existed, in which Mr. Gartland is also charged with being involved. We agree with City Council President Kenneth Balut that “somebody should watch what’s going-on. They throw elaborate parties down there (at the N.J. School Boards Association convention) in Atlantic City. Where do you think that money was coming-from?” We agree with resident Victor Coronado, who declared, “In the real world,

if $3 million is stolen, somebody’s got to go, somebody’s got to be fired.” Apparently, the Board hasn’t learned any lessons, voting unanimously to appoint Mr. Medina, with no contract or even an item on its agenda, for “initiation of the recovery effort” to secure the $2.6 million. And six Board members, on the advice of Mr. Medina, retired into closed-door executive session to discuss the seating of a new member to fill a vacancy. The position that was filled is not that of an employee, but one normally filled by an elected official. Like the sign on President Harry S Truman’s desk, “The buck stops here.” We call for the immediate resignations of Superintendent of Schools John Rodecker, Board Secretary/Business Administrator Derek Jess and Board Attorney Victor Medina because we believe they have not served the best interests of the residents of Perth Amboy.We also call for the immediate hiring of a forensic auditor to scour the district’s books and a special counsel to pursue the recovery of ALL funds due the district, including reimbursement of payments that were made to those responsible for protecting the taxpayers’ money from any predators, both inside and outside the district.

Garbage-Pickup Limits Mulled

Reprinted from AMBOY BEACON,


Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010

PERTH AMBOY — Public Works Director Paul Wnek jokes about Perth Amboy’s garbage-trucks arriving at the Edgeboro Landfill, East Brunswick, and their drivers being asked, “How-many cities are you collecting?” But Wnek agrees that the massive quantities of garbage, trash and debris consistently-collected by the city’s Sanitation Division are no joking matter. In fact, he is taking this issue so-seriously that he has proposed sending -out “sanitation inspection crews” to enforce how disposables are set-out for collection through existing and new fines and regulations. Wnek and Supervisor Eddie Perez participated in a discussion of possible changes to Perth Amboy’s Sanitation Ordinance at a Special Meeting of the City Council, held at the Training Room at Fire Department Headquarters, New Brunswick Avenue, on July 26. The discussion followed a closed-to-the-public tour of the city’s $89 million Pulic Safety/Municipal Court/Community Center Complex, New Brunswick and Amboy Avenues led by Joseph Nigro, Project Supervisor for Imperial Construction Group Inc., Elizabeth, who was hired by the city recently to provide “litigation-support services” for the Complex construction. Wnek showed officials photographs of massive apartment-complex collections, many of the city’s 300 street-baskets overflowing less than one hour after t
hey were emptied, various bulk-item collections. and opened bags displaying construction-material being thrown-out as trash. “We have around 58 full-time employees daily out of a total of 72, and we’re getting a lot of work done,” he said. “But one of the changes we really-need is to require a list of what’s on a ‘special pickup’ so we don’t get the neighbors piling their stuff on-top-of that.” Wnek said he believes that “some absentee-landlords with properties in other cities are bringing-in stuff at-night from properties they own in other cities where they’d have to pay.” Some pickups involve “a half-a-block of plastic bags piled six- to eight-feet-tall,” he said. “It’s just-not-normal what’s out-there.” Wnek said the average Perth Amboy home generates “2,000 pounds of garbage and 750 pounds of recyclables” when it should be in reverse-order. Perez said there have been 40 incidents of injuries to sanitation-workers since January 2009 because of the materials being put-out with regular garbage, further-reducing the number of available employees. “I’ve even suggested putting-out six-yard dumpsters so people can bring the stuff from their houses to put it in the dumpsters,” he said. City Law Director Mark Blunda proposed that he meet with Wnek and Business Administrator Jane Feigenbaum to incorporate some of the suggestions into a draft Amendment for future consideration.

