In unending Ken Zisa saga, lawyers are the biggest winners

In this February photo from the Bergen Dispatch, defense attorney Patricia Prezioso is asking a Superior Court judge to throw out an official misconduct charge against former Hackensack Police Chief Ken Zisa, right.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A Page 1 headline in The Record today -- "Zisa can pursue return to force in Hackensack" -- set off panic attacks in thousands of residents.

But if they bothered to read the entire story about Ken Zisa -- especially the last four paragraphs -- they'd learn the disgraced former police chief must first "face a disciplinary hearing for his conduct," City Attorney Alexander Carver says (A-7).

"Another roadblock for Zisa," Staff Writer John Seasly reports, "is ... that the city eliminated the position of police chief following his arrest."

Today's story focuses on Superior Court Judge Susan Steele dismissing the single remaining criminal charge against Zisa, citing misconduct by the prosecutor (A-1).

Seasly quotes defense attorney Patricia Prezioso saying "Mr. Zisa will begin the impossible task of reconstructing his life."

Reviving 'Zisaville'

But nowhere does The Record mention residents' anger and resentment toward the Zisa family political dynasty that transformed the city into a North Jersey laughing stock called "Zisaville."

Nor has Seasly reported that Zisa; his brother, former four-term Mayor Jack Zisa; and their cousin, former City Attorney Joseph Zisa have launched Team Hackensack in their bid to wrest control from a reform City Council elected in 2013.

In fact, Team Hackensack already succeeded in putting three candidates on the Board of Education this year, and the organization is expected to challenge the council in next May's municipal election.

$8M in legal fees

After Ken Zisa was indicted in 2010, about two dozen police officers sued him and the city, alleging corruption and intimidation.

"Most of the lawsuits stemmed from a bitterly contentious relationship between Zisa and police officers who accused him of engaging in campaigns of retribution and harassment as paybacks for their refusal to go along with his political demands [as a Democratic state assemblyman]," The Record has reported.

The city racked up $8 million in legal fees defending against those allegations, and insurers paid out many millions more to settle the cases, minus the deductible.

See: Zisa nearly broke Hackensack

Pay to play

If you live in New Jersey -- where "pay to play" seems to have been invented -- you have to laugh at Republican charges that many of the people who met with Hillary Clinton when she was secretary of state gave money to the Clinton Foundation (A-1).

Pay to play is ingrained in New Jersey's home rule communities -- political donations often lead to an appointment as auditor, engineer and so forth -- as well as in Trenton and in the nation's capitol.

In Washington, congressional lobbyists are actually writing bills to protect the biggest, wealthiest corporations from regulation.

At least in the case of the Clinton Foundation, the money went to good causes -- not to corrupt our law-making process.

Oscar leaving N.J.

In another Page 1 story today, Staff Writer Lindy Washburn again gives Governor Christie a pass for refusing to set up a New Jersey marketplace for buying coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

Christie isn't even mentioned in her story about another insurer, Oscar Health Insurance, withdrawing next year.

But an editorial slams Christie for peddling an "unfair school funding plan" (A-8).

Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin calls the proposal "Jersey Wrong," a play on the governor's "Jersey Strong" message after Superstorm Sandy in 2012.

That fortifies the impression Doblin can't write an editorial or opinion column about Christie or anything else unless he can find a play on words or a movie, play, book or song to compare it to.

Scallops and steak

Food Editor Esther Davidowitz apparently thinks those extraordinary wild-caught sea scallops are so weird she has to sell them to readers by comparing them to "a good piece of steak" (BL-2).

Better she should advise readers to look for "dry" scallops -- the ones that are sold in fish markets without a liquid preservative.

Jason W. Some holds onto Hackensack City Council seat

Before noon today, a voter was seen emerging from a polling place in the Fairmount School on Grand Avenue in Hackensack, where four candidates are seeking a single City Council seat.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

With the backing of the Hackensack City Council and a powerful group of business leaders, Jason W. Some appeared to hold onto his council seat in today's election.

Some, 25, was appointed to the council in April after Rose Greenman resigned.

Only 2,360 residents cast ballots, according to unofficial results from the Bergen County clerk. Hackensack has about 20,000 registered voters.

