A Clarification and Apology Friday, Dec 28 2007

I posted an incorrect slander towards Councilman At-Large George Tibbitt. My post, “The Election Day Excitement,” incorrectly asserted that Mr. Tibbitt had workers from questionable backgrounds working the polls.

Last week, the Councilman reminded me of my election day post. He assured me that he only employed athletes from Chelsea Heights to assist him at the polls. We are sorry for posting this mis-information and hope the Councilman will continue to enjoy The Atlantic City Scoop.

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Trump’s Timing Wednesday, Dec 26 2007

Did the hasty Trump Tax settlement contribute to Trump’s ability to refinance his Atlantic City portfolio?  Are we to attribute Acting Mayor William Marsh’s speedy and sloppy sign-off on the Trump $34 million pay-off as the reason for Trump’s business re-birth?  I look forward to your comments.

(Reading - http://www.commercialpropertynews.com/cpn/content_display/regions/northeast/e3i069cf19291fa5cceb7693f5799b4426c & http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/newjersey/story/7523301p-7423868c.html)

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Atlantic City Property Re-Val: Round Three Saturday, Dec 22 2007

“Can you address that, Scott?” queried Dr. Howard Barsky. “I’ll try, Doc,” responded a strained Mayor Scott Evans.

The third and final town hall meeting concerning the property re-valuations found Mayor Evans on the hot seat. Round one was at Uptown School Complex, Round two was held at Dr. M.L.K., Jr. School, and this last round was held at Atlantic City High School. I invite you to peruse my postings of the previous rounds. Feel free to ask me further questions about what transpired at this or any of the town hall meetings.

A.C.H.S. was the place for residents of the 5th and 6th wards to receive information, ask questions, and voice their concerns.

The Mayor revealed that he moved back to A.C. in ‘95. He is invested in the future of A.C. “I am not a career politician; I am a fireman,” said Evans. He continued, “with Badar Field coming down the road, it is our last chance to get things right.” We admire the Mayor for conducting these meetings. It is an act of bravery for him to come and bear the brunt of residents’ anger. That anger should be directed at Mayors Whelan, Langford, and everyone else who has continued to proclaim empty promises of a better A.C. future.

Several disturbing facts were brought to light:

Did you know that the Ocean Club was singled-out for a “spot re-valuation” in 2001? They were informed that they would be re-assessed first, and then each of the city’s condominiums would follow suit. Well, six years have come and gone, yet the Ocean Club was the only condominium to be re-valued. They were unjustly singled-out for the punishment of a higher assessed value and tax bill for six years. Those condo owners wanted their just dessert.

Ms. Novelette Hopkins informed the O.C. condo owners that it is illegal to receive any special consideration in this current re-valuation. While we agree with the legality expressed by the Tax Assessor, Ms. Hopkins, we also suggest strongly for Ocean Club to file suit against the City for being unjustly targeted with a re-valuation. Laws are to be just and equitable for all, not selectively enforced. Was someone in the tax office trying to get even with some political enemies that reside at the Ocean Club?

Mayor Evans’ meeting with Governor Jon Corzine was discussed. In response to the Mayor’s eagerness to be partners with State government, Joe Pollillo remarked, “They [the State] want to take over our town? They should first pay their taxes [in reference to the fact that CRDA, a state agency, owns much A.C. property, yet pays no taxes].” I said, “The state taking over A.C. is the ‘Blind leading the blind.’ “

For those of you who do not know, Atlantic City was the sole reason for the creation of the luxury tax. We thank the kind woman who reminded us of that fact during the Q & A period.

The Mayor is establishing an office on the first floor devoted to assisting seasoned citizens appealing their assessment.

The Mayor appealed to the age-old Marxist principle of class envy. At one point, he said, “I would like to see us pass a vending ordinance, where we [City government] get $10 from each slot machine.” Granted, he was tired by this point. His remarks betray an anti-business, anti-casino mentality. Instead of fixing problems in his own backyard–namely, cutting the enormously wasteful city budget–the Mayor would like to slap yet another tax on the Casinos.  While saying that we have yet to realize the promises of low-to-no taxes in A.C., he went on to lead the people in a chorus of bashing the Casinos for the sad state of affairs.

