Author: ECCYC

EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — ​​Three young children were rescued from a parked, locked car on Wednesday afternoon after they were left alone for nearly an hour in the heat, according to township police.

Around 2:48 p.m., officers responded to reports of the children — ages 3, 1 and 5 months old — crying inside the vehicle at the Walmart shopping center in Oak Tree Plaza.

The outside temperature was 86 degrees, police said, adding the car was not running and all windows were closed.

After officers used a lock-out kit, the infant and two toddlers were immediately turned over to Egg Harbor Township EMS for treatment.

Cyndie Jourdain and a 17-year-old female, both of Galloway Township, had been inside the store for 45 minutes at the time the children were found, police said after viewing security camera footage.

Any potential relationship between Jourdain, the teen and the young children was not immediately disclosed as of Thursday.

The children were all taken by ambulance to Atlantic City Medical Center for treatment but were expected to be okay.

The state Division of Child Protection and Permanency were contacted and responded to the hospital.

Jourdain and the teen were arrested and charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

After processing, both were released pending court.

The temperature inside a car can get dangerously hot, even in moderate weather with the windows slightly down, state officials have stressed in their “Not even for a minute” public awareness campaign.

Kids can suffer from heat stroke, which can be fatal.

In 2019, two children in New Jersey died in separate hot car incidents — both just younger than 2, left alone in vehicles in Lakewood and Lindenwold. 

Egg Harbor Township police on Thursday morning issued a thank you to the individuals who had called police and “stood by to be sure the children were safe.”

The children’s hot car rescue was outside the same Walmart where a teen was accused of starting a fire last week inside the Sporting Good section.

Erin Vogt is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach her at erin.vogt@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

​​

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Rep. Tom Malinowski became the poster child last year for reforming an insider trading and conflict of interest law when he failed to disclose up to $3 million in stock trades during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

He was hardly alone — on Capitol Hill or in New Jersey. 

Two of his fellow Democrats — Reps. Bill Pascrell Jr. of Passaic County and Mikie Sherrill of Essex County — also appeared to violate the STOCK Act, a lightly enforced law banning insider trading among lawmakers and requiring them to quickly disclose their trades. 

Malinowski, Pascrell and Sherrill were among 63 members of Congress found by Business Insider to have broken that law. They were found to have mostly filed late disclosures and are not accused of insider trading.

The widespread violations by members of Congress led to a rare bipartisan agreement between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to ban lawmakers and their spouses from trading stocks.

But it has also been a campaign issue in New Jersey. 

In the lead-up to last week’s primary, Republican candidates vying to face Democratic Rep. Josh Gottheimer — who did not violate any law — seized on the issue of stock trading to put forth reform plans. The Republican State Committee has drawn attention to Sherill’s stock sales. And in the 7th Congressional District, Malinowski faced attacks from national Republicans as well as the state party. 

Given the competitiveness of that district this year, Republicans signaled they’re likely to keep a focus on Malinowski’s conduct heading into the midterm election. County and state GOP officials after the primary returned to using the hashtag #tradingtom and the nickname Trader Tom on social media. 

Here is what to know: 

What is the STOCK Act? 

Passed in 2012, the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act was designed to combat insider trading and force transparency. 

The law prohibits lawmakers from using non-public information learned in their official duties for personal profit — commonly known as insider trading. It also requires them to publicly disclose trades between 30 and 45 days after making them.  

Violations typically result in a fine of about $200, but there are no public records to show whether lawmakers pay those fines. 

“It’s the notion that the powerful shouldn’t get to create one set of rules for themselves and another set of rules for everybody else,” then-President Barack Obama said when he signed the law. 

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NJ politicians’ violations

Critics of the law say it is lightly enforced and in need of reform. The pandemic bolstered that argument. 

Malinowski, of Hunterdon County, failed to disclose dozens of trades in 2020 and 2021 until Business Insider questioned him about them. The news organization reported Malinowski’s trades, some made early in the pandemic, were worth at least $671,000 and as much as $2.76 million. One stock sale involved the shares of a medical-diagnostic company that manufactures COVID-19 tests, Insider reported, citing a spreadsheet provided by Malinowski’s office. 

