In Englewood, whites know best

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As governor, Jon Corzine collected a salary of only $1.

Now, as in the past, Englewood is divided between whites and blacks, rich and poor. Wealthy residents almost invariably send their children to private schools in the city, as Chairman Malcolm A. Borg did with his son, Stephen, now publisher of The Record of Woodland Park, leaving the public elementary and middle schools to minorities, including a sizable Hispanic community.


The city long has been one of the paper's core towns, along with Hackensack and Teaneck, where circulation was strongest and news coverage followed. Head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes once covered Englewood as a reporter for a weekly, and two of her assistants, Dan Sforza and Christina Joseph, were at different times The Record's Englewood reporter before their promotions.


So, you'd think they'd know better than to publish the Englewood story on the front of Sykes' Local section today. It was written by Staff Writer Giovanna Fabiano and edited to make the city appear united -- a place where residents pitch in to find ways to cut the city budget and, hopefully, lower taxes.

All from the East Hill

At least, Fabiano, the Englewood reporter for the past two years or so, tells readers the residents on this budget-review panel live on the East Hill -- as does the elder Borg -- but she leaves it at that, assuming people across North Jersey are familiar with that exclusive neighborhood on the back slope of the Palisades.


The group of wealthy residents on the panel calls itself "Englewood F.A.S.T or Fiscal Accountability Starts Today Coalition," according to the story, and besides their names, readers aren't told much. They likely are all white, and it's telling the group is headed by the senior managing director of a hedge fund.


The coalition's Web site complains about "stratospheric property taxes, pot-hole infested roads and subpar municipal services."  


There is no mention of schools, but the Web site, dontbankruptus.com, says the coalition supports "fiscally responsible candidates for the City Council and Board of Education while remaining concerned about the quality of social services and quality of life in Englewood."


But aren't they really upset about how much in taxes they have to pay to support public schools their  kids don't attend? Can you imagine the tens of thousands of dollars in private school tuition these indignant parents are paying, only to receive a tax bill that includes thousands more for a public education they disdain?


Library faces cuts 

One of the coalition's goals is to cut the budget of the Englewood Public Library, which would hit minority children hardest. Isn't that "quality of life"?


Now, look at the other Englewood story, on L-3 today. A couple of muggers hoping for a big score accosted two men walking home from synagogue Saturday evening, but the targets, Orthodox Jews, aren't allowed to carry money or anything else of value on the sabbath, and the suspects ran away empty-handed.


Yet, Fabiano wrote the story as straight as possible, ignoring its comic possibilities, and Sykes' incompetent minions just sent it on to the news copy desk.


Is Christie overpaid?

 Also on L-1 today, political columnist Charles Stile writes about Governor Christie's "scapegoats," including Jon Corzine, the Democrat he defeated a year ago. 


But I have yet to see Stile or any other reporter remind readers that Corzine, in recognition of the state's fiscal problems, collected a $1 salary, while Christie is getting his full $175,000 a year, plus untold perks -- but cutting every program that serves the middle and working classes.


The front page today is a Francis Scandale special. The editor loves process stories, such as the ones on the racetrack at the top of the page and the school chiefs at the bottom, while running a dramatic photo out of a legislative hearing that exploits human misery as much as possible in order to sell the paper.


When is Scandale going to run a process story on the Transportation Trust Fund, which improves roads and mass transit, and only has enough money to pay its debt service? 


When is the paper going to confront Christie on his refusal to raise the low gasoline tax to rescue the fund, and find out just what he proposes to do?