Errors mount, production editor laughs all the way to bank

Four pieces of Hackensack fire equipment responded to an audible alarm from a house on Euclid Avenue on Sunday afternoon, above and below, but no fire or smoke was visible.

Even though temperatures were approaching 90 degrees, this firefighter at State Street headquarters shows protective suits haven't advanced very much.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Editing, fact-checking and proofreading -- three crucial steps in the production of The Record -- have become so lax readers can expect to find at least one major error in the paper every day.

And despite those errors, Liz Houlton, the production editor, continues to bank a six-figure salary every year.

Today, an editorial on the increasing odds of winning a Poweball jackpot notes the lottery hasn't been run by the state since Governor Christie "retained" Northstar New Jersey, a private firm (A-9).

"Northstar's involvement is an issue itself," the unnamed editorial writer states.... "Democrats criticized the move at the time, and with Northstar not meeting revenue projections, their happiness has increased [italics added]."

Of course, "happiness" certainly isn't the word the writer was looking for. 

"Their unhappiness [italics added]" is what increased, but everyone from Houlton on down completely missed the latest major error.

Houlton earned the title of "Queen of Errors" when she ran the features copy desk in the old Hackensack newsroom, allowing hundreds of mistakes to get past her cursor, especially in the Food section.

Her promotion to production editor and the hefty raise that went with it wasn't based on merit.

The accuracy of The Record has declined dramatically on her watch, but Publisher Stephen A. Borg seems not to notice or care.

In an email, the Eye on The Record reader who pointed out the error in today's only editorial commented:

Check out the huge stupid faux pas ... in Monday's editorial about "Lottery Dreams," in the first paragraph of the second column.

"It should have read "unhappiness" instead of "happiness." 

Either The Record editors are totally clueless to the real meaning of "happiness" or this has the connotations of  '1984'  where too many words have the opposite meaning.

Today's paper

Do Page 1 columns today and Sunday on Christie's presidential campaign mean Editor Martin Gottlieb has given up on reporting what a poor job the GOP bully is in doing in New Jersey (A-1)?

Today's A-1 headline, "Greeks and lenders talk past deadline," exposes the Woodland Park daily's pathetically early deadlines, as TV and radio were reporting that a deal had been made.

Why even put the incomplete story on the front page? 

Does Gottlieb really think readers were on the edge of their seats over the outcome of negotiations in Europe?

In fact, what many readers are wondering is how wealthy Greek restaurant owners in North Jersey can get away with charging $40 to $50 per pound for whole fish?

Christie's own panel says he's failed on pension reform

With many businesses closed and residents off from work, the Jewish New Year effect was evident on Cedar Lane in Teaneck on Thursday afternoon, above. But some employers, including The Record, refuse to give Jewish employees paid time off for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

The Record's editors couldn't bring themselves to put the story on Page 1 today, but a panel named by Governor Christie says the GOP bully has failed miserably to reform the public-employee pension system.

And the two Trenton reporters assigned to the story jumped through hoops to soft pedal the criticism from the nine-member panel (A-3).

"The report played down the impact of reforms passed in 2011, which Christie has held up as a model for other states [italics added]," Staff Writers John Reitmeyer and Melissa Hayes say.

Tax hike pushed

The lead paragraph emphasizes the "attention grabbing figures" offered by the panel:

"Every New Jersey household would have to write a $12,000 check just to close the $37 billion gap in pension funding ... and the state would need to double the amount of tax money dedicated for all benefits to 20 percent of the state budget."

To close a "$90 billion drain on future budgets," one of the options is "additional tax revenue" -- such as a surcharge on millionaires -- "something Christie states is not an option," according to the story.

Need money for roads 

Despite mounting evidence Christie's rigidly conservative no-tax policies are wrecking the state economy, The Record's editorial editor refuses to urge the governor to back an increase in the gas tax.

"You aren't going to fix New Jersey roads and bridges without money," is the introduction to an editorial on the state's broken Transportation Trust Fund (A-12).

Besides ignoring the fund also pays for mass-transit improvements, the editorial wimps out on recommending a hike in the gas tax -- apparently out of fear that would alienate the car dealers whose ad revenue has made the Borg publishing family rich.

Big wheel

Is it just a coincidence the last name of Afzal "Bobby" Khan rhymes with "con" (B-1)?

A group of people who owned Porsches, Bentleys and BMWs allege Khan sold their cars on consignment, never paid them and never transferred the titles.

Khan's luxury car dealership, Emporio Motor Group, is on Route 17 in Ramsey.

Terra firma

Today, Staff Writer Elisa Ung gives 2.5 stars to Terra, an Englewood restaurant that opened in May next to bergenPAC, replacing the Grand Cru Wine Bar.

Or, as her poorly edited sentence says, "Terra opened ... in the site of the former Grand Cru Wine Bar [italics added]."

The owners, Ung says, are Steven Sotland, previously a managing partner of Grand Cru, and his wife.

But the review doesn't say whether Stephen and Jennifer Borg still have an interest in Terra, as they once did in Grand Cru.

Editors bury tough words about home rule

The owners of this house on Hackensack's Overlook Avenue refused to sell to high-rise developers, but were driven away by the relentless noise of multimillion-dollar business jets roaring overhead on the way to a gentle landing at nearby Teterboro Airport.

Buried in today's incredibly boring paper are some tough words about home rule in North Jersey -- a subject The Record has tried hard to avoid as property taxes continue to soar.

Way back on A-16, an editorial says "the state's tradition of home rule" has "become a luxury taxpayers can no longer afford."

"Oftentimes, the only people who truly embrace home rule are the officials doing the ruling," the editorial says.

Has it been two decades since The Record ran a municipal finance series on the expensive duplication of services in Bergen County's 70 communities?

In Hackensack, property taxes have gone up and city services have declined, including street paving and the enforcement of speeding and stop-sign laws.

Pray for the Syrians

The only element of any real interest on Editor Marty Gottlieb's front page today is the plight of Syrians fleeing government airstrikes.

Plugs a limo service

On the Local front, Road Warrior John Cichowski focuses his lame column on a single limo driver's complaint about a message board at the George Washington Bridge, and shamelessly plugs the limo service by name.

Then, the supremely lazy Cichowski fields questions from confused, disoriented and delinquent E-ZPass holders.

Hackensack news is missing for yet another day as head Assignment Editor Deirdre Sykes and her deputy, Dan Sforza, catch up on their sleep.

Where are his glasses?

In his column on Wednesday, the tired Cichowski had trouble reading a highway safety report and misstated the number of deaths in other states. No correction has appeared.

A concerned reader pointed out the error in an e-mail to managers sent on Thursday:

"Road Warrior mistakes continue to increase, as in his Feb. 27 column on the Governors Highway Safety Association report that showed teen drivers deaths going down in New Jersey in first half of 2012 while going up nationwide in comparison to 2011.

"As shown previously, the Road Warrior continues to make mistakes based on his being unable to correctly report actual data and information from reports.

"The Road Warrior mistakenly indicated that other states, such as Indiana and Tennessee, showed increases of more than 14 deaths in the first six months of 2012, despite their GDL laws.

"The report clearly indicated that NO state had increases over 13.  Increases were 13 for Indiana and 10 for Tennessee."

Read the full e-mail on the Facebook Page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

I'm on deadline, where are my glasses?