Council TONITE. Part-Timers Cut-Off. Golf Course Vote Webcast

Will Brigantine City Council pull the trigger on a major decision tonight at 6p inside City Hall. Will Ron Jaworski Golf be contracted to turn around our money-losing Brigantine Golf Links? Unfortunately, part-time residents will need to travel to Brigantine to participate in this critical debate.

Outgoing city manager; Jennifer Blumenthal, city webmaster & Police Chief Tim Reed, along with Mayor Guenther and City Council have decided to block live webcasting of this council discussion, public comment & possible vote. Mayor Guenther has long argued that viewing of city issue debate should be done in person at the monthly council meetings, and not by those using the Internet.

This Links at Brigantine Golf Course issue is a big one. Could be the #1 issue that can make or break Brigantine’s ability to grow into a multi-faceted summertime tourist destination. Boosting home values, filling our 40 empty storefronts, growing retail and putting laid-off casino workers back to work….that’s what a professionally run Golf Course could do for taxpayers and business owners of Brigantine beach.

Professionally run golf course by a big name celebrity. Sounds like a no-brainer, yet Brigantine City Hall, Council and the city unions are vehemently against turning The Links into a economic magnet for Brigantine.

Many think that Mr. Jaworski has already been scared off. JAWS would not be open to allowing The Links and the connected clubhouse to be used without proper authorization and payments. Residents along Golf Course Drive and others inside Ward #1 noted the increase of undocumented events held at The Links, many with non-compliant non-profit status.

Recently, City Manager Blumenthal was unable to access bookings, confirmations or revenue generated from these undocumented events. To be fair, council & city manager Blumenthal have typically employed a ‘hands-off’ policy with how The Links priced services and bookings. A newly formed Brigantine taxpayers group have started preliminary actions for a complete audit of ‘The Links’ financial & operational books.

The Chamber of Commerce also dropped the ball here, as they’ve been totally silent about this Links Golf Course issue pertaining to commerce.

Local Media Blackout. The two local papers; The Brigantine Beachcomber and The Brigantine Times have avoided all coverage of this critical issue.

At one time, the Brigantine Democratic Majority was highly vocal on fixing the declining ‘Links at Brigantine Golf’ and monitoring non-compliant activity from a few local organizations using city facilities. Sadly, they decided to place most of their focus on relatively minor issues such as smoking on the beach and dog parks. The Brig Dems are also unsure on how to regain council majority in NOV. of 2015.

See City Council Agenda Here. Dec 17 , 2014

http://www.bb-nj.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/December-17-2014-Council-Agenda.pdf

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3 thoughts on “Council TONITE. Part-Timers Cut-Off. Golf Course Vote Webcast”

  1. hmmmmm Why no Broadcasting of the meetings? Is there something to hide? I asked this before… The early times of the meetings makes it very difficult for hardworking taxpayers that work in Philadelphia to get to the meetings… Mayor Guenther should want us all to be able to view the workings of our city… The Mayor’s reasoning is not a good one.
    OH… and YAY JAWS!!!!!! Please come to our Island

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