e e e e e e it's time for insight an inside view of what's happening in South Jersey join your hosts Anthony fucci and Jim [Music] Quinn as QVC brings you Insight with Anthony and Jim hello everybody uh welcome to Insight which the host normally is Jim Quinn and his guest is normally mayor Anthony fucci but tonight uh I'm a backup and Paul Spinelli councilman Spinelli is the mayor's backup and I'm Jim Quinn's backup and it's great to see Paul who I've known and known a very long time ever since God high schoolo he played at saet heart I played at V and high but tonight T night kind of get the message out how well the city of vinand is doing economically just generally speaking and I know that there's a big uh City race up Municipal race this year in November where the mayor and council is up again for reelection and just want to begin Paul with um talking about reelection who's on your team now then one of your members did opt not to run again actually uh two did um Ron Francis skini is not running again uh just I think he just got tired uh and Dave aasta just this past week uh let the mayor know that because of his illness um he is on dialysis uh he didn't feel that he could physically do the job even though he said mentally I'm I'm I like it it's fun but unfortunately he just didn't think he could make you know get to places and do things and health is so health is more important than anybody anything right but I know Costa for a long time educator uh a great council member and Ron Francis Kini obviously and East vinlander from a uh a family from East vinand that is very well thought of and Ron does a great job also so you're going to lose two quality people l two quality people uh you know David had a lot of uh experience in the casino industry uh because he uh worked for the state and then in Ohio and Massachusetts actually ran it uh for the state uh a very very very intelligent man very knowledgeable out vland big family great people uh Ron same thing has a big family uh Ron was in the health industry he was a the U heart uh therapist uh for uh back when they were open uh and during Co I think he retired and he's kind of going in a couple different directions but he really helped us a lot with our uh EMS and our health department and our OEM Emergency Management stuff so they're going to be missed yeah especially on a local level everybody brings a certain skill set um to the table that helps the city of Island on a municipal level and those two brought certain skill set each of them that added to uh the greatness of the city of Island Paul um who else now replaces them uh we uh still on the ticket is Dr Elizabeth Arthur myself and Al Vargas and uh the newcomers uh are Cruz Gomez uh I know Cruz peripherally uh through baseball and sports he's a coach and things of that nature uh and uh I knew his wife very well because uh she was a secretary in fci's insurance office at the time uh and Scott English who I've known uh forever when my son was in high school uh Scott was one of the people that helped us start the red and gray grid iron club with uh Brian dwin and myself Jee medo and a few others so uh and again uh what I see of Cruz uh I think he's going to bring a different skill set uh than what we had uh more so probably on the recreation side and then uh also uh with Scott Scott's got experience was on the board of ed pretty popular individual uh not afraid to ask a tough question uh except ET and there the kind of people we want it's um uh it's not by chance that Schoolboard members end up on counts seems like Ron Francis was on it he was on with me you were on it I was on it Anthony fuci right he was on it with me as well and Scott English Scott English and David aosta was on it also and so was Elizabeth Arthur I remember back in the 90s when I ran said well you're using it for as a stepping stone there's nothing wrong with starting government at the local level the local level low level that's unpaid by the way that's correct volunteering uh many hours as you well know on the school board and it gives you a sense of if you don't know your your school district and your community you can't ever expect to go any higher than that so all these people that come through the school board system I think are are extremely accomplished they understand government from that level too that's correct and now they move into city government and it's an easy transition and quite and quite frankly I mean the school board's budget is $200 million uh and the city's is only about 60 or 70 uh if you take the electric utility out of it so uh you know I was chair of of the finance committee there so was Anthony uh and so was David when he served so uh you know we had a lot of experience with that and making our budgets and making the cuts and again not with uh always trying to to preserve jobs but still get the services out and things of that and the Bing school system having well over 17 or 20 buildings now yes uh but thousands of employees yes yeah well I mean instructional staff has got to be 2,000 well I taught in Atlantic City uh which is a smaller District than Vinland and uh I had 1,700 members I was a union pres right so uh you