Pride of Place: Good Neighbors

Monique's garden

Today was a very good day. I posted a status update on Facebook asking if anyone knew where to get gas. Loads of people responded giving advice of places to purchase gas. There was a great response. One in particular came from another 4th Ward Family. It touched me like I have not been affected in a lot of years. Responses like this are among the reasons why I do this. Oh, did some of you think it was because of the great paycheck I get for wearing this large bulls eye on my back? News Flash. A friend messaged me inbox and told me that I could have some of  her family's gas. At first, I was reluctant, but then I decided to leave pride alone and accepted the offer. Less than 20 minutes later, she and her husband arrived with the children and put the gas in my car themselves. It was a marvelous gift and I will never forget it. 

Monique's 4-1 Garden

I offered to pay, but they refused. The husband said it was the neighborly thing to do. I hugged them both and got all teary eyed as they drove away. That is the kind of thing we work for years to nurture in neighborhoods like ours. That was the best I have felt in years. They live in 4-3. Before today that seemed like a another part of town. 

Pride of Place.

Stand Together Or Fall Alone

ATTENTION! ATTENTION 4th Ward Residents: We must mobilize and get the word out that people may vote early. We must also inform them that the entire 4th Ward must vote at Liberty School.

EARLY VOTING -
Place: One Bergen County Plaza, Hackensack, NJ
When: Saturday and Sunday
Time: 9 am to 3 pm
Monday from 9 am to 4 pm

ELECTION DAY: Tuesday, November 6
Time: 6 am to 8 pm
Place: Liberty School
          12 Tenafly Rd. (In the old Board of Education building at the monument. 
          Russell C. Major Liberty School

Voting Information From the Governor's Office: http://nj.gov/state/elections/2012-results/signed-directive-hurricane-sandy-110212.pdf

The 4th Ward City Council position is the only Englewood race with two opposing candidates. One of those Candidates clearly does not represent the interests of the 4th ward. Keep in mind that the time goes back tonight. It will be dark at 6 am and it will be dark at 8 pm. People who do not have power, phone, facebook or email do not have this information. The majority of the 4th Ward is still in darkness. 4th Ward Residents are being required to make their way to the THIRD WARD to vote when at least one 4th Ward polling place has power. Contrary to public opinion everyone does not have a cellphone with the internet, Facebook and Twitter. (I do not and am not alone in this.)

We need everyone that has this information to get out and make sure that people in the neighborhood know where to vote. It is more important than ever to get this information out. Everyone is NOT on facebook. My backyard touches people who do not have power. It is that way on both sides of the street. I would not have known anything if I had not gone outside and engaged the people in my neighborhood. Go outside and talk to your neighbors. Make sure they know where to vote.

Make sure they know that people in other wards are making decisions for us at a very crucial time. Events have already been manipulated by others in other wards. Eugene Skurnick, Sue Gamrin, Sondra Greenberg, Kenneth Rosensweig, Earl A. Marsan, Frank Huttle III, Sandra Slipp, William Merritt, Marc Foreman, Lynne Algrant and Valerie Huttle and others do not live in the 4th Ward and should not be allowed to control the outcome of this election. Regardless of the relationship they have with Wayne Hamer, they must not be allowed to decide the outcome of an election in the 4th Ward.

This is about more than one ward in Englewood, New Jersey. This type of craziness is at work all over this country. It is deplorable that a tragedy like this storm may be used as a form of voter suppression. 

Make sure that people also know about the gas restrictions. Today is an odd license plate day, tomorrow even, Monday odd, Tuesday even. Only those with corresponding license plate numbers will be able to purchase gas on these days. Those of you who were around in the mid 70's know the horrors that this type of restriction on gas purchase caused. The odds are against this turning out well. We must all participate in creating a happy end to this situation.

You should all know that I did not pick names above out of thin air. They are the ones who have created this tragic disconnect among 4th Ward voters. See for yourself. They are the ones who are making the decisions. View it in their own hand on this vacancy certification which is not the same thing as a petition of 4th Ward Residents. We have been manipulated. End this now. It is time to be outraged. Click here.  https://acrobat.com/?d=N-YXOqpOAz0-RAOXn5iFGA



 Notice that the other Candidate followed Title 19 Election Law. His petition is signed by 45 4th Ward Residents, not 2. Do we take this on our knees or do we fight it standing on our feet?Click here.
https://workspaces.acrobat.com/?d=0heHGQoFHGdBQbF85AWwaw

Read this article and note that at least one City Council Member acknowledges that the procedure followed is a bit strange. 
Click here.   http://englewood.patch.com/articles/englewood-city-council-appoints-drakeford-s-replacement

 There are approximately 3,500 registered voters in the 4th Ward. We must reach all of them. Our President needs their vote and our Ward needs their voices to drown out those who would presume to give us our facts and our leaders.

