Mayor Menashe Miller Update On Lakewood Following Hurricane Sandy

good afternoon Lakewood residents just want to give you a quick status update of where things are holding in Lakewood as you know the three parts to a storm three main parts there's the preparation there's the storm itself and then there's aftermath and Recovery right now we're in the aftermath and Recovery the preparations I want to thank the township and volunteer organizations for a fabulous job getting together and all the preparations for this for the storm getting the word out to everyone getting generators water bottles gasoline putting everything into place for the storm itself great organizations great great cooperation LCSW of Lakewood and the various organizations that have really gotten together you name it we've got it volunteerism was at an all-time high getting ready for the storm through the storm itself we really worked hard there were people soaked bone to bone we were out there making sure that people didn't get flooded over moving trees out of the roadways getting the uh getting storm drains really clean so there shouldn't be any flooding I'm very proud of the work that we got done I was personally out there to see this I oversee this and and I'm really proud of the camaraderie amongst all the the paid personnel as well as all the volunteers that that have been out there now the hardest part of a storm is the aftermath and Recovery unlike the storm itself when we could be out there moving leaves away from storm drains and moving tree branches now in the aftermath we have power adages this is the most frustrating part of the storm moving moving trees around and moving uh storm D uncovering storm dreams that's easy stuff I roll up my sleeves guys roll up their sleeves we make it happen unfortunately we can't go up on the polls and for that we have to rely on jcpnl nothing personal but I don't have too high ratings of jcpnl as you may know already in the past I've had a lawsuit with them I've stopped paying bills for some time I can't get them to fix a street light it's kind of hard for me to get them to fix them power into their houses however the good news is I'm getting phone calls from time to time from people letting me know that power has gone back on Westgate has gone back on so my recommendation guys on Westgate start calling now for the next storm hopefully you got your power on as well but thankfully they're back on I know there are many power outages still in L put 18,000 out I'm frustrated I cannot get a a tally of how many cars how many trucks are out there working with DPW Department Public Works I know who's out there I know who's moving branches I know who's cutting up tree limbs I have a handle on what's going on mayor lonstein worked diligently diligently with emergency service to make this happen unfortunately I don't have a handle with Westgate my recommendation is just keep on calling the number the uh 888 lights and the reason why I keep on calling that their system works with how many calls come into an area to prioritize the um the aftermath being the hardest part the priority here is just to stay safe driving around and as you're going through certain intersections that are are the traffic lights are out we'll have there are V there are police officers and volunteers Manning certain intersections if you see a volunteer holding one of these directing traffic this is not a recommendation this is not an invitation nor is this just a good idea he's telling you where to go and he waves this follow his Direction please follow his direction if you need to get around about another way go another block and then make your turn there but please follow the direction of the volunteer also there's been a lot of debris flying around trees that are down if a tree came down in your property if it's on your property obviously it's your responsibility to somehow or other get a company down to cut it up however if you chop it up into small logs and put it in front of the house eventually the township will get around to picking those up last but not least with the many things that have flown around if you see one of these please make sure your son does not bring this home and put it in his bedroom let us know where it is we'll come by pick it up and put it back on its post hey we were all 18 years old Once Upon a Time and had these hanging our rooms traffic lights and you name it but again this is the taxpayer's money this is steel cost money please if you see one of these Downs report into public works they'll come at and pick it up and make sure it gets back on the sign I just want to apologize to the many residents who've been trying to reach me hundreds of phone calls literally hundreds of phone calls have been pouring into my house I want to thank my wife and kids for answering the phones and all that on my personal house and again feel free to call I'd love to speak to everyone personally it's kind of hard messages with calling people back Etc but there's so much going on so please there a personal apology to you that I can't speak to you in person however I do want to hear from you and anyone that has any suggestions please send it in I'd love to hear from you as I said from day one it's very simple to take a stethoscope and throw it around your neck but that doesn't make a person a doctor just because I'm sitting in the mayor's chair doesn't make me any smarter than anyone else I look at you for recommendations and advice so we're looking forward to hearing anything and anything that people have what to say and we've taken your advice to to Really assist in the cleanup process and making sure that the aftermath and Recovery will go as smooth as possible last but not least if you can each help out your neighbors someone has a generator someone has extra freezer space someone has please help out each other and I've seen great camaraderie going on in the neighborhoods as people help out each other there so please stand with each other in solidarity during this during this trying time we'll get through it together we're proud to be Lakewood and we make it happen thank you