That Time Camden County Improvement Authority Gave The State Waterfront Property For $1 And Then The State Gave The Same Property To A Developer For $1

What do you do when you’re cleaning out files and find a piece of research that you couldn’t use during a campaign because you had a seriously flawed candidate? If you’re the co-host of a weekly radio show with a blog, you write about it.

And, when that piece of research involves a piece of waterfront property in the City of Camden at a time when big tax incentives and tearing down minor league baseball stadiums are in the news that piece of research becomes interesting.

The whole affair is a bit convoluted, but it all begins with the City of Camden vacating, as seen in the Camden City Planning Board Agenda of January 12, 2006, a paper street, Marina Drive, that sat in the middle of a part of the old surface parking lot near Campbell’s Field, where the Camden Riversharks played minor league baseball. It just so happens this piece of parking lot happens to be in the middle of the building project for the new Camden Tower.

After Marina Drive was vacated it appears, based on Quitclaim Deeds, the Camden County Improvement Authority transferred waterfront property that included the paper street Marina Drive in the City of Camden to The New Jersey Economic Development Authority for “the sum of ONE and 00/100 Dollars ($1.00)” on June 16, 2016.

Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get them in front of Issuu's millions of monthly readers. Title: Quitclaim June 2016, Author: sandiastrategies, Name: quitclaim_june_2016, Length: undefined pages, Page: 1, Published: 2019-02-06

And it gets better! On November 28, 2016 The New Jersey Economic Development Authority transferred the property via a Quitclaim Deed to “Camden Town Center, LLC, a New Jersey limited liability company, whose address is c/o Liberty Property Limited Partnership, 1628 John F. Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1100, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103.”

Issuu is a digital publishing platform that makes it simple to publish magazines, catalogs, newspapers, books, and more online. Easily share your publications and get them in front of Issuu's millions of monthly readers. Title: Quitclaim November 2016, Author: sandiastrategies, Name: quitclaim_november_2016, Length: undefined pages, Page: 1, Published: 2019-02-06

I could be wrong, but this appears to be quite the sweetheart deal. As I understand it, typically when developers are faced with a similar situation they purchase the property at market rate or have the municipality condemn it so it can be acquired through eminent domain. Obviously, none of that happened in this situation.

To add insult to injury it appears the Delaware River Port Authority folks were a lot smarter than the folks at the Camden County Improvement Authority or The New Jersey Economic Development Authority. They finally dumped their TRAM over the Delaware River by selling property.

So, there you have it folks. Read the documents and weep because it appears the sweetheart deals on the Camden waterfront involve more than tax incentives.

PRESS RELEASE: NJGOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt Calls On Governor Phil Murphy To Veto Rain Tax

Today, NJGOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt issued a press release calling on Governor Phil Murphy to veto the “Rain Tax.” The press release follows:

For Immediate Release

Trenton, NJ - NJGOP Chairman Doug Steinhardt is calling on Governor Phil Murphy to veto S-1073, Steve Sweeney and Craig Coughlin’s "Rain Tax". Last week, Senate President Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Coughlin posted and passed legislation aimed at taxing rain.  The Sweeney and Coughlin “Rain Tax” is on the Governor's desk awaiting his action.

"Adding to its reputation as the worst tax environment in the country, New Jersey is poised to tax – the rain. For little more than having a roof over your head, a driveway to your house, or a sidewalk in your yard, Democrats in Trenton see dollars in your rain drops and they want to collect them, in buckets,” said Chairman Steinhardt.  “Sweeney and Coughlin’s “Rain Tax” is the latest in a series of hidden, Democratic taxes aimed at padding Trenton’s pockets and punishing New Jersey’s families, all the while claiming they understand your burden and feel your pain, but they don’t.”

Steinhardt continued, "The Sweeney and Coughlin “Rain Tax” gives new meaning to the old cliché, when it rains it pours.  Rather than find creative ways to take more from New Jersey’s struggling families, let’s find decisive ways to stop the economic bleeding.  Pension and healthcare reform are two, great starts.  I call on Governor Murphy to use his veto pen like an umbrella and shield New Jersey from Sweeny and Coughlin’s “Rain Tax”."

The NJGOP's petition calling for Governor Murphy to veto the rain tax can be found here.

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PRESS RELEASE: Andrzejczak Gets A Free Pass On Minimum Wage

Republican candidate for state Senate in LD1, former Assemblyman Sam Fiocchi, called out state Senator Bob Andrzejczak for failing to fight against the minimum wage increase. Fiocchi’s press release follows:

Andrzejczak Gets A Free Pass On Minimum Wage

State Senator took a page out of the Jeff Van Drew playbook

VINELAND – Republican candidate for state Senate in the first legislative district, former Assemblyman Sam Fiocchi, congratulated state Senator Bob Andrzejczak on getting a free pass on the minimum wage bill yesterday.

“Bob Andrzejczak took a page from the old Jeff Van Drew playbook yesterday,” Sam Fiocchi said. “He was given a free pass and voted no on the minimum wage bill yesterday, which of course gives him the ability to claim he did what his district wanted.”

Fiocchi continued, “That argument would be believable if he had displayed the kind of leadership state Senator Vin Gopal did. Senator Gopal at least spoke out against the bill in the weeks leading up to the vote and last year offered a compromise that, while increasing the minimum wage, wasn’t as drastic as making it $15 per hour. Never once did Andrzejczak make a public argument against the bill or the negative effects this bill will have on seasonal businesses in our district. Simply voting no, without putting up a fight for our district isn’t enough.”

Fiocchi asked, “Where was Andrzejczak in the weeks leading up to this vote? Why did he not join his fellow Democrat Senator Gopal in arguing for common sense?”

“South Jersey deserves a senator willing to stand up and take a public stance on the issues of the day,” Fiocchi said. “Voting no because your party had enough votes is not leadership. Bob Andrzejczak’s silence on the issue leading up to the vote tells me, and should tell the voters of this district, that if his party needed a yes he would have been there for his party. South Jersey deserves better!”

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