Fehrenbach: City Fiscally On Life-Support (Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Sept. 8, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — At the City Council’s Special Meeting last week, advertised as being “a session on budgeting in New Jersey local government,” former Acting Business Administrator Gregory Fehrenbach — who may be back at his old job before this month is out — was the professor.Council members — none of them in-office for more than 26 months — were the students, and what they heard probably was enough to make some of them privately have second-thoughts about whether they should have run for their positions.
Business Administrator Jane Feigenbaum and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Jill Goldy — the people whom local officials depend-upon for their financial advice — did not attend the two-hour afternoon session, nor did City Law Director Mark Blunda.In their stead, Fehrenbach — who has enough experience under his belt with much-larger municipalities to know of what he speaks — dominated the meeting, painting a somber picture of city finances.At one point, Fehrenbach stated, “The city is in horrific financial condition” because “you’re about 2.6- to 2.7-percent in debt in your current fund alone.”He also raised more than a few eyebrows and caused some audible gasps when he declared, “The city is in critical condition. If the city were a patient in a hospital, it would be in ICU (Intensive Care Unit).”On the bright side, if there was one, Fehrenbach noted that “Camden may be worse, but there aren’t very-many like you.”As Perth Amboy prepares to return to calendar-year budgeting in 2011, local officials “are looking-at a $5.7 million deficit,” and taxpayers can look-forward to a certain tax-increase which the Administration and the Council, working-together, may be able to “temper” but not eliminate altogether “so you don’t nail people in subsequent years,” he said.“You essentially have no surplus, and the state is not going to be able to provide an annual transfusion,” Fehrenbach told Mayor Wilda Diaz and Council members, who listened intently and held-off asking questions or making comments as the session proceeded.Newly-seated Councilman William Petrick gingerly ventured-forth with a personnel question, which Fehrenbach quickly brushed-aside with the reply, “That’s something for closed-session.”City Clerk Elaine Jasko confirmed that the Public Notice for the meeting contained no provision for a closed-session discussion.Fehrenbach went-on to advise local officials that they must “anticipate the revenues conservatively” in-order to lead the city out of its fiscal crisis. “$7.5 or $8 million used to fund the previous year’s (2008) Budget is non-recurring revenues,” he added.Fehrenbach explained that what got Perth Amboy into its financial bind was the philosophy of the previous Administration (led by indicted former Mayor Joseph Vas) that tax-increases of any size should be avoided at-all-costs.
“There was constantly a desire to generate revenues from other sources to keep the tax-rate down,” he said. “A portion of everybody’s water-bill today is paying for costs incurred between 1998 and 2007, and you’re going to continue paying those costs from years ago.”“We’re still paying eight-percent interest to Middlesex Water (Co., the city’s private partner in operating the Water/Wastewater Utility),” Council President Kenneth Balut said. “That’s in the agreement, but the city has to reopen that agreement,” Fehrenbach said. “If we go-bankrupt, they don’t get-paid.” In fairness, he said, “they (Middlesex Water) took it on-the-chin, too.” But “we need to go back to them,” Fehrenbach said. “Many banks are renegotiating agreements.”He urged city officials to “creatively think-about ways in which to appropriately come-up with new alternative revenue-sources,” not by increasing homeowners’ property taxes, because “they’re already paying enough.”
Turning to labor costs — the topic brought-up by Petrick, but in the abstract — Fehrenbach cautioned that reducing the city’s workforce any further is not the answer to improving its finances.“There really aren’t a lot of people here,” he said. “The city is now at or near a bare-minimum. The Fire Department has just-enough people to staff its equipment, so I don’t know if the city can afford-to drop its rolls by one firefighter.
“The Police Department is tight, too, and the Sanitation Department is taking people from other units to pick-up garbage,” Fehrenbach said. “People are retiring from Public Works, and these positions must be filled or you can’t continue to service the community.”The city is running “a very-shallow operation” in many of its departments, he noted. “For example, in the Fire Department, the lowest number of firefighters-per-population and the lowest number of firefighters-per-square-mile is Perth Amboy.“There’s not a lot of ‘fat’ left,” Fehrenbach declared. “You can’t assume in the future that you can save money by reducing the number of city employees.”One way of enhancing revenues is “to increase fees-for-services where it seems appropriate,” he said.Councilman Fernando Gonzalez proposed that a fee be established for removing newspaper-boxes which have been turned-onto their sides and dumped-into the roadways, thereby creating a safety-hazard.“It’s costing us money,” Gonzalez declared.Fehrenbach noted that cases involving newspaper-boxes have been thrown-out in court as infringements upon the First Amendment.“Maybe we can approach it as a recycling-fee.” Petrick suggested. “It’s a quality-of-life issue.”Fehrenbach countered that with finding ways of “reducing the cost- per-employee,” to be discussed privately in the near-future.