Historian Files Annual Report

Reprinted from AMBOY BEACON,


Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010

PERTH AMBOY — City Historian Jack Dudas has filed a four-page Annual Report
for 2009-10 that details a lack of cooperation he says exists between his unpaid, voluntary office and other city agencies in his efforts to protect or restore the integrity of historic sites throughout Perth Amboy.
“To that end, I have received no cooperation from the city Administration, with the exception of one tour of the Surveyor General’s Office regarding transforming it into a museum,” Dudas wrote. “A second tour was scheduled with William Pavlovsky, a museum expert, and me, but was cancelled by the Mayor
and rescheuled to the next day at a time I could not attend. To-date, I have not received any information as to what transpired at that latest tour of the building.” Dudas wrote that he has received “no cooperation” from City Law Director Mark Blunda “regarding the problems at the Simpson United Methodist Church,”
particularly “the damage caused by the contractor who was hired by the city to repair the city clock-tower.” The Historian wrote that he believes “there has never been a response (from that contractor), and the city has done nothing affirmative about having the damage repaired.” Moreover, “Mr. Blunda has refused to discuss this with me on the pretext that it was discussed in closed-session,” which “reasoning is patently-absurd since any member of the public would be entitled to knownot-necessarily the conversations, but the results of them,” Dudas wrote. “I had written about 30 letters to the Mayor during the last year”concerning various subjects, including “changes required to the Historic Preservation Ordinance, which does not reflect the state statute, and I have received no written responses to any of those letters,” he wrote. On a positive note, Dudas wrote that “I can confidently-say that the Ferry Slip Museum is in good hands. Its displays are interesting and conducive to learning history of different eras, and (it) is a place schoolchildren, as well as their parents, should be encouraged to attend.” He also took-credit for having the Raritan Millstone Heritage Alliance “include the only building missing from their booklet (of historic sites in Middlesex County), the Simpson United Methodist Church.” Dudas expressed concern about the lapse of a lease between the Kearny Cottage Historical Association and the city, making that group “a month-to-month tenant (at the Kearny Cottage) for lack of a lease.” Regarding the monument to Dominican leader Juan Pablo Duarte, Dudas expressed his opposition to having it “placed in a city park, for fear of setting a negative precedent” because of “the inappropriateness of placing a statue of a foreign leader, with no connection to this city or country, in a public park,” in addition to questioning the validity of the procedure followed for its approval by the City Council.

State ‘Re-Exploring New H.S. Building?

Reprinted from AMBOY BEACON,


Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010

PERTH AMBOY — In a surprise move, the newly-reorganized School Development
Authority (SDA) under CEO Mark Larkins is “re-exploring the possibility of
getting a new high school for Perth Amboy,” Superintendent of Schools John
Rodecker announced last week in his report to the Board of Education.
“Mr. (Board Secretary/Business Administrator Derek) Jess and I spoke with
the team assigned to us by SDA about the continuing overcrowding issue, and
they agree that getting a new high school addition might be shortsighted,”
Rodecker reported.He quickly added that “they’re certainly not making any promises, but the
site, as far as we know, is still available.” In January 2009, the Board abandoned its plans to construct a brand-new,state-of-the-art high school on a Route 35 site now occupied by the Delaney
Homes buildings, which were vacated by the Housing Authority to make-way for
the school. Instead, Board members agreed at that time to substitute plans to build a
four-level classroom addition to the existing Perth Amboy High School, Eagle Avenue and Francis Street.
State Department of Education (DOE) officials reportedly notified the Board informally that already-approved funding to construct a new elementary school at Seaman Street and Sayre Avenue could be switched to build an addition to the high school, but only if the Board dropped its application to build a
new high school. Up to now, “nothing has been done with the proposed addition to the high
school,” which would reduce overcrowding but not eliminate it. “Don’t get your hopes up yet,” Rodecker cautioned Board members regarding a new high school. “It’s still a matter of money.” At this point, there is no money available to build the $200 million, 21st Century high school designed by architect John Ronan, although funding could be forthcoming for a less-pretentious version. “Overcrowding is still an issue in this district, but the state still has 30 other (“special needs”) districts,” Rodecker said. “We hope to hear back
from them (DOE officials) in the near-future.”