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.
Monday, August 30, 2010
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.
“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.
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.
(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!)
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!)
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