The Ridgewood Blog Brings a Free Market Laissez-faire Point of View to Local, New Jersey State and National Issues.
More than 9,000 homeowners in New Jersey are getting much-needed extra time to finish construction projects that are designed to protect their homes from coastal flooding. (Russ Zimmer and Jean Mikle, Asbury Park Press) https://www.app.com/story/news/
2 years after Sandy hit, some victims in Bergen County are still waiting for relief
OCTOBER 29, 2014 LAST UPDATED: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2014, 7:29 AM
BY AARON MORRISON
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
Volunteer Jessica Martinez being trained by Mike Stimson of Habitat for Humanity at a Little Ferry home damaged by Superstorm Sandy.
Of all the money dispersed to homeowners and renters whose lives were upended by Superstorm Sandy two years ago today, not a penny of it has helped rid Donna Mojica of the mold that has festered around her water-damaged trailer home.
Sick of looking at the mold as it crept up the walls of her kitchen and bedroom, the Moonachie resident took a paintbrush to the white- and black-speckled spores.
The Mojicas aren’t confident they will ever receive the thousands of dollars needed for mold remediation, despite the assistance of a case manager helping them navigate various applications for aid grants.
So far, the family has received only about $600 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to replace an awning on the trailer and two months of rental assistance, a welcome reprieve that ends next month. Aside from the paint, nothing has been done about the Mojicas’ mold problem in two years.
“How long am I going to have to breathe this in before I get sick?” said Donna Mojica, who, along with her husband, Adam, reflects a weariness among some storm victims around the state who say aid programs have been inequitably administered and leave some feeling underserved after the worst weather-related disaster of its kind on record.
The storm, which began as the largest hurricane on record in the Atlantic Ocean and devastated the Caribbean, the East Coast and parts of Canada, made landfall as a powerful rain and wind event in New Jersey on Oct. 29, 2012. It killed 37 people statewide, including one person in Bergen County, where 5,000 people were evacuated from the low-lying towns of Little Ferry and Moonachie. Flooding caused by a 10-foot storm surge overwhelmed the nearby Meadowlands’ flood control systems, and municipal pump stations were inadequate to sweep water back into the Hackensack River.
Despite more than $1 billion allocated to victims in the form of relocation, rebuilding and other supplemental grant funds, according to the Christie administration, a new Monmouth University poll finds that less than a third of victims in the state feel recovery efforts have focused on them.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/2-years-of-frustration-1.1120653#sthash.1BzJpzEC.dpuf
Sandy Aid from the Timeline of the Ridgewood blog a Quick Refresher coarse
Since the NJ Media has for so long ignored Scott Garrett we though we would fill in the gaps debunk the myths starting with our own editorial
Seems Roy Cho has joined the choirs of the Sandy Scammers
Sandy Aid should go to Victims and not Special interests
Sandy Aid should go to Victims and not Special interests
January 8, 2013
the staff of the Ridgewood
Ridgewood NJ, No opportunity squandered . With help of the local media NJ politicians have waged a carefully orchestrated plot to capture as much cash as possible form the federal government in the form of Hurricane Sandy Aid. Sandy Aid is viewed as a treasure chest of goodie for politicians to hand out to their favorite sponsors .
Sounding almost jealous on Monday New Jersey Senate President Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) said that Gov. Chris Christie might have “prayed” for Superstorm Sandy, because it has provided cover for what Sweeney said are the governor’s failed economic policies.
And after all failed policies over the last 3 decades have left New Jersey with little more than hope for handouts to get this economic basket case of an economy going . The New Jersey legislator with help from their colleagues in the media recently wasted over 3 months pushing a bill that would have forced dogs to wear seat belts while New Jersey suffered the worst recession since the 1930′s.
We are told the New Jersey’s economic growth in 2013 hinges to an unprecedented extent on what the federal government does — or doesn’t — do. It isn’t just a question of whether Congress eventually authorizes the full $60 billion in Hurricane Sandy relief, economists and tax experts agree . (
https://www.northjersey.com/news/Sandy_recovery_is_top_priority_for_Christie.html )
No wounder Governor Christie after what seemed like a romantic walk on the beach with President Obama has nothing but hostility for house Republicans who had the nerve to assume that Hurricane Sandy Aid should actually only go to the victims of the hurricane .
We are told that Sandy recovery is top priority for Christie, once again referring to the “need to get miles of debilitated boardwalk repaired. Thousands of devastated homes and shuttered businesses reopened. Destroyed bridges, highways, pipelines, rail cars and even amusement parks replaced.” (https://www.northjersey.com/news/Sandy_recovery_is_top_priority_for_Christie.html ) I am wondering if Christie can explain why having $154 million in the hurricane-relief fund for Alaskan fisheries? or how $2 million for the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, DC to nake just a few is going to help rebuild the boardwalk in Seaside Heights ?
