Even if cleared in Bridgegate, Christie still is biggest loser

This front page ran in the Daily News in January 2014, and proved prophetic. The News, Star-Ledger and other newspapers have covered Governor Christie and his administration far more honestly than The Record of Woodland Park.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Since Governor Christie took office in early 2010, New Jersey has become a laughing stock.

And a couple of months ago, Christie's endorsement of fellow Muslim-hater Donald Trump for the GOP presidential nomination prompted the editorial boards of seven major New Jersey dailies to call for his resignation.

"He has answered every crisis with neglect during his disastrous second term," The Star-Ledger noted on March 3, calling on him to leave office for "New Jersey's sake."

The state's biggest newspaper listed the state's fiscal crisis as second worst in the nation, including Atlantic City on the brink of bankruptcy, a mass-transit system in disrepair and an infrastructure fund fast running out of money.

The Woodland Park daily was the only major New Jersey paper that continued to give Christie the benefit of the doubt, filling its column recently with upbeat assessments of his selection as Trump's transition chief -- in the unlikely event the billionaire racist is elected in November.

"Make America Hate Again" is one critic's take on Trump's message.

By his side

Today and Thursday, The Record ran self-serving statements from Christie that all but absolved him in the George Washington Bridge lane-closure scandal less than two months before he was elected to a second term in 2013.

The Record has done exhaustive reporting on the scandal, and now takes credit for leading other media companies in getting federal prosecutors to release a list of "unindicted co-conspirators" that was kept secret after Christie's close aide and crony were charged with conspiracy.

Two of three access lanes to GWB upper-level tool booths were closed in the week of Sept. 9, 2013, as political retribution against Fort Lee's Democratic mayor, supposedly for not supporting the governor's reelection campaign.

A second list "is expected to offer the broadest portrait yet of who knew about the conspiracy but did not report it" (A-1).

Worst governor ever

Whether one or both lists are released today and whether Christie is on them is irrelevant in view of his mean-spirited rule of New Jersey, and his war on the middle and working classes.

For a hands-on governor to claim he didn't know what his closest aides and cronies were doing is preposterous, and he long ago was convicted in the court of public opinion.

No matter what happens in Bridgegate, Christie's reign has been disastrous for the state and its residents.

He is the biggest loser, and we are the victims of his personal ambition.

Today's paper

I've seen some terrific headlines in The Record recently, but the one over the GWB scandal today is just ridiculous:

"Seeking
clarity in
political
morass"

Readers have no clue from the main or sub-headline what "political morass" the headline writer is referring to, and it could very well be the deadlock in Congress or the State House.

Of course, a big problem is the huge story on GWB repairs that is displayed next to the scandal story, even though the project doesn't get under way until next year (A-1).

Infrastructure stories such as this are a poor choice for Page 1, but Editor Deirdre Sykes is desperate, because she can't inspire her transportation reporters -- Paul Berger, Christopher Maag and John Cichowski -- to cover the actual commuting crisis in North Jersey.

Rare victory

Another Page 1 story today marks a rare victory over the Christie administration's poor environmental policies (A-1).

The state is dropping plans to "bring large-scale development to Liberty State Park" in Jersey City.

Hackensack police Lt. James Prise, second from right, at the March 8 ceremony in City Council Chambers with his wife and children.

Hackensack news?

Staff Writer John Seasly has done a poor job of covering Hackensack, but he has been all over the embarrassing public ceremony in March to recognize the promotion of the city's first black police lieutenant to captain, another first for an African-American.

Less than a month later, Lt. James Prise was returned to his original rank after he learned he had failed part of his state civil service exam.

Now, Councilwoman Deborah Keeling-Geddis, who also is black, issued a public apology and said Prise "did not deserve to suffer this indignity" (L-1).

Today, Seasly reports her statement "angered the mayor and deputy mayor, who accused her of political maneuvering and of going against the lieutenant's wishes."

