Liongate

Broad and Bay In "Olden Days"

"It would be hard to disagree with the ladies of the TIA that this is one of Bloomfield's worst corners. The building to the right seems to be in the process of demolition. The Broad Street service station seems to occupy the corner that was once owned by James Morris, whose old derelict mansion still stands behind it. Gas stations now occupy both corners and the area beyond the site of the Morris home is a 7-11 variety store, Branch Bank, and Dunkin' Donuts. From 1942 until it burned in 1991, it was the location of the Broad and Bay Bowling Alley."

Frederick Branch from The Historical Society of Bloomfield

You Can't Take It With You

The Bloomfield High School Thespians take their bows after the final performance of their revival of the Hart Kajufman classic at Van Fossan Theater. The original play was won the 1937 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was a terrific production, touching on many topical issues that we are still dealing with. Now I have to dig up the Jimmy Stewart movie version -- a good chunk of which is on Youtube

Duel on Evans Road

Two next door neighbors on the northeast corner of Bloomfield happen to have 2 of the 3 highest priced homes in town. 120 Evans Road and 116 Evans Road (at left) are priced at 549.9k and 619k respectively. Both Colonials were built in 1973 came on the market in July and have yet to find a buyer or make a price reduction.

Police Blotter Highlights

Burglaries
Nov. 9: Someone kicked in a laundry room window on the 200 block of Franklin Street. Once inside the suspect broke into the coin machine. It is unknown how much money was taken.

Nov. 10: A homeowner on the 100 block of Ella Street reported someone entered the home through a rear door between 7 p.m. and 1 a.m. and took a PlayStation 3, a Compaq laptop computer and jewelry.

Nov. 10: A man reported someone broke into his garage on the 200 block of North 17th Street and stole a bicycle.

Nov. 11: A woman said when she returned to her home on the 100 block of Parkway Drive West, she noticed a rear window was open. She then went upstairs and found a bedroom had been ransacked and two rings were missing.

Stolen Vehicles
Nov. 9: A 1996 Honda was stolen from North 17th Street.

Nov. 12: A 2000 Ford was stolen from Abington Avenue and Ampere Parkway.

Theft
Nov. 9: Two parking meters were removed from a lot on Bloomfield Avenue and Ward Street between Nov. 8 and Nov. 9.

Nov. 9: A man reported two men broke into his car on the 50 block of Farrandale Avenue and took a Gucci brown bag containing his driver’s license, credit cards and an iPhone.

Nov. 10: A woman reported a man entered her office at 2 Broad St. and stole a wallet and a Wii game out of her purse.

Nov. 13: A woman, who was having a seizure, said a bystander told her a man stole her coach handbag while the woman was having a seizure on the 50 block of Franklin Street.

Criminal Mischief
Nov. 10: A man reported someone ripped out some of the wires on two cars on the 350 block of Broad Street.

Bicentennial Plans Take Shape

This morning's organizing meeting at the Bloomfield Library was SRO with dozens of resident's signing up on a variety of committees. There's still time to get involved. You can keep in touch by "Liking" the new Facebook page. A more interactive website will be up in a few days with a closer look at what the committees are up to and what events are in the planning stages. Clicking on the photo thumbnails at the top of the page starts a c.1900 slide show (currently showing the Watsessing area).

One Party Rule Becomes the Rule

There were many reasons given for the inability of GOP candidates to stage a competitive campaign in Bloomfield. Certainly the changing demographics had a lot to do with it. Others have cited the well-oiled Democratic machine led by Democratic Committee leader Strumolo. Yet the most votes were garnered by anti-machine Democrat, Nick Joanow (at right) in the 2nd Ward -- Bloomfield's heaviest Republican stronghold,
On the NJ/Bloomfield Forum, NJPollwatcher reminded us of how it used to be:

The last "like" election was 1999...meaning similar in that there were no statewide or congressional elections and the top of the ticket was legislative. In 1999 the entire Dem ticket (Assembly, Freeholder and Council) was dominated by the Republican party. This was in part due to a popular Bloomfield candidate--Marion Crecco---being at the top of the ticket.
Now, Republicans in town are more than likely more heavily outnumbered in terms of registered/affiliated party voters.....

Concerning the current GOP, "ByeBye Bloomfield" summed it up the best:

But what happened here in Bloomfield was that our local republican candidates were full of national GOP ideas instead of their own. In addition they could distance themselves from some of the negative aspects of the mainstream conservative republican ideology, but instead they imbraced it. They should have been progressive republicans instead of conservative. Honestly they almost sounded like a Tea Party branch of the Republican Party and just did not see the issues as they were. None of them said anything about the millions of state aid cut by their protege governor. Or what can they do to get this aid back. Instead their solution to balance the sheet was to cut two departments by 5%. Next year when the state aid will be trimmed even more another 5 or 10% of cut would be made. This is not facing an issue but simply avoiding it just as unlimited bonding. Bloomfield GOP should have concentrated on local issues not politics.

When No Means Yes

At the October 24th Conference meeting, councilman Nick Joanow's proposal for Bloomfield to institute a "Pay to Play" ordinance was narrowly defeated by the mayor's 4 to 3 majority. The need for such an ordnance became abundantly clear at the Candidate's Forum last Thursday. Towards the end of the Q and A from the audience, the candidates were asked if they had ever accepted contributions from vendors.

This week's independent Press has a cover story on the "incorrect answers" that Carlos Bernard and Elias Chalet gave at the Forum:

Incorrect answers at forum
By Daniel Jackovino Staff Writer

During last Thursday's Candidates' Forum, candidates were asked if they had accepted contributions from vendors currently under contract with the township.

All six candidates answered "no." However, a perfunctory review of the candidates' contribution reports showed Democrat Carlos Bernard of the 3rd Ward and Democrat Elias Chalet of the 1st Ward did in fact receive contributions from contracted vendors.

The Friends of Carlos Bernard for Councilman listed Ed Farmer, the CEO of Millennium Strategies, a grants consultant for the township, as having made a $250 contribution. Andrew Zabiega, a partner in the accounting firm of Samuel Klein & Co, the township auditor, made a contribution of $100. Elias Chalet for Bloomfield Councilman lists a $2,600 contribution from Richard Alaimo Engineering Association, an engineering consultant.

Video coverage of the entire forum can be seen here.