Why Christie is fighting with Congress and his own party to help pay for it supported by New Jersey ‘s media like the Ledger’s Tom Moran who published a scathing column today on Republican Congressman Scott Garrett, who cast the lone vote in the New Jersey delegation against the fiscal cliff compromise ,that raised taxes on almost everyone in New Jersey .
Congressman Scott Garrett is seen as the prime obstacle for lobbyist want to get there hands on your money. (https://addins.njherald.com/blogs/insidepolitics/2013/01/star-ledger-columnist-hammers-scott-garrett ) .
Moran seems to be in favor of the rumored back room deal between Ridgewood Mayor Paul Aronsohn and NJ Legislature Kevin O’Tool to oust Garrett and bring home the beacon by forcing a primary challenge .
The problem for the pro-lobbyist is that Garrett pushed through fully funding the National Flood Insurance Program which pays homeowner claims that where actually caused by Hurricane Sandy . ( https://theridgewoodblog.net/garrett-takes-the-lead-on-flood-aid-for-sandy-relief/ )
Clearly the victims of Sandy have not gotten their money because the priority has been given to lobbyist who politicians deal with everyday and not to voters who most politicians only deal with once every four years.
https://theridgewoodblog.net/sandy-aid-should-go-to-victims-and-not-special-interests/
N.J. politicians urge U.S. not to use Sandy aid for other projects https://theridgewoodblog.net/n-j-politicians-urge-u-s-not-to-use-sandy-aid-for-other-projects/
Much of Red Cross fund for Sandy aid still unspent https://theridgewoodblog.net/much-of-red-cross-fund-for-sandy-aid-still-unspent/
Garrett Supports Sandy Aid https://theridgewoodblog.net/garrett-supports-sandy-aid/
Budget watchdogs have dubbed the 94-page emergency-spending bill “Sandy Scam.”
Garrett took the lead in flood insurance reform https://theridgewoodblog.net/garrett-takes-the-lead-on-flood-aid-for-sandy-relief/
N.J. politicians urge U.S. not to use Sandy aid for other projects
Members of New Jersey’s congressional delegation say they won’t let the federal government use Superstorm Sandy aid for a nationwide funding competition that could benefit states that were not affected by the storm.
Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr., D-Paterson; Albio Sires, D-West New York; and Frank Pallone, D-Long Branch, and Sen. Bob Menendez, D-Union City, are urging Shaun Donovan, the secretary of the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, not to divert a third round of federal aid to resiliency projects in other parts of the country.
The Wall Street Journal first reported Sunday that more than $1 billion of the remaining $3.6 billion in Community Development Block Grant funds could be used for a national resiliency competition. Pascrell sent a letter to Donovan on Tuesday objecting to the proposal, and Pallone issued a statement Monday saying he would personally address the issue during a meeting with the secretary next week.
Sires is sending a letter today, and he said Wednesday that the entire New Jersey delegation could join together in opposition of a nationwide competition for the money.
“They better be very careful about who they are messing with because we’re not going to take this,” Pascrell said Wednesday. “Many of the congressmen have had it up to our eyeballs. We are not going to sit down and allow HUD to take the money that we voted for, for those folks, those towns, those counties that were impacted by this storm.”
The Community Development Block Grants are discretionary funds that the states can tailor to their needs. New Jersey received $1.83 billion in the first round. The state used $710 million of that for its Reconstruction Rehabilitation, Elevation and Mitigation program, which offers grants of up to $150,000 to rebuild homes significantly damaged in the storm. That money funded 5,124 grants, but more than 7,000 residents remain on a waiting list.
The state is set to receive a second round of funds — $1.46 billion — next month and plans to allocate $390 million to take residents off the waiting list. The block grant money has also been used to help businesses recover from the storm. (Boburg/The Record)
Federal regulations thwart reimbursements for N.J. Sandy victims’ latest repair costs
WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 19, 2014, 9:41 PM
BY KAREN SUDOL
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
Superstorm Sandy victims still can’t seek reimbursement for home repairs done after the date they applied for a specific government grant, according to federal housing officials who have denied a state request to waive the requirement.
Recognizing that many homeowners have had to halt repairs mid-project when they have applied for funds, the state Department of Community Affairs asked the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to consider changing the policy in December.
It was the latest of several such requests, said Lisa Ryan, a Community Affairs spokeswoman.
Richard Constable, commissioner of the department, said that, nevertheless, “we will continue to aggressively advocate to HUD on behalf of storm-affected residents so that they receive the federal assistance they need to get their homes and lives back together.”
In a Feb. 10 letter, HUD Deputy Assistant Secretary Yolanda Chavez cited federal environmental rules as reasons for the decision as well as concern that repair work performed after the grant application date and without an environmental review could destroy historic properties.
A HUD official, who did not wish to be identified, said “we are prohibited by law to do what the state has asked.”
