NJ News & Views

[Editor's Note: At 1:29 p.m. on September 4 and at 3:23 p.m. on September 5, 2011, this story was edited for style, content and accuracy.]

One man's vision for New Jersey's fastest-growing municipality is about to be replaced by another's.

Three decades ago, Lakewood Committeeman Robert Singer spearheaded an initiative to redevelop the downtown shopping district with cobbled streets and specially designed street lights that evoked the Victorian era (1837-1901), when Lakewood was incorporated as a township in 1892.

Local government offered downtown business owners financial incentives to improve their properties in conformity with the Victorian theme.

Members of the Lakewood Township Committee branded Singer's vision by approving a graphic design of a horse and buggy, which appeared on township stationary and on signage located throughout the municipality - including the northwest corner of Clifton Avenue and Main Street (Route 88), a block from State Highway 9 northbound.

The sign, welcoming visitors to historic downtown Lakewood Township, is constructed in the remnants of a brick building erected in 1885 by pharmacist William Harrison, who later served as state Senator until his death in office at age 57.

On June 4, 1988, township officials rededicated the former building as an historic restoration area.

Bronze plaques affixed to the former building's brick wall pay tribute to the contributions of local and state officials in the development of Lakewood.

Landscaped with trees and foliage, the historic site is situated adjacent to a building where a personnel agency was recently located, but now stands empty.

On August 25, both parcels became the property of Mordechai Eichhorn of Re/Max On The Move Realty. Eichhorn was the sole bidder at a public land sale held by the Lakewood Township Committee.

After the auction, Eichhorn discussed his new vision for the site with NJ News & Views. He told a reporter he was redeveloping the former personnel agency's offices into new offices for Re/Max.

"We going to make a gateway to Lakewood that will be beautiful," he said.

Business is good for Eichhorn.

Not so much for Lakewood taxpayers, who will receive just $105,000 for public property that Eichhorn will not be required to develop with parking as committeemen originally discussed, let alone preserved for posterity.

If the township fails to bill or collect taxes on the former public property, taxpayers stand to lose even more than a parking spot.

It wouldn't be the first time.

In March 2006, developer Raphael (Ralph) Zucker, Managing Partner of Somerset Development LLC, responded to a reporter's question by confirming he was not the owner of township property on which he was expanding his headquarters at 911 East County Line Road.

After NJ News & Views reported that Zucker was squatting on township land, for which he paid no rent, and that the zoning board of adjustment had granted him approval in 2004 to develop it without a deed, Zucker sued the township to establish ownership.

In August 2007, a superior court judge sitting in Toms River granted a motion by Zucker's attorney to overturn the 2003 deed transferring title from developer Aharon (Aaron) Rottenberg, who bought Twin Oaks Drive from Zucker in 2002, to Lakewood Township.

In court depositions a reporter inspected through the Open Public Records Act (OPRA), township officials testified they did not know the road was public property, even though tax assessor's records identified the land as tax-exempt.

Four months after the ruling, NJ News & Views contacted Zucker, who did not respond for comment, and Rottenberg, who did.

Although Rottenberg told NJ News & Views that he was willing to pay all back taxes due on the property, which was used by Zucker as overflow parking before he received zoning board approval to develop it, township tax officials informed a reporter they had not been instructed by committeemen to bill Rottenberg or Zucker for the back taxes.

In 2008, NJ News & Views contacted Mayor Raymond Coles, Deputy Mayor Marc (Meir) Lichtenstein and Township Attorney Steven Secare for comment.

None of the three responded for comment.

Documents on file with the county clerk's Internet Web site stated that Rottenberg sold Zucker the land for $1 on January 2, 2008, the same day NJ News & Views contacted both developers.

Posted documents also included a state exemption for payment of the realty transfer fee. On the exemption, Rottenberg described the property he was selling to Zucker for $1 as "vacant land."

On November 13, 2007, Zucker received a certificate of occupancy for the building addition constructed on tax-exempt township property that Rottenberg described as "vacant land." According to the Lakewood Tax Assessor's Office, the parcel improvements were assessed at a value of $1,175,100.

A clerk said the building addition to 911 East County Line Road would not be taxed until July 2008.

Taxpayers have not always benefited from real estate transactions with appointed township officials either.

Many of them are also developers.

In 2005, the township committee and Elliott Zaks, a member of the Lakewood Zoning Board of Adjustment, agreed to exchange land parcels in order to create a contiguous site for a proposed affordable housing development near Oak Street. The public land was assessed at a higher value than property owned by Zaks.