know it's it's a big big undertaking and you know listen we all know the most important thing we have our youth because that's they're the people that going to take care of us in in you know future years and uh so getting that right is probably more important than maybe even what we do at the municipal level and as you said the the amount of um money that uh is large as that budget is and is how much State money is plowed into the city of Island based on a court case back in the early 90s um vinin was fortunate enough milville and Bron in Cumberland County to be considered a special needs District SL AB district and there's maybe up to 90% of the funding comes from the state of New Jersey yes so with that most of it ear Mark and with that comes responsibilities and gets earmarked for certain programs that's the why that's why they're called special needs District so that being said I mean that is very important that those people get that experience I know Scott English was President I think at the board at one time too so there'll be a outstanding member on city council and I don't know Mr Gomez but I'm sure if he's involved in the violent youth programs he has a solid foundation I think I know him I know of him but um and you still have um so the other three with Al varas varas Al Vargas a retired police officer and he ran pal and he's doing a good job I know he's taking a special interest in the Veterans Park over there and um of course Elizabeth Arthur I've known her and the Arthur family my entire life and it's just old old vient family and she she does a good job too so here we are uh election in November every four years um presidential year every I remember when it was attached to the presidential um uh year and I had mentioned that to the current mayor back then I forget who it was I said make sure you understand you know before it was an April election right and everybody in town was focused on just that one election and those people that were running that's correct now you're putting it in a presidential year where there's so many candidates at so many different levels and it not doesn't become maybe as focused and as interesting so a little conv kept it where it was but that's just me guess way it happened that's it way it happened um moving forward since four years ago what's different today than four years ago when you last ran you can point to you think oh I tell you uh you know the first four years we were in quite frankly uh we were we were trying to catch up for you know what councilman we're going to break because I know this is going to be a long answer yeah it is so we're going to break now uh for some of our sponsors that help us do our job here without them we can't put this show on and provide it to the public so we'll be back ins sight at mince Insurance we're proud to have been serving our customers for nearly 80 years offering 30 different Insurance products for your auto home and Business and to help ensure that you're getting the best rates possible we give you up to three quotes for every policy so you can choose what's right for you at mint we're part of the community local Representatives supporting events and proud of it it's part of who we are mince Insurance call today and find out how we can help you save on insurance or visit us at mince insurance.com Mary Did You Know New Life Church in milville New Jersey more than a century ago General Ty was born right here in America since then we've made a name for ourselves and making tires you can depend on tires built to handle any road this country can control you and relied on by every kind of driver so you know that no matter where life takes you with General Tire anywhere is possible many people treat their health like a game with Complete Care Health Network it's easy to start your health Journey just select from our Specialties and schedule online by phone or on our app our entire team communicates with one another so everyone works together on your Total Health Plus we make it even easier with all of these addition e e e it's time for insight an inside view of what's happening in South Jersey join your host Anthony fucci and Jim [Music] Quinn as QBC brings you Insight with Anthony and Jim uh subbing for Jim Quinn and mayor fucci is myself Nick Cela and councilman Paul Spinelli and we're just getting back to the conversation uh of what has happened transpired in the last four years that Council can point to uh that has changed the city in a good way and some of the challenges that you have in the future here um like I said as I begin to say the first four years that Anthony was mayor and I was you know heading Council uh the biggest challenge was rebounding from 4 four years probably eight years of really not much happening and no money uh we were left with less than a million dollar in Surplus and uh if anybody knows anything about Surplus your bond rating is based on how much Surplus you have uh so we had to rebuild it uh we're sitting around 156 thou million dollar uh right now in Surplus and uh if we keep it around there anywhere between there and 20 our bond rating is very high and we can Bond for things that we need um that was