One member of the Lakewood community that took part in publicly berating the victim's family has decided to write a public apology to the family that was ostracized from our community. He admits to having been misled by people he respected and was the only person involved to make such a public statement. He is a true adom gadol(righteous person). He stood up for what he thought was right, and was able to stand up when he realized he was wrong. We are publishing this letter to honor him.
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The New Jersey State Assembly Budget Committee today was scheduled to consider A-2586, legislation that would exempt private education institutions, like Georgian Court and BMG from local zoning jurisdiction. The exemption would apply not only to their campus, but to all other property in which they have an interest or acquire an interest sometime in the future.” Due to much public outcry the bill was tabled for now, and will be brought up again at a later date. Mayor of Hoboken, Dawn Zimmer sent the following letter to the Assembly Budget Committee and sponsors of the legislation today: . June 17, 2013 RE: A2586/S1534 Dear Assembly Budget Committee Members: Hoboken is home to Stevens Institute of Technology, a superb engineering institution that we are very proud to have located in the City of Hoboken. The history of Hoboken is inextricably intertwined with the history of the Stevens family and the Stevens Institute of Technology. It is, however, important to remember that cities like Hoboken that house great educational institutions are towns that have colleges within them, not college towns. While the interests of the university are certainly important to our City, they are not always consistent with the interests of the City and the vast majority of its residents. The City of Hoboken has a cooperative relationship with Stevens Institute of Technology and has always given significant weight to its needs. However, when the interests of Stevens are not consistent with the needs of our community as a whole, it is the community as a whole that we as elected officials are responsible to serve. The proposed legislation would exempt private colleges like Stevens from local zoning laws, not only with regard to their own campuses, but with respect to all property they own or later acquire an interest in. It would allow them to build anything they wish, changing the character of our City in any way they choose. They would not be limited to classrooms and student housing. Instead, they could build large-scale residential and commercial projects to raise money for their private institutions. These decisions would be made by individuals with no public accountability whatsoever and whose sole fiduciary responsibility is to their institutions, not to the communities that will be transformed by their choices. I do not believe that the current leadership of Stevens would abuse this authority if it were given to them, but that is not the point. All that matters is that they could. For government to hand over decision-making authority on important public issues to private entities based on the hope that they will act responsibly is completely and totally irresponsible. Some elected officials might prefer to avoid responsibility for making unpopular decisions by saying “I have no power to stop this, so it is not my fault.” As elected officials, legislating our own copout is the ultimate copout. It is our job to make the right decisions for our entire communities and to explain to our residents as well as to the educational institutions like Stevens that it is our responsibility to support why we have made those decisions. We have no right as elected officials to delegate that decision-making to others, and that is what this legislation irresponsibly does. I am extremely disappointed that this legislation has moved forward without coordination with the elected officials of the municipalities that are affected. Instead, there appears to have been coordination only with the educational institutions that have lobbied for this drastic and unprecedented delegation of government authority to their privately-held unaccountable institutions. The potential for “unanticipated consequences” in this legislation is so blatantly obvious that a strong argument could be made that they are not unintended at all. I urge you to rethink this extraordinarily ill-advised piece of legislation and vote no. Best regards, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer CC: The Honorable Janice S. Mironov, Mayor, East Windsor The Honorable Robert H. Conley, Mayor, Madison Borough The Honorable Ann Dassing, Mayor, Caldwell Borough The Honorable Maria DiGiovanni, Mayor, Hackettstown The Honorable Liz Lempert, Mayor, Princeton The Honorable Mayor-Elect, Steven Fulop, Jersey City The Honorable James S. Kownacki, Mayor, Lawrence Township (Mercer) The Honorable Raymond J. McCarthy, Mayor, Bloomfield Township The Honorable Alex Torpey, Village President, Township of South Orange Village The Honorable Janet W. Tucci, Mayor, West Long Branch Borough Legislation Sponsors Assemblywoman Celeste M. Riley Senator Paul A. Sarlo Assemblyman Thomas P. Giblin Senator Robert W. Singer Assemblyman Patrick J. Diegnan, Jr. Assemblyman Gordon M. Johnson Assemblyman Sean T. Kean Assemblyman Declan J. O’Scanlon, Jr. Assemblywoman Shavonda E. Sumter Assemblyman Robert D. Clifton Assemblyman Albert Coutinho Assemblyman David P. Rible APP
