In addition to calling or emailing Senator Codey as we blogged this weekend (encouraging the Senate President to post S3017 to today's Senate calendar for vote by the full NJ Senate), NOPE calls upon constituents in District 12 (namely Tinton Falls-based supporters) to call or email Representative Rush Holt to encourage his support.
Although Mr. Holt represents many of us on the federal level (entirely separate from what is happening in Trenton with proposed legislation to issue a State Treasurer study on the proposed civilian housing plan at Naval Weapons Station Earle), we certainly could use his support and ask that he urge Mr. Codey to simply list S3017 on today's Senate calendar. This measure is a benefit to New Jersey taxpayers in understanding the security and financial ramifications of the Department of Navy's dangerous civilian housing plan.
We ask NOPE supporters to take a moment today to call Mr. Holt's offices at 877-874-4658 or 202-225-5801. You can otherwise email Representative Holt. Many thanks!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
CONTACT SENATOR CODEY IMMEDIATELY!
This is an urgent rallying cry to NOPE supporters to call or email Senate President Richard Codey NOW, asking that he "post Senate bill 3017 immediately for review by the New Jersey State Senate session on Monday." That's all you need to say. Please call this weekend, or by Monday morning at the least; this cannot wait.
Mr. Codey can be contacted at sencodey@njleg.org or 973-731-6770 (if you call rather than email, you'll have to punch in "10" on your phone to access his answering machine).
We need to flood him with calls and emails, or else 7 months of NOPE's hard work could be down the drain. We are concerned that the measure, which has already been approved by the full Assembly and on Thursday won unanimous approval by a Senate committee, is being stalled for reasons having nothing to do with our case to prevent the Department of Navy from turning NJ into Ground Zero.
As the point person here, Mr. Codey should do what is right for NJ citizens and post this measure (S3017/A4159) for full Senate passage and the Governor's signature on Monday. Otherwise, we are back to square one and New Jersey will not get the necessary security and financial assessment of a disastrous Navy plan to house and provide unimpeded access to civilians at one of our nation's largest weapons stations - Naval Weapons Station Earle, right here in our backyard in Monmouth County.
We really need you to make this call, or send Mr. Codey an email, RIGHT NOW.
Mr. Codey can be contacted at sencodey@njleg.org or 973-731-6770 (if you call rather than email, you'll have to punch in "10" on your phone to access his answering machine).
We need to flood him with calls and emails, or else 7 months of NOPE's hard work could be down the drain. We are concerned that the measure, which has already been approved by the full Assembly and on Thursday won unanimous approval by a Senate committee, is being stalled for reasons having nothing to do with our case to prevent the Department of Navy from turning NJ into Ground Zero.
As the point person here, Mr. Codey should do what is right for NJ citizens and post this measure (S3017/A4159) for full Senate passage and the Governor's signature on Monday. Otherwise, we are back to square one and New Jersey will not get the necessary security and financial assessment of a disastrous Navy plan to house and provide unimpeded access to civilians at one of our nation's largest weapons stations - Naval Weapons Station Earle, right here in our backyard in Monmouth County.
We really need you to make this call, or send Mr. Codey an email, RIGHT NOW.
Friday, January 8, 2010
NOPE briefs GAO, Congressman Smith
Last night, NOPE had the opportunity to brief the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the merits of our community's objection to civilian housing at Naval Weapons Station Earle.
We thank Congressman Chris Smith and his staff not only for setting up the briefing, which ran about 2 1/2 hours and proved valuable to the auditors in their early-stage probe, but for having continued faith in the credibility of our leadership and sincerity of NOPE's mission, which is simply to protect our communities, our security, and the Navy from its own flawed logic about what to do with vacant Laurelwood military housing on the Earle base. Collectively, we hope that GAO findings will awaken the Department of Defense to reverse the Navy's egregiously poor judgment from on high.
For those unfamiliar, the GAO is the investigative arm of Congress and tasked with "improving the performance and accountability of the federal government" to U.S. taxpayers' benefit. The GAO was commissioned (for this particular study) by legislation put forth, first by Congressman Smith in the House of Representatives, and then in the U.S. Senate by Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg and subsequently signed into the F2010 Defense spending bill by President Obama, requesting an objective study of the security and financial ramifications of the Department of Navy's plan to house civilians at Earle - key factors the Navy omitted from the cursory 1,300-page Laurelwood Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
NOPE last night learned that GAO's early-stage audit will focus on:
In short, the meeting was extremely productive, and much like NOPE's briefings of the DoD Inspector General (IG) and then-Navy Under-Secretary BJ Penn (both in the summer of 2008), proved valuable in shedding light on the very unusual Laurelwood housing case and Weapons Station Earle itself, which is still sort of anonymous to many in Washington, D.C.
A lot of credit goes to Jim Sfayer and Fulton Wilcox, our primary presenters last night, who eloquently and so professionally briefed the GAO on the mission-critical nature of NWS Earle and why ripping a hole in the security fence to accommodate unimpeded civilian housing and access to an 11,000-acre weapons depot flies in the face of reason, largely from security and financial perspectives. Otherwise, NOPE's leadership team represented our grassroots organization extremely well and with tremendous professionalism, with some probing questions and insights for the GAO.
We'll keep you posted here on the next turn of events in this matter.
We thank Congressman Chris Smith and his staff not only for setting up the briefing, which ran about 2 1/2 hours and proved valuable to the auditors in their early-stage probe, but for having continued faith in the credibility of our leadership and sincerity of NOPE's mission, which is simply to protect our communities, our security, and the Navy from its own flawed logic about what to do with vacant Laurelwood military housing on the Earle base. Collectively, we hope that GAO findings will awaken the Department of Defense to reverse the Navy's egregiously poor judgment from on high.
For those unfamiliar, the GAO is the investigative arm of Congress and tasked with "improving the performance and accountability of the federal government" to U.S. taxpayers' benefit. The GAO was commissioned (for this particular study) by legislation put forth, first by Congressman Smith in the House of Representatives, and then in the U.S. Senate by Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg and subsequently signed into the F2010 Defense spending bill by President Obama, requesting an objective study of the security and financial ramifications of the Department of Navy's plan to house civilians at Earle - key factors the Navy omitted from the cursory 1,300-page Laurelwood Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
NOPE last night learned that GAO's early-stage audit will focus on:
- a full cost-benefits analysis for all stakeholders (i.e. the Navy and local communities)
- whether the cost of the proposal to house 300 families of civilians and the Department of Navy's additional security requirements will outweigh the purported benefits the DoN touched upon in the EIS (details of explicit benefits were vague, at best, in that study)
- whether the Department of Defense plans to engage the community in setting the course for involvement of the local community
In short, the meeting was extremely productive, and much like NOPE's briefings of the DoD Inspector General (IG) and then-Navy Under-Secretary BJ Penn (both in the summer of 2008), proved valuable in shedding light on the very unusual Laurelwood housing case and Weapons Station Earle itself, which is still sort of anonymous to many in Washington, D.C.
