Editorial:

NJMC & COAH: Perfect together?

Why is this state agency pushing low income housing into Bergen County during the country's worst real estate slump?

Massa, Tanelli to be congratulated for standing up to the "social engineers" that want to "urbanize" North Arlington into and extension of Hudson County! 

The definition of stupidity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results.

In the case of the NJMC (New Jersey Meadowlands Commission), when will they ever learn?

Less than three months since the apparent end of the EnCap debacle they created in the first place when they waived the bid process for credible developers, the state's super agency is now taking the lead in pushing forward a new COAH goal of one (1) low income housing unit for every five (5) market rate homes!

Given this community's protracted legal battle with a developer now in Chapter 11 that has cost taxpayers over $500,000 in legal fees, why is the NJMC now approving the left-wing policy objectives of COAH (Council on Affordable Housing)?

Like EnCap in the past, what elected official in the NJMC district supports this course of action?

What mayor, councilman or other elected official thinks this is a good idea given the track record of the NJMC and the EnCap fiasco they created?

Is there a single mayor that supports the policy objectives of this agency which is run by political appointees of both parties?

An out-of-touch, bureaucratic unit that does little listening to the very municipalities they pretend to represent?

Here in North Arlington, when is enough, enough?

Specifically, former North Arlington Mayor Len Kaiser has served on the NJMC for the better part of five years. He supported Encap without hesitation. He now seems to support these drastic COAH objectives that hurt the very community he was born and raised!

Ironically, the GOP candidates for council are now taking a "me too" approach to overdevelopment and COAH. While they attacked DCA Commissioner Joe Doria on their new website (www.northarlingtongop.org), they fail to note their political leader & mentor supports the very COAH guidelines that will guarantee hundreds of units of low income housing upon North Arlington if EnCap is successful in the court case scheduled to heard in Hackensack sometime this year!

The voice of sanity in this debate is Council President Steve Tanelli of Third Street.

Tanelli, who authored the 2006 referendum that vastly restricts the usage of eminent domain seizure in North Arlington has written to Senate President Richard Codey seeking a COAH exemption to the properties currently owned by EnCap in the Meadowlands.

Tanelli's logic is solid and reasonable.

The Massa Administration has been ravaged by the forces of overdevelopment, EnCap and low income housing. There is zero community support for the urbanization of North Arlington through high density housing or some other development scheme that destroys the suburban character of North Arlington and South Bergen.

When will the NJMC produce a single elected official that supports these policy objectives in the worst housing slump in history?

Why is the NJMC forcing a policy objective so radical and out-of-step that the NJ League of Municipalities is organizing a class-action lawsuit against this misguided and stupid initiative?

North Arlington has a desire to remain small, safe and suburban. Local Republicans lack the ability or the experience to solve the issue given the fact Kaiser is playing a strategic role in moving these very guidelines forward.

Local Democrats get it. When will the rest of those involved in these issues comprehend that reality?

TIME TO CLEAN THE MELRAY'S MESS ONCE AND FOR ALL!

Time for the retailer to install lights and time for Councilman Bianchi to take responsibility for this apparent planning board blunder!

Good government can be hard and difficult.

In the case of the Melray's furniture fiasco, it's time for this retailer to start cooperating with borough officials.

How does a retailer get "air rights" in the first place?

Who's bright idea was that?

According to The South-Bergenite this week, the retailer in question is doing business without a certificate of occupancy. On July 8th, the borough's construction official found out the furniture upstairs was not removed and has been on display for months. In addition, an accessibility ramp was already under construction even though Melray's never received approval from the construction department.

The issue of Melray's has been hanging over this government for far too long and the Massa Administration is to be commended for taking the necessary steps to solve the problems that don't seem to go away!

Instead of cooperating with North Arlington, Melray's now faces a $2,000 fine for failing to remove the furniture and an additional $1,000 to comply and another $2,000 for failure to obtain a building permit prior to construction of the accessibility ramp.

At the core of this issue is who's responsble for the lights?

Melray's says North Arlington, North Arlington says Melray's.  This issue should have been resolved years ago when they went before the North Arlington Planning Board that was chaired by Republican Joseph Bianchi, now a councilman.

Why hasn't Mr. Bianchi commented on this fiasco? He was the planning board chairman. He presided over this application for "air rights."

He supported the waiver for air rights.

How come he can't explain who is responsble for the lights? Wasn't that his job as a member of the planning board?

How come Councilman Bianchi has nothing to say?

Is this the type of government we can expect if these disciples of Len Kaiser assume power come January 1st?

Look out!

Mr. Bianchi seems more than willing to say nothing and let the whole affair go unanswered and unsolved. That's not the actions of an effective councilman. He should be leading. Instead, he seems to be hiding from public scrutiny and that's too bad!

