Is Oakview the New Millville Gardens?

Oakview, always known as Wade east to Millvillians, seems to be vying for position as the New Millville Gardens.

The other night there was gun play, with a group of miscreants shooting at each other. Fortunately nobody ever taught them how to handle a firearm.

No thanks to the management of Oakview (we can thank Paul Porreca for bringing us this atrocity as well as Delsea Gardens - he said these housing projects would be good for Millville), Millville Police were able to quickly make arrests.

Four people, including a juvenile, were arrested Tuesday as a result of a police investigation into a fight and two separate incidents of gunfire Monday night at Oakview Apartments.

Millville Police Det. Sgt. Carl Heger and Det. Bruce Cornish went to the East Broad Street apartment complex to investigate the incidents from the prior night.

There were no reported injuries and no victims could be located on Monday, but during their investigation two officers said they saw a man in the 200 block using a controlled dangerous substance and trying to conceal a handgun under his shirt in his waistband.

This piece of human excrement was in possession of a handgun stolen from Port Norris a year ago. He needs to be locked away for at least three years, but some namby-pamby judge, I am sure, will see fit to slap his wrists and set him loose on society once again.

What is it going to take before our courts decide to get tough on gun crime? I guarantee these same judges are the ones that are against law-abiding citizens legally possessing handguns. But as long as they continue to pamper thugs that show a total disregard for gun laws, law-abiding people will need firearms to defend themselves against the vermin that these judges thrust into our neighborhoods.

Loaded gun found in man's pocket

Yet another miscreant hanging out on 2nd Street in Millville was found to have an illegal, loaded handgun.

An attempt to conceal a loaded gun only brought more suspicion when a Millville police officer realized that one of a large group of men was acting in a suspicious manner and refusing to make eye contact.

Ptl. Matthew Radcliff was investigating a prior incident when he found an unruly crowd on a front porch in the 600 block of South 2nd Street.

He said Joshua Castro, 18, of Casarow Drive, Vineland, was acting strangely and kept his hand in his pocket.

He also gave a false name when questioned.

The officer later found a fully loaded handgun in the man's pocket.

Castro was charged with obstruction, hindering, possession of a controlled dangerous substance, failure to deliver it to police, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a handgun.

Kudos to Patrolman Radcliffe for an excellent catch. Now we, as residents are screwed, because some idiot judge in the county will slap Castro on the wrist and put him back on the streets, rather than keep him behind bars where he belongs.

For too many years the intelligentsia have blamed law-abiding gun-owners for gun crime. It is these same people that refuse to punish criminals, and yet they fail to see the insanity caused by their own failed philosophy.

Law-abiding gun-owners are not the problem. In fact, crimes are deterred every year, most with no shot ever being fired, that never make it into the newspaper. New Jersey strives to make it more and more difficult for a working class person to acquire a legal gun, and does absolutely nothing to take the illegal guns off the street along with the criminals.

Back in the 90's a city in Virginia began a pilot program where law enforcement made a concerted sweep, locking up violent criminals, and making sure that they served full sentences. The result? Crime dropped significantly and measurably. After that, city after city adopted this method, and it worked.

Worried about overcrowding at the jails? Release the people there for traffic tickets - there are less expensive alternatives! Ditto for minor drug offenses such as possession of pot. Use ankle bracelets and house arrest as a deterrent. There are other options! Community service, such as cleaning the streets and sidewalks in their own neighborhood is one of my favorites. Have them clean up gang graffiti.

Make room in the jails for those that have shown a propensity towards violence. Possession of an illegal gun IS a propensity towards violence - otherwise the punks would not have them!

Crime and nuisance sweep in Millville

Only one newspaper picked up this story today - Millville police narcotics unit, along with the Cumberland County Organized Crime Bureau hit the streets, targeting nuisance properties.

In this twist, the city is targeting the residents of the houses, mostly rental properties owned by slumlords. More than 20 arrests were made during the sweep, and one tenant was cited for maintaining a nuisance.

Police cited Shirley L. Palmer, 53, for maintaining a nuisance property at 513 N. 2nd St., the scene of numerous police responses since February, during Operation Quality of Life, Farabella said.

513 N. 2nd st. is owned by a slum operation called FUTURE UNLIMITED PROP MANAGEMENT of Galloway Twp. These slimeballs like to boast that their future is unlimited, with the unlimited cash flow they generate at the expense of our neighborhoods.

It appears that FUTURE UNLIMITED PROP MANAGEMENT is actually a front company for property owner Winsel Lyles, 307 Longfellow Ct, Galloway Twp, NJ. He (or the front company) also owns 511 N. 2nd St.

This slum property greets our out of town guests as they visit Millville for the Arts District, or the race track, or for any reason. It is not an area that any sane person would walk through alone at night. Time is long past due to target every landlord on this strip and insist that their properties be maintained, and that their tenants abide by the law.

During the sweep, the article maintains "Tenants and landlords alike were advised of the excessive number of police responses to problem residences, and made aware of the statute allowing police to cite them for maintaining nuisance properties."

This is a good start. Millville now needs to act on an ordinance that allows the city to revoke the rental certificates of the owners of nuisance properties, and to require these landlords to pay the full cost of immediately relocating any tenants that are now in their illegal rental unit. I would also like to see an ordinance that fines landlords $100 a day, for every day their unit is occupied without a valid rental certificate.

It is time to hit people like Winsel Lyles deep in their wallets, and force them to bring their so-called investments up to a reasonable standard. This is, after all, a quality of life issue. The tax payers of Millville should no longer be bearing the full brunt of the costs of code enforcement and police activity when it is landlords like Lyles and the lowlifes he chooses to rent to that are causing the problems.

901-903 E. Broad Street - all night drug store?

901-903 E. Broad Street - all night drug store?

Is the slum apartment at 9th and Broad (sixteen units so that the slumlord can maximize their profits at the expense of the neighborhood) a new drug haven? If you don't recognize this address, it is because the slumlords have the address on the building as 523-525 N. 9th Street - and address that does not exist!

A concerned citizen has complained about the screen doors to the units being torn off by the tenants, so that drug dealers can easily hide in the hallways while waiting for their customers to drive up.

I have been told that AB Apartments LLC (I love how some slumlords refuse to use their real names, hiding behind bogus LLC's to protect themselves from liability) was informed of this problem before, and took care of it after the city notified them. once again, the doors are missing, but the irresponsible entities that own the complex either do not check up on the property, or they simply do not care.

The point is, if you decide to become a landlord, you have a RESPONSIBILITY to either visit your properties yourself on a regular basis, or have a property manager do so for you. by regular, I mean if you are not at the property at least once a week, you have neglected your duties to the neighborhood, and to whatever decent tenants you might mistakenly rent to.

Hopefully I am mistaken about the owners of this property, and they are taking proactive measures to evict ALL of the criminal element, and are taking measures to repair damage caused by the fact that they irresponsibly rented to derelict tenants.