the initial push along with trying to do other projects what we have coming up um and and uh I think in the last four years uh we've been very proactive in bringing business here um our prediction up in this upcoming year is we'll probably bring in over $76 Million worth of business uh it's all new business business new rable business into the city of Ling for this year um and we've increased it so much so that this year actually we have no tax increase so and that is all due to having more industry and more Commercial Business uh when you look around I think what you see is uh Landis Avenue is cleaner uh we have a crew dedicated to that to get the litter up to take care of the plants to get the mulch in to you know the wood or the plants so they don't die uh get all the weeds out of the pavers that are there uh Etc and uh we have noticed and I and people have noticed that when they drive down the presence of it it's just a prettier sight uh so that that's a very good thing going down further toward 55 everybody sees the expansion that's going on down there and we're finishing up the paving uh portion of that in this upcoming year so it'll get paved all the way to to Route 55 so uh you'll have a little bit of smoother ride than all the bumps and and everything that people are going through while all the construction was going on so that's one thing two uh we ran out of industrial land uh that's how much business we were bringing in uh as people left vacated they were filled like this uh and that was a good thing that we could fill them up and we expanded out there and everybody seeing the expanses along Mill Road Garden Road Etc uh we also have a crew dedicated to keeping that area clean too because that was turning into a dump site for people so now we have Crews that go through there daily they clean it up they keep it very presentable so that when business people come in they they have a good presence uh every uh we probably paved more roads in violin uh in the past four years than any mayor prior to Perry barcy after Perry barcy uh Perry did I think maybe three or four miles internally on his own plus what he did externally uh we've done almost 10 miles internally on our own and plus the externals but when we do it we're doing it differently and now anything that we Mill uh we put infrastructure and we put all new pipes in we if electrics underground it goes in uh we're putting Wi-Fi Cable in uh Etc because Anthony is uh headstrong on he wants to be a smart city and have our own IP address whether you agree with it or don't agree with it uh is questionable uh but the the the part of it is is that we think uh we can provide it cheaper or at least if we can't provide it cheaper we'll push Comcast and Verizon into more competitive rates so uh that being said uh what we will do eventually when we get it up and we're in the process of starting to get it moving now uh we'll start it in the industrial parks first and and that'll be the test run for us on how how it works and how it's functioning uh we will have our own U division uh work that works out of the utility uh that will be the uh the infrastructure for internet and things of that nature and they will servicing was that going to be a piece of this middle mile project to uh the middle mile project is is the Count's issue yes uh we really don't have anything to do with thatman was not going to be part of that we were we were ahead of that right uh we don't need the middle mile because uh we already we have polls everywhere anyway and we own the poll so uh we can run all our our cable where we need to run it but you could have managed we could have managed it in fact we actually talked to the county and the previous administration about trying to to uh do a combination uh cuz we figured vinin would be a little bit ahead of them because we started before they did and that really they could tie into our ring around the city and that tieing would give them easier access to some of the other areas in the county that would have it I.E instead of having them run separate stuff out the pittsbur you know we butt up to that so they could run it right out of ours uh this Administration uh that conversation without being had again the last Administration prior to uh the new people Joe Sil and those guys getting in uh was not amicable to talking about yeah um so that that's another thing that's coming uh and as everybody knows um we're also looking to bring uh Recreation to vinand uh We've increased our fields and our Parks we're actually uh building another dog park over at Westside complex uh for the west side of the town so that people don't have to come all the way to East wiland uh for that uh and we're cleaning up our Parks uh we're we're making them look better we're putting signage on them with lights and uh things of that nature so that people can use them you know uh there's no sense having a park and then you know you don't clean up all the goose stuff Allman's Park system is pretty extens extensive 19 Parks 19 parks and then of course other cities have Parks so I know there's been a conversation about a county park uh I see it as redundancy I see it Finland has a great