There is no question that the sketches provided by Melray's call for the installation of lights. How can one deny lights won't be needed when the whole lot has been enclosed by the improvements made by the retailer?

It's is ridiculous to suggest that lights are not warranted.

How Councilman Joseph Bianchi can continue this silence on an issue he knows best is just disturbing.  Are we to believe he has no opinion on the issue? When will borough officials request the minutes of those planning board meetings to get to the bottom of the issues at hand?

Why add light fixtures in the architectural drawings if you have no intention of installing lights? Someone isn't telling us the full story!

Anthony D'Elia, the borough attorney wants Melray's to abide by the original plans. Asking the retailer to install the lights makes sense. For Melray's to continue to battle the municipality seems senseless and without logic.

Maybe if Councilman Bianchi made the effort to inform the council of what exactly took place at the planning board level, this all could be avoided.

Mr. Bianchi seems to be keeping North Arlington literally in the dark as it applies to this lighting issue. He gets an "F" for his latest failure as a councilman.

Getting six cents out of a nickel!

North Arlington Library Board getting things done without raising taxes or laying blame at someone else's doorstep!

Democrats are getting things done no matter how much Republicans kick & scream!

Corey Klein of The South Bergenite put it best by asking how North Arlington can spend nearly $200,000 in renovating the very neglected North Arlington Library while claiming to be in a financial crisis?

The answer is appointing people of character and integrity to get the job done even when money is not readily available!

For decades the North Arlington Library fell into disrepair with no plan for facility maintenance or upkeep. The former Library Director seemed more interested in seeing her name and picture in the local press than solving the very problems she was employed to fix.

Thankfully, those days are now behind North Arlington.

In a unique financing solution, the North Arlington Library Board will pay back the borough the cost of the renovations that are long overdue.

With the hiring of an architect complete, the new Library Board led by appointees of Mayor Pete Massa will make the proper investments that will include the following upgrades:

* A handicap ramp

* New carpeting

* New Ceiling tiles

* New Lighting system

* New countertops for the main desk

* New glass doors for the entrance

* Repair and upgrade of restrooms

Instead of "crying and whining" about who is on the board and then resigning when they didn't get their way, the new members of the Library Board led by a new Library Director rolled up their sleeves and started to solve real problems!

They actually did what they were expected to do!

This was not the case in previous administrations or former appointees to this board. The would rather run to the press and try to embarrass Democrats who just wanted to fix the problems facing the Library.

Isn't that a novel way to conduct yourself as a public official?

Now the Library is just another accomplishment on the watch of local Democrats.

A "zero" tax increase. Stopping eminent domain. Stopping the construction of low income housing. Stopping the construction of Arlington Valley. The implementation of "green" policies to invest in trees and GEM cars. A new administrator. A new phone system. A rehabilitated girl's softball facility. The dedication of Skyline Park to James Zadroga.

These are just a sampling of the accomplishments of Mayor Pete Massa and the Democratic majority. A majority that has had to fight the "institutionalized effect" on local government by embedded Republicans obsessed with stopping the Democrats from succeeding no matter how logical or how much money can saved and put back in the pockets of taxpayers!

It takes good people with a plan and vision to operate local government.

Democrats like Steve Tanelli and Mark Yampaglia represent the best North Arlington has to offer. In stark contrast, we have the government of "politics past," the nay Sayers and those who hope Democrats fail like Joe Bianchi, Richard Hughes, Jim Bocchino and James Herrmann. Make no mistake about it, they oppose Mayor Peter Massa and hate local Democrats. They cannot get over their own failed policies that practically bankrupt North Arlington with a series of tax increases so severe that it's taken nearly 8 years for Democrats to get things under control!

"Credit card" government has ceased. Hiring more people for the sake of hiring more people has ended. Giving out promotions and raises because employees demand it is no longer the case.

The tail no longer wags the dog!

Unfortunately a GOP victory in the fall would return North Arlington to this kind of scattered, duplicative, wasteful government that voters previously rejected without hesitation.

The GOP wants people to think they have something to contribute.

They don't.

They don't have a clue.

In Jim Bocchino and James Herrmann, we have two "lifetime" Kaiser confidantes that want to roll back the clock to a time and place that no longer exists. These two candidates are the "original" EnCap supporters! Bocchino supported Pitman in 2006 Democratic Primary with Joe Bianchi who was reappointed to the Planning Board by the ex-mayor.

How much proof does one need as to who's for Encap and who isn't?

The Democratic Administration of Mayor Pete Massa has found it's stride.

It's time for voters to reward those who want to keep this community small, safe and suburban. That team is the ticket of Councilman Steve Tanelli and former Councilman Mark Yampaglia.

