HAMMONTON BLOG

Date: 07:01 AM Nov 23, 2006

Bertino receives Town Business

Date: 10:01 AM Nov 23, 2006

There is no way this can be right. Bertino should never give himself town business.

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Why shouldn't the Town do business with Garden State Color labs? As long as they go through the same process every other business has to to get the job and they have all of the qualifications, they should be able to get the job. Remember, they give the Town a good price for the work they do. Should the Town be required to spend more of our tax dollars for a company that would charge more???? Also why should we penalize the entire company and all of it's workers because one person works for the Town. As long as everything is done ethically and it saves the Town money, we should be thankful.

Date: 11:24 AM Nov 23, 2006

I thought that councilpersons could not do business with the town the served. If a councilperson bid on a town contract, would that be okay as long as the price was right and quality okay?

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As long as they recuse themselves from any discussion or votes.

Date: 01:14 PM Nov 23, 2006

Looking at the above, I see an interesting position. The Democrats see no ethical problem with councilpersons bidding & accepting town projects?

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The difference is that the Town was doing business with the Color Labs long before the councilman became an owner. Since he became an owner he has abstained from any vote. Should the business be penalized because Mr. Bertino bettered himself? Should we just spend more taxpayer's money because Mr. Bertino was able to better himself?

Date: 01:46 PM Nov 23, 2006

So it's okay if councilpersons bid on and accept town contracts?

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In my opinion, NO, not while they are sitting council members.

Date: 07:29 PM Nov 23, 2006

I think it's sickening that Jimmy Bertino took $6000 of the taxpayers money and lined his pockets with it. Now that we know it happened, we need to unite against him and all of his fellow Republican cronies. Democrats are for the working man, Republicans are for the Rich and we all know what HF is for. I think all the Democrats in Town need to go to the next council meeting and ask Jimmy Bertino to give that money back and apologize now!

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First, I think it is obvious to everyone that the previous poster IS NOT Vincenzo Penza. So much for any credibility to any statements made.

However, I want to make sure everyone knows what the $6,000 discussion is about.

The compensation package for a council member is a salary of $6,500 and full benefits. The benefit package costs the Town over $12,000 to provide. As an incentive to save the taxpayers money, the Town offers a buyout to ANY employee of the Town of $6,000 if they do not take the benefits. This saves the Town and therefore the taxpayers over $6,000 for each employee that takes the buyout.

Date: 07:28 AM Nov 24, 2006

Regardless of whatever the questionable poster put, Bertino accepted a town contract for his business which we seem to agree is not right. Could you imagine if other councilpersons put a bid in for themselves to build the new Town Hall?

This site has attacked nepotism and cronyism. Bertino taking town contracts must be the absolute "poster" for that type of thing.

As for the additional $6,000. I don't believe any other councilperson accepted that money. I believe they all served without that money. Shouldn't Bertino be held to a standard the all the other councilpersons such as Anthony Falcone achieve?

Date: 07:08 PM Nov 25, 2006

It is time for the mayor to fire Jimmy Bertino from his post as chairman of the Public Works Committee. When the Republicans held a 6-1 majority last year, Bertino spearheaded spending over $250,000 on a new trash truck. It was supposed to save the labor of 6 people. This year, there was no reduction in the number of people in that department. Even still, the department has fallen behind in leaf and trash pickup.

The system has failed and Bertino is solely responsible. There has to be accountability in government. For this mistake, which costs the taxpayers money, the mayor should fire Bertino from his post. Bertino hasn't done the job and has missed critical meetings.

Date: 08:03 AM Nov 28, 2006

Was this contract with Bertino's company bid out to other companies?

Is there another company in Hammonton who can get this business?

Is it saving Hammonton money, coming under Low Bid?

Did he recuse himself from the vote?

If the answers are all yes, I really have no problem with the contract. But, that is just my personal feeling.

Date: 04:54 PM Nov 28, 2006

In answer to your questions...

Was this contract with Bertino's company bid out to other companies?

ANSWER: No. Jimmy had already awarded himself the business and billed the town for it by the time the other council people found out.