Some of the companies Malinowski invested in were developing COVID-19 testing or therapeutics, according to The Associated Press. In November 2020, Malinowski sold between $15,001 and $50,000 worth of stock in New Jersey-based drug maker Merck, whose value dropped after it announced it would end its efforts to develop a vaccine, the agency reported. 

And in February 2020, days after members of Congress were briefed on the virus, Malinowski sold between $1,001 and $15,000 shares in Kimco Realty, a company that owns shopping centers across the country, according to the AP. He bought back that stock and more a month later when the company’s share price dropped nearly 50%, the AP report said. 

Malinowski has said it was an “oversight” and a broker handles his trades. His broker, Gagnon Securities, publicly confirmed Malinowski had no involvement or knowledge of investment decisions. His campaign told the USA TODAY Network New Jersey the broker had “no input from him” and “made the same trades for Malinowski as it did for dozens of other clients.” 

The Office of Congressional Ethics found “there is substantial reason to believe that he failed to properly disclose stocks” and recommended a further review, which is ongoing. 

Malinowski has since placed his stocks in a blind trust and paid the $200 fine. He is co-sponsoring a bill to ban member stock trading. 

“Instead of attempting to work within a system we know is broken, let’s put in place simpler requirements that eliminate even the suggestion of impropriety,” campaign spokeswoman Naree Ketudat said.

Sherrill paid a $400 late fee after she was months late disclosing two sales of vested stock her husband earned as part of his employment, according to Insider. The sales were worth up to $350,000, the news outlet said. 

Sherrill has sold her individual stocks and purchased “exchange-traded funds,” which pool investments in various industries on major stock exchanges. Her campaign declined to comment. 

Pascrell was overdue reporting two stock trades: A December 2019 trade of General Electric stock and in August 2019 in pharmaceutical company Johnson & Johnson, according to Insider. 

Pascrell’s campaign did not respond to a message seeking comment, but he told NBC News in February, “The few that I have — stocks — I just sold.” 

Political fodder for midterms

Although there’s no evidence of insider trading among any of the members of Congress, the lapses have become useful political weapons ahead of the midterms. 

The National Republican Congressional Committee said in an ad that Malinowski “profited off the pandemic” and called the trades “corrupt violations” of the law.

“Tom Malinowski made a fortune betting against the American economy during the pandemic and intentionally covered it up during an election year,” said Harrison Neely, a spokesman for former Republican state Sen. Tom Kean Jr. “He blew through the law designed to stop members of Congress from insider trading over 140 times and earned himself a bipartisan ethics investigation.”

Malinowski is up for reelection in New Jersey’s 7th Congressional District against Kean in what is widely viewed as the most vulnerable seat statewide.

The Democratic Campaign Committee called Kean a “hypocrite” for raising Malinowski’s trades. The organization cited an NJ Advance Media report that Kean sold at least $175,000 in stock that included Johnson & Johnson, the New Brunswick company that developed one of three COVID-19 vaccines, and his family foundation bought at least $15,000 in stock of a COVID test manufacturer. 

There are key differences between Malinowski’s and Kean’s trades. 

Kean is not in Congress and does not have access to privileged information. And that financial information was made public through routine disclosures, Neely said. 

Ketudat, Malinowski’s spokeswoman, said, “The public needs to have trust in their representatives, and our current financial disclosure system is primed for partisan exploitation.” 

And in the 5th Congressional District, the two leading Republicans in the primary election focused on stock reform even though Gottheimer, the incumbent, did not violate the STOCK Act. 

Gottheimer reported more stock purchases and sales during the past two years than any other member of the House, according to an Axios analysis. He turned over his portfolio to a third-party investor before he got elected and has “nothing to do with managing my portfolio,” he told CNBC, and “I’m not aware of what’s bought or sold at the time.” And in February he announced he set up a blind trust. 

His opponent in November, Frank Pallotta, a former Wall Street executive, issued a plan for trading reform that would require members to place their holdings in a blind trust and place similar trading restrictions on federal lawmakers’ family members as those in the financial industry. 