After Lakewood advocate Yehuda Shain successfully sued in state Superior Court in Toms River to stop the land exchange, the media reported that Zaks paid an additional $10,000 in compensation of the assessment disparity.

After Zaks became owner of the former public parcel, assessed at a value $235,000, the township did not bill him for property taxes owed on it.

Lakewood Tax Collector Patricia Tomassini told a reporter she didn't know why.

Zaks is Rottenberg's nephew through marriage, according to charges made in a 2011 lawsuit filed by Michael and Catherine Stillwell, and confirmed by state Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Grasso, who responded for comment through his secretary.

The secretary told NJ News & Views that the lawsuit had been withdrawn pending negotiations by both parties to reach a settlement. She said that whether or not a settlement was reached, the development application would have to be remanded back to the Lakewood Zoning Board of Adjustment since Zaks improperly participated in a board vote that benefited his uncle.

Both uncle and nephew have benefited from public policy promulgated at taxpayer expense.

In a legal notice published in the Asbury Park Press on August 20, 2008, the township announced that it was foreclosing on two land parcels owned by Kedma 1, Inc., Rottenberg's development company.

The legal notice stated that as of May 21, 2008, Kedma owed a total of $143.40 in back taxes and interest on Block 202, Lot 5 and a total of $148.77 in back taxes and interest on Block 202, Lot 8.

On October 30, 2007, the township held a tax sale on each parcel. At that time, Kedma owed $35.36 in back taxes on Block 202, Lot 5 and $33.10 in back taxes on Block 202, Lot 8.

By November 2008, the township estimated that Rottenberg would owe a total of $160.50 in back taxes and interest on Block 202, Lot 5 and a total of $167.97 in back taxes and interest on Block 202, Lot 8.

Despite Rottenberg's debt to the township, committeemen permitted him to bid at a public land sale held on August 28, 2008.

Rottenberg paid a total of $55,000 for six blocks and lots he won at auction, but not one cent of the $291.17 he owed in back taxes on property he already owned.

Resident Gerri Ballwanz asked committeemen during the meeting's public forum why Rottenberg was allowed to participate in the auction if he owed the township back taxes.

Township Attorney Steven Secare said one thing had nothing to do with another.

He's wrong.

Municipal government has an obligation to its' taxpayers to first collect what is owed them in order to reduce their collective tax burden as much as possible - not to raise additional revenue by selling taxpayer assets to a property owner in arrears.

According to findings of a township audit for the year ending December 31, 2010, submitted by Certified Public Accountant/Registered Municipal Accountant Kevin P. Frenia of Holman & Frenia P.C. on June 17, 2011, there are deficiencies in township finances that may be costing taxpayers dearly in the near future.

In a letter attached to his company's report, Frenia said auditors performed tests of compliance with certain provisions of laws, regulations, contracts and grant agreements. He said noncompliance with any of them could have a direct and material effect on the determination of financial statement amounts.

In the first of six findings, the auditor noted that cash collections reflected on the monthly Tax Collector's report did not agree to the monthly cash deposits in most instances.

The auditor attributed the problem to lack of oversight by the Tax Collector.

"In order to maintain control over tax collections(,) Treasurer's and Collector's cash receipts must agree," the auditor reported.

The corrective action plan adopted by the Lakewood Township Committee at its August 4 meeting included a response to the auditor's finding.

"Since January of 2011(,) the monthly cash receipts reports that are produced from the Tax Collection part of the Edmunds Program have been reconciled and all bank deposits are accounted for," the corrective action plan stated. "The Tax Collector posts payments on the date they are received, not the date that they are processed for proper interest calculation. The daily cash receipt totals are not always only made up of the funds that are deposited from the Tax Collector's office the next day."

The corrective action plan committeemen approved attributed the auditor's first finding to the actions of personnel working under the Tax Collector.

"The two employees that processed the cash receipts retired by the end of 2010 and the current Tax Collector reconciles the cash receipts daily and at month end," the corrective action plan concluded.

According to Finding 2010-02, the Tax Collector bears responsibility for any discrepancy.

"N.J.A.C. 5:30-8.3 requires the Tax Collector to be bonded under an individual surety bond," the audit report noted. "The Collector is not separately bonded…in order to meet the requirements promulgated by New Jersey Statute."

