Blogger is running for Hackensack City Council

Hackensack City Hall was closed for Presidents Day, but even when open, do the manager and City Council serve residents or are they beholden to special interests?

Victor E. Sasson, the retired reporter, copy editor and food writer behind Eye on The Record, is running for a seat on the Hackensack City Council.

Sasson needs at least 250 signatures on nominating petitions to get his name on the ballot in the non-partisan May 14 election.

He is married and his stepson attends Hackensack High School. Sasson worked at The Record for more than 29 years, and has lived in Hackensack since August 2007.

A lifelong Democrat, Sasson is running independently on a quality of life platform with the goal of improving city services while holding the line on property tax increases.

A major plank in his platform is to persuade Hackensack University Medical Center and other non-profits to contribute money or other services to the city in lieu of taxes.

Sasson announced his candidacy in a letter published on Friday in the Hackensack Chronicle:

Feb. 1, 2013

To the Editor:

I joke that I am running for the Hackensack City Council to get my street paved.

But the sad truth is that as property taxes have risen, the quality of life in Hackensack has declined dramatically.

My neighbor says our street hasn’t been paved in 20 years [actually, not since 1979]. Noise from low-flying business jets keeps me up or drowns out the TV. The city has been slow in installing solar panels, and still operates many inefficient Police Department vehicles.

I am a former reporter and copy editor at The Record. I am married and my stepson attends Hackensack High School.

If elected to a 4-year term, my goal in the first year is to halt the rise in property taxes. Then, I would work to deliver a property tax cut to residents in each of the remaining three years.

One issue the City Council hasn’t addressed in the past eight years is how much the non-profit Hackensack University Medical Center should pay to the city in lieu of taxes.

Unfortunately, council incumbent John Labrosse, who is seeking another term, works at HUMC, and likely would be ineffective in persuading the hospital to contribute more to a city that has so graciously accommodated its expansions over the years.

I am running as an Independent for Councilman-at-Large on a quality of life platform. The election will be held on May 14, 2013, and I need 250 signatures from registered voters to get on the ballot. I would be financing my campaign and would not accept money from special interests.

If elected, I will:

--Work with Teterboro Airport to reduce aircraft noise, and work with federal officials to get a mandatory curfew on flights between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m.

--Get Hackensack to purchase more efficient vehicles, including hybrids, for the Police Department and other agencies.

--Explore government grants to add hybrids to the city’s fleet, and encourage the installation of more solar panels on city owned property.

--Start collection of garbage and recyclables after 6:30 a.m.

 --Ban landscaping work on Saturdays and Sundays.

--Encourage police to establish routine patrols of neighborhoods, if that isn’t being done now.

--Get police to crack down on speeders, stop-sign violators and loud motorcycles.

--Encourage the city to undertake a major program to repave streets, including Euclid Avenue, which hasn’t been resurfaced in about 20 years.

--Have turn lanes installed on Passaic Street, at Summit Avenue, and at other traffic bottlenecks.

--Encourage the City Council to deliver a property tax cut to residents by passing along some of the additional tax revenue from major building projects, and gasoline and electricity savings.

--Call me with suggestions: 201-488-3012.


Save the date, May 14, 2013. Vote for peace and quiet. Vote for Victor E. Sasson for City Council.


Victor E. Sasson

Hackensack, N.J.