Here is a comment from Tomas which we received today.
“Ocean Grove is privately owned by a religously affiliated organization and it is historically strongly Republican. FEMA’s actions are entirely understandable in this context.”
There also were others that speculated (with no evidence whatsoever) that FEMA was biased against Ocean Grove either because of our “Republican” political profile or because FEMA dislikes the CMA’s religious views and history of “discrimination” against gays. They simply don’t buy the idea that FEMA ruled on this application based only on their regulations.
Aside from Tomas’ ignorance revealed when he says that Ocean Grove is privately owned, he also is misinformed about our political history. Neptune is a heavily Democratic town in a Republican county. Ocean Grove has voted for the last four Democratic presidential candidates including Obama over Romney in 2012. In addition Ocean Grove majorities voted for the Democratic candidates for Senate, House, etc, across the board in 2012.
Charles Layton wrote an article about that election which is linked below.
If we are to have any hope of reversing this decision, we need to stick to the facts. If someone has evidence of bias on the part of FEMA, then they need to come forward, but we will not post comments that are accusing anyone of bias without evidence. This is a violation of our longstanding rules on Blogfinger.
By Paul Goldfinger, editor
NOTE: Here is a link to another Asbury Park Press article posted today regarding the FEMA denial:
Assemblaywomen Mary Pat Angelini just posted the following on Facebook:
“Pleased to see DEP Commissioer Bob Martin showing his interest in the Ocean Grove boardwalk rebuilding issue by seeing the boardwalk firsthand.”
@JJAnderson Like Minds Think Alike. I just saw that article too and I think we need to be calling Congressman Smith’s office. After all, the boardwalk will see more people use it than churches.
“House clears disaster aid for houses of worship”
Wonder if this helps OG case??
http://www.app.com/viewart/20130213/NJNEWS10/302130097/House-clears-disaster-aid-houses-worship
There’s a lot of people and things they don’t want to flex for with this storm and even with Irene. In the Grove, the hyper focus is on the boardwalk, but there’s a few owners of rental property that had flood damage that are getting the runaround. In the larger picture, there’s more throughout the tri-state area worst affected. No one can stop anyone from having the religious-persecution complex – that’s your right. Laws and rules change, and not always to our advantage, but that doesn’t mean exceptions can’t be made, denials can’t be reversed, or alternative funding can be found.
Boadwalk destroyed in 1992 = FEMA sees no problem in paying.
Boardwalk destroyed in 2012 = FEMA won’t pay due to a technicality.
[FEMA also paid for EVERYTHING in the case of Katrina too (e.g., privately owned piers where private boats were moored, etc, returants, etc.)]
Not saying this is an anti Repubican/Religious thing, but it does reflect some change in perspective uniquely disadvantageous to OG. FEMA’s interpretation of the rules is as flexible as Gumby. No one there want to flex for us….
Thomas, sorry, but you’ve twisted this. What I said was that if there’s a “punishment” of Ocean Grove because they’re Republicans, we’re not aware of it at Town Hall, Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Carolyn Casagrande – Republicans both – Congressman Chris Smith, who is more Republican than Ronald Reagan – and Governor Chris Christie, vice chair of the Republican Governors’ Association – don’t know about it. Neither does Congressman Frank Pallone, a Democrat who formerly represented this district.
In searching for answers to this ridiculous denial, it seems to be related more to the amount of money FEMA has spent rebuilding, recovering and paying flood insurance claims since and including Hurricane Katrina. At least, that’s what pages and pages of Congressional testimony and proposed Senate and Congressional bills say.
I highly doubt they’re pulling voter registration records and election outcomes – it’s hard enough to get them to find us on a map.
This subject has become so twisted that even the Committeewoman has it upside down. The original assertion was that FEMA, an arm of the Democratic administration, was punishing Ocean Grove because of the Republicans and the Christians in town. Now Mary Beth has changed the fantasy plot around as she condemns the idea of a “right wing conspiracy.”
It’s time to end this dopey debate.
I Have To Agree With Mary Beth On This One. I Am Ashamed My Republican Friends Would Proffer Such An Argument. This IS About FEMA Rules And They See An Out, NO Conspiracy Theories Needed.