Some received 724 votes for the unexpired term, Deborah Keeling-Geddis had 711 votes, school board President Jason S. Nunnermacker got 682 votes and Richard L. Cerbo trailed with 237 votes, county Clerk John S. Hogan said.

Nunnermacker was backed by the city's bare-knuckle Democratic Party, which kept the Zisa family in power for decades.

The attorney lost his first bid for council in May 2013.

Councilman Jason W. Some, right, with former City Attorney Joseph C. Zisa Jr. (Photo credit: Hackensack Scoop)

Today's paper

The Record today made clear to readers and voters in Bergen and Passaic counties that the Woodland Park daily has given up trying to be their local paper.

In the print edition and on NorthJersey.com, the so-called endorsement recap in today's general election doesn't include Hackensack or any other municipal races (A-8).

Residents of Hackensack, where The Record prospered for more than 110 years, don't get any guidance beyond the four City Council candidates' statements, which appear on the Web site.

Cerbo for council

Homeowner Richard L. Cerbo, who had promised to end giveaways to developers and lower taxes, was the clear choice for an unexpired term on the 5-member council.

The polls closed at 8 p.m., and Hogan posted the unofficial results on his Web site a little before 10 p.m.

The candidates' statements appeared first in last Friday's edition of the weekly Hackensack Chronicle, but an editorial urging readers to vote also doesn't endorse anyone.

Both The Record and Hackensack Chronicle are published by the Borg family's North Jersey Media Group, which is expected to make a huge killing by selling 19.7 acres along River Street to an apartment developer.

"As a community newspaper," the Chronicle's unsigned editorial states, "our main concerns are the mayoral and councilman races in Hackensack."

"Councilman races"????

One of the candidates was a woman, and the seat she and the others were seeking was held by a woman. Deputy Mayor Katherine Canestrino also is on the council. 

Larger turnout

Mayor John Labrosse said this morning that if the past is any guide, about 7,000 residents are expected to vote in today's general election.

That turned out to be optimistic.

In May 2013, when Labrosse and a slate of council reformers defeated the Zisa family's handpicked candidates, only about 3,800 residents voted.

Hackensack has about 20,000 registered voters, and if you think the May 2013 turnout of 3,800 is pathetic, fewer than 1,000 turned out for this year's school board election and budget approval.

Other candidates

Nunnermacker was making his second bid for a council seat, but he has tried to hide his involvement in the board's irresponsible $106.88 million budget, bigger than the city's own.

Some had the support of the other council members as well as Joseph C. Zisa Jr., a former city attorney.

Zisa is said to be a big supporter of downtown redevelopment, which is being pushed by the Some and other members of the Main Street Business Alliance.

Christie lies

Governor Christie's list of failures in New Jersey is long: 

He's made a mess of fixing the public employees pension system, mass transit, roads and bridges, and the environment, and he's used the Port Authority as a patronage mill and a way to seek political retribution against Democrats.

On top of all that, he's vetoed more than 400 bills to keep the state Legislature's Democrats in line.

Yet, Editor Martin Gottlieb and Christie's chief apologist, political columnist Charles Stile, continue to parrot Christie's criticism of President Obama.

Even if you believe Christie is only trying to salvage his dying campaign for the White House, the GOP bully's attacks often seem racially motivated (A-1).

More crapisch

Readers who were hoping for a Mets-free front page today were disappointed again.

Columnist Bob Klapisch continues with the endless couldas, wouldas and shouldas (A-1).

In Monday's early edition, sports Columnist Tara Sullivan referred incorrectly to "Game 6" of the World Series, according to a reader on Prospect Avenue in Hackensack.

That was corrected in a later edition to Game 5.

In the past few weeks, Gottlieb has devoted more space to the Mets, those miserable failures, than he has to the issues at stake in local elections.

No local news

Today's Local seemingly has more police, fire and court news -- and stories about the police -- than I've ever seen in a section that is supposed to be largely devoted to municipal news (L-1, L-2, L-3 and L-6).

There would have been plenty of room for endorsements of candidates in Hackensack, Maywood and other towns, if only local Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza had gotten off of their fat asses.

