Instead of striving for some real action on the subject of derelict houses, the OG Home Groaners Association has scheduled another house tour. The first one attracted thirty people. The promo for that event says that you should go “for a bit of history.” No history lesson will solve this problem.
The OGHA is potentially the most powerful group in town, but instead of strength and results, they are weak and ineffective on this issue. Neptune Township needs new laws to help them penetrate the outrageous stalemate regarding those monstrous fire hazards called “derelict houses.” In fact, there are towns all over the country faced with similar problems. How about some research into what they are doing?
Home Groaners: Why don’t you stop the mumbling and the walking tours, hire some buses, get a few hundred people together, and picket our elected representatives and the governor in Trenton to do something to give us better tools to solve this dilemma.
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor @Blogfinger Monday, April 28, 2014. In an extraordinary act of reverse diplomacy, Pres. Anne Horan of the OG Home Owners Association, went to the microphone at the Neptune Township Committee meeting for her 5 minutes of fame, only to insult the Committee by saying that they are not doing enough for the derelict housing problem in the Grove. She said that she was “stunned” that the Committee would suggest that residents participate in the process of finding solutions and that the Committee had failed to deal effectively with wrecks like 80 Main Ave.
Horan was reacting to an earlier suggestion from the dais that neighbors should write letters of complaint to owners of derelict houses. Committeeman Eric Houghtaling was uncharacteristically angry as he protested her assertions, and Committeewoman Mary Beth Jahn practically jumped out of her seat as she raised her voice to say that the Committee had accomplished more in the last eight years than in the twenty prior to that when it comes to the problem of derelict houses. She said that they have been working tirelessly to solve this issue including using demolition by neglect, court cases, and over $100,000 to “chase those owners.” “There’s a process that must be followed,” she said, “but that process takes a long time.” Jahn accused the HOA of attacking the Committee. “We’re not dong enough?” she asked. “This is the wrong tack for the HOA to use against us.”
The Committeewoman complained that the OG Home Owners Association had treated members of the Committee (Bishop and Houghtaling) disrespectfully when they appeared last Saturday at the HOA meeting, and that she was angry about that. She said that the process is more difficult because the owners don’t want to do the needed work on their properties and that they would prefer to have their buildings demolished. She admitted that the process hasn’t worked, and she thought that the Camp Meeting might be helpful in participating in the effort to save the historic buildings. Mayor Brantley said, “We are frustrated and we will keep trying to do something.”
Horan was not the only speaker to question the progress being made at town hall. HOA Trustees Ken Buckley and Joan Venezia also had some criticisms of their own to make at the microphone. Venezia wanted the Committee to move faster in implementing a process called “certified local government,” and Buckley waved a copy of a legal paper from Rutgers, suggesting that the Committee do more homework. Kathy Arlt, of Ocean Grove, was upset that 80 Main Ave. continues to fall apart while nothing is done. She also mentioned violations at 103 Franklin Ave while complaining that the Township has done practically nothing in using liens to deal with the problem. She claimed that the Township had done more in this regard out in Neptune proper.
Sometimes the best is left for the end—-this was a three hour public meeting with a fair share of fireworks. An angry citizen came to the microphone and said, “You are buying in my name and sticking me with the interest.”
Michael Bascom, the Township’s Chief Financial Officer, replied to her by giving a brilliant, off-the-cuff summary of how government works to avoid overspending and over borrowing. She walked out before he finished, but his statement should be printed and made public . If they send it to me, I will post it on Blogfinger.
Candidates meeting of the OGHOA on October 27, 2012. PG photo
By Paul Goldfinger, Editor
In a recent letter, President Ann Horan of the Ocean Grove Home Owners Association encouraged nonmembers to join. She pointed out that the group has become very active in a number of important areas including derelict housing, emergency management, North End redevelopment and Sandy recovery. The dues are only $10.00 per year. You can go to the web site for more information: OGHOA web link
The OGHOA has been revitalized by a number of new officers and members. Pres. Horan and her activist team have formed committees to stay on top of important issues. The organization has begun to flex its muscles in town, such as their submission of a North End proposal as seen through the eyes of homeowners. The OGHOA has potential clout by virtue of its large membership. It has been difficult to get the exact numbers, but each home gets one vote, even though there may be more than one member in a home. A conservative estimate is that they have over 500 members at this time. The exact count is unclear because they sometimes count the members who are not up-to-date on dues.
But regardless of the precise count, they could have even more influence if they were to increase the membership. Ideally every homeowner should belong to this advocacy group, and that could mean a membership of well over 1,000. Don’t forget how powerful they were in the ’80’s and ’90’s when they had their largest historic membership and when their political reach extended to Trenton. You can read about that era in the Blogfinger timeline. *
The HOA meets on the 4th Saturday of each month in the Community Room. They get about 60 Grovers at their meetings which are open to the public, but they will have to change the venue if they want to get better attendance. At the meetings, the policy has been to have a guest speaker go on first, leaving the business for the end. It is the business component that tends to produce discussion about issues that concern the members, and sometimes people walk out just as those debates begin. Maybe they should skip the opening act and get on to the main course, or just reverse the order.
The HOA has a new web site which is still a work in progress in terms of content. The President’s report, which was recently issued, is still not posted on their site. Because the members who come to meetings are relatively few, the group needs to work harder at disseminating their information including the workings of their board , which used to behave like a secret society. There is an email list which you can join at their web site.
It seems clear that we are going to hear a great deal of constructive outrage and productive ideas coming out of the “new and improved” OGHOA v. 2.0. That is good news for the Grove.
* NOTE: This excerpt from the BF Historic Timeline focuses on the part of our history where the Ocean Grove Home Owners Association, on steroids, made things happen to save the town of Ocean Grove: timeline link
“By the 1980’s, the town is characterized by an overall “decrepitude,” including deterioration of buildings, declining tourism, crime, and a growing poor elderly population. (2) Deinstitutionalized mental patients are housed in empty old hotels and rooming houses in Ocean Grove. The town becomes a “psychiatric ghetto” (NY Times, October 1988), and, by the 1980’s, 10% of the town’s population are mental cases who are not receiving appropriate services and are sometimes abused by landlords. The prognosis for Ocean Grove is dire.
“During this period, the Ocean Grove Homeowner’s Association (OGHOA) develops as a political and activist force that successfully begins the process of converting the town from decay to renaissance. (2f)
“1990’s: OGHOA, led by Mr. Herb Herbst, Fran Paladino and others, fight for fair treatment in the allotment of the mentally ill around the state. The process is complex and difficult, but the numbers of “deinstitutionalized” in OG drops considerably. The group also saw to the closing of many substandard boarding and rooming houses. The HOA presents Neptune with a “master plan” to protect the historic nature of OG and to rezone for the promotion of single family houses. OGHOA promotes secular tourism while working with CMA to increase religious tourism. New people come into town to buy homes and invest in businesses.”