A lot of credit goes to Jim Sfayer and Fulton Wilcox, our primary presenters last night, who eloquently and so professionally briefed the GAO on the mission-critical nature of NWS Earle and why ripping a hole in the security fence to accommodate unimpeded civilian housing and access to an 11,000-acre weapons depot flies in the face of reason, largely from security and financial perspectives. Otherwise, NOPE's leadership team represented our grassroots organization extremely well and with tremendous professionalism, with some probing questions and insights for the GAO.
We'll keep you posted here on the next turn of events in this matter.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
NJ Senate committee backs Earle financial, security study!
Good news from the New Jersey State House...the Senate's Community and Urban Affairs Committee passed by a 4-0 vote Senate bill S3017! This is wonderful news for NOPE, the tireless efforts of Senator Beck, the assembly and NOPE's legislative liaison Elaine Mann, and the 1,500-plus supporters who had signed our white postcards since our October 27, 2009 rally, urging passage of this measure. This proves that our community's voice does count and that NOPE indeed has mettle.
If passed by the full senate and signed by Governor Corzine on Monday, S3017 (the companion Assembly measure A4159 passed last month) would prevent the NJ Departments of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Transportation (DOT) from issuing permits to the U.S. Department of Navy for proposed construction of an unimpeded access road to Laurelwood houses inside Weapons Station Earle.
The combination of data from any State Treasurer study plus the ongoing and separate security and financial assessment conducted by the U.S. Senate's Goverment Accountability Office (GAO) will prove extremely valuable in proving the merits of NOPE's contention that unimpededly opening NWS Earle to civilian tenants for the next 30 years poses a security, financial and environmental recipe for disaster to the Navy itself and our communities. (See our 8-page Business Case analysis for more details on cost dynamics of the ill-conceived Navy plan.) The studies, combined, also will produce what the Navy -- by law -- was required to, but did not, provide to the U.S. citizens last year when the DoN rolled out what in the end was a non-compliant Final-Environmental Impact Statement (F-EIS).
Let's be clear. Contrary to what some opponents (namely a local veterans group and affordable housing advocate) contested in audio comments reviewed from the State House today, S3017 DOES NOT change the U.S. Navy's plans or decide the eventual outcome of the 300-unit Laurelwood housing complex...or, for that matter, who can occupy the homes. Rather, the legislation will rightfully give New Jersey's decision-makers, homeland security and emergency response officials and surrounding communities the missing pieces about security requirements and financial ramifications of a DoN proposal rife with questions and pitfalls.
And, from NOPE's perspective, S3017 would more or less put even more pressure on the DoN to recognize that it must, by contract, engage in a buyout of the Laurelwood lease if it fails to provide Laurelwood's developer access to build the road to the homes by May 1 (the expiration of the Navy's "in-lease" on the 52-year housing contract), as Supplemental Agreement 43 suggests in the Laurelwood leasing contract.
The point being...NOPE will CONTINUE TO FIGHT for the better of the community until the Laurelwood contract is voided or bought out and the Laurelwood houses are razed. Putting ANY civilians in the middle of a high-security munitions depot is a painfully bad idea and will have far too big a detriment on our communities, unless we continue to raise objections.
Let's keep up the fight. It's a battle worth waging!
If passed by the full senate and signed by Governor Corzine on Monday, S3017 (the companion Assembly measure A4159 passed last month) would prevent the NJ Departments of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Transportation (DOT) from issuing permits to the U.S. Department of Navy for proposed construction of an unimpeded access road to Laurelwood houses inside Weapons Station Earle.
The combination of data from any State Treasurer study plus the ongoing and separate security and financial assessment conducted by the U.S. Senate's Goverment Accountability Office (GAO) will prove extremely valuable in proving the merits of NOPE's contention that unimpededly opening NWS Earle to civilian tenants for the next 30 years poses a security, financial and environmental recipe for disaster to the Navy itself and our communities. (See our 8-page Business Case analysis for more details on cost dynamics of the ill-conceived Navy plan.) The studies, combined, also will produce what the Navy -- by law -- was required to, but did not, provide to the U.S. citizens last year when the DoN rolled out what in the end was a non-compliant Final-Environmental Impact Statement (F-EIS).
Let's be clear. Contrary to what some opponents (namely a local veterans group and affordable housing advocate) contested in audio comments reviewed from the State House today, S3017 DOES NOT change the U.S. Navy's plans or decide the eventual outcome of the 300-unit Laurelwood housing complex...or, for that matter, who can occupy the homes. Rather, the legislation will rightfully give New Jersey's decision-makers, homeland security and emergency response officials and surrounding communities the missing pieces about security requirements and financial ramifications of a DoN proposal rife with questions and pitfalls.
And, from NOPE's perspective, S3017 would more or less put even more pressure on the DoN to recognize that it must, by contract, engage in a buyout of the Laurelwood lease if it fails to provide Laurelwood's developer access to build the road to the homes by May 1 (the expiration of the Navy's "in-lease" on the 52-year housing contract), as Supplemental Agreement 43 suggests in the Laurelwood leasing contract.
The point being...NOPE will CONTINUE TO FIGHT for the better of the community until the Laurelwood contract is voided or bought out and the Laurelwood houses are razed. Putting ANY civilians in the middle of a high-security munitions depot is a painfully bad idea and will have far too big a detriment on our communities, unless we continue to raise objections.
Let's keep up the fight. It's a battle worth waging!
NJ Senate proceedings link
Anyone who wants to listen in to the Community and Urban affairs hearing in Trenton, where the Earle measure S3017/A4159 is being addressed, follow this link. We'll follow with an update later this afternoon regarding the outcome.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Trenton reminder
Anyone wishing to join the small NOPE contingent headed to the Statehouse on Thursday morning to lobby passage of S3017 (see Sunday's blog for more details) is encouraged to meet the team at Colts Neck Town Hall at 8:30 a.m. Thanks in advance to anyone who can attend and provide their own transport to Trenton.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Guard contract up for bid at NWS Earle admits Colts Neck base is a terror target
Naval Weapons Station Earle depends on outsource guards to augment base security, whether patrolling the 11,000-acre fence line, securing the main gate, or watching over the hundreds of bunkers housing high-powered military ordnance and Normandy Road on which these explosives travel. This is nothing unusual at military bases or unexpected, considering that domestic military forces are so spread thin by war abroad. To be sure, "outsourcing" is now embedded in our society and part of our vernacular.