What about the Senior transportation that Casino tax revenue pays for? What about the free youth day camps that Casino tax revenue pays for? What about myriad services that are possible solely due to the fact that Casinos pay for 80% of the wasteful City services? The Mayor and everyone else would do well to target their frustration where it belongs: the budget. Cut the budget!

Our tax rate is approximately $3.726 for every $100. This rate is demanded from taxpayers to feed three hungry budgets: Atlantic County, Atlantic City Schools, and Atlantic City Government.  The Mayor and Council have sole responsibility for the City Government’s rate, which is approximately $1.82 for every $100.00, according to Ms. Hopkins. The goal should be to drop this rate to $1.75 for every $100.00 in 2008.

Echoing the same concern that I proclaimed at each town hall meeting and on several local talk shows, I implored the Mayor to cut the budget. That is the one concrete way to reduce the tax bill by August on the newly assessed properties by. We have yet to receive a clear and definitive pledge from the Mayor or members of Council that they will cut the budget. There are meetings underway currently in the administration’s Department of Revenue and Finance to work out a 2008 budget. The anger and frustrations of A.C. residents should focus first on contesting assessments that are over-inflated across the board, and second, on letting every member of Council and the Mayor know that raising the budget this year is unacceptable. The budget must be cut. The shopping spree must end!

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Atlantic City Property Re-Val: Round Two. Thursday, Dec 20 2007

The site was an auditorium at Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. School. Mayor Scott Evans, Tax Assessor Novelette Hopkins, and Ted Lamicella of Certified Valuations, Inc. (CVI) prepared to again face angry property owners.

I invite you to view the “Round One” posting for more of the nuts-and-bolts of the Re-Valuation process. Here I want to share what was unique about this meeting, as compared to the first meeting at Uptown School Complex.

There were approximately 110 people. Both the Mayor and the Tax Assessor began the night by introducing themselves and their poor grammar. The Mayor employed “most highest” as the adjective to describe his commitment to a smooth re-valuation. Ms. Hopkins responded “more louder” to a question about how loud she should speak. We can only hope that the administration’s grasp of the re-valuation process is stronger than their grasp of the English language.

Ted Lamicella had the unenviable of attempting to explain the details of the re-valuation. The dilemma is that the people asked 1 hour and 40 minutes worth of questions, yet were largely uninterested in detailed answers to their questions. The crowd was evenly divided between those who realize that the amount of tax is determined by the County, School, and City budgets, and those who think that the valuation firm is responsible for the imminent tax hikes.

The startling discovery was revealed that close to half of those in attendance had an inspector come to their home, step inside the front door, ask some questions, and leave. Mr. Lamicella announced that the standard protocol is for the inspector to take dimensions of the exterior and then come inside and perform a full examination. When various residents brought this discrepancy to light, Lamicella reiterated CVI’s policy to perform full interior investigations:

Lemicella - “We go inside and assess all physical characteristics.”
Woman - “Not in 90 seconds while standing in the doorway.”
Lemicella - “We go in all houses and inspect the whole thing, that is the protocol.”
Another woman - “Not on this side of town.”

The issue was pressed by several people: how much money CVI is being paid for their services. There were two bids advertised by the City, one for the Casinos and another for everyone else. CVI won the non-casino bid. They were the lowest bid from a state-approved agency. The ballpark figure from Ms. Hopkins is $900,000.

The overall range of value increases for property is from 3x - 12x, according to Ms. Hopkins. Wards 1-4 have received their preliminary assessments in the mail. Wards 5 & 6 have yet to receive that information. They have hit an unspecified problem along the way. Tomorrow night’s meeting should be fun, when over a hundred property owners converge on that meeting with their frustrations, without preliminary assessments.

Ted was the outlet for the accumulation of over thirty years of residents’ collective frustrations. The Mayor left during a portion of the meeting - to return later - leaving Ted to field the abuses of over a hundred angry homeowners. A point raised by myself at the meeting: The Mayor and Council-members have known about the court-ordered re-val for a while. We cannot get out of performing the re-val. The action that can be done, which is the one concrete action to lessen the anticipated August tax-bills, is to cut the budget. Neither council nor the Mayor have announced their intent to lower the budget.

There were rumours galore. Mr. Roundtree alleged, and was seconded by Mr. Young, that the Casinos have legislation in place to lessen their tax burden from approximately 80% to 70%. Another woman thinks that eminent domain will be implemented to push out Venice Park homeowners to make room for a golf course.

