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].
The state has released district-by-district snapshots of student test scores, graduation rates, absenteeism and enrollment of graduates in two-year or four-year colleges.
For the first time, student enrollment in visual and performing arts classes and advanced AP and IB courses are included in the annual School Performance Reports, released by the state Department of Education.
For the second year, state officials released the detailed analyses of individual school performance and peer group ratings rather than raw achievement numbers.
The data is intended to help educators by charting key factors for student success in college and career.
“Data plays an important part in that," Education Commissioner Chris Cerf said in advance of the release. "We are providing information to enable managers, teachers, principals and superintendents to figure out what’s working."
New Jersey is the first state in the nation to include arts participation in its annual report, said Robert Morrison of the New Jersey Arts Education Partnership. The data shows 47 percent of high school students are enrolled in music, dance, drama or a visual arts class.
“The vast majority of students entering our schools today will be employed by companies that do not exist today in industries that have yet to be invented,” he said. “To be successful they will need a wide range of educational experiences.”
Assistant Commissioner Bari Erlichson said enrollment in visual and performing arts is “highly correlated with lots of positive student outcomes, including higher graduation rate and higher post-secondary enrollment. Our students are participating in the visual and performing arts in a significant way.”
The new data also shows almost 14,000 students enrolled in AP U.S. History, making it the most popular AP course in the state. The two English AP courses were the next most popular.
About 75 percent of 116,000 students enrolled in AP and International Baccalaureate courses took the corresponding tests.
"I’m not making any opinions one thing I will tell youI bleed green and goldand I'm for this town first, that’s what I worry about this town."
-Commissioner Jon Martin
Commissioner what in the world do you mean?
CamCo politics quotes at it's best?
During the Public Portion of the meeting Mayor Ward and Audubon Borough Commissioners responded to questions about the RFP for a study to consolidate police administrative functions among other police department issues. (The towns involved are Audubon, Collingswood, Mt. Ephraim, Oaklyn, Haddon Township and Haddonfield, Haddon Heights, led by retired Camden City Police Sgt. Councilman Rick DiRenzo and Public Safety Director Councilman Jack Merryfield led a successful effort to not join in starting the next phase of the Camden County Police Department).
Please watch and listen to the Mayor Ward when he responds to questions when the chiefs were actually consulted and then watch video 2. In video 1 Mayor Ward said there were conversations to involve the police chief months before the RFP came out. (The RFP study first came out in February). You can come to your own conclusion if something seems fishy. Also of note during the meeting the Commissioners voted to approve the November 26, 2013 minutes. After proceeding with the next item on the agenda they then voted to approve the actual minutes they were voting on, December 3rd meeting minutes. It begs to question if the three commissioners elected to run the Borough of Audubon actually look at what they vote. Not one of them saw December 3rd on the meeting minutes they read? Or did they not read what they were voting on a blindly voted yes because it was on the agenda?
One final point of interest is that Commissioner Jon Martin, who is also a Camden City Fire Fighter and union member when asked if he supported the study (which would spend tax dollars on a study which would result in essentially union busting) said:
"I’m not making any opinions one thing I will tell you I bleed green and gold and I'm for this town first, that’s what I worry about this town."
Below is a document sent to this site. In 1980, three of the current six members of the Colonial Alliance did a study to merge/share police services and guess what...they didn't do it. The towns were Oaklyn, Collingswood and Haddon Township. The cost savings were not there. The report says that the consolidation of the three departments would not result in immediate savings for all three departments.
It's time Mayor Forbes and Mayor Teague stand up and say no to the Colonial Alliance.
Also where does Haddon Township Director of Public Safety John Foley stand on this issue? Commissioner Foley, works for the Cherry Hill Fire District/Department? What happened to public safety supporting public safety?
Earlier this week this site learned of very troubling news out of Lindenwold. Folks, the only way you can say it is the the School District is our of control!
Two days ago a teacher prevented 6th graders from having lunch because their class work was not done. The kids were having difficulties in French class, a foreign language, which they are takeing fro the first time. Instead of the students meeting with the teacher after lunch, the teacher denied them lunch!
Below is a list of the school board member email addresses:
Earlier this year the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders and
Camden City Mayor and Council created the
Camden County Police Department. In
doing so they got rid of the Camden City Police Department. Currently the state of New Jersey (our tax
dollars) are funding this experiment known as the Camden County Metro
Police. Next year the contract between
the state and the county is set to expire.