“The Mayor is going to enunciate a series of budgetary priorities in the next two to three weeks,” he said. “The primary objective is that she doesn’t want to see the (tax) levy increased during the 2010 Transitional Budget (which runs from July 1 through Dec. 31, 2010).” “A lot of things have been cleaned-up in the last two years, but a lot of things still need to be cleaned-up,” Fehrenbach said. He closed his presentation by raising the spectre of continued collapses of the city’s infrastructure — particularly its combined sewer and sanitary-sewer lines, many of which date-back centuries, and are made of clay or brick.“When you look at a Budget, you don’t want to focus-on paper-clips; you want to focus-on policy,” Fehrenbach said. “The best public officials are those who don’t give two-hoots about what’s going to happen in the next election.”At the same time, he warned that local officials “have to comply with those regulations issued by the (state) Division of Local Government Services and also the Office of the Comptroller.“The last Administration didn’t,” Fehrenbach declared.
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Dudas Resigns As City Historian
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Sept. 8, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — Embattled City Historian Jack Dudas last week resigned the unpaid position to which he was appointed by Mayor Wilda Diaz on Jan. 30, 2009, “effective immediately.”“With the retirement of (Community Decelopment Director) Michael Keller, I feel that I can no-longer accomplish anything of note through the new bureaucracy,” Dudas, a former Councilman, wrote in a two-page letter to Diaz dated Aug. 27. “It seems that no one understands their role with regard to historic properties, with the exception of Mr. (Public Works Director) Paul Wnek, who is attending to the problem of the broken Town Clock (on the Simpson United Methodist Church steeple, High Street), through the work of Mr. Danny Cleaver.”
The City Historian is responsible for carrying-out historical programs, storing historical materials to ensure their preservation, providing an annual report of work accomplished each year, researching and publishing historical materials, and assisting in projects of commemoration, including installation of monuments, historic markers and guide-signs.Dudas, an attorney whose family has lived in the city for four generations, had aspired to the post while serving as Assistant City Historian while William Pavlovsky was City Historian during the Administration of former Mayor George Otlowski.Retired City Clerk Harold Augustine, widely-known as “Mr. Perth Amboy,” who later served as President of the Library Board of Trustees, held the post of City Historian before his death in 2005.Dudas, who holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in History, has been involved in efforts over the past 30 years to save several historic city structures from being razed — most-notably, the former Majestic Theater, now the Cathedral International, on Madison Avenue — and carried his enthusiasm for that role into his official position.However, he cited “frustration and disrespect” in what he believed was lack of cooperation from other city officials in protecting historic buildings.
PERTH AMBOY — Embattled City Historian Jack Dudas last week resigned the unpaid position to which he was appointed by Mayor Wilda Diaz on Jan. 30, 2009, “effective immediately.”“With the retirement of (Community Decelopment Director) Michael Keller, I feel that I can no-longer accomplish anything of note through the new bureaucracy,” Dudas, a former Councilman, wrote in a two-page letter to Diaz dated Aug. 27. “It seems that no one understands their role with regard to historic properties, with the exception of Mr. (Public Works Director) Paul Wnek, who is attending to the problem of the broken Town Clock (on the Simpson United Methodist Church steeple, High Street), through the work of Mr. Danny Cleaver.”
The City Historian is responsible for carrying-out historical programs, storing historical materials to ensure their preservation, providing an annual report of work accomplished each year, researching and publishing historical materials, and assisting in projects of commemoration, including installation of monuments, historic markers and guide-signs.Dudas, an attorney whose family has lived in the city for four generations, had aspired to the post while serving as Assistant City Historian while William Pavlovsky was City Historian during the Administration of former Mayor George Otlowski.Retired City Clerk Harold Augustine, widely-known as “Mr. Perth Amboy,” who later served as President of the Library Board of Trustees, held the post of City Historian before his death in 2005.Dudas, who holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in History, has been involved in efforts over the past 30 years to save several historic city structures from being razed — most-notably, the former Majestic Theater, now the Cathedral International, on Madison Avenue — and carried his enthusiasm for that role into his official position.However, he cited “frustration and disrespect” in what he believed was lack of cooperation from other city officials in protecting historic buildings.
Ryan: State Official Blames City For Budget Delay
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Sept. 8, 2010)
SOUTH AMBOY — After City Council President Fred Henry announced last week that a public hearing will be held on amendments to the Calendar Year 2010 Budget at the Council’s Sept. 15 meeting, he apparently did not anticipate the firestorm that followed.“The DCA (state Department of Community Affairs) had a couple of questions, but we’ve taken-care of it,” Henry said, matter-of-factly.That did not sit well with resident Eileen Ryan, however.“I called someone at DCA,” she said. “If everything-else has been approved, why are we at the bottom of the ladder?“According to the information she gave me — and I don’t think she’s wrong — she told me that DCA made several requests to the City of South Amboy about items in the Budget that they needed more information about, and there was no response whatsoever from the City of South Amboy,” Ryan said.“For two months, we’ve been told about the Budget, and I wanted to believe that you guys really-knew,” she added. “Can you tell me if she’s right? Mrs. (Business Administrator Camille) Tooker and Mr. (Chief Financial OfficerTerance) O’Neill should personally-answer, or be fired.”
