Buying from Black-owned Businesses in Teaneck and Beyond

Over the span of a weekend in late January, The Record broke news on its front page covering details behind the apparent firing of Holy Name Medical Center’s highly respected Chief Medical Officer Dr. Adam Jarrett by its CEO Michael Maron.

The newspaper provided material supporting a claim that CEO Maron had ordered Dr. Jarrett to “get rid of” a Black physician at the hospital for her role in encouraging Holy Name to make a public statement in support of racial justice in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.

Dr. Jarrett had been at the hospital in his leadership position for more than a decade and had been one of the heroes of the hospital’s battle with COVID.

CEO Maron has vigorously denied the allegations, informing his board that the claims made were false. Despite strong words and divergent narratives from the two sides, Holy Name and Dr. Jarret reached an agreement in late January that included a joint statement from the two parties describing the matter as the result of a “misunderstanding related to managerial direction”.

However, the articles raised concerns about a divergence between the hospital’s public statements about its community orientation, equality and equity in its culture, and its actual performance on issues related to race and gender.

The Record noted Holy Name is based in a Teaneck that has a diverse population that is “46% white, 27% Black, 18% Hispanic or Latino, and 8% Asian”. Yet The Record showed that Holy Name Medical Center, at almost every level, does not reflect the diversity of the township.

The hospital’s 17-member Board of Directors, is overwhelmingly male and White. It includes only one non-white member. Little more than three percent of the 900 healthcare professionals are Black, as is only one of 16 senior managers listed by the institution.

Clearly, the hospital does not reflect the diversity of Teaneck. Unfortunately, it does mirror the Teaneck Township leadership, its administration, and its appointments of residents to statutory boards which are startling in their lack of diversity, particularly in a town like Teaneck.

In 2020, the Township Council appointed three White men to fill the three leadership positions of Mayor and two Deputy Mayors. Then in 2021, this Township Council appointed 12 men to fill all 12 open seats on the two powerful land-use boards, the Planning Board and the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Leadership positions in the township’s administration, from the Township Manager on down, are almost entirely male and overwhelmingly non-minority.

The hospital and the township have both lagged behind many municipalities and institutions in the Northeastern part of the United States in efforts to include the diversity that more and more of the public demands.

Teaneck lacks a Minority Contractor Hiring Policy. We should expect our Township Council to implement an effective policy to increase minority employment and ensure that it grant contracts to disadvantaged businesses.

Women account for just over half of the township’s population but are poorly represented in positions of authority in either the Township or the Medical Center.

Residents see little representation of its diversity on boards and commissions or in positions of leadership in the administration.

The Township Council needs to start genuine efforts to ensure that appointments to leadership positions are reflective of all residents.

The group seeking to create a Black Lives Matter mural faced long delays and substantial opposition from councilmembers, including a claim from the mayor that the committee had been taken over by political forces. Meanwhile another mural proposed by a member of council was approved and endorsed the same day without any challenges.

Multifamily construction in Teaneck, in defiance of the Master Plan, has been focused in the Northeast section of the township, a traditionally Black neighborhood, while other neighborhoods remain untouched by these higher-density developments. As traffic congestion grows in the Northeast along with its urbanization and construction of a cannabis manufacture and distribution hub, Teaneck is becoming two towns in one - suburban living in one area of town and urban high-rise apartments in another.

At the same time, the Township should also demand that the hospital make substantial progress to reflect the diversity of Teaneck that serves as its host community. Residents should expect that the hospital work to look much more like the actual population of Teaneck, at all levels, as it demands that the township hands over zoning rights and township land.

The incident with Dr. Jarrett has opened up the hospital to the microscope of scrutiny by the press and the public at large. It’s not too much to demand that Holy Name does a far better job in establishing a true partnership with the Township of Teaneck and all of its residents.

Teaneck Voices believes that the Township leadership, administration, and resident Boards – and the major institutions that serve our residents - should reflect the broad diversity of our town’s population. We have been recognized nationally for over 60 years as a place where all are welcome. Teaneck needs to do more today to deserve that reputation.

Over the past few years, Holy Name Medical Center has been seeking to expand its presence in Teaneck, in part by spreading into the adjoining residential zone.

A Master Plan Amendment written by the Planning Board and supported by the Town Council's new zoning ordinance would make these intrusions permanent.

This would be done without the deed restrictions requested by affected residents. The group, known as the Good Neighbors of Teaneck, recognize the value that Holy Name brings to the community. And they do not oppose its growth. But they have sought assurances that the current expansion into their neighborhood will have a limit.

Despite promises that good-faith negotiations would be conducted, the results of the long ongoing negotiations between Holy Name and the Good Neighbors seem to lead only to increased frustration. At the time of this writing, the matter of further hospital advancement in the neighborhood has not been mutually resolved.