One would expect Governor Christie to direct the state to continue
funding this so far failed and horrible excuse of a Police Department, however
the question that needs to be asked will it be funded in full?
Camden County Freeholder Director and Norcrat Lou Cappelli has
said that the pike towns are next.
Earlier this year it was announced that seven towns were going to do a study to combine/share police services. The seven towns were Collingswood, Mt. Ephraim, Audubon, Oaklyn, Haddon
Township, Haddon Heights and Haddonfield came together to form the Colonial Alliance which
would combine certain police services. However,
sometime in April the plan seemed to have gone away after a proposed RFP for the study was released to the public but suddenly and without
warning reappeared in June.
When the Colonial Alliance came back up in June the group was led by the new administration in Haddonfield as the lead agency. Haddonfield and Collingswood held elections in May. Both towns hold elections every four years in the year following a presidential election. Some local officials in Haddon Heights have questioned if the timing of the Colonial Alliance coming back up in June, was part of a plan to wait until after the May elections.
Haddonfield’s mayor of 12 years, Tish Colombi, a Republican who spent
28 years as one of three members on Haddonfield’s governing body decided to
step aside and not seek an 8th term.
Her successor was Jeff Kasko, a fellow Republican who also serves as the
Camden County GOP State Committeeperson.
Kasko was first elected in 2009 and served with Colombi and former
Commissioner Ed Borden from 2009-2013.
Colombi and Kasko, although both Republicans were known to differ on
many issues.
The seven mayors of the towns had agreed to move forward to do a study
and look at ways to combine police administration and other services. In July the RFP for the study was released by Haddonfield without all the towns
agreeing to it. What happened is that
the Mayor’s agreed to it but something went terribly, terribly wrong, the likes
of which you do not see often in Democrat Camden County. [Of the
seven towns, two of them Haddon Heights and Haddonfield have Republican
Mayors. Haddon Township has an Independent Mayor]. From documents Camden and Gloucester County The Truth received that all
the Mayors assured each other that they were all on board.
Well as reported on Clearysnotebook, Haddon Heights was not on board
and pulled out. The majority of the
councilmembers led by former Camden City police officer Rick DiRenzo, did not support the
idea. The Republican led council defeated the plan. Why Mayor Forte, also a Republican said the council
was on board and he had the votes is interesting. The only member of council to express support
was ----surprise--- the lone Democrat Stephen Berryhill.
Following Haddon Heights pulling out, and although the issue seemed
dead and all went quiet, until last week the issue came back up as it appears the other six towns are moving forward led by Haddonfield Borough.
Take a look at the below emails, they are eye opening.
Some highlights:
1. Mayor Maley communiticating with Lou Cappelli. Why would Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson email Lou Cappelli using personal email addresses? And why would Lou Cappelli forward this to Mayor Maley?
2. Mayor Forte saying he has the votes to pass this? How'd that work out for the good Mayor of Haddon Heights?
3. Oaklyn Mayor Robert Forbes when recieved an email with a subject: OPRA REQUEST 7/23 said, "You never saw me...I was never here..." Mayor what in the world does this mean?
4. Is Lou Cappelli involved with the Colonial Allaince?
5. Mayor Randy Teague of Haddon Township actually asking a question and showing common sense. Thank you Mayor.
6. Since the Mayor's meet in a public building every month the public, that means YOU! can attend there meetings. The next meeting is in Mt. Ephraim on October 3, Oaklyn on November 7, and Collingswood on December 5. The meetings start at 6:30 (at least that has been the past practice) so show up and say Hi!
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.
A Florida couple is alleging that police climbed through a window into their home without a search warrant and shot their dogs.
The Pensacola News Journal reported the incident occurred Sunday around 10:30 p.m. when deputies entered the home of 22-year-old Travis Nicholas and 32-year-old Cristina Moses. Nicholas and Moses were awoken by the noise and handcuffed. During the incident, their two dogs were shot, with one officer claiming he had been bitten. One of the dogs was euthanized later as a result of the shooting.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that the officers were investigating an earlier case of aggravated assault. In looking for a second suspect, statements from the assault victim and witnesses led deputies to the home where they found one window open while all others were closed.
“An upside-down bucket has been placed beneath the open window with a footprint on it, indicating possible unlawful entry,” a sheriff’s office press release stated, noting that the officers made repeated attempts to have someone open the door.