The current team of contract security guards at NWS Earle is Myers Investigative, of Dunn, N.C., though the contract is up for bidding again, with at least 73 "interested vendors" according to www.fedbizops.gov. Anyone interested in reading this mundane set of documents (or bidding on the contract itself) can access them at the Navy's NECO website.
(NOTE: We must remind NOPE supporters and other observers of last year's scathing Inspector General report on Earle's subpar oversight of the Myers team...to the point where a prospective hire was found to have a criminal background).
Our cursory read of the bid documentation linked above (the submission deadline is January 20, 2010, for anyone interested) validates a primary NOPE contention that the Department of Navy is opening up the Laurelwood military houses on base to civilians against wiser judgement and to the severe detriment of base, local and national security. For, on page 1 of "Annex 4", the Contract Staffing Requirement clearly states that "this contract is for services required for Force Protection Condition (FPCON) B."
What is FPCON B, you ask? According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture website on anti-terrorism and force protection, FPC BRAVO (or B) "applies when an increased and more-predictable threat of terrorist activity exists. The measures in this Force Protection Conditions must be capable of being maintained for weeks without causing undue hardship, affecting operational capability, and aggravating relations with local authorities."
So at the same time the Department of Navy is admitting a threat to an important weapons facility, the DoN's top-notch decision-makers in Washington, D.C., are recommending unimpeded civilian housing and access to the 300 mostly vacant Laurelwood homes to civilians come September. And to make it work, the DoN admits in its Final Environmental Impact Statement in May 2009 that it will have to increase security forces. Amazing!
NOPE is hopeful that with the U.S. Senate (GAO) preparing to begin its own security and financial assessment of civilian housing plan at Earle, and the New Jersey Senate presumably passing companion legislation on the state level within the next week, that cooler heads will prevail at the Navy and that the DoN will buy out the Laurelwood contract and avoid a major headache for everyone, particularly itself and the security of its own dependents at Earle.
The current team of contract security guards at NWS Earle is Myers Investigative, of Dunn, N.C., though the contract is up for bidding again, with at least 73 "interested vendors" according to www.fedbizops.gov. Anyone interested in reading this mundane set of documents (or bidding on the contract itself) can access them at the Navy's NECO website.
(NOTE: We must remind NOPE supporters and other observers of last year's scathing Inspector General report on Earle's subpar oversight of the Myers team...to the point where a prospective hire was found to have a criminal background).
Our cursory read of the bid documentation linked above (the submission deadline is January 20, 2010, for anyone interested) validates a primary NOPE contention that the Department of Navy is opening up the Laurelwood military houses on base to civilians against wiser judgement and to the severe detriment of base, local and national security. For, on page 1 of "Annex 4", the Contract Staffing Requirement clearly states that "this contract is for services required for Force Protection Condition (FPCON) B."
What is FPCON B, you ask? According to a U.S. Department of Agriculture website on anti-terrorism and force protection, FPC BRAVO (or B) "applies when an increased and more-predictable threat of terrorist activity exists. The measures in this Force Protection Conditions must be capable of being maintained for weeks without causing undue hardship, affecting operational capability, and aggravating relations with local authorities."
So at the same time the Department of Navy is admitting a threat to an important weapons facility, the DoN's top-notch decision-makers in Washington, D.C., are recommending unimpeded civilian housing and access to the 300 mostly vacant Laurelwood homes to civilians come September. And to make it work, the DoN admits in its Final Environmental Impact Statement in May 2009 that it will have to increase security forces. Amazing!
NOPE is hopeful that with the U.S. Senate (GAO) preparing to begin its own security and financial assessment of civilian housing plan at Earle, and the New Jersey Senate presumably passing companion legislation on the state level within the next week, that cooler heads will prevail at the Navy and that the DoN will buy out the Laurelwood contract and avoid a major headache for everyone, particularly itself and the security of its own dependents at Earle.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
NOPE Is Ready To Roll Into 2010
Off of what we hope was a joyous holiday season for all, NOPE is beginning its third year of grassroots volunteerism targeted at preventing the Department of Navy from turning Naval Weapons Station Earle into the next Ground Zero, by virtue of a hideously dangerous and costly plan to open base housing (Laurelwood) to civilians for occupancy as soon as September 2010.
It's hard to believe that financial mismanagement and poor planning by the DoN more than 20 years ago has put Earle itself and our surrounding civilian communities into such a horrific situation as this, but NOPE will not rest until the Navy either rescinds or buys out the Laurelwood contract and then levels the homes. It's as simple as that.
NOPE's first event of 2010 will be at the Statehouse in Trenton on Thursday, January 7, 2010, as we lobby passage of S3017 (the companion to House legislation A4159, which has passed late last month) initiated by Senator Jennifer Beck and to be heard by the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee at 10 a.m. Anyone wishing to join us should meet at Colts Neck Town Hall that morning at 9 a.m. (we ask that you provide your own transportation to Trenton or carpool with a friend) and can contact NOPE legislative liaison Elaine Mann at 732.308.0021 for more details.
Passage by the Senate and Governor will prevent the state's DEP and DOT from issuing any permits to the DoN until a full financial impact study is conducted by the NJ Treasurer. In our opinion, this will create another significant roadblock to the DoN in its effort to meet an April 30, 2010, deadline to let developer Laurelwood Homes, LLC, build the unimpeded access road to the homes and potentially cause a breach of contract that could prompt the developer to sue for a buyout (from the Department of Navy) of the contract. We ask that anyone who has the WHITE POSTCARDS we distributed at the October 27, 2009 rally and thereafter to return these signed cards to their NOPE contacts by Wednesday night, since we will be taking them to Trenton on Thursday.
It's hard to believe that financial mismanagement and poor planning by the DoN more than 20 years ago has put Earle itself and our surrounding civilian communities into such a horrific situation as this, but NOPE will not rest until the Navy either rescinds or buys out the Laurelwood contract and then levels the homes. It's as simple as that.