Poor coverage

Seasly disappointed Hackensack residents by not covering the issues in the April 19 school election or the Zisa family's attempted political comeback by backing three of the nine candidates.

The election deserved attention, because only about 1,300 of 20,000 registered voters usually cast ballots.

This year, only 895 of them approved a $79 million tax levy to support the $104 million school spending plan, bigger than the city's own budget.

School taxes make up 44% of the total bill in Hackensack.

Voter apathy, apparent in Hackensack's local elections, can be traced to The Record's irresponsibly poor coverage of the city it once called home.

Readers get more crime news, doubts about rail tunnels

Euclid Avenue is a two-way street in Hackensack's Fairmount section that forks into one-way streets before Summit Avenue -- Euclid Avenue North, right, and Euclid Avenue South. A long story on Euclid Avenue in The Record on Thursday devotes only a couple of paragraphs to the street itself.

Since at least 2007, the owner of 177 Euclid Ave. has defied all attempts by city inspectors to get him to repair his front steps.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Readers find more local news on the front page of The Record today and Thursday, but much of it is the same old sensational crime and court coverage.

Check out the tortured first paragraph of today's lead story on squatters in the Englewood home of a veteran (A-1).

And why is Editor Martin Gottlieb wasting all this space on a proposal to curb smoking in public housing (A-1)?

The story questioning how new Hudson River tunnels will be financed is another in a long line of anti-mass transit pieces in a daily paper that relies heavily on ad revenue from car dealers and automakers  (A-1).

Transportation reporter Christopher Maag also covered a news conference urging extension of NJ Transit's light rail to downtown Englewood, and the hospital and medical center (L-3).

But The Record has a history of writing anti-light rail stories, and slanted its coverage to support Tenafly's decision to reject the project.

Getting nauseous

In today's 3-star review of Jack's Cafe in Westwood, just the description of the desserts sampled by sugar-obsessed Restaurant Reviewer Elisa Ung is making me nauseous (BL-16).

Seafood lovers who don't eat meat or poultry apparently are out of luck unless they want a lobster roll padded with cheaper langoustine tails ($20). 

A corner house for sale on Euclid Avenue in Hackensack.

Awful headline

The lead Page 1 headline on Thursday -- "Hard drive a clue to GWB defense -- flummoxed readers.

The word "drive" had nothing to do with driving or the George Washington Bridge.

The "hard drive" was a reference to a "computer hard drive," but readers didn't know that until they actually read the first paragraph, defeating the purpose of the headline to tell the story at a glance.

Local news

In Thursday's Local, The Record reported the swearing in of Deborah Keeling-Geddis as a Hackensack city councilwoman two days earlier.

By focusing on Route 17 traffic jams, Road Warrior John Cichowski is, like the editors, in denial about the growing crisis throughout North Jersey, and the need for more mass transit (Thursday's L-1).

Euclid Avenue 

Thursday's Better Living cover story on Euclid Avenue in Hackensack's Fairmount section is typical of the superficial local reporting the paper is known for.

Freelancer Jeffrey Page devotes most of his Name-Dropper column to Euclid, the Greek mathematician who is called the father of geometry.

To outsiders, the Euclid in Euclid Avenue is hard to pronounce and even harder to spell. 

The street is under the flight paths of Newark and Teterboro airports, and aircraft noise is a major quality of life concern.

Page calls Euclid "a wide, quiet street."

The Fairmount section was named after a park of the same name in Philadelphia, and many of the trees in the neighborhood came from that city, as reflected in street names:

Poplar Avenue, Elm Avenue, Pine Street, Cedar Avenue and so forth.

When Christie drops out, editors will push for a comeback

Sign pollution at an auto service center and gas station on Forest Avenue and Teaneck Road in Teaneck.

Editor's note: This post has been updated to include a Star-Ledger editorial that condemns Governor Christie for killing a bill that would have boosted the turnout of voters in New Jersey.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

There was little if any mention of Governor Christie this morning on such National Public Radio stations as WNYC-FM.