MOVING FROM HOUSING TO RETAIL?

Trump proposal to eliminate housing component with two million feet of retail space is step in right direction for NA taxpayers!

Someone is finally listening to North Arlington!

After years of fighting Arlington Valley and the ridiculous financial arrangement attached to that debacle, the Trump Organization seems ready to recognize the simple fact that housing is not welcome nor the answer for redevelopment in North Arlington.

According to press reports in The South Bergenite as well as The Record suggest that lawyers for both parties are willing to tear up the current agreement and start anew.

That's good news for North Arlington.

But North Arlington needs to stand its ground by preserving the "small town" character of the community.

Thousands of units of housing that will cost North Arlington tens of millions of dollars in infrastructure costs is simply prohibitive in this economy. Strangely enough, the downturn in the housing market in many ways has probably pushed Trump from housing to retail usage for these Meadowlands parcels!

Nevertheless, negotiations seem to be in effect at some level and that's progress given the adversarial relationship with the now bankrupt, EnCap Holdings.

Mayor Massa and borough officials need specific concessions from Trump to move forward. We believe the following course of action makes the most sense:

* Have EnCap drop the lawsuit immediately. You can't have a partnership with someone who is fighting you in court.

It's time for the lawsuit to be dropped.

* The money is escrow should be awarded to North Arlington. If not all of the $2M, a portion to cover legal fees makes the most sense at this time.

* Void the current contract, but appoint Trump as the new developer of record on the condition no housing will be proposed and no usage of eminent domain will be applied.

* Have the NJMC in cooperation with Trump keep the baler facility open for the foreseeable future. North Arlington needs the revenue and the NJMC is open to using the baler operation to fund future redevelopment of the entire area. It makes sense for all parties.

* Have the state of New Jersey make the economic investment in an extension of Route 17 to North Arlington. For any redevelopment to be feasible, the transportation infrastructure must be in place to be successful. An extension into this redevelopment area will ease local traffic on surface streets like Schuyler Avenue while providing the direct access needed for shoppers, employees and others who will be impacted be this new economic engine of activity in the borough.

The Massa Administration is to be commended for moving mountains and stopping Arlington Valley. But now the real work of developing an alternative plan that makes economic sense is the true objective. With that said, we remain confident Mayor Massa along with Council President Steve Tanelli will move the dial that much closer to a redevelopment agreement that propels North Arlington as a viable business alternative for the region.

A time to leave the past behind.

Democrats want to end the political nonsense while the GOP wants to "re-run" the failures of the past!

The Massa Administration is not perfect.

But the Massa Administration inherited plenty of problems & challenges from the two previous mayors who couldn't get the job done.

EnCap. Eminent domain seizure. Low income housing. Random redevelopment. Soaring debt. Squandered host fees. Out-of-control local spending. Bounced checks and incompetent management of local government. Politics and partisanship.

This was the mess that was left behind for ex-cop Pete Massa to clean-up.

For the most part, Massa and his allies on the council have attacked each and everyone of these issues.

Let's look at the record:

* The Massa Administration called for a federal inquiry of EnCap and is primarily responsible for the state's decision to terminate that agreement.

We urge every North Arlington resident to view the very revealing investigative piece done on EnCap by Channel 9 News.

* Council President Steve Tanelli authored the referendum that vastly restricted eminent domain seizure by over 80% of the vote (2006).

* Democrats have been the only political party to go on record in opposition to low income housing.

Republicans have yet to take a position on the construction of low income housing because they really support Arlington Valley!

* The Massa Administration ended the threat of random development along Ridge Road while supporting such intelligent projects such as Commerce Bank and the plan for Ace Hardware at the old Ridge Lumber site.

The Massa Administration is vigorously calling upon Melray's Furniture to pay for lights in the municipal lot after inheriting the "air rights" disaster supported by GOP Councilman Joe Bianchi, who served on the Planning Board for nearly 25 years!

Where was Joe when we needed him most?

* When Democrats assumed office, the borough's total debt was $28 million dollars! Squandered host fees and a local government out-of-control nearly depleted the borough's bonding capacity. Thanks to the conservative leadership of Massa and the Democrats, the borough's debt has been sharply reduced to $17 million!

* This year's zero tax increase was constructed and passed by the Democratic majority of Tanelli, Ferriero, DiBlasi and Granell.

It's interesting to note that Republicans Bianchi & Hughes are running around town telling anyone who will listen that they had a hand in this Democratic budget! The hard reality is that Council President appointed Councilman Al Granell to engineer this conservative budget that was resisted by Republicans until they were publicly embarrassed into voting yes. Even then, Councilman Hughes was actually looking to add unnecessary dollars to the borough's reserve for uncollected taxes just to spoil the attempt to provide tax relief to borough homeowners!