NOPE's first event of 2010 will be at the Statehouse in Trenton on Thursday, January 7, 2010, as we lobby passage of S3017 (the companion to House legislation A4159, which has passed late last month) initiated by Senator Jennifer Beck and to be heard by the Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee at 10 a.m. Anyone wishing to join us should meet at Colts Neck Town Hall that morning at 9 a.m. (we ask that you provide your own transportation to Trenton or carpool with a friend) and can contact NOPE legislative liaison Elaine Mann at 732.308.0021 for more details.
Passage by the Senate and Governor will prevent the state's DEP and DOT from issuing any permits to the DoN until a full financial impact study is conducted by the NJ Treasurer. In our opinion, this will create another significant roadblock to the DoN in its effort to meet an April 30, 2010, deadline to let developer Laurelwood Homes, LLC, build the unimpeded access road to the homes and potentially cause a breach of contract that could prompt the developer to sue for a buyout (from the Department of Navy) of the contract. We ask that anyone who has the WHITE POSTCARDS we distributed at the October 27, 2009 rally and thereafter to return these signed cards to their NOPE contacts by Wednesday night, since we will be taking them to Trenton on Thursday.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
Seasons Greetings!
NOPE Secretary Ernie Janssen best encapsulates the sentiments of our organization's leadership team, and what a pleasure it remains to volunteer for the better of our community. Seasons Greetings to all!
"I would just like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a Joyous Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Healthy and Happy New Year!!! While we, a disparate group, have banded together to fight the insanity of the US Navy I can say without a doubt that it continues to be a pleasure working with all of you! I would not have met many of you if it had not been for this problem and frankly, that would have been a shame. Helping neighbors solve problems is something that we all too frequently lose sight of as our days become ever so busy. Thanking everyone for their participation and I look forward to our successful conclusion in 2010 of our "little headache".
Happy Holidays Everyone!!!! Ernie"
EPA responds to NOPE postcards!
The community's actions do have an impact (so continue to get your friends and neighbors to sign and submit the postcards we've been distributing since late-October), as evidenced by this letter from the U.S. EPA to NAVFAC (and copied to NOPE's mailbox), which references our postcard campaign and that, unfortunately, the EPA is seemingly unwavering toward its favorable view of the Laurelwood civilian housing plan at NWS Earle.
Our contention from the get-go of NAVFAC's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), a prerequisite filing for any agency (in this case, for the Department of Navy to construct a new, unimpeded civilian access road and two bridges thru its base), has been that the Navy misled the EPA on its "purpose and need" for the project and that the plan (of the five presented) with the least environmental impact was the NO BUILD option (basically, no civilian road or housing). NAVFAC lied that it has to go thru with the project, which NOPE has proven to be false, and therefore the EPA should make NAVFAC re-open the study and issue a new EIS, providing all agencies with a true security and cost-benefits analysis.
To be sure, NAVFAC (the DoN's) lack of candidness is what has prompted federal and state legislation, lawsuits, community outrage, etc.
Anyway, what we can take from this latest EPA letter is that a) the EPA is clearly aware of the NOPE community's objections to complacency toward the National Environmental Policy Act and b) that within the coming weeks NOPE will step up the environmental food chain, so to speak, and target The Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Chairwoman Nancy Sutley (a director policy advisor to the President) to enforce NEPA guidelines.
We continue to need the community's support on this front.
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
More environmental lessons for Earle and the EPA
Bolstering NOPE's case that 29 (and possibly counting) EPA Superfund sites at Earle make the Colts Neck, NJ, Naval Weapons Station an inherent hazard to prospective civilian tenants of Laurelwood housing come 2010, we encourage our supporters to read this story from Bob O'Dowd of SalemNews.com. (Mr. O'Dowd's profile on this link shows 4+ years with the Marines in the 1960s and 30+ years as a financial expert with the federal government, including 15 years in the Defense Logistics Agency.) Candidly, it is startling (though not totally surprising, considering how much NOPE has learned about Earle the past two years) how the military can turn a blind eye toward the health of its veteran dependents or exposure to toxins.
Building upon our writings a few days ago about contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune and the Marines' notification of people through, of all venues, a Sports Illustrated advertisement, Mr. O'Dowd's story touches upon a similar case at the defunct El Toro (California), where Marine vets and their dependents were exposed to toxic chemicals TCE and PCE at the former Marine Corp Air Station and now deal with all sorts of cancer and serious diseases. TCE and PCE are listed numerous times in EPA Superfund and any environmental literature pertaining to NWS Earle.
To make a long story short, in light of such stories about toxins and military bases, it remains baffling to NOPE how the EPA could have blindly checked off on the Department of Navy's plan to rent the 300 Laurelwood houses at Earle to civilians...just outside one particular EPA Superfund site ("NPL #1") known to have been home to burn pits and rife with toxic elements...and how local veterans groups a) take the Navy for its word that these homes are a safe place to live and b) would put their bretheren in harms way, when far-safer alternatives to distressed veterans in need of housing could be explored.
THE EPA CLEARLY DID NOT DO ITS JOB IN CHALLENGING THE MERITS OF CIVILIAN HOUSING AT NWS EARLE AND SHOULD IMMEDIATELY WITHDRAW ITS FINDINGS AND REVISIT THE ISSUE. The last thing some unwitting prospective tenant (civilian or otherwise) needs to learn somewhere down the road is that the sweet digs at Earle's Laurelwood development were within reach of airborne toxins or something festering in the soil that exposed them to cancer or some other fatal or life-changing disease, or that something in the soil was disturbed while the developer was paving the 2-mile road to the Laurelwood development. NAVFAC (Navy facilities command) hung its hat in the Laurelwood EIS on prospective Laurelwood residents getting water from public utilities, but was less-than-candid about residents' potential exposure to inhalation of or dermal contact (i.e. touching the soil) with cancer-causing agents. This needs to be considered more thoroughly by the EPA.
Building upon our writings a few days ago about contaminated drinking water at Camp Lejeune and the Marines' notification of people through, of all venues, a Sports Illustrated advertisement, Mr. O'Dowd's story touches upon a similar case at the defunct El Toro (California), where Marine vets and their dependents were exposed to toxic chemicals TCE and PCE at the former Marine Corp Air Station and now deal with all sorts of cancer and serious diseases. TCE and PCE are listed numerous times in EPA Superfund and any environmental literature pertaining to NWS Earle.
To make a long story short, in light of such stories about toxins and military bases, it remains baffling to NOPE how the EPA could have blindly checked off on the Department of Navy's plan to rent the 300 Laurelwood houses at Earle to civilians...just outside one particular EPA Superfund site ("NPL #1") known to have been home to burn pits and rife with toxic elements...and how local veterans groups a) take the Navy for its word that these homes are a safe place to live and b) would put their bretheren in harms way, when far-safer alternatives to distressed veterans in need of housing could be explored.