Nick De Gregorio, who lost to Pallotta in last week’s primary, also issued a reform plan. 

Gottheimer’s campaign did not respond to a message seeking comment but he told CNBC “members should not be actively involved in day-to-day trading.” 

Dustin Racioppi is a reporter in the New Jersey Statehouse. For unlimited access to his work covering New Jersey’s governor and political power structure, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: racioppi@northjersey.com 

Twitter: @dracioppi 

Eviction filings in New Jersey are climbing close to pre-pandemic levels even as county courts continue to sift through tens of thousands of cases stalled during the COVID-spurred state moratorium that halted evictions for nearly two years.

While the state passed out $750 million in rental assistance in the last two years — and promised an additional $500 million to families — the need for money to make up missed rent payments is still dire, experts say. 

About 122,000 people linger on the state’s waiting list for its lottery rental assistance program, according to the Department of Community Affairs. 

“Unfortunately, the need for assistance is still very large, and not everyone who submitted an application will be selected for assistance due to lack of funds,” said department spokesperson Lisa Ryan.

Low-income tenants are protected from being displaced from their homes if they missed rent between March 2020 and Dec. 31, 2021 and filed a form with the state.

Under normal circumstances, a landlord can file for eviction the day after his tenant misses a payment. But a pandemic-era state law allows eligible renters to fill out a certification that transforms the missed rent into civil debt. That means a landlord can sue in small claims court for the funds — and possibly collect money he is owed through a bank levy or wage execution — but not kick the tenant out of the property for rent owed during the covered period.

Story continues after chart

“There’s no question that evictions have exploded, especially for missed rent in 2022,” said Kevin Kelly, associate clinical professor of law at Seton Hall University School of Law who provides renters legal advice through the school’s Housing Justice Project.

“This instability affects families’ health, affects their children having to change schools all the time, can lead to people losing their jobs,” Kelly said. 

Nina Ramos, 34, is worried about the future of her four children if she is evicted from her Franklin Park home in Somerset County. Her son with special needs attends a specialized school nearby in Piscataway. Her daughter is about to enter high school, and is worried that she won’t get to attend the school she wants to because her family will have to move. 

“I’m extremely stressed out every day,” Ramos said. “I have thought about what I would do, but I haven’t really focused on it. I don’t have family to go to. I would have to go to a hotel and pay out of pocket, I guess.”

Ramos pays her $2,132 monthly rent on time each month with the help of a Section 8 voucher. Her landlord filed for eviction because the owner said she wanted to move into the house. 

Ramos has been scouring Somerset and neighboring counties since November for a new home she could afford and that her voucher would cover, but rents have soared. The government assistance that subsidizes two-thirds of her rent is not enough, nor is the income she collects from her three jobs teaching at a middle school, working at an after-school program, and driving for food delivery apps DoorDash and Instacart on weekends. 

“Now that my landlord filed an eviction against me, it makes it even more difficult because that shows up on my record even though I didn’t do anything wrong,” Ramos said. “People like me are having a hard time and if we don’t get help there are going to be a lot more of homeless people out there.”

Are you a landlord with an open unit? Please reach out to BalcerzakA@northjersey.com.

The numbers

In the first five months of 2022, landlords filed 40,600 eviction cases, according to data from the Administrative Office of the Courts. That’s more than double the number filed in the same time period in 2021 — 18,550 cases — but not up to pre-pandemic levels. From January to May 2019, landlords filed nearly 60,500 cases. 

“It’s important to remember that an eviction filing doesn’t necessarily end with someone being removed from their home,” said David Brogan, executive director of the New Jersey Apartment Association, a trade group representing landlords. “It’s the only legal remedy that we have, and many times a case is resolved in court that day with the landlord and tenant agreeing on a payment plan. It’s not a good business model to kick out your customers.”

Story continues after chart

Depending on the county, some landlords and tenants have been waiting months and even years for a judge to hear their case. Most landlord-tenant court activities ceased during the first year of the pandemic, and courts slowly began trying to resolve cases in mediation last summer. 