system briten has this the zoo milville has City Park system so all probably you need is to enhance the municipal system and and we do that uh what we are constantly doing is re-evaluating the use of it uh on Magnolia uh you will see pickle ball courts coming in we're going to take one of the one of the basketball courts that's not used very often and I think one of the tennis courts we're going to make pickleball courts uh they also can use a gon Stadium because we made that a multi-use park uh Blitz football is going to move over to Katon St uh Katon Park um oh really yeah because we uh well we have to move them eventually because we are building uh Jake's Park in in where the soccer complex is and where they are and Jake's part is a special needs Park and uh it will be right now the only one in the county um the pretty much the only one south of Trenton um and uh basically the special needs Park is for adult special needs people and kids and it also has an Autism uh piece to it uh for sensitivity and things of that nature for the autistic children so and that is huge it it it's probably a better part of 4 Acres that's in that complex and it's all that back section plus where the football field was so uh that and we think that's going to be a destination because there are so many people that you don't know about that have Downs kids and and have and have autistic children and things of that nature and this is a part that it they all can use it so uh I think you'll you'll see that become uh a destination for people outside of the city as well so we're we're doing those kind of things and then you have some adult Recreation coming where you have the old Avalon uh uh carpet building um he's already got that building gutted he's putting a bowl bowling alley in there and an Axl right uh an ax throwing piece to it with a little cafe bar in there as well um anything with Sears people ask that nothing has happening with Sears incred Sears Holding now own Sears right and they don't want to negotiate yeah they own all over the country they own a bunch of them and unfortunately uh it's hard to put bring businesses in there because the creek runs under the Sears lot so you can't really dig so you really have to put pads and uh you know people uh have looked at it we've had different people that wanted to go there and then it just got convoluted yeah let me talk about a couple other things that I've noticed uh you know we got a new police station yes under your Administration new fire station coming fire station that'll be there in October a rehab of City Hall bit exterior wise yes and interior and interior too so these are things that people notice because they're out there and they're driving by it all the time but um and without any tax increase you're still able to build those buildings Bond them out for years to come and uh it works those particular facilities let's say the violent police station was built in the 70s I think 50 years old city hall was Bud Gart he built 1972 right 71 something like that you know fourth the fourth uh fourth and wood fire station's got to be in the 60s late 60s too so all these facilities obviously need to be on a time frame of replacement time frame um and that's why a progressive Administration thinks about those things and plans for those and what we're doing Nick uh it's very interesting Su Balera is is a dynamite CFO and uh you know she'll argue with you make her points uh but but she does know how to maneuver money and make it work for you and uh and Anthony's very good at it as well so um what we have done to try to uh use the bonding for buildings and things of that nature which are big calls is uh when we buy police cars and fire engines and emergency wagons it's a pay as you go so there's no bonding for any of that stuff and that's what used to get bonded out uh and and that was the old way of doing business and and we found that actually if we pay as we go on that stuff then we can fix all this stuff here the bigger the bigger project because we're fixing the senior center now too which came in as a a bigger number because of the damage that was on the interior that we didn't even know about you mean the old the old library which was built by Carnegie yeah and my great-grandfather built that for Carnegie for $112,000 and and we're renovating that now too so I mean uh you know and we just uh renovated the library so the library got a renovation so I mean as we're going through these things we're fixing these buildings so that you know they don't need the work that we are putting into them because no one did anything for years and years and it's not their fault uh it's not blaming anybody it's just you know I get you try to keep the budgets down and things of that nature but you also can't let this stuff deteriorate yeah kick Road and it's not it's not Progressive thinking and uh right now this Administration is already thinking 10 years down the road well what other projects need to be done the next 10 years next our financial plan is s years out and uh you know and our building plans are and and our road plan is I mean if you come in the city hall we can sh you the road plan for the