The OG Home Groaners sent out an email today, October 3, which said:
Paul Goldfinger, Editor Blogfinger.net Oct. 3, 2020
So they had a “very productive meeting, on Sept. 29,” but who put the Home Groaners in charge of explaining that meeting to the residents of Ocean Grove? Who appointed the HOA and the Parking Alliance to represent the public at the 9/29 meeting?
According to the email above, the CMA “scheduled the Zoom meeting,” but the Groaners are the face of the Zoom. Why isn’t the Neptune Committee in charge of this process?
The email doesn’t even tell us who will be present at the “follow-up” Zoom-fest besides the HOA. Does the HOA represent the citizens of OG or do they represent the CMA? Their past behavior, for example their support of the NERP, suggests the latter.
So now the Groaners are supporting a Zoom meeting to discuss all this, but their last Zoom meeting attracted 43 people–hardly a resounding endorsement of their ability to do anything for Grovarian residents who number over 3,000 (at least, as determined by the 2010 census.)
If any of you still maintain any interest in solving OG’s parking problems, you can attend, but none of this running-around in-circles crowd will have the guts to address the core of the problem which is excessive tourism, especially by the Chamber of Commercials and the Camp Meeting.
Meanwhile residents, don’t hold your breath for a parking permit; just buy 1 or 2 orange cones and use them in peak season as needed since they are not illegal.
And why aren’t the Groaners having the BPA, the CMA, elected officials, and Kimley-Horn present at the ZOOM so we can hear from them directly? Why didn’t they put that meeting from Sept. 29 on ZOOM for all of us to hear what they heard? Then we wouldn’t need the HOA to explain it to us.
ARLO GUTHRIE: Isn’t this subject dead?
Oy Vey. What a mess.
Oct 4: The BPA sent out an email about the forthcoming Zoom event and they said, “Neptune Township recently announced that it will host a Zoom Meeting at 6pm, Thursday, October 8, 2020”
So Neptune is sponsoring this event? Why haven’t the Neptuners said something publicly themselves? Are they unable to formally take responsibility for the Zoom? Will they be hiding behind the opaque curtain at the Municipal Building?
So who is in charge of the Zoom: CMA, HOA, BPA or Neptune officials? This has the making of chaos.
And by the way, 3 days ago the Coaster ran a front page parking piece telling us that parking is “easier” this season due to the virus. There was no mention of the Zoom session.
But they did verify that the CMA was organizing “public comment sessions” for “input as part of the survey.”
So “public comment sessions” are being held without anyone seeing the survey report in advance.
And that is how the Coastericans are keeping us up to date!
Why is the CMA treated as something special in Neptune Township? It seems to have undue influence with elected officials at the Mother Ship who are now stepping aside while the self-interested CMA runs the parking assessment and presumably will be allowed to disproportionately influence the implementation of a solution.
Although it is true that the CMA owns most or all of the land in the Grove, the homeowners pay the land taxes. Without those land taxes being paid by citizens, what would happen?
So the CMA should be no more important in our local democracy than OG residents.
Maybe the Township should take charge of the parking mess in conjunction with legitimate representatives of taxpaying residents.
Grover residents need an activist organization of its own. The bossy and misbegotten and misdirected Home Groaners are not that.
Thomas: None of the groups who attended that 9/29 meeting have any power to implement any plan in town.
The elected officials weren’t there nor were any unaffiliated tax-paying citizens invited. Did those attendees get to read the consultants’ full report? Or were they merely spoon fed CMA talking points?
And now, what is the purpose of the HOA Zoom meeting if they can’t decide anything? Do they just want the Zoomers to be cheerleaders for a plan that they will not have read? Is this just a propaganda set-up?
Provide the CMA plan to everyone online and THEN have a meeting to discuss. —PG Blogfinger.net
Why doesn’t the CMA publish the entire report by their consultants on the internet for all of us to read?
Is the CMA a public entity here or a private one? If the latter, then why are we granting public meetings to them, especially when the public is not invited.
Where is our mayor in all this, acting on behalf of the public?
The governance of Ocean Grove is all screwed up, and our rights are being denied. Let’s have the NJ Attorney General take a look at all this.