New Year's resolutions?

On the last day of 2009, Page 1 of  The Record of Woodland Park focuses on politics in the Garden State and gives precious space to one of the biggest windbags around, former Gov. Thomas H. Kean, speaking about security lapses. On Page A-2, the former Hackensack daily continues its dishonesty by saying the paper is published at 150 River St., when it long has been printed in Rockaway Township and virtually all of its editorial staff  left River City this year.

Meanwhile, stories on the state's growing financial problems are played inside the paper. I can't remember when The Record has reminded readers of what a lousy job Kean did as governor, hiding a huge deficit from incoming Democrat Jim Florio.

The Local section finally has a story about Teaneck by Staff Writer Joseph Ax -- the community policing unit is being disbanded because of budget constraints. But the story is silent on whether the millions the self-insured township has had to pay to cover employee lawsuits could have saved the successful outreach effort.

The Englewood reporter, Giovanna Fabiano, was sent to cover a fatal fire in Ramsey, giving her an excuse for not having a story about her city, which has segregated elementary and middle schools; nightmarish downtown traffic and residents who awaken to gunshots from an open-air police firing range. There is no Hackensack story today.

I can only hope that the Borgs, who control North Jersey Media Group, and the lazy, incompetent editors of The Record get their heads out of their ample behinds and take a good look at what has happened in the past couple of years to a once-great suburban daily. Publisher Stephen A. Borg, who took over from father Malcolm A. Borg in 2006, seems intent only on personal enrichment at the expense of employees and retirees. "I'm not in this for the money," he told the assembled staff. What a joke.

I know he and sister Jennifer A. Borg are not journalists, but it might be time for them to seriously assess the job being done by the editors, including Frank Scandale, Frank Burgos, Deirdre Sykes, Tim Nostrand, Doug Clancy, Jim McGarvey, Liz Houlton, Barbara Jaeger, Bill Pitcher, Alfred Doblin and such sub-editors as Richard Whitby and Dan Sforza, and clean house. The paper doesn't need any of them to do its job of chronicling life in North Jersey, especially restoring the focus on Bergen County.

And I hope I see assignment editors do less hand-holding of reporters and give them more free rein to cover stories they feel are important.

Click on the link below for some of the low-lights of 2009

Decade in review: Our paper changed, 12/27/09