Christmas spirit in Ocean Grove on Christmas Eve 2017. Paul Goldfinger photo ©
In a lead article in the Asbury Park Press dated 12/23, CMA President Michael Badger went on the attack regarding parking in the Grove. He rejects parking meters and permits for residents.
And, in a fine example of fake news, he has decided that our parking difficulties are all the fault of Asbury Park. He seems to have forgotten that parking troubles in town go back to when A. Park was a backwater dump without visitors, not too long ago.
He also is worried about Grovers getting permits when those who live in Neptune proper get none. Really?
So he will be hiring a firm to do a study, but he wants Neptuners to join the discussion since how can we exclude them from having permits?
Once again he fails to understand that there are thousands of us who live in this town, and the problem is mostly ours. Including tourists (in this case Neptunites) and the Chamber of Commercials in the discussion just muddies the waters.
He also is disingenuous when he fails to mention that CMA mega-programs are part of our problem, and that his real concern is providing parking for religious tourists flocking into the Grove and sucking up parking that should be prioritized for those of us who actually live here.
So what gives him the standing to make these pronouncements publicly as if he is an elected official in town? It betrays a bad image and attitude coming from our neighbors the CMA.
And what kind of news organization lives at the Asbury Park Press? There is no one interviewed for this article that would reject Badger’s ideas.
Read the article yourselves. Pick up a copy of the APP today or view it on line. It is quite revealing as to where the OG Camp Meeting Association is coming from.
You can comment here now, but most of you have better things to do on Christmas Eve, even if the President of the CMA has chosen the wrong message today.
We will open another discussion on Thursday. You can send me an advance opinion now at Blogfinger@verizon.net or by commenting here, or wait till we start returning to this issue after Christmas.
—–Paul @Blogfinger.net
DARLENE LOVE wishes for something other than a parking fix on Christmas Eve,2019.
If the Neptuners are included in the conversation, then how about the folks in Shark River Hills; do the River Folks get invited also, and, by the way, can we have a permit for their marina?
And don’t forget invitations for the farmers on Old Corlies. Where will their chickens park?
And let’s invite the residents of The Gables. Maybe they can use a few parking spots by the beach.
Regarding the powerful CMA, they are essentially here only in season. But how about the year-rounders who live here 24/7/12 –such as the residents and the business people?
Where is our soap box—except for BF where the pen is not mightier than the sword. Our people get 5 minutes of our elected officials’ time at their meetings. Where’s the respect and the recognition and the dialogue with the citizens of OG?
The elected Committee has power granted to them by us. “We have met the enemy, and they are us.” (Pogo)
Why does the CMA get the big soap box (APP) while the residents are essentially ignored?
And the CMA also has favored nation status in the Committee Room. They are important in town, but no more so than the rest of us! And how have the developers and their lawyers become more important than the citizens? Is this democracy?
How does the CMA acquire its power and why? Why are they allowed to use their property to defy the will of the people (see the Master Plan) and cause even more congestion in our crowded town?
And when the CMA buys a conclusion from its parking consultant, how much of that money is derived from the residents of the Grove?
This rant is brought to you by the Blogfinger muckrakers.
Do you suppose that the CMA’s consultants will give them the result that they request?