But his comments in the so-called Republican undercard debate on Tuesday night leads The Record's front page today.

Political columnist Charles Stile continues to bore readers to tears with his endless analysis of Christie's every word, burp and fart -- as if the reporter sees himself as a patron saint of lost causes (A-1).

Even calling the GOP bully "presidential candidate Chris Christie," as St. Charlie does, is a stretch, given he didn't even poll the 2.5% he needed to get on the main stage with Dr. Ben Carson and Donald Trump.

Readers can expect Stile, Editor Martin Gottlieb and other Christie apologists to push for a comeback after the governor goes down in flames at the Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary in February.

Until then, it will be Christie on the campaign trail 24/7, and repeated backing of every veto in New Jersey.

Early voting

Shame on Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin for praising Christie's veto of early voting, automatic registration at Motor Vehicle Commission offices and other Democracy Act attempts to boost turnout (A-16).

Again, Doblin and other editors continue to politicize every issue by calling greater access to voting an exclusively Democratic concern.

"Voting is a responsibility," Doblin scolds readers turned off by the partisan politics that fill The Record's news columns. 

"A little effort is not asking too much of any citizen. Christie got this one right."

A little effort isn't asking too much of a so-called journalist like Doblin, either, especially in view of unprecedented voter apathy and low turnouts in state and local elections.

The Star-Ledger, on the other hand, wants to take voting laws out of Christie's greedy hands:

"New Jersey just had the lowest Election Day turnout in its history – with just one out of five voters bothering to show up – so the governor figures he might as well make it harder for people to vote.

"His veto of the Democracy Act Monday was another predictable strike in Gov. Christie's campaign for voter suppression, and he even dusted off some old chestnuts about unreasonable costs and how the bill failed to "ensure that every eligible citizen's vote counts and is not stolen by fraud."

"It's always amusing when politicians imply that voters cannot be trusted.

"And it's special when a politician who spent $12 million on a special election – in a shameless attempt to hide from the electorate – claims he's looking out for our wallets."

To read the full editorial, click on this link:

Take voting laws out of Christie's hands


In Hackensack

In a special nonpartisan election in Hackensack on Nov. 3, only 2,625 votes were cast for four council candidates -- this in a city with about 20,000 registered voters.

One 90-year-old resident did make the "effort, but complained the entrance to his polling place at Hackensack High School was poorly marked, and he had to circle the large building to find it.

Of course, The Record's lazy editors did their best to ignore local races in Hackensack and other towns, and the irresponsible Doblin didn't even issue any endorsements for those contests.

Deborah Keeling-Geddis, standing at right, was sworn in as a city councilwoman in Hackensack on Tuesday night. She replaces businessman Jason W. Some (Photo credit: Hackensack.org)

Local news?

Today's front page offers nothing to local readers in Bergen County, and if you turn to the local-news section, municipal reporting takes a holiday (L-1).

Crime and court news apparently crowed out any mention of Tuesday night's meeting in Hackensack, where teacher's assistant Deborah Keeling-Geddis, who is African-American, was sworn in as a city councilwoman.

Assemblyman Gordon Johnson of Englewood officiated at the swearing in.

The Bergen County clerk certified the election of Keeling-Geddis to an unexpired term on Monday night, giving her a total of 819 votes.

Incumbent Jason W. Some received a total of 784 votes, school board President Jason S. Nunnermacker got 756 votes and Richard L. Cerbo received 266 votes.

Those totals are of votes cast on machines, mail-in ballots and provisional or paper ballots.

The agenda of Tuesday night's meeting was posted on the city's Web site:

City Council Meeting Docket 

Officials certify election of Keeling-Geddis in Hackensack

Tuesday is the deadline for payment of 4th-quarter property taxes in Hackensack.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Teacher's assistant Deborah Keeling-Geddis may take her seat on the Hackensack City Council as soon as Tuesday night.

