This site was created to open the public's eyes to how the Mayor and City Council of Gloucester City and surrounding Camden County Towns in NJ Spend your Tax Dollars. This site is also expanding to cover Gloucester County as well. To contact this site email [email protected].
“A small change can make a big difference. You are the only one who can make our world a better place to inhabit. So, don’t be afraid to take a stand .”
GLOUCESTER CITY NEW JERSEY- - Leaders of the Gloucester City Democrat Party Machine (GCDPM), and their minions, have always wanted to control the information that you the public were receiving from the media. The GCDPM also takes issue with anyone who has an opposing view. This three-part series is about my off and on clash with the GCDPM over this Freedom of Speech issue during the past 33 years.
It will include incidents that happened when I was publisher and editor of the Gloucester City News until now as editor and owner of ClearysNoteBook (CNBNews.net), a 24-7 blog established in 2006.
While housing markets across the country are recovering from the deepest throes of the foreclosure crisis, others are just stumbling into it -- and they aren't exactly the places you'd expect.
States like Maryland, Oregon and New Jersey, which maintained relatively stable markets after the housing bubble popped, saw new foreclosure filings climb by double- and triple-digit percentages in July, according to RealtyTrac.
In Maryland, for example, new foreclosure filings skyrocketed 275% compared with a year earlier. When it came to overall foreclosure activity, including default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, the state had the second highest foreclosure rate in the nation, after default-riddled Florida.
Oregon saw new foreclosure filings surge 137%and New Jersey's foreclosure starts spiked 89% year-over-year.
So what gives? In many of these cases, early government intervention aimed at helping these markets is now coming back to haunt them, says Daren Blomquist, RealtyTrac's spokesman.
"Foreclosures are continuing to boil over in a select group of markets where state legislation and court rulings kept a lid on foreclosure activity during the worst of the housing crisis," he said.
Take the D.C. metro area, where the District of Columbia converges with the suburban counties of Virginia and Maryland. Foreclosure filings in both D.C. and the Virginia suburbs of Fairfax and Arlington are down significantly year-over-year, while in Maryland's nearby Frederick and Montgomery counties, the rate of new foreclosures is skyrocketing.
"That tells me that the difference has not much to do with the underlying fundamentals of the housing market but by the way the crisis was handled," said Blomquist.
After the housing bubble popped, Virginia's government didn't try to stop many of the defaulting loans from working their way through foreclosure process. While the hit was painful at first -- by the end of 2008, the state had the 10th highest foreclosure rate in the nation -- the market has gotten back on its feet more quickly.
Meanwhile in Maryland, an aggressive effort by the state to make sure all foreclosures were handled properly during the housing crisis saved a lot of people's homes but it also postponed a lot of inevitable foreclosures, according to Blomquist. Now the banks are catching up.
Another key difference: Maryland is a judicial state, meaning all foreclosures must be approved by the courts which inevitably slows the process. In Virginia, a non-judicial state, trustees arrange to repossess homes on their own.
Among some of the states that saw the largest spikes in foreclosures last month, New Jersey and Rhode Island are judicial states.
Oregon is classified as a non-judicial state, but that status changed for many mortgages in the wake of the robo-signing scandal, which revealed that banks were playing fast and loose with foreclosure paperwork. Oregon then insisted that foreclosures on mortgages that had gone into an electronic tracking system called the Mortgage Electronic Registration System (MERS), which the robo-signing abuses were centered around, had to be approved by a court.
Nationwide, RealtyTrac reported a 6% increase in new foreclosure notices in July. That helped push overall foreclosure filings 2% higher year-over-year.
But there were some bright spots: States like California, Illinois, Pennsylvania and Georgia are seeing foreclosure filings that are nearing levels not seen since before the housing bust.
"The foreclosure boil-over markets are becoming fewer and farther between," said Blomquist.
Gloucester is Paying for Lourdes EMS Fuel and Housing But Still Has Not Received a Dime from the Company
Gloucester contracted with Lourdes EMS to take over the EMS service from the Fire Dept , This was done to cut tax payer cost.
To date Gloucester has not seen any payments from this company , but continues to pay for fuel and housing . Mayor and Council promised that this would be a great benefit to the city of Gloucester. I ask how? The city collected hundreds of thousands of dollars a year from this service in the past and now we see nothing , I ask where is this money going?
