Fort Monmouth and other temporary housing options are being utilized by those hit hard by storms.
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon today said that For Monmouth does or shortly will have 115 units occupied by Sandy affected families. Housing at the closed fort was made available to those in need of temporary housing in the wake of Superstorm Sandy.
“We continue to work with folks in need but still need to hear from those who are not having their needs met, O’Scanlon explained. “I have spoken with Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Constable. The DCA, Department of Human Services (DHS) and County welfare agencies have been meeting daily at the Joint Field Office in Lincroft . Every day they’ve reach out to those remaining in the Transitional Shelter Assistance (TSA) program to determine how to best accommodate their needs.”
“If particular issues – like pets or children with special needs- arise, we have been working with apartment associations to find those families housing that will suit their circumstances,” said O’Scanlon. “This process is in high gear and working well, but folks still in need to reach out to my office.”
“DCA Commissioner Constable and DHS Commissioner Velez care about the welfare of these people and they are working as hard as they can to resolve their issues,” O’Scanlon. “My office fields dozens of calls a week from very emotional people who just want to know that someone is there to help. I’m proud we can provide that service and working with the Christie Administration and his cabinet has made the recovery process all that much easier.”
O’Scanlon’s office can be reached at 732-933-1591 or [email protected].
MONMOUTH COUNTY EXPECTED TO LEAD STATE IN PILOT PROGRAM TO IMPROVE PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENTS
Bipartisan legislation sponsored by Assembly Republicans Caroline Casagrande and Declan O’Scanlon to save property taxpayers money by sharing property assessment resources countywide has been signed into law today by Governor Christie.
The legislation establishes a pilot program for counties to implement a standard software program for local tax assessors to use, which would streamline the process and give officials a more accurate tax rate while reducing costly appeals for property taxpayers. Casagrande and O’Scanlon represent Monmouth County, which is expected to be among the first counties to participate in the demonstration project.
“When every town in the county has to assess property, there is no need to reinvent the wheel several times, especially when the current process is often confusing and inaccurate for taxpayers,” Casagrande, R-Monmouth, said. “Having everyone on the same page and adjusting a few deadlines are cost-free common sense solutions that will save property taxpayers money in the long run through efficiencies and a more accurate property tax system. Municipal budgets will be based on real dollars, not guesstimates that don’t always hold up.
“Monmouth County is eager to demonstrate to New Jersey that working together will save property taxpayers money and thanks to Governor Christie, our county will get that opportunity,” Casagrande added.
The law, S-1213/A-1591, will allow a standardized process for assessments that would be used by every town in the county for all future revaluations and reassessments. The four-year pilot will be limited to four counties.
“This will be a revolutionary way to essentially fix our current, expensive, flawed assessment system,” O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth, said. “It will rework the entire process so that towns are no longer burdened with uncertainty as to the value of their tax base, facilitate remedying unfair and outdated assessments, and will obviate the need for expensive town-wide reassessments and the dramatic valuation shifts that go along with them.
“This pilot program will very likely pave the way to the future for our assessment systems throughout the state,” O’Scanlon added.
Owners may want to delay elevating houses until FEMA grants are announced
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon today advised homeowners affected by Sandy that they may want to hold off on mitigation repairs until the specifics of the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (“HMGP”) are announced. The HMGP provides grants to States and local governments to implement long-term hazard mitigation measures after a major disaster declaration. The program enables mitigation measures to be implemented during the immediate recovery from a disaster.
“These grants can help fund elevating houses and other, expensive mitigation work,” explained O’Scanlon. “Once the state advertises that HMGP funding is available for mitigation projects in the state, those interested in applying to the HMGP should contact their local government to begin the application process. Local governments should then contact their State Hazard Mitigation Officer so the needs of each town can be assessed.
