Democrats: RiverWinds Accusations Based on "Thinnest of Facts"
Claims of a missing $4.5 million were done without proof, West Deptford Democrats said.
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The $4.5 million that allegedly went missing from the RiverWinds golf project isn’t missing at all, according to West Deptford Democrats, who accused township redevelopment counsel Mark Cimino of intentionally misleading the public by presenting findings without the full establishing documentation.
At his presentation before the township committee and dozens of members of the public last week, Cimino highlighted a huge gap between what loan documents said the cost of the golf course and tennis center would be—about $5.4 million—and the total loan from Fulton Bank, which came in at $9.945 million.
But by making that presentation without all the facts—and Cimino admitted during the presentation to not having all the loan documents he was looking for from the bank—Democrats said he failed to do his homework and misled the public in doing so.
“It was just a big finger-pointing game,” committeewoman Denice DiCarlo said. “In my world, you don’t necessarily raise these red flags without proof.”
Local Democratic Party chair Gerald White, who was township administrator when the golf course went through, called it a smear campaign on “the thinnest of facts” by the Republicans, who brought Cimino on board this year.
“The thing that is most egregious is that he stood up in a meeting of the governing body and basically accused the golf developer,” White said. “It’s a blatant lie.”
Those developers—Arret and Emory Dobson, who also built White Oaks in Franklin Township—weren’t immediately available for comment, but White said he’d been in contact with them.
“The golf developer is not happy,” White said.
And since the bank wouldn’t have released the nearly $10 million in one shot, DiCarlo said it was an unwise move to raise those red flags without seeing what payments went out from the bank on the project as the course was constructed.
“I think if anything, it makes Mark Cimino look less credible,” DiCarlo said.
She also called the lack of solutions regarding the redevelopment effort out at RiverWinds frustrating.
“They want to paint everybody in such a bad light, rather than just focusing on moving forward,” DiCarlo said. “How can we turn this around?”
Cimino, for his part, hasn’t made any direct accusations of wrongdoing—he referenced the possibility of cost overruns that night as one potential explanation—and has maintained he’s looking at it with the best interests of residents in mind.
“We’re going to get to the bottom of that,” Cimino said during his presentation. “I would be remiss if I didn’t dig deeper.”
But without the bank’s cooperation and the loan documentation—and Fulton Bank had yet to provide those details as of Tuesday, despite a request several months ago—Cimino said that’s not possible.
“I haven’t seen anything yet,” he said.
redneckwillie3
7:31 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
if it isn't the misuse of 4.5 million.What about the miuse of millions of dollars in the past twenty years starting with shields.
Come on now everyone has their hands in the till.
Denise Dicarlo the one who claims she has a CPA license always states things that she don't know what she's talking about
lest not forget she has a puppet mentality.built riverwinds golf course for 10 million and sold it for 1 million.great business transaction especially when jaworski isn't paying taxes on it.
honestly you think there has been great business decsions in the past few years.
LET'S SEE IF FULTON BANK CAN PRODUCE PROOF.
G White is running scared. sweeney"s asking white what did you do with the money lol
Bryan Littel
7:34 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
It's a $2 million long-term lease, with the township still owning the property - and Jaworski is paying taxes on it, though, as Cimino argued last week, possibly not enough, given the lack of a formal PILOT agreement on the place.
Ken
11:37 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
At the twp. meeting when asked Mrs. DiCarlo said that she had passed the CPA, however does not continue to carry the lic. as it is not a requirement of her currant place of employment. And a 99 year lease is not a sale, I am sure there is wording in it to allow the twp. to sell during the lease to anyone, it would not have to be the $1.00 buy that big J has.
canodit
9:08 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
The article in the Times indicated that there were copies of requested documents at Fulton waiting for Cimino to come pick them up. If that is true, Cimino didn't have a leg to stand on when he made his presentation. If the Time is accurate, how can Cimino claim to have done due diligence prior to making his presentation without even picking up the documents he himself requested. Maybe he thinks he's just so important that the bank should drop them off, or maybe he wasn't as interested in the truth as he was in a smear campaign to try and deflect attention from his party's most recent OPMA violation. Either way, why are my tax dollars being used to pay an activist attorney to run a smear campaign? Can't the republicans pay Mark with the money he donated to them?