Under N.J.A.C.5:30-8.3, the minimum requirement for the surety bond of each tax collector is determined according to the following schedule:

Up to $100,000: 25% of the Levy
$100,000 to $250,000: $25,000+ 8% of all over $100,000
$250,000 to $500,000: $37,000+ 6% of all over $250,000
$500,000 to $750,000: $52,000+ 4% of all over $500,000
$750,000 to $1,000,000: $62,000+ 2% of all over $750,000
$1,000,000 to $2,000,000: $67,000+ 1% of all over $1,000,000
$2,000,000 to $5,000,000: $77,000+ 1/2 % of all over $2,000,000
$5,000,000 and upwards: $92,000+ 1/4 % of all over $5,000,000

State statute recommends that municipalities utilize the following recommended amounts in lieu of the minimum amounts in order to provide a higher level of security of public funds:

Up to $200,000: 25% of the Levy
$200,000 to $350,000: $50,000+ 8% of all over $200,000
$350,000 to $500,000: $62,000+ 6% of all over $350,000
$500,000 to $1,000,000: $71,000+ 4% of all over $500,000
$1,000,000 to $2,500,000: $91,000+ 2% of all over $1,000,000
$2,500,000 to $5,000,000: $121,000+ 1% of all over $2,500,000
$5,000,000 and upwards: $146,000+ 1/2% of all over $5,000,000

Last year, the Lakewood Township Committee approved a resolution to adopt a corrective action plan that also included the auditor's recommendation to separately bond the township Tax Collector following an audit of township finances for the year ending December 31, 2009.

Following adjournment of the August 25, 2011 meeting of the Lakewood Township Committee, a reporter for NJ News & Views asked Deputy Mayor Steven Langert why committeemen adopted the same corrective action plan two consecutive years.

Langert, who presided over the meeting in the absence of Mayor Menashe Miller, referred the reporter to township Manager Michael Muscillo.

Muscillo told the reporter that the same recommendation was adopted because the township hired a new tax collector, C. Anne Doyle, after Patricia (Patty) Tomassini retired last year.

According to a resolution provided under OPRA, the Lakewood Township Committee appointed Tomassini to the position of Tax Collector 22 years earlier, effective July 1, 1988.

In a letter dated September 13, 2010 - one month after committeemen adopted a corrective action plan to separately bond the Tax Collector, as required by state law - Tomassini informed Muscillo she was retiring, effective October 31, 2010.

Under her signature and block name, Tomassini added her professional qualifications: Certified Tax Collector through 2012.

On November 8, 2010, the committee adopted a resolution appointing C. Anne Doyle to the remainder of Tomassini's unexpired term - which the resolution reported as December 31, 2010.

The corrective action plan adopted by the committee on August 4, 2011 reported that Doyle had been bonded in the amount of $451,000 by Selective Insurance Company of America, but did not report the date the separate bond was purchased.

On August 30, a reporter for NJ News & Views e-mailed Muscillo. The reporter asked the cost to separately bond the Tax Collector.

Muscillo said the cost to bond the Tax Collector for one year through the township's insurance carrier, the Joint Insurance Fund (JIF), was $1,509.

According to the auditor's report, on December 31, 2010, Lakewood Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer William Rieker was separately bonded for $313,000; Municipal Court Judge Scott J. Basen was separately bonded for $1,000; and Municipal Court Director Carol Jenkins was separately bonded for $65,000.

"All employees not covered by specific bonds listed above are covered by a public employee dishonesty bond in the amount of $50,000 by the Ocean County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund," the auditor reported. "These are blanket bonds for secondary coverage with the Municipal Excess Liability Joint Insurance Fund in the amount of $950,000 for Public Employees and $1,000,000 for public officials. Both of these bonds are subject to deductibles based upon other required coverages."

Finding 2010-03 charged that the Tax Collector failed to properly maintain an analysis of all overpayment transactions during the year.

"The analysis of tax overpayment balances maintained by the Collector's Office does not sufficiently reflect all transactions," the auditor reported. "Accurate financial information was not available for tax overpayments during the year, nor at year-end, in order to facilitate the preparation of the annual financial statements."

Two years ago, sources told NJ News & Views a complaint was filed with Federal investigators that charged the township with applying a discriminatory policy of reimbursing some Lakewood property owners the amount of taxes they overpaid, while other Lakewood property owners instead received a reduced tax bill the following quarter.

In an August 13, 2009 blog posting, Shain reported that the township was no longer reimbursing Lakewood property owners that agreed to settle challenges to their tax assessment.