Courts face 43,904 backlogged residential cases, which draws out a process that used to take a few weeks, according to data through the end of May, the latest available.  Some counties have less of a lift than others: Essex County’s 18,800 and Passaic County’s nearly 6,000 are more daunting than Hunterdon’s 91 or Sussex’s 120 outstanding cases. 

Owen McNany, 75, has been waiting for years for a court date for around 20 eviction cases he filed in Essex County. McNany, who has been a full time landlord for nearly 25 years, owns about 200 units in Orange, East Orange, South Orange and Maplewood. 

Some of McNany’s cases may fall under Gov. Phil Murphy’s rental protections, but other cases involve missed rent before or after the period covered by the moratorium, as well as a case involving a tenant breaking her lease and harassing other renters’ safety, McNany said. He estimates he is owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent. Those losses, in addition to the cost of fixing his properties damaged by the remnants of Hurricane Ida are impacting his ability to maintain his buildings, he said. 

Rental assistance needed

Renters should check if their county or city has an open rental assistance program. Meanwhile the state is asking the federal government for additional funds to help pay landlords, said Ryan at the DCA. New Jersey was able to collect an additional $87 million from other states and cities that did not pass out their funds by federal deadlines.  

“There is still some rental assistance out there, so the time is now to look for resources,” said Allison Nolan, an attorney with Volunteer Lawyers for Justice. “Tenants should know cases are moving and they should not wait until trial to seek help.”

Aid available through New Jersey’s state lottery program went fast. A $500 million pot of money designed primarily to pay future rent payments has already been spoken for — close to 29,000 families are collecting monthly checks that could last up to two years. Every six months the state reviews each family’s income to check if the assistance is still needed. 

Tenants at risk of eviction should apply for the state lottery at njdca.onlinepha.com if there are no local programs open, because if they show a judge they have a pending application, renters can receive a 60-day delay in their cases, advised Khabirah Myers, coordinator for the Office of Tenant Legal Services in Newark. 

The state still has close to $120 million remaining from the $750 million Eviction Protection Program pot designed to help families with utility assistance. 

Tenant attorneys say that while the majority of cases they handle are for nonpayment of rent, there are a rising number of landlords filing because they want to move into their properties, like Ramos’ landlord. While most proceedings are still remote, some judges may call cases in person, and computers with internet access are available in courthouses for those who don’t have the technology at home. 

“It would be so much more efficient to go back to in-person trials instead of remote, so we can get through this backlog and help people who are languishing with their cases pending in court without any relief,” said Derek Reed, attorney and former president of the New Jersey Property Owners Association.

“In my experience, parties are also able to settle more easily in person because they are able to sit down and work through it,” Reed said. “It can be extremely onerous to work through virtually.”

While online landlord-tenant trials can be better for some, such as people who have child care needs or can’t take off work to attend in person, they can also bring complications. 

Myers said she often gets calls from clients who went through a virtual trial and didn’t understand what happened. When Myers or her staff request an audio recording of the proceedings, they can be inaudible. 

“It just comes out as gibberish, which hampers my ability to provide a good defense because I can’t understand what is being said,” Myers said. “Our office doesn’t have the funds to request transcripts, which are so expensive, and also can take weeks to arrive when we need this information immediately.”

Another red flag Myers is seeing when representing Newark renters at risk of eviction is that some of the court records during the pandemic are not being sealed, as required by a recent law that intended to protect the names of renters in eviction proceedings so they are not placed on tenant blacklists. 

Kelly of Seton Hall says that he is seeing more tenants with legal representation after the state funded legal services programs at universities and launched a pilot to provide lawyers to low-income residents in Trenton, Atlantic City and East Orange. 

The program is still in its beginning stages, touching a small portion of those in need. As of January 2022, the pilot served 322 families with legal and social services support, and attorneys prevented “at least 100 evictions” in court, according to Ryan. 

“Historically I would be one of the only tenants’ attorneys in the courtroom of a sea of attorneys representing landlords,” Kelly said. “That’s starting to change with the right to counsel movement, but still too many renters don’t understand their rights and end up being evicted for the wrong reason.”

Local rental assistance 

Renters, landlords and homeowners can also visit housinghelpnj.org or dcaid.dca.nj.gov for a list of housing resources and social service programs. 