Gene Zosling
9:23 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
No canodit because they will never take money from professionals, remember that line of bs from the campaign and 20 point sham.
Bill Bondar
9:08 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
If I were the golf developer, I would not be happy being caught up in this scandal either. But they knew who they were dealing with and what was going down. This will all come out with time.. meanwhile, back at the ranch, the drama on this forum continues. What will the big story be next week?
Gene Zosling
9:08 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
It's unfathomable and totally irresponsible that any attorney (not a cpa) in the world would throw out baseless allegations like Mark Cimino did the other night with no facts to back it up. He should be disbarred. This is getting to be the norm with this new administration, just throw mud against the wall and hope that something sticks. Pathetic leadership in WD
Just doing what's right
10:10 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
I agree 100 percent with redneckwiie. The Shields admin has always been full of questions, doubt and possible deceit in the eyes of the people of WD? Proof does indeed need to be brought forth before anyone points any fingers, but with so much distrust with the former politicians, why wouldn't people ask, "Why is money unaccounted for from this project?"
canodit
11:37 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Asking questions is fine. In fact, it's a prudent thing to do, and a professional attorney is a good person to ask. However, when that attorney intentionally misleads the public with half truths after not fully fledging out the information available to him, that is a gross dereliction of duty, and as an officer of the court and a member of the bar association, Mark should know better. He may have been careful not to directly make an accusation, but he definitely misled the public by making a presentation with so much slander baked in when there was zero proof and when he had failed to pick up the documents from the bank that he himself requested on the matter. It's especially distasteful that Mr. Cimino specifically failed to make known to the public during his presentation that the developer had funds directly dispensed to them from the bank, and that nobody at the township had access to those funds. It all adds up to Mark using his redevelopment counsel appointment as a platform to willfully slander using baseless allegations. And the worst part is that he is getting paid for these efforts, and the payment comes from my tax dollars.
redneckwillie3
11:37 am on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
let's be realistic i've lived in this township for 55 years,bought my home in sherwood 35 years ago.we used to call it sherwood on the mortgage.taxes never went down always went up,but in the past 25 years my taxes have skyrocketed.so unless my taxes go thru the roof in the next three years during the present regime then I just have to sit and wait like 20,000 other residents.
however it is nice to see an interest of the tomfoolery that took place in the past.
dig deep and dig fastNow there are about 20,000 residents in this township and only a handful either makes an opinion on here or reads the comments induced by the mr.politickers of this town
1. between the ages of 1 day and 25 the y could care less about this sight.
2.the ones that live at home with mommy and daddy,they don't pay property taxes so what do they care.
3 the elderly,60% don't have computers probably never heard of patch
4 so that leaves us with about 6000 residents that can actually vote of course 40% won't
so with all the positive and negative comments on here no one really cares
this message paid for by the soupy island trust fund
Sandy Wagner
7:36 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
I beg your pardon. We senior citizens are computer savvy. We also have a big stake in how our taxes are spent. We attend the committee meetings and are very interested in our local government, past and present.
W.D.78
3:25 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
I think at the time this all went down is wasn't called Fulton county bank, it was indeed called The Bank of Gloucester county headed by one President Scott Kinsing, the father of the Kinsing that the Dems. tried to get on the committee humm
Samantha McCall
7:37 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
You are so right! Hmmmm!
Ronald Gibson
7:56 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Learn how to spell moron, it's Kintzing. Is there any intelligent people in your entire party?
