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| This building near the Bergen County Courthouse and The Record's old headquarters in Hackensack lists the 12 tribes of Israel on two windows, below. |
The Record's first expanded mention of Victor E. Sasson's campaign for a seat on the Hackensack City Council appears intended to undermine his independent bid in the May 14 election.
On the front of today's Local section, Staff Writer Hannan Adely mentions Sasson seeks "to limit noise, step up traffic enforcement and boost tax revenue."
But she leaves to the continuation page Sasson's goal of getting that extra money from Hackensack University Medical Center and other tax-exempt entities, not from homeowners (L-1 and L-3).
Sloppy editing
Adely also omits that Sasson would seek a ban on "commercial" landscaping on Sunday and has no problem with residents mowing their lawn on that day.
The story is edited sloppily. It omits Sasson's middle initial, and is incorrect in stating his heading on the ballot, "Vote for Peace and Quiet."
Sasson believes that as property taxes have gone up, city services have gone down, and seeks to reverse that.
Adely also quotes an opposition slate's desire to "improve the quality of life" for residents -- a phrase the group stole from Sasson.
None of the goals of the slate, Hackensack Coalition for Open Government, would actually improve residents' quality of life, which includes reducing aircraft noise, paving streets and cracking down on speeders and stop-sign violators.
Revenue for paving
Sasson would earmark revenue from traffic violations and red-light cameras to paving such streets as Prospect and Euclid avenues, and Louis Street, and would urge the city to install speed cameras.
Sasson is a former reporter, copy editor and food writer for The Record who edits Eye on The Record.
This past Tuesday, one day after the filing deadline for candidates' petitions, there was a two-line mention of Sasson on L-3.
That a story about him ran at all is a miracle, given his criticism of North Jersey Media Group's abandonment of Hackensack, and declining local news under head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza, her deputy.
Today's paper
Editor Marty Gottlieb has put the paper on a crash diet, and today's Sunday edition is looking weak.
With less and less room for news and features, why waste all this Page 1 and A-6 space on injured pro athletes?
The two news stories and one column -- on state, national and world affairs -- that fill out the rest of the front page are sleep-inducing.
More trash talk
On the front of Local, Road Warrior John Cichowski waste more space on drivers who litter (L-1).
A big chunk of the Local front is taken up by the book drive for Paterson children sponsored by NJMG and The Record.
I guess readers should welcome that, given how it is a relief from the Silk City's many problems, including drive-by shootings and getting along with fewer cops because of reduced state aid.
Chief word pusher
If New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is wasting his time trying to regulate the amount of soda people drink, as Mike Kelly contends on the Opinion front, then what would you call his column (O-1)?
Mental masturbation.
Couldn't the tired Kelly find anything in North Jersey to write about?
Free parking?
In a letter to the editor on O-3, John Pinto of Saddle Brook says Hackensack should give shoppers free parking, not raise meter rates.
But Pinto doesn't mention the city can't afford to do that in view of the hundreds of millions of dollars in tax-exempt property on its rolls.
I read the story by Hannan Adely again, and may have overreacted. I guess I can't stop being a copy editor, and sloppy assignment editing and no copy editing continue to bother me.
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