HMGP funds may be used to fund projects that will reduce or eliminate the losses from future disasters. Projects must provide a long-term solution to a problem, for example, elevation of a home to reduce the risk of flood damages. In addition, a project’s potential savings must be more than the cost of implementing the project
“HMGP grants can fund up to 75% of a total project,” O’Scanlon told. “Homeowners need to seriously think before shelling out a lot of money to elevate their homes. If they can wait, these grants may be a great way to offset the costs of expensive mitigation work. While not everyone is approved for a grant, it looks like New Jersey may be receiving a sizeable amount of aid from the Sandy Aid Package. It only makes sense for homeowners to consider these grants as a possible source of assistance when planning expensive home repairs.”
Many displaced residents cannot sign long term lease but need place to stay.
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon today made a public call to all landlords to help those in need of emergency housing. Since Superstorm Sandy left thousands displaced, many are looking for temporary housing while their homes are repaired or rebuilt.
“FEMA is working to provide temporary housing to all who have been displaced,” O’Scanlon said. “Many who use the housing research tools provided by FEMA are discovering that, while there is housing available, many of the landlords require a 6 six month or one year lease.”
O’Scanlon: Temporary FEMA Housing to be extended for two weeks
Displaced residents should call Assemblyman O’Scanlon’s offfice for help: 732-933-1591
Sea Bright Mayor Dina Long told MMM that the residents of her community that have been sleeping in carsare people who have been put up in hotels by FEMA who are evicted by the hotels on weekends in order to accommodate wedding guests.
“When hotels have weddings or events, people get evicted for the weekend,” Long said via twitter, “I just learned of people sleeping in cars because of this and I’m hopping mad.”
Long said that FEMA’s response has been, “Well, when that happens the people should call us.” Yet, when people do call FEMA’s 800 #, the FEMA employees who answer the phone are dropping the ball or don’t know what to do.
Long said she trying to reach her displaced residents in this situation to coordinate weekend housing through Sea Bright Rising and other charities. “FEMA knows where my people are, I need their help in locating them.”
Union Beach Councilman Charlie Cocuzza told MMM that the same situation is happening to displaced residents of his borough. “The hotels are asking people to leave on Friday and tell them they can come back on Sunday night,” said Cocuzza, “These people are falling through the cracks on weekends.”
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon said that his legislative office has been transformed to a clearing house for temporary housing to match people in need with a roof over their heads. “This should not be happening,” said O’Scanlon, “but too often we’re hearing about it too late. No one should be sleeping in their cars. Anyone, from my district or not, can call my office and we’ll find them a place to stay.”
O’Scanlon’s office said landlords or anyone willing to put up a displaced resident can also contact them. O’Scanlon’s phone # is 732-933-1591.
FEMA temporay housing allowances are set to expire on Saturday the 12th. O’Scanlon told MMM that the program will be extended for two weeks.
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon told MMM that FEMA is bring temporary housing online at that New Jersey residents displaced by Superstorm Sandy and in need of temporary housing should visit a FEMA Disaster Recovery Center, even if they have previously been turned down for assistance by the agency.
In Monmouth County the DRCs are located at:
Belmar Municipal Bldg., 601 Main St., Belmar, N.J. 07719
Henry Hudson Trail Activity Center, 945 Highway 36, Leonardo, N.J. 07737
Long Branch Fire Station #4, 199-205 Union Ave., Long Branch, N.J. 07740
Union Beach Municipal Building, 650 Poole Ave., Union Beach, N.J. 07735
Click here for DRC locations elsewhere in New Jersey.
O’Scanlon said that any resident in need of temporary housing that is not satisfied after visiting a DRC should call his office at 732-933-1591 for assistance.
MMM has learned that FEMA and Department of Community Affairs housing inspectors have given “high marks” to buildings at the former Fort Monmouth for potential use as long term temporary housing for Monmouth County residents displaced by Superstorm Sandy.