Tragic Disconnects

Do we have Disconnects in Communication or just plain old negligence?

Disconnect #1 While listening to one of the presenters on the October 22, 2012 Master Plan Hearing, I was taken aback. One of the concerns of her group was that Palisade Avenue itself was dangerous. I thought, what is she talking about. The truth of the matter is that we must all give a little, including yours truly. Last night, after dark, a group of us decided to walk the avenue. We were quite honestly looking for the Campaign Headquarters of a political candidate that is supposed to be located near Wells Fargo. We did not find it. On the way back, I started counting the street lights that were in need of bulb replacement or repair. I counted 33 lights out on both sides of Palisade Avenue beginning west of the railroad tracks down to the monument.  These lights include the tall traditional street lights and the short quaint and classic accent lamps that are mounted on the green poles. You  know the ones on which they hang the Christmas lights and decorations.  I made a mental note to forgive myself for thinking that the presenter had been too hard on Palisade Avenue and whether or not it is safe. She is absolutely correct. It is too dark on Palisade Avenue. It is not a welcome nighttime walk. There were 4 of us, 2 men and 2 women. I don't think it is a walk that I would have wanted to take without the men. Lighting on both sides of Palisade Avenue west of the tracks need new bulbs or they need repairing. That is neglect. If we want people to come here to live, shop, eat, work, visit or just to walk around, we must do a better job of making it safe and well lit at night. There were also numerous children on the street unaccompanied by adults. Needless to say, they need a place to go that will not cost them any money. I am sure that their presence would probably frighten more than a few people who live on the other side of the railroad tracks.

How did it look before this?
You must be logged in to Facebook to
see this album,

Disconnect #2

Community Baptist Church was the site of Councilman

Hamer's 1st 4th Ward Meeting. The 4-2 Committee person complained about the historic garden located on the corner of Lafayette and Genesee. He said it was an eyesore and that it should be sold and made into something. That garden may date back as long as 70 years ago. We have established that it has definitely been handed down far more than 50 years. When I arrived in Englewood it was being cared for by one of my grandmother's friends and her former landlord. I think his name was Cecil Bacote. There are stories of him plowing and going about the City with a horse and a wagon. Many people remember him taking care of the garden that far back. The care and maintenance of this garden has changed hands many times since then. We have exchanged seeds, plants and stories from early Englewood and the south. Many residents, including myself have contributed to the garden and have eaten food from it. When I replaced my large backyard garden with a swimming pool, I gave my roto tiller to the man who worked the Lafayette garden. He showed up at my house every season since with bags of vegetables from the garden.  He seemed overwhelmed and totally surprised that I gave him a roto tiller that would have cost him over

The small plot behind the Auto Shop that used to be a garbage dump for leaves, wood chips and yard refuse
from other parts of the City. I wanted to photograph them working, but it never happened.
When they saw the camera, they posed.

$300 if he had purchased it. The 4th Ward Committee Person was very adamant that this eye sore of nature must be sold and turned into something. In other words, he wishes to "pave paradise and put in a parking lot" because he doesn't like the garden. It is doubtful that the lot is large enough to build a house, at least, I hope it isn't. Did he consult the residents? Did the person who ordered the garden razed to the ground collard greens and all consult the residents who have been eating from it for years? The proper way to put a garden to sleep for the winter is to turn the dead stuff into the soil after harvesting the cold crop (collard greens and kale). He also mentioned the lot across the street behind the Auto Body Shop where the city used to dump refuse. The man must have personal thing against vegetable gardens or gardeners. I really must say that I prefer the garden to the pile of mulch that used to be dumped behind the Auto Shop by the City of Englewood. The City should forge relationships between these gardeners instead of alienating them based on  the prejudices of one man. Perhaps the gardener would have put his own garden to sleep for the winter in the correct way if he had been part of the decision making. Given proper respect and half a chance people will participate in making their neighborhoods better.