In April 2021, Township Planner Richard Preiss wrote an email, made available under the Open Public Records Act, warning Deputy Mayors Katz and Schwartz that allowing Holy Name "to get their way, imperils the neighborhood, the Township and the two of you and the other members of the council who might be tempted to go along with them."

Preiss emphasized that "Teaneck holds all the cards." Even after the giveaways that have already been made by the deputy mayors and the Planning Board, the township still holds powerful cards.

One of the keys to the hospital’s plan is the township’s turning over a significant portion of Chadwick Road to Holy Name. The Township Council should refuse to give away public property without the Hospital reaching mutual agreement with the Good Neighbors of Teaneck to protect the area from further encroachment.

We still hold the cards. We just need to use them to benefit all residents, not just the ones holding the cards.

NOTE: At this Tuesday's Council Meeting, the Ordinance to change the zoning to accommodate Holy Name's expansion will be introduced. (See below: Upcoming Municipal Meetings: Holy Name Zoning) There is apparently no signed agreement yet between the Good Neighbors of Teaneck and the Hospital.

Buying black is one of the principles of Kwanza, Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics) the fourth day of Kwanzaa, which celebrates the principle of ujamaa, or supporting each other economically. Buying from Black-owned businesses and banking with banks in the Black community keeps the economy strong in the African American community.

Self-determination encompasses not only social and political but also economic empowerment. Wealth plays a vital role impacting the lives of Black Americans. For every dollar that is spent in Black-owned businesses it has a ripple effect in creating jobs that buy the goods and services that are essential in every community. Additionally, buying black means that consumers benefit from the exchange of Black culture, ideas, perspectives, and innovation from food to fashion and financial services.

Many Black Americans have chosen Teaneck to launch their entrepreneurial endeavor for many of the same reasons that other businesses have: including demographics, income, consumer disposable income, proximity to NYC, access to major highways and transportation hubs. Certainly, Teaneck has a nice representation of restaurants with a myriad of cuisines. Retail and Salon businesses are plentiful along with financial services to marketing and consultative entities. Black professionals in private practice abound.

However, despite their presence, there is a need for more opportunity to include consumer-to-business as well as business-to-business and business-to-government enterprises.

Although the Federal and State government offer training and certifications programs, County, and municipal government with large annual budgets could do a better job of identifying local contracting opportunities for Black-owned businesses.

Bergen County has created a site to help businesses take advantage of local government contracts. But municipalities like Teaneck can do a lot to improve publicity on its contracting in general, and, more specifically, make its Requests for Proposal and Requests for Information known to Black-owned Businesses.

Economic Opportunity and Equity and Diversity are not accomplished by good intentions, but through purposeful initiatives; purposeful initiatives that allow Black-owned businesses to participate in business and professional opportunities.

One example of this kind of purposeful initiative is seen in the New Jersey State Cannabis Regulatory Commission attempts to level the playing field in the issuance of NJ Cannabis licenses to Black and Brown business communities. Other methods to proactively include diverse business communities must be explored as well.

The fact is, less than 6% of government contracts in NJ go to Black owned businesses. The numbers must be improved for underrepresented communities.

The good news is that Teaneck is home to many black-owned business that have the goods and services and expertise that the government buys.

Let us continue to find solutions that can be championed by strong Chambers of Commerce and Minority and Women owned business advocates who desire to bridge the gap between contracts and the Minority business communities.

Organizations like the African American Chamber of Commerce of NJ have spearheaded powerful partnerships with corporate leaders and government entities advocating for black-owned businesses.

Let us all Advocate for Black-owned business. Teaneck Voices will be glad to publicize local minority-owned business if you will send the following information to Teaneckvoices@gmail.com:

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You probably know her as the Biddy Basketball Lady. Or maybe you’ve seen her at an event at St. Marks Episcopal Church, setting up tables, preparing and serving food, being a good hostess to congregants and guests.

But you may not know that she was NBC’s technology guru and on the start-up team for MSNBC – the cable and internet brainchild news service of NBC and Microsoft. Twenty-five years ago, Allison Davis coached and cheered the young Biddy Basketball players from Thursdays through Sundays. Then on Sunday afternoons she would fly to Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington to work with the creative team building MSNBC.

Allison was a writer and producer for NBC News’ "Today" (1984-94), as well as a producer for the NBC News broadcasts "Monitor,” "First Camera" and "NBC Nightly News.” She knew technology because she had started a company within NBC to market their archives. Thus, she was tapped by the President of NBC to work with Microsoft on MSNBC

Allison was born in New York City, middle of three children. When her father came back from World War II, he worked as a Skycap at LaGuardia airport at night, going to Columbia University on the GI Bill during the day. As a Skycap, her dad became active with the Transport Workers Union.

