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More On Financial Education In New Jersey

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Yesterday, I uploaded an entry that talked about college students paying more of their college expenses. The entry then talked about some of my concerns about young professionals who are being taught bad financial management strategies because their lives are being subsidized by their parents. It all leads to a severe lack of financial education and that lack of knowledge about money is one of the many problems crippling our economy.

New Jersey seems to be ready to confront that problem head on. Last week, the New Jersey State Senate passed a bill that would require the equivalent of Finance 101 for New Jersey’s students. As reported on the Asbury Park Press website:

High school seniors would be taught how to write a check, manage credit card debt and obtain a mortgage under a bill advanced in the New Jersey Senate.

The Senate Education Committee approved a pilot program in personal financial education despite concerns about overloading the high school curriculum.

I often draw on my experience in advising college students, but one of my previous jobs was working for a real estate management company. One of our core businesses was renting houses to college students. We used to have college kids (majoring in business and finance, no less) walk into our offices to pay rent and hand us blank checks because they didn’t know how to fill them out. Really!

The mortgage portion of the new Finance 101 course will be interesting to watch unfold. I can almost hear the banks salivating at the idea of young, unworldly individuals becoming “pre-certified” in their first-time home buyer’s program – before even stepping foot into college. I’m a major proponent of First-Time Home Buyer’s workshops because they are effective in weeding out problem borrowers. In fact, I was at an event last week where the attendees were talking about how the studies are all showing that the mortgage meltdown mess is not hitting the first-time home buyers and those who have graduated from first-time home buyer programs. Talk about a good investment in the future, huh?

The Finance 101 course could be great. I hope that it succeeds as a pilot program and quickly spreads around the rest of the state and the nation. The more people know about money, the better off they’ll be in this world.

Terrestrial Radio Keeps Killing Itself – Why?

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Watching old-fashioned terrestrial radio continue to kill itself is becoming tiresome. After Howard Stern left censored radio to become the star of satellite radio, the entire radio industry was shaken up. CBS Radio came out with a series of Free-FM channels that focused directly on talk. This turned out to be one of the dumbest moves in the history of the industry because long-time rock stations were being converted to talk stations. When it flipped from music to Free-FM, New York’s WXRK (better known as 92.3 K-Rock) went from the highest rated rock station in New York City to not even being ranked in the top 10. The dummies at CBS Radio finally realized the error of their ways and brought back the K-Rock station, but this was just one of a series of screw-ups by the company.

Some of you may remember when I blogged about CBS changing the format of 101.1 in New York City – the number one ranked oldies station. When CBS changed from the oldies format to some stupid “Jack-FM” concept (which was based on an iPod style – playing whatever they wanted to play), the station quickly tanked. Again, after realizing the error of their ways – and losing tons of advertising revenue – CBS Radio changed their minds and brought back the oldies format.

And now we have the latest blunder in the New Jersey/New York terrestrial radio meltdown. Press Communications, the owner of four stations in the Monmouth County/Ocean County area, have taken their G-Rock Radio Channel (106.3 FM) and changed it to now be called “Hit 106.” The name change isn’t the problem – it’s the format change. As described in the Asbury Park Press:

Less than a week after the Jersey Shore station WHTG (G-Rock) 106.3-FM switched from an alternative rock format to contemporary hits, a group calling itself “Bring Back G-Rock,” with a Facebook page, is planning a protest at noon Saturday outside the station’s studio at 2355 West Bangs Ave. in Neptune.

Press Communications, the owners of the station, made the switch at noon on Monday, to appeal to the 18 to 44 age range.

How stupid is this decision by Press Communications? If you live in the Jersey Shore area, you know that G-Rock was all over the place up and down the shore during the spring, summer, and fall seasons. They were a household name in terms of the radio world…and they’re rewarded for their excellent marketing and advertising by being taken off of the air? Who’s making these ridiculous decisions in the terrestrial radio world?!

I was glad to read that there is going to be a protest outside of the Press Communications building tomorrow. Though I can’t be there, I agree that G-Rock Radio should be brought back. Since I’ve picked up Sirius XM there have only been a few times that I’ve been forced to listen to old-fashioned, boring, censored radio. During those times the only stations that I listened to were G-Rock Radio and NJ 101.5-FM. This was a good channel and I guarantee that it’s a bigger money-maker (and crowd pleaser) than Hot 106.

Watch – taking G-Rock Radio off of the air will be one of the dumbest moves in Press Communications’ history.

Plastic Bags are the Enemy in Red Bank

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The Asbury Park Press ran a story earlier this week talking about how Red Bank’s Mayor Pasquale “Pat” Menna and Councilman Michael R. DuPont are waging a war against plastic bags in their city. Originally, they wanted to outlaw the use of the bags and distribute $100 to $500 fines for any retailer caught using them. Since that resolution didn’t pass the city council, they are now seeking to create a “green” designation for those city retailers who are environmentally friendly. A piece of the article:

Menna said he hopes to name two borough schoolchildren — one from the local public school system and one from the Red Bank Charter School — to a committee to be formed in January. Menna has asked the top school administrator for each for help nominating students.

