Camden County and Gloucester County The Truth

Clementon Housing Authority Commissioner Uncovers That The Housing Authority Is Not Following Its Own Laws

Gloucester City & Camden County the truth has obtained the below letter sent by Clementon Housing Authority Commissioner John Schmidt.  Schmidt, who was appointed a few months ago by then Clementon Mayor Mark Armbruster (now Councilman) discovered that the Authority was not following its own laws as it pertains to holding their annual meeting.  Despite the Commissioners attempt to make sure government does things properly and follows the laws it creates (the ones the rest of us have to follow) the Housing Authority sees no need to follow its own laws.  The one good thing that comes from this is that we do have people in government that actually do what the people expect them to do.  

 

 

 

Clementon to Eliminate Police Officer Position In Proposed 2012 Budget

"What was on the chopping block were longtime Borough residents and employees that were potentially going to loose there benefits which is primarily why they come to work each day." - Mayor Jack Nicholson (R). 

Officers from the Clementon Police Department spoke about the proposed budget which eliminates a police officer position within the Department. The cuts are taking place because of budget reasons. However like seen in many towns isn't there a limit to cuts in public safety to keep both those who serve us and the general public safe?

Councilman Tom Avellino (R) said that the Police department "is a big burden" and citied the large budget of the department. 

When asked if it was considered if a current ft position could be reduced to pt to allow for the hiring of a police officer Mayor Jack Nicholson (R) said yes it was but it sounded like Councilwoman Doreen Closs said no before being interrupted by the Mayor.

"What was on the chopping block were longtime Borough residents and employees that were potentially going to loose there benefits which is primarily why they come to work each day," said Mayor Nicholson. 

If employees in government who work for the people come to work for health benefits should they be public employees? 

Finance Chair Doreen Closs (D) said she was unaware the proposed budget contained a cut for a police officer. 

Former Mayor Fred Busch continued to question the debt and challenge the Borough's closed session meetings for negotiations which was explained was legal multiple times. 

In addition members of the public talk without being recognized. Is the Borough of Clementon following Roberts Rules of Order?

Finally a discussion was had about looking at ways to increase the debt. Councilman Mark Armbruster (D) asked council if they would be willing to bring in the auditor and come up with some ways to possibly reduce debt. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clementon Council Meeting March 20, 2012/Mayor Mark Armbruster Returns to Governing Body/Clementon Borough Officials Resign Office Per State Law That Was Not Being Followed

Mayor Emeritus Mark Armbruster was sworn in as a Member of Borough Council. He replaces Council President Carol Andrews. The Governing Body is comprised of four Democrats and two Republicans. 

Armbruster was approved by a 5-0 vote. Councilman Tom Weaver made a motion to appoint Armbruster and it was seconded by Concilwoman Candice Wilson. Councilman Tom Avellino (R) made a motion to appoint Dave Cornwell but failed to get a second to his motion even from his fellow Republican Tom Williams. 

Also former Mayor Fred Busch continued to say that council was not following the law despite being told what the law said by Solicitor George Botcheos.

Also questioned was the legality of Jack Kuns and Patricia Porter (former Clementon Borough Clerk who is retired and currently Clerk in Pine Valley Borough) serving on the Planning/Zoning Board and the Housing Authority. 

Kuns resigned from the Clementon Housing Authority and Porter resigned from the Planning/Zoning Board. It was the second time in as many weeks that multiple office holders in Camden County were forced to resign a position. The week before, in neighboring Pine Hill, two Pine Hill MUA commissioners resigned from the Pine Hill Planning/Zoning Board.

Pursuant to 40A:12A-17 CREATION OF HOUSING AUTHROITY, section d.) states: “No more than one member of a housing authority may be an officer or employee of the municipality or county by which the authority is created.   [At the time Kuns, Porter and Mayor Jack Nicholson (R) were all servin on the Housing Authority]. A certificate of the appointment or reappointment of any member shall be filed with the clerk of the municipality or the county, as the case may be, and that certificate shall be conclusive evidence of the due and proper appointment of that member. A member of an authority shall receive no compensation for his services, but shall be entitled to reimbursement for actual expenses necessarily incurred in the discharge of the duties of membership, including travel expenses. The powers of the authority shall be vested in the members thereof in office from time to time. Four members shall constitute a quorum of the authority for the purpose of conducting its business and exercising its powers and all other purposes. Action may be taken by the authority upon the affirmative vote of the majority, but not less than four of the members present, unless in any case the bylaws of the authority shall require a larger number. The authority shall select a chairman and a vice-chairman from among its members, and shall employ an executive director, who shall be its secretary.”

Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 40:55D-1 et seq.  dealing with Plannin/Zoning Board Members

Class IV: six other citizens of the municipality to be appointed by the Mayor. The members of Class IV shall hold no other municipal office, except that one member may be a member of the Joint Planning/Zoning Board of Adjustment and one may be a member of the Board of Education. A member of the Environmental Commission who is also a member of the Joint Planning/Zoning Board of Adjustment as required by N.J.S.A. 40:56A-1 shall be a Class IV Joint Planning/ZoningBoard of Adjustment member unless there is among the Class IV members of the Joint Planning/Zoning Board of Adjustment both a member of the JointPlanning/Zoning Board of Adjustment and a member of the Board of Education, in which case the member of the Environmental Commission shall be deemed to be the Class II member of the Joint Planning/Zoning Board of Adjustment.