* Democrats took a hard-line on new spending and have explored cost saving opportunities such as the purchase of GEM cars while Mr. Hughes continues his one-man opposition to saving a buck for taxpayers! Democrats stood tall in holding the line on salary increases by forcing the PBA to binding arbitration and refusing to cave-in to higher salaries North Arlington cannot afford!

* Democratic control of the Library Board has meant a qualified new director, new computers and a comprehensive renovation of the library's interior. While bureaucrats and GOP insiders play politics for decades, Democrats on the board have done more to enhance the library experience in six months than the Republicans in decades!

* A new phone system in Borough Hall and WIFI access to the Internet in all borough facilities shows the Democratic commitment to investing in technology. Take a look at www.northarlington.org versus the primitive web site operated by the previous GOP regime.

It's like night and day!

* Democrats kept their word by hiring a professional administrator in Terence Wall. In the short time on board, Wall is responsible for securing $200,000 in back payments from vendors which attributed to stabilizing the tax rate. Democrats didn't appoint some political hack, they conducted an honest search and picked the best candidate who happened to be a registered Republican from Monmouth County.

* Councilman Al Granell has kept another campaign promise by posting council meetings on COMCAST for all to see at no charge to residents. Councilman Granell personally shoots & edits the proceedings for all to see. Would that continue if Republicans took control?

We doubt it.

Good things are happening in North Arlington for the first time in a long time.

Free and independent of the political baggage of the previous regime, the Massa Administration means it when it says it places taxpayers first! Local Democrats were right about EnCap. Local Democrats are the conservative alternative to the "tax & spend" failures of the Kaiser regime that nearly bankrupt the community and squandered tens of millions of dollars without a thought about tomorrow!

This year, two disciples of the old Kaiser regime want a place at the table.

Former GOP Chairman Jim Bocchino, a retired BCUA patronage employee and chief fundraiser who served on the now defunct NARA is making another attempt for public office. His partner is James Herrmann, the tax & spend former school trustee who has the distinction of raising school taxes as well as municipal taxes during his frightening tenure as a councilman in the Kaiser Administration. After being defeated by landslide proportions in 2003, he was part of a scheme to get himself appointed to a council vacancy only to be bounced from office again by a Bergen County Superior Court Judge who voided his botched placement!

Reaching into a failed political past is no way for North Arlington to move forward.

With Mayor Massa and his team, we have honest and open government. A government that delivers. A government that works for taxpayers.

Mayor Massa needs his team intact to continue to restore North Arlington's good fortunes. The Republican ticket is an obvious throwback to a time and place we all want to forget.

Council President Steve Tanelli and former Councilman Mark Yampaglia have unquestioned integrity. They believe in the principle of keeping North Arlington small, safe and suburban!

The opposition is a duo of failed leadership NA can no longer afford. 

The time has come to put away the past and move forward with honest leadership we can trust. That's very little to ask from those who serve the public trust.

FINALLY, IT'S OVER!

NJMC'S decision to pull the plug on EnCap is a second chance for N. Arlington, Lyndhurst & Rutherford to construct a responsible plan for redevelopment in the Meadowlands 

The political gods sometimes do the right thing.

In the case of EnCap, they finally pulled the plug on the biggest redevelopment debacle in the state of New Jersey.

A plan that never sought public opinion or input, but an "insider's deal" that put a bunch of developers, bureaucrats, state appointees, lawyers, engineers and other special interests in a room to construct something nobody in the host communities ever wanted in the first place!

For the lesson of EnCap is very simple. You can't push two pounds of baloney in a one pound bag! Those who supported this project for too long were obsessed in saving something nobody ever wanted in the first place.

Who wanted thousands of new units of housing except the developer?

Who wanted the construction of low income housing and the application of eminent domain seizure?

Who supported the density or the height of the project as proposed? Who thought the PILOT arrangement was a good idea?

Who was going to pay for the tens of millions of dollars in roads, schools and other infrastructure essential needed to increase the region's population by as much as 30% in the most traveled corridor in the most densely populated state in the nation?

While the fallout from the NJMC's is yet to be determined, it's obvious to those in-the-know that the Corzine Administration wanted the plug pulled on this project.

It was only a few weeks ago that Governor Jon Corzine trekked to Lyndhurst to meet with the mayors, legislators and other officials to discuss the EnCap dilemma. Long known for keeping his political cards close to his chest, Governor Corzine finally came to the conclusion that saving EnCap wasn't worth the political capital.

From a public policy perspective, the project was nothing short of failure.

