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Asbury Park Press :: Monmouth Edition

THURSDAY 01.29.15

Asbury
community
center on
the ropes

HAPPEN HERE?
Fishermen, lawmakers blast
Atlantic Coast drilling plan

Major donors vanish;

most programs cease
NICQUEL TERRY @NTERRYAPP
ASBURY PARK When Lori Ross took over as board
president of West Side Community Center, she promised the troubled facility was on the road to recovery.
Nearly six years later, its clear there has been a detour right off the road.
Asbury Park Press interviews with Ross, current
and former board members, former donors and others
reveal a raft of problems threatening the very existence of the center, once a vital support in a community
beset by poverty and violence:
Support from key funding sources has dried up, including discontinued grants from Monmouth County
and United Way.
The Internal Revenue Service revoked the centers status as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit; such designation is
integral to soliciting and receiving charitable contributions.
Board members appear to be in the dark on the
centers financial situation, deferring comment on even
basic budget matters to Ross, who is also the volunteer
acting executive director.
The center has not conducted an audit in at least
three years, according to board member the Rev. Bernard Oates.
Programming has come to a standstill. On recent
afternoon visits, the centers doors were locked, or
there was only minimal activity open gym inside.
One expert on nonprofit organizations said those
were the hallmarks of an institution nearing rock bottom.
I would say its quite troubling that they lost their

That (a spill) could put us out of business for some time.

JIM LOVGREN,

POINT PLEASANT FISHERMENS COOPERATIVE DIRECTOR

The plan is riding big oils coattails toward ocean ruination.

CINDY ZIPF, CLEAN OCEAN ACTION DIRECTOR

$38B

DAN RADEL @DANIELRADELAPP

AND NICOLE GAUDIANO USA TODAY

any Shore-area fishermen and lawmakers oppose the

Obama administrations controversial new proposal

to open an area off the Atlantic Coast to oil and gas
drilling. The areas being mulled are located more
than 50 miles off the coast of Virginia, North and

South Carolina and Georgia, which they said is too close to the swift
Gulf Stream current. If there is any kind of spill itll carry it up
here. Were against it, said Roy Diehl, director of the Belford Sea-

Amount generated by
states tourism industry
per year

43,000

Jobs supported by the

states seafood
industry

14

Potential lease sales in

a draft proposal for
2017 through 2022

food Cooperative and member of the Garden State Seafood Associations board of directors. A worst-case scenario an Atlantic

See CENTER, Page A4

Coast oil spill akin to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster in the
Gulf of Mexico would threaten their billion-dollar commercial

To see a video about the

MORE INSIDE
For a related story
on offshore seismic
testing, see Page A8.

See OIL, Page A8

community center, scan the

QR code or visit

APP.com

Plundered lead-poisoning prevention fund to get hearing

TODD B. BATES @TODDBBATESAPP

New Jerseys depleted lead-poisoning prevention

fund, raided to pay other government bills, is poised to
get a full public airing, following an Asbury Park Press
investigation.
A state Senate panel on March 9 plans to discuss a
bill (S-1279) that would pump $10 million into the nearly
empty Lead Hazard Control Assistance Fund. The fund
is supposed to provide loans and grants to remove lead
paint a special hazard to children from homes and
rental units.

With thousands of children in the state continuing

to be poisoned each year, we must take action, Senate
Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg, D-Bergen, said in a
statement.
Sen. Ronald L. Rice, D-Essex, prime sponsor of the
bill, said in an interview: When do we put these children first and stop the politics of it? That bothers me.
The Press investigation found that the state diverted
more than $50 million from the Lead Hazard Control
Assistance Fund since 2004 to pay state salaries and
bills. The Press also found that state officials failed to
carry out a 2008 law that is supposed to ensure lead-safe

conditions in one- and two-family rentals.

Lead poisoning, which can lead to learning, behavioral and other problems, can be prevented. But health
professionals find high levels of lead in more than 5,000
New Jersey children each year. Most of them are poor
minority children in older urban areas; hundreds of
children in Monmouth and Ocean counties are affected.
Rice, Sen. Jeff Van Drew, D-Cape May, and Weinberg said they will work together to pass the bill to adSee LEAD, Page A4

ISRAEL, HEZBOLLAH TRADE ATTACKS; GOP WONT DELAY PM TALK PAGE 1B

CHRISTIE SWEARS IN AREA JUDGE

STORY, A3

COME ON DOWN: BASEMENTS SHINE

Luxury Living, D1

ADVICE
CLASSIFIED
COMICS
LOCAL
LUXURY LIVING

D5
E1
D4
A3
D1

OBITUARIES
OPINION
SPORTS
WEATHER
YOUR MONEY

A13
A17
C1
C8
A6

VOLUME 136
NUMBER 25

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