When those efforts were not successful, the deputies entered the house through the open window.
The sheriff’s office said that upon entering the home, two pit bulls became aggressive, with one biting a deputy’s leg. He shot the dog when it came at him a second time. At this point the second dog ran toward the officer, which prompted him to shoot this dog as well.
The Pensacola News Journal presented more details about what might have happened: Earlier that day man named Wayde Morris was arrested for aggravated assault after allegedly coming at his ex-girlfriend and her father with a baseball bat and machete. A second suspect identified as “Travis” had reportedly pointed a gun at people. It is this second person that police were on the hunt for Sunday night.
Fast-forward to when Nicholas and Moses were awoken by police at their bedroom door. The couple stated that they didn’t hear knocking on their front door, and it wasn’t until the police were inside their home that the dogs alerted them to their presence.
“I opened the door, and there were six police officers pointing guns at me and flashlights, saying ‘Show me your hands. Get on the ground,’” Moses told the News Journal.
Moses stated that Nicholas was then dragged into the hallway.
The News Journal reported that the officers did not have a search warrant, but noted that entering a home without a warrant is permissible if there is probable cause, such as fearing someone is in danger or that a suspect could escape.
The News Journal reported Nicholas denying even owning a gun. Neither Nicholas nor Moses had been charged as of Wednesday.
While the incident is under review, the press release states the deputies involved are on administrative duty.
Philadelphia Division Special Agent in Charge Edward J. Hanko announced today the arrest of Robert F. Evans, Jr. Evans, a Hughestown Borough Police officer, was arrested without incident this morning and has been charged in the Middle District of Pennsylvania via Complaint and Warrant with the distribution of oxycodone in violation of Title 21, United States code, Section 841.
Evans made an initial appearance in United States District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Scranton, at 1:00 p.m. today.
This investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Philadelphia Division, Scranton Resident Agency; the Pennsylvania State Police; the Pennsylvania Attorney General Office, Bureau of Narcotics Investigation; and the Luzerne County District Attorney’s Office.
FBI agents Tuesday arrested the mayors of Miami Lakes and Sweetwater on bribery charges related to government contracts in their towns. Two lobbyists also were arrested.
Agents arrested Miami Lakes Mayor Michael Pizzi and Sweetwater Mayor Manuel “Manny” Maroño at their City Hall offices.
Pizzi and Maroño made their first appearances in Miami federal court Tuesday, on a charge of conspiracy to commit extortion. Pizzi’s bond was set at $100,000, Maroño’s at $250,000.
Also arrested on the same charge were lobbyists Jorge Forte, the former manager of North Bay Village, and attorney/lobbyist Richard Candia. They are scheduled to surrender to authorities Wednesday.
All four men were charged with participating in a kickback and bribery scheme in connection with purported federal grants; Maroño allegedly acted as mayor of Sweetwater, and Pizzi allegedly acted as the mayor of Miami Lakes and the town attorney for the Town of Medley.
Maroño is accused of breaking the law with Forte and Candia. Pizzi is accused of breaking the law with Candia, an attorney with the Becker & Poliakoff law firm. Candia was chief of staff for state Sen. Mario Diaz-Balart in the mid-1990s.
Pizzi, who is serving his second term as mayor, has been in the public eye for years. He is an attorney and former federal probation officer who once worked for a high-profile criminal defense law firm in Miami and served as a Miami Lakes councilman before running successfully for town mayor in 2008. He was reelected last year.
In 2012, Pizzi easily defeated challenger Wayne Slaton, who had served as Miami Lakes’ first mayor after its incorporation in 2000. The Pizzi-Slaton mayoral showdown was particularly nasty for Miami Lakes, a normally below-the-radar community that was originally home to the Graham family’s dairy farm.
Slaton said Tuesday the town has changed.
“Miami Lakes was considered a jewel that was sort of set apart … untouched, community-oriented. No rough stuff,” he said.
Now?
“It’s embarrassing.”
Previously, Pizzi drew attention to himself by helping lead the effort to recall a political nemesis, Miami-Dade Commissioner Natacha Seijas, in 2011. She was voted out of office that year along with County Mayor Carlos Alvarez in a special recall election.
In Miami Lakes City Hall, employees were tight-lipped on Tuesday morning.
One, who didn’t want to be named, said Pizzi was led out in handcuffs.
