Long Beach
HERALD Also serving Point Lookout & East Atlantic Beach
Cafe brings new life to Beech St.
Honoring unsung workers
Holiday service on the beach
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Vol. 31 No. 36
SEPTEMBER 3 - 9, 2020
$1.00
Protest erupts at hearing over payouts participants complaining about the city’s continued borrow and increased debt. One questioner The Long Beach City Council identified herself as “Marie Bruheld a virtual public hearing tus,” but council President John Tuesday night on one of the Bendo said she was actually a he, thorniest subjects to plague the with “a made-up name.” Deepenmunicipality in ing the mystery, years: separation Bendo made it clear payments for retirthat she or he was a ing employees. former city official, T he city once saying that “Marie again plans to borBrutus’s administrarow money — this tion” bore much of time, $2.7 million — the responsibility to make the payfor getting the city ments to about 40 into financial troupeople seeking to ble. Bendo did not retire. Long Beach elaborate on who the will issue a bond to questioner might be. cover the cost. As Council members recently as May, the said that under the city issued a bond direction of Donna for $4.7 million for Gayden, who beanother batch of RoY lESTER came interim city s e p a r a t i o n p ay - Long Beach manager in Februments. Wall Street ary and is an expert bond-rating agencies resident in municipal financhave lowered the es, Long Beach has city’s ratings to several notches put together a five-year plan to above junk as a result of its make the city financially stable. messy finances, a situation that Gayden, Comptroller Inna has worsened in recent years. Reznik and council members A vote on the latest bond said they could not promise — as authorization is scheduled for “Marie Brutus” asked — an end Sept. 15. to the borrowing, but, they said, Tuesday’s hearing lasted well the city is working on updating over an hour, with several Zoom Continued on page 3
By JaMES BERNSTEiN jbernstein@liherald.com
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Christina Daly/Herald
RoB CaRlo, CENTER right, rode for 24 hours to raise money for homeless veterans and families.
On the boardwalk, wheeling through his 57th birthday By DaRwiN YaNES dyanes@liherald.com
Some people celebrate their birthdays with a party or a dinner out. Rob Carlo celebrated his 57th in a much more strenuous way: He finished riding his bike up and down the Long Beach boardwalk for 24 straight hours to raise money for homeless veterans and families. Carlo, a retired New York City firefighter and a Long Beach resident, rode his cus-
tom-made beach cruiser from 6 p.m. on Aug. 26 to the same time the following night — his birthday — to benefit New Ground, a nonprofit headquartered in Levittown that provides short-term assistance to the homeless and works to eliminate the causes of homelessness. Carlo raised more than $24,000, and is still accepting donations on Facebook. “It was a great finish last night,” he said last Friday, “and there was a lot of sup-
port from the community. It was a really good feeling for everyone.” Last year, Carlo recounted, he wanted to do something “positive and meaningful” for his birthday, so he decided to ride his bike on the boardwalk to benefit the Brattleboro Retreat Uniformed Services Program, which offers training and support for men and women, active in the military or retired, who are Continued on page 3
’d like to see something done that doesn’t look like we’re going through a Groundhog Day movie.