How has rising inflation impacted your life? Reach out to Ashley at BalcerzakA@northjersey.com to tell your story. 

Ashley Balcerzak is a reporter covering affordable housing and its intersection of how we live in New Jersey. For unlimited access to her work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: balcerzaka@northjersey.com 

Twitter: @abalcerzak 

RIDGEWOOD — A resident at a senior living facility is dead as the result of a two-alarm fire on Saturday evening.

Ridgewood police said the flames at the Ridgecrest Apartments broke out at one of the facility’s buildings around 7:30 p.m. It was put out within 20 minutes, officials said.

Sgt. Kevin McKeon said the elderly victim was found dead in one of the rooms and that the blaze was contained there. Some residents were taken to a local hospital for reasons unrelated to the fire, according to Chief Jacqueline Luthcke.

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office did not immediately respond to a request for an update on the victim’s identity or the cause of the blaze late Monday morning.

Mayor Susan Knudsen said that residents were able to return to their apartments the same evening.

“Both buildings are fully habitable with the exception of the apartment where the fire originated,” Knudsen said. “As always, the loss of life is a terrible tragedy and our thoughts and prayers are with the family.”

The Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office is handling the investigation into a possible cause of the fire.

The Ridgecrest Apartments houses more than 150 residents that are subsidized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to the facility’s website.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Rick Rickman is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at richard.rickman@townsquaremedia.com

Click here to contact an editor about feedback or a correction for this story.

Eviction filings in New Jersey are climbing close to pre-pandemic levels even as county courts continue to sift through tens of thousands of cases stalled during the COVID-spurred state moratorium that halted evictions for nearly two years.

While the state passed out $750 million in rental assistance in the last two years — and promised an additional $500 million to families — the need for money to make up missed rent payments is still dire, experts say. 

About 122,000 people linger on the state’s waiting list for its lottery rental assistance program, according to the Department of Community Affairs. 

“Unfortunately, the need for assistance is still very large, and not everyone who submitted an application will be selected for assistance due to lack of funds,” said department spokesperson Lisa Ryan.

Low-income tenants are protected from being displaced from their homes if they missed rent between March 2020 and Dec. 31, 2021 and filed a form with the state.

Under normal circumstances, a landlord can file for eviction the day after his tenant misses a payment. But a pandemic-era state law allows eligible renters to fill out a certification that transforms the missed rent into civil debt. That means a landlord can sue in small claims court for the funds — and possibly collect money he is owed through a bank levy or wage execution — but not kick the tenant out of the property for rent owed during the covered period.

Story continues after chart

“There’s no question that evictions have exploded, especially for missed rent in 2022,” said Kevin Kelly, associate clinical professor of law at Seton Hall University School of Law who provides renters legal advice through the school’s Housing Justice Project.

“This instability affects families’ health, affects their children having to change schools all the time, can lead to people losing their jobs,” Kelly said. 

Nina Ramos, 34, is worried about the future of her four children if she is evicted from her Franklin Park home in Somerset County. Her son with special needs attends a specialized school nearby in Piscataway. Her daughter is about to enter high school, and is worried that she won’t get to attend the school she wants to because her family will have to move. 

“I’m extremely stressed out every day,” Ramos said. “I have thought about what I would do, but I haven’t really focused on it. I don’t have family to go to. I would have to go to a hotel and pay out of pocket, I guess.”

Ramos pays her $2,132 monthly rent on time each month with the help of a Section 8 voucher. Her landlord filed for eviction because the owner said she wanted to move into the house. 

Ramos has been scouring Somerset and neighboring counties since November for a new home she could afford and that her voucher would cover, but rents have soared. The government assistance that subsidizes two-thirds of her rent is not enough, nor is the income she collects from her three jobs teaching at a middle school, working at an after-school program, and driving for food delivery apps DoorDash and Instacart on weekends. 

“Now that my landlord filed an eviction against me, it makes it even more difficult because that shows up on my record even though I didn’t do anything wrong,” Ramos said. “People like me are having a hard time and if we don’t get help there are going to be a lot more of homeless people out there.”

