They're Back !!

[leelye]

Took hubby to the eye Dr...gone for an hour and came home to this !! It's NOT Foodtown's, but it doesn't belong here (95 South St.) !!

[admin]

Great picture!

Funny you should bring up the cart issue. What I am about to relate was told to me by someone who was at last night's council meeting ( I was not). If anyone was there last night and has more input, please share.

From what I hear, last night the council had the second reading of an ordinance that will address the cart issue. Apparently the owner of Food town decided to show up and object. I was told that he had his own proposal to deal with the issue.

From what I was told, both Joe Bellina and Mayor Wilson were less than thrilled at this " eleventh hour" concern from the owner of Food town.

As we all know, this issue has been going of for too long and Food town should have been working with us long ago. Like the slumlords who open up shop, this is another example of the responsibilities these businesses have toward our town. To complain after things reach a bad point is too little, too late.

If anyone has further info on the ordinance, please share.

[Freehold Resident]

I was at last night's meeting and I can tell you that the mayor really stood his ground and deserves a round of applause.

They opened up the public portion and Gerry Norkus, the owner of Foodtown, tried to make it into a "you need us, we've been here forever....it's your responsiblity to pick up the carts since you're the town" issue.

Mayor Wilson told him that he's known him his life, HOWEVER, he really did NOT appreciate Gerry Norkus showing up at the "eleventh hour at the second reading." He really gave it to him a good, in a classy way, but totally stood his ground. He told Norkus that this is HIS responsibility as a businessowner and NOT the town's.

Then Norkus got into a hissy fit with Kerry Higgins and Joe Bellina. Then Councilwoman Shutzer told Norkus that his 48-hour proposal is UNACCEPTABLE and "I know I wouldn't want a cart in front of my house and I am CERTAIN Mr. Norkus, you wouldn't want a cart in front of your house, either."

Then Councilman Le Vine told Norkus about the other problems associated with boro workers lifting these carts--workman's comp, disability, injury, etc. He also told Norkus that this is America..a land of business innovation and that PLENTY of supermarkets around the country have ways to stop cart theft, and that it's time for him to be innovative.

As a former Freehold FT employee, I can tell you that Mr. Norkus is EXTREMELY cheap and will try to find the cheapest way to fix things, including using duct tape or replacing things so that they are not consistent. For example, someone smashed two of their register light covers recently, so instead of replacing all of them with the same ones, he replaced two that look COMPLETELY different from the others--it looks ridiculous and half-ass. Not to mention he now has more hispanic magazines at the registers than mainstream publications, so it looks like it's turning into a bodega. Not to mention that the store is always dirty and things are frequently broken and dilapidated.

Anyway, two councilmen (I believe Crawford and Kane, but I could be wrong) said they were going to vote the ordinance down for a six-month trial period. It went to vote, those two voted "no," and the rest voted "yes" and it passed.

This was one of the few times I have been there that I have seen the mayor and council really stand their ground and I think everyone (except FT) was really proud of them for it. It IS totally unacceptable. This has been going on for YEARS.

Norkus should be ashamed of himself.

FR

[admin]

Freehold said:

I was at last night's meeting and I can tell you that the mayor really stood his ground and deserves a round of applause.

They opened up the public portion and Gerry Norkus, the owner of Foodtown, tried to make it into a "you need us, we've been here forever....it's your responsibility to pick up the carts since you're the town" issue.

Mayor Wilson told him that he's known him his life, HOWEVER, he really did NOT appreciate Gerry Norkus showing up at the "eleventh hour at the second reading." He really gave it to him a good, in a classy way, but totally stood his ground. He told Norkus that this is HIS responsibility as a business owner and NOT the town's.

Then Norkus got into a hissy fit with Kerry Higgins and Joe Bellina. Then Councilwoman Shutzer told Norkus that his 48-hour proposal is UNACCEPTABLE and "I know I wouldn't want a cart in front of my house and I am CERTAIN Mr. Norkus, you wouldn't want a cart in front of your house, either."

