Homeless Shelter? No Way!

CREST HAVEN – No homeless person attended the Feb. 27 freeholders’ meeting, still they were the target of Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano and over 100 Wildwood residents.  
At the standing-room-only session, where the county’s $152.6-million annual budget passed with no comment, the mayor confronted Freeholder Director Gerald Thornton and the board, “I’d like to know the position of the freeholder board when it comes to homeless and the placing of homeless shelters throughout the county.” 
Prompting the question was Thornton’s remarks reported here from the January meeting of the Cape May County League of Municipalities when the subject was the homeless and what was being done for them.
Troiano declared, sometimes in a loud voice, that Wildwood:
* Had no local homeless. A fact verified by Chief of Police Robert Regalbuto yet contested by Thornton with Social Service provided ZIP code data of 37 homeless who claimed 08260 as their locale. (That code is island wide.)
* Takes care of its people in need.
* Is not asking to dump a homeless shelter in somebody else’s yard.
* Reduced its welfare caseload before 1998 from 365 to 60, mostly elderly in Sandman Towers. That year, the county assumed the welfare operation when the city could no longer handle the expense, said Thornton.
* Will remove itself from the county welfare system.
* Was on an upward swing in property values.
* Is working to become a vacation destination.
“At the (January Cape May County League of Municipalities) meeting you made a comment that the homeless shelter would be placed in Wildwood. Nobody came to Wildwood. Nobody asked Wildwood what their position was,” said Troiano. “I will let you know the City of Wildwood does not want, will not accept … the responsibility of homeless does not fall on any one community. No one community should certainly bear that brunt.”
Troiano continued, “Do I have homeless people in my town? Yes, I do. Did they come from Wildwood? Absolutely not. They were placed there, which is great. You’re going to put people into a community that floods; you’re going to put people in a community that has no opportunity for winter occupation, no jobs, no jobs at all.
“So what are they going to do? I’ll tell you what they’re going to do; they’re going to just wander. When you have nothing to do, things happen.
“We’ve spent a lot of money to build our police department to change the concept that people have about the City of Wildwood. I can assure you every community has prospered off a lot of things; Wildwood is not one of them. When casino gambling came in, Wildwood took a terrible hit. It took all our nightclubs, our entertainment, it took everything.
“All the other communities prospered, but nothing ever came to Wildwood except welfare. And we had a conversation; we know where that came from. To admit that it was never delivered to our front door was an absolute untruth.
“I’m going to tell you right now, this room is full of people and the countless emails and phone calls that I received, I can assure you that there will be nothing coming to the City of Wildwood.
“If I gotta get locked up, I will get locked up. You will not bring it to Wildwood,” the mayor said. Applause followed.
“I can assure you this; the City of Wildwood goes to great lengths to take care of our needy. I am not taking care of the county’s needy; I am not taking care of the State of New Jersey’s needy. I will take care of my people. I will work hard to take care of my people.
“But if you think you’re going to put it (shelter) in Wildwood, please, get it out of your head. It will never come to Wildwood. Never,” Troiano concluded. Again, applause erupted.
“I think there is some confusion as to what this is,” said Freeholder Will Morey. “I mean I’m sure it’s a county proposal. I think it would be helpful for those here to have a sense of what is being proposed. Our intent is to take input, put some clarity around it.”
“I think most comments will be the same,” Thornton replied, seeming to sense the public’s sentiment.
“Homeless, Section 8, and tourism don’t mix. We are a resort town. The county has to wake up to that fact,” said Al Brannen of Wildwood. “I hate the word dumping, but we have been a dumping ground for way too many years.”
“Wildwood is trying our hardest to be a destination. What the county throws at us is almost a one-way street,” Brannen added. He also noted the island and city offer no work opportunities in winter.
“Rio Grande is the ideal place. They could live out there. They have the opportunity to work at Walmart and Lowe’s, they could walk, they would not have to take public transportation,” Brannen continued.
Don Mobley said he drove from Bucks County, Pa. Retired, he said he built a home in Wildwood and was in the process of relocating. Someone “Dropped off the newspaper and said this is what they’re going to do in your neighborhood,” said Mobley.
“Wildwood is on the way up,” he added. “These decisions need to be talked about with our people, our elected officials. I am changing my voting registration this week from Bucks County to Wildwood, and I am going to vote,” Mobley continued.