Are you a landlord with an open unit? Please reach out to BalcerzakA@northjersey.com.

The numbers

In the first five months of 2022, landlords filed 40,600 eviction cases, according to data from the Administrative Office of the Courts. That’s more than double the number filed in the same time period in 2021 — 18,550 cases — but not up to pre-pandemic levels. From January to May 2019, landlords filed nearly 60,500 cases. 

“It’s important to remember that an eviction filing doesn’t necessarily end with someone being removed from their home,” said David Brogan, executive director of the New Jersey Apartment Association, a trade group representing landlords. “It’s the only legal remedy that we have, and many times a case is resolved in court that day with the landlord and tenant agreeing on a payment plan. It’s not a good business model to kick out your customers.”

Story continues after chart

Depending on the county, some landlords and tenants have been waiting months and even years for a judge to hear their case. Most landlord-tenant court activities ceased during the first year of the pandemic, and courts slowly began trying to resolve cases in mediation last summer. 

Courts face 43,904 backlogged residential cases, which draws out a process that used to take a few weeks, according to data through the end of May, the latest available.  Some counties have less of a lift than others: Essex County’s 18,800 and Passaic County’s nearly 6,000 are more daunting than Hunterdon’s 91 or Sussex’s 120 outstanding cases. 

Owen McNany, 75, has been waiting for years for a court date for around 20 eviction cases he filed in Essex County. McNany, who has been a full time landlord for nearly 25 years, owns about 200 units in Orange, East Orange, South Orange and Maplewood. 

Some of McNany’s cases may fall under Gov. Phil Murphy’s rental protections, but other cases involve missed rent before or after the period covered by the moratorium, as well as a case involving a tenant breaking her lease and harassing other renters’ safety, McNany said. He estimates he is owed hundreds of thousands of dollars in rent. Those losses, in addition to the cost of fixing his properties damaged by the remnants of Hurricane Ida are impacting his ability to maintain his buildings, he said. 

Rental assistance needed

Renters should check if their county or city has an open rental assistance program. Meanwhile the state is asking the federal government for additional funds to help pay landlords, said Ryan at the DCA. New Jersey was able to collect an additional $87 million from other states and cities that did not pass out their funds by federal deadlines.  

“There is still some rental assistance out there, so the time is now to look for resources,” said Allison Nolan, an attorney with Volunteer Lawyers for Justice. “Tenants should know cases are moving and they should not wait until trial to seek help.”

Aid available through New Jersey’s state lottery program went fast. A $500 million pot of money designed primarily to pay future rent payments has already been spoken for — close to 29,000 families are collecting monthly checks that could last up to two years. Every six months the state reviews each family’s income to check if the assistance is still needed. 

Tenants at risk of eviction should apply for the state lottery at njdca.onlinepha.com if there are no local programs open, because if they show a judge they have a pending application, renters can receive a 60-day delay in their cases, advised Khabirah Myers, coordinator for the Office of Tenant Legal Services in Newark. 

The state still has close to $120 million remaining from the $750 million Eviction Protection Program pot designed to help families with utility assistance. 

Tenant attorneys say that while the majority of cases they handle are for nonpayment of rent, there are a rising number of landlords filing because they want to move into their properties, like Ramos’ landlord. While most proceedings are still remote, some judges may call cases in person, and computers with internet access are available in courthouses for those who don’t have the technology at home. 

“It would be so much more efficient to go back to in-person trials instead of remote, so we can get through this backlog and help people who are languishing with their cases pending in court without any relief,” said Derek Reed, attorney and former president of the New Jersey Property Owners Association.

“In my experience, parties are also able to settle more easily in person because they are able to sit down and work through it,” Reed said. “It can be extremely onerous to work through virtually.”

While online landlord-tenant trials can be better for some, such as people who have child care needs or can’t take off work to attend in person, they can also bring complications. 

Myers said she often gets calls from clients who went through a virtual trial and didn’t understand what happened. When Myers or her staff request an audio recording of the proceedings, they can be inaudible. 

