'Ocean County Day' Connects Residents With Government

Did you know that a county agency makes sure that when you fill your tank with premium gas, they don't give you regular instead? Or that there is a county-run task force that helps combat scams targeting seniors?

Ocean County residents connected with public officials from a number of county agencies at Ocean County Day on Wednesday, where representatives from various departments answered questions, offered help and, sometimes, simply explained what they do.

The county's Weights and Measures department, which operates within the Department of Consumer Affairs, ensures that gas stations play by the rules. Every gas station in the county – 172 in all – are randomly checked once a year, or when a complaint is filed, said Barry Wieck, Weights and Measures Superintendent. In addition to ensuring the correct grade of fuel is being pumped, the equipment is checked to ensure that one gallon of gas on the pump's display screen actually means one gallon ends up in a customer's car.

There are plenty of other checks as well – everything from ensuring food stores' scales work correctly to seeing that pharmacy measuring devices are measuring the correct doses of medication.

"If it can be measured, we check it," said Gale Ertle, who also works for the department.

Prosecutor's Office Sgt. Cindy Boyd was at the event to inform seniors about a Jamaican lottery scam that has been targeting the elderly. Boyd's Senior Scam Task Force has been fighting such scams for a decade, she said, and arrests have resulted from the work of its members. Similar to well-known Internet lottery scams originated out of Nigeria, seniors receive notifications that they've won a Jamaican lottery, or a high-end car, and should wire an advance tax payment to claim their prize. There's no prize, and the money ends up being gone forever, Boyd said.

The Ocean County Health Department was on hand to give out flu shots. By 3 p.m., more than 100 people had received vaccinations, according to Bernadette Harris-Williams, from the department's Communicable Disease section.

"We do flu shots for children the age of six months or older, and a pneumonia shot for people 65 or over," Harris-Williams said. "We want to make sure everyone is covered."

Then, there were the cookies, baked fresh by students from the Ocean County Vocational Technical School's culinary arts program.

"They're delicious," said Barbara Steele, representing the county's Public Affairs and Tourism department.

At one point in the day, 200 students from the Little Egg Harbor Township school district came to the event, where they learned about voting from County Clerk Scott Colabella, and got to use real voting machines – set up in a test mode – for the first time.

The county hosts the event annually at a different branch of the library system.