A More Perfect Collingswood
A More Perfect Collingswood
Episode 2 - Fire Inspections, the JIF, and Camden County Homeless
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Episode 2 - Fire Inspections, the JIF, and Camden County Homeless

In the second episode of  “A More Perfect Collingswood,” Wes and Kate talk first about some of the goals of Collingswood Together, the joint committee (of Kate Delany, Bill Johnson and Jen Rossi) who will be running for local office in the May 11, 2021 Board of Commissioners election. Kate talks about some of the items she and her running mates would like to address as practices of good government.  Kate and Wes recap their experience of standing outside the closed door meetings of the current board of commissioners. These closed door meetings where no minutes are taken and the press and public are not able to attend are in violation of the Open Public Meeting Act (OPMA).  If elected, the Collingswood Together candidates will comply with OPMA--because it is the law and is important to maintaining public trust. Another item that Kate and running mates would like to enact if elected is joining the rest of the county in holding caucus, or working sessions. These working sessions allow the public to see their local government officials deliberate and make decisions. At present, Collingswood is the only one of the 37 municipalities of Camden County that does not have working sessions.Respecting process and participation are key for Collingswood Together candidates Kate Delany, Bill Johnson and Jen Rossi. 

During their recap of the recent Board of Commissioners meeting, Wes talks about fire inspections from his experience-- first as a Collingswood renter and now as a Collingswood homeowner. Does our town need to do better by renters? That seems to be the question of the moment in Colls! Wes argues that fire inspections micromanage and harangue landlords of small local properties and the tenants who live in those properties. Later in the episode, Kate and Wes discuss the situation at Parkview Apartments, home to a quarter of the town and apparently without reliable heat this winter. Kate discusses the main points of her recent Letter to the Editor in which she alleges that both Morgan Properties (owners of Parkview) and the local government need to do more to protect our neighbors at Parkview.

Some other items discussed: snow removal. Wes points out that especially during Covid, people are out walking so let’s make the plowing of the sidewalks around Knight Park a priority for the sake of both accessibility and safety. The same needs to happen over at Cooper River. Since the Camden County Joint Insurance Fund (JIF) was on this month’s agenda, Kate again outlines her concerns with this agency. Though purportedly the shared risk saves municipalities money in insurance cost, the lack of transparency is concerning to Kate, as are the clear ties to Democratic party boss, George Norcross. The Mayor’s assertion that “Collingswood’s participation in the JIF saves us a zillion dollars” has not assured her that the JIF isn’t mostly a patronage pit.

Finally, in this episode’s “Freeholder Five,” Kate recaps an item she found to be especially timely and significant at the recent Camden County Freeholders meeting. There has been a lot of concerns among activists about the number of warming stations for people in Camden experiencing homelessness. At this month's Freeholder meeting, Kate asked how many warming stations are currently available in Camden for the homeless to use to keep warm during these cold winter nights. She learned from the Freeholders that there is currently one warming station and they are in the process of getting two more. They cited Covid concerns, especially the need for social distancing, as the reason for the delay in getting more warming stations accessible to the public. On the topic of adequately addressing local homelessness, Kate also recaps for Wes her experience at the February’s meeting of the Freeholder Board  where she inquired about Resolution 47 transferring $150,000 out of the Camden County Homeless Trust Fund to Cooper Plaza Associates LLC for a townhouse preservation project.  According to a search via the NJ Division of Revenue and Business Records Service, Michael Levitt of the Michaels Corporation is listed as a partner of this LLC. Kate is still unclear how this allocation of $150,000 for townhouses helps the homeless in our county. (Are the homeless moving into the townhouses??). 

And finally what Wes and Kate are currently loving about Collingswood! For Wes, it’s the holiday lights lighting up the dark of the season (not to mention the dark of the pandemic!). For Kate, it’s the ingenuity and generosity of the Collingswood community, recently displayed by two Garfield parents who took it upon themselves to arrange a fun Secret Santa Gift Swap for families in the Garfield community. Kate’s kids participated, got great surprise presents and had a lot of fun.

Thanks for listening and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode of “A More Perfect Collingswood!”  

Theme music:

Song: Scott Holmes - Upbeat Party

Music provided by Creator Audio

Creative Commons - Attribution 3.0 Unported Video Link: https://youtu.be/cfw82oYFpMA