“It just comes out as gibberish, which hampers my ability to provide a good defense because I can’t understand what is being said,” Myers said. “Our office doesn’t have the funds to request transcripts, which are so expensive, and also can take weeks to arrive when we need this information immediately.”

Another red flag Myers is seeing when representing Newark renters at risk of eviction is that some of the court records during the pandemic are not being sealed, as required by a recent law that intended to protect the names of renters in eviction proceedings so they are not placed on tenant blacklists. 

Kelly of Seton Hall says that he is seeing more tenants with legal representation after the state funded legal services programs at universities and launched a pilot to provide lawyers to low-income residents in Trenton, Atlantic City and East Orange. 

The program is still in its beginning stages, touching a small portion of those in need. As of January 2022, the pilot served 322 families with legal and social services support, and attorneys prevented “at least 100 evictions” in court, according to Ryan. 

“Historically I would be one of the only tenants’ attorneys in the courtroom of a sea of attorneys representing landlords,” Kelly said. “That’s starting to change with the right to counsel movement, but still too many renters don’t understand their rights and end up being evicted for the wrong reason.”

Local rental assistance 

Renters, landlords and homeowners can also visit housinghelpnj.org or dcaid.dca.nj.gov for a list of housing resources and social service programs. 

How has rising inflation impacted your life? Reach out to Ashley at BalcerzakA@northjersey.com to tell your story. 

Ashley Balcerzak is a reporter covering affordable housing and its intersection of how we live in New Jersey. For unlimited access to her work, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: balcerzaka@northjersey.com 

Twitter: @abalcerzak 

The New Jersey State Commission of Investigation last year issued an “Abusing the Badge” report that found many Garden State municipalities are still appointing constables.

The practice began in the 1600s when there was no such thing as police, and the British used them to keep the peace and perform other rudimentary law enforcement services in the colonies.

The SCI report recommended that constables be abolished because many carry weapons and wear official-looking uniforms and badges but have no training or supervision at all. Some engage in dangerous and illegal conduct.

Assemblyman Ron Dancer, R-Ocean, has now introduced a measure, A3655 to get rid of constables completely.

“They imposter police officers, this is totally unnecessary, outdated, they are a potential hazard and it’s time for the legislature to act,” he said.

The SCI report documents several examples of constables facing criminal charges for impersonating police officers.

In one instance, several Essex County constables appeared at the mass shooting scene that took place in Jersey City outside of a market back in 2019.

They pulled out guns and announced they would provide backup for the actual police officers who had been dispatched to the scene, even though the constables had no authority to do so.

Constables are not cops

“Let’s be clear: Constables are not police officers, constables have received no certification. It’s time for action here,” Dance said.

He said there are more than 130 constables across the Garden State and some of these individuals walk around and act like they are law enforcement officials, occasionally even issuing tickets and arrest warnings when they have no business doing this at all.

Why constables are considered a problem

Dance said the position of constable needs to be abolished before somebody gets hurt.

“Constables have the appearance of a law enforcement officer, but lack the training, lack the certification,” he argued.

Dancer said lawmakers need to go back and clean up old laws established in the colonial days.

“We must today have certified by the New Jersey Police Commission law enforcement officers, constables are not police officers,” he said.

Constables are politically appointed

Dancer is considered that constables are politically appointed.

“There should not be politically appointed look-alike police officers on the streets of our state,” he said.

The SCI report says that in some cases constables were appointed after paying a fee.

The measure has been referred to the Assembly Law and Public Safety Committee, but no action has been taken yet.

Dancer said there is bipartisan support for the measure and he’s hoping it can move forward in the coming weeks.

David Matthau is a reporter for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach him at david.matthau@townsquaremedia.com

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SUMMIT, NJ — For Dominique Simmons, of East Orange, March 25 is a night she will never forget.

“I brought my daughter to the hospital. I wanted to make sure she could breathe. Something was blocking her throat,” Simmons said in an interview with Union County LocalSource on Friday, May 13. “I brought her to Overlook Hospital. I was just going to go to any normal hospital in Essex County, but the doula who helps assist with home births said she takes her kids to Overlook Hospital. I’m a transportation driver for Life Ride. I knew where it was because I dropped a lot of people over there.”