"Lakewood Tax Refunds - NO MONEY Available! [I.O.U's]," Shain headlined his blog posting, then reported the news. "Are you aware that Lakewood is not refunding taxpayers reductions(?) They are telling them that the mortgage company needs to contact them etc…The taxpayer would never know unless they contact mortgage company who informs them that (they) never received the credit/refund."

For several years, Shain provided counsel and representation to Lakewood property owners challenging their tax assessment at county tax board hearings.

"I have an attorney who signed (Stipulations of Settlement) for tax court 60 days ago," Shain reported on his blog in 2009. "Lakewood is telling him there is no money so we will be refunding the money with interest when we refund it to you."

A reporter for NJ News & Views e-mailed Shain and asked the name of the attorney and the amount of interest that was being promised to taxpayers that settled the challenge to their tax assessment with the township.

Shain did not respond to the request for comment.

The auditor recommended that an analysis of all tax overpayment transactions be maintained and reconciled on a monthly basis.

In response to the finding, the township committee provided an explanation for it.

"The current Tax Collector (Doyle) has printed out a report of all credit balances, totaling $2,163,624.23 and ranging from 1992 to 2010," the corrective action plan stated. "$1,775,854.23 of the credit balance is on one property, Block 1160.01 Lot 384 and is due to an agreement between the Township and the property owner, Lakewood Cogeneration and Ocean Peaking Power(,) signed in 2003. The agreement may end in 15 or 20 years from the signing."

Tax Collector oversight continues to remain an ongoing problem in Lakewood, according to the response.

"It is not clear to the Tax Collector if the agreement is being monitored by anyone, and based on the language in the agreement(,) a host community benefit fee should have been made by the property owner in the amount of $172,439.86," the township asserted. "The other credit balances are generally credits that were never refunded at the time that they were created."

In response to Finding 2010-03, the corrective action plan stated that a staff member of the Tax Collector's office was working to apply the credits to the tax account if the owner at the time the credit was created was still the owner, or by refunding the credits to the proper person.

"It is the hope of the current tax collector to have them cleaned up by July of 2012," the corrective action plan stated.

In Finding 2010-04, the auditor noted that properties owned by the township through foreclosure needed to be accurately valued by reflecting current assessment values reported in the 2010 Tax Duplicate.

"The Township has not updated the values in several years," the auditor said in the report. "The asset value recorded by the Township and subsequent reserve value are understated in the general ledger accounting system."

For years, NJ News & Views asked Lakewood and county tax officials why assessed values of many Lakewood properties were not posted after the year 2006 on the county clerk's Web site. Lakewood tax officials attributed the lack of updated postings to county officials, who in turn attributed the lack of updated information to Lakewood tax officials.

County tax information for all Lakewood properties was updated in 2011, two years after Robert Singer, representing Lakewood as both state Senator of the 30th Legislative District and as Lakewood Mayor of 2009, sponsored legislation permitting New Jersey municipalities to reassess property values without inspecting all improvements on each one of them.

The legislation, which was signed into law in 2010, divided Lakewood's two major voting blocs because the resulting reassessment was based on neighborhood assessments instead of individual ones. New assessments benefited groups of some property owners that constituted one voting bloc, at the expense of others that included the township's other major voting bloc.

The amount of property taxes paid to local, county and school government may not be homeowners' only concern.

In a study by New Jersey Citizen Action, the Citizen Policy and Education Fund and New Jersey Policy Perspective, entitled "Insurance Redlining: Is it Happening in Your Neighborhood?", the advocacy groups indicated that purchase of the American Dream came with expensive strings attached.

"As hard as it is for low- and middle-income people to save the money to buy a home, in many cases being able to afford the purchase price is still no guarantee of a piece of the American Dream," the report stated. "All too often, the barrier to home ownership comes down to being able to insure the house for which one has worked and saved."

According to the report, insurance "redlining," based on the neighborhood where the homeowner lives, increases the cost of the American dream of owning a home.

"The refusal of insurance companies to offer affordable policies – or sell any at all – is a significant problem," the study stated.

Following reassessment of Lakewood properties, the county tax board reported that many were reassessed at a reduced land value, even though demand by speculators has not waned.

The auditor recommended that the list of foreclosed Lakewood properties be updated to reflect assessed values from the 2010 tax duplicate.

The township committee's corrective action plan stated that when the 2011 tax duplicate was received, the listing of foreclosed properties held by the township would be updated to reflect current values.