next five six years you know what's going to get paid what's going to get you know preservation rather than Paving you know and things of that nature and what we feel the cost is going to be so each year now something you you know you've been in government some little things change here and there in the plan because of need or something happens but uh breaks those those are the things that this Administration has brought it's foresight and um but I I cred at the mayor in including city council and a lot of his meetings to talk about this stuff so that they know what's going on as well and that we can see and we don't get surprised and and we know what the cost they going to be so when it hits us we're not asking a million questions it's a partnership legislative branch that's right administrative Branch it's like that all the way up the line but that's important there's communication uh sometimes that doesn't happen with mayor and Council depending on who wins what elections but in this case consistencies important with that for the good of the citizens of irland and the future of Island so getting back to infrastructure and you know when you build it they really do come and Route 55 is the tremendous example of of a highway that um floundered it was just a small piece was built in 70s and then in the 80s it was finally finished and that opened up all those industrial parts for V it because transportation is is important and the infrastructure brings uh businesses to vence so uh that road is a prime example of infrastructure as you are doing with your technology is a whole another kind of infrastructure and that's creating a whole another spurt maybe of some development what we actually did our marketing has increased tremendously now we we have a pretty large marketing budget for that reason but we marketed in Philadelphia Philadelphia was advertising as a cold storage Port but they didn't have a lot of Cold Storage mhm so what we did is we talked to the people in Philadelphia and we said listen man you're 35 minutes down the road you're 55 you get right off we got all the cold sword you want right right and so all these cold storage places boomed yeah and you know they're building warehouses they're bringing 50 60 jobs into the warehouses they're not a lot of jobs but it's a lot it's a lot of income because use a lot of electricity and they and they pay a lot of taxes so you know people like Mr lavari just expand it again and then built his offices on on Mill and alond uh you know uh the amount of of infrastructure that he has built there to keep his business and grow his business has been outstanding and there's other people have done is there any other spots where we can you can build another Industrial Park we're building one actually uh we bought the Old State School on almond Road oh okay so we we have just got it recently so what we have to do is go in those buildings we got we got a demo uh the bonus is that there's a lot less ofus than we thought really yeah uh a lot of the stuff that was in that we thought was in the ground was removed when they all left a lot of the tanks and stuff like that so we remove right so we don't have to do too much of that but it mean it's going to take a little bit but uh and that's a gigantic piece of land that quite frankly I'll be honest with you nothing else there's no other use for it I said I I I bet you once we open it up to Industrial use with within two years I bet you it'll be a mile or two off of 55 right exactly and it's still m road and what we're doing now in preparation for that is we're Paving all mil road yeah right so that the trucks now can get on you know either go down to Garden or come back to at land M and we're fixing that intersection atlis as well to be wider so they can make the turn so I mean those are the things that that are going on now and then as you see on 55 what John rug is doing he's building a destination Golf Course uh and it's going to bring a lot of other businesses uh because he has a lot of land that the golf course isn't taking uh I believe he has in a vicinity of seven or eight 100 AC Acres a off of 55 and uh so he's got the the premier golf course you know Trump Reserve then he's got silica Sands which is a mle course which is supposed to open in July and I believe the milville chambers going to open it up in August I mean in October 18 18 yes holes right n public general public and he's going to build a uh you know a restaurant of some nature a clubhouse with that serves food it has a restaurant and it has some suets in it as well for you know the right and he's also building an event center in there as well he's ALS he's building a you vland does not have a large Event Center you can house a three or 350 right people for a dinner you have to go to l City you got to go to Cherry Hill and or out here on at the Sao right you know which is Atlanta County right not the city of Island so I mean all that being said now you you're going to have new Event Center that's attached to this golf course uh and there's some other things as well that look like they might be coming we really can't say but if if this other business comes in it will be 