Changing the names of numerous streets in Gloucester City would be a huge mistake. A lot of folks are still trying to figure out the difference between Stinson Avenue and Stinsman Avenue. Residents of Ridgway Street have been spelling the street\’s name wrong for years, as has the city\’s signage, for \”Ridgeway\” Street.

Vietnam hero Wayne Colantuono\’s name was misspelled in the front-page article submitted for last week\’s City News, as \”Colantuno.\”

Combined with the one-block, one-way streets and any other anomalies someone may be cooking up, the City\’s residents, their visitors and tourists will be confused for years. All the effort that has gone into making street names compatible with the 9-1-1 emergency system will be undone with a few pen strokes. My home phone sends my address to 9-1-1 dispatchers automatically now.

It is a good public safety measure, but would be irretrievably lost if the street name were changed. I can hear myself trying to explain to Comcast why my street is different from its emergency-management location.

Changing the names of streets on the City\’s plat map and spending money twice (once for the \”period of adjustment\” and again for the permanent signage) may satisfy a vocal – and honorable – constituency, but it will be a disaster everywhere else. All the maps distributed by Camden County will be wrong for years. So will the multitude of internet mapping services like MapQuest and Google, and the commercial maps bought at gas stations, convenience stores and book stores.

In Canada, a movement is underway to name streets after Canada\’s Provinces, just as ours are named after New Jersey\’s counties, instead of faraway places. While we are at it, why not rename the City as well?

There are genuine, historical reasons why our City and its streets were given English place names. Before becoming the king, Shakespeare\’s Richard III was the Duke of Gloucester in real life 500 years or so before Billy Thompson was given the title.

Historian Crane Brinton warned against changing place names, especially street names, after a change in government administrations because of the unease it causes among the populace. And, no reputable City planner would recommend doing what\’s proposed here.

I implore the vets and other interested parties to place their suggestions for street-name changes on new streets in proposed new developments in the city or come up with another, more imaginative and less hazardous way to honor the fallen heroes we all venerate.

Stephen N. Roche, Gloucester City

Bill\’s Point of View

In Monday\’s (July 30^th) Philadelphia Inquirer a legal notice advertising the Synopsis of 2006 Report of Audit of the City of Gloucester City appeared in the classified section of the newspaper. The notice was signed by Paul J. Kain, City Clerk. The notice was missing the legal fee, which is required under State Statue. Also required under state regulation is for the legal to be printed in a newspaper that is published and circulated in the county where the municipality is located. The Synopsis was approved by City Council at the July 19^th Caucus meeting.

My first thought was what was Gloucester City trying to hide? Remembering of course last year\’s administration holding a special meeting on a Sunday afternoon in October to approve bond ordinances totaling $5.3 million. I also wondered how many other legal notices besides the audit has the City published in The Inquirer that I didn\’t see. And I wondered if any other local government in our area is also using the Inquirer for their legal notices.

Then I remembered that there is a legal battle playing out in the courts over the issue of whether or not the State law governing the advertisement of legal notices can be ignored.

Earlier this year the powers to be in Camden County sought competitive bids from newspapers for advertising legal notices at discounted rates. The county accepted the bid in March, awarding The Inquirer a two-year contract. Other municipalities and authorities in Camden County, as well as Gloucester County, can \”piggyback\” on the bid, printing their ads in The Inquirer for the same price.

*The Courier-Post sued Camden and Gloucester Counties and the Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority earlier this month, saying it\’s illegal for them to run ads in an out-of-state newspaper. In the July 30 Inquirer besides the City\’s legal there were two legal notices authorized by the Camden County Freeholders pertaining to bids for services.

\”The point is that any legal notice that appears in The Philadelphia Inquirer could be an invalid notice,\” said the Courier-Post\’s attorney, Daniel Haggerty. \”Being invalid, it would allow anyone to claim they didn\’t receive proper notice. There\’s just a whole plethora of issues.\”

John O\’Brien, the executive director of the New Jersey Press Association, agreed.