Finding 2010-05 of the auditor's report charged that because the Tax Collector had not maintained an analysis of third party tax liens awarded at tax sales, the township had a cash balance in the trust other fund which could not be allocated to specific liens.

On December 2, 2008, Tomassini sold a 2007 tax lien for a total of $24 - $8.28 in back taxes, 72 cents in interest and the $15 cost of the tax sale of public property - to investors Kavita and G.N. Chainani of Plainsboro.

According to the county clerk's Web site, the Chainanis own numerous tax liens on Lakewood properties.

At the July 16, 2009 meeting of the Lakewood Township Committee, committeemen approved a resolution authorizing the township tax collector to refund all monies paid by the Chainanis for the tax lien sold to them on Block 1051, Lot 38, which the township attorney condemned years earlier.

Several weeks after the meeting, a reporter requested a copy of Lakewood Tax Assessment records for Block 1051, Lot 38 through the Open Public Records Act (OPRA). Although the resolution adopted by the committee affirmed that Block 1051, Lot 38 was public land taken in 2006, Lakewood tax assessment records continued to identify the parcel as the property of Gussie Frelich c/o Gloria Linder.

Block 1051, Lot 38 is located near a parcel at the southern end of town referred to as Hagaman's property.

Glenn Hagaman reportedly buried hazardous waste on the site, which was later remediated by the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP).

Hagaman told NJ News & Views the township took the land from him by condemning it years ago.

Township tax assessor's records continued to record ownership of Hagaman's property under the name of Glenn Hagaman, even though the Lakewood Development Corporation (LDC) reported in department documents that the property was owned by Lakewood Township.

In December 1989, Tomassini signed a Certificate of Tax Sale awarded to Dovid (David) Wilschanski, a Certified Public Accountant, who purchased a tax lien on the property.

On June 5, 2000, Wilschanski filed a Notice of Lis Pendens.

Lis Pendens is Latin for "suit pending." In some jurisdictions, when it is properly recorded, Lis Pendens is considered constructive notice to the other litigants or other unrecorded or subordinate lien holders.

The following year, the township held a tax sale that included Hagaman's property, which was reportedly in arrears. In December 2001, Tomassini issued a Certificate of Tax Sale to Mark Properties, a limited liability corporation owned by developer Marc Krupnick, after he also purchased a tax lien on Hagaman's property.

When there is more than one unredeemed tax lien on a property, the owner of the most recent Certificate of Tax Sale has first option to foreclose on it - unless private property is tax-exempt public property.

Tomassini told NJ News & Views that Wilschanski redeemed Krupnick's tax lien in cash in 2002.

A reporter asked Tomassini why some documents recording redemption of Lakewood tax liens were posted on the county clerk's Web site, but many others were not.

She said redemptions of tax liens were not required to be documented other than by issuing a receipt to the property owner after paying the amount due.

Tomassini did not explain why documentation of some redeemed Lakewood Tax Sale Certificates were posted on the county clerk's Web site if she was not required to do so.

In another interview, Tomassini responded to a reporter's question by stating that Wilschanski was paying quarterly taxes on Hagaman's property that the owner had not.

Holders of liens purchased at a tax sale can foreclose on the property after two years.

Over a decade after Wilschanski reportedly bought a tax lien on Hagaman's Property, he has still not foreclosed on it.

He can't.

The auditor recommended that an analysis of third party liens be maintained by the township to correct audit Finding 2010-05.

The township's corrective action plan stated that in March of 2011, two separate checking accounts were opened to process lien redemption payments and premium balances.

"All third party liens redeemed from early March on have been deposited into a separate trust account," the resolution reported. "Each of these checking accounts is reconciled monthly."

In Finding 2010-06, the auditor reported that numerous properties with delinquent tax balances were not properly brought to tax sale in 2010.

"The township has numerous properties with delinquent tax balances that are greater than one year old and have not been brought to tax sale," the auditor stated. "The Tax Collector has held numerous properties out of the tax sale that have been identified as tax sale eligible properties."

The auditor recommended that the township bring all delinquent tax balances to tax sale and hold a complete tax sale.

The township's corrective action plan provided an explanation.

"Approximately two weeks after the advertising was begun in late November 2010 for the 2009 tax sale(,) which was held on December 21, 2010(,) it was brought to the current tax collector's attention that two properties that should have been on the tax sale list were not," the corrective action plan stated. "It was then discovered that 332 properties had been flagged in the past to be kept out of tax sale in the software program and the flags had never been removed. At this time(,) there are 34 properties flagged to be kept out of tax sale due to Bankruptcy status."