“I’ll ask for an advisory panel to designate which stores are using the cutting edge of green initiatives,” Menna said. “Kids are on the cutting edge of environmentalism, they can teach us about being stewards of the environment.”

Menna had proposed a “green” designation for local businesses as an alternative to various suggestions about banning plastic bags. “Green” is the popular adjective for people, businesses and other entities that are sensitive to environmental concerns or which promote environmentalism.

I’m not exactly sure what the end game is for the Mayor and Councilman, but I’m glad to see that they are bringing schoolchildren into the legislative process (and especially a child from the Red Bank Charter School).

While banning their use is certainly one way to curb the abundance of plastic bags out there, I think people should be introduced to new forms of eco-friendly shopping gear. I have these “Green Bags” that I bought at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and they’re great! Plus, you can buy reusable canvas bags at most grocery stores and most stores are also including a plastic bag recycling receptacle in their front entrances. All of these items should be encouraged as we move towards a greener, more sustainable society.

More on Long Branch’s Redevelopment Process

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Finally, Kevin Brown has been removed as a squatter at 162 Broadway in Long Branch! The Asbury Park Press ran a story today talking about how the City of Long Branch has taken over the property. My favorite part of the story is below:

Jones said that after touring 162 Broadway, he came to a certain conclusion: If there was no redevelopment there, the city still would have condemned the building and demolished it, as an unsafe structure.

A portion of the ground floor, which had been home to a commercial tenant until late in 2007, was in the best shape, but the rest of the building was suffering from a lack of maintenance, he said. There were holes in the walls, ceiling, roof and windows, which had allowed rain to enter, deteriorating the structure further, and the items and materials that had been stored there were literally moldering where they sat.

Yeah…that’s not “blight” at all! Ha! What was most disturbing about this situation was the way that Brown tried to piggyback on the the MTOTSA folks – people who had a real gripe with eminent domain abuse. But (dare I say this), the legal system actually worked in this process! The MTOTSA organization won their battle against Long Branch (as they should have) and Brown lost his battle (as he should have). There is justice in this system!

For more background on this situation and some interesting comments from guests to this blog, feel free to visit a previous post on the subject.

More Information on Long Branch’s Redevelopment

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This week’s Atlanticville ran a story talking about one of the remaining holdouts in the Long Branch Broadway Arts redevelopment project. What I found upsetting about the article (and thus my impetus to write this post) is what the Atlanticville either forgot or chose not to add in this article. From the article:

A city minister will have until July to find a new place to call home and a new building where he can practice his ministry.

State Superior Court Judge Lawrence M. Lawson denied Broadway resident Kevin Brown a stay of the city’s use of eminent domain to take the building where he lives to make way for the Broadway redevelopment project.

Brown has also been trying to establish a place of worship in the building at 162 Broadway for more than a decade. The building is owned by The Lighthouse Mission and is located in the Broadway Corridor redevelopment zone.

This little blurb provides a decent background on the situation in Long Branch. And what an outrage it seems, right? Here is a Pastor who is trying to establish a place of worship for his congregation and attem — wait. There IS a congregation that is being displaced, right? Back to the article…

Brown has been battling the city for more than 10 years to open the Lighthouse Mission Church at the Broadway location.

So there isn’t an actual mission located at this location? There isn’t an actual place of worship that is waiting to open its doors? Hmmm… When I mix that up with other information that the Asbury Park Press has run on this story and you’re talking about a different story entirely.

Instead of a Pastor, his congregation, and his mission being ousted from their only home we have a Pastor with no congregation and no mission being removed from this building. And what of this building? A recent Asbury Park Press article talked about how this building was vacant on the first floor (the proposed location of the mission) and how the Pastor lived upstairs.

Folks, there are a conglomeration of financial institutions who WANT to infuse this area of Long Branch with money, economic advancement opportunities for residents (i.e. jobs), affordable housing options, and artistic/entertainment space. And this plan has not been able to go through because of a non-existent mission and a liquor store?! This is why it takes decades for any real change to happen in our communities.

I’m as much against eminent domain as the next guy. I think it’s vulgar that in the great American political experiment we’ve allowed a pro forma increase in tax revenues to replace existing taxpayers and homeowners. We’re not supposed to operate that way in this country. Yet, this is also a country where we try to work in the best interests of each other. When an entire area is asking for redevelopment, asking for an infusion of private, non-taxpayer money, and asking for their community to get a face-lift, then we should be for that change. In other words, just as strongly as we defend our rights to own our property without eminent domain, we should be fighting just as strongly against lone holdouts in these projects who have questionable ideas on the possibility for their future development.

The Broadway Arts Center project needs to get moving and it needs to get moving immediately. I wish Godspeed to Pastor Brown in finding a place to live in this crazy market (though $450,000 will find you a great place in a nice area of Long Branch) and I admire Pastor Brown’s use of the legal system to plead his case at any and all levels of the judiciary, but now is the time to move forward.