“What’s this person’s name?” asked attorney Thomas Lanza, sitting-in for his brother, City Law Director John Lanza.“I can’t tell you that,” Ryan replied before going-on.“Everybody’s been told it’s been ready, and I just wish to get this resolved,” she said. “What should I tell Amelia?”Ryan moved-forward to hand a document up to Henry when Lanza barked-out, “Stay back!”“I don’t have a gun or knife,” Ryan said as she retreated back to her seat in the audience. “I don’t want to get-arrested.”“She’s not the one in-charge,” Tooker said of the woman Ryan referred-to.“You’re correct,” Tooker went-on. “If either myself or Terry was giving false information, we should be fired.”But she insisted that she had been keeping Mayor John O’Leary and the Council members informed about what was really going-on.“Today is Wednesday,” Tooker noted. “We’re in the process of getting a final document to them.“We reviewed everything we sent them, but they still said they needed this, this and that,” she explained. “I can show you.”“I’m not the person you should be answerable-to,” Ryan said. “If Trenton isn’t telling the truth, we shouldn’t have egg on our face. She’s asking for supportive data. She said she never received that supportive data."“The person who’s reviewing our Budget is a male,” Tooker said.“You may think so,” Ryan responded.“By Sept. 24, it (the Budget) must be approved (by the Council),” she stated. “Here it is the first, and we don’t have it yet.”
“We responded, and they came-back and wanted additional information on two or three items,” O’Leary said.The Mayor noted that “the water revenues from Middlesex Water (Co., Iselin) were one.”“If we’re paying Mr. O’Neill, he’s the one who should be here and be accountable,” Ryan declared.“This was just a little miscommunication,” Henry said. “They did ask for a little bit of additional information.”“We gave them the original comments,” Tooker said.“They’re not asking about that,” Ryan said. “They said they asked for more information, and you didn’t supply it.”“I don’t appreciate your saying that I’m lying,” Tooker told Ryan.
“I never said ANYONE is lying,” Ryan countered. “If this just happened Thursday, I can appreciate that.”
Former Councilman Stanley Jankowski, now a Board of Education member, asked if the Budget will be “passed in two weeks.”“Three,” Lanza shot back.“It will be done before then,” Henry said.“You can’t pass it (the Budget) that night,” Jankowski insisted. “You have to have two readings,”“They can do it the same night,” Lanza stated.“Why not just have a special meeting on the Budget?” Jankowski asked. “You could be sitting here for hours.”“Hopefully, that’s not going to happen,” Henry said, before moving-on to another subect and then adjourning the meeting.
SOUTH AMBOY — After City Council President Fred Henry announced last week that a public hearing will be held on amendments to the Calendar Year 2010 Budget at the Council’s Sept. 15 meeting, he apparently did not anticipate the firestorm that followed.“The DCA (state Department of Community Affairs) had a couple of questions, but we’ve taken-care of it,” Henry said, matter-of-factly.That did not sit well with resident Eileen Ryan, however.“I called someone at DCA,” she said. “If everything-else has been approved, why are we at the bottom of the ladder?“According to the information she gave me — and I don’t think she’s wrong — she told me that DCA made several requests to the City of South Amboy about items in the Budget that they needed more information about, and there was no response whatsoever from the City of South Amboy,” Ryan said.“For two months, we’ve been told about the Budget, and I wanted to believe that you guys really-knew,” she added. “Can you tell me if she’s right? Mrs. (Business Administrator Camille) Tooker and Mr. (Chief Financial OfficerTerance) O’Neill should personally-answer, or be fired.”
“What’s this person’s name?” asked attorney Thomas Lanza, sitting-in for his brother, City Law Director John Lanza.“I can’t tell you that,” Ryan replied before going-on.“Everybody’s been told it’s been ready, and I just wish to get this resolved,” she said. “What should I tell Amelia?”Ryan moved-forward to hand a document up to Henry when Lanza barked-out, “Stay back!”“I don’t have a gun or knife,” Ryan said as she retreated back to her seat in the audience. “I don’t want to get-arrested.”“She’s not the one in-charge,” Tooker said of the woman Ryan referred-to.“You’re correct,” Tooker went-on. “If either myself or Terry was giving false information, we should be fired.”But she insisted that she had been keeping Mayor John O’Leary and the Council members informed about what was really going-on.“Today is Wednesday,” Tooker noted. “We’re in the process of getting a final document to them.“We reviewed everything we sent them, but they still said they needed this, this and that,” she explained. “I can show you.”“I’m not the person you should be answerable-to,” Ryan said. “If Trenton isn’t telling the truth, we shouldn’t have egg on our face. She’s asking for supportive data. She said she never received that supportive data."“The person who’s reviewing our Budget is a male,” Tooker said.“You may think so,” Ryan responded.“By Sept. 24, it (the Budget) must be approved (by the Council),” she stated. “Here it is the first, and we don’t have it yet.”