Then Councilman Le Vine told Norkus about the other problems associated with boro workers lifting these carts--workman's comp, disability, injury, etc. He also told Norkus that this is America..a land of business innovation and that PLENTY of supermarkets around the country have ways to stop cart theft, and that it's time for him to be innovative.

As a former Freehold FT employee, I can tell you that Mr. Norkus is EXTREMELY cheap and will try to find the cheapest way to fix things, including using duct tape or replacing things so that they are not consistent. For example, someone smashed two of their register light covers recently, so instead of replacing all of them with the same ones, he replaced two that look COMPLETELY different from the others--it looks ridiculous and half-ass. Not to mention he now has more Hispanic magazines at the registers than mainstream publications, so it looks like it's turning into a bodega. Not to mention that the store is always dirty and things are frequently broken and dilapidated.

Anyway, two councilmen (I believe Crawford and Kane, but I could be wrong) said they were going to vote the ordinance down for a six-month trial period. It went to vote, those two voted "no," and the rest voted "yes" and it passed.

This was one of the few times I have been there that I have seen the mayor and council really stand their ground and I think everyone (except FT) was really proud of them for it. It IS totally unacceptable. This has been going on for YEARS.

Norkus should be ashamed of himself.

FR

FR,

Very good account. Thank you. As I heard it, and you confirmed, the Mayor and council actually did show some backbone. That is a point that should not be overlooked. I am not surprised about Shutzer. I have seen the pit bull in her in the past and she is good when she wants to dish it out.

What caught my attention to your post is the two councilman who voted no against the ordinance. You believe it was Crawford and Kane. What do they mean by a six month trial period? Haven't we waited long enough? I would love to hear the reasoning on that one.

Did they ( Mayor and Council) talk about what the ordinance contained?

[Freehold Resident]

I believe it says that for each cart that is retrieved by the boro, Foodtown is charged $20 to pick it up, in addition to a $1 a day penalty for each day that they don't pick them up from the boro.

Also, after a certain amount of days, the boro then has the right to sell these carts in some sort of auction, I believe.

Norkus said that 10-12 carts usually go missing (not sure how long of a timeframe), so it's safe to say, he will feel it in his pockets if he doesn't have someone really make an effort to collect these carts before they are stolen.

FR

[fiberisgoodforyou]

and who are these Shopping cart thieves? If caught in the act, what is the penalty to the perpetrators who "Shoplift" the carts in question?

Freehold said:

I believe it says that for each cart that is retrieved by the boro, Foodtown is charged $20 to pick it up, in addition to a $1 a day penalty for each day that they don't pick them up from the boro.

Also, after a certain amount of days, the boro then has the right to sell these carts in some sort of auction, I believe.

Norkus said that 10-12 carts usually go missing (not sure how long of a timeframe), so it's safe to say, he will feel it in his pockets if he doesn't have someone really make an effort to collect these carts before they are stolen.

FR

[Freehold Resident]

Most of the thieves are people that live around the area that do not have vehicles to transport their groceries, so they bring the shopping carts "home" with them.

I believe the prosecution of said carts is up to Foodtown. I believe that the boro can prosecute for these shopping carts being left around, but it is only contingent upon Foodtown showing up in court to attest to it.

FR

[LS]

fiberisgoodforyou said:

and who are these Shopping cart thieves? If caught in the act, what is the penalty to the perpetrators who "Shoplift" the carts in question?

Freehold said:

I believe it says that for each cart that is retrieved by the boro, Foodtown is charged $20 to pick it up, in addition to a $1 a day penalty for each day that they don't pick them up from the boro.

Also, after a certain amount of days, the boro then has the right to sell these carts in some sort of auction, I believe.

Norkus said that 10-12 carts usually go missing (not sure how long of a timeframe), so it's safe to say, he will feel it in his pockets if he doesn't have someone really make an effort to collect these carts before they are stolen.