“I will organize and will pay, spend my money, to put a one-page ad in the newspaper to expose anybody that does the wrong thing,” Mobley said, handing a copy of his prepared statement to the board.
“Do the right thing and find another place offshore. To put this in middle of town on Garfield Avenue is not the right thing to do,” said Anna Terranova.
Janet Rush said she moved to Wildwood two and a half years ago from Philadelphia to escape, “The very riff-raff you’re bringing to town. The people who will rob us … You are putting women and children at risk. And you will be the ones responsible when the crimes happen, and I hope you’re all ready for it.
“I have 596 friends on Facebook. They said they will not come back here if this is pushed. You all need to remember that,” Rush concluded.
Thornton said his statements at the league meeting focused on “Code Blue and Barnabas House and that was it. Now Barnabas House has historically been a shelter from Atlantic City Rescue Mission. It’s a vacant building it just got refurbished. We were just looking for resources.
“Then I go on Facebook, and I see where suddenly we want a detox center. That was never discussed. I had Freeholder (Jeffrey) Pierson with me, and he knows that it was never discussed,” said Thornton.
When Thornton mentioned Barnabas House, an unidentified woman, waved her cellphone with photos she took of the structure.
“It’s not refurbished, it looks like s–t. I went there yesterday,” she said and showed the images to the board.
“All we are trying to do is find a place for the homeless,” said Thornton. “All I hear is make sure you put it in Middle Township.”
That prompted Troiano’s ire, “Why would you put them on an abandoned island? I don’t want it in any town. You know what, Jerry? Maybe you should step up to the plate, and the county should handle this.
“You handle everything else. You took our welfare. You know what? I’m going to talk to our boys tomorrow. You know what? We’ll take our welfare back. In 1998, Lenny, myself, and all, we were the welfare board … I’m glad you said that, because I’ll tell you right now, I’m pulling out of your system. And then I’m going to put a gate up. And we’re going to see how many come across that gate.” Again, applause followed.
“How come it’s Wildwood? How come it’s Wildwood?” asked the mayor.
“It’s not just Wildwood. Middle Township and Lower Township stand on their head to try and work it out for the homeless. What I get over and over again, people with vouchers. We have no control if they go to Wildwood, then we hear ‘The county’s dumping on us.’ We don’t have any control,” said Thornton.
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do, Jer, I’ll bring in my housing officer, and I will bring in the people that get the calls from your department to say ‘I got people, I’m going to move them into you.’ You say no, I got proof that says yes.
“We just need to address the issue. Personally, I don’t want to put it in any community, because I’m not going to be a hypocrite and say I don’t want it. You know, put it in Stone Harbor. Put it in Avalon. Put it in Lenny’s (Vice Director Desiderio) town (Sea Isle City). Put it in (Freeholder) Marie’s (Hayes) town (Ocean City). I don’t want to do it to them, but I don’t want it either,” said Troiano.
“We, over and over again, try to find a way to protect the homeless. We’re not trying to dump on any town. We’re not trying to dump on Wildwood, on Middle Township, or Lower Township. That is not our intent. Our only intent is to protect the homeless,” Thornton replied.
“Step up, step up, step up and take care of it. You have empty facilities around here,” said Troiano.
“The first words I hear from people, I thought it was a detox center,” Thornton said.
“Well, the paper said that,” Troiano said.
Thornton said after he explained to concerned callers that he was talking about “strictly the homeless and Code Blue, they said, ‘I don’t have a problem with that.’ We’re not trying to dump on you. You can say what you want, but you were on Facebook calling it a detox center.”
Troiano replied, “It was in the paper, Jerry. You may not have said it, but it was said in the paper. Everybody believes what’s in the paper. Listen, here’s my chief of police right here. Outta his mouth, how many homeless do we have?
“None,” said Regalbuto.
Thornton assured the mayor and residents that before any shelter is located, stakeholders would be involved in discussions.
Morey urged the board to “reach out to the community” because the subject is of such importance.
“I know that is what the effort is on the board. This one ran out of the barn and really got the conversation going,” Morey said. He added that any controversial issue ought to have stakeholders brought in early. “We missed that opportunity. I think we need to get back on the page with that,” Morey said.
Thornton vowed to gather a committee from Wildwood, Middle, and Lower townships to weigh the matter. He said he is aware that regardless where a site is chosen, nearby residents will oppose the location.