Doyle published a legal notice of a Lakewood Tax Sale in the December 2, 2010 edition of The Tri-Town News, one of the township's official newspapers.

Property owners in arrears included Wilschanski; Rottenberg; and the wife of county police chaplain Chaim Abadi, who reportedly built an illegal landfill in Lakewood, Jackson and Toms River.

Property owners in arrears also listed in the advertised December 21, 2010 Lakewood Tax Sale included numerous congregations and non-public schools, including rabbinical college Beth Medrash Govoha - all of which are eligible to file for tax-exempt status on their properties, but did not.

The December 21, 2010 Lakewood Tax Sale also included property owned by the Lakewood Development Corporation (LDC), the township agency that oversees the largest Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ) in the state, and Ovadi Malchi, a Lakewood investor that in 2005 sought to buy Hagaman's Property from the LDC to expand his proposed supermarket's parking.

The sale never went through.

In 2008, LDC Director Russell Corby publicly discussed participating in township tax sales on delinquent properties.

Under an initiative to expand municipal parking downtown, the LDC purchased several properties in recent years owned by speculators that sold them for amounts greater than the assessed values.

Doyle published another Notice of Tax Sale this year in the August 4, 2011 edition of The Tri-Town News.

One of the listed property owners in arrears was Arthur/Moshe Gestetner, the owner of a home in Woodlake Manor. However, Arthur Gestetner made headlines several years ago when he and other investors acquired property in A Country Place, a senior development located off Lake Carasaljo, and converted the bungalow to an unapproved use under the homeowners association bylaws.

On November 2, 2000, the county clerk recorded that Bernard and Leonard Cohen took title to 127D Azalea Court in A Country Place, an ungated adult community. On March 8, 2007, Bernard Cohen, described in county documents as the surviving tenant, sold the home for $90,000 to Anna Kahan in care of Arthur Gestetner of Brooklyn, NY. The county clerk recorded the deed on March 14, 2007. However, Lakewood Tax Assessor records continued to report that Bernard and Leonard Cohen were still the owners of the property, which Gestetner converted to an unapproved use as a house of worship.

According to sources, Gestetner and other investors took the action to force neighboring homeowners into selling their properties, a practice referred to as "blockbusting." Acquisition of 51 percent of the homes in the development would give investors a controlling voice on the homeowners association board, which establishes the community's bylaws.

For years, Lakewood advocate Lynn Celli alleged that some property owners in Lakewood intentionally sought to shield their identities by not signing legal documents of ownership. Celli said that under the guise of anonymity, the property owners sought to force out unwanted neighbors.

In Spring 2005, a press release announced that a group of investors had purchased Seagull Square shopping center near the Lakewood border with Toms River, where Celli had been a retail tenant until 2004. However, a deed of ownership filed with the Ocean County Clerk listed only the name of Lakewood real estate developer Eliyahu Weinstein.

Weinstein referred a reporter to shopping center manager Simcha Shain for comment, but did not disclose that Shain was also an owner. Shain listed his investment of more than $2,000 in the property on a 2006 state-required disclosure as a member of the Lakewood Board of Education, but not on the deed filed with the county clerk.

Shain declined to seek re-election to the board of education before his term expired in 2007.

In early 2006, Mayor Marc (Meir) Lichtenstein announced to Seagull Square retail tenants that he was the new shopping center manager.

Lichtenstein asserted he was not an investor in Seagull Square. He also denied any family relationship with Weinstein through marriage.

Seagull Square continued to generate news before and after Weinstein took title to it. In 2004, Celli publicly said she was raped while emptying the trash behind her storefront.

Celli filed a personal injury lawsuit against all past and present owners and managers of Seagull Square, including Lichtenstein. The lawsuit was settled for an undisclosed amount during a trial held earlier this year.

Gestetner is not the only investor in Woodlake Manor; so is 2011 Mayor of Lakewood, Menashe Miller.

In 2006, Miller reported ownership of several Lakewood rental properties on his state-required financial disclosure that were each listed as his primary residence on township vitals.

Miller is an absentee landlord.

Miller's actual primary residence is located in an affordable housing development where he and his family live.

In 2006, the total assessed value of all his rental properties was almost $1 million.

The division between Lakewood's haves and have-nots is growing as fewer government-subsidized housing units are available for rent or home ownership by an increased population with limited financial means.

Lakewood landlords that invest in many residential properties are willing to rent to anyone able to pay their asking price, whether or not the property is properly maintained.

