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Candidate Ballots Nearly Set for Local Elections


PUBLISHED BY TEANECK VOICES

9/2/2024

Contents:

  • Ballots Nearly Set for Local Elections
  • Dear Editors – Howard Rose on Master Plan Draft
  • Manager’s To-Do List
  • Errata – How Many Residents Addressed Cannabis?
  • This Week in Teaneck – 9/2 to 9/8, 2024


Announcements

  • Teaneck Day Weekend – 9/7&8
  • LWV Local Candidate Election Forums – Council and BOE



Contacting Teaneck Voices:

  • Email: teaneckvoices@gmail.com
  • Phone: 201-214-4937
  • USPS Mail: Teaneck Voices, PO Box 873. at 1673 Palisade Ave. 07666

Ballots Nearly Set for Local Elections

Almost Set – but not quite. Early on Friday morning August 30, Teaneck’s website reported that 7 candidates had been certified by the Township Clerk for the General Election that will conclude on November 5th. Three of those seven candidates will then be elected to our Council, our 7-member governing board.  The list that follows reported the names of those certified candidates who were listed in the order in which the successfully certified candidates had submitted petitions by August 22.

The final additional step of ballot decision-making will be taken at noon on Tuesday, September 3 in Council Chambers where the Clerk will conduct a drawing to determine the order in which the Council candidates will appear on our ballots. We already know two candidates will be bracketed together and run under the same slogan. Additionally, it is widely viewed that among the remaining 5 candidates there will be at least 3 others who will run together.  All this will be set before the noon drawing – and of course, Voices will report the final ballot order and candidate slogans in its next newsletter.


We had reported in our August 5 edition the order and bracketing among the 5 candidates running for the 3 open positions for the Board of Education was set. Subsequently, two of those candidates who had bracketed are now running independently. Those candidates are Levy and Gibbs. Candidates Hosein, Rodriguez, and Wong remain bracketed under the slogan Focused on Students. 


Alert – save the dates: Teaneck Voices has consistently supported candidate electoral forums as a way for our voters to become informed by seeing and hearing our candidates.  Again this year two organizations that traditionally sponsor candidate forums for both our Council and BOE elections have scheduled their forums. Typically these organizations are able to secure the participation of virtually all of the candidates running for these two elections.


All four of the scheduled forums sponsored by these two organizations will take place in the Student Center at Teaneck High School. Mark your calendars for 4 Monday nights in a row. 


  • The League of Women Voters has scheduled its BOE forum for Monday, September 23 at 7:30. It has scheduled its Council candidate forum for Monday, September 30 
  • The Northeast Teaneck Block Presidents’ Association has scheduled its BOE candidate forum for the evening of Monday, October 7. And it has scheduled the Council candidate forum for Monday, October 14.


Teaneck Voices will not only be providing more information on these forums – but will throughout the lead-up to these Nov 5 elections be providing information to inform its readers and help them to know when and where to vote.

Dear Editors – Howard Rose on Master Plan Draft

Long-time Teaneck Resident Howard Rose served on our Planning Board for 17 years and was a signer of the Township’s current full 2007 Master Plan. This week he wrote to Voices about his views of the draft Master Plan recently discussed at the 8/19 public hearing which is scheduled to continue on Monday 9/16 at the Rodda Center


Dear Editors, 

August 29, 2024


The proposed Township of Teaneck Master Plan discussed at the 08/19/24 Planning Board Meeting is a well-intentioned document that falls short.


The plan starts with six pages of photographs and personnel introductions, which could be consolidated to one page of text. The actuals goals and objectives are buried late in the document amid photographs (too many), charts (some undecipherable), maps (helpful), statistics (some good, some gobbledygook).


The premise of the plan is to conceptualize the community “GOALS AND OBJECTIVES” of Teaneck. The rationale for the goals and objectives is evidenced with township detail regarding historical context, present situation, and desired future.


“GOALS AND OBJECTIVES” should be on page 1 of the text. Presenting these concise statements immediately directs the content of the rest of the document.  All of the other information is important: geography, land use, resident demographics, and enough information to show insight into the township's direction and provide a guide for future development. A detailed explanation should follow the stated “GOALS AND OBJECTIVES”, not precede it.


The Planning Board should take on the tedious (but necessary) task of having a meeting with resident input to review the plan page by page.  This will gain more insight than the previous meetings. Let's skip any semblance of superficiality and cut to the chase and provide a document that is direct and formatted with more understandable detail. 


I can’t restate it enough, the Master Plan is not Teaneck’s bible, it is not law, but after laws, it is Teaneck’s most important document. It sets the stage for tomorrow.