400 high-paying jobs and I'm telling you it's it's a monster but it will bring in that same general location it will be on on his business property not not on the uh not on the golf course it'll actually overse see the golf course okay uh the plans on it that they showed us the building is unbelievable uh but if they come in and and and they do what they're saying 400 high-tech 400 high-tech jobs and uh people staying here to live that are making big money yeah absolutely and so now you have a higher class of people all right councilman we're going to break for a uh commercial and we'll be back with Insight councilman Paul spelli at mince Insurance we're proud to have been serving our customers for nearly 80 years offering 30 different Insurance products for your auto home and Business and to help ensure that you're getting the best rates possible we give you up to three quotes for every policy so you can choose what's right for you at mints we're part of the community local Representatives supporting events and proud of it it's part of who we are mince Insurance call today and find out how we can help you save on insurance or visit us at mince insurance.com life on Earth offers some challenges things are constantly changing seems like we're fighting battles all the time but you're a warrior a warrior for God and he's given you the Armor of God join Pastor Myers for this exciting series on how to be equipped to [Music] win it begins May 5th at 11:00 a.m. New Life Church milville New Jersey more than a century ago General Ty was born right here in America since then we've made a name for ourselves and making tires you can depend on tires built to handle any road this country can frol you and relied on by every kind of driver so you know that no matter where life takes you with General Tire anywhere is possible many people treat their health like a game with Complete Care Health Network it's easy to start your Healthcare Journey just select from our Specialties and schedule online by phone or on our app our entire team communicates with one another so everyone works together on your Total Health Plus we make it even easier with all of these additional benefits level up your health with us Complete Care Health Network no gains just great healthcare for everyone the most important decisions a family can make are usually made around the kitchen table at DeMarco louisi funeral home we believe pre-planning and the difficult decisions you face with the loss of a loved one should also be made around the comfort of a table like a family our friendly kind and compassionate staff is committed to helping you get through this most difficult time in your time of need trust to Marco Lisi Funeral Home vinand [Music] it's time for insight an inside view of what's happening in South Jersey join your host Anthony fucci and Jim [Music] Quinn as QBC brings you Insight with Anthony and Jim oh welcome back to Insight uh subbing nicaela subbing for Jim Quinn and councilman Paul Spinelli subbing for for mayor Anthony fucci and um I think we want to get back to basics and Back To You Paul and like uh I know you're a vinlander forever you grew up tell us a little bit about your your personal history and then obviously uh your wife and where she came from she she wasn't philadel she's a Phil girl right so go ahead I was born in violand uh 1953 I grew up on Oak Road right next to javan's Deli M I actually worked there when I was a teenager uh and helped R it for him when he would go to Sicily and uh so that was one of my first jobs and then um I went to sear high school and graduated uh 1971 I went to Mount St Mary's uh got my PS in uh lot of vinlanders went to the Mount Alro KY chalky ainger right hella lot of Sacred Heart there was a pipeline to Mount St Mary's right uh yeah I went there there and I I got a BS in uh history education uh my father wanted to be a lawyer so I took the law boards I did good and I said I don't want to be a lawyer so I became a teacher uh the ne I actually uh taught a year there so I went to the University of Maryland while I was teaching and my roommate was Randy White oh wow from the Dallas Cowboys Cowboys defensive tackle and uh so that was kind of neat uh that's why you like Cowboy so no no I'm a Pittsburgh Steeler okay and uh got my uh first master's degree there in computer science and came back home uh I broke up with my girlfriend and from College from college yeah and then um I taught in Williamstown for a year uh I left there because of the riffs because of Vietnam War was still on right and um went and taught in Catholic school for a couple years then talk to Cumberland for a year the lady came back from pregnancy leave so I got rifted again and I went to Atlantic City and I was there arrest of my career um what school uh I taught initially in a high school uh then they RI 22 teachers my second year but they hired them all back but one and I got sent to a Middle School uh which is now Texas Avenue School yeah and uh I was there for about eight years and then I got moved back to of high school and the rest of my career was in so you got moved back to the new high school the old I was actually moved back to the