In an email to board members of the Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) forwarded to MMM by Freeholder Lillian Burry, a member of the board, Executive Director Bruce Steadman said that FEMA and DCA is working on a plan to use 7 lodging buildings in along the Shrewsbury River in Oceanport to house 600-900 people in 300 units, as well as 21 “McGill” units at the golf course which could house 42 families. These units could be used as temporary housing for up to 18 months, according to FEMA guidelines.
Gibbs Hall, the commissary building, the gymnasium and the prep school have been deemed not suitable for housing.
Steadman told the board that FMERA has informed the Army that they want to expedite the purchase of the Howard Commons area, the historical housing area of the main post, and the golf course, to support post-Sandy housing needs.
Burry said that there could be up to 10,000 residents of Monmouth County in need of temporary housing as a result of the damage caused by Sandy. Union Beach, Highlands, Sea Bright and the low lying areas of Middletown…Belford, Leonardo, Port Monmouth and North Middletown…were struck with storm surges that exceeded 8 feet, leaving homes in the wake uninhabitable. Additionally, the Two River towns of Little Silver and Oceanport have several displaced residents due to flooded homes, according to Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon.
In addition to the former Fort Monmouth, federal, state and county officials are evaluating the Bradlee’s parking lot on Route 36 in Hazlet, the former Bell Labs property in Holmdel, and the Hartshorne Woods County Park in Highlands/Navesink as possible sites for FEMA trailer cities.
O’Scanlon said that he is impressed and grateful for the level of cooperation between the various government agencies working on evaluating the former Fort Monmouth for temporary housing.
“I am very encouraged to know everyone is working together to assess the resources at Fort Monmouth that might be able to help us house our displaced residents,” said O’Scanlon, “We will continue to push for quick answers but the level of cooperation amongst the agencies involved is encouraging. The Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and the Federal Emergency Management Agency are taking all the right steps to vet out this option. The Monmouth County Prosecutor, Christopher J. Gramiccioni, has also been a key part of this process and I appreciate his active involvement. On behalf of my constituents, I am grateful for the effort.”
The three major credit rating agencies affirmed the credit ratings of New Jersey’s bonds within the last week. Two of the three, Moody’s and Fitch affirmed the outlook for the State’s credit as stable. However, while affirming their AA- rating today, Standard and Poor’s lowered their outlook for New Jersey from stable to negative. S&P’s rationale for lowering their outlook is that they consider Governor Chris Christie’s revenue projections optimistic.
Democratic legislators, Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Vincent Prieto, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Paul Sarlo and Assembly Majority Leader Lou Greenwald, a potential gubernatorial candidate next year, all jumped on the S&P outlook downgrade to score political points against Christie. The Statehouse Press Corp was happy to advance the negative spin.
Monmouth County’s Declan O’Scanlon, the Assembly Republican Budget Officer, fired back against the Democrats and the media for “crowing” about the S&P report while falling mute over the Fitch and Moody’s reports is a scathing statement:
“My Democrat colleagues are like vultures seeking to pounce on potential prey despite the fact that their appetite will not be satisfied by one agency’s outlook,” said O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth. “They are always ready to jump on what they perceive to be negative news and many in the media buy into their political theatrics. Instead of working with the governor and Republicans in the Legislature, they continue to wait for gloom and doom predictions.
“The conduct and glee from our leading legislative Democrats is remarkable and disturbing. For days, they sat silent when two ratings agencies affirmed New Jersey’s credit rating in response to the Schools Development Corporation bond offering and today are dancing in the streets when a third rating agency – after also maintaining the state’s credit rating – gave an outlier’s opinion and lowered its outlook,” explained O’Scanlon. “To see this kind of political opportunism and rooting for failure from individuals entrusted with some of the highest leadership positions our government offers is disgraceful. Their Swiss cheese, fragmented perception of reality – with the holes miraculously lining up with anything positive about our state’s fiscal condition – is disturbing, but not surprising.”
