By ROB SPAHR, Staff Writer, 609-272-7283 | Posted: Wednesday, October 7, 2009
HAMMONTON - A candidate for mayor has filed a complaint against the town with the state Government Records Council, claiming town officials have refused to honor his requests for public records pertaining to the satellite Richard Stockton College campus.
Congress awarded Hammonton $250,000 in July to help bring a Stockton educational center or campus downtown. The college already is offering classes at St. Joseph High school, but Mayor John DiDonato estimated in July that it would still cost $3 million to $4 million to open a Stockton campus in town.
Joseph Ingemi, the Democratic candidate for mayor, said in a release that he began to question what impact the project would have on Hammonton taxpayers.
"When I questioned the mayor, he did not give a total cost of the project, nor could he identify sources of funding other than the $250,000 in federal resources. Nor could he give any details on the project," Ingemi said. "Public statements have only proved more confusing."
As a result, Ingemi said, he has filed two separate Open Public Records requests with the town clerk's office.
The first was a July 31 request for all correspondence, earmark requests, notes from conversations and meeting minutes pertaining to the project, from which he said he received "insufficient documents."
The second was a Sept. 1 request for the Economic Development Initiative Application for the project, but he said that request was never answered.
"When this refusal to provide information is coupled with recent arbitrary changes to zoning ordinances throughout the town, I am beginning to wonder if something big, expensive and intrusive is in store of Hammontonians," said Ingemi, who filed a complaint with the sate Government Records Council on Sept. 22.
DiDonato said that it is not his job to handle OPRA requests and that "in no way" has he prevented the information from being released.
"This is an excellent project for our community," he said. "Any community would love to have a college campus in town, especially when it is a joint partnership with a college with the excellent reputation that Stockton has."
DiDonato said there is currently "nothing in place" that would cause the burden of paying for the project to fall on the town's taxpayers.
"At this point, we're trying to achieve everything with grant money," DiDonato said, adding that the $250,000 grant would be used to acquire a building to house the campus. "And there's nothing in place for spending anything other than that."
Town Solicitor Brian Howell said he is investigating Ingemi's allegation and confirmed that the town has not taken any steps to bond for any portion of project.
Joseph Ingemi adds the following statement to the article:
"This article brings out many interesting points. First, let me say that this action is not a lawsuit. No one is suing the Town or encouraging litigation. This action is a request to the state to help bring out the truth on a secretive project. I am running to protect taxpayers not take from them.
Second, the Mayor's reponses were laughable. He states that there is nothing "currently in place" to burden taxpayers. Well, the taxpayers are concerned with what will have to be put in place in the months and years to come to pay for the satellite campus. Then, the Mayor states that any community should be happy with the project. Is he insinuating that we are simply to accept whatever his administration does and not ask any questions? So much for open government."
-- Edited by Admin on Wednesday 7th of October 2009 06:48:04 PM
It is obvious they are hiding something. The Mayor has said many times that grant applications were made and now he can't show them. The Mayor has talked about a $4 million project, but can't produce any plan. And why did they put Stockton in St. Joe's when the schools were available for free? Let's hope the State investigation will get to the bottom of this.
Hammonton First is so afraid of this information getting out, they are spreading lies that this is a lawsuit. This is not a lawsuit, it is an investigation by the state of NJ into why the information has not been provided as is required by law. They don't want the state to see something so they are trying to stonewall the state.
Hammonton First is so afraid of this information getting out, they are spreading lies that this is a lawsuit. This is not a lawsuit, it is an investigation by the state of NJ into why the information has not been provided as is required by law. They don't want the state to see something so they are trying to stonewall the state.
HF always twists the story because they don't want the truth to come out. I heard other people filed charges against the town for failing to provide documents which are open to the public. That's why HF is getting so scared because if they don't get elected in Nov all their secrets will finally be exposed and people will finally realize they made a HUGE mistake by voting for these liars. They think they can go on forever without getting caught and the higher up politicians will always bail them out.... only one problem their favors have run out. Now they are on their own. I hear the county is cutting back curious to know if councilman Barberio will be losing his job. Hey he didn't care about our lake or town employees getting laid off so too bad Jerry.
It is unbelievable that Hammonton First is so desperate that they are now deliberately spreading lies to try and win votes. Read the story again, THERE IS NO LAWSUIT!!!! The state of NJ has stepped in to get the Mayor & Council to follow the law and provide the requested information. Lawsuits are filed in court, not at the State. Joe Ingemi has requested this information over and over and the town has ignored his requests. Joe believes, as do most taxpayers, that the public has the right to see this information and so does the state. This INVESTIGATION by the state will try and get to the bottom of what is being hidden from the public.
In the past several days I have heard horror stories from the residents of Hammonton that I just can't believe this kind of stuff in actually happening in our town. It's something you would think only happens in the moves. People said that if they have a non HF sign in their yard HF party is harassing them and threatening them. Is this true? I also heard that anyone who disagrees with HF has been denied permits, fined or both. What is happening? Has HF become that greedy and vicious that they are threatening punishment for people who publicly support any other party than HF. This is communism! Where is our freedom? This violates all election laws. What they have done must be really bad if they are going to these measures to get them reelected. We need Homeland Security in Hammonton to rid our town of these terrorists who are trying to scare people to vote for them. If we take them out of power we can then feel safe again.
In the past several days I have heard horror stories from the residents of Hammonton that I just can't believe this kind of stuff in actually happening in our town. It's something you would think only happens in the moves. People said that if they have a non HF sign in their yard HF party is harassing them and threatening them. Is this true? I also heard that anyone who disagrees with HF has been denied permits, fined or both. What is happening? Has HF become that greedy and vicious that they are threatening punishment for people who publicly support any other party than HF. This is communism! Where is our freedom? This violates all election laws. What they have done must be really bad if they are going to these measures to get them reelected. We need Homeland Security in Hammonton to rid our town of these terrorists who are trying to scare people to vote for them. If we take them out of power we can then feel safe again.
I heard that your property gets reassessed if you don't have a Hammonton First sign or your permits get denied.
For many elections it does feel like I'm grasping at straws! The candidates I vote for don't get elected. I've voted for candidates among all 3 parties who I think are the best and they've all lost. There are many like me who are fed up with politics but still cling to some chance that we will actually get a representative who will speak for all of us. The Republicans have their weakest ticket in the last 3 elections while the Democrats have their strongest in the last 2 years. Hammonton First looks like they'll be tougher to beat this year.
For many elections it does feel like I'm grasping at straws! The candidates I vote for don't get elected. I've voted for candidates among all 3 parties who I think are the best and they've all lost. There are many like me who are fed up with politics but still cling to some chance that we will actually get a representative who will speak for all of us. The Republicans have their weakest ticket in the last 3 elections while the Democrats have their strongest in the last 2 years. Hammonton First looks like they'll be tougher to beat this year.
HF has too much baggage and too many failures and too many secrets! I think the people of Hammonton have finally realized they have been brainwashed into believing HF and now their actions speak louder than their lies. The people of this town are fed up but can't speak up for fear of retaliation. Sad very sad that people in our small town can't voice their opinion without being harassed or threatened. Sounds like we are living in Iraq. The scary thing is how far will these people push us to get their way? Can they kick us out of our homes? Take our property? We have to take away their power so we don't have to live in fear.