At a 2008 township committee meeting, Maryann Allacci of Mi Casa advocated for relocation of tenants living in public housing in the Kennedy Apartments off Cedarbridge Avenue and in low-income housing in the Plaza I and Plaza II apartments off Martin Luther King Drive, which were built decades ago.

"Will you commit to (relocating) them before people are displaced?" Allacci asked committeemen. "Section 8 certificates don't guarantee a place to live."

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) provides project-based and tenant-based Section 8 rental subsidies to qualified low-income families.

Singer said he could not guarantee all residents would be relocated, but that everyone living there legally would be placed.

Allacci said there was a correlation between increased crime and displaced affordable housing residents.

Former Lakewood Municipal Manager Thomas LaPointe, in his 2006 book, "A Time Of Trouble," agreed.

"There had been widespread discontent among minorities regarding equal employment opportunities, a need for affordable housing and fair treatment by police," LaPointe wrote of Lakewood in the late 1960s. "Minority leaders also voiced the need for recreational facilities for area youth."

With the close of Lakewood's Grand Hotel Era, fewer minority residents were able to find work or affordable housing, and restless youth could not find recreational facilities to vent their anger and frustration.

On August 17, 1969, at 9:15 p.m., LaPointe recalled in his book receiving a telephone call from the police department watch commander.

"We have a serious problem," the watch commander told him. "Crowds have assembled in front of the municipal building, estimated to number about two hundred blacks. We have street fights, broken windows, and fire alarms going off all over the business district and East Fourth Street."

LaPointe said police were unprepared for race riots, even though rumors of unrest had circulated for weeks beforehand.

LaPointe wrote in his book that he was also unprepared for what he saw that night.

"As I approached, I could see roving bands of young people running in all directions, hell-bent on destruction," LaPointe told readers. "In their mindless anger, they were attacking everything in their way, smashing store windows, street lights and fire alarm boxes."

LaPointe described the acrid smell of smoke and the heat from dozens of fires set by rioters. He said he could hear the mournful wail of burglar alarms going off around him.

"Nothing seemed safe in their path," he wrote of the rioters. "It was also clear to me that I was in danger. As store window after another crashed to the sidewalks, I circled the area, attempting to drive to the municipal building undetected. It was obvious to me that the trouble was widespread, encompassing seven or eight city blocks."

LaPointe was surprised by the age of some rioters.

"In the distance I saw two boys awkwardly running while lugging a television set," LaPointe told readers. "They were young, probably fifteen or sixteen."

LaPointe also noted the absence of police to stop them from committing crimes.

"Where in hell are the police?" he recalled thinking at the time. "They should be on top of this."

Without police on-scene to quell rioting, LaPointe assessed the danger to himself and the township he managed.

"Bands of youngsters were running wild, shouting and destroying, all with no police in sight," he wrote. "Firebombs were thrown at the Efros Department Store and the Alleben Hotel. Clearly the situation appeared out of control and beyond the capacity of our entire force."

Lakewood Police called for assistance from neighboring towns. Nine municipalities responded with a total of two hundred riot control personnel, LaPointe wrote.

On August 18, 1971, history repeated itself.

"Exactly two years and one day later…the turmoil and tragedy of 1969 erupted once more," LaPointe wrote. "A rebellious crowd of over one hundred people once again gathered directly outside police headquarters. Attempting to ward off the advance, six shotgun-armed policemen had hastily taken position and reinforcements were called in from all areas of Ocean County."

This time, LaPointe wrote, residents of the township's Hispanic community rioted. The basis for the riots were the same - unfounded rumors fueled by festering discontent over the lack of jobs and affordable housing.

Those issues have not gone away, despite the passage of time.

There are fewer police on the forces of many growing townships to respond to them.

According to Jackson Police Chief Matthew Kunz, there are currently 76 officers on the force, which patrols a 100-square-mile municipality with a population that has grown over the past two decades from 33,233 in 1990, to 42,816 in 2000, and to 54,856 in 2010.

Despite an increase in population, Kunz told NJ News & Views he projects a decrease in the number of sworn officers to 73 by November.

Lakewood's population growth has been even more dramatic, increasing 53.8 percent from a 2000 census count of 60,352, to a 2010 count of 92,843 - making the 25-square-mile township the seventh-largest municipality in the state.

Just 10 years ago, Lakewood ranked 22 in size compared with other municipalities in New Jersey.

On August 30, a reporter for NJ News & Views called Lakewood Police Chief Robert Lawson for comment.

