BITS AND PIECES: Car Thieves Active in SJ/PA; Say What!; Bye PNC Bank; Gcity Cops Highest Paid in Camden County
Car Thieves Active in SJ/PA; Say What!; Bye PNC Bank; Gcity Cops Highest Paid in Camden County
Thursday, June 29, 2023
UPDATED (June 30, 2023)-- Gloucester City Police Chief/Acting City Administrator Brian Morrell answered our OPRA request yesterday. We had asked for the number of motor vehicles stolen between January 1, 2022 up until June 2023. According to Morrell there were a total of 27 motor vehicles stolen between January 1, 2022 and June 29, 2023. A further breakdown of the numbers reveal 18 of the 27 were stolen in 2022 and 9 have been stolen in the first six months of this year. CNBNews would like to thank Mr. Morrell and Vanessa Little, custodian of records for their cooperation.
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GLOUCESTER CITY, NJ (June 29, 2023)(CNBNews)--Since the Gloucester City department heads choose not to share the city's public information with the residents, Cleary's Notebook does its best to inform the residents of what accurate and reliable information we can eek out. Here is some information which has been verified.
Absecon, Atlantic City and Pennsauken have all notified their residents that there has been a rash of car thefts. There has also been a problem throughout South Jersey of catalytic converters being stolen. Today's (June 28, 2023) CLEARYSNOTEBOOK(CNBNewsnet) posted an article saying that the Bucks County has arrested 11 employees of TDI Towing Company in the Port Richman part of the city. In total, the police contend that the towing company made $8.2 million. They bought about 175 converters per week and they pay about $300 per unit. They are being bought illegally because the metals in them are worth more than the unit as built.
This one comes under the caption of "say what?" The city posted a public notice in Sunday's (June 25,2023) Courier Post. For some reason Gloucester City needs "Labotory Services for Lead-Based Paint Analyst." This is new. One might wonder if there is already a company in mind and the job description was written to that company. The requirements include being within 15 miles of Gloucester City (16 miles and you are out) and - get this - "Disclosure of Investments in Iran." There is nothing about China or Russia and they are the two biggest threats to our country.
There will soon be an article addressing the financial health of several banks but for now our residents need to know that PNC Bank will be closing many of their branches, Gloucester City being one of them. That means the city residents will have only one bank unless they go out of town and, sadly, there will another vacant building in town. Vacant buildings are often victims of graffiti, vandalism and deterioration.
Gloucester City, it goes without saying, is an extremely poor community. That being true, why are our police the highest paid in Camden County? We cannot afford these high salaries. The average police salary in our town is $127,750, next comes Gloucester Township at $121,214 and Haddon Township at $120,197. So, why aren't Haddonfield, Cherry Hill or Voorhees the highest paid?
Let's compare some cities which have higher crime rate (assuming, as the police do not release crime records.) Vineland (also an Abbott school district) pays its officers an average of $89,550 and Bridgeton pays its officers $77,563. The average of the 24,000 officers in New Jersey is $99,076. What makes Gloucester City so different?
Last but not least, and not limited to Gloucester City, the price of a stamp is going up to 66 cents on July 9, 2023. The postal service has already announced that the price will rise every year to keep up with inflation. How many of our gray-haired readers remember when the price of a stamp went up from 3 cents to 4 cents? If you remember "penny post cards" you now have at add 50 cents to that. A domestic post card will cost 51 cents.