While it's unclear how this effects North Arlington's current litigation, one must assume without a Phase One, how can EnCap go forward with Phase Two? What developer would sink millions into a project the state has basically abandoned? While EnCap may own the property, the parcels are only truly valuable with a plan that the community will embrace. More importantly, does EnCap have the financial ability to hold on to these parcels given the fact Donald Trump had to make their latest tax payment?

The time for EnCap to seek a graceful exit strategy is now.

While the NJMC voided the deal, it was the long shadow of the state of New Jersey that said enough is enough.

While politics seems to have a say in anything New Jersey, the fact Mr. Corzine will probably seek re-election in 2009 didn't want the stench of a botched project like EnCap hanging over his political scalp!

The properties currently owned by the developer are valuable and will be purchased at the right price by another company who has an economic interest in the region.

By any standard, the redevelopment of these properties after the remediation is complete will only increase  values. EnCap will still walk away with a healthy profit if and when the parcels are transacted. While the promise of PILOT payments is now just a bad memory, EnCap needs to reconsider the options left given the circumstances.

For Donald Trump, no harm and no foul.

The savvy billionaire from midtown Manhattan isn't about to pick-up the pieces of this redevelopment "humpty-dumpty."

Under improved economic conditions and better terms for the communities in question, one would think Trump might just come back at a later date with a better mouse trap.

The issue was never Trump, the issue was the deals in place with EnCap.

One finds it hard for EnCap to do anything but just go away. The state's rejection of them as the developer will dramatically change the redevelopment landscape forever.

For North Arlington, this is vindication both politically as well as from a public policy perspective.

All the political spin in the world won't change the hard reality that Mayor Peter Massa, Council President Steve Tanelli, Councilman Al Granell and Councilman Sal DiBlasi led the fight to stop EnCap. It would be factually incorrect not to include Councilman Jim Ferriero as well as former council members Phil Spanola & Mark Yampaglia who originally endorsed EnCap, had the political courage to switch sides an aid this mayor to do the right thing.

Who on the Republican side can say the same?

Who on the Republican side ever criticized EnCap just once?

Some voters have short memories and others like to re-write history. This web site has covered this story more closely than any local medium in-print or online. This web site applauded the efforts of The Record's Jeff Pillets and others who did the hard work and the kind of investigative reporting reminiscent of the days of Woodward & Bernstein!

But now is no time for self-praise.

The NJMC led by DCA chief Joe Doria and Executive Director Robert Ceberio did the right thing. In the end, it was Doria & Ceberio with the support of Governor Corzine and others that finally came to the only conclusion Pete Massa figured out three years ago.  

This David versus Goliath struggle is now finally behind us. Now is the time to move forward and put taxpayers first. Isn't that the purpose of government?

To put the public interest first?

Congratulations to Mayor Pete Massa and the North Arlington governing body on a well earned victory.

EnCap or garbage, choose your poison!

Keeping landfills open to subsidize the cost of remediation makes sense for North Arlington taxpayers!

The history of the Meadowlands and North Arlington's involvement with landfill operations is really in the eye of the beholder. Politics and legacy play a huge role in what actually happened versus what some would like you to believe.

There are some who have been around the political scene long enough to remember when the construction of the world's largest transfer station began literally in the middle of the night as an all-Republican Mayor & Council justified more garbage versus traditional redevelopment.

While many will remember the late Bill McDowell for his stints as mayor, freeholder, sheriff and Bergen's first county executive, his role in the construction of a garbage baler facility within our borders has been a staple of municipal revenue for generations.

When New Jersey was governed under twenty-one different solid waste authorities, every NJ county was building incinerators, transfer stations and other ways to profit off solid waste. In the case of Carbone, the Supreme Court invalidated the state's solid waste management statutes and deregulation of garbage essentially ended the notion of open land-filling here in New Jersey.

With the Hackensack Meadowlands Commission (now known as the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission) essentially responsible for the governance of these multiple municipalities, the emphasis on redevelopment became the commission's primary objective.

As solid waste revenues continued to decline, North Arlington found itself losing large streams of revenue as the region's primary host community.

While the application and expenditure of host community fees has been hotly debated at the municipal level, it's obvious now that these temporary fees were used as though the revenue would never cease. This issue of squandering these fees was a concern of our former business administrator who made those comments to The Record as far back as the early 1990's.

Enter the concept of turning Brownfield's into Greenfield's and the prospect of EnCap Holdings, the company charged by the NJMC to cap these dormant landfills and begin the transformation of remediate garbage into a landscape for residential and commercial development.

While the most of the parcels in the Meadowlands were within NAMCO jurisdiction, North Arlington's aging industrial parcels known as Porete Avenue were being upgraded through a local redevelopment authority created by the Kaiser Administration. The charge to find more tenants and thus more revenue was noble, but ineffective. After millions were invested in infrastructure, the industrial strip failed to attract any new tenants or increases in the borough's tax rolls.

