Reformers win Hackensack City Council election

Hackensack Councilman Jorge Meneses, left, chatting with Kenneth Martin, right, the Coalition for Open Government's lead candidate, this afternoon in front of the entrance to the polls at Hackensack High School.

 
Citizens for Change, the slate of Hackensack City Council reformers headed by incumbent John Labrosse, won today's non-partisan municipal election.

Official results show residents rejected the dirty campaign of the Hackensack Coalition for Open Government, also known as "the Zisa slate," which was backed and financed in part by Lynne Hurwitz, the city's Democratic boss.

Councilman John Labrosse, right, speaking to supporters as votes were tallied tonight at the Elks Lodge on Linden Street in Hackensack.

The first 5 columns represent votes for Citizens for Change.

The winners will be sworn in on July 1.

Since he was elected in 2009, Labrosse has been out-voted 4-1 on the council.

Labrosse and the other four members of his slate were the targets of a campaign of lies and distortions mounted by the Zisa family political dynasty, which has ruled Hackensack for decades.

This morning, former Mayor Jack Zisa blasted independent candidate Victor E. Sasson for a campaign flier that urged voters to end the Zisa family's corrupt rule.

Zisa seemed to be saying he was an honest mayor during his 16 years in office, ending in 2005.

But he didn't explain why he stood by and did nothing while his brother Ken, the city's police chief and a state Assemblyman, broke the law.

Jack Zisa is the city's broker for employee health insurance, and his cousin, Joseph C. Zisa Jr., is city attorney.

Sasson, whose name appeared at the bottom of a column of 10 other candidates, finished last with 344 votes, City Clerk Debra Heck said tonight.

Heck released the following vote totals:

Labrosse, 2,008; Kathy Canestrino, 1,908; David Sims, 1,911; Rose Greenman, 1,788; and Leo Battaglia, 1,804.

Kenneth Martin, a former cop who headed the Coalition for Open Government, received 1,651 votes, Heck said.
  
 

Should editors, columnists 'come out,' too?

This sign greets drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians who cross the newly reopened Dillard Memorial Bridge from Bogota.

Objectivity in journalism died a quiet death decades ago.

Now, you have editors, columnists and others developing their "voice" and expressing a strong point of view on the issues of the day, including legalizing gay marriage.

The front page of The Record today reports that by announcing he is gay, Jason Collins has become a hero on and off the basketball court (A-1).

I've never heard of Collins, and could care less about him and his sexual orientation.

But I think it's hilarious how sports columnist Tara Sullivan tries mightily to show readers how "normal" Collins appeared to a coach and other players before his big revelation.

I don't care about Sullivan's sexual orientation, either, but wonder whether editors and columnists who advocate legalizing gay marriage or write about other issues affecting homosexuals should also "come out"?

Christie's agenda

The Record long ago lost any objectivity it might have had about Governor Christie, and today, it continues to promote his re-election agenda with a Page 1 story on $1.3 billion in "publicly funded higher education projects" (A-1).

Little attention is being paid to how he has mismanaged the state's economy since he took office in January 2010, leaving New Jersey with one of the highest unemployment rates in the nation.

Page A-2 today carries an embarrassing correction of a photo caption that ran on Sunday with one of Editor Marty Gottlieb's pet stories -- the alleged reverse migration of New Jersey residents to New York City.

Living or dead?

Local-news coverage of the living in Hackensack and other towns continues to decline, but Staff Writer Jay Levin is doing a bang-up job of giving the dead a royal sendoff.

Today, three of his local obituaries appear on L-1 and L-6.

Get a load of the editing in the lead story on the Local front about the Rev. Michael Fugee, a Catholic priest "who served probation on allegations he groped a boy in his Wyckoff home in 2001" (L-1).

The second paragraph refers oddly to "weekend press revelations." How 19th century that sounds.

Then, the paragraph sails on for another 60 or so words before ending. I'm out of breath.
  

An opponent's alleged crime involving the removal of campaign signs from in front of Hackensack Market on Passaic Street, above, has given hope to some City Council candidates, who are trying to oust the Zisa family regime that has dominated the city for so long.

Honestly, folks

Another forum for candidates in the May 14 Hackensack City Council election was held Monday night at the Camelot, a condominium building on Prospect Avenue.

A resident's question referred to the upcoming trial of retired police Detective Kenneth Martin, who heads the Coalition for Open Government slate, which is backed by city Democratic boss Lynne Hurwitz.

Hurwitz was the power behind former state Assemblyman and Police Chief Ken "I Am the Law" Zisa, who was convicted nearly a year ago of official misconduct and insurance fraud.

Martin didn't respond to allegations that he took four signs put up by the opposing Citizens for Change slate, allowing running-mate Joseph Barreto to defend him.