He said the standard for determining where a newspaper is published is the location of its principal business office.

\”From what I see, the office of publication for The Inquirer is 400 N. Broad St. in Philadelphia,\” he said.

O\’Brien also said the law that sets the rate newspapers can charge – on a sliding scale based on circulation – does not allow a price \”in excess or below\” that rate.

Camden County and its municipal utilities authority have run legal ads in The Inquirer, but Gloucester County officials are waiting for the courts to rule before placing their ads in the newspaper. The City of Camden, originally a defendant, was dropped from the suit after officials there decided not to publish in The Inquirer, Haggerty said.

Camden County expects to save $1 million in advertising fees by placing the legal notices in The Inquirer. The amount is a pittance when you compare it to the County\’s overall budget.

On Thursday\’s when The Gloucester City News hits the streets, the paper has more circulation in Gloucester City then the Courier Post and or The Inquirer. If our leaders in Gloucester City were serious about keeping the public informed then they along with the Camden County Freeholder Board would reconsider their stance on this important issue.

Legal Notices are published in the local newspaper (s) so the public is kept up-to-date on how their tax dollars are being spent. Our local and county officials should realize by advertising important information in an out-of-state newspaper they are giving the public the impression that what they are doing is surreptitious.

How many of us would think to look in a Philadelphia newspaper for a notice about Gloucester City finances being audited. It was only by chance that I came upon the City\’s audit. I bet you can\’t find another person in Gloucester City who can say that he or she saw it.

In my opinion the Camden County Freeholder Board and the Mayor and Council of Gloucester City, along with any other local body that places legal notices in a Philadelphia newspaper, is doing a disservice to the public.

We the public have a Right to Know! Placing advertisements in a newspaper that has very little circulation in South Jersey is a violation of that right.

By the way, the cost to advertise the City\’s audit synopsis in the Gloucester City News, only $122.

*Source for information: June 28^th Philadelphia Inquirer, A two-state newspaper fight over competitive rates for ads

HUSH HUSH DON\’T TELL THE PUBLIC

The recipients of Gloucester City High School Scholarship Awards for 2007 are as follows: William Cory Labbree and Erika Wadsworth, $125, Gloucester City Business Association Scholarship.

John Aman, Matthew DiNardo, and Michael Marchionne, $500, Jim Kelly Memorial Scholarship. John Aman, $250, Earl M. Moore Scholarship. Kathryn Seternus, $1,000, Henry Evans Vocational Scholarship presented by the Gloucester City Rotary Club.

Kaitlin Collins, $500, Sportsman Athletic Club Scholarship. Kyle Kramer, $500, Louis D. Stief Memorial Scholarship. Jenai Gonzales, $500, Gloucester City Educational Scholarship. William Cory Labbree, $200, William W. Yerkes Sr. Memorial Scholarship.

William Cory Labbree, $100, Dorothy Sasse Scholarship. Kelly Cerrone, $500, Gloucester City Ponytail League. Megan Sweeney, $500, Thomas G. Stewart III Memorial Scholarship c/o Gloucester City Professional Firefighters Union.

Kathryn Seternus, $250, Charles A. Harker Memorial Scholarship. Jonathan Beres, Kristi Bobo, Evan Peterson, Thomas Uibel and Nicholas Wright, $1000, Gloucester City High School Alumni Scholarship.

Kelly Cerrone, Christine Mason, Salvatore Russo, Erika Wadsworth, and Kristen Wright, $500, Gloucester City High School Alumni Scholarship. Thomas Uibel, $100, Joseph and Nanette Levins Scholarship.

Stephen James, $300, Congressman Rob Andrews 1^st Congressional District Scholarship. Sarah Clemency and Lauren Ross, $500, Mary Ellen Kraft Memorial Scholarship.