One of the reasons this strategy failed is the lack of state support and need for another commercial park squeezed between two, already successful commercial zones (Kearny & Lyndhurst who already had easy access to roads and highways).

The failure of DOT or the state of New Jersey to invest in an extension of Routes 3 & 17 left the area doomed for failure. Without direct access to 17, 3 or the NJ Turnpike, what company would relocate to an area overrun with garbage trucks along local surface roads such as Schuyler Avenue and Belleville Turnpike?

Fast forward to the 1990's and the McGreevey Administration made the economic commitment to regionally remediate as well as develop. The NJMC become not only a planning authority, but a redevelopment agency dedicated to a single strategy, a single concept.

The failure of EnCap Holdings was self inflictive at so many levels.

The failure for the developer to even consider the process of building public support for residential housing is baffling. How can any developer believe they can just roll out a plan to double the housing stock of a community with no plan for new roads and schools and think anyone would go along?

Incredibly, they did in the form of the NJMC as well as the now defunct, North Arlington Redevelopment Agency.

For anyone with any limited knowledge of this project to suggest that housing was never part of the equation is fooling themselves and no one else. The NARA for years embraced EnCap and sought support from the Mayor & Council to endorse the housing component as late as 2003 and until the body's disbanding in 2004! The correspondence and official minutes left behind by that agency and those who sat on that body embraced the housing component and no amount of political spin can change that reality!

More importantly, why would local Republicans accept nearly $25,000 in campaign donations from EnCap lawyers unless they supported the project?

Who accepts campaign donations from people they don't support? Who accepts financial support from people they intend to oppose?

What's even more ironic is that after leaving the office of mayor, local Republican icon Len Kaiser became a member of the New Jersey Meadowlands Commission appointed by former Governor Jim McGreevey who supported EnCap. Are we to believe that Mr. Kaiser was appointed to oppose the Governor's signature public policy proposal in the Meadowlands?

Why would a Republican accept a state appointment from a Democrat who's primary legislative goal was to support EnCap Holdings?

After gaining membership to the NJMC, Kaiser then lobbied NA Republicans to become a member of the North Arlington Redevelopment Agency (NARA). He resigned after one (1) meeting in a long-winded explanation that EnCap was being politicized. In that time of membership,  he criticized this web site as well as Mayor Russ Pitman for not supporting EnCap (2003). How does one lay criticism at the feet of an individual who defeated him for re-election on the issue of opposing EnCap, but somehow won't admit he's for the project in question?

Now here we are after years public opposition to the EnCap project by North Arlington Democrats that the issue of landfill fees continues to play a critical role in the borough's finances. The hard reality is that continued fees from baler operations are a good thing for North Arlington if the only alternative is the construction of Arlington Valley!

Do people now realize why Mayor Pete Massa seeks a federal inquiry into this whole sordid affair?

No one in North Arlington wants housing. In a recent poll commissioned by local Democrats, just 8% of residents surveyed support a housing component.

Can public opinion against housing be anymore lopsided?

So as North Arlington remains in litigation and Rutherford seems prepared to do the same, who really supports EnCap?

Is the Trump Organization really going to construct a project nobody wants? Would a developer go ahead with absolutely no popular support and just build what people despise?

Is the Trump Organization going to risk damage to their own reputation and brand to save something nobody wants?

Governor Corzine's meeting with local mayors was noble, but not enough. The EnCap debacle is a text book case on how not formulate public policy. Redevelopment policy planned in a vacuum such as EnCap creates a public policy disaster because politics & greed trumped responsible governance and the needs of the region.

Here in North Arlington we have two repackaged Republicans who played key roles in the approval of EnCap.

Jim Bocchino & James Herrmann are poster child's for EnCap and the tax increases they inflicted upon North Arlington. They stay silent when asked about refunding donations from the DeCotiis law firm. They remain silent on the issue of increasing spending or approving raises for employees.

They lack a plan for the Meadowlands because their plan was EnCap!

In Mr. Herrmann, we have a defeated candidate who after losing by nearly a 1,000 votes sought a last minute appointment to a council vacancy. His appointment was arrogant and the process was botched. A Superior Court Judge agreed and he was removed from office - again!

Now after staying in political hibernation, Mr. Herrmann wants to reinvent his tax and spend, pro-EnCap record. The voters know better.

In Mr. Bocchino we have that party's chief fundraisers. A party regular and retired patronage employee of the BCUA, he served as one of Kaiser's most trusted lieutenants. A candidate who placed fourth in a field of five in 2006, Mr. Bocchino brings nothing but support for a project that has gone completely astray!