THE EPA CLEARLY DID NOT DO ITS JOB IN CHALLENGING THE MERITS OF CIVILIAN HOUSING AT NWS EARLE AND SHOULD IMMEDIATELY WITHDRAW ITS FINDINGS AND REVISIT THE ISSUE. The last thing some unwitting prospective tenant (civilian or otherwise) needs to learn somewhere down the road is that the sweet digs at Earle's Laurelwood development were within reach of airborne toxins or something festering in the soil that exposed them to cancer or some other fatal or life-changing disease, or that something in the soil was disturbed while the developer was paving the 2-mile road to the Laurelwood development. NAVFAC (Navy facilities command) hung its hat in the Laurelwood EIS on prospective Laurelwood residents getting water from public utilities, but was less-than-candid about residents' potential exposure to inhalation of or dermal contact (i.e. touching the soil) with cancer-causing agents. This needs to be considered more thoroughly by the EPA.
Monday, December 21, 2009
Homegrown Terror on the Rise in 2009: FoxNews
According to FoxNews, citing credible data from Rand Corporation and global intelligence company Stratfor, one-third of the nearly 30 domestic terror events since 9/11 took place in 2009. NOPE continues to shake its collective head at the foolishness of the Department of Navy notion that unfettered civilian access through Weapons Station Earle to the Laurelwood homes will not comprimise security and the base mission. Opening the homes to anyone that can pay the rent is more foolhardy, when considering some of the cautionary commentary offered in this Fox story about how homegrown terrorists are even more difficult to identify.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Environmental lessons from Camp Lejeune
Never in a million years would I have imagined that my longstanding Sports Illustrated subscription would yield something relevant to NOPE.Other dinosaurs that still get the print version of SI might have also noticed the attached advertisement from the U.S. Marine Corps on page 83 of the December 14 issue, imploring anyone that "lived or worked at Camp Lejeune before 1987" to call to see whether they "may have been exposed to contaminated drinking water." Hmm...
This piqued my interest, so I googled "Camp Lejeune" and "water" and came up with a treasurer trove of stories that show that as many as 1 million ex-Marines and their families drank toxic wellwater at Lejeune and may be stricken with all sorts of illnesses (or birth defects) as a result of ingesting TCE and PCE, two severely toxic chemicals. (Not surprisingly, Navy leadership is taking the high road by battling the federal agency overseeing toxic substances over funding a mortality study at Lejeune, according to AP).
Take what you will from this anecdote, but for those - including a particular local veterans group - that wonder why we have an ax to grind with the Department of Navy over proposed civilian housing at NWS Earle, and why we do not buy the Navy's argument against making the issue go away, keep in mind the 29 EPA Superfund sites at Earle and their proximity to Laurelwood housing.
Two decades after it happened we now have the DoN/Marines hinting that, yeah, maybe there was something wrong with the water that servicemembers and their families were drinking at Lejeune. Granted, any prospective Laurelwood tenants will be drinking public water(not wellwater), but, still, the argument here is that, environmentally, who really knows what's going on at a military base where the job is inherently dangerous?
Will it take 10-20-30 years to find out that military dependents at Laurelwood in the 1990s and 2000s (and subsequently civilian tenants from 2010-2040) are in bad health or birthing kids with defects as a result of airborne or some kind of other exposure to toxic chemicals at the base? (NOPE is in the process of working on the environmental case at Earle).
I, for one, would not want to throw ANYONE, let alone a U.S. veteran who "needs a place to live" (as Neptune Housing Authority espouses), to a dangerous housing situation, merely because the Navy has some vacant, underutilized housing within its Earle base...and because it says "yeah, we can handle the security obligation." Such a notion is utterly shortsighted and blind to the environmental hazards of the military weapons business.
Regards,
Bill Holobowski, NOPE Chairman
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Postcard and Facebook reminders
NOPE would like to mail a second big batch of four-color postcards before the Christmas holiday, so please begin gathering and submitting signed postcards either to the town halls of Tinton Falls and Colts Neck, or to your primary NOPE contacts. The cards already have pre-printed addresses, too, if you care to mail them on your own.
You have until January 3, 2010, to collect the WHITE POSTCARDS, which we will bring to Trenton when lobbying for passage of S3017 (see earlier blogs on this bill).
Otherwise, if anyone is interested, we have set up a Facebook page for NOPE, though we're not quite sure yet whether it is worth our while to spend much time on this front. Still, it is worth an exploratory effort to see whether this will expand our already broad supporter base.
You have until January 3, 2010, to collect the WHITE POSTCARDS, which we will bring to Trenton when lobbying for passage of S3017 (see earlier blogs on this bill).
Otherwise, if anyone is interested, we have set up a Facebook page for NOPE, though we're not quite sure yet whether it is worth our while to spend much time on this front. Still, it is worth an exploratory effort to see whether this will expand our already broad supporter base.
Monday, December 14, 2009
How privatized housing (PPVs) essentially works
In assessing how to refute one group's admirable, yet ill-conceived suggestion to convert the Laurelwood units at Earle to veterans housing, and to give our supporters a "Cliff's Notes" view of what Privatization in NOPE stands for, one must note the structure of our military Public-Private Ventures (PPV) and that the military has no real ownership in the houses it "privatizes", as evidenced in this 2005 NAVFAC PowerPoint.
Were it as simple as the Department of Navy owning the homes and making the call on who ultimately would live at Laurelwood, then NOPE might not have a case. However, in a PPV, the U.S. Military cedes control of the housing (i.e. selection of renters, rental rates, etc.) to an outside, generally obscure, Limited Liability Corporation majority partner (Laurelwood Homes, LLC, in our case at NWS Earle).
The deal is simple...the military gets the homes it needs for its enlisted personnel for a finite period ("in-lease") and at almost no upfront cost, and then gives the developer full control over how the "out-lease" (civilian-use phase in the case of Laurelwood) is executed.
Rather than holding the surrounding communities, elected officials or NOPE responsible for collective and rational objections to civilian housing at Earle and unimpeded civilian access to a Naval weapons depot, the proponents of veterans housing should direct their questions and attention to those responsible for PPV oversight and hone in on Fort Monmouth, which is scheduled for closure in 2012 and, in NOPE's view, far better-suited to veterans' needs (i.e. medical facilities, housing, open space, etc.). That is a far more viable, safer and attainable solution to veterans' housing needs than some willy-nilly landgrab at Weapons Station Earle.
