This promotion was sent by email from  A. Curtis at the Neptune Mother Ship;

Paul Goldfinger, MD, FACC.  Editor. Blogfinger.net

Neptune does little or nothing for Ocean Grovers to improve their life styles.   Why is that?  It is because they defer to the Camp Meeting Association for programs to suit we Grovarians.  And as we know, the CMA does little or nothing anymore for the secular  citizens of OG;  they are, of course, consumed by their religious mission.

Their  “mission” has been viewed by nearly 10 million hits  on the Net:

“The mission of the Ocean Grove Camp Meeting Association is to provide opportunities for spiritual birth, growth, and renewal through worship, educational, cultural, and recreational programs for persons of all ages in a Christian seaside setting.”

The Neptunites have a department where they publicize events in their city.  They do it all the time and they even support publicity for the Ocean Grove Area Chamber of Commerce–a private profit oriented group which does nothing for the citizens of the Grove. You may recognize the name A. Curtis who is the Neptune employee who sends out those emails.

I recently contacted that department to ask them to help publicize a Grover event: The Town Wide Yard Sale.  They refused my request. Here is an email exchange I had with them:

From me to Ms. Curtis: April 30, 2023:

Ms. Curtis: 

We have been doing the OG Town Wide Sale for 12  years.  It is for the residents of OG,  and no money is made from this event.  It seems that you, as the person doing the publicity, is unable or unwilling to do this favor for the people of Ocean Grove.  

May 1, 2023. Letter to me from Gina LaPlaca,  Neptune Business Administrator.

Good morning Dr. Goldfinger,

Ms. Curtis has advised me of her back-and-forth with you regarding promotion of your yard sale.   Unfortunately your event does not meet the criteria for being posted on the official Township social media accounts or website.  The Ocean Grove Chamber of Commerce is an official partner of the Township through our Tourism office and thus we post their calendar of events on our official sites. 

I am not aware of any OGCMA events that we have promoted on those channels since I have become the BA; if you are aware of any and wish to send them my way please do so, because I do not believe that I have authorized any such postings.   In the future, if you have any questions about the posting policy for the Township please direct them to my office.  

As you can no doubt see from Ms. Curtis’s email signature, her title with the Township is Departmental Secretary for EMS – her responsibilities are far broader than merely deciding what gets posted on the Facebook page, and I am sure she informed you that she acts at my direction in that regard.  She has, to my reckoning, been very responsive and accommodating to your request, including on nights and weekends when she is not on the clock, and she has merely been adhering to Township social media/public information policy in her replies to you, and not exercising any “favoritism”.

Best regards,

Gina

So, I   would like to say a few things:   Paul Goldfinger, MD. Editor Blogfinger.net. 5/21/23

1. Ms. LaPlaca seems to lack any sense of the difference between we-the-people and the OGCMA.  I made no reference to the CMA, and she evidently confuses the two entities.
2. Knowing that we, the residential community in OG pay taxes, we should be given preference for services such as publicity for events ahead of private groups like the Chamber of Commercials.
3. And why is she turning us down as she supervises the “official Township social media accounts or website” and why do we not meet “the criteria” as an “official partner of the Township social media accounts or website?”    Why is the Chamber an”official partner?”   Show us the money that may be changing hands here.
4. We  only requested help with our sale, but I also don’t see them helping to promote another citizen-based site “The Art on the Porch” event coming up on June 10. The Town-Wide Yard Sale is June 17.
5. Why is she not helping the tax paying citizens with their initiatives on behalf of Grover residents? Who trained her for her job? Shouldn’t she be taught to favor we-the-people?   We are a democracy not a private enterprise, in case they don’t know.
6. As for Ms. Curtis’ work load, I have no interest in that.

This is not an attack on Ms. LaPlaca or her employees. This is a matter of principle regarding services provided by our town representative government.  The Neptunites  have a long record of ignoring or opposing Ocean Grove.

When was the last time you saw a life-style event for us sponsored by the Township Comedy?  In fact when was the last time you have seen our elected officials come to the Grove, meet the folks, and take a genuine interest in our welfare?

The least effective of the bunch is the mayor—-what’s his name?

BILLY JOEL