Millville Insider

September has been a busy month in Cumberland County for investigations and lawsuits.   According to the Daily Journal, the FBI is investigating the Cumberland County Improvement Authority (CCIA) for the United States Attorney General. Records have been seized at both the CCIA and the Cumberland County Technical Education Center. So how does this affect Millville? The Cumberland County Improvement Authority is in charge of economic development for the city of Millville under the direction of Kim Warker Ayres. If the CCIA is under federal investigation should Millville be paying the CCIA to redevelop the city? How does it look to outside investors if the city’s redevelopment entity is being investigated? Tell your Team Santiago to fire the CCIA. Millville’s association with the CCIA gives Millville a bad name.   The Division of Community Affairs (DCA) has been to Millville’s city hall in the recent months. The DCA is in charge of regulating construction departments. Team Santiago under

Team Santiago reported good things to come on the redevelopment front. To accomplish the “Team” fired the city’s redevelopment attorney who had a proven track record of successes in Collingswood and Glassboro and appointed the CCIA . Yes the CCIA. The same CCIA that moved out of its High and Main Street offices and tried to sell the building back to the City. That deal was going to cost the city millions until the taxpayers stood up and voiced their opposition resulting in the cancellation (for now) of the deal. The CCIA’s job is and has been to assist Cumberland County’s municipalities. Why does the city have to “hire” the CCIA to discharge its duty?   What has the CCIA done to redevelop the Wheaton Property? Did the CCIA advise Team Santiago not to collect the taxes due on the property? Did the CCIA advise Team Santiago to pay GGI $100,000 to acquire the property? Did the CCIA advise Team Santiago not to hold GGI accountable to maintain the property? Is the CCIA advising Tea

It is no surprise that Team Santiago raised Millville’s taxes again. Last year it was by 4.5% and this year it is 5%.   The county and the school board also raised their taxes so the taxpayer in Millville is looking at a 10% increase in their property taxes. This comes at a time when many individuals are out of work due to COVID-19 and there is no end in sight. This affects not only the taxpayers but every citizen in Millville as landlords will have to increase rents and businesses will have to charge more to meet expenses. So what did Team Santiago have to say for themselves when they voted for the tax increase –nothing. As usual they did not answer the public’s questions and did not explain their votes. Mr. Pepitone once again voted for the tax increase even though he is behind on paying his own taxes. He should understand the burden of taxes as it seems to be a burden to him. In his ending comments Mr. Parent said this was the toughest budget he had to work with (which

Team Santiago voted May 5, 2020 to keep Doug Long and his firm as the personnel attorney for the city of Millville by a vote of 3-2. Pepitone started the discussion stating they voted originally for Long and there was no need to replace him. Apparently conviction of a crime, ethics violations, and money mismanagement do not matter to Pepitone. Pepitone also stated falsely that Long was less expensive then than the replacement law firm. The city is actually paying more for Doug Long’s law firm at a time when the city should be looking for ways to save money. Next up was Cooper who also supported Long and his firm. He stated that they were consistent. This is true. Long and Marmero have consistently donated PAC money to cities in return for lucrative legal contracts. Team Santiago was the beneficiary of those donations in the last election. Remember Cooper’s ethics when he is up for freeholder election in November. Santiago also backed Long and his firm singing their praises. Sa

Doug Long and his firm, Marmero and Grace were awarded several lucrative no bid contracts by Team Santiago that have so far paid over $480,000. Yes, that is correct close to a half a million dollars with more yet to come! Team Santiago awarded these contracts even though Long, Marmero,  and Grace had their share of ethical and financial complaints which were known to Team Santiago.  These are the ones that we know about so far: 1. Ethics and election violations against both Long and Marmero. The common thread throughout all the complaints is that Long and Marmero engage in a pattern of illegal use of campaign donations to secure government positions for their law firm. This pattern continued when Team Santiago awarded lucrative law contracts to Long and Marmero as a payback for contributing to Team Santiago. For more information see the links at the end of this article. 2. Marmero and Long were reprimanded by the NJ Supreme Court for the misappropriation of trust funds.