A grand jury has indicted the former Wall school superintendent on charges that include official misconduct, theft by deception, money laundering, mortgage fraud and tampering with records. According to a news release from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, James F. Habel, 56, of Dunedin, Fla., who used to live in Point Pleasant Beach, fraudulently obtained vacation time payouts and stole electronic equipment that belonged to the district. He also tried to hide his crimes, by directing district employees to destroy records and telling the information technology director to delete emails, the news release said. The IT director ignored that directive, according to the news release. A former Wall assistant superintendent, Sandra Brower, was indicted earlier this year, charged with failing to report allegations that a teacher improperly touched a child. Officials have said that there was no truth to those allegations, but school officials were obligated to report them to police. Habel is also now charged with official misconduct, conspiracy and obstruction in that case too, the news release said. According to the indictment that alleges financial crimes: Habel was the superintendent from March 2003 until June 2012, and his salary ranged from $145,000 to $225,000. He also got at least 25 vacation days, five personal days and five bonus days a year, as well as unlimited use of a 2005 Yukon Denali. He was allowed to cash in unused vacation days, and transfer the proceeds to tax-sheltered annuity accounts. The district also made contributions to those accounts each year. The misconduct began in October 2003, some seven months after he got the job. He routinely took days off, often on Mondays and Fridays, but failed to notify the district of his absences, so those vacation days were never deducted from his vacation time balance. During his nine years in the district, he failed to report 110 absences, starting with five days he spent in Florida in October 2003. The last such days he took off were on Dec. 20, 21, and 22 of 2011, when he was actually in Virginia and Florida. He was paid about $93,000 for those 110 vacation days. In December 2011, he told the IT director to delete from the district’s server emails from some school board members and emails from an airline that Habel frequently used to travel to Florida. The IT director did not delete the emails. That month Habel also shredded, removed or destroyed all of his office files. After he left the district, he failed to return a Dell desktop, a flat-panel monitor, a Dell laptop, a Motorola Droid cell phone and an Apple iPad, worth a total of $8,771. He ignored district employee’s repeated attempts to retrieve that equipment. "This appears to be a man so intoxicated with power that he's lost all grasp of reality and doesn't seem to realize how much damage his ego is doing to an entire country."
Turkey's prime minister rallied hundreds of thousands of supporters Sunday as riot police battled anti-government protesters in neighborhoods across Istanbul and the capital of Ankara. "This country isn't just any country, you can't hold a rally wherever you wish," Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. "You can do that where it is allowed." Tear gas hung in the air in many central districts as armored police trucks used water cannon to try to disperse angry crowds intent on reaching Istanbul's Taksim Square and recapturing Gezi Park, where police forcefully evicted demonstrators Saturday evening. As protesters traded rocks for tear gas and plastic bullets while chanting anti-government slogans, a crowd numbering more than 100,000 massed at a parade ground about six miles west of Istanbul's center to hear Erdogan speak. "These hundreds of thousands of people are not the ones who have burned and destroyed, these hundreds of thousands of people are not traitors like those who throw Molotov cocktails at my people," Erdogan proclaimed to thunderous applause. More than 100 people are believed to have been detained during Saturday night's demonstrations in the areas of Taksim, the main focus of the protests, and the nearby districts of Harbiye and Mecidiyekoy. Senior figures in Erdogan's ruling Justice and Development Party have warned that anyone who defies a ban on the demonstrations would be considered a terrorist and treated accordingly. "From now on the state will unfortunately have to consider everyone who remains there a supporter or member of a terror organization," Minister for European Union Affairs Egemen Bagis said late Saturday. "The protests from now on will play into the hands of some separatist organizations that want to break the peace and prioritize vandalism and terrorism." Many demonstrators on the ground reject being labeled as extremists. Baris Uyar, 35, an electronic engineer, said he'd been demonstrating for more than two weeks. "I don't know, of 10,000 people, there might be one person throwing a stone, but the police were throwing tear gas at those thousands of people," he said. Elected in 2002, Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AK Party) has presided over a decade of economic and political prosperity and embarked on far-reaching democratic reforms that eliminated the political influence of Turkey's once all-powerful military. Erdogan's legacy has been threatened by recent violent unrest when police clashed with anti-government protesters, who claim the prime minister has become autocratic and doesn't respect minority opinions. At least four people — including a policeman — have died, according to Amnesty International. The Turkish Medical Association estimates more than 7,500 have been