June 29, 2003: The Great Garage Sale Caper In Brick

Ocean County Politics .com

Good News! The Public Is Safe, Once Again - Hallelujah!

Mayor Scarpelli

John Barrett

Brick Township Garage Sale Police Squad Zooms Into Action On Orders From Mayor Scarpelli

Code Enforcement Officers Making Will Be Paid $35 An Hour To Work Weekend Overtime So Renegade Seniors And Other Perps Will Cough Up Their $5 Garage Sale Fees

Barrett Has Nothing To Say About Garage Sale Caper

Brick Township: The administration of Mayor Joseph Scarpelli has announced that a squad of $20+ an hour code enforcement officers will be paid weekend overtime (as much as $35 an hour) to make sure garage sale operators pay their $5 garage sale fees.

Code Enforcement Police Earn More Than
$20 Per Hour - Up To $35 Per Hour For Overtime

OceanCountyPolitics has learned the code enforcement police earn more than $20 per hour, making their time and a half overtime pay as much as $35 per hour, a paycheck for a 16 hour weekend of more than $560, about double the income produced by your average Bricktown residential weekend garage sale.

A page one article in the Ocean County Sunday Observer by reporter Michele Mascaly quoted Mayor Scarpelli as saying “every weekend we see garage sales in the same spots”, a contingency that the Mayor apparently regards as the moral equivalent of a smoking gun.

Monday Comes And It’s All Put Out For The Garbage, Scarpelli Says

“Then Monday comes and it’s all put out for the garbage”, Scarpelli told the Observer at a Council meeting earlier this week.

“What does he expect them to do with the stuff - leave it in the street?”, asked one Brick resident who acknowledged he doesn’t see the percentage in the garage sale enforcement arithmetic.

Why Haven’t They Told Them To Get The $5 Permit Or Cut It Out?

“If they know who is taking advantage of the situation, why haven’t they simply told them to get the $5 permit or cut it out?”, the resident asked.

Township Business Administrator Scott MacFadden acknowledged that code enforcement personnel would be putting in overtime duty to make certain that garage sale perpetrators have obtained the $5 permits.

Should MacFadden Check With The Township Clerk’s Office?

“Wouldn’t it be simpler if MacFadden simply checked with the Township Clerk’s office: presumably they keep records on who paid for the $5 permits?”, asked the same Brick resident, who did not want to be identified, but who said he did not have a garage sale scheduled for this weekend or next weekend.

Township Clerk George Cevasco did not say one way or the other if his office keeps records of the garage sale permits they issue, but the citizens of the community have a right to hope.

Former Republican Mayoral candidate John Barrett, who is not a candidate this year, did not comment one way or the other on the garage sale issue. 6/29/03

For a look at a previous article where Councilman Stephen Acropolis charged Mayor Scarpelli with operating a spoils system, CLICK HERE