 

 

 

 

 

Clementon Housing Authority Has Not Updated Personnel Policy Since 1998

Currently part time employees are eligible for heath care benefits and if a person works part time for 25 years they get health care for life at the expense of the taxpayers.  Current Clementon Mayor Jack Nicholson is Chairman of the Clementon Housing Authority?  How has this policy not been changed?   What has Chairman Nicholson been doing as Chairman of the Housing Authority?  Is this another political patronage pit like many municipal authorities?

 

ADDENDUM TO PERSONNEL POLICY

ADOPTED AT 11/10/1998 MEETING

Upon retirement, if an employee has worked full time or part time for a combined total of 25 years or more, the Clementon Housing Authority will pay their supplemental Blue Cross/ Blue Shield for the rest of the employee’s life.

 

 

Gloucester City Resident John Schmidt Appointed to Clementon Housing Authority

Gloucester City & Camden County The Truth has learned that John Schmidt was appointed to the Clementon Housing Authority by Clementon Mayor Mark Armbruster.  The appointment was announced during the November 22, 2011 Clementon Council Meeting by the Mayor.  Schmidt's term expires 7/31/2016.

 

 

 

The Truth About The Clementon Mayoral Election: Clementon Housing Authority Attempted to Arrest OPRA/OPMA Activist

Below is a letter sent to Gloucester City & Camden County The Truth about the actions of the Clementon Housing Authority and the Borough of Clementon.  The letter was written by OPRA/OPMA Activist and Gloucester resident John Schmidt.

November 6, 2011

Dear Clementon Residents and Interested Parties,

For most of this year, I have been submitting many OPRA (New Jersey Open Public Records Act) Requests to governmental agencies in South Jersey.  I am focusing most of my efforts in Camden County,auditing municipalities to make sure our government officials are being open and transparent to the people they serve. I also wanted to ensure that they were following the Open Public Meetings Act of New Jersey.  I believe that we, as people and citizens of the state of New Jersey, have a right to know how our government spends our money.  It is also our right and obligation to make sure our government officials and the people they hire to do our work, are following the law.   The basic and most crucial point of our country is to be open and transparent to “we the people.”

 In August of this year, I filed a handful of OPRA requests with the Clementon Housing Authority, as I have with other government agencies.  The Clementon Housing Authority, which is led by Chairman Jack Nicholson, the Republican Candidate for Mayor in Clementon this year, did not have an OPRA form, although they are required to under the law.  The law governing OPRA forms has been in place for 10 years and is there for all municipalities to follow.  The Authority refused to respond to my request; I drafted a lawsuit a month later and informed them I would file suit in Superior Court, which finallygenerated a response to my OPRA.  Under the law, they only have seven days in which to respond.

In September, I attended the Clementon Borough council meeting where I expressed my concerns about Housing Authority.  Mayor Mark Armbruster, a Democrat and Council President Carol Andrews, also a Democrat, listened to my concerns and took immediate action by instructing the Municipal Clerk Jenai Johnson to send a letter to the Housing Authority asking them to ensure they are complying with OPMA and OPRA.

I must say that the OPRA request that I filed with the Housing Authority is not my motivation for this story, it is the next event that I am about to describe that is.  In September, I attended the Housing Authority meeting in Clementon to inform the Commissioners what happened.  I went to the meeting, like I have in so many other municipalities, with a pen and paper, a prepared list of questions and a video camera   I wanted to ask them to ensure they hold their contracted professionals accountable and to encourage them to be open and transparent.  Things did not go as planned though, it went horribly wrong.

When I entered the meeting with my equipment and materials, I was threatened by the commission.  They contacted the police in an attempt to have me arrested. This was all generated bythe commission because of my intention to video tape the meeting.  I was able to prevent this unlawful arrest with the help of the Chief of Police, who told the commission that under the law I had a legal right to video tape the meeting.  The unlawful attempts by the Housing Authority caused this meeting to start nearly 30 minutes late, even though it was legally advertised for 4:00 p.m.

As I am writing this article, I feel that it is important the residents of Clementon know what the public officials in the Borough are doing.  You, as a reader should also know my personal standpoint on politics in general.  I am a Democrat, but at the local level, I believe my party has forgotten its true mission.  It seems that the local Democrats care more about keeping the public, the people they serve, in the dark instead of doing the people’s business.  My party, the Democratic party, has forgotten the little guy but remembers big business and campaign contributions.  Is that fair?  Is it right?  No, it isn’t.  That is why last November, and again this November, I am helping to elect Republicans on the local level. I recently heard from a friend in Clementon, that the Republican Mayoral Candidate is campaigning on a platform to stop the corruption in Clementon.

Having been to countless meetings this year, I can tell you that Mayor Mark Armbruster is one of only a few Democrats that remembers what government is all about.  It’s about people.  His opponent, Jack Nicholson, talks about ending the corruption in Clementon, but the only corruption in Clementon is the corruption in which he creates and supports at the Housing Authority in Clementon.

 I am writing this because the people of Clementon should know the truth about the two candidates running for Mayor.  As an Open Government Activist, I hope that the people of Clementon choose to re-elect Mayor Mark Armbruster.  Mayor Armbruster is the type of person that has the ability to restore the Democrat Party and our government system back to what it should be, and make it about “we the people” again.  The Borough of Clementon is one of the few government agencies that truly is accountable to the people they serve.

 

-John P. Schmidt