The residents, mainly senior citizens (one woman said, “We all seasoned in here.”), were very mindful of the unfulfilled promises and dreams of legalized gaming. People were told that A.C. property tax would decrease and become non-existent. Instead we have lived through one bad city administration after another. “I don’t know which Mayor, there have been so many disasters,” said a woman trying to recall one of the many empty promises from Atlantic City politicians.

In closing, we join with one questioner, “Mr. Mayor [Evans], since you are the new kid on the block. Do you recall the promises of no taxes?”

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Mediation of Fact and the Average American Wednesday, Dec 19 2007

The campaign trail has been rough for the Republicans this year. Some say that this is because the candidates are a collection of comparatively similar conservatives. This is all wrong. The interviews run the well worn track of parallel political questioning.

The media asks the same lame questions about the quirks of each aspirant, trying to differentiate the senators, congressmen and governors on much the same basis as a high-school prom queen and king, i.e., popularity based on the public’s reaction to how the media presents them.

The media, of course is an undefined entity that defies definition. This entity is made up of people who err like any other human. They have their biases just like the observers of a traffic accident: six observers, six stories.

Mitt Romney is by no means a prom king, but now it seems as if Huckabee is the comic relief in this round of the circus act. This reporting is all of a single perspective organized by a group of persons in the news reporting business. The CBS nightly anchor does nothing but read what is put on the queue card. The media, and thus, news, has two sides, the side that gathers news and decides what shall be reported in what order and with what importance, and also the side that must have a believable, benign visage that the American public can absorb and repeat.

There is a certain talk show, the number two show in the nation, which periodically poses random people, political questions. “Name a senator from a state that is not yours.” There are fifty states, one hundred senators, and very few answers to this question. It used to be that the average American had two pieces of literature on hand at all times. These would be the Good Book and the Newspaper. Now it seems that the television has taken up more hard-bought American time with less news and more spin.

The Democrats cry, “Havoc!” and “Education!” to an expectant public, and they are right. The public is ignorant of much that goes on in the hearts of their princes. We are sheep guarded by wolves.

The wolves are the ones with the knowledge of what is happening in the world. With their knowledge comes their great power over the masses. The trusted media is complicit in this activity, captivating our attention with cats in trees, and focusing on faulty fire alarms, when the real fire is already out of control, burning down the monuments of our morals and the foundations of our freedom.

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Atlantic City Property Re-Val: Round One. Monday, Dec 17 2007

“I think that you are going to put a lot of people out of their houses.” This statement from one concerned homeowner sets-up the context for this report.

Over a hundred people gathered in the multi-purpose room at Uptown School Complex. The town hall meeting was facilitated by Mayor Scott Evans, Tax Assessor Novelette Hopkins, and representatives of Certified Valuations, Inc (CVI). Mayor Evans allowed the meeting to go beyond the posted end time of 7pm. People vented their frustrations from about 6:20pm through 7:30pm.

The sequence of events for the re-valuations is as follows. Owners of 1-4 family homes have received, or are now receiving, their new value assessments. Property owners may challenge this preliminary assessment. Based on the dialogue between assessors and property owners there will be revised letters sent to property owners on 1 February with the clarified value.

If a homeowner is not happy with the revision, he may then pay somewhere between $5-$25–the officials were not sure–to appeal the assessment with the County tax office. The citizen must prepare his case and enter a form of arbitration, where he pleads his case against the assessor with a County Commissioner serving as mediator.

If the result is still not satisfactory, the property owner may head to State tax court. As we can see, there are several official avenues to contest the new assessed values of their property. The town hall was a public forum to vet personal frustrations. The residents let the officials hear some of their discontent.

One resident sees his property value change from $92,000 to $ 412,000. Another sees her property rise in value from $150,000 to $412,000. “I thought that we were not going to pay any taxes once the casinos came in,” said one resident. “What do I care what a house sold for ten years ago?” proclaimed one woman, “I am not moving anywhere. What about the people that are staying in Atlantic City? What about the residents?” she questioned.

Mayor Evans later responded, “I have lived through the empty (tax relief) promises.” The Mayor also joked about how difficult it is to pay City taxes, using his own inability to pay as an example.