Last year Republicans celebrated with glee election night as their former leader jumped on a table to proclaim local Democrats were dead and that this year would mean a return to GOP rule! Is this what North Arlington wants? The very people responsible for the mess we're in? The very people who created the EnCap debacle in the first place?

The hatred for the Democrats who tossed local Republicans out of office is old and tired. In the end, the people tossed them out of office because they raised taxes and supported policies that the people could not.

Isn't it really that simple?

Mayor Pete Massa needs a council that's cooperative, not combative. The addition of Bocchino and Herrmann would create a new, pro-EnCap majority. That's just the truth. It's something they just want to keep buried and away from public consumption.

North Arlington and the NJMC needs to be working in concert to do what's best for taxpayers. What's best for taxpayers is keeping the baler facility operational and sustaining revenue for North Arlington until the next piece of the redevelopment puzzle is solved.

That's what Democrats want and support.

When will the Republicans tell us what they intend to do?

THE TIME TO REPUDIATE WRIGHT IS NOW!

Retired pastor's outrageous grandstanding and political rhetoric is destroying Senator Obama's bid for the presidency!

Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign is grinding to a halt because of the outrageous and irresponsible political rhetoric of Jeremiah Wright, the retired pastor of Obama's Chicago based church and place of worship.

Mr. Wright appeared before the National Press Club to further demonstrate why Senator Obama needs to cut off any ties to this disturbing individual who's making a mockery of the principles of religion, race and politics here in America.

By any standard, Mr. Wright's insensitive comments and failure to apologize for previous sermons laced with hatred against the values of most Americans can no longer be ignored as the ranting of some obscure minister. Mr. Wright's sermons and style of preaching is being met with mass outrage by both Republicans and Democrats as well as most church going Americans.

It is a political tragedy that Senator Obama, who for the most part has run a high brow, issues oriented contest with Senator Hillary Clinton is becoming a political casualty not of Clinton's negative attacks, but the continued public statements by a person who claims to be a supporter of Mr. Obama.

One could only squirm watching Mr. Wright's ridiculous and pathetic performance as a guest of the National Press Club, long a venue for national celebrity and public officials to get their points across to the general public.

Senator Obama's national campaign is deteriorating at the seams because of a man intent on staying in the pubic spotlight by continuing to poke his finger through the values of most Americans while refusing to explain the need to trash America at the expense of most Americans!

Last week the Pope visited the United States to the delight of most people regardless of religious persuasion.

The Pope went out of his way to meet with the leadership of many denominations including Jews & Moslems. He acknowledged the molestation scandal and met with members of the families afflicted by that moral outrage. The Pope's visit was positive, inclusive and good for all religions and people.

When one compares the actions and goals of the Pope and the continued rhetoric of a man claims to be "religious" like Mr. Wright, one cannot help but wonder how Senator Barack Obama could ever spend one sermon before this man much less rely on him as a source of faith and Christianity.

Senator Obama is now a political cripple who's candidacy will further implode until the Wright dilemma is addressed.

The only choice for Senator Obama is to repudiate this man once and for all. This is no longer a question of politics, but simple right and wrong. It is wrong for a presidential hopeful to associate with someone many people consider an extremist who supports policies that outrage the sensibilities of most Americans regardless of politics.

It's simply a shame that an individual of Senator Barack Obama's talent and possibilities could be torpedoed by such an embarrassing dilemma. One would hope that African-Americans of national stature will join Senator Obama in repudiating this man once and for all before Mr. Obama's once hopeful presidential crusade will be reduced to shreds thanks to the hateful words of a minister clearly out-of-control.

North Arlington: STAY THE COURSE!

Stopping EnCap, cutting spending, controlling property taxes and taking a tough stand against employee raises is the only way North Arlington can finally fix the problems inherited by the local GOP!

The Democratic Party here in North Arlington did the impossible this year by presenting homeowners with a zero tax increase after being socked with a huge tax hike (33%) just a year ago!

Councilman Al Granell, who serves as the borough's Finance Chairman worked exclusively alone in the construction of this year's budget. He and CFO Judith Tutela did most of the heavy lifting with Administrator Terrence Wall. The two Republicans, Joe Bianchi & Rich Hughes failed to offer a single budget reduction or suggestion that resulted in this year's zero tax increase!

Ironically, Bianchi & Hughes were elected on the heels of last year's 33% tax hike, a tax increase caused by decades of GOP incompetence and the EnCap debacle they supported. Nevertheless, Mr. Bianchi along with Mr. Hughes affirmed Democratic control of North Arlington by voting with the Democrats on this stabilization of municipal spending.

But Republicans want to have it both ways.