Barreto said Martin "had a right to be there," but the rest of his answer was incomprehensible.

Independent candidate Victor E. Sasson has faced delays in designing and financing his own lawn signs, which he hopes will be mounted on I-beams and planted deep into the ground with a pile driver to prevent a similar theft.

Best-read paper in Hackensack isn't The Record

A full moon rising over Hackensack on Thursday night. The photo was taken from the parking lot of the Devonshire on Overlook Avenue, where the 11 candidates in the May 14 City Council election introduced themselves to building residents and answered questions. Independent Victor E. Sasson, editor of Eye on The Record, was scheduled last, at 9 p.m., and only a handful of people stayed to hear him speak.




Friday's edition of The Record carried an unusually large amount of news from Hackensack, all of it bad.

Today's paper is what residents have come to expect: no Hackensack news.

But residents may be too busy to notice. Two other papers have grabbed their attention:

The Hackensack Citizen, published by the Citizens for Change slate in the May 14 City Council election; and the weekly Hackensack Chronicle, which leads with the April 16 school board election.

Here are stories from The Hackensack Citizen:
 

Belly laughs can be heard all over Hackensack from quotes in the Chronicle.

Francis W. Albolino, an incumbent who was elected to his eighth term on the Board of Education said, "We ... would like to thank the voters for coming out."

Albolino was the highest vote-getter with 1,091 -- this in a city with 20,000 registered voters.

He actually meant to say he thanks the voters for not coming out, ensuring victory for the city's political machine.

Critics of Albolino say he falls asleep at meetings, and note the schools win many sports awards, but no academic ones.

Many Hackensack High School students refuse to eat what passes for lunch, and they vote with their feet by walking to a nearby pizzeria, McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts and Starbucks.

Mayor Michael R. Melfi, who is a benefactor of the same political machine propping up Albolino, swore in board members on April 22. 

Wrong-way reporter

In Friday's Road Warrior column, Staff Writer John Cichowski reports the Court Street Bridge in Hackensack was scheduled to open today for the first time since Superstorm Sandy (L-5).

But the bridge has been open to traffic in recent months, only to be closed a few days ago. And Hackensack police said the bridge is not reopening today. 

Cichowski likes to exaggerate to get readers' attention, as in describing the Anderson Street  Bridge, which has no moving parts, as "wheezing."

The Salem Street Bridge -- which is under no weight restrictions -- is "rickety."

Of course, anyone who has seen how slowly the burned-out columnist moves realizes those words fit him perfectly.  

Pasta with raw fish?

Friday's restaurant review pans Union Bar, a freakish Japanese-Italian hybrid that serves sushi and pizza in Cliffside Park (BL-18).

But the critic fails to note this is the former Bushido Bar and Restaurant, which was faulted for using inferior raw fish in a review published in June 2012.

Why did The Record review this place again?

Web site elects theft suspect to Hackensack Council

In a steady drizzle on Friday morning, the driver of a small SUV had his emergency flashers on as he tossed bagged copies of The Record out of the vehicle's passenger-side window along Passaic Street in Hackensack and Maywood.

The local-news editors at North Jersey.com continue to play catch up on delivering breaking news accurately, and on following up with a correction.

Late Saturday afternoon, Hackensack readers were greeted by this headline on the Web site of North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record:


"Hackensack judge to review complaint on city councilman stealing opponents campaign signs"


Former Detective Kenneth Martin of the Coalition for Open Government slate allegedly removed his opponents' campaign signs on Friday, but he is only a candidate for the City Council, not a member of that maligned body.

Of course, it wouldn't be the first time a member of Hackensack's City Council stood accused of betraying the trust of voters.

No fix today 

That was bad enough, but the error continues to run on North Jersey.com today, even though at least one resident e-mailed Staff Writer Hannan Adely about the mistake.

Candidate Leo Battaglia, a member of the Citizens for Change slate, filed a complaint against Martin, accusing him of "theft of movable property," according to today's story in The Record, which accurately describes Martin as a candidate (L-3).

Another boring paper

The rest of today's Sunday edition is equally dismal, from continuing coverage of Superstorm Sandy and Rutgers on Page 1 to yet another silly Mike Kelly column on the university's basketball scandal (O-1).

Kelly continues to resist writing about his heart problems -- which put him out of commission last year -- a subject sure to engage readers.

Mandatory voting 

The best piece in the paper is not by a journalist, but by Gerald Pomper, a political-science professor (emeritus) at Rutgers University (O-1).

"What if they gave an election and everyone voted?" is his first line in a persuasive essay on compulsory or universal voting.

Pomper notes that less than 15% of registered voters are expected to go to the polls in Tuesday's school board elections in Hackensack and other towns.

Apathetic voters have only themselves to blame for the lousy City Council and Board of Education in Hackensack, where the Zisa family and special interests have ruled for decades.