One woman brought up the point, “When the taxes go up, my income is not going up.” “I am paying 4x what I paid [for a comparable house] in Brooklyn,” said another woman. A resident yelled out, “We put the elected officials [in] and we are left in the dark.” Residents also wondered if the higher values will scare away future home-buyers.

There were a few startling facts brought to light. 1) There is no set formula for judging the value of a lot. Some blocks have smaller lots that are higher priced than larger lots. Many discrepancies in the value of lots on a given block betray the apparent arbitrary nature of the valuation process. 2) The City is actively lobbying the State Legislature to amend the state law on phasing-in dramatic tax increases. The administration wants single family property owners to have their taxes phased-in, while Casinos are singled out to immediately bear the full brunt of paying the new sky-high property values. So much for equality under the law.

The City Budget will be finalized in May. The new tax bills based both on new property values and new City, County, and School budgets will be released in August.

I brought up a point and asked a question, we will not know the amount of the City budget until May: what is being done to cut the proposed budget?

Joseph Pollillo went in depth with the various ratable properties that have recently come on-line and are getting ready to come on-line. He brought to light how the Sheraton did not pay its full share of taxes until five years after it had opened. Their phase-in was 20% the first year, 40% the second, 60% the third, 80% the fourth, and the full 100% the last year.

One resident of The Chesapeake gave a helpful suggestion. She told her story of buying a home through the promise of a stable residential community. She is now surrounded by houses whose occupants are subsidized by the Housing Authority. They pay no mortgage or utility payments, only $100 monthly rent. Those government subsidized home-occupants have two cars in each driveway with out-of-state plates. The concerned neighbor, continued, “I pay all of this property tax to house drug users.” The Housing Authority would be one area to cut the budget.

The night ended with a slight consensus that the budget should be cut. We here at The Scoop see cutting property taxes through cutting the budget as the number one priority for the Mayor’s administration.

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Atlantic City Taxpayers’ Opportunity to Focus the Frustration Monday, Dec 17 2007

(You can save the picture to view the flyer completely. Right-click on the image.)

Tonight is round one. Mayor Evans and the tax team will host a forum at Uptown School Complex. We shall be watching to see if the actual sentiments of taxpayers is equivalent to the resentment described in the print and radio medias.

Look to The Atlantic City Scoop for a re-capturing of the Tax Assessment Forums.

(Carol Ruffu, we thank you for passing on to us this flyer. We also heard Joe Pollillo give the meetings a shout-out on Dan Klein’s South Jersey Insider)

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A Second Look at the Third John McCain Friday, Dec 14 2007

Hailing from Arizona, I’ve grown very familiar with Sen. John McCain (R-AZ). His book, Faith of My Fathers, was required reading at Arizona State University. He lives less than five miles from my house, and he attends the same political events that I attend. From what I know of John McCain, he is the longest-known survivor of four bouts with Melanoma (a form of skin cancer), a survivor of one of the worst aircraft carrier fires in US history, a survivor of five-and-a-half years of torture in the prisoner-of-war camp “Hanoi Hilton,” and old-school to his own political demise. His family name has struck fear in the hearts of America’s enemies for the last century.

McCain’s grandfather, Admiral John Sidney McCain (1884-1945), piloted the aircraft carrier Ranger and led the Fast Carrier Task Force in World War II. A testament to his leadership, his planes sank 49 Japanese ships—in one day. In one month they destroyed 3,000 Japanese planes at their bases.

McCain’s father, John Sidney McCain, Jr. (1911-1981), was the Commander-in-chief of the US Pacific Command during the Vietnam War. At this time, Navy Captain John McCain’s carrier-based A-4 Skyhawk was shot down and he was captured as a P.O.W. After the North Vietnamese discovered that their prisoner was the son of the American Commander-in-Chief, they immediately offered him freedom so as not to personally offend his “fearlessly aggressive” Admiral father. John McCain III agreed to accept freedom on one condition: that his fellow P.O.W.’s accompany him. The answer came in the form of brutal torture for years to come.

Now that John McCain III is running for president, he must translate his storied past to resonate with an American electorate who historically educated themselves in a kaleidoscope of issues, like Thomas Jefferson’s yeoman farmer, but now their mostly bovine stupidity causes them to latch-on to delightful demagogues who promise the world but have never seen it.