FR

those people? They know how to sue.

It's like suing the gun manufacturer for someone else pulling the trigger. I'm glad the mayor was tough on this hardball issue. This businessman should know that we have other rateables.

[Marc LeVine]

What caught my attention to your post is the two councilman who voted no against the ordinance. You believe it was Crawford and Kane. What do they mean by a six month trial period? Haven't we waited long enough? I would love to hear the reasoning on that one.

Actually, I think Councilman Crawford may have been slightly misunderstood in his vote and remarks. I'm not exactly sure where Councilman Kane was coming from, but Councilman Crawford was really voting for a 6 month trial for OUR ordinance and not Norkus' last ditch proposal.

This was a second reading and to change OUR ordinance draft to include a six month trial would have required restarting the process all over again and for no good reason. If for any reason, there is a need to revisit the ordinance we can do so whenever we wish to, without stipulating trail timetables.

Marc

[leelye]

Freehold said:

I was at last night's meeting and I can tell you that the mayor really stood his ground and deserves a round of applause.

They opened up the public portion and Gerry Norkus, the owner of Foodtown, tried to make it into a "you need us, we've been here forever....it's your responsiblity to pick up the carts since you're the town" issue.

Mayor Wilson told him that he's known him his life, HOWEVER, he really did NOT appreciate Gerry Norkus showing up at the "eleventh hour at the second reading." He really gave it to him a good, in a classy way, but totally stood his ground. He told Norkus that this is HIS responsibility as a businessowner and NOT the town's.

Then Norkus got into a hissy fit with Kerry Higgins and Joe Bellina. Then Councilwoman Shutzer told Norkus that his 48-hour proposal is UNACCEPTABLE and "I know I wouldn't want a cart in front of my house and I am CERTAIN Mr. Norkus, you wouldn't want a cart in front of your house, either."

Then Councilman Le Vine told Norkus about the other problems associated with boro workers lifting these carts--workman's comp, disability, injury, etc. He also told Norkus that this is America..a land of business innovation and that PLENTY of supermarkets around the country have ways to stop cart theft, and that it's time for him to be innovative.

As a former Freehold FT employee, I can tell you that Mr. Norkus is EXTREMELY cheap and will try to find the cheapest way to fix things, including using duct tape or replacing things so that they are not consistent. For example, someone smashed two of their register light covers recently, so instead of replacing all of them with the same ones, he replaced two that look COMPLETELY different from the others--it looks ridiculous and half-ass. Not to mention he now has more hispanic magazines at the registers than mainstream publications, so it looks like it's turning into a bodega. Not to mention that the store is always dirty and things are frequently broken and dilapidated.

Anyway, two councilmen (I believe Crawford and Kane, but I could be wrong) said they were going to vote the ordinance down for a six-month trial period. It went to vote, those two voted "no," and the rest voted "yes" and it passed.

This was one of the few times I have been there that I have seen the mayor and council really stand their ground and I think everyone (except FT) was really proud of them for it. It IS totally unacceptable. This has been going on for YEARS.

Norkus should be ashamed of himself.

FR

Thanks for the update Brian and FR !! I came home at lunch time and to my horror someone pushed the basket onto my side yard. I promptly put it back on the sidewalk bordering the neighbor's yard where it came from. I asked the lady and her two babies if it was their's and she said no. I then called Borough Hall to report it and the other one that's been attached near a tree at the Bartleson Mansion Project. When I arrived home this afternoon, they were gone.

BTW, FR, I worked at Freehold Foodtown in my younger youth (30 years ago) !! It used to be more spacious and much busier and EVERYONE spoke English !! Not like today where the Pasta is located in the Feminine Products isle and all the OTC meds are locked up like Ft. Knox.

[P King]

according to your council,
-shopping carts are NG on streets,
-illegal alien laborers are OK on streets

who'a