Syllogism: What no one can deny, besides the pretentiousness of your pseudonym, are the audacious certainties of your assertions. You leave no room for discussion.
No one can deny that FEMA is a politicised organization. All politicians have an agenda. What agenda was advanced by denying OG’s application?
Yeah, there’s such a right-wing conspiracy to deny the CMA the FEMA funding to rebuild the boardwalk that the 5-0 Democratic majority Township Committee in Neptune that’s been in place for four years at least have been lobbying FEMA, state and federal officials to overturn the decision, in addition to trying to source other monies to fix the boardwalk.
Try harder, conspiracy theorists. This is about small business, peoples’ livelihoods, and the survival of a national historic district. Those issues are waaaaay bigger than political differences.
All the religious and political motivations attributed to FEMA’s decisions are simply crazy, (paranoid?, delusional?, nutty?).
Hi again. Just to be clear, and to respond to DT, the last part of my above comment said that I was not saying that I belived the decision was influenced by political factors, rather, I’m saying that those who believe that Chicago-style politics are being used on Ocean Grove have some basis to support that hypothesis. Note that FEMA has previously paid to repair the same boardwalk that they now say they cannot pay to fix. They cite a technicality that is highly inequitable considering that they are paying for every other town to fix their boardwalks. Why are they talking such a hard stand now that clearly violates the spirit of FEMAs mission and what they are doing for every other town? It’s entirely reasonable for someone to infer alterior motives are at play. As Americans, it is our duty, as intended by the Founding Fathers, that we never fully trust the federal government.
Most of the shore is Republican, so what. Chris Smith is our representative due to redistricting, as he is as rock-ribbed Republican as it gets (I was perfectly happy with Frank Pollone, but my opinion doesn’t count in this matter). The issue is FEMA rules about private recreational facilities, and they are just adhering to the party line in my opinion, without political implications. The factotums over there probably think they need to force an appeal to justify giving Ocean Grove any money. I hope the appeal succeeds. As I have previously posted, the problem is what happens if the appeal fails.
If you read the CMA press release carefully, you will see that FEMA may help a nonprofit organization (the word “religious” doesn’t even come up). The denial evidently was because of the usage (recreational) and not the private vs public.
And as for Notso Grounded in Reality, does he/she really think that because Republicans and Christians live in OG that FEMA would punish us because of that?
Golly—how paranoid can you get? Notso, you need to get deprogrammed.
I have to agree with Blogfinger here: FEMA is just following the rules. They are already engaged in aiding shore towns up and down the coast, many of which probably voted Republican in the last election. Have you noticed we have a Republican Governor, with whom FEMA is cooperating completely?
While it seems that there is an attempt to discredit some of the views above, I will note that Ocean Grove (not Neptune) was heavily Republican for many years right up until the very recent past. Even in the 2011 elections, Charles Layton wrote in this very blog on November 9, 2011, “Ocean Grove voted heavily Republican on Tuesday while Neptune Township, as a whole, was voting for Democrats.” There is no question that this is a historically Republican area of Neptune. There is also no question that Ocean Grove is a privately owned, not for profit entity where the owner is a religiously active organization historically affiliated with the Methodist Church. The February 6th, 2013 blog entry written by Blogfinger stated “FEMA determined that the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association is a private non-profit organization…”. Thus, I’m not sure where Tomas got any facts wrong.
It is interesting to note that in 1992 (Nor’easter), when there was a Republican President, FEMA did pay to rebuild Ocean Grove’s boardwalk. In 2011 (Irene) and 2012 (Sandy) they did not.
I’m not saying the decison was influenced by these factors, but I’m saying that those who believe that there is a bias against private/Christian.Republican entities have some basis for believing in this hypothesis.
Let’s not use the engineer who designed the Broadway drainage system.
Neptune and the CMA simply need to provide evidence that the boardwalk will be reconstructed as a damage mitigation system. If they can give FEMA the science they need, I think Ocean Grove can prevail. Even if they are a bunch of liberals, liberals do not ignore the facts and the science and the law. If there is merit and facts, there are merits and facts. That’s the liberal way. So it does not matter who they are. It matters that the engineers prove merit under the regulations.
Quite simply… Tomas doesn’t know what he’s talking about. That much is clear.