Bill Bondar
12:59 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
This new administration was elected to clean up the the mess left by the former officials. They have attempted to do this despite the grumblings of those who would seek to impede this task. Now that they have picked up the carpet and find all the dirt that was swept under it by the previous administration, they have a duty to the residents to announce these findings at the monthly Township Meetings. This is transparency in government. Don't shoot the messenger because you don't like what you hear. Whether or not this becomes a criminal investigation only a court can decide. For now its fact finding nothing more.
redneckwillie3
4:33 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
canochit didn't your tax dollars go to the angelini fund or is he your uncle.
I never read such garbage that you spew out since I picked up the phone and they asked me if I wanted to lower my credit card debt.WHAT BS.
He didn't mislead the public Docimo and friends mislead the public along with her co-hort KING DAVID.
can you imagine if the state got involved.
Fox news another scandalous story for to investgate.
trickle down effect is starting to take shape.wait until the township meeting july 5th.
they are going to unravel a few certain items the dems will go in hiding.
hey Daws where are you?
ThomasJefferson
5:32 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Mr. Cimino has been as angry as Sam Cianfarini for many years. He has had an axe to grind since Gary Stuhltrager lost his assembly seat and along with it , Mark's easy ride to lots of political perks. He makes it his mission in life to try to smear all Democrats and his vindictive and immoral antics are likely to backfire on him. Ms. Dicarlo is as new to the WD twp committee as Sam and Ray and her efforts, not her party affiliation are what should be evaluated. As far as RedNeck and his taxes, I live is Sherwood West and my taxes went down last year after the revaluation.
Samantha McCall
7:36 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
WD Mary 78
I think Mr. Cianfarini has every right to be angry, as do all of the taxpayers. He has been going to the township meetings for a couple of years now, and he had asked questions from the previous administration, and the show wasn't pretty. I was at many of those township meetings, and they were outright rude to him. The attitude, how dare you ask us questions. I just wonder where everyone else in this township has been while the previous administration was pillaging our town? And Ms. DiCarlo's party affiliation is a little troublesome, considering the puppet masters from the previous administration, Gerry White! Also, I could be wrong, but I think Mr. Cianfarini was an undeclared until his run for the committee. The taxes, don't get too comfortable, I thought the same thing about the taxes lowering, however, it doesn't make sense, the ax will fall.
J Warner
6:19 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
I think it is fair to be asking questions. After all the developer spent $10 million developing a golf course that included no land nor clubhouse costs but only a steel barn with tennis courts and the land improvements on the tract. This is quite a sum and then when you consider that after 10 years it has depreciated down to $2 million and the taxpayers are left with the mortgage. It does make one wonder where all the money went or did we just have fools running the township.
Ronald Gibson
7:36 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Here's another question to ponder. Who in their right mind would want to move to West Deptford in its current state? You have two committeeman, mayor and deputy mayor, who ran on a platform of trashing the town and everyone in it and guess what they continue to do once elected, trash the town and everyone in it. If i'm a potential homebuyer and looking to move to West Deptford I would have to ask myself, " Why would I want to live in a town where the elected government leaders trash their own town and people actually support them." Their must be something seriously wrong with these people. You have republican puppet attorney that somehow passed the bar exam insinuating with zero facts back it up that somebody stole 4.5 million dollars and the acting mayor Chintall has no problem with that. This is a guy that gives his silly Mr Rogers speech before every meeting on how everyone should work together in a non-partisan fashion and as soon as his speech is over he unleashes his not so brilliant henchman to start havoc at every meeting. This town was once the pride of Gloucester County and South Jersey and now it is a total clown show. Luckily there is one intelligent person up there that continues to be the voice of reason. keep up the good work Denise.
Occupant
8:40 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
What good work?.... Denise is part of the problem and not the solution.
Remember, in November, a vote for DiCarlo is a vote for Gerry White.
Do you want more of the same?,,, The ship is sinking and instead of fixing the leak, you want to throw the crew over board. Something is wrong with you, who doesn't like Mr. Rogers?