Her family moved to Teaneck in 1958. When her family moved to Teaneck, her father moved to Chicago as Vice President of the International Transport Workers Union, coming home every 2 weeks. He soon was tapped by George Meany, President of the AFL-CIO to become the Assistant Director of the Civil Rights department of the AFL-CIO.

While her father worked in Washington, D.C., the family stayed in Teaneck. At that time, D.C. was segregated, and her mother didn’t want to move the kids from Teaneck’s integrated and superior schools. So, her father rode the Turnpike every Friday and Monday for 4 years until Allison was in 7th grade.

By that time, 1966, the schools in Silver Spring, MD, had become integrated, so the family moved there. Just before the move, her dad was loaned out by George Meany to the Lyndon Johnson administration to start the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC). While still in Teaneck, he (and the family) successfully passed a Senate Confirmation hearing, FBI investigation, included.

Allison was going into 6th grade when Bryant became a central 6th grade in 1965. She remembers the town and the national media celebrating the 6th graders who were bused from all parts of town to Bryant as “heroes”

Allison says, “We sixth graders were not the heroes. The heroes were the little kids from Bryant 1-5 who got on one of 7 buses and were driven away to parts of town where they were not allowed to live and which their families didn’t know.” The heroes included the mothers, many of whom, like her mother, didn’t drive and didn’t know where their small children were going. Allison’s younger brother was bused to Lowell School. His friend next door was bused to Longfellow.

As Allison says, “Initially, as far as my mother knew, he could have been taken to Alabama!” If the school nurse called home because her brother was sick or injured, her mother didn’t know where to go, and had no way to get there even if she had known. “So,” she says, “the burden still fell on the Black Community. These were the heroes – young kids put on buses and taken to places where their parents couldn’t get to them. That “successful” experiment was the beginning of racial integration but was nothing compared to the trauma experienced by many of the young Bryant School kids bused far from their homes.

Allison and her husband, Robert Wright, moved back to Teaneck in 1980. They chose Northeast Teaneck because they wanted to live in a stable Black neighborhood. In Silver Spring, hers was the only Black family in neighborhood. Allison wanted her children to know that they could move into a Black neighborhood, and it could be a great place to grow up.

Allison’s career has been in Television News. She always loved it! She graduated from Boston University’s School of Public Communications, now known as the College of Communications or COM. She attributes her interest in journalism to two things: 1) her dad’s travels and the stories he would bring home about what was happening in the world, and 2) starting from 1st grade at Bryant they had to do Current Events.

“I was really good at Current Events,” she says. She started writing for the Bryant newsletter and later, in high school, she was the Features Editor for the school newspaper.

One of her BU professors told her about a job opportunity at WBZ-TV in Boston and set up an interview for a newswriting job. A month after her 22nd birthday, she got the job. Four years later she went on the air as an investigative reporter at KDKA in Pittsburgh. She uncovered a big story which brought her to the attention of NBC where she worked for over 30 years.

Allison J. Davis is the founder of Coopty Productions, LLC, a company that provides video and virtual production for not for profits. Launched in 2007, Coopty Productions has served as the production arm for Say Yes to Education (under a Ford Foundation grant), the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, the Studio Museum of Harlem and New Jersey Black Issues Conference. She was the Director of Communications and COO at the Jackie Robinson Foundation, a scholarship, mentoring and leadership program that awards four-year college scholarships to academically gifted students of color with financial need.

 In 2009, Davis took a position at the historic Riverside Church where she led a team that produced both external and internal communications as well as provided technical services for Riverside. From 1997 to 2004, Davis served as Senior Vice President-Creative of CBS/Dunbar Productions. Dunbar, a company founded in 1997 by Bryant Gumbel in partnership with CBS.

Davis is a Founder of the National Association of Black Journalists. In 2016, she was inducted into the organization’s Hall of Fame. She serves on the executive board of Poets & Writers and Boston University’s Black Alumni Leadership Council. Davis has been an adjunct professor at CUNY’s Graduate School of Journalism, Howard University’s School of Communications, and the City College of New York. She is a member of the Bergen County, (NJ) Chapter of the Links Incorporated and serves on many national committees of this prestigious organization.

Davis has received numerous awards and honors, including two Women in Communications Awards (1986 and 1998) and several Emmy nominations. Davis also received Boston University’s Distinguished Alumni Award in 2009 and has received the University’s Alumni Award for Service to Profession in 1997 and again in 2000. In 2017, Davis also received the “Hidden Figure” award from the Iota Epsilon Omega chapter of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Allison Davis’s wish for Teaneck: That her fellow residents of Teaneck would understand how much power they have in the vote – that they can affect and change their schools and their government by the vote. And they can seek legal recourse if all else fails. A lifetime in journalism has convinced her that we can fight city hall.