“We responded, and they came-back and wanted additional information on two or three items,” O’Leary said.The Mayor noted that “the water revenues from Middlesex Water (Co., Iselin) were one.”“If we’re paying Mr. O’Neill, he’s the one who should be here and be accountable,” Ryan declared.“This was just a little miscommunication,” Henry said. “They did ask for a little bit of additional information.”“We gave them the original comments,” Tooker said.“They’re not asking about that,” Ryan said. “They said they asked for more information, and you didn’t supply it.”“I don’t appreciate your saying that I’m lying,” Tooker told Ryan.
“I never said ANYONE is lying,” Ryan countered. “If this just happened Thursday, I can appreciate that.”
Former Councilman Stanley Jankowski, now a Board of Education member, asked if the Budget will be “passed in two weeks.”“Three,” Lanza shot back.“It will be done before then,” Henry said.“You can’t pass it (the Budget) that night,” Jankowski insisted. “You have to have two readings,”“They can do it the same night,” Lanza stated.“Why not just have a special meeting on the Budget?” Jankowski asked. “You could be sitting here for hours.”“Hopefully, that’s not going to happen,” Henry said, before moving-on to another subect and then adjourning the meeting.
From The Editor’s Desk, Sept. 8, 2010
(Editorial, Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Sept. 8, 2010)
The President of a Kearny contractor that did paving, curbs and other infrastructure work for the City of Perth Amboy has admitted before Superior Court Judge Anthony Mellaci Jr., sitting in Freehold, that her firm performed $25,000 worth of free paving and masonry work in 2002 at the High Street home of indicted former Mayor Joseph Vas.Through its President Helena Godinho, Jenicar Builders Contractors Co. Inc.
pleaded guilty to Conspiracy To Commit Official Misconduct, a third-degree offense. Mrs. Godinho succeeded her husband, Fernando Godinho, who died in November 2004.If the company, which was charged in a May 21, 2009 indictment along with Mr. Vas and longtime Mayor’s Aide Melvin Ramos, were convicted at-trial, it faced a fine of up to $150,000 and permanent debarment from public contracts. Under a plea agreement struck by state Deputy Attorneys General Diane Deal and Pearl Minato, Jenicar must pay a $45,000 fine, and its principals must cooperate in the ongoing investigation of Mr. Vas and Mr. Ramos, according to a prepared statement released by the state Attorney General’s Office. Jenicar’s sentencing is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 18.This latest turn of events carries particular significance for the Amboy Beacon, which was lambasted by Mr. Vas after publishing information — including photographs — about his alleged dealings with Jenicar concerning the work done at his home. At that time, Mr. Vas produced what he said was a “paid bill” from another contractor whom he said had actually done the work with Jenicar’s equipment. Now, with Jenicar coming-forward, that so-called “paid bill” is thrown-into question.Mr. Vas, who also is a former 19th Legislative District Assemblyman, faces multiple second-degree counts of Conspiracy and Official Misconduct, among other charges, and other state and federal charges are pending against both Mr. Vas and Mr. Ramos.Conferencing on charges contained in the two state indictments is planned to get started on Monday, Nov. 4, while jury-selection already is underway for a trial scheduled for Monday, Sept. 13, in U.S. District Court, Newark, on a federal indictment charging other offenses.
Recently, 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, pleaded guilty in Superior Court to Submitting A False Government Contract.Mr. Dominguez and Mr. Briggs admitted before Judge Mellaci 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 Mr. 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.In its coverage of that April 18, 2008 event, which glossy, full-color mailings were used to draw over 1,000 people to the Complex parking-lot, the Beacon raised a number of questions about its propriety, while other news organizations remained silent.“According to sources familiar with the construction, the Complex was opened for tours by the general public without having a Certificate of Occupancy (CO), thereby exposing city taxpayers to significant litigation if anyone had sustained any injuries,” we wrote in our April 23, 2008 edition.Mr. Dominguez said that Mr. 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. Mr. Perlee, who has not been charged, is cooperating in the investigation, according to Deputy Attorney General Deal. We’re planning to send someone to cover Jenicar’s sentencing and as-much of the former Mayor’s trials as we’re able-to with our limited resources.Of course, the Attorney General’s Office also has (rightly) noted that “indictments are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
Stay-tuned for more on this.
The President of a Kearny contractor that did paving, curbs and other infrastructure work for the City of Perth Amboy has admitted before Superior Court Judge Anthony Mellaci Jr., sitting in Freehold, that her firm performed $25,000 worth of free paving and masonry work in 2002 at the High Street home of indicted former Mayor Joseph Vas.Through its President Helena Godinho, Jenicar Builders Contractors Co. Inc.