Were it as simple as the Department of Navy owning the homes and making the call on who ultimately would live at Laurelwood, then NOPE might not have a case. However, in a PPV, the U.S. Military cedes control of the housing (i.e. selection of renters, rental rates, etc.) to an outside, generally obscure, Limited Liability Corporation majority partner (Laurelwood Homes, LLC, in our case at NWS Earle).
The deal is simple...the military gets the homes it needs for its enlisted personnel for a finite period ("in-lease") and at almost no upfront cost, and then gives the developer full control over how the "out-lease" (civilian-use phase in the case of Laurelwood) is executed.
Rather than holding the surrounding communities, elected officials or NOPE responsible for collective and rational objections to civilian housing at Earle and unimpeded civilian access to a Naval weapons depot, the proponents of veterans housing should direct their questions and attention to those responsible for PPV oversight and hone in on Fort Monmouth, which is scheduled for closure in 2012 and, in NOPE's view, far better-suited to veterans' needs (i.e. medical facilities, housing, open space, etc.). That is a far more viable, safer and attainable solution to veterans' housing needs than some willy-nilly landgrab at Weapons Station Earle.
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
More on the NJ legislation, and a bit of clarification
Greater Media News staff writer Rebecca Morton did a nice job detailing the NJ legislation (A4159/S3017) seeking an analysis of the Laurelwood housing conversion at Weapons Station Earle, in this piece in The Examiner (of Allentown, Millstone, Roosevelt and Upper Freehold).
It is a misnomer, however, that the U.S. Navy is off the hook for rent payments to Teri Fischer, owner of Laurelwood Homes, LLC, as of (April) 2010, as suggested by The Examiner, and as the Navy's own Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the housing conversion would suggest.
NOPE's reading of the Laurelwood lease and supplemental agreeements, obtained via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), suggests the U.S. Navy will be on the hook to the developer for as much as $20 million more if certain access and occupancy requirements are not met. The Asbury Park Press reported on this in May 2009, and as spelled out in this NOPE press release from May 12, 2009.
We can provide copies of the full lease agreement, if anyone needs. Just drop us a comment here and we'll be sure to follow up.
It is a misnomer, however, that the U.S. Navy is off the hook for rent payments to Teri Fischer, owner of Laurelwood Homes, LLC, as of (April) 2010, as suggested by The Examiner, and as the Navy's own Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the housing conversion would suggest.
NOPE's reading of the Laurelwood lease and supplemental agreeements, obtained via the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), suggests the U.S. Navy will be on the hook to the developer for as much as $20 million more if certain access and occupancy requirements are not met. The Asbury Park Press reported on this in May 2009, and as spelled out in this NOPE press release from May 12, 2009.
We can provide copies of the full lease agreement, if anyone needs. Just drop us a comment here and we'll be sure to follow up.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Earle measure passes State Assembly; now up for Senate consideration
A mere formality, but A-4159 (a state-mandated probe into the financial and security aspects of the Laurelwood civilian housing issue at NWS Earle) passed 76-0-1 in the New Jersey Assembly yesterday and is under review by a Senate committee (Community and Urban Affairs). NOPE is pushing for passage of the measure by the Senate before year's end for signature by Gov. Corzine during the lame-duck session and will keep tabs on when the Senate Committee meets to address the matter. (There was a committee meeting yesterday, but the companion S-3017 was not listed on yesterday's docket available online; since the NJ Legislature website is so rigid, click on the link here, then click the "Community and Urban Affairs" link on the right side of the screen to see their meeting schedule).
Please click on the A-4159 link above for the 1-page write-up of the official bill, but in short, full passage would prohibit the two key state agencies - the DEP and DOT - from issuing any state permits to the Department of Navy and Laurelwood Homes, LLC for its route construction to the Laurelwood homes until the study is completed. In this case, the state has far greater powers over the process than the federal agencies (i.e. EPA). A good thing for NOPE.
In the meantime, we are reviewing the security guard contracts up for bids at Earle to see whether we can ascertain anything relevant to our case, as noted yesterday, and will post our findings when ready, so stay tuned.
Please click on the A-4159 link above for the 1-page write-up of the official bill, but in short, full passage would prohibit the two key state agencies - the DEP and DOT - from issuing any state permits to the Department of Navy and Laurelwood Homes, LLC for its route construction to the Laurelwood homes until the study is completed. In this case, the state has far greater powers over the process than the federal agencies (i.e. EPA). A good thing for NOPE.
In the meantime, we are reviewing the security guard contracts up for bids at Earle to see whether we can ascertain anything relevant to our case, as noted yesterday, and will post our findings when ready, so stay tuned.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Earle security up for bids
Naval Facilities Engineering Command, Mid-Atlantic (or NAVFAC, the outfit that cobbled together the incomplete Environmental Impact Statement - EIS - on proposed civilian housing at NWS Earle) is soliciting bids from private contractors for outsource security guard and dispatch services at Earle. You can download the PDF files here. (If you get a "security certificate error", just click the link with the Red X, even though your PC may says it is not recommended - a lot of military websites give this prompt, though it is entirely safe to open).
NOPE will analyze the documents in the coming days and blog our findings here.
In short, Earle now uses guards from an outfit from North Carolina called Myers Investigative and Security Services, as we discussed here a few days ago (see the Inspector General report on problems with Earle's oversight of the current contract). Now, oursource security contractors will be able to bid thru January 6, 2010, on this new IDIQ - indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity - parlance for "open-ended contract."
NOPE will analyze the documents in the coming days and blog our findings here.
In short, Earle now uses guards from an outfit from North Carolina called Myers Investigative and Security Services, as we discussed here a few days ago (see the Inspector General report on problems with Earle's oversight of the current contract). Now, oursource security contractors will be able to bid thru January 6, 2010, on this new IDIQ - indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity - parlance for "open-ended contract."
Sunday, December 6, 2009
NOPE on Facebook
Get your friends, family and neighbors to join and support our cause on Facebook. We will work on improving the page over the next few weeks, but let's get everyone signed up.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Get us your WHITE NOPE POSTCARDS - ASAP
It is possible that the NJ Senate will take up the Beck bill (S3017) that we've discussed ad nauseum here on the NOPE blog (see posts below about the companion Assembly bill) next week, so please submit the white postcards that we've been distributing since the October 27 rally by the end of this weekend. Get in touch with your primary NOPE contacts to arrange for drop-off or pickup, or drop them off at one of three locations: CN Town Hall, Recreation, and Tinton Falls Borough Hall (dropbox just past the elevators). You can also call Bill at 732.544.8595 to make arrangements.