Bergen County election officials certified 41 of 69 provisional ballots tonight, confirming the election of Keeling-Geddis to the unexpired term.

She will replace businessman Jason W. Some, who was appointed to the seat in April after the resignation of Councilman Rose Greenman.

Including mail-in ballots, Keeling-Geddis had 803 votes in last Tuesday's non-partisan election.

Some had 774 votes, school board President Jason S. Nunnermacker got 746 votes; and Richard L. Cerbo, son of a former mayor, trailed with 261 votes.

Tonight, Keeling-Geddis gained 16 votes from provisional or paper ballots, Nunnermacker had 10 more votes, Some also gained 10 and Cerbo received 5 more votes.

A provisional ballot is used to cast a vote when there are questions about a voter's eligibility.

The council is scheduled to meet at 6:30 Tuesday night on the 3rd Floor of City Hall on Central Avenue.

Keeling-Geddis is the second African-American elected to the governing body. 

Her seat will be contested again in the May 2017 municipal election.

Editors turn Page 1 into a tabloid, demonize mass transit

At lunchtime, Hackensack High School students walk or drive to restaurants as far away as Essex Street in Lodi rather than eat the low-quality fare served in the cafeteria by Chartwells, a Canadian company. The owner of Giovanni's Pizza 2, above, less than a block from the high school, does so much business he closes and spends the summer in Italy.

On Tuesday, a Chartwells employee emptied a van and took boxes into the Fairmount School on Grand Avenue in Hackensack, above and below. The van wasn't refrigerated, yet the employee left the engine running as he made three trips into the school over the space of 20 minutes.

Do parents of the elementary school students know anything about the quality of the food in the boxes?

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

A sensational murder case and a lurid murder trial dominate the front page of The Record today -- as if Editor Martin Gottlieb secretly wants to work for the New York Post or another tabloid.

The only other Page 1 stories focus on Sen. Bob Menendez' donors, and how the Republicans did in Tuesday's election for state Assembly (A-1).

I suppose readers should welcome even mild criticism of Governor Christie from political Columnist Charles Stile, who called the larger Democratic majority "a political low point for Republicans."

But the GOP bully is expected to handle this setback in the same he has since he took office in early 2010 with Democrats in control of the Legislature -- vetoes and plenty of them, neutralizing any middle-class initiatives.

Shock reporting

More disturbing than Stile's boring political analysis is The Record's continuing attempt to demonize mass-transit projects, such as the East Side Access and new Hudson River rail tunnels (A-3).

Readers saw the same negativity in the hysterical editorial that ran on Wednesday, when a proposal for new rail passenger service in North Jersey was dismissed as too expensive and less important than other projects.

Editorial Page Editor Alfred P. Doblin sunk to a new low by politicizing the proposal in a sub-headline: 

"Democrats push for new passenger line"

It's easy for Doblin and Record reporter Christopher Maag to shock readers with billion-dollar price tags while ignoring the intangible societal benefits:

Less traffic congestion, cleaner air, increased worker productivity and slower climate change.

If readers didn't know better, they might think Maag and Doblin are taking their marching orders from the Borg family, whose North Jersey Media Group thrives on ad revenue from automakers and their dealers.

Hackensack news

It's not over until the fat lady sings.

That may be so in an opera, but in Hackensack, Tuesday's special City Council election still isn't over, according to a story on the Local front today (L-1).

Staff Writer Todd South reports county election workers are trying to certify and count 69 provisional or paper ballots.

Eye on The Record reported incorrectly on Wednesday that mail-in and provisional ballots had been counted, giving the election to teacher's assistant Deborah Keeling-Geddis over incumbent Jason W. Some, a businessman.

Based on a tally of voting machines on Tuesday night, the Bergen County clerk named Some the winner.

The next day, a count of mail-in ballots gave Keeling-Geddis the edge.

Now, the outcome is not expected to be known until at least Monday.