pleaded guilty to Conspiracy To Commit Official Misconduct, a third-degree offense. Mrs. Godinho succeeded her husband, Fernando Godinho, who died in November 2004.If the company, which was charged in a May 21, 2009 indictment along with Mr. Vas and longtime Mayor’s Aide Melvin Ramos, were convicted at-trial, it faced a fine of up to $150,000 and permanent debarment from public contracts. Under a plea agreement struck by state Deputy Attorneys General Diane Deal and Pearl Minato, Jenicar must pay a $45,000 fine, and its principals must cooperate in the ongoing investigation of Mr. Vas and Mr. Ramos, according to a prepared statement released by the state Attorney General’s Office. Jenicar’s sentencing is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 18.This latest turn of events carries particular significance for the Amboy Beacon, which was lambasted by Mr. Vas after publishing information — including photographs — about his alleged dealings with Jenicar concerning the work done at his home. At that time, Mr. Vas produced what he said was a “paid bill” from another contractor whom he said had actually done the work with Jenicar’s equipment. Now, with Jenicar coming-forward, that so-called “paid bill” is thrown-into question.Mr. Vas, who also is a former 19th Legislative District Assemblyman, faces multiple second-degree counts of Conspiracy and Official Misconduct, among other charges, and other state and federal charges are pending against both Mr. Vas and Mr. Ramos.Conferencing on charges contained in the two state indictments is planned to get started on Monday, Nov. 4, while jury-selection already is underway for a trial scheduled for Monday, Sept. 13, in U.S. District Court, Newark, on a federal indictment charging other offenses.
Recently, 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, pleaded guilty in Superior Court to Submitting A False Government Contract.Mr. Dominguez and Mr. Briggs admitted before Judge Mellaci 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 Mr. 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.In its coverage of that April 18, 2008 event, which glossy, full-color mailings were used to draw over 1,000 people to the Complex parking-lot, the Beacon raised a number of questions about its propriety, while other news organizations remained silent.“According to sources familiar with the construction, the Complex was opened for tours by the general public without having a Certificate of Occupancy (CO), thereby exposing city taxpayers to significant litigation if anyone had sustained any injuries,” we wrote in our April 23, 2008 edition.Mr. Dominguez said that Mr. 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. Mr. Perlee, who has not been charged, is cooperating in the investigation, according to Deputy Attorney General Deal. We’re planning to send someone to cover Jenicar’s sentencing and as-much of the former Mayor’s trials as we’re able-to with our limited resources.Of course, the Attorney General’s Office also has (rightly) noted that “indictments are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.”
Stay-tuned for more on this.
Parking Changes Raise Safety Concerns
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Sept. 8, 2010)
SOUTH AMBOY — Several residents raised issues of pedestrian safety during public hearings held at last week’s City Council meeting on three Ordinances to convert parking along portions of Augusta, David and John Streets into perpendicular-parking areas.However, Council members seemed satisfied about receiving state Department of Transportation (DOT) approval for the changes and voted unanimously to adopt all three measures.The Ordinance to convert a portion of Augusta Street was moved by Councilman William Schwarick, seconded by Councilman Mark Noble; the Ordinance to convert a portion of David Street was moved by Noble, seconded by Schwarick, and the Ordinance to convert a portion of John Street was moved by Councilman Joseph Connors, seconded by Schwarick. All were adopted 5-0.Former Councilman Stanley Jankowski, now a Board of Education member, noted that crews had closed the streets involved and were “doing the work already” before the Ordinances were finally-adopted.“Is that legal?” he asked.
“The city is not acquiring property; it’s just improving it,” attorney Thomas Lanza, sitting-in for his brother, City Law Director John Lanza, responded.“These plans were submitted to DOT and approved,” Mayor John O’Leary said. “We want to lower the mile-per-hour cartway through that area and create parking so it can be enforced.”The Mayor said that after getting input from City Engineer Mark Rasimowicz, it was decided to go to “straight-in parking, not angular parking.”Jankowski called the new parking configuration “an accident waiting to happen,” and cited the school down the street.“God forbid some child getting run-over by a car backing-up,” he said.“A child doesn’t belong on the street,” O’Leary declared.James Kopysyecky Jr., owner of the former Dot’s Luncheonette building at Broadway and David Street, complained that a 40-foot apron for his parking-lot behind the building was reduced to 18 feet.
“That’s not grandfathered?” he asked. “Why weren’t we notified?”“I don’t think anyone can grandfather that,” O’Leary stated. “You’ve still got the same amount of parking and the city picked-up two parking-spaces for the public.”“The new apron centers on your property,” Rasimowicz said.“It’s not a driveway; it’s a parking-lot,” Kopysyecky countered.“You can still park six cars if they go-in on a different angle,” Rasimowi cz noted.“I’ll provide the six cars, and YOU park them,” Kopysyecky stated. “Was it worth all that work just to pick-up two parking-spaces?”“The total bid-price was $190,000,” O’Leary said. “That’s an extremely-cost-effective way of creating downtown parking.”
SOUTH AMBOY — Several residents raised issues of pedestrian safety during public hearings held at last week’s City Council meeting on three Ordinances to convert parking along portions of Augusta, David and John Streets into perpendicular-parking areas.However, Council members seemed satisfied about receiving state Department of Transportation (DOT) approval for the changes and voted unanimously to adopt all three measures.The Ordinance to convert a portion of Augusta Street was moved by Councilman William Schwarick, seconded by Councilman Mark Noble; the Ordinance to convert a portion of David Street was moved by Noble, seconded by Schwarick, and the Ordinance to convert a portion of John Street was moved by Councilman Joseph Connors, seconded by Schwarick. All were adopted 5-0.Former Councilman Stanley Jankowski, now a Board of Education member, noted that crews had closed the streets involved and were “doing the work already” before the Ordinances were finally-adopted.“Is that legal?” he asked.