injured and on Sunday called on the government "to stop the barbaric violence immediately." But at the Kazlicesme parade ground in a western suburb of Istanbul, the violence seemed a world away. Scores of public buses commandeered for the rally, some with posters of Erdogan draped across the front, shuttled thousands of party faithful to the rally. Ferries running at capacity used a service dock as throngs poured in to hear the prime minister speak for more than two hours. The prime minister's international standing has suffered with criticism of his police tactics coming under fire from the White House and European Union. Erdogan has blasted back, saying Saturday that international forces want to stunt Turkey's growth and suggesting there was a plot by foreign media to slander the country as a whole. "These dark circles will never be able to succeed in their attempt to destabilize this country," Erdogan said. "One thing they did not count on was the determination of its people." At the rally, foreign journalists were met with suspicion by AK Party supporters who said international media has exaggerated claims of police violence and been too sympathetic toward protesters. None of the supporters who talked with USA TODAY would give their last names and only agreed to speak reluctantly. Guney, a 23-year-old student, said he thought the police had acted reasonably toward protesters in Taksim Square, which he said contained violent extremists. "I wouldn't throw stones at my police, that's not right," he said. "Foreign press said Erdogan is dictator, but that's not true." Cuneyt, a 40-year-old manager of a company, said he liked Erdogan's economic policies but not necessarily his Islamist credentials. "For me, the most important thing is the economy, he's pushing Turkey forward," he said. "Nobody can stop him — nobody can stop Turkey." Analysts agree that even as Erdogan's comes under criticism abroad he's plenty of boosters — as evidenced at the parade ground — to fall back on. "Prime Minister Erdogan still has a big enough support base to carry him through the local elections and the presidential elections," said Ozgur Unluhisarcikli, an Ankara-based political analyst with the German Marshall Fund. But Unluhisarcikli warns that Erdogan's polarizing rhetoric and belligerent attitude toward critics may jeopardize Turkey's standing as a democratic ally. "The level of polarization in Turkey is now so high that Turkey is turning into a house divided against itself," he said. "It remains to be seen if Turkey can remain as a regional power." Gareth Jenkins, an Istanbul-based researcher with the Silk Road Studies Program at John Hopkins University, says Erdogan's legacy as an economic reformer is positive and for this reason many voters remain loyal. "A lot of them voted for AK Party last time because of the economy and they were probably right," he said. The flipside, Jenkins says, is that Erdogan's polarizing rhetoric continues to raise tensions. Either the unrest will continue — and damage Turkey's economy — or the government will use force to crush dissent along with Turkey's democratic credentials. "This appears to be a man so intoxicated with power that he's lost all grasp of reality and doesn't seem to realize how much damage his ego is doing to an entire country." A different Lakewood story
In communities across the country, aging shopping centers are losing business to larger and newer competitors. The decline of these retail centers may leave holes in the community fabric, but it can also provide opportunities to reuse these sites to meet other community needs. Facing the decline of its Villa Italia shopping mall, the City of Lakewood worked with citizens, civic groups, and a local developer to transform the property into Belmar-the real, walkable downtown that this Denver suburb had lacked. Belmar is located across the street from the city's government center. A traditional grid of narrow streets and small blocks replaces the footprint of the old mall. When complete in 2007, these new, pedestrian-friendly blocks will have one million square feet of shops, restaurants, and other services. The development will also include 1,300 new homes, including town homes, loft apartments, and live-work units. Belmar will have 700,000 square feet of the first new Class-A office space built in the area in over a decade. Nine acres of parks and plazas will give people a place to get together, relax, and enjoy festivals and other entertainment. Putting time and effort into a high quality redevelopment of this site has been a great investment for Lakewood. Belmar brings a new sense of vibrancy and prosperity to the area. The redevelopment would not have been possible without a strong partnership between the city and the developer. The inclusive process transformed citizens' concerns about losing the mall into civic pride for their new downtown. Belmar's first phase has been a success. Its retail income is comparable to higher-end malls. Belmar's office space is fully leased and rental and for-sale housing are outperforming the local market. Upon its completion, the city estimates it will add $952 million to the local economy and will directly create over 7,000 permanent jobs. This bill sponsored by Georgian Court Board member Senator Robert Singer is actually going to be voted on and promoted by him and his Assemblymen, Kean and Rible. There are many reasons this bill will be detrimental to daily life in Lakewood. Combined with the proposed "smart growth" plan this bill will cause problems beyond our ability to rectify.