I will be posting the fuel logs that were provided to us per an OPRA request.
This site has received several emails in regards to a fight at the new bar on Rt 130 in Gloucester City.
From what we can gather there was a retirement party for one of the cities police officers and two current police officers (off duty) we assume, started fighting with each other.
One officer was injured (broken ankle) he now is on desk duty.
No word on the other officer.
Names were withheld until we can confirm this information.
If anyone has any more details in this matter, email them to [email protected]
SELLS AT A BID OF $900,000 OR ABOVE! Be on the river with potential shipping access connected to diverse operational uses, including the development of port facilities and related water-oriented manufacturing, storage, cargo processing and shipment of finished products in the Port Planned Industrial Development zoning district of Gloucester, NJ, just south of the Walt Whitman Bridge. A unique, 200’± wide land-pier extending out to the Delaware River, nearly 1,500’± from the frontage road with close proximity to Route 76 and direct lines to New York City and Philadelphia. 10.50± acre land PLUS 9.60± Riparian Grant. Seller financing available to qualified bidders.
1. Tax records show that said land is still owned by Gloucester Point INC.
CITY OF GLOUCESTER CITY
Tax Collectors Stub - Return with Payment
If Delinquent Payment is Due in Tax Office by 6/11/13
Block
Lot Qualification
Bank Code
110
2.01
Tax Account Number
Amount Due
$ 0.00
18174
GLOUCESTER POINTE
707 WATER ST
2. Said land is due to be sold at Sheriff sale on 7/3/13
Sales Listing Details
Sheriff #:
FR-13002254
Court Case #:
F01518512
Sales Date:
7/3/2013
Plaintiff:
G HEAVENER, LLC, A PENNSYLVANIA LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
Defendant:
GLOUCESTER POINT, INC.
Address:
707 WATER STREET GLOUCESTER CITY NJ 08030
Approx. Upset*:
$1,249,779.17
Attorney:
JAMES D. DONNELLY
Attorney Phone:
(856) 429-0164
Status History
Status
Date
Scheduled
7/03/2013
3. Gloucester was paid by a company to dump dirt on said land ($1,000,000)
4. Said land had buildings torn down and removed. (who did ths?? Gloucester Mayor & Council??)
Referr to Dirty Dirt under the Categories section to read more about this topic
We requested the following information from The City of Gloucester in regards to there Freedom Pier Project and was told the do not have any of the documents requested.
If you read the agreement it only relates to the construction of residential properties.
Freedom Pier llc seems to be a fantom company
The issue is that these documents are required "per there agreement"
1. I am requesting all meeting minutes as outlined in section 5.1 of the Redevelopment Agreement between the City of Gloucester and Freedom Pier llc. 1/1/08 to present
2. I am requesting all progress reports as outlined in section 5.2 of the Redevelopment Agreement between the City of Gloucester and Freedom Pier llc. 1/1/08 to present
3. I am requesting all submissions as outlined in section 5.3 of the Redevelopment Agreement between the City of Gloucester and Freedom Pier llc. 1/1/08 to present
4. I am requesting all insurance documents required as outlined in section 7 of the Redevelopment Agreement between the City of Gloucester and Freedom Pier llc. 1/1/08 to present
5. I am requesting all Approvals as outlined in Exhibit E of the Redevelopment Agreement between the City of Gloucester and Freedom Pier llc. 1/1/08 to present
6. I am requesting the development agreement between Gloucester City and Freedom Pier llc that outlines the plan as described in the Gloucester city Resolution 008-2013 (there should be a new agreement as the original calls for housing not a bar/brew pub)1/1/08 to present
Email response from Gloucester City Clerk
With regards to the attached OPRA request #'s 1-6 - None
This E-mail was sent from "RNPA0B085" (Aficio 3035).
Scan Date: 05.16.2013 15:29:53 (-0400)
Queries to: [email protected]
--
Kathleen M. Jentsch
City Clerk/Registrar of Vital Statistics
City of Gloucester City
512 Monmouth St.
Gloucester City, NJ 08030
856-456-0205 ext. 218 (phone)
856-456-8030 (fax)
Email: [email protected]Municipal Bldg. Office Hours:
M-W 8 am - 5 pm
Thurs. 10 am - 7 pm
Fri. Closed