Hackensack Council race wasn't over when fat guy sang

After mail-in ballots were counted, businessman Jason W. Some, right, lost the Hackensack City Council seat that he appeared to have won on Tuesday. (Photo credit: Hackensack Scoop)

At the Sept. 1 meeting, Some was seated at right, next to Councilman David Sims. Some was appointed to the seat in April after Councilwoman Rose Greenman resigned.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Teacher's assistant Deborah Keeling-Geddis turns out to be the winner in Tuesday's special Hackensack City Council election, upsetting incumbent Jason W. Some.

Keeling-Geddis received 92 votes on mail-in ballots, bringing her total to 803 and winning her a single unexpired term on the governing body, the Bergen County Clerk's Office said this morning.

Some, an appointee who ran with the backing of Mayor John Labrosse and other council members, had a total of 774 votes when mail-in ballots were counted.

School board President Jason S. Nunnermacker received a total of 746 votes -- the second time he lost a bid for the council, which he has been assailing since reformers prevailed in the May 2013 election.

Richard L. Cerbo, son of a former mayor, trailed with a total of 261 votes, including mail-in ballots.

When unofficial results from voting machines were released on Tuesday a little before 10 p.m., Some was the top vote-getter with 724 votes, edging out Keeling-Geddis with 711 votes.

Today's paper

On Page 1 today, The Record lists all of the problems the state Legislature's bigger Democratic majority faces after Tuesday's election, but soft pedals Governor Christie's role in creating them.

After covering the GOP bully since early 2010 and reporting on his 400-plus vetoes, the editors still feel compelled to politicize the problems, putting words of criticism into the mouth of a Democratic leader, Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto of Secaucus:

Election results just show "the constituents in the state of New Jersey that the Democrats are who they trust and who they want to lead the middle class that's been crushed under this administration" (A-1).

Breaking mall news

At North Jersey Media Group, publisher of The Record, money talks, especially revenue from the paper's biggest advertisers.

Today, in return for all that moola, the Borg family gives The Shops at Riverside in Hackensack front-page billing for plans to open a luxury zone for "25 high-end fashion brands."

The multi-million dollar makeover apparently is intended to lure the wealthy away from the luxury wing at Garden State Plaza in nearby Paramus.

Those upscale shops often resemble a ghost town, with store employees standing around gossiping or staring vacantly out of display windows.

Local news?

Today's Local is a heady mix of election and police news, with two pages of death notices followed by two pages of unofficial town-by-town results in local and school board races.

On L-9, a photo caption incorrectly describes Tesla's Model S four-door hatchback as "all electronic." That should be "all electric."

Two Hackensack candidates play trick or treat with voters

HALLOWEEN IN HACKENSACK: On Saturday, the traditional celebration of Halloween on Clinton Place was more subdued, with far fewer decorated homes between Prospect and Summit avenues than in the past.

"Rest in pieces" is a humorous play on words. Although fewer homes were decorated on Saturday, there was no shortage of trick-or-treaters on the streets of the city's Fairmount section.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Call them the two Jasons.

Jason S. Nunnermacker and Jason W. Some are two of the four candidates in Tuesday's election for an unexpired term on the Hackensack City Council.

Here is a report on the two Jasons that you didn't see in The Record of Woodland Park.

They resemble each other, and I'm not talking about their double chins.

The real story is that neither has discussed in any meaningful detail the powerful special interests they represent.

Board czar

Nunnermacker, an attorney, is the president of the city's free-spending Board of Education, which this year approved an irresponsible $106.88 million budget -- bigger than the city's own.

In the May 2013 council election, Nunnermacker was one of the hand-picked candidates of the city's bare-knuckle Democratic Party machine, the power behind the Zisa family political dynasty that ruled for decades and brought the city to its knees.

After Nunnermacker and his running mates were defeated in his first bid for the council, he has attended nearly every meeting.

But he and other board members have never spoken about education. 

Instead, he's helped wage a partisan war against the slate of mostly Republican reformers, including Rose Greenman, who resigned, creating the vacancy he is now seeking to fill.