APP Editorial: Don't let private schools bypass land-use laws Aug 10, 2012 A bill that would exempt private colleges and universities from local planning and zoning regulations has the mayors of most of the towns that host them up in arms( not Lakewood). The reasons for the opposition to the bill, which was recently approved by the state Senate and awaits Assembly action in the fall, are clear enough. Giving colleges carte blanche to build sports arenas, dormitories and other facilities without review by municipal officials and without opportunities for public input is inimical to representative government and to good planning principles. Many projects have a major impact on parking, traffic flow and quality of life issues. And they frequently require additional public services. Mayors also rightfully fear that allowing tax-exempt colleges to expand will remove even more taxable properties from the tax rolls. Look no farther than the love-hate relationship that exists between communities and the public colleges in their midst that already enjoy such land-use exemptions — Piscataway and Rutgers come immediately to mind — to understand the legitimacy of mayors’ concerns. Municipal leaders often pay public homage to their associations with the schools while privately bemoaning the burdens on local services and the loss of tax revenue. For sure, attempts by some colleges to expand facilities or the footprint of the campus itself have been slowed, and in some cases stopped, by reticent planning and zoning boards. That has been the case in recent days at Monmouth University in West Long Branch and at Georgian Court University in Lakewood, helping prompt this legislation. In the Senate, the bill was cosponsored by former Lakewood mayor and state Sen. Bob Singer, R-Ocean, who is interested, no doubt, in greasing the skids for Georgian Court, where he is a member of the Board of Trustees, and the Beth Medrash Govoha yeshiva, which some familiar with the legislation believe would be eligible for exemption from land use regulations as well. In the Assembly, one of the cosponsors is Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, whose district includes Monmouth University’s host town. Proposed expansions at that campus, including the most recent attempt to add a dormitory, have met strong — and often reasonable — resistance from its residential neighbors. But allowing unfettered, unregulated growth is not in the best interest of the host communities. And it could well be argued that the local review process often results in plans that, in the long run, best serve both the community and the college. As if the lack of local land use review weren’t bad enough, the legislation not only allows construction of new facilities on the current footprint of the campus, but would allow expansion of the footprint. And, under terms of the bill, it could allow the university to purchase property in areas not contiguous to the campus, and still not be subject to land use review. Towns generally recognize the value to the community of hosting a college. And most try to accommodate its needs. Giving universities complete control over how they expand could not only result in unwelcome consequences but cause irreconcilable damage to the town-gown relationship. We’ve seen that at times with our public universities. Why expand the pain, especially at schools over which the public has no other control? This is a bad bill — one that should die in the Assembly. Emergency –
The bill to allow colleges, such as Georgian Court, to build whatever they want, without Planning Board or Zoning Board approval, is going to be considered in a Budget Committee meeting on Monday at 10 AM. Our neighborhood desperately needs you to read the attached file titled “Grassroots Script…” and call our Assemblymen, and the people on the attached file, to tell them to reject this bill. Also, please call or email to anyone else who you know, in NJ, who would also make calls to the Assemblymen in their districts. Everything that you need to know is in the following text and the attached “Grassroots” file. The other file has three editorials which support our position. For Lakewood, we need Assemblyman Sean T. Kean (732) 974-0400 contacted as well as Assemblyman David P. Rible (732) 974-0400. They are on the Bob Singer team and Bob Singer is the one who betrayed the residents. They need to hear from us. Thanks, Avrohom APP