W. Bruce Marks Jr., $250, Camden County Bar Association Scholarship. Mae Nettie McHugh, $500, Joseph G. Kelly Memorial Scholarship. Nicholas Wright, $521, Pine Grove Volunteer Fire Association Scholarship.

Sarah Clemency and Christopher Kraft, $1,250, Highland Park Volunteer Fire Association Scholarship. W. Bruce Marks Jr., and Edward Nastos, $100, AFSCME Maintenance Local #3858 Scholarship.

Kelly Cerrone, $200, Ladies of the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Melissa Fedore, $500, Horace Bevan Memorial Scholarship.Megan Sweeney, $1,000, Bill Siman Memorial Award.

Kristi Bobo, Sarah Clemency, Jenai Gonzales, Kyle Kramer, William Cory Kramer, W. Bruce Marks Jr., Brandon McElwee, Kathryn Seternus, Thomas Uibel and Nicholas Wright, $100, Family and Friends of GHS Scholarship.

Kathryn Boody, $100, Class of 1977 Art Department Scholarship. Jenai Gonzales, $100, Kate Sweeney Scholarship. Derick Fowler, $250, Gloucester City Mustang Jimmy Zearfoss Scholarship.

Daniel Reader, $500, Ad-Youth Scholarship. Jessica Ritchie and Kristen Wright, $100, Frozen Cow Scholarship. Regina Bucher and Liam James, $250, Independent Citizen\’s Athletic Club – ICAC.

Kelly Cerrone, $500, David Martin Memorial Scholarship. Ryan Wyatt, $200, Cpl. Edward A. Slavin – South Jersey 82^nd Airborne Division Association Scholarship. Regina Bucher and Shea O\’Donnell, $100, Harry P. Ferry Memorial Scholarship.

Liam James, $500, Joanne Gorman Memorial Scholarship. Leah Hill, $250, Franklin C. Carr Memorial Scholarship. Steven Barcklow, $3,000, Anna Grabowski Scholarship. Liam James and Kyle Kramer, $500, Marc Ryan Memorial Scholarship.

Kelly Cerrone and Bernadette Malone, $500 each, Harry Boulden Jr. Memorial Scholarship. Kyle Kramer, $1,000, Heroes to Hero Scholarship.

Kyle Kramer and Bernadette Malone, $250, Carmen Palmiero Basketball League Scholarship. Kathryn Seternus, $150, Knights of Columbus Scholarship. Stephen James, $100, Appreciation of History Scholarship.

John Aman, Mitchell Conroy, and William Cory Labbree, $500, James McNully Memorial Scholarship. Maribeth Deleski, $500, Jack Carlson Memorial Scholarship.

Jenai Gonzales and Salvatore Russo, $600, Stephen James and Mae Nettie McHugh, $500, Kristen Wright, $300, Alyshe Gile and Loretta Pregartner, $250, Demarest Family Memorial Scholarship.

Kelly Cerone, $400, James \”Zonk\” Rodgers Memorial Scholarship, Kyle Kramer, $500, Athletic Hall of Fame Scholarship. William Cory Labbree, $500, Brooklawn EMS Scholarship Award.

William Cory Labbree, $500, Gloucester City Youth Soccer League. Liam James and Bernadette Malone, $250, Memorial AA Scholarship. Bernadette Malone, $500, Michael Reeves Memorial Scholarship.

Salvatore Russo, $500, Collingswood Cloud Lodge Scholarship. The Thomas Uebele III Resiliency Scholarship.

This Scholarship was presented to the following students that have displayed perseverance and determination to overcome numerous obstacles to graduate from GHS. The following students received $50 each: Jessica Baehr, Steven Canning, Norberto, Castro, Melissa Ellis, Jeffrey Flood, Amy Franchi, Donna Jo Havers, Carol Holmes, Brian Lee, Anthony Lewis, Amanda Multanski, Edward Nastos, Cody Peters, Evan Peterson, Keith Rusk, Amanda Steeg, Thomas Uibel, Kristen Wright, and Ryan Wyatt.

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