I was not surprised when the former presidential candidate Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) defied popular expectation by endorsing John McCain for president.

A highly educated, aristocratic gentleman, it is a testament to Brownback’s character to abide emotionless, age-old political conventions and invoke the learned expertise of old-guard stalwarts like John McCain, with their time-tested experience, when carefully drawing-up his public policy plans. To put it in perspective, Brownback landed the undivided support of the world’s foremost expert on Social Security reform, CATO’s William Shipman, who actually traveled and delivered speeches on behalf of the senator, courteously forgoing his usual $25,000 speaking fee. In an unprecedented display of mutual desire for the common good, Brownback campaigned side-by-side with rival candidate and foreign policy guru Joe Biden (D-DE) to promote the most comprehensive Iraq stability plan ever concocted.

America’s founders argued incessantly, but they agreed on one thing: preserving elements of aristocracy while incorporating vast public responsibility is tantamount to success in America’s future. Indeed, McCain is a member of that aristocracy they spoke of, while also taking responsibility for our bright future.

Though my feeble words may fall on deaf ears, I invite the perhaps scowling reader to hearken to this brief video that, at the very least, will offer a better understanding of the most perfectly imperfect man to be president.

You will realize that, in light of John McCain’s ancestors, the apple does not fall far from the tree.

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Atlantic City’s Impact on the English Language Thursday, Dec 13 2007

“‘Woot’ voted Merriam-Webster word of the year” is the newslead that many of us read and scratched our head. I thought, “where do they come up with these things?”

A deeper probe by The Atlantic City Scoop reveals that Atlantic City is the place of this word’s origin, or at least the beginning of its popular usage. According to etymologist Grant Barrett:

“After a couple of examples of “whoot” or “woot” as an onomatopoeic representation of video game sounds in news stories from 1982, the earliest clear-cut use of the word found so far is in the name of the Atlantic City, N.J., entertainment tabloid The Whoot! which shows up in 1988 as a sponsor of the ugliest bartender contest in Philadelphia. In 2003 The Whoot! changed its name to the Atlantic City Weekly. Current AC Weekly editor Michael Epifanio says that The Whoot was so-named by founder Lew Steiner after ‘night owls who would pull all-nighters to scout out the bars, clubs and restaurants and then send the publication out to print.’”

This public interest piece should be widely disseminated. After the national stigma of the “Missing Mayor” any positive press contributes to eliminating that stigma to the nation’s perception of Atlantic City.

(Reading the announcement of “Woot” as word of the year - http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5ileUw1tWfWTY4wpRO8Ak67PixHfQ)
(Reading modern etymologist Grant Barrett’s discovery of Atlantic City’s linguistic influence - http://www.doubletongued.org/index.php/grantbarrett/the_real_history_and_origin_of_woot_and_w00t/)

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Will NJ Free the Atlantic City Alcohol Market? Monday, Dec 10 2007

How does the proposed legislation regarding alcohol sales affect Atlantic City? The proposed legislation would loosen the heavy restrictions on liquor sales. Do you ever wonder why you cannot buy alcohol at a gas station or grocery store in NJ? It is due in large part to State legislation.

Michelle Lee wrote an article about a bill that would surprisingly bring more choice to Atlantic City consumers. Ms. Lee interviews small business owners that are afraid of the proposed legislation. Those owners think that if a grocery store is able to sell alcohol, then they will lose business.

The quick answer to their concern is “yes,” there is a good chance that it will diminish their business. The viability of the liquor stores in Atlantic City is not my primary concern. I want convenience and the cheapest possible price for alcohol. That is what I care about.

What about my objections to the state subsidies that many of these liquor store owners receive? Why does Ms. Lee not come and see what native-born A.C. residents think about the tax abatements and deferments that foreigners receive for their liquor stores, not based on merit, but by the sole consideration of their ethnicity. African-Americans do not receive the same consideration when and if they decide to open a 7-11 or gas station.

Many of us welcome the introduction of additional competition in the liquor sales market. We hope that the prices at Pathmart will beat those at A.C. liquor stores. Further, we hope that the introduction of more competition will cause A.C. store to be more competitive, granting me lower prices and added convenience.

(Reading - http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/top_three/story/7521642p-7421828c.html)

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