In the meantime, continue to distribute and collect the four-color postcards addressed to the Secretary of Navy, EPA, our governor and NJ homeland security.
In the meantime, continue to distribute and collect the four-color postcards addressed to the Secretary of Navy, EPA, our governor and NJ homeland security.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Addicted to Contractors
Entirely anecdotal, but this story from Foreign Policy.com (published by the Slate Group) only scratches the surface on the cost of "privatizing" government functions. The gist of the story is that although the number of full-time federal employees has not changed since 1963, the function of contract oversight has gotten so tricky, particularly with each federal employee consequently "responsible for the oversight of three times the taxpayer money that they would have been a half-century ago."
So how does this tie into NOPE and Laurelwood housing at Earle, you ask? It speaks of lack of oversight, U.S. taxpayer dollar waste and one of the underpinnings of our thesis that the Navy, by planning to open Laurelwood to civilians in 2010, is putting towns surrounding NWS Earle in the way of severe security and financial peril...solely to escape poor planning and a horrendous contract it signed in 1988. No ifs, ands, or buts.
The Department of Navy had an immediate need for on-base housing back in the 80s and into part of the 1990s at Earle (hence, Laurelwood was built), but signed a 52-year housing contract for the property, knowing full well the occupancy would fall off a cliff with the decision within two years to move the homeport of particular ships to Norfolk, VA. Today, we understand that only 6 of the 300 Laurelwood units are occupied, which at annual rents approaching $4 million this year to Laurelwood's owner, Teri Fischer, equates to a housing rental cost of $667,000 to taxpayers to rent one townhouse!
To be sure, from our reading of documents obtained thru the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), when the DoN not only signed away its rights to revoke the contract to let Mrs. Fischer refinance her LLC's mortgage on Laurelwood, it also missed out on a $28 million buyout opportunity - an amount the Navy has since spent to uphold the lease. Now it claims to be on the hook for $100 million+ to Mrs. Fischer if it does not open the houses to civilians next year (an entirely bogus argument, even in the eyes of Mrs. Fischer's attorney, as quoted earlier this year in an Asbury Park Press story).
In short, NONE OF US would be in this mess had the DoN not been pigheaded and just bought out the Laurelwood contract when it had the chance...7 YEARS AGO! Now is the time to reach an amicable settlement on the deal and raze the homes, and to move forward from an ugly chapter on privatized housing gone awry.
So how does this tie into NOPE and Laurelwood housing at Earle, you ask? It speaks of lack of oversight, U.S. taxpayer dollar waste and one of the underpinnings of our thesis that the Navy, by planning to open Laurelwood to civilians in 2010, is putting towns surrounding NWS Earle in the way of severe security and financial peril...solely to escape poor planning and a horrendous contract it signed in 1988. No ifs, ands, or buts.
The Department of Navy had an immediate need for on-base housing back in the 80s and into part of the 1990s at Earle (hence, Laurelwood was built), but signed a 52-year housing contract for the property, knowing full well the occupancy would fall off a cliff with the decision within two years to move the homeport of particular ships to Norfolk, VA. Today, we understand that only 6 of the 300 Laurelwood units are occupied, which at annual rents approaching $4 million this year to Laurelwood's owner, Teri Fischer, equates to a housing rental cost of $667,000 to taxpayers to rent one townhouse!
To be sure, from our reading of documents obtained thru the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), when the DoN not only signed away its rights to revoke the contract to let Mrs. Fischer refinance her LLC's mortgage on Laurelwood, it also missed out on a $28 million buyout opportunity - an amount the Navy has since spent to uphold the lease. Now it claims to be on the hook for $100 million+ to Mrs. Fischer if it does not open the houses to civilians next year (an entirely bogus argument, even in the eyes of Mrs. Fischer's attorney, as quoted earlier this year in an Asbury Park Press story).
In short, NONE OF US would be in this mess had the DoN not been pigheaded and just bought out the Laurelwood contract when it had the chance...7 YEARS AGO! Now is the time to reach an amicable settlement on the deal and raze the homes, and to move forward from an ugly chapter on privatized housing gone awry.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
A concerned resident from Ocean Township
It's great for NOPE to see concerned citizens chiming in from outside the core Colts Neck-Tinton Falls contingent. Indeed, we would love to better penetrate towns like Middletown, Ocean and a host of towns from the Freehold Regional School District and beyond.
Madleine G. Ruocco, of Ocean Township, had her letter to the Asbury Park Press editor published in yesterday's APP, objecting to the Department of Navy plan to open the Laurelwood homes at Weapons Station Earle to civilian renters by next year.
The premise is simple: that the plan is ludicrous, and that the mission is already shorthanded in terms of security personnel. The DoD Inspector General's study of Earle's outsource security contract with the Myers Security company (of North Carolina) - published earlier this year - proved this, so NOPE's concerns about security at a base expected to host 300 civilian renter families (replete with unimpeded access) next year is not trumped up or irrational.
Separately, here is the APP's write-up on A-4159, the O'Scanlon-Casagrande bill that would require a state study of the civilian housing plan at Earle, as blogged in detail below.
Madleine G. Ruocco, of Ocean Township, had her letter to the Asbury Park Press editor published in yesterday's APP, objecting to the Department of Navy plan to open the Laurelwood homes at Weapons Station Earle to civilian renters by next year.
The premise is simple: that the plan is ludicrous, and that the mission is already shorthanded in terms of security personnel. The DoD Inspector General's study of Earle's outsource security contract with the Myers Security company (of North Carolina) - published earlier this year - proved this, so NOPE's concerns about security at a base expected to host 300 civilian renter families (replete with unimpeded access) next year is not trumped up or irrational.
Separately, here is the APP's write-up on A-4159, the O'Scanlon-Casagrande bill that would require a state study of the civilian housing plan at Earle, as blogged in detail below.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
NOPE on last night's NJN newscast
Following up on yesterday's passage of A-4159 in the NJ Assembly committee review phase, NJN News aired a 3-minute piece on NOPE and the civilian housing issue at Earle. Business case analyst Fulton Wilcox (shown in the story) testified yesterday in Trenton on behalf of NOPE along with political liaison Elaine Mann and communications director Diana Piotrowski. We appreciate their sacrifice in making the trip on behalf of all NOPE supporters.