Those same special interests are at work today in the school board and City Council elections (Tuesday and May 14, respectively).

Martin, the former cop accused of removing opponents' signs, is on a slate backed by Lynne Hurwitz, the Democratic Party chairwoman in Hackensack who was the power behind Ken Zisa, the former assemblyman and disgraced police chief.

Under attack

Victor E. Sasson, the only independent Hackensack City Council candidate, is now under attack by "Etaylor," a member of Hackensack Now.org, a so-called community message board.

"Etaylor" objected to registering with OpenID after Sasson began disallowing "Anonymous" comments at Eye on The Record, noting he could continue to hide his identity on Hackensack Now.

He only registered with Hackesnack Now on April 9, and hasn't disclosed whom he is backing in the City Council election or whether he is doing his dirty work for one of the organized slates.

Is "Etaylor" a registered voter or resident of Hackensack? Does he work at the tax-exempt Hackensack University Medical Center or is he unemployed?

He doesn't say.

Stung by Road Warrior

Readers can only cheer that a Sunday column from the irrelevant Road Warrior, Staff Writer John Cichowski, is missing today -- the third such missed deadline recently.

Cichowski's wild exaggerations filled his column on Friday, the second about an exit on the Garden State Parkway.

A reader troubled by Cichowski's myth making fired off another e-mail to management:

"Regular readers and road warriors were outraged over John Cichowski's LOL nutty, misleading and overly exaggerated reporting about the prohibited right turn to Glen Road from Garden State Parkway Exit 171 in Woodcliff Lake in not one, but two time-wasting,incompetent columns on April 3 and 12.

"It doesn't take much to get road warriors buzzing furiously about the Road Warrior's annoyingly mistaken reporting.

"Readers would be wise to avoid Road Warrior columns since they too often make you feel like a lab rat caught in a maze with no exits -- except to Road Warrior hell.

"There is no question this parkway exit should allow right turns, but it doesn't take much for the Road Warrior to poke through a good story and misreport many items that don't resemble the truth.

"Road Warrior claims someone is traveling 3.9 mile out of their way in various loops, turning commuters' dizzying trip home into an odyssey worthy of ancient Greeks returning from Troy.

"However, intelligent drivers' trips are only less than o.4 to 0.6 miles longer and less than 4 minutes longer in order to find a place to turn around to go back in the same direction on Glen Road.

"This still represents time and mileage savings compared to taking Exits 168 or 172 to avoid this no-right-turn inconvenience.

"It would NOT cost more than several hundred dollars to replace signs and road-direction stripes to allow right turns --  instead of the millions of dollarsfor a more complex solution suggested by the Road Warrior.

"Readers deserve a Road Warrior apology for more of his outlandish, mistaken reporting."

See the full e-mail on the Facebook page for Road Warrior Bloopers:

John Cichowski has nowhere to turn 

 

City Council candidate refines campaign platform

Private jets landing or taking off from Teterboro Airport shatter the peace and quiet once enjoyed by homeowners and high-rise residents of Hackensack.

Victor E. Sasson of Hackensack, the only independent candidate in the May 14 City Council election, has refined his campaign platform.

Sasson also is the only candidate who pledges to give back one-quarter of his $10,400 council salary, if he is elected.

VOTE FOR PEACE AND QUIET
VOTE AGAINST THE MACHINE
SPLIT YOUR VOTE FOR
THE FUTURE OF HACKENSACK

Victor E. Sasson, a former newspaper reporter who is running as an independent in the May 14 City Council election, is asking for your vote. I am running on a quality of life platform that seeks to rein in property tax increases and improve city services.

The election is the most important in decades. My name will appear at the bottom of a column of 10 other candidates -- symbolizing how I will get to the bottom of things. You can vote for me and 4 other candidates.

If elected, I will:

• End the patronage mill at City Hall.

• Cut the city budget by $2 million and maintain services.

• Sell up to 15 cars now being driven home by city employees.

• Work with Teterboro Airport to reduce aircraft noise.

• Get Hackensack to purchase more efficient vehicles.

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

• Ban commercial landscaping work on Sundays.

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

• Encourage the city to undertake a major program to repave streets. Have turn lanes installed on Passaic Street, at Summit Avenue, and at other traffic bottlenecks.

• Encourage the non-profit Hackensack University Medical Center to pay more to the city in lieu of taxes.

• Stop a 19-story, long-term, acute-care hospital from going up between Prospect and Summit avenues, near Golf Place.

• Improve the food at Hackensack High School, and encourage administrators to plant vegetable gardens at all of the schools to fight the obesity epidemic.

• 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 or if you need a ride to the polls: 201-488-3012.

• Follow me on Twitter/@vsasson

• Read my blogs:

• Eye on The Record

• Do You Really Know What You’re Eating?