“That our Statehouse press corps simply gobbles the partisan nonsense up so willingly is also a real disappointment, stated O’Scanlon. “That is especially so when you see them blindly quoting even those lawmakers who so vigorously fought bipartisan pension and benefits reforms in an effort that would have crippled New Jersey’s long-term efforts to fix our long-term economic health.
“Had we followed the path of the very people now attacking the Governor the outlook for the state’s future would be dramatically worse. They cannot, with a straight face, criticize this Governor with any credibility,” said O’Scanlon. “It was this governor that has started to turn our state around – and he had to fight the very people now attacking him in order to do that. The governor and Republicans know we are in a difficult economy and these are risky times. But we are also not afraid to make tough decisions. Previous Democrat administrations talked about tough times, but never took action. Without taking decisive action to fix many of our state’s problems,New Jerseywould be in a financial abyss.
“The Democrats’ are selling a bill of goods to the public and the media which conveniently ignores their eight-year record of expanding government spending and want us to believe their distorted view of reality,” commented O’Scanlon. “We have more work to do in turning our state around, but I am much more confident entrusting our state’s future with the Christie administration than its Democratic predecessors.”
Monmouth County Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon is making statewide waves and generating statewide headlines in his quest to prove that red light cameras are not safety devices, but revenue generating ripoffs.
O’Scanlon makes a compelling case, backed up with engineering, that yellow lights should be timed for actual speeds that motorists are driving, rather than by the posted speed limits. He convinced MMM that’s he’s right on the issue, and that might be the subject of a future post. Read one of these articles if you want to bone up on that issue now. What prompted my call to O’Scanlon was politics, not policy.
There are no red light cameras in O’Scanlon’s legislative district, the 13th in Northern Monmouth County.
As the Assembly Republican Budget Officer, O’Scanlon has one of the highest, if not the highest, statewide profile of his fellow Republicans in the Assembly.
The last time O’Scanlon made statewide headlines on a issue not related to the budget he was speaking out in favor of medical marijuana and against towns that were using zoning laws to keep happy medicine dispensaries and farms outside of their boundaries. MMM’s unscientific poll indicated that his position on 420 could cause a 180 among his supporters in the 13th.
I wondered if O’Scanlon might have political ambitions that, in addition to his commitment to doing the right thing, are motivating his activities outside of his district.
Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon called for fiscal accountability in Newark this week. You wouldn’t have known that unless you read The Star Ledger. The Asbury Park Press, the newspaper/pay site that covers O’Scanlon’s Monmouth County district missed it.
At issue is the $24 million in state aid that Newark is “due” this year, after the state taxpayers kicked in $32 million to Newark’s budget last year, in the face of blatant waste on the part of Mayor Cory Booker and the city council.
Booker squandered $3.7 million in legal and consulting fees in a fight with the New Jersey Devils hockey team over revenue sharing. Booker lost the fight, which even The Star Ledger says was a waste and should have been settled, and vowed to spend more—O’Scanlon says $1 million more, The Ledger says $100 thousand more—in appealing the ruling that favored The Devils. As the ruling stands, Newark owes the Devils $600 thousand.
Newark’s city council is disgrace. A “gaggle of blowhards,” Ledger editor Tom Moran calls them, who “awards itself the highest salaries in the state, along with a free car.” Newark’s city council is paid six times more than Jersey City’s city council, according to Moran. $3.45 million in salaries paid to the Newark city council in 2011.
Also at issue is that the overpaid council has yet to pass their budget that was due in February. Yet, they want the $24 million from Jersey taxpayers.
According to The Ledger, O’Scanlon said,
“Cory Booker is fighting an expensive personal vendetta with one hand while he has the other hand out expecting state aid”
and
“As the ranking Republican member of the Assembly Budget Committee, I cannot, in good conscience, imagine handing Newark another $24 million when the mayor is continuing to rack up legal fees and costs for litigation that could have been settled months ago,” O’Scanlon said. “The state should not be in the habit of bailing out towns and cities that are unwilling to help themselves.”