Disconnect #3 At this same meeting a 4th Ward Resident asked that missing and or damaged fence around the brook be replaced in order to insure the safety of the children playing in the area. Think about this now. The safety of neighborhood children and destroying a neighborhood garden dating back farther than any of us can remember. Which thing should take priority and be acted upon with haste? Exactly. Take a look at the fencing or lack thereof. The large photo above shows fence missing on the eastern side of the brook. Keep in mind that the 3rd street bridge has been removed. In the area pictured below is approximately 50 or more feet of missing fence that may never have been installed. Notice the date stamp. It was pointed out on April 19, 2012 during the "photo opportunity" that preceded the June election that the fence should be installed to insure the safety of children living and playing in the neighborhood.

The fence is just as invisible as the 3rd street bridge that has been removed that allowed egress into Mackay Park and access to it for play or just a walk about. April 19, 2012 was a day of much excitement at the end of 3rd Street. The excitement ended  few weeks later when a backhoe was caught on a manhole cover and a sewage line was damaged. This rendered all of that luscious harvest totally suspicious of human consumption. Human fecal matter is potentially harmful to human health and life. So the beautiful picture below was marred and the area was all but abandoned except for the children who find it a fascinating place to play. Note. It is a fascinating, beautiful and potentially dangerous place to play, because of the missing fence.

This garden has the potential to be one of the nicest places in the City in which to chill out. 

Disconnect #4 As you can see from today's photo below, this area may now be referred to as an eyesore. Are we going to send in the bulldozers? Are we going to raze it down to the ground, because it needs some tender loving care? Perhaps we should consider having a conversation with a Landscaper who lives about 4 doors down the street from the garden. I think he even has a couple of children who play in the area. Perhaps a neighborly agreement may be struck to make sure that this area is always a lovely place to sit and read when the weather allows. Perhaps we should take up the practice of building bridges in all neighborhoods instead of tearing them down. It is just a thought. Sometimes a little good will goes a long way.

Making this a beautiful Community Garden and pleasant place to sit and for children to play is a great idea. Perhaps it is time for some follow through. There may be a few more mild days left when the sun is inviting and warm on our faces. When we begin to practice what we preach we may find that we are making a better world. Click here for the photo album that documents the development of the 3rd Street Community Garden. You must be logged in to Facebook in order to view the photos.

It Is Official: The Fix Is In!

The Master Plan Public Hearing: The Major objective of a master plan is to determine land use within the municipality. The Board of Education is one of the largest land owners in the City. Why is it not included in the talks? Where are our Board Members? The employee projections on the power point presentation did not include ALL educational institutions in the city. The number would have been much higher. What is up with that? Where was Treeco and Benzel Busch?
If one paid close attention to the goals of the Master Plan, it seems that Englewood is for sale. Were we consulted when these objectives were being formulated? Why was the Planning Board not introduced? Master Plan=Planning Board.
Do a little FACT finding about Master Plans.
The Citizen's Guide to New Jersey Municipal Master Plans. http://www.thewatershed.org/images/uploads/SBMWA_Master_Plan_Guide.pdf

Another Fact Sheet regarding Master Plans. http://www.strafford.org/factsheets/fs_mp_format.pdf
We must learn to consult our New Jersey Permanent Statutes. Municipal Land Use Law
We must become informed residents with questions that hold elected and appointed officials accountable? What are the odds that taxpayers and the Governor would agree? What does the Mayor really want?
New Jersey Planning Officials Manual. http://njpo.org/NJPO_Master_Plan_Manual.html
Alas, what is one to do when one finds that the Governor agrees that another Master Plan at this time is wasteful. Governor Christie has given Municipalities 10 years now in between each Master Plan. http://www.northjersey.com/news/127675113_LOCAL_ISSUE__municipal_Master_plan_revisions_Towns_hail_extended_timetable.html It is reassuring that I am not alone in my thoughts on this whole Master Plan thing. What is the REAL objective? This Master Plan work is contributing to the Municipal Tsunami. The average Master Plan is now done every 10 years.

Again, I will say that I do not support the fact that we are  paying another group of consultants to come up with a Master Plan for Englewood. We have far too many pressing problems facing us today. It is time for Englewood to recover from her identity crisis. We are not one Community. There are splintered factions inside each ward. All one