J Warner
11:40 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Ron , You have a very short or selective memory. You might recall the trashy flyers the Dems sent out during the last election trying to vilify Ray and Sam. Do you really think Ray and Sam should have sent out flyers complimenting the previous administration on their fine work. Come on, get real. This is not Disney World.
Samantha McCall
8:29 pm on Thursday, June 21, 2012
Mr. Gibson,
I think you should really think about your statements, they didn't trash the town, nor did they trash the people in it. These two men went to the township meetings for two years inquiring as to what was going on. If they felt that the town and the people in it were trash, why would they waste their time??? This town used to be a town that had a lot to offer, until the previous administration of 20 years pillaged it. They are trying to restore that pride feeling back into West Deptford, that is one of the reasons I too moved to this town. I would like to see it the way it used to be. Open up your eyes and see that the previous administration didn't care about you or the people in this town, if they did, we wouldn't be in this situation. All they care about is your vote, it is very much the, "what's in it for me" party. As for Ms. DiCarlo, everything out of her mouth is, "I", not much of a team player.
Sandy Wagner
7:56 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
I beg your pardon. We senior citizens are computer savvy. We also have a big stake in how our taxes are spent. We attend the committee meetings and are very interested in our local government, past and present.
Dougy Dimes
7:56 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
I have to tell you Ron I couldn't agree more. I used to live in WD but have since relocated because of my job. I have people come up to me all the time and brag about how great RiverWinds is and how much they would love to live back there. They say there is not another facility or complex like that on the entire east coast. Sadly, I dont live there anymore and can't enjoy the luxuries the current residents have. But i t boggles my mind that west deptford's current leadership actually denogrates their own town. Real leaders speak highly of their community and try to make a difference while leaving the childish games behind. It's a real shame such a great community is now being run by two buffoons.
crazy eddie
8:40 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
since you don't live here anymore what concerns are there for you to worry about'
the last regime wasn't something from a P T Barnum sideshow.
west deptford is thankful that such idiots like you and your counterpart are no longer residents.people move out and people move in and that makes it better for the election less democrats mooving because their embarassed what the previous administration did to this community in the past 25 years.
crazy eddie
8:00 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
now that you have identified yourself as denise's puppet she's a weasel like the rest of the dumocrats.and beside i'm loving every minute that dirt and more dirt's coming out it's understandable tha t the symbol of the democrats is an ass.you people are living up to that symbol.behind every good ass their's a democrat.
dicarlo couldn't carry anybody's ****strap.
Occupant
8:40 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Remember, in November, a vote for DiCarlo is a vote for Gerry White.
Do you want more of the same?,,, The ship is sinking and instead of fixing the leak, you want to throw the crew over board. Something is wrong with you, who doesn't like Mr. Rogers?
WDNeedsHelp
12:46 pm on Wednesday, July 18, 2012
And Steve Sweeney and George Norcross and Dave Shields and Mike Angelini and Anna Docimo and Len Daws and Hugh Garrison and John Cobb and the rest of the "wrecking crew" who trashed this town financially....
joe baur
8:40 pm on Wednesday, June 20, 2012
I don't understand why the fulton bank won't provide documents on spending for the riverwinds project that WD taxpayers are paying for? what is the status of the $10M mortgage? are we still paying for it? how long are the payments to continue? why doesn't WD have details on the $10M? how did they determine that $10M was needed for the project?
Occupant
8:11 am on Thursday, June 21, 2012
Mr. WHITE ..... SHOW ME THE MONEY!
West Deptford Taxpayer
9:26 am on Thursday, June 21, 2012
The current committee won an election to represent the people of West Deptford,Let them try and straighten this Mess out!
Instead of coming online everyday and whining start planning your run for committee person in the next election.
John West Deptford
3:40 pm on Friday, June 22, 2012
This is a community comedy – with characters from both ruling political parties as the key players
WDNeedsHelp
11:00 am on Tuesday, June 26, 2012
WHERE IS THE MONEY?????? WHY HASN'T THIS QUESTION BEEN ANSWERED YET !!!