Until we can get a clip of the story by itself to post here or on our legacy NOPE website, we encourage you to scroll to 9 minutes and 10 seconds into the Monday newcast on NJN and view the story, which is well-balanced and focuses on committee passage of the legislation introduced by Declan O'Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande, and that would prevent New Jersey from issuing any permits to the Department of Navy to open the way for civilian housing until the state Treasurer can conduct a cost and security analysis of the DoN plan. The measure, we are told, will be voted upon by the full House next Monday (Dec. 8) and will then go in front of the Senate, hopefully for passage by year's end, which would be a major victory for our cause.
This, again, is unwelcome exposure to the DoN, which a year ago had hoped that no one in our community was paying attention to this ridiculous housing plan. NOPE remains resolute in exposing this plan as a recipe for disaster in Monmouth County.
Until we can get a clip of the story by itself to post here or on our legacy NOPE website, we encourage you to scroll to 9 minutes and 10 seconds into the Monday newcast on NJN and view the story, which is well-balanced and focuses on committee passage of the legislation introduced by Declan O'Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande, and that would prevent New Jersey from issuing any permits to the Department of Navy to open the way for civilian housing until the state Treasurer can conduct a cost and security analysis of the DoN plan. The measure, we are told, will be voted upon by the full House next Monday (Dec. 8) and will then go in front of the Senate, hopefully for passage by year's end, which would be a major victory for our cause.
This, again, is unwelcome exposure to the DoN, which a year ago had hoped that no one in our community was paying attention to this ridiculous housing plan. NOPE remains resolute in exposing this plan as a recipe for disaster in Monmouth County.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Good news for NOPE: NJ House Committee Approves Bill to Conduct Earle Analysis; Senate up next
Fresh from the NJ Assembly Republicans website: "Legislation sponsored by Assembly Republican members Declan O’Scanlon and Caroline Casagrande that requires the state Treasurer to issue a cost benefit analysis and security report for the conversion of military housing to civilian housing at Earle Naval Weapons Station was unanimously approved today by the Assembly Military & Veterans’ Affairs Committee."
This is a big step forward in NOPE's endorsement of the N.J. legislation to require the true financial and security impact assessment that area taxpayers deserve and clearly were not given in the Department of Navy's own study of its civilian housing plan. And the measure (A-4159/S-3017) is cost-neutral (i.e. no out-of-pocket for the state).
NOPE applauds the effort put forth by our District 12 team and the bipartisan recognition in the Assembly in Trenton of the DoN's plan as a recipe for disaster to New Jersey's interests!
Next up is getting the Senate version (S-3017, see earlier post below) passage.
This is a big step forward in NOPE's endorsement of the N.J. legislation to require the true financial and security impact assessment that area taxpayers deserve and clearly were not given in the Department of Navy's own study of its civilian housing plan. And the measure (A-4159/S-3017) is cost-neutral (i.e. no out-of-pocket for the state).
NOPE applauds the effort put forth by our District 12 team and the bipartisan recognition in the Assembly in Trenton of the DoN's plan as a recipe for disaster to New Jersey's interests!
Next up is getting the Senate version (S-3017, see earlier post below) passage.
NJ Assembly Committee to consider Earle bill today
We certainly hope everyone had a safe and prosperous Thanksgiving weekend, but it is immediately back to business for NOPE this morning, with our political liaison Elaine Mann and a team of supporters in Trenton to lobby the Assembly's Military and Veterans Affairs Committee to pass A-4159, which would require the State Treasurer to conduct a full and much-needed assessment of the financial and security ramifications of the civilian housing plan at Earle.
This, in our view, is the first big step toward what we hope will be a successful campaign to pass this legislation in both the New Jersey House and Senate (companion bill S-3017, sponsored by Jennifer Beck and Joe Kyrillos and co-sponsored by Sean Kean) and prevent the DEP and DOT from issuing any construction permits to the Department of Navy ahead of the Treasurer's study. In short, passage would pose a significant roadblock to the DoN's housing plan.
A-4159, co-sponsored by District 12's Caroline Casagrande and Declan O'Scanlon (one of four Assembly members on the Committee - the others are Jack Connors (D-7, Delran), Cleopatra Tucker (D-28, Newark) and Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-5, Camden)), will be discussed this morning at a 10 a.m. meeting, according to the NJ Legislature website, and we will keep you posted once we learn about the details of the meeting from Elaine and our other attendees.
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TURN IN YOUR NOPE POSTCARDS: Since we only were able to confirm details of this Assembly meeting on Friday, we ask that anyone with the sets of five postcards to start turning them over to their NOPE counterparts or to drop off signed copies to the drop points at Colts Neck Town Hall and the Recreation Center, or Tinton Falls Borough Hall ASAP. We most certainly will need the WHITE POSTCARDS for our next trip to Trenton, when S-3017 is taken up by the Senate Committee and we lobby that day, and will otherwise look to mail the other four-color postcards in bulk sometime within the next 7-10 days. With some 4,000 sets of postcards outstanding, we figure to conduct this campaign well into the first quarter of 2010, but need the white postcards ASAP for our next day in Trenton.
This, in our view, is the first big step toward what we hope will be a successful campaign to pass this legislation in both the New Jersey House and Senate (companion bill S-3017, sponsored by Jennifer Beck and Joe Kyrillos and co-sponsored by Sean Kean) and prevent the DEP and DOT from issuing any construction permits to the Department of Navy ahead of the Treasurer's study. In short, passage would pose a significant roadblock to the DoN's housing plan.
A-4159, co-sponsored by District 12's Caroline Casagrande and Declan O'Scanlon (one of four Assembly members on the Committee - the others are Jack Connors (D-7, Delran), Cleopatra Tucker (D-28, Newark) and Nilsa Cruz-Perez (D-5, Camden)), will be discussed this morning at a 10 a.m. meeting, according to the NJ Legislature website, and we will keep you posted once we learn about the details of the meeting from Elaine and our other attendees.
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TURN IN YOUR NOPE POSTCARDS: Since we only were able to confirm details of this Assembly meeting on Friday, we ask that anyone with the sets of five postcards to start turning them over to their NOPE counterparts or to drop off signed copies to the drop points at Colts Neck Town Hall and the Recreation Center, or Tinton Falls Borough Hall ASAP. We most certainly will need the WHITE POSTCARDS for our next trip to Trenton, when S-3017 is taken up by the Senate Committee and we lobby that day, and will otherwise look to mail the other four-color postcards in bulk sometime within the next 7-10 days. With some 4,000 sets of postcards outstanding, we figure to conduct this campaign well into the first quarter of 2010, but need the white postcards ASAP for our next day in Trenton.
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