At this point it seems obvious which slate will win the upcoming election. I hope they could answer some of my questions in the brochures they keep sending to my house.
1. Why hasn’t the upcoming tax reassessment been mentioned?
2. What’s being done to address the overcrowding in the schools or the possible takeover of the schools by the state?
3. Why hasn’t a solution to the homeless problem and whether or not a shelter will be built been addressed?
4. What happened to the construction of the county police station on the Goldberg site?
5. Why do so many families in town choose to send their children to private or parochial schools and why isn’t anybody running for council embarrassed by this?
6. What is being done to create harmony and community among the many cultures of people in town? What opportunities do we have to share the richness of our diversity? No parades on Main Street, no celebrations of heritage, just more wasted opportunities to set Hackensack apart from the rest.
7. How are the recreation programs going to be reorganized? Can the dedicated people that run the jr. sports programs in town check their egos at the door, pool their talents, and create a sports board that would organize all the jr. sports programs in town together? (Besides football and track, how many HHS sports programs are CONSISTENTLY in The Record’s top 25?)
8. At what point do we curtail the expansion of the Hackensack University Medical Center?
I’ve received many flashy brochures from the candidates but none that address a particular issue with much detail. WHY? One brochure has all of the candidates pictured with their shirt sleeves rolled up to represent them working hard. Show me a picture of them cooking a meal or mopping the floor at the homeless shelter. I don’t need to see candidates pictured in The County Seat reading to children. I need to see candidates spending time tutoring teenagers so that they have a better chance to get into college. I don’t want to hear more ideas about Main Street. I want to see pictures in The County Seat of more quality stores opening on Main Street.
I give all the credit in the world to the people running and sacrificing tremendous amounts of time for the City of Hackensack but there’s a tremendous amount of power that comes with being on the council and especially mayor. Many people want the title but aren’t prepared for the job at hand or the criticism that comes with the territory. Answer some of the questions I’ve asked, make the changes that will make the city better, then wear the title with pride. Good luck to all!