After speaking to someone in triage at approximately 2 a.m., Simmons said they put a wristband on her child, weighed her and then laid her down to be examined by a doctor.

“I made some phone calls and I came back into the (exam) room, and the doctors said she’s not breathing OK,” continued Simmons. “I see four doctors pumping her heart in the emergency room. I hear them calling out numbers, and finally the doctor says he’s not getting a pulse from her, and he says to my husband and me that she didn’t make it. It’s my first child. … They pronounced my daughter deceased.

“I held my baby for three weeks and she was breathing fine” prior to that night, Simmons said, questioning what the doctors did and did not do. As for getting more information that night, “the doctor said he’d have to wait until the medical examiner told us the cause of death. They took her to the morgue.”

The first thing Simmons did was file a police report.

According to the Summit Police Department operations report, after interviewing Simmons, “the death of the infant is being investigated by the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, East Orange police, as well as the DCPP (Division of Childhood Protection and Permanency) agency.”

“The medical examiner and eight police came to my home, asking me questions,” Simmons said. “Then a detective came from East Orange.”

According to Simmons, DCPP, formerly known as the Division of Youth and Family Services, or DYFS, asked about the baby and her medical history.

“The medical examiner had an eight-page questionnaire, asking things like how she was sleeping, how I fed her, and she was breastfed. I told them I didn’t have any complications (prior to that night). Everything was OK.”

According to Simmons, the hospital has not been forthcoming with information about her child’s death.

“They said the medical records are locked up,” Simmons said. “Six days later, they said my baby’s cause of death was cardiac arrest. On her medical record, they said she had malnutrition, was malnourished, that her chest was caved in. I’m a holistic person. I don’t eat processed food. My baby was very healthy.”

While Simmons says that she was told her child died of cardiac arrest, she still has not received an official notice of this or a death certificate.

“I have talked to a lawyer, but they’re waiting for a cause of death. I’m waiting for a death certificate,” she said.

Simmons said she had hired Ben Crump, a civil rights activist and lawyer, to represent her. LocalSource tried repeatedly to reach Crump, but calls were not returned.

After Simmons had spoken to Patricia Sohler, Overlook Hospital’s director of patient safety and risk management, on Friday, May 27, she said, “(Sohler) told me they didn’t talk to me before (that day) because I was grieving and (the death of) my baby was under investigation, so they didn’t think it was right at the time.”

When LocalSource contacted Sohler on Friday, May 27, for comment, Sohler referred the newspaper to Rob Seman, Overlook Hospital’s public relations manager. Seman told the newspaper that he was unable to comment, due to legal reasons.

“I let the police department know I wanted to do a protest (on Thursday, May 26), and they called the hospital and then (Sohler) called me,” Simmons said. “I don’t think they would have reached out to me if the police hadn’t called them. They said they wanted to give me grieving time.

“No one came to my aid that night,” she continued. “I don’t trust them to make proper medical records.”

Simmons believes the hospital is guilty of medical neglect.

“You cost me a child,” she said.

Photo Courtesy of Dominique Simmons

A Middlesex County jury has found a Jamesburg man guilty of killing his own father and a second man before setting a house fire in an attempted cover-up more than two years ago.

Jaree Kitchen, 24, was convicted of the 2019 murders of Clifford Kitchen Jr. and Gregory Fisher, both 53 and from Jamesburg.

Over a two-week trial that ended on June 1, prosecutors said Jaree Kitchen had returned to Jamesburg from Georgia to live with his father — but soon after, they began having “significant issues.”

Things came to an ugly head with a brutal fight on Nov. 4, 2019, during which Jaree Kitchen fatally stabbed both his father and Fisher, who lived in the same home at 7 Sheridan Street.

Two days later, he set the house on fire to try and destroy proof of what he’d done, prosecutors said.

Kitchen was also found guilty of aggravated arson, possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, two counts of desecrating human remains and tampering with evidence related to the murders.

He is slated for sentencing on Oct. 28 in Middlesex County Superior Court.

Erin Vogt is a reporter and anchor for New Jersey 101.5. You can reach her at erin.vogt@townsquaremedia.com

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