On June 9, school board President Jason S. Nunnermacker, above, along with fellow board members and the board's attorney, photos below, continued to launch more bitter partisan attacks against the City Council. None of the council critics every spoke about education or the city's schools.

School board member Daniel Carola.

School board members Joseph Barreto, left, and Fancis W. Albolino.

The $95,000-a-year school board attorney, Richard Salkin, conferring with Lynne Hurwitz, back to camera, the Demoratic Party power broker in Hackensack. Salkin lost a second city job as municipal prosecutor after council reformers were elected.

Jason W. Some

Some was 25 when he was appointed in April to fill the seat left vacant by Greenman, who resigned and filed a lawsuit, claiming council members discriminated against her.

Some is sales director of the family owned Some's Uniforms on Main Street, but he also is a member of the Main Street Business Alliance, a powerful group of business owners and real estate companies who have lobbied hard for the city's redevelopment.

Some and other members of the alliance who own downtown property are expected to profit directly from redevelopment or see their property values go up from the construction of retail and residential projects downtown.

Some, who is backed by the current council, and Nunnermacker haven't publicly identified their campaign donors.

Other candidates

The other two candidates for council on Tuesday are:

• Richard L. Cerbo, a homeowner whose father won election as mayor in 1981, defeating Frank Zisa.
• Deborah Keeling-Geddis, a teacher's assistant in the city school system and the only African-American in the race, who was endorsed by the city's education union.

Tax equity

Cerbo has attacked the dramatic property tax inequity in Hackensack, and criticized the 25- and 30-year tax abatements the council has promised apartment developers. 

He's said he'd like to see Hackensack University Medical Center, Bergen County, colleges and others who own hundreds of millions of dollars in tax-exempt property give back more to the city.

That would help ease the burden on home and business owners, who now pay a disproportionate share of  property taxes.

Cerbo also feels that 10-year tax abatements would have been sufficient to lure developers to Hackensack --  in what is the city's second apartment-building boom after the one on Prospect Avenue.

He also is disappointed the mayor and council didn't negotiate agreements with developers to give a good percentage of construction and other jobs to Hackensack residents.

Cerbo is the only candidate on Tuesday who represents long-suffering homeowners who see higher tax bills every year, and the only one without an ax to grind.

Today's paper

Nine days after Suzanne Bardzell was murdered in the driveway of her Midland Park home, allegedly by her ex-cop boyfriend, The Record's lazy, incompetent editors finally got off of their asses.

Editor Martin Gottlieb and local Assignment Editors Deirdre Sykes and Dan Sforza assigned two reporters to explore on Page 1 today the central question surrounding her death:

Whether local police, courts and other agencies could have done a better job of protecting Bardzell, 48, the single mother of two teenage boys who is being called a victim of domestic violence.

Staff Writers Abbott Koloff and Monsy Alvarado do a masterful job of pussy footing: No criticism is leveled, no blame assigned.

The editorial page likewise is silent on the case.

The story notes Bardzell was fatally stabbed on Oct. 22 "after a tumultuous 17 days that began when the suspect broke into her home" and threatened to kill her with a pair of scissors.

Local news?

On the Local front, Road Warrior John Cichowski continues to report on transportation one highway sign at a time (L-1).

Nearly an entire page is devoted to listing the names of all of the local and county candidates in Tuesday's election (L-3).

Saturday's paper

On a front page dominated by baseball, the editors found room for a well-crafted story on the history of Hackenack's Oritani Field Club by Staff Writer Todd South.

The Camden Street landmark closed today after 128 years, to be replaced by as many as 280 apartments opposite a Toyota dealer on River Street.

South did a great job capturing the importance of the club as a place for social gatherings, as well as a showcase for sports and Hollywood celebrities. 

However, some Hackensack readers had hoped he would have done a better job of reporting on the special interests backing Nunnermacker and Some in Tuesday's council election.