Pizzi’s office door was open around noon Tuesday. A woman inside looked as though she had been crying. She didn’t look up from her desk or say a word as reporters streamed in.
Inside his office, Pizzi’s computer was still on. A pencil rested on a sheet of computer paper, where a hand-written noted was scrawled. Also on his desk: various papers, a red folder, a printed-out email. On the corner of the desk was a picture of Pizzi in a blue athletic shirt, fists raised. He was scheduled to fight the mayor of Hialeah in a charity match Sept 6.
A man and woman came to the mayor’s office to make an appointment with him. When told he had been arrested, the woman’s jaw dropped. The two didn’t want to comment, only saying they had never before met Pizzi.
A few minutes later, the window on the door leading into the mayor’s office had been blocked. A sheet of brown paper had been taped over it. The door was locked.
Miami Lakes residents had mixed reaction to Pizzi’s arrest.
“I am speechless,” said Hope Reynolds, 59. “He is always saying things have to be done right and there is always this feeling that he would not be involved in anything that is wrong.”
She said she is giving the mayor the benefit of the doubt and will rely on the courts to determine his guilt or innocence.
Others, however, were not shocked.
“There has always been suspicions but I am assuming the FBI has more concrete evidence,’’ said Claudia Luces, 41. “I guess we will see what the FBI will bring out.’’
Meanwhile, town council members were digesting the news.
“All I know is what I have been reading in the paper,” said Councilman Nelson Hernandez. “I am ready to take leadership with my colleagues on the council to move forward and past this as soon as possible. Our residents want us to represent them and now, in times like these, we have to take leadership.”
Maroño, a member of the Sweetwater City Commission since 1995, was elected mayor in 2003.
Like Pizzi, Maroño also has a prominent profile for a small-town official. He is currently serving as president of the Florida League of Cities, with a membership of more than 400 cities, towns and villages in the state. In 2011, Maroño also played a role on Gov. Rick Scott’s transition team. That year, Maroño and Forte launched a public affairs and business development firm, 7 Strategies.
Forte and Maroño, who had known each other since high school, named the company in a reference to Scott’s seven-step plan to create 700,000 jobs in seven years. 7 Strategies is focused on strategies that forge “better ties” between clients and the public sector, the partners told The South Florida Business Journal in 2011. It also lobbies on behalf of some clients.
Maroño touted his early support of the governor as a value for potential clients. He said his company would vet clients to make sure their agenda is “in line with the governor’s strategy and is not going to detract from that message.”
“We know how local government works, how the state works, how the county works and how the governor works – which is the most important part,” Maroño told the Business Journal. “We know how the governor works.”
A spokeswoman for the Republican governor said Scott will suspend both mayors from office while they await trial.
In a statement after the arrests, Scott said: “This is disappointing. … While we wait to see the evidence, the fact remains that elected officials must be held to the highest standard.’’
Meanwhile, Sweetwater Councilwoman Isolina Maroño, the mayor’s mother, maintained her son’s innocence.
“It’s not true," she told reporters at Sweetwater City Hall. “Whatever they are saying is not true ... He needs to clear this up. He’ll clear it up.’’
Later Tuesday, Maroño’s father, also named Manuel, said he hadn’t spoken to his son but defended his son’s character and tenure.
“I raised him, and I raised him well,’’ he said. “This city was a dump. Look around at what he’s done.’’
Vice Mayor and Commission President Jose Diaz became acting mayor, in accordance with the city charter. Sweetwater has a strong-mayor form of government.
Diaz met with city department heads early Tuesday afternoon. He told reporters outside City Hall he was “surprised and saddened’’ by the news, speaking highly of Maroño’s tenure as mayor.
“The city has progressed, not just in size, but in quality,’’ he said.
Tears rolled down from under Councilman Manuel Duasso’s sunglasses as he left City Hall on Tuesday. A longtime councilman and city employee, he said he felt for the city and its people.
“I feel what happens to this city,’’ he said.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/06/3545612_p2/fbi-arrests-mayors-of-miami-lakes.html#storylink=cpy
Newly Hired Gloucester City Police Officer Arrested In Wildwood NJ on 7/12/13 . This officer just finished the police academy several days before this arrest. He was due to start work the following week.
Unconfirmed reports are that this officer will return to work in 6 months.
What is going on with the Gloucester City PD??????