“The city is not acquiring property; it’s just improving it,” attorney Thomas Lanza, sitting-in for his brother, City Law Director John Lanza, responded.“These plans were submitted to DOT and approved,” Mayor John O’Leary said. “We want to lower the mile-per-hour cartway through that area and create parking so it can be enforced.”The Mayor said that after getting input from City Engineer Mark Rasimowicz, it was decided to go to “straight-in parking, not angular parking.”Jankowski called the new parking configuration “an accident waiting to happen,” and cited the school down the street.“God forbid some child getting run-over by a car backing-up,” he said.“A child doesn’t belong on the street,” O’Leary declared.James Kopysyecky Jr., owner of the former Dot’s Luncheonette building at Broadway and David Street, complained that a 40-foot apron for his parking-lot behind the building was reduced to 18 feet.
“That’s not grandfathered?” he asked. “Why weren’t we notified?”“I don’t think anyone can grandfather that,” O’Leary stated. “You’ve still got the same amount of parking and the city picked-up two parking-spaces for the public.”“The new apron centers on your property,” Rasimowicz said.“It’s not a driveway; it’s a parking-lot,” Kopysyecky countered.“You can still park six cars if they go-in on a different angle,” Rasimowi cz noted.“I’ll provide the six cars, and YOU park them,” Kopysyecky stated. “Was it worth all that work just to pick-up two parking-spaces?”“The total bid-price was $190,000,” O’Leary said. “That’s an extremely-cost-effective way of creating downtown parking.”
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
VENDOR: VAS HOUSE FIXED FREE
Jenicar Owner Admits $25G Driveway, Masonry Work By Jim Shea (Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Sept. 1, 2010)
FREEHOLD — The President of a Kearny contractor that did paving, curbs and other infrastructure work for the City of Perth Amboy admitted last week before Superior Court Judge Anthony Mellaci Jr. that her firm performed $25,000 worth of free paving and masonry work in 2002 at the High Street home of indicted former Mayor Joseph Vas. Through its President Helena Godinho, Jenicar Builders Contractors Co. Inc.
pleaded guilty to Conspiracy To Commit Official Misconduct, a third-degree offense. Godinho succeeded her husband, Fernando Godinho, who died in November 2004. If the company, which was charged in a May 21, 2009 indictment along with Vas and longtime Mayor’s Aide Melvin Ramos, were convicted at-trial, it faced a fine of up to $150,000 and permanent debarment from public contracts. Under a plea agreement struck by state Deputy Attorneys General Diane Deal and Pearl Minato, Jenicar must pay a $45,000 fine, and its principals must cooperate in the ongoing investigation of Vas and Ramos, according to a prepared statement released by the state Attorney General’s Office. Jenicar’s sentencing is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 18. Other state charges are pending against Vas and Ramos. Vas, who also is a former 19th Legislative District Assemblyman, faces multiple second-degree counts of Conspiracy and Official Misconduct, among other charges. The Attorney General’s Office noted that the same indictment including Jenicar charges Vas with four distinct criminal schemes. Conferencing on charges contained in the two state indictments against Vas and Ramos is planned to get started on Monday, Nov. 4. Recently, 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. Dominguez and Briggs admitted before Mellaci 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 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.
According to the same indictment, between January and July 2006, Vas and Ramos allegedly solicited city employees and others to make fraudulent contributions to Vas’ 2006 campaign for the Democratic nomination for the 13th Congressional District. Ramos allegedly paid cash to the people he solicited to reimburse them for writing personal checks payable to “Vas For Congress.” The Attorney General’s Office explained that Vas and Ramos are charged with Money-Laundering because by structuring funds into the campaign through people who falsely appeared to be making personal contributions, they allegedly sought to avoid applicable state and federal currency-transaction reporting requirements in connection with deposits into the campaign account at Commerce Bank. Banks are required to report cash deposits of $10,000 or more under federal reporting requirements. Vas and Ramos allegedly requested city employees to solicit contributions during work-hours, solicited city employees and others during work-hours, and used city facilities and property for campaign activities, the Attorney General’s Office said. According to the same indictment, between November 2004 and July 20, 2005, Vas allegedly stole $5,926 from the city by unlawfully-authorizing the submission to the city and approval of payment of a personal medical bill for
$5,322 he received from the Mayo Clinic of Jacksonville, FL, and a personal eyeglasses bill for $604 he received from Lenscrafters, the Attorney General’s Office said. Deal and Minato are assigned to the state’s cases, and the investigation was conducted by Deal, Sgt. Dino Dettorre and Det. Benjamin Kukis, assisted by Lt. Daniel O’Brien, Sgt. Robert McGrath, Dets. Lee Bailey, Melissa Calkin, Lisa Cawley, Shaun Egan, Kiersten Pentony and Robert Stemmer, and Civil Investigator Joseph Salvatore. In March 2009, the Division of Criminal Justice obtained an indictment charging Vas and city employees with conspiring from 2003 to 2007 to fraudulently-obtain payment of $6,235 from the Perth Amboy Recreation Department for his and their personal expenses, the Attorney General’s Office said. Also, Vas and his driver, Anthony Jones, were charged in a scheme in which Vas allegedly rigged a public lottery so that Jones won the opportunity to buy an affordable home through the Perth Amboy HOME Program, the Attorney General’s Office said. Those charges are also pending. The Attorney General’s Office noted that “indictments are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.” 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. 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.