The reporter asked Lawson the average police response time to a call for service. Lawson said police response time depended on variables such as traffic, the number of available officers in the sector where the call for service was made, and police activity in adjacent sectors where reserve forces may be called for assistance.

Lawson said there were currently 113 officers on the Lakewood police force, but that he hoped to increase its size to 120 officers by year-end through the hire of officers laid off by other townships.

Even 120 officers may not be enough to meet Lakewood's growing service needs; according to Lawson, the neighboring township of Toms River, with a smaller population than Lakewood, currently has approximately 140 officers and is expected to grow its force to 150.

Ironically, investors that fail to pay taxes on their property, but are still permitted to develop it, are increasing the demand for public services Lakewood's growing population will need.

Just by following 2010 audit recommendations, the municipality could afford to develop fully-equipped police sub-stations on designated sites around town.

Just by following its approved corrective action plan, based on 2010 audit findings, and making the township less reliant on state aid, collection of Lakewood taxes could help finance state widening of Route 9, enabling motorists to more quickly travel through it to their destinations.

A spokesperson for the state Department of Transportation told NJ News & Views there were no plans for such a project at the present time because condemning private property in Lakewood would be too expensive.

Lakewood investors located along either side of Route 9 northbound and southbound continue to hope for a change in public policy.

So does the township's auditor.

According to the auditor's status report, two findings made in the audit report of the financial year ending December 31, 2009 were still not corrected by December 31, 2010.

"The Tax Collector's surety bond must be a separate bond, rather than a blanket bond in order to meet the requirements promulgated by New Jersey Statute," the auditor stated.

The auditor also reported that the second recommendation was not corrected.

"The analysis of tax overpayment balances maintained by the Collector's office does not sufficiently reflect all transactions," the auditor stated.

Based on a study of tax collections for the years 2008, 2009 and 2010, the auditor believed the township may have to raise taxes to generate sufficient revenue.

In 2008, the tax levy was $138,134,632, cash collections were $131,705,399 and the percentage of collection was 95.35%.

In 2009, the tax levy was $146,719,608, cash collections were $139,700,461 and the percentage of collection was 95.22%.

In 2010, the tax levy was $148,469,166, cash collections were $141,528,084 and the percentage of collection was 95.32%.

In 2008, the total tax rate was $1.739, with 0.504 apportioned for Municipal, 0.316 for County, 0.871 for Local School District and 0.048 for Fire District.

In 2009, the total tax rate was $1.844, with 0.554 apportioned for Municipal, 0.319 for County, 0.925 for Local School District and 0.046 for Fire District.

In 2010, the total tax rate was $2.308, with 0.686 apportioned for Municipal, 0.408 for County, 1.157 for Local School District and 0.057 for Fire District.

In contrast, the township has seen a decrease in the Net Valuation Taxable.

In 2008, the Net Valuation Taxable was $7,862,217,200; in 2009, it rose to $7,873,933,936; but in 2010, it fell to $6,354,811,051.

Since 2008, the percentage represented by the total delinquent taxes and tax title liens has also increased.

In 2008, tax title liens amounted to $315,836, delinquent taxes amounted to $4,681,163, for a total of $4,996,999 or 3.62% of the tax levy.

By 2010, tax title liens amounted to $726,220, delinquent taxes amounted to $6,074,597, for a total of $6,800,817 or 4.64% of the tax levy.

"A study of this tabulation could indicate a possible trend in future tax levies," the auditor stated. "A decrease in the percentage of current collections could be an indication of a possible increase in future tax levies."

Half-a-century ago, township leaders approved funding for a project that would put residents back to work and bring commerce and industry back to town following the demise of Lakewood's hotel era. That project became the second largest industrial park in New Jersey.

Instead of attracting for-profit businesses to Lakewood, the industrial park is increasingly attracting non-profit organizations and non-public schools that do not pay property taxes.

Last month, a reporter driving by the intersection of Oberlin and New Hampshire Avenues observed a concrete and metal sign inscribed "Lakewood Industrial Park Entry #4," with the names of streets located near that entrance also written on it.

The sign no longer pointed visitors to the industrial park in the direction of those streets. Instead, the sign, shaped like a beached buoy, lay twisted on a sandy construction site between the shoulder of the road and wooded, vacant land behind it.

In 1818, English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley noted a similar passing of what was and what could have been in his sonnet "Ozymandias."

I met a traveller from an antique land
Who said: `Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear --
"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.'