old high school and then went to the new high school um and uh while I was there I I got a uh another master's degree in supervision uh and Leadership uh for principal certification and a supervisor C and uh when I retired I retired in 2009 and um I I think you were the union rep for city right I was the union rep for the building and then I became the the uh president vice president in in an 8-year period uh and actually for about uh 17 years of the 30 that I was there I I actually negotiated all their contracts for the teachers and um once I retired I actually got on the board of education here I served one term and I got defeated in the next election and uh which is fine you know it comes with the with the you know I was uh the finance chair while I was here and um you know that that was a good experience with big budgets and things of that nature and then I kind of sat it out for a while and um I was a substitute principal in milville for 14 years what school there uh was any school and every school whereever they put you initially started at Lakeside then I went to high school for a while then uh in the in the elementaries as the principal for a while anybody was sick was out how about the wood School Wood School I I was there I was very good friends with the princi and uh I was there long time Bill Sher Bill Sheridan left Harry Drew got it and that's when I actually start Harry Drew yeah he lived in yeah he moved out he moved out toward uh up in glester County MH um and I just actually retired from that this past year and uh it was fun it was a good time very nice people to work with and um during that entire time I was a basketball official and uh you know you coached yeah uh and I don't think I ever coached a game when you uh refereed you may not junior college did you did I I did ACC yeah I must you must have actually I got in and I I went into 76 yeah I uh I I didn't retire until two years ago uh so you know 46 years or something like 48 years and uh for 28 of those I was the assigner uh and John pazi was my mentor in that him luk gy and Bernie Goldstein and uh Axel Johnson yeah they were all there Jerry noan the whole crew Jimmy Catalina uh they were all ahead of me and they were good mentors uh and we really did learn how to ref and do well and then uh that's an unsung job the grief you take for that and in those days when you started the money wasn't no the money was almost a volunteer job pretty much to take all that grief at least now they're getting paid they're getting paid well for high school right and then I got into uh division 3 basketball and I was I got a couple players off games after a couple years in uh you do junior college at the same time and uh then I got a couple unj finals uh doing that and then I got into division two as well because the schools were jockeying and then by accident I got into division one uh I did a pen freshman game and I had my son with me he was maybe four or five years old right right and he watched the game and I my assigner was actually ref varsity game so I said well I'll hang around and watch so I left my stuff in the locker room and I said listen call me when you do your pregame I come and listen so he all right well I'm waiting wait nobody's coming out warming up right nothing all of a sudden he comes out said come on in I said all right I go listen to the preg game right says put your clothes on you got a ref guy got caught in Chicago in a snowstorm and couldn't show up so it was him and Bobby Donado they were both of fing John K Kean and their pregame was we'll ref the game you call out of pounds I got a question so all those years reing name the best player you ever refed on the floor with that you can remember High School Kobe Bryant that's an excellent one okay and that was in got to supersede everybody right he was in summer league at the camp that we ran oh okay there were Sunny Sunny Hill leag too yeah there were uh there were a half a dozen or more players that actually went through uh the camp that rich maruchi ran yeah and we ran a basketball referees camp with it uh and I got in the ivy league because of that game uh Frosty Francis was the assigner at the time and he sent me a watch said you know thank you for reing the game and covering it and I went to his Camp the next year and I got in and uh I stayed there for about great memories 10 years basketball greator and uh and so I got division 2 and division three playoffs in the NCAA and and I you know I told everybody I said listen they said well you know you never made it big I said I did make it big I said you know why cuz I never thought I'd get there that far I said you know I was happy to doing High School to find big yeah what's big you know and I realized that I was not going to do Villanova or Kentucky or right you know I wasn't I I didn't have the stature for it was a short heav not only that there are so many people that are ahead of you you know to climb that high and and to be be honest with you even to get to where I got you have to be godfathered in if you're not you don't get there yeah and now once you get there you got to be able to stay you know but they these guys they and I help