HAMMONTON BLOG

I'm sure that when all is done HF will leave out the part of selling the old town hall and site to offset the costs of the new town hall when the final figures are compared. Any idea what the market value is on the old town hall and property?

No one should ever listen to Jim MacLane about anything, here's why:

(Former Hammonton School Business Administrator) Mr. Cuneo testified that he actually negotiated the agreement with Board Finance Committee Chairman James MacLane. Superintendent Kopakowski also executed an agreement for extra compensation. It was identical except for the number of days that the agreement was in effect. On or about July 10, 2001, Mr. MacLane executed an invoice entitled —capital improvement charges for the year ending: Jun-01.“ This invoice authorized an inter-fund transfer from the bond referendum fund to the general fund in the amount of $21,530.00. This represented in part the additional salary to Mr. Cuneo, $20,000.00 plus $1,530.00 (FICA). Mr. Cuneo testified that he was paid in one lump sum for 2000-01 and paid by separate checks in addition to his salary for the year 2001-02. He further testified that these checks to him were on the bill list for Board approval

The (New Jersey School Ethics) Commission finds it curious that a similar complaint was not filed against Superintendent Kopakowski since he entered into the same agreement as Mr. Cuneo and has even greater responsibility for the items that are placed on the Board agenda. It is also curious that no complaint was filed against Mr. Capoferri who was Board President and manager of the project.

You would think a person who says he reports the truth would put his real name on blogs if he believes what he's saying is the truth. The Democrats I've seen are the only ones who are man enough to use their real names.

No, the retroactive vote was to correct the oversight by Cuneo of not having the Board approve the Contract. Before this vote took place, solicitor Ann Donio repeated her stance that there was no need for the contract and the Board should do nothing, however, due to the insistence of some board members she said we could vote to approve the contracts retroactively if we wanted to be overly cautious and that is wht the Board decided to do. There was never a questions as to what Mr. Capoferri and Mr. Mac Lane did because that was done under the boards direction. The Board had already voted to negotiate and pay those two men to save over $400,000 in management fees.

The Republicans voted to file charges because of the pressure put on by several of the council members who since then are part of Hammonton First.

My first instinct was to delete the last post because it is a flat out fabrication, but then I decided that I don't want to get into censorship and I want the public to see the lengths some people will go to deliberately damage the reputations of others. There was never a time when anyone yelled at anyone else to retroactively approve the contracts. As a matter of fact I was against voting at all because of the advice given us by our solicitor that no contract ever needed to be written because the current employment contracts already allowed for the payments that the ENTIRE board approved and then voted on 13 times for each payment. However, the board wanted to excercise caution and retroactively approve the contracts. Mayor Ingemi and Mr Bertino voted in favor of the investigation when it seemed it would go on no matter what they did, the report did raise a concern over Mr. Cuneo's actions but found no wrongdoing and cleared ALL of any charges. And remember, my name was never brought up in ANY wrongdoings. My actions were done because that is what the board voted and directed me to do. The entire board was in favor of providing those payments because of all of the extra time those men put in on the project and because it saved the district over $400,000 in construction management fees. No laws were broken and I take personal offense at your implication, but since you posted anonomously I can only assume you are unwilling to stand behind your allegations. The text of the report has already been displayed on another blog and it supports what I have said here. You continue to throw out baseless accusations, the public sees through it.

-- Edited by Admin at 07:37, 2007-01-15

It is unfair to blast Hammonton First for ethics charges that the Republican Council brought against the Board of Education.  Take a look at the Town Council minutes of June 2005.  They are online at http://www.townofhammonton.org/documents/062705.pdf.

The Republicans said in the meeting minutes (page 8)... "Without gloating, is is important for the public to realize what the state of the schools would be without the information releasedin the local newspaper or a Town Council sponsored ethics complaint."

They continue, "...the Town of Hammonton will forever remember how the building project with its abuses of power not only affected the education process, but also the citizens of the Town of Hammonton for many years to come.  Hidden cost overruns led to public distrust and double-digit tax increases that affect us all."

This is an issue between the Republicans and Democrats.  Talk amoungst yourselves.

The minutes quoted above are from the June 2005 Council meeting presided by Republican Mayor Anthony Ingemi. 

Anthony Ingemi who is still a Republican.  Councilpersons Russell Clark & Ralph Morano ran at the time as candidates for re-election as Republicans.  They were joined by Republican candidate Mike Pajic who also defended their actions of charging the school with ethics violations.

And what does it matter anyway, the charges were heard and dropped.

You just don't understand how this thing works, I'll try and explain it one more time. The building project and the school operating budget are two different things. The taxpayers are still paying exactly what they were told they would pay for the building project. Which also proves that the project was on budget. The thing that has been killing the Hammonton taxpayers is the regular operating budget. For the last 5 years the state has suspended it's own laws concerning the funding of school districts. Funding has remained basically flat for more than 5 years. Even though costs have been rising, the State has not contributed it's fair share to the education of our children. Therefore the burden has been placed on the shoulders of the property owners and renters of the state. They have bore the burden because it is the only other source of income for the school districts. If State funding had continued to follow the law, we would see a different situation here in Hammonton today.

Jerry Vitalo looked and acted like a monkey in a cheap suit at last night's town council meeting. He is a disgrace and make himself look like a fool.

Look's like this coming year the republicans are going to have an uphill battle getting anyone elected. They are a joke.

Marino is the only republican that presented himself well. The HF members seemed very well-informed too, especially Massarelli.

 Bertino seemed out of touch and out of place. I wonder what's wrong with him?

Anonymous wrote:

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You are wrong. Jerry Vitalo is a genius. Already he has made off with more than Jimmy Bertino did last year. Jerry Vitalo has only been on council a few weeks and already he got himself $18,000 in value. He is the man! Vitalo is clearly the leader of the Republicans. Look how he discussed each item, motioned for many things and basically gave the marching orders to Jimmy Bertino on how to vote. Jerry Vitalo for mayor!

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The only thing it seems some Firsters are trying to pin on the Republicans is the health benefits package.  What one should concern is on what thousands and possibly millions are going to be raked in if HF continues giving bids and jobs to their family members when they say they are about having "multiple bids".  Already we have seen that not only did they not pick the lowest bid.  They actually paid him more than what he asked for.  Is this a sign how the town hall construction is going to be?  Give a little extra money to family and friends. Come on now does HF think the People of Hammonton are that stupid.

 

It's really to bad that Diaz or Santone didn't get in. I know, I know. They are unknowns but look at the knowns that have been voted in the last 2 years. I'm eager to see who runs on the next election.

Why did the Republicans refuse to make the motion?

Please get your facts straight. Please do not spread lies and deceit. There were no charges ever even considered against myself or any Board members. The only charge that was brought was against Mr Cuneo for not bringing the contract back to the board for approval and those charges were found to have no basis and were dismissed. It was another example of wasting the taxpayers money in pressing these charges against Mr. Cuneo. And the only lease that was entered into for the new highschool and ECEC was for technology, this was always the intent of the board due to the short useful life of these types of items. The board did not want the taxpayers to be paying for these items for 30 years when they would be useful for much less of a period of time. You don't have any clue as to what you are talking about and these items have been explained several times but you don't seem to be able to comprehend. I am extremely proud of my service on to the Board of Education and to the children and taxpayers of this district.