By Paul Goldfinger, MD, Editor @Blogfinger
This post goes back 4 years to 2018. But these issues have not changed much. We re-posted this last December, 2022, in order to bring these concerns to the attention of those who didn’t see this article before and also to connect the dots between the transfer of governance in 1980 to 2022 and how things turned out. And we have continued to update our views lately—2023. PG
Blogfinger promotes the Choir Festival in the Great Auditorium. Paul Goldfinger image.
Ocean Grove United marches in OG. In 2022 we have lost sight of this organization.. Paul Goldfinger photo © for Blogfinger.net
When the CMA was forced to give up governance to Neptune in 1980, an alliance was formed between the CMA and the Neptuners. As a new way of life was forged in town, secular residents were left behind. The CMA was happy to give up its various governance concerns including running a police department and a court, and they could lateral the ball to the Neptuners to take care of roads, trash, flooding, etc.
And the Neptuners at the Mother Ship saw a chance to retain a mutually beneficial relationship with the CMA including leaving some blue laws and letting the CMA pretty much do what they want regarding issues such as ground rent, huge public events that could bring in revenue, street closures, zoning abuses that would be a win-win with developers, blocking parking solutions for residents, and their dominance of residential life styles by pursuing their “mission”without giving a damn about the large secular residential community in the Grove which pays taxes, including taxes on the land which the CMA actually owns.
How does Neptune Township justify having part of their town unable to sell alcohol where the rest of the Township can do that? Right outside the gates of OG there is Clancy’s—a bar and liquor store. Inside the gates no alcohol is sold. There are other loose ends that were left after the transfer of power in 1980. An example relates to who is responsible for repairing curbs and sidewalks.
The Neptuners devoted their political energies towards the rest of Neptune while backing up the CMA for all their Grovarian desires, with some exceptions such as the recent court case where Neptune had to accept maintenance of parks in the Grove, even though the CMA owns the parks, and as a result, our parks are in crappy condition except for those near CMA buildings.
When the Pavilion battle of 2007 occurred involving the CMA and the gay community over the use of the Boardwalk Pavilion for a civil ceremony, I became aware of the conflicts that were revealed. Blogfinger tried to report on these matters, but neither the CMA. OGU. or the Neptuner Comedy would talk to us.
At Blogfinger.net we were put in the position of dealing with angry sometimes vicious comments against the CMA submitted to our blog, but we shielded the CMA from those which were over-the- top, because we were sympathetic to their quest for religious freedom and because the CMA presence in the Grove seemed to be a positive influence to the life styles of those who live here and visit here. And, any comments that violate our rules are automatically rejected. We were not going to allow theologic debates on BF and especially those attacking Christianity. And that was 2007!
I became interested in the balance that might exist between the CMA and the residents. But it became clear that the CMA had little interest in the townspeople of the Grove. I interviewed President Scott Rasmussen around 2011 and I asked him what would the relationship be between the townies and the CMA. His answer was terse: “We will continue with our mission and not get involved with the town in general.” And that is how things progressed.
Blogfinger tried to give the CMA a fair shake as demonstrations erupted over Sunday speakers in the Great Auditorium It seemed like there was a clash between several civil rights: freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom from discrimination towards gays.
After Sandy, Blogfinger posted nearly 50 articles going into 2013/14 trying to promote FEMA funding for our boardwalk, more than any other media outlet. We learned that FEMA officials were reading our posts.
We also ran the BF Film Festival as a fund raiser for the Together Fund. All profits went to them. They never mentioned us on their Wall of Fame in Auditorium Park
But in recent years, we have noted a pulling away of the CMA towards their own interests and away from the town community. We have seen a significant reduction in secular programming in the GA, a movement by the CMA towards more year round programs that would bring ever larger numbers of religious tourists into town, a recent threat to sue the town if permit parking were allowed, the unrelenting and perhaps illegal promotion of Asbury Park south at the North End, the sharp increases in some ground rents, the failure to protest illegal zoning changes, and other indicators including today’s refusal of the CMA (Rev. John) to help advertise the 7th Annual Town-Wide Yard Sale in their program book and on the electric sign.
Blogfinger has freely and enthusiastically promoted CMA activities for nine years—religious and secular, with articles, music, interviews, videos and photographs. We never charged them for that free advertising which offered them exposure to our thousands of readers, most of whom are from the Grove or related to the Grove, and we never received any thanks for those activities.
So we were shocked and offended today when they refused to help us with a simple request: assist us with the Town-Wide Yard Sale promotion.
I communicated my disappointment to Rev John, but he was alarmingly indifferent. After all, as the Godfather said, “One hand washes the other.” And I also know that the CMA needs all the friends that it can get.
THE CAMBRIDGE SINGERS AND JOHN RUTTER “A Gaelic Blessing.”
The Camp Meeting Association will hold on forever. They will never go away. The largest percentage of residents these days don’t even know who they are or what they do.
People buying houses used to have to be interviewed by them before the purchase! I know this because I was required to be interviewed. As an aside, there was a disparaging remark made in the interview about our religious affiliation!
Then the buyers were handed a piece of paper folded eight times that had rules and regulations for living in Ocean Grove. A joke. The rules have flown by the wayside because they can’t control things anymore. They rely on out-of-towners coming to their programs.
Although they will stay here forever they really aren’t paid attention to anymore. Someone should tell them.
And how about the poke in the eye of residents over the reasonable request for a dog park or a dog beach in the Grove? The CMA has no trouble turning its back on the locals.
The CMA is a major cause of much the gridlock that occurs here. They seem to have a sense of entitlement where it’s OK to stifle the lifestyles of those who live in the Grove.
When they have their giant events, what do we get in return? The least they can do is to establish a workable tourist shuttle system to park cars outside of the gates and thus reduce the flood of parking vehicles coming into town.
The days of the OGCMA being useful and important to the lives of OG residents are long gone.
If not for out-of-towners coming to “their” beach and GA programs, OGCMA would go bankrupt.
But, people continue to come to the delight of OGCMA—-Ocean Grove Counting Money Association.
Honestly, the Grove has lost a big percentage of it’s history, charm, regulations, and uniqueness. Greed.
The evangelical and fundamentalist beliefs of the the CMA leadership are incompatible with the values of most residents of OG these days. That probably won’t change, and the attitude expressed by Mr. Rasmussen represents a basic insensitivity toward what we might think about the speakers they bring in, their homophobic doctrine, and their reactionary views.
But it’s also true that any resident can participate in their recreational and music programs without pressure to adopt these views, and my experience has been that the people that participate in these programs welcome everyone.
I think the most disturbing situation is that the CMA is now essentially a developer, and is in a position to impose a disastrous project at the North End with the compliance of the town. They don’t care about the detrimental effects of all this density, and Neptune Township won’t protect us from that.