FREEHOLD — The President of a Kearny contractor that did paving, curbs and other infrastructure work for the City of Perth Amboy admitted last week before Superior Court Judge Anthony Mellaci Jr. that her firm performed $25,000 worth of free paving and masonry work in 2002 at the High Street home of indicted former Mayor Joseph Vas. Through its President Helena Godinho, Jenicar Builders Contractors Co. Inc.
pleaded guilty to Conspiracy To Commit Official Misconduct, a third-degree offense. Godinho succeeded her husband, Fernando Godinho, who died in November 2004. If the company, which was charged in a May 21, 2009 indictment along with Vas and longtime Mayor’s Aide Melvin Ramos, were convicted at-trial, it faced a fine of up to $150,000 and permanent debarment from public contracts. Under a plea agreement struck by state Deputy Attorneys General Diane Deal and Pearl Minato, Jenicar must pay a $45,000 fine, and its principals must cooperate in the ongoing investigation of Vas and Ramos, according to a prepared statement released by the state Attorney General’s Office. Jenicar’s sentencing is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 18. Other state charges are pending against Vas and Ramos. Vas, who also is a former 19th Legislative District Assemblyman, faces multiple second-degree counts of Conspiracy and Official Misconduct, among other charges. The Attorney General’s Office noted that the same indictment including Jenicar charges Vas with four distinct criminal schemes. Conferencing on charges contained in the two state indictments against Vas and Ramos is planned to get started on Monday, Nov. 4. Recently, 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. Dominguez and Briggs admitted before Mellaci 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 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.
According to the same indictment, between January and July 2006, Vas and Ramos allegedly solicited city employees and others to make fraudulent contributions to Vas’ 2006 campaign for the Democratic nomination for the 13th Congressional District. Ramos allegedly paid cash to the people he solicited to reimburse them for writing personal checks payable to “Vas For Congress.” The Attorney General’s Office explained that Vas and Ramos are charged with Money-Laundering because by structuring funds into the campaign through people who falsely appeared to be making personal contributions, they allegedly sought to avoid applicable state and federal currency-transaction reporting requirements in connection with deposits into the campaign account at Commerce Bank. Banks are required to report cash deposits of $10,000 or more under federal reporting requirements. Vas and Ramos allegedly requested city employees to solicit contributions during work-hours, solicited city employees and others during work-hours, and used city facilities and property for campaign activities, the Attorney General’s Office said. According to the same indictment, between November 2004 and July 20, 2005, Vas allegedly stole $5,926 from the city by unlawfully-authorizing the submission to the city and approval of payment of a personal medical bill for
$5,322 he received from the Mayo Clinic of Jacksonville, FL, and a personal eyeglasses bill for $604 he received from Lenscrafters, the Attorney General’s Office said. Deal and Minato are assigned to the state’s cases, and the investigation was conducted by Deal, Sgt. Dino Dettorre and Det. Benjamin Kukis, assisted by Lt. Daniel O’Brien, Sgt. Robert McGrath, Dets. Lee Bailey, Melissa Calkin, Lisa Cawley, Shaun Egan, Kiersten Pentony and Robert Stemmer, and Civil Investigator Joseph Salvatore. In March 2009, the Division of Criminal Justice obtained an indictment charging Vas and city employees with conspiring from 2003 to 2007 to fraudulently-obtain payment of $6,235 from the Perth Amboy Recreation Department for his and their personal expenses, the Attorney General’s Office said. Also, Vas and his driver, Anthony Jones, were charged in a scheme in which Vas allegedly rigged a public lottery so that Jones won the opportunity to buy an affordable home through the Perth Amboy HOME Program, the Attorney General’s Office said. Those charges are also pending. The Attorney General’s Office noted that “indictments are merely accusations, and defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.” 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. 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.