Universe 1 - Teaneck Zoning Changes: The Township Council and Planning Board spent the early part of 2022 creating a new ordinance (2-2022) with several elements. The most salient element was the authorization for community centers and other "conditional uses", including houses of worship, to be located in properties within the P (Public Use) Zone.

The specific locations to which this ordinance applied were the Rodda Center and AUCC at 50 Oakdene Ave.

50 Oakdene Ave. was the original location of Longfellow elementary school, and later became a private house of worship and day care center. In 2018 the property was sold to the Ray of Sunshine Foundation.

How these new zoning authorizations are going to be applied to elements of the site plan approvals of the 50 Oakdene facility are obscure.

Neither the Council nor the Planning Board have stated publicly what the ordinance means for 50 Oakdene. Indeed, neighbors of 50 Oakdene have asked at Council, Planning Board, and Board of Adjustment meetings about where and how the next approvals would occur. They got no clear answers.

Universe 2 - The federal courts: Those decisions may well remain obscure, partly due to an ongoing civil rights suit claiming discrimination. This suit was brought to federal court in October 2020 by the new owners of 50 Oakdene against the Teaneck Board of Adjustment and a list of its individual members.

The suit followed immediately after an October 1, 2020 Board of Adjustment decision that the Board’s minutes describe thus:

A review of the lengthy docket entries that have evolved during the course of AUCC’s suit shows a case that is on an entirely different track than the new zoning processes. And this week saw the federal surrogate judge convening a conference call which officially focused on what the AUCC sees as the Board of Adjustment’s inadequate responses to its discovery demands. Here is how the judge summarized the focus of actions and orders arising from that lengthy 2/14 conference call.

Meanwhile the 50 Oakdene neighbors are left out of any current process. They have no guidance as to how and whether their original concerns about the community center’s layout and activities will be addressed and regulated.

Appointments can be scheduled at www.hackensackmeridianhealth.org/en/covid19/schedule

Free at-home COVID-19 tests ordered on www.covidtests.gov and delivered by USPS. Limit of 1 order per household. Each order contains 4 individual tests.

In an effort to keep the senior center staff and participants safe, all are required to be fully vaccinated and provide proof of vaccination. Mask wearing and social distancing are required.

Forms for the spring session are available February 14 in the senior center lobby, outside of the recreation office on the first floor and online on the town website. Spring classes begin in March.

Teaneck Library Services and Schedule have been altered due to COVID: See updated schedule

Events at the Library: Click here

Monday, February 21, 2022 at 8:00 pm.

Public access and opportunity for input limited by Advisory Board ordinance* (see Ordinance below)

Tuesday February 22, 2022at 8:00 pm

Zoom Link and passcode 107068

For the agenda packet as of 2/18 Click Here

Notes: The public will have two opportunities to provide input at this next Council meeting. The first will be the separate public hearing before which Council will vote on whether to adopt 2 new ordinances. One ordinance (5-2022 – at p. 47 in the agenda packet) would establish new upper salary ranges for 5 senior town employees.

The second ordinance (7-2022 at p. 49-52) would approve business advertising for the recently approved Township Council Newsletter to be produced – according to this proposed ordinance – by the Township Manager. This quarterly newsletter has been described by the Mayor as needed to counteract municipal misinformation in social media.

The second opportunity for public input will occur during Good and Welfare.

Several important issues deserve attention:

Wednesday, February 23, 2022 at 7:00pm.

Zoom Link here with a passcode of 955219.

A complete agenda (including clickable resources to augment agenda item understanding for this meeting has been available for nearly a week and is Available Here.

THPC continues to be the Teaneck entity whose leadership best demonstrates that it is possible to conduct productive Commission meetings by informing Commission members and the public about what the Commission is discussing and recommending and why.

Thursday February 24, 2022 at 7:00pm

Public access and opportunity for input limited by Advisory Board ordinance* (see Ordinacne below)

Thursday February 24, 2022 at 8:00pm

As of 2/19 no information was available from the Township as to the location, zoom address or agenda of this scheduled statutory land use board meeting.

Click onto the link below to attend on February 28 at 7:30 p.m.

Link for this Thursday: https://vimeo.com/676303704

We're pleased to announce our first ever Teaneck eCitizen Program for adults! This program aims to teach participants how to:

January 19 to February 23 is now FULL. This Program will be offered again in March and April. Click here for more detailed information about this Program.