Councilman Hughes seems to support any effort to increase spending by seeking more raises for borough employees. It doesn't seem to matter if North Arlington's fiscal future would be adversely effected by such irresponsible action, Mr. Hughes is more interested in cozying up to municipal employees than protecting homeowners!

The hypocrisy of Mr. Hughes is little too much to stomach. Especailly when he can't find the dollars to pay for these increases without raising taxes!

A former municipal employee himself,  Mr. Hughes seems to be an advocate for raises without exception. Wasn't Mr. Hughes' wife a former municipal employee too? Doesn't he have a relative on the municipal payroll? How can someone with these credentials be taken seriously when it comes to the crucial issues of taxes and collective bargaining?

How can Mr. Hughes be objective?

Who does he represent? The homeowner or the municipal employee?

Because North Arlington finally has it's fiscal house in order for one budget doesn't mean that you bust next year's with a series of raises & spending increases the borough cannot afford!

With landfill host fees all but depleted, how is North Arlington going to make-up what will be at least a $2 million dollar deficit in revenues? More importantly, if landfill host fees end completely, that means North Arlington will be forced to assume tipping fees for solid waste. That translates to new expenditure that could be as high as $1M dollars annually! Does Mr. Hughes have a solution on how to find and additional $3 million dollars before he decides to cast a "yes" vote for more raises on top of the fact municipal employees already receive free health benefits and lifetime pensions?

Instead of campaigning from both sides of his mouth, maybe Mr. Hughes can explain to voters how he opposed last year's 33% tax hike, yet has no problem calling for raises while questioning the viability of this year's zero tax increase budget?

Add to the equation Councilman Hughes reconstruction of the facts as it pertains to EnCap where he absolves his political mentor Len Kaiser from responsibility for this redevelopment nightmare, one wonders how any homeowner can take him seriously on issues crucial to the borough's bottom-line!

There is a connection between one fiscal cycle and the next.

Dollars not expended this year can be used to offset potential tax hikes in 2009. The process of arbitrarily raising salaries of well paid municipal employees needs to cease. It was the reason why voters changed horses and voted for Democrats to run North Arlington after 22 years of uninterrupted political control by the Kaiser political organization.

The voters want and expect fiscal responsibility now!

To add salt to the wound, the local GOP has nominated two Kaiser "retreads" in the hope of gaining a new tax & spend majority!

Former Councilman James Herrmann was booted from office in landslide fashion (2003)because he raised municipal taxes by record proportions. In 2004 he was ousted again by a court order and removed from office due to a botched appointment process run amok. A tax & spend EnCap Republican, Mr. Herrmann is joining forces with James Bocchino, a retired BCUA patronage employee and ex-commissioner of the now defunct, North Arlington Redevelopment Agency (NARA), the very government body that gave EnCap the green light for Arlington Valley!

Not only did Bocchino & Herrmann support EnCap and Arlington Valley, but Republicans accepted thousands in campaign contributions from EnCap lawyers like the DeCotiis law firm! In fact Republicans accepted more than $25,000 in contributions from the DeCotiis law firm between 1999 and 2003!

The hard fact is that Mr. Herrmann & Mr. Bocchino have supported EnCap and high taxes for decades! Neither of them represent change, but a step back to the days of the Kaiser Administration of squandered host fees and a culture of arrogance and fiscal irresponsibility!

For North Arlington to truly stabilize taxes, a culture of savings and responsibility must take place.

That means saying "no" to raises it cannot afford. It means building a meaningful surplus to offset unanticipated expenditures like the baler closure and a legitimate plan to develop the Meadowlands in a way that's increasing revenues, not municipal spending!

While the Massa Administration deserves credit for fighting EnCap, the real question is what to do with the properties in a post EnCap environment. The fact the Trump Organization has done nothing to withdraw the current litigation only confirms the threat of Arlington Valley as being real. The people of North Arlington want these parcels cleaned up. They don't want housing and could care less who's name appears on the project!

Tigers rarely changed their stripes.

Bureaucrats like Rich Hughes can't wait to vote yes for more employees, more salaries and higher wages as we enter a crippling economic recession. It's all done under the guise of good government while he sticks you the homeowner with the bill!

What happened to controlling spending and offering fiscal accountability?

That's something Mr. Hughes doesn't want to discuss. What happened to the "businessman" who was going to treat NA like a business? Instead he plays the role of employee advocate instead of representative of the taxpayer!

The rhetoric of a GOP political victory hasn't translated to responsible public policy here in North Arlington.

For what they want is a "throw back" to a time and place that no longer exists. "Easy governance" that came with never ending host revenues is a thing of the past. Those dollars are forever gone and "tough love" is what's needed in local government.

Too bad Mr. Hughes has failed miserably in listening to that call of the weary North Arlington homeowner.