The Hammonton Gazette 10/15/14 | Page 6

Page 6 • Wednesday, October 15, 2014 • The Hammonton Gazette The Hammonton Gazette “The Paper of Record” Gabriel J. donio, Publisher Gina rullo, Editor-in-Chief dan russoman, Sports Editor Benny Mendez, Staff Artist Marysusan Hoffman, Paul J. Macrie iV, Michael Hozik, donna Brown, Joseph Bruno, Lauren Bucci, Lauren Crescenzo, Zack Brown, Staff The Hammonton Gazette is located at 233 Bellevue Ave. To reach a staff member, call 704-1940 or fax at 704-1938. The mailing address is P.o. Box 1228, Hammonton, NJ 08037. EdiToriALs The Hammonton Gazette is published Wednesdays, by The Hammonton Gazette, Inc. Copyright © 2014. All rights reserved. ISSN 1093-6181 Historic victory Achievements by locals on a larger stage are always welcome stories here at The Gazette. During our many years of existence, we have covered people with local ties who have accomplished feats on the county, state, national and global level in many different fields and careers. On October 11, there was an athletic accomplishment by the St. Joseph High School Wildcats football team that must be noted. For the first time in the school’s history, the team traveled to another state to play an opponent that has been nationally-ranked for football: Steubenville, Ohio’s Big Red. Their stadium seats 8,000 people. It has a video board and a 12-foot-high representation of the legendary racehorse Man O’ War that breathes fire out of its nostrils every time the team scores a touchdown. Their record at home was 491-140-11, earning it the nickname “Death Valley” for visiting opponents. After St. Joseph came to town, and came back from a 21-6 deficit at halftime to win 25-23 in stunning fashion, Big Red’s home record dropped to 491-141-11. The Gazette sent two staff members, Sports Editor Dan Russoman and sports writer Paul Macrie, also of the shows “Gazette Sports Week” and “Gazette High School Football Report” out to Ohio to cover the game, sending out live tweets on Twitter as the amazing comeback happened. This week, Russoman and Macrie’s words and pictures capture the historic sports moment – not only for St. Joseph High School, but for the entire town of Hammonton. Look in this week’s sports section for expanded coverage of the game. Congratulations are extended to St. Joseph Wildcats head coach Paul Sacco, his coaching staff and especially all the members of the football team for this victory. Athletics have always been a part of our town’s proud history, and this win will be discussed as one of the great sports achievements, in the same long-running sports conversation as the 1949 Little League World Series Championship, the many state titles for all high schoo l sports, the town’s longstanding youth sports leagues, the town’s county league baseball championships and all the other aspects of local athletics. As Dan Russoman wrote in his book Hometown Pride: The Tradition of Sports in Hammonton: “Hammonton has a tradition of sports excellence. From the very beginning, Hammontonians have participated in sports and excelled in them. The town has built a reputation as a sports town through hard work, commitment and the passing on of a winning tradition that begins at a young age and continues on throughout life.” Last Saturday, that theory was put to the test on a football field in Ohio. The St. Joseph Wildcats passed that test, and another chapter in the storied tradition of local athletics was written. Preventing fires Last week, students were reminded to be aware of the causes of fires, how to keep them from happening and what to do in case of a fire during Fire Prevention Week. In an era where “awareness” about health and green issues has become a part of everyday life, Fire Prevention Week stands as one of the longest-running “awareness” programs in the nation. The goal of raising awareness about fire prevention is keeping people and property safe and saving lives, and that goal has been achieved in Hammonton and across the country as generations have been exposed to the lessons taught by firefighters. Many adults with their own school-aged children probably smiled at the memory of their own Fire Prevention Weeks when they were kids when their children came home from school last week and told them how they should check the batteries in their smoke detectors or have a plan ready in case a fire should break out in their home. Locally, the Hammonton Volunteer Fire Department, comprised of Hammonton Volunteer Fire Co. No. 1 and No. 2, has been educating the youth of the community about fire prevention for decades. As a result, Hammonton is a safer place, and should a fire break out, residents know how to respond. It is critical for our youngest residents to learn these lessons at an early age, when the message about fire prevention can sink in and remain with them for a lifetime. Who knows how many lives have been saved simply because a child remembers something they were told by a local firefighter during Fire Prevention Week? Our local firefighters must never be taken for granted – and no one who has had a loved one or property saved by them ever does. We salute all our local firefighters for their efforts. Whether it’s responding to a house fire, an accident or teaching our local students about fire safety, they are to be commended for