The attorney Team Santiago brought into the city of Millville pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to  federal income tax evasion.   Long concealed more than $800,000 in personal income and evaded payment of more than $250,000 in taxes owed to the IRS, including $368,000 in income and $120,000.  Many of Long’s personal expenses, including school tuition for his children, utilities and service fees for his personal residences, student loan payments for Long and his spouse, and other expenses, repeatedly were paid out of the law firm’s bank accounts. Long directed the bookkeeper to falsely classify these payments as law firm business expenses to avoid his tax obligations. This is same bookkeeper that took the fall for Mr. Long and Mr. Marmero when they were accused of using trust funds to pay their law firm expenses.  See link:  https://casetext.com/case/in-re-long-129 Mr. Long and his law firm presently receive several lucrative law contracts with the city of Millville from Team

Hopefully everyone is staying safe during the corona virus epidemic. If this virus has taught us anything it is the need to plan ahead and be financial prepared. How many small businesses, families and cities will be able to weather this shutdown which is causing decreased income which affects us all in ways that are hard to fathom. It is budget time and hopefully Team Santiago is watching and learning and realizing that their carefree spending at the beginning of their term is now going to cost the citizens that are barely hanging on. Yes there will be another tax increase this year from Team Santiago. The budget is hidden away online for anyone that wants to search for it. It is in the agenda for this weeks meeting but only in the packet prompt. So much for transparency. When Team Santiago took office, they were given close to a $9 million dollar surplus. In this year’s budget that number is now close to $1 million dollars. The surplus is like a savings account for t

It is budget time in the city of Millville. Step one for the tax and spend group now in City Hall is to find a way around the state mandate that taxes can only be raised by 2.5%. Of course there is always a loophole and the commissioners snuck through it and voted to exceed the “cap” and raise taxes by 3.5%, which is around $973,000. The commission voted for this stating it was recommended by the employees and the auditor. It seems that Team Santiago has forgotten that they are the elected officials and not the employees and consultants that do not live in Millville. They can hear recommendations but the decisions are theirs and should be based on what is best for Millville’s taxpayers. Step two is to add this 3.5% to the money that was banked in the past. When combined Team Santiago now has in a position to increase the budget by 1.5 million dollars. The commissioners and the chief financial officer have admitted that the budget is in trouble this year. To balance

Thank you to everyone who turned out for the Planning Board meeting on February 10 th . Whether you spoke or not your support by coming to the meeting helped. Thank you also to the planning board for allowing people to express their opinions and ask question. There was no time limit imposed upon those that spoke. Citizens were even allowed to speak more than once. It was a refreshing change from the city commission meetings where the citizens are ignored or criticized by Team Santiago. The planning board respected the comments of each and everyone that spoke and that in turn earned the planning board respect. Every comment was listened to and every question was answered. The result was the planning board is recommending that the new zoning ordinance be tabled by Team Santiago so it can be worked on further taking into consideration the comments made at the meeting by the public. That is transparency. That is the process working. That is the citizens being heard.

On Monday, February 10, 2020 the Planning Board will be discussing the new Zoning ordinance for the city of Millville. This should be a concern for every citizen in Millville as it will determine what type of houses and businesses will be allowed in the city and where. The original purpose to change the ordinance was to simplify the rules and regulations that govern the city. By simplifying the process and making everything more straight forward, it would attract more businesses to the city. This ordinance does the opposite.   The new ordinance is convoluted and restrictive and for some reason it is modeled after Lawrence Township’s regulations. Why? Here are just a few examples of what is in the new ordinance: 1.      Single family homes will no longer be allowed in the Union Lake Wawa Tract area however townhouses and apartments will be. 2.      Drug rehabilitation centers will be allowed in the Union Lake area and also along Cedarville, Carmel, Fairton, a