State Senator Jennifer Beck (R) of Monmouth County represents 17 towns including OG. 8/29/15. Ocean Grove. Blogfinger.net.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor@Blogfinger
It must be catching. First the Ocean Grove United wouldn’t speak to citizens at their recent demonstration in Auditorium Square Park, and now, at the OGHOA annual politicians breakfast meeting, held at Days, the trustees of the HOA seemed to want silence to prevail—they did not provide a microphone, so most of the questions from Grovers could not be heard in the back, and some who might have asked a question did not for fear of standing up and having to yell.
The silent treatment was carried forward when those who should have been there were not: no mayor, no Congressman, no State assemblymen, no Randy Bishop and no answers, other than from Senator Jennifer Beck who offered a coherent discussion of mostly state level issues.
She spoke about approving more gambling in the state, lowering estate taxes, not increasing the gas tax, good news at Ft. Monmouth and Monmouth Park, and funding for Sandy rehab projects. Sen. Beck said that she was elected “to be your voice.” She wants to be your “advocate” and she wants to “hear from the residents.”
Most of the questions regarding Ocean Grove topics were dodged by Deputy Mayor McMillan who said that the Committee would “look into it” or “keep it in mind” or “there are two sides to that question” or “it’s on our radar screen.” He had no answers, but at least his voice was audible.
Committeeman Brantley was there, but he must have taken a wrong turn on Rt. 33 since he wanted to discuss West Lake Avenue (wherever that is) and widening of Rt. 66—a project that won’t begin until 2019. When he heard that there were no questions for him, he said, “Good” as he flashed a bright white dentist’s smile.
We asked the Deputy Mayor how the town can function properly without a mayor who shows up. He essentially said “no problem” because “we all fill in when necessary.” I suggested twice to him that a new mayor be named, but he dodged that proposal—more silence.
The silence theme continued regarding Ocean Grove, as such issues as zoning abuses, RSIS parking rules, and North End redevelopment did not come up.
But there were two questions dusted off from the past and asked, but not answered—-again, silence. One of them, which goes back to the time of the Jews wandering in the desert, “What will be done about the parking problems in Ocean Grove?”
The second was, ” Why do we keep the Wesley Lake bridges locked at night?” The woman who asked the question asserted that there were no other ways to get back to the Grove. She also framed the question as “a borderline civil rights issue.”
The Deputy Mayor had no clue, but a member of the audience who had remained awake, said that we should wait until the merchants on Cookman Ave. give up locking their stores behind metal fronts, and then we in OG can perhaps feel safe enough to unlock the gates. Bravo—let’s make him mayor.
As for the HOA, the perpetrators of this silent meeting, they were praised by the Deputy Mayor for attending Committee meetings and “keeping the Committee on its toes.” Really? At the last Committee meeting, the HOA members did not open their mouths regarding the new north Boardwalk and they are lost wandering in the wilderness of the North End project. This sounds like a “Heckuva job Brownie” moment.
But we did learn that there is a new HOA trustee, however she was not present to meet the members—another silent partner. And mark your calendars; next year the entire Home Groaners board can be replaced, preferably by members of the silent majority who actually want to get something done.
JULIE RAFFERTY from her album “No Finer Place.”
Fran: This is not the first time the HOA has attacked me personally. This time it is done with an anonymous source in their minutes.
If they were responsible they would stick to the issues and do their job. Thanks for your interest. Paul
That’s pretty interesting that OGHOA won’t respond to inquiries or discussions here on Blogfinger. They don’t seem to have any problem talking about you at their meetings, at least at their July 2015 meeting, as recorded in their minutes (which are posted at their website). http://oghoa.org/minutes/july-2015/
Fran: The OGHOA doesn’t discuss its membership numbers and it doesn’t respond to inquiries or discussions on Blogfinger.
One of its trustees, Ken Buckley, used to reach out to our readers on a regular basis, but we haven’t heard from him in a long time. He used to say that we can “agree to disagree,” but that philosophy of his has vanished, at least at BF, and that is unfortunate. Paul
Dr. Goldfinger, thank you for posting this update on the OGHOA meeting, where it sounds like no information about anything of interest to the local community was forthcoming (although I was glad to read that someone tried to find out what the OGHOA is doing to address parking.)
About a month ago, a few of us on an Ocean Grove Facebook page were discussing the parking situation and someone said she thought that the OGHOA had a parking committee. We thought of attending the August 29 meeting to ask for an update on the HOA’s efforts to address the parking problems.
I went to the OGHOA website to see what I could learn. First, it was apparent that the site is not kept up-to-date; the President’s message discussed Hurricane Sandy as if it were a recent event. Second, I checked the OGHOA’s list of committees (ironically, one is a website committee), but didn’t see one for parking.
I did see a form you could complete to contact the OGHOA, so I filled that out, asking if the HOA could update homeowners at the August 29 meeting on its efforts to improve the parking situation. I even volunteered to join a parking committee, if there was one. I submitted the form and have never received a response. As a six-month Ocean Grove homeowner, my first impression of the OGHOA is that it’s either inactive or sorely lacking in members and/or volunteers.
So your report about the meeting is consistent with my own recent experience of the silent treatment from the OGHOA. Do we know what percentage of Ocean Grove homeowners are members of this group? It only costs $10 to join, according to their website. Thanks.
If no person can claim and detail a specific harm to their civil liberties, then the locking of the gates is not a borderline civil rights issue, it is not a civil rights issue.
There is no discrimination; all face the locked gate. Asbury residents, who are enjoying a late-night in OG, have to cross back to Asbury by the BP or the boardwalk. OG residents, enjoying a late night in Asbury, have to do the same.
It is offensive people who experience real civil rights violations — actual harm — to claim that hurt feelings from reasonable security measures are civil rights violations. It is a perversion of civil rights laws to to transform hurt pride into actual damage to liberty.
Neptune Police want to control late-night pedestrian activity to certain routes, where pedestrians can be more closely watched for their own safety, and safety to property. This includes nefarious OG residents with an eye to mischief on the other side of the bridge, as well as the other way around.
Enough about locking gates. More security is better security. Anyone who has to travel by foot at 3 am for legitimate business must walk by the BP or boardwalk. Claiming that having to walk a little further in the dark and dead of night — for some — is a civil rights violation is ludicrous, and diminishes genuine and harmful civil rights violations.
Then perhaps more people should go to Committee meetings if they are truly concerned. That’s one place where a majority of committee is always guaranteed to be.
Asylum Inmate: We said that he wasn’t there, and that is the truth. No need to get defensive.
However, since you brought it up, Mr. Bishop is the only Neptune Township Committeeman who represents the Township regarding all aspects of the North End Redevelopment Plan. So you can draw your own conclusions about his absence at a public meeting where he could have addressed many more citizens than the tiny few who actually go to Committee meetings. —Paul @Blogfinger
Regarding Mr. Bishop’s inability to attend. The man DOES run a bed and breakfast and since it is summer, I am sure that at 9:00 a.m on this weekend day, he could have been found in the kitchen of The Melrose. Self employed people typically have to work for a living as well. The few thousand dollar stipend provided to our elected officials cannot compensate for the time spent with the Township and can’t provide a means of support to be available full time. Mr Bishop consistently makes efforts to be available at all activities. Maybe we are just spoiled by his constant presence and missed him and his consistently conscientious comments and answers….