In one of the final acts by an old, once-prestigious engineering firm, Birdsall Services Group on Thursday agreed to pay a $1 million fine while pleading guilty to the criminal pay-to-play corruption charges that spurred its whirlwind downfall. Just days before the Eatontown firm’s assets is set to be sold in bankruptcy proceedings, its attorney pleaded guilty on behalf of the company to two criminal charges, admitting the firm reaped government contracts through illegal campaign contributions for more than six years. The crimes to which attorney Joseph Hayden entered guilty pleas are: making false representations to obtain government contracts; and financial facilitation, which is commonly known as money laundering. A second charge of money laundering, as well as charges of conspiracy, falsifying records, making prohibited corporation contributions through employees, and concealment of contributions will be dismissed in the plea bargain. The criminal fine is in addition to $2.6 million that Birdsall agreed to pay in April to settle a civil forfeiture action brought by the state Attorney General’s Office related to the corruption charges. Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels accepted the firm’s guilty plea and scheduled sentencing for Aug. 30. Criminal charges related to the pay-to-play scheme are pending against seven of Birdsall’s former executives, who are due back in court on Aug. 5. The plea arrangement Hayden entered into on behalf of the troubled firm is the same offer he turned down at an arraignment on May 20. Hayden told Daniels then that the deal was unacceptable. But with the firm’s assets set to be sold in bankruptcy proceedings within days, Hayden said it was in the best interests of the company’s creditors to resolve the criminal charges. “It’s best to put this case behind us and move on with the sale of the company,’’ Hayden told the judge, noting that Birdsall’s bankruptcy trustee, Edwin Stier, approved the guilty plea and its consequences. “This closes a chapter on Birdsall so that the new company is free to develop its own identity,’’ Stier said in a telephone interview after the plea hearing. “I felt it was my obligation to get the criminal case resolved,” he said. “Importantly, it would be clear that any debarment of Birdsall from any future public contracts would have no adverse affect on the acquiring company’s ability to collect money that is owed to Birdsall.” The plea agreement calls for Birdsall to be barred from obtaining any government contracts in New Jersey for 10 years, although the debarment will not apply to the California firm, Partner Engineering and Science, Inc., which is set to purchase Birdsall’s assets in a bankruptcy proceeding sometime next week. The plea bargain also requires Birdsall to cooperate in the prosecution of its former executives, Deputy Attorney General Anthony Picione told the judge. Birdsall, founded in 1919, and the seven former executives were named in a nine-count indictment March 26, following an investigation by the state into the company’s campaign contribution practices. The indictment alleged the defendants disguised corporate political contributions that would have barred the firm from receiving public contracts under the state's pay-to-play laws as smaller contributions from individuals that are not required to be reported. The individuals were reimbursed for the political contributions through company bonuses, authorities said. The scheme went on for more than six years and involved hundreds of thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions that netted millions of dollars in public contracts, authorities have alleged. Hayden, in admitting guilty on behalf of the firm, said the scheme went on from Jan 1, 2006, through May 31, 2012, in Ocean, Monmouth, Middlesex, and Bergen counties and elsewhere. He acknowledged that it was proceeds of a criminal enterprise — the profits from the illegally obtained contracts — that were used to reimburse employees for making campaign contributions. “This is a victory for the public and for all who believe that government contracts should be awarded fairly and openly, not handed to politically connected firms that pay for the privilege with campaign contributions,” First Assistant Attorney General Thomas R. Calcagni said in a news release issued after the plea hearing. Hayden said Judge Michael B. Kaplan, who is overseeing the bankruptcy proceeding in federal court, signed an order Thursday morning approving the plea deal in the criminal case. Since the firm’s indictment, its downfall has been swift. Upon the indictment, the state froze Birdsall’s assets, then valued at $41.6 million. That prompted Birdsall to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. But before Birdsall agreed to settle the civil forefeiture case, it had to temporarily furlough its employees when it couldn’t gain access to cash to make payroll. The firm’s staff has dwindled from 352 at the time the indictment was handed up, to about 100, and a number of its clients has dropped the firm. Kaplan last week approved the sale of the firm’s assets to Partner, a Torrance, Calif.-based firm with 24 offices nationwide, including in Red Bank and Ramsey in New Jersey. The deal is expected to close next week, Stier said. The company will pay $5.6 million for assets that include Birdsall's accounts receivable, physical assets, select contracts, existing project files, and select intellectual property and license agreements. Last year, Birdsall had about 1,850 public contracts worth more than $26 million, representing about half of its business. Many of those contracts were with government agencies in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Birdsall has been engaged in some Sandy recovery projects, including rebuilding Belmar’s boardwalk, but Belmar was among the entities that recently dropped Birdsall. |