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Is there another company in Hammonton who can get this business?

ANSWER: There are always alternative companies.

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Is it saving Hammonton money, coming under Low Bid?

ANSWER: There was no bid so no one knows.

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Did he recuse himself from the vote?

ANSWER: Jimmy had already sent the town a bill. What was the town supposed to do, sue him after the bill arrived? This is exactly why council people should not do town work while they sit on council.

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If the answers are all yes, I really have no problem with the contract. But, that is just my personal feeling.

HOW DO YOU FEEL NOW?

Date: 05:04 PM Nov 28, 2006

We've had enough of Jimmy Bertino and the Republican nepotism and cronyism!

Date: 06:36 PM Nov 29, 2006

We've had enough of Republicans and HF. When will Hammonton realize they should have voted Democrat. Some say they didn't vote for Diaz, Glorioso and Santone. That might be true but they sure as heck know what they'll be getting and shouldn't be surprised by what happens just more of the same. Less people are voting now and will next year. I just hope next year people vote all Democrat.

Date: 07:55 PM Nov 30, 2006

Republican Councilperson Jimmy Bertino has again caused problems in the municipal government. When Democratic Mayor Barbara Berenato was in office, Bertino called her a quote "f***ing idiot" right in a council meeting. This was done over the microphone and broadcast into the homes of Hammonton citizens. Tapes of the meeting are still available at Town Hall.

Now Bertino has wasted a half a million dollars on a failed trash system. Collections are backing up, residents are complaining, and Bertino's system is a total failure.

In addition, Bertino gave his company Town business without even first checking with the rest of council. They only found out after Bertino gave the Town a bill and wanted payment for work already done.

Enough is enough. It is time for Bertino to do the right thing and resign. Under the law, the Republican Party will be able to pick a replacement for him. Hopefully they will pick a new council person who will serve the town well.

Date: 07:17 AM Dec 2, 2006

The Republican Party is falling apart and spliting up again due to political infighting.

The Hammontonian web page (http://www.hammontonian.com/) has an article that some Republicans are nervous some of their newly elected people are going to leave their party. We need to recruit them to be Democrats to get seats on Council! We need to be talking to them NOW.

Date: 02:14 PM Dec 20, 2006

After looking into this situation, it seems Jimmy Bertino has been pocketing town cash for years. This year, however, Hammonton First looked into things. A vote was taken for no council people to receive compensation. Bertino will not get the $6,000 this year. When you factor in 7 councilpeople, this saves the town a lot of money.

Date: 09:34 PM Dec 23, 2006

Now that we know that HF saved Hammonton $4M on the town hall from what was going to be spent at 11th Street, the obvious question is why did the Republicans want to go to 11th Street so much?

Were they all expecting kickbacks out of that $4M?

Date: 03:12 PM Dec 29, 2006

HF didn't save us any money yet. The project is already over budget, and it hasn't even begun. Lets wait until everything is completed to see if we saved any money.

Date: 07:35 PM Dec 29, 2006

Just saving us the money Bertino was going to pocket will help. Jimmy's been pocketng mney for years. This year he is upset because HF stoppe him from walking away with $6,000. He also has been giving his own company town business which HF is stopping.

Date: 08:17 PM Dec 29, 2006

Amazing.

Date: 03:26 PM Dec 30, 2006

Enough is enough with rich Republicans taking our moeny! Why don't the Dems stand up and say something about this.

Date: 11:27 AM Jan 6, 2007

MacLane, Diaz and Cafiso 2007. New Democrats for a new future!

They will end the Republican corruption led by Jimmy Bertino pocketing money. The Republicans were going to spend on construction for a $9.3M on a building that the town just awarded for $5.4M. What was the other $3.9M for? Kickbacks to the Republicans!

Jim MacLane has a lot of experience. Jose Diaz is a real winner. And Terri Cafiso rounds out a strong ticket with a lot of name recognition!

MacLane, Diaz and Cafiso 2007. New Democrats for a new future!

Date: 07:30 PM Jan 9, 2007

What a great ticket!