Blood of 12-year-old Paterson girl stains Christie's hands

Dead trees remind visitors to Sandy Hook of the devastation Superstorm Sandy caused at the Jersey shore in late October 2012.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record today continues to play catch-up to the slaying of a 12-year-old Paterson girl, especially the link between police layoffs and escalating gun violence in the Silk City.

Already tired of the story, Editor Martin Gottlieb demoted the follow-up to the front of Local today, and used a dramatic photo of the girl's grieving mother on Page 1, where the initial account appeared on Monday.

Police layoffs

Readers have to dig deep to learn "Paterson's Police Department has not recovered from a layoff of 125 police officers in 2011" (L-2).

But in a masterful job of selective reporting and editing, the story ignores the cause of the layoffs -- Governor Christie's deep cuts in state aid to New Jersey's poorest cities.

The blood of Genesis Rincon, who was shot in the head on Saturday evening while riding on her scooter, is on Christie's hands, whether The Record wants to acknowledge it or not.

The real victims

And, really, police officers aren't the only ones affected by the layoffs. 

It is residents of the impoverished 4th Ward, where Genesis lived and died, and other parts of Paterson who are the real victims of the GOP bully's mean-spirited treatment of the poor, women and anyone else who isn't wealthy and white.

Today's L-1 story on continuing community outrage over the slaying is another example of the police coming out in force after the crime, but doing little to prevent it.

Typos 'R' Us

Typos, misspelled names and other errors continue to plague the paper under six-figure Production Editor Liz Houlton, who seems to be napping at her computer or out shopping for a new dress most of the time.

The Record's style is to upper case "Police Department" when referring to a specific one, such as in "Paterson's Police Department," not "Paterson's police department" (L-2).

In an L-1 headline today, it should be upper case "Chief Zisa," not "chief Zisa."

The name game

On A-2 today, the editors correct a misspelled surname in an A-1 story on Saturday. Last Saturday's A-2 also corrected a misspelled name.

A-2 on July 3 corrected the misspelling of the first names of a couple featured in the previous Sunday's Real Estate section, as well as the complete omission of a councilman's name in a story on Teaneck's reorganization meeting. 

A-2 on June 30 noted "Tyler Marshuetz of Mendham was "incorrectly identified in a photo Saturday on Page S-1," but doesn't identify him further.

Finally, A-2 on June 26 noted a caption on L-3 a day earlier "misidentified a woman participating  in a ceremony at Haledon School."

Hackensack news

Today, The Record reports Hackensack's insurance company has settled a federal lawsuit filed by former Police Chief Ken Zisa (L-1).

The last paragraph notes Zisa was convicted in 2012 of official misconduct and insurance fraud for improperly removing his former girlfriend from the scene of a car accident and later filing a false $11,000 insurance claim (L-2).

But the story errs in saying Zisa, sentenced to five years in prison, is under house arrest "while his attorney prepares an appeal."

That appeal -- of the conviction and sentence -- likely was filed weeks after the judge imposed the prison term in September 2012.

You can blame an agonizingly slow appeals process, which favors corrupt officials like Zisa, who remains free so long after he was sentenced to prison.

The paper also continues to report the city has spent "at least $8 million on legal defense and settlements" for litigation related to the former chief, but never says how much of that was paid by insurers.

Want the Zisas back?

Today's Zisa story should remind Hackensack residents of the many years they lived under the yoke of a family that practiced nepotism and cronyism in the best New Jersey tradition.

After he left office, Jack Zisa, who was mayor for 16 years, reaped tens of thousands of dollars in fees as the city's insurance consultant.

I don't pretend to know the identity of all the cousins, uncles or other Zisa relatives who had city jobs, but do know there were many, including cousin Joseph C. Zisa Jr., who was the last city attorney and before that a municipal judge.  

I also don't know whether a Zisa relative was the one who didn't bill the Board of Education for a city police officer posted in the high school, but do know the city lost $1 million as a result.

The new City Council hired a chief financial officer to put the city's affairs in order, and he has been praised, even by critics, for the job he did on the city budget and on starting to clean up the fiscal disarray of the past.

Vote against Hackensack's politics of greed

Some of the best lawns in Hackensack are sprouting a new sign from independent City Council candidate Victor E. Sasson, above and below. The non-partisan election is Tuesday, and Sasson is urging all city residents to get out and vote for reform.

Euclid Avenue in Hackensack.

Spring Valley Avenue in Hackensack.

Today's edition of the weekly Hackensack Chronicle is filled with stories, essays, photos and a letter aimed at voters in Tuesday's City Council election -- a day after The Record ran a Page 1 story about one of the most important contests in the city's history.

Whether you are affiliated with a party or not, you can vote in the non-partisan election. Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Here is the 300-word essay from independent candidate Victor E. Sasson, editor of Eye on The Record (Page 3 in the Chronicle): 

"If elected to the Hackensack City Council, I will work tirelessly to return the focus to the property tax payer, and reverse the trend of rising taxes and falling services.

"I am independent and honest, and owe no favors to the special interests that have controlled Hackensack for so long. I want to restore pride in a city that is widely mocked as 'Zisaville.'

"I am financing my own campaign, and will return $2,500 of my salary as a councilman to the city or a charity.

"I will do so to encourage Hackensack University Medical Center, Fairleigh Dickinson University and other tax-exempt entities to follow suit and give back to Hackensack -- a city that has squandered so many of its tax dollars on insider deals with the politically connected.

"Mine is the original 'quality of life' platform, emphasizing changes city residents can feel -- from smooth streets to less aircraft noise to saving money by running the city more efficiently with hybrid cars and solar panels.

"As the parent of a Hackensack High School student, I am disturbed by the divisiveness on the Board of Education, and believe term limits should be imposed on school trustees.

"I am also troubled by the low quality of food served to students.

"I love Hackensack, but deplore the politics of greed that have been practiced by the Zisa family and their powerful allies for decades, and how they are trying to perpetuate their rule by backing a slate in this election.

"I urge voters to go to the polls on May 14 in one of the most important elections in city history. If you haven’t voted in past municipal elections, you have only yourselves to blame for the crummy government we have."

Sasson, who is financing his own campaign, miscalculated the impact of lawn signs, and didn't order them right away.

This morning, Sasson went to Hackensack Market to add his signs to those of the other candidates, but managers of the market refused.

Sasson is trying to contact the owner.

Open Government City Council candidate Kenneth Martin, a former police detective, will stand trial on charges he removed opponents' lawn signs at Hackensack Market on Passaic Street.

Employees of Hackensack Market complained of all the trouble Open Government candidate Kenneth Martin caused when he allegedly removed opponents' signs, and was caught red-handed on the store's surveillance camera.

Martin heads "the Zisa slate," which is  trying to hold onto power in Hackensack.

Say it isn't so, Joe

Three public forums for the 11 candidates were held in high-rises on Prospect Avenue, where residents have joined a coalition to stop the construction of a 19-story hospital, with 5 floors of underground parking, near Golf Place.

The Hackensack zoning board rejected the plan, 5-0, but Prospect Avenue residents fear a Superior Court judge will rule in favor of the developer, who has appealed.

So they want whomever gets elected on Tuesday to retain City Attorney Joseph C. Zisa Jr. and former zoning board attorney Richard Malagiere, who are defending the city.

Malagiere resigned from the zoning board after he was cited for owning homes with alleged building violations.

Now, there are rumors Joe Zisa may be leaving Hackensack.

Zisa is the cousin of Ken Zisa, the disgraced former state Assemblyman and police chief, and father of Lauren Zisa, editor-in-chief of The County Toilet Seat, a weekly paper. 

Joe Zisa has made major improvements to his shore house; and his building at 77 Hudson St., where his private law office was located, is listed for lease, not sale.

He also has spoken to a Realtor about listing his home in the city's Fairmount section.   

The Record

There is big news on Page A-2 of The Record today: no corrections, clarifications or retractions.

A good laugh

Hackensack residents don't have much to laugh about, but Sasson can recommend a photo essay on Hackensack Scoop that features the Zisas, city officials and others:

Separated at birth 

Wealthy hospital wines and dines Hackensack officials

Deputy Mayor Marlin G. Townes, second from left, announced near the end of Tuesday night's meeting at City Hall that he and other Hackensack officials had attended the lavish 125th anniversary celebration of Hackensack University Medical Center.

A growing Hackensack University Medical Center has destroyed the residential character of its neighborhood, but as a non-profit pays no taxes to the city of Hackensack on property with an assessed value of $130 million.

The medical center uses many city services and, a few years ago, took over the profitable ambulance service from the city Fire Department.

Only a fraction of its patients live in Hackensack.

So, why did City Council members and other city officials attend a party to celebrate the medical center's 125th anniversary in luxury suites at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford?

City officials should be negotiating with hospital officials for payments in lieu of taxes, not sipping free champagne.

Freeloaders

Councilman John Labrosse, the only incumbent seeking another term in the May 14 election, works at the medical center, and has been totally ineffective in getting HUMC to give back to the city. 

On Tuesday night, Deputy Mayor Marlin G. Townes, who described himself as a Giants fan, gushed about the party at MetLife Stadium. 

Mayor Michael R. Melfi praised the medical center and said the city of Hackensack is lucky to have the world-class complex.

Councilwoman Karen K. Sasso, who also attended, described the celebration as "a business meeting."

City Attorney Joseph C. Zisa Jr. said he didn't attend, presumably because he was too busy rubber stamping payments of tens of thousands in legal fees to fellow lawyers.

I didn't see a story about the celebration or the attendees in The Record.

Today's paper

Editor Marty Gottlieb devotes two of the four elements on Page 1 today to lawyers -- who appear to be at the root of all of our problems in Hackensack and North Jersey, where high legal fees restrict access to the courts.

There are more lawyers involved in defending doctors and others in the Medicare and insurance fraud story at the bottom of A-1.

The poorly edited story should have focused on the laboratory owning Nicoll brothers from Wayne and Mountain Lakes -- one of whom allegedly received $33 million in a six-year period that he blew on exotic cars, private jet travel and a Manhattan apartment for a "female companion" (A-6).

Dissing Hackensack

Don't look for any news from Hackensack in the Local news section, even though a reporter from The Record attended Tuesday night's council meeting.

The Local front is filled with court and process stories, but a heart-breaking piece on a hit-and-run victim is relegated to L-2, when it should have been on A-1.

Vladimir Artavia, 31, a native of Costa Rica, left his job as a waiter at Bel Posto, an expensive restaurant on Prospect Avenue in Hackensack, when he was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver and left to die.

Head Assignemt Editor Deirdre Sykes and her deputy, Dan Sforza, leave out the reason Artavia was "walking home" to Hasbrouck Heights.

He and other restaurant workers are paid so little -- less than $3 an hour -- they can't afford cars.

But God forbid Sykes and Sforza should wake up from their news comas and expose the dark side of restaurants -- one of the paper's biggest advertisers. 

A rare peep from a North Jersey racist

This morning, Hackensack residents awoke to a winter wonderland and wondered if the city's Department of Public Works will do its usual sloppy job of clearing streets, intersections, crosswalks and bus stops.

It's been many weeks since I've heard from a wealthy racist who lives in Saddle River or another white enclave, but he was in full venom the other day when he commented on the post concerning Hackensack City Attorney Joseph C. Zisa Jr.

Anonymous March 7, 2013 at 1:24 PM

"Perhaps when you take over the paper and fire them?

"And, when you get to be a Hackensack councilman, all that those city problems will be solved.

"You don't like The Record; don't read it

"You don;t like Hackensack; move

"I am perfectly content in my little community"

To which I replied:

Victor E. Sasson March 7, 2013 at 1:26 PM

"You sound like a perfect little asshole."

His response lumps Hackensack with Paterson and Passaic, and uses code to describe minority residents:
  

"Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Why is Joe Zisa still Hackensack city attorney?":

"Yes, a perfect little asshole with plenty of money and living very comfortably in my lilly white town


"And you know the reason for the problems in Hackensack, Passaic and Paterson?

"Uneducated misfits"

In the past several years, especially since The Record fled to Woodland Park and Rockaway, most of the local news coverage has shifted dramatically from Hackensack and other diverse communities to wealthy towns like Tenafly, Saddle River and  Wayne.