people get in you know I mean I had a half a dozen guys behind me from our board that got in I would do a division two and three some hung on some are still doing it and some got canned you know cuz they didn't want it so uh I married my wife Josephine I met her in Atlantic City when I got my job and uh was she teaching there AC she was teaching in AC at the time uh she was a Philadelphia girl who moved to Bringing team with her father uh when she went to high school she went to Holy Spirit I don't let her live that boy and uh well when you say holy spirit one name always comes up in my is Chris Ford played against him I I believe he's probably the best South Jersey player yeah I mean Hall of Famer to me in South Jersey but yeah he went he went to school with my brother yeah my brother of Villanova vova yeah yeah and U what he legit his hands were so big that's the key to the game is big hands speaking of big hands um so two people I played David Thompson was on a freshman team that I played against and and then I got moved up to Rider and I was a freshman and sat on the bench couldn't play but who rolls in was University of Massachusetts and Dr J rolls and kill I think he 38 points 26 rebounds and nobody knew who he was right um so there are the things you remember just being in their presence is fantastic and the crazy part of it is that throughout my life you know through people I knew you know John and I parent became best friends and I helped go with the golf teams and stuff like that when he was coaching so my golf highlight is we're out on uh Blue Heron and we're playing oakrest and on John and I are on the te and we're just going to te off playing six old and who walks up you mind if I play with you we don't know the guy I'm looking this guy Dr J Dr J and what a golfer he is really never knew yeah and uh he lived in Atlantic City at Ocean Club for a long time I don't know if he still lives there one his highrise but he spent a lot of time in the AC area for sure and uh what down usually tall people their swing is just uncontrollable no he was very good and uh a just down to earth guy so he's better than Barkley oh yeah Barkley Barkley might be more entertaining right but um so I mean there there are kind of highlights you have I mean I coached that soccer and Bas I mean ref soccer and baseball when my kids were playing I have a son who's uh a head TV engineer for Sinclair broadcasting it's the third largest television Company in the world and he lives in Kingsville Maryland doing very well I have two grandchildren Angelo and Stella Stella names and uh and they're the greatest kids in the world and uh so uh you know my highlight as a grandparent is to go and watch them that's it but what was great is one story and then we could probably wind this up is Angelo comes home and he can't hit he's playing baseball and he's all messed up at the plate so I changed him around and I played baseball when I was in high school you're an infield right and I got him to get his shoulder up and his outb up and stuff so he said well that's not the way they're teaching me I said don't I said well listen just do it my way I'm going to tell you you're going to get hits so b b b well he goes back and he does it there way he can't hit so my son says do it the way pop pop Told You So he does it the way I told him he hits a triple so he goes change his his swing plane orot well you get his elbow you got a cocked you know so so you know before he's down like this he's facing frontwards right and and from that on and the kid loves baseball now yeah and uh you know so that's kind of just a neat thing that you teach so he just sent me a schedule he says po up you got to come and see me play so I got to go to Maryland for a couple games and go down there he loves basketball but he's going to be a  like I was when I played a point guard yeah and uh and he's a great swimmer and guess who teaches Phelps oh really he he swims at the phelp center wow and because they don't have high school swimming in Maryland so you have to go into Club swimming no kid Maryland doesn't have high school swimming so uh you know he's you know he's moving on and hopefully you know he carries the torch a little further I was I was a rug player in college so it was a brutal game that I had Randy White he was Randy he wasn't allowed to get on any allowed to get nothing but a football field so listen well thanks councilman Paul Spinelli really a lot of insight tonight on not only what's happening in the city of Island the accomplishments of the fucci SL Spinelli um uh team and obviously a personal Insight of him and his family so thank you again councilman hope you get reelected you got my endorsement thank you very much and my family's uh votes I app congratulations thank you welome we'll be uh wrapping this up now and thank you again for watching Insight with Jim Quinn and Anthony fucci this has been a QBC television production in association with our partners and sponsor sponsors QBC broadcasts on Comcast cable channel 22 and live streams its programming on Facebook and YouTube All Rights Reserved by Quinn media and QBC programming that serves the South Jersey Market