South Amboy Y Readies For Sept. 7 Opening
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Sept. 1, 2010)
SOUTH AMBOY — The new 35,000sq.ft. South Amboy Community Center/YMCA, located on O’Leary Boulevard in the Southern Waterfront Redevelopment Area between Broadway and Portia Street on land donated to the Redevelopment Agency by Peron Development, is scheduled to open its doors to the public on Tuesday, Sept. 7 — the day after Labor Day. “This very-exciting project will bring a new dimension of recreational activities to South Amboy and the surrounding communities,” South Amboy Branch YMCA Director Katie McAdoo said, while guiding the Amboy Beacon on an exclusive pre-opening tour. “What we’re planning to do is to serve the communities of Metuchen, Edison, Woodbridge, South Amboy, Perth Amboy and Piscataway in the most-comprehensive way we can.” The Metuchen-Edison YMCA, which has signed a 20-year lease to operate the facility, with two options for renewal, will provide the programming while maintaining the building. McAdoo said the long-awaited YMCA will offer a “substantial discount” to South Amboy residents who join early, but to out-of-towners who find its location convenient, the cost will still be a bargain. Family memberships are expected to be around $40-a-month for residents and around $50-a-month for non-residents, while individual memberships for those between Ages 18 and 26 — the age-group traditionally targeted by the YMCA — are expected to be around $20-a-month for residents and around $25-a-month for non-residents, she said. “At this time, the South Amboy Community Center/YMCA is in the very-final stages of construction,” McAdoo said. “We anticipate opening the first week of September as-planned.” As of Wednesday, July 13, there has been water in the 25-yard, six-lane pool, which is very-inviting. Other facilities include a babysitting room, locker-rooms with private showers, family changing-rooms, a full-court gymnasium, a group-exercise studio and a 6,000sq.ft. wellness center. At the Sept. 7 opening, McAdoo plans to announce the process for registration and a selection of available programming, which she expects to begin to offer to the public on Monday, Sept. 13. “We’ll be providing focused activities, such as swim-lessons, group-exercise classes and parent-child enrichment classes, in-addition to our general membership use of the building’s facilities,” McAdoo said. The South Amboy Community Center/YMCA also will be a new home to the city’s Recreation Department, cable-television studio and Senior Citizen Resource Center. “Senior facilities will include a kitchen, a youth activity room and offices for the city’s Senior/Recreation Director,” McAdoo said. “We look-forward to serving the recreational needs of all ages.” The existing Senior Citizen Resource Center, S. Stevens Avenue, formerly the Marathon Bus Co. terminal, is expected to be sold to a private developer. Middlesex County has given $3 million grant toward the $11 million cost associated with the building’s construction. Added to that are $5 million from the Redevelopment Agency and $3 million bonded by the city.
(NOTE: Exclusive Photos of the South Amboy YMCA by Carolyn Maxwell are available for purchase by calling 732-442-1900)
SOUTH AMBOY — The new 35,000sq.ft. South Amboy Community Center/YMCA, located on O’Leary Boulevard in the Southern Waterfront Redevelopment Area between Broadway and Portia Street on land donated to the Redevelopment Agency by Peron Development, is scheduled to open its doors to the public on Tuesday, Sept. 7 — the day after Labor Day. “This very-exciting project will bring a new dimension of recreational activities to South Amboy and the surrounding communities,” South Amboy Branch YMCA Director Katie McAdoo said, while guiding the Amboy Beacon on an exclusive pre-opening tour. “What we’re planning to do is to serve the communities of Metuchen, Edison, Woodbridge, South Amboy, Perth Amboy and Piscataway in the most-comprehensive way we can.” The Metuchen-Edison YMCA, which has signed a 20-year lease to operate the facility, with two options for renewal, will provide the programming while maintaining the building. McAdoo said the long-awaited YMCA will offer a “substantial discount” to South Amboy residents who join early, but to out-of-towners who find its location convenient, the cost will still be a bargain. Family memberships are expected to be around $40-a-month for residents and around $50-a-month for non-residents, while individual memberships for those between Ages 18 and 26 — the age-group traditionally targeted by the YMCA — are expected to be around $20-a-month for residents and around $25-a-month for non-residents, she said. “At this time, the South Amboy Community Center/YMCA is in the very-final stages of construction,” McAdoo said. “We anticipate opening the first week of September as-planned.” As of Wednesday, July 13, there has been water in the 25-yard, six-lane pool, which is very-inviting. Other facilities include a babysitting room, locker-rooms with private showers, family changing-rooms, a full-court gymnasium, a group-exercise studio and a 6,000sq.ft. wellness center. At the Sept. 7 opening, McAdoo plans to announce the process for registration and a selection of available programming, which she expects to begin to offer to the public on Monday, Sept. 13. “We’ll be providing focused activities, such as swim-lessons, group-exercise classes and parent-child enrichment classes, in-addition to our general membership use of the building’s facilities,” McAdoo said. The South Amboy Community Center/YMCA also will be a new home to the city’s Recreation Department, cable-television studio and Senior Citizen Resource Center. “Senior facilities will include a kitchen, a youth activity room and offices for the city’s Senior/Recreation Director,” McAdoo said. “We look-forward to serving the recreational needs of all ages.” The existing Senior Citizen Resource Center, S. Stevens Avenue, formerly the Marathon Bus Co. terminal, is expected to be sold to a private developer. Middlesex County has given $3 million grant toward the $11 million cost associated with the building’s construction. Added to that are $5 million from the Redevelopment Agency and $3 million bonded by the city.
(NOTE: Exclusive Photos of the South Amboy YMCA by Carolyn Maxwell are available for purchase by calling 732-442-1900)
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