volunteering their time to keep Hammonton and the surrounding area safe. To the Editor: LETTErs To THE EdiTor My family has deep roots in this community. I grew up in Hammonton, attended public schools, married a local woman, Susan Ravelli, bought a home here and raised my daughter, Devon Esposito, who also just recently purchased a home in this community. Needless to say the Esposito family loves this town, and we have been here long enough to see its fascinating transformation. Many new families have now settled here over the last 10 years to enjoy everything this small town has to offer: the excellent public and Catholic school systems, a vibrant downtown and uptown retail shopping areas, numerous community events, new athletic facilities, improved public parks, and a thriving art district. The beginning of Hammonton’s renaissance began almost 10 years ago, with a debate about the new town hall. This was the beginnings of Hammonton To the Editor: Recently your headline (September 24) indicated the town of Hammonton’s credit rating was reduced to a AA-. In the article, there were several points that the town fathers were making. Point 1: Mayor DiDonato cited the poor economic conditions in Atlantic City and Atlantic County as the reasons for the downgrade. Hammonton’s credit rating is down because of the seven factors the rating company uses to determine government ratings, and the factors have nothing to do with Atlantic County government. Point 2: Mayor DiDonato said the state and county have had several downgrades in the last six years. To the contrary, the county’s rating has been stable. Point 3: DiDonato said “because of the weakness of the state and county, Hammonton is going to have a AA-.” Not true, Atlantic County government is facing the very same conditions Hammonton is experiencing and our rating has been stable through these events. Point 4: Mayor DiDonato thanked council for its vigilance in sending a letter to the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) in the fall of last year questioning the accuracy of the county tax increase and stated that its action saved the town millions of dollars that would have occurred during the next decade if the error had not been found. First, Hammonton sent a letter to the State questioning the county tax rate and taxes in 2013 which is totally unrelated to the overcharges which occurred in 2014. The mayor and town fathers had no idea the Board of Taxation (a State First, but it was just that, a new beginning for Hammonton. An organization of townspeople of like mind, but different voices, which came together do what was best for the community, not politics as usual. And for 10 years, Hammonton First has remained true to that virtue. Hammonton continues to grow and prosper and we continue to keep taxes low, all while the state, county and surrounding communities struggle financially. With the solid and proven leadership already shown by Sam Rodio and Dan Bachalis, combined with my 40 plus years in the financial industry, we will continue to lead Hammonton forward. Please vote for all three Hammonton First candidates; Sam Rodio, Paul Esposito, Dan Bachalis, to keep Hammonton First in the majority. Councilman Paul Esposito Hammonton First agency) had made a mistake on the library and public health tax in 2014. The error was made and discovered by the tax administrator who sent a letter explaining her office’s error in calculating those taxes to all 22 municipalities. It was not discovered by a DCA audit. Second, Hammonton was ordered to initiate a reevaluation 1/1/11 to be completed by 9/30/13 for implementation in 1/1/14 because the town’s tax ratio in 2013 was 55.61 percent which means the town as a whole pays more in county taxes. Hammonton refused to do the reevaluation and took the Board to court. Subsequently, the court ordered Hammonton to do the reevaluation. So for 2013, any town at 100 percent ratio the county tax rate was .409 and for Hammonton at 55.61 percent ratio, the county tax rate was .649, an additional 24 cents or approximately $240 more on a home assessed at $100,000. I am not certain why the letter was sent questioning the 2013 county taxes. Hammonton knew their ratio, had been ordered by the courts to take appropriate actions, and understood the tax consequence of having a 55.61 percent ratio. In closing, I take great pride in my work for Atlantic County government and it is important that the citizens get the truth. Gerald del rosso County Administrator Hammonton The Hammonton Gazette welcomes letters to the editor that are no more than 800 words long. All letters must include the name of the author and an address and telephone number for verification. Letters should be mailed to The Hammonton Gazette, Editorial Page, P.O. Box 1228, Hammonton, NJ 08037. Letters also will be accepted via fax. The fax number is 704-1938.  Or by email to [email protected]. Deadline for all submissions is 2 p.m. Monday. The Hammonton Gazette reserves the right to edit any submissions. The opinions expressed in letters, perspectives or in guest columns do not necessarily reflect those of The Hammonton Gazette.  The Gazette is not responsible for factual errors in letters, perspectives or in guest columns. The Gazette retains the right to refuse any submission or advertisement.