Howard Rose

Former 17-year Teaneck Planning Board Member

and 9-year Teaneck School District Board Trustee

Manager’s To-Do List

New Manager Jaclyn Hashmat faces a truly awesome task as she takes on the job of CEO of this 40,000-resident municipality. Teaneck Voices has put together the start of a T0-Do list of tasks all of which are important, and many of which (or parts of which) are urgent. This list is in no particular order.


  • Town culture needs repair
  • Conflict among various racial, religious, and ethnic groups, is exacerbated by the conflict in the Middle East.
  • Council debate about limiting public input
  • Disrespect among Council members


  • Resident anger over the use of Areas in Need of Redevelopment (AINRs) for redevelopment purposes. Residents battle having areas of the town declared blighted to allow Council and unnamed developers to rebuild Teaneck with disregard to Master Plan zoning and residents’ wishes. Specific concern about State Street in the Northeast and American Legion Drive/Beverly Road surrounding Cedar Lane.


  • New website – Not ready for prime time
  • Need sophisticated search capability
  • Carryover from old website continues same difficulties
  • The clear need to Hire a part-time Webmaster


  • Solve the IT problems – our Zooms and videos routinely fail. Our Town telephone system went on the blink at the end of August. Is it equipment or expertise that needs an upgrade?


  • The New Master Plan draft requires resident-requested significant changes. Who is revising the Master Plan? 


  • Meet a budget increase of 4.99% and prepare for a possible 15% increase next year while maintaining full town services.


  • Deal with contaminated and dangerous DPW and recycling center on River Road. Remediate and rebuild or again feign a move elsewhere? Need to release recent studies to the public? Urgent action is needed on a safety threat that has been consistently called out by Town Managers and environmental experts since 1973 (Its 50th anniversary is this fall).  Council consistently bobs and weaves away from reality.


  • Debate over hiring of a Code Enforcement Officer. Why have a Code if it isn’t enforced? Would a Code Enforcement Officer prevent areas from becoming AINRs? 


  • Address the planned seven-year Route 4 project to replace the bridge over the CSX tracks and partially widen the bottleneck at Belle Ave. How to provide resident comments on town application to the Department of Environmental Protection about replacement Parkland. How will the Route 4 disruption be handled?


  • Unequal compensation for Councilmembers; one receives the equivalent of approximately $46,000/year; six receive $7,000/year.


  • Help residents with Library Renovation – the necessary disruption of a key municipal service will need a continuous explanation


Errata – How Many Residents Addressed Cannabis?

In our 8/26 Voices edition, we stated that only two members of the public had addressed the new draft  Master Plan’s one-paragraph comment on p.66 discussion of Cannabis (“Allow Cannabis Uses to Thrive in Teaneck”). Voices editors took our own advice and re-listened to the public commentary at the August 19 public hearing on the MP.  Actually, four members of the public commented on that paragraph – 3 opposed it and 1 supported it. 

This Week in Teaneck – September 2 to 8, 2024

With the exception of Monday’s concise meeting of the Hackensack River Greenway Advisory Board (HRGAB) the week that preceded Labor Day was without any public meetings. The week ahead will be different.


If additional information about access and agendas for this week’s public meetings becomes available, we will update our Teaneck Voices website at this post (Click Here) in RED font. 


Drawing for Ballot Positions of Municipal Council Candidates for 2024 General Election – Tuesday, September 3, 2024, at 12:00 pm in person only in Council Chambers of the Municipal Building

  • See the related lead article in this week’s edition


Parks, Playgrounds, and Recreation Advisory Board – Wednesday, September 4, 2024, at 7:30 in person at the Rodda Center. No other information is available.


Board of Adjustment – Thursday, September 5, 2024, in person in Council Chambers of the Municipal Building. Presumably this meeting also will be available simultaneously by Zoom (zoom access information not yet available) but Zoom participants will not have an opportunity to speak. No agenda information is available.


Teaneck Day Weekend – Saturday 9-7 and Sunday 9-8 in Votee Park. 

  • See additional information in this edition’s Announcement section

Announcements

Contacting Teaneck Voices


Co-Editors: Dr. Barbara Ley Toffler and Dr. Chuck Powers

IT Editor: Sarah Fisher

By Email: teaneckvoices@gmail.com

By Phone: 201-214-4937

By USPS Mail: Teaneck Voices, PO Box 873. at 1673 Palisade Ave. 07666

Teaneck Voices' Website is www.teaneckvoices.com


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