Columnist ignores Hackensack -- the capital of voter apathy

After the Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptor went out of production at the end of 2011, the automaker introduced the Police Interceptor Sedan, above, based on the sixth-generation Taurus. Safety defects in the old model may have killed officers in Teaneck and Paramus: Did Crown Vic kill two police officers?

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's front-page column today largely avoids focusing on North Jersey's local elections, where voter apathy is at its worst.

In fact, Columnist Mike Kelly seems horrified that "in some ... towns, voters [are] asked to cast ballots in a school board election in April, a council election in May and the primary on June 7" (A-10).

Of course, Kelly doesn't tell readers they can apply for mail-in ballots that allow them to vote in any election -- from school board to president of the United States -- from the comfort of their own homes.

He quotes an expert saying voters are turned off by "the increasingly negative tone of politics" (A-10), but doesn't acknowledge The Record and other media report little else.

Family rule

In Hackensack, Cliffside Park, Englewood Cliffs and other towns, apathetic voters have allowed one family to rule their towns for decades.

In April, a tiny minority of the 20,000 registered voters in Hackensack -- once known derisively as "Zisaville" -- elected two Board of Education candidates backed by former four-term mayor Jack Zisa and his brother, Ken, the disgraced former police chief.

No one from The Record, including Kelly, reported on the issues in the election or bothered to identify the Zisas as the backers of "Team Hackensack."

A total of 1,300 residents voted in the Hackensack school election. Municipal elections usually are decided by about 3,500 voters -- this in a city of 44,000. 

Wacko Donald Trump

Readers still are confused over whether Kelly is a reporter, opinion columnist or just burned out after decades of pounding a keyboard.

Today's column is way too long, and, believe it or not, Editor Deirdre Sykes publishes a second Kelly column on the presidential election on the front of Opinion (O-1).

In the Page 1 column, Kelly refers to Donald Trump as "the developer and reality television star" (A-10).

Carl Golden, a former mouthpiece for two Republican governors in New Jersey, seems dazzled by Trump's apparent success in winning the GOP presidential nomination (O-1).

Neither acknowledge the billionaire candidate is tapping into the deep-seated racism that has been most evident during the presidency of Barack Obama. 

In praise of Muslims

The Local front today carries another story on Syrian Muslim refugees who have succeeded in North Jersey (L-1).

Staff Writer Hannan Adely seems to be saying Muslims aren't the monsters they are made out to be by Trump and Governor Christie.

Adely's story describes "a large Syrian neighborhood known for its ethnic stores and businesses," but she doesn't tell readers she is referring to Paterson's vibrant South Paterson section.

Unhealthy food

Today and Saturday, The Record's food editor and writers continue to promote some of the unhealthiest food on the planet (Better Living section).

Readers see little reporting on whether the food Elisa Ung and others rave about is naturally raised or grown.

And they seem to be saying sugar, butter, full-fat cheese, bacon and other ingredients are really good for you.

On Saturday at least, Ung included veggie and shrimp burgers as she gushed over White Manna and other low-quality hamburgers.

Why was she writing about burgers on Saturday?

It was her Pavlovian response to "National Hamburger Day" -- an event that probably was created by the nation's irresponsible beef industry.

Obama in Japan

On Saturday, over a front-page photo of the president hugging a Japanese survivor of the atomic bomb, The Record declared:

"FROM ENEMIES TO ALLIES FOR PEACE"

Huh? 

That's not news. Japan and the United States became  "allies for peace" decades ago.

Week after blown forecast, hardly a peep about new storm

More snow fell on Hackensack overnight than a week ago, when the widely predicted Blizzard of 2015 fizzled, shaming The Record and other media after they indulged in hysterics that prompted people to panic shop for food and other supplies.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

When this reader awoke today, there were two surprises -- more snow had fallen than a week ago, when a blizzard was widely predicted, and I found a copy of The Record in a bag on top of the white stuff in the driveway.

Go figure.

The Woodland Park daily's front page on Sunday carried only a few words in small type about today's storm, and even though more snow fell, North Jersey Media Group was able to deliver the print edition I never saw last Tuesday (see L-2 today). 

Boring page

Not there is much to read on Page 1 today, given all the space wasted on Super Bowl game coverage and an obituary for Anna Mara, "the matriarch of the New York Giants" (A-1).

We've all heard about elderly people falling and fatally injuring themselves, as the 85-year-old Mara did.

But instead of just mentioning the cause of her death in passing, how about a sidebar on the phenomena, and what seniors can do to prevent such misfortune?

Gone with the wind

And if Editor Marty Gottlieb expected to grab readers who didn't see the end of the game or who have little interest in the sport, the last writer he should put on Page 1 today is Columnist Tara Sullivan.

She sounds like she is writing a novel, not describing the dramatic end to a great contest (A-1).

Another surprise

Sending Staff Writer Melissa Hayes to cover Governor Christie's visit to London is a colossal waste of money, assuming NJMG paid for the trip and other expenses (A-3).

All she got was a no comment on Mitt Romney's withdrawal from the 2016 presidential race, and lots of nonsense about a trade mission, foreign policy and the GOP bully attending his first soccer game instead of the Super Bowl.

Big influence

Christie's expenses are being paid by Choose New Jersey, a non-profit formed at his behest in 2010 that has many big businesses on its board in return for a $450,000 contribution.

Most of them do businesses with the state, some have received tax breaks from the Christie administration and since last month, the non-profit's leader is Michele Brown, former head of the state Economic Development Authority and the governor's adviser and friend.

Brown, who was a federal prosecutor under Christie, when he was U.S. attorney for New Jersey, is getting a $450,000 salary, double what she earned with the EDA.

In Sunday's Page 1 story about Choose New Jersey, Brown's first name was incorrectly spelled with two l's and the EDA was incorrectly called an "agency."

Hackensack news?

Why is a story on a Hackensack apartment developer saving $1 million by using a "rotary carousel parking tower" the biggest element on the Local news front today (L-1)?

Such a rotary parking system was used in Manhattan in the 1960s.

The rotary parking system doesn't benefit the public or property tax payers.

Real news would be city officials announcing they are getting $1 million in givebacks from such non-profits as Hackensack University Medical Center, which pays no taxes on more than $100 million in property.

The parking carousel was even promoted in a streamer at the top of Page 1 -- a sure sign of desperation from the local assignment editor who got stuck working on Sunday.

(201) magazine

A well-known Hackensack fast-food restaurant appears on the cover of (201) magazine's "The Best of Bergen" -- results of its 9th annual Readers Poll.

A strange choice, because White Manna on River Street serves not one of the best, but one of the lowest-quality beef "sliders" around.

No copy editor is listed among the magazine's editorial staff on Page 10, so it's no wonder that under Fine Dining, the Best Korean Restaurant, So Moon Nan Jip, is misspelled two out of three times (Page 93).

Under Specialty Food Shops, Peter's Fish Market in Midland Park is chosen best for the ninth time (Page 87), even though the Seafood counter at Whole Foods Market in Paramus puts it to shame.

And to show how little the magazine's well-heeled readers know, Seafood Gourmet doesn't even rate a mention.

The Maywood favorite goes small fish markets one better by having a great cook and a dining room where you can enjoy all of that fresh fish and other delights.

Burying the lede on Hackensack

The once-powerful Zisa family commiserated at White Manna after Ken Zisa was found guilty. The hamburger joint on River Street named a special after Zisa: The B.S. Burger. The connection is clear: Pink slime in the burgers, more slime in City Hall.

The Record today again insists that Ken Zisa is "still chief" of police in Hackensack, according to a headline on Page 1.

Inside, deep on A-8, the story mentions "Zisa's continued position at the head of the Police Department ...."

But Editor Marty Gottlieb and head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes are just burying the lede (newspaper jargon for a story's lead or first paragraph, which is supposed to capsulize what happened).

And what happened at an unusual Monday night meeting of the City Council was the appointment of Capt. Tomas Padilla as interim police chief -- two years after Zisa was suspended without pay and Padilla took over the department (A-8).

Out of the picture

Zisa, 58, has been a non-entity for two, long years as his case moved slowly through the criminal courts, and he was found guilty by a jury nearly a week ago.

Still, the editors, Columnist Mike Kelly and other reporters maintain the fiction that Zisa is head of the Police Deparment -- contradicting the facts -- because controversy sells papers.

They continue to manufacture controversy where none exists, and ignore the real crime in Hackensack.

Family conflicts

Zisa will forfeit his so-called position -- and his pensions -- on the day he is sentenced. But his cousin, Joseph Zisa, remains city attorney. That's the real problem for residents.

It would be natural for The Record to ask the city attorney to explain the legal process of cutting ties to Ken Zisa, but, of course, the city's lawyer is involved in a clear conflict.

Turd-filled Ravi-oli 

Many readers were disappointed by the 30-day jail term for homophobe Dharun Ravi, who maintained his superior airs through his sentencing and refused to apologize for hounding Tyler Clementi to his death (A-1).

Let's hope that after he serves his time and performs 300 hours of community service, Ravi gets deported to his native India, where privileged people like him keep millions underfoot, living in abject poverty.

A famous travel writer coined the phrase "Turd World" to describe the country after he saw an Indian man squat down and defecate on a train platform.

Avatar news

On the front of Local, the Port Authority's plan to install customer-service avatars at the three metropolitan area airports may give Gottlieb an idea on how to improve municipal coverage.

He can replace head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her cast of lazy, incompetent minions with a single assignment avatar in the Woodland Park newsroom.

Just imagine. The avatar won't overeat or fart or fill the newsroom with insane laughter, which I used to hear no matter how bad the news was that day.

Today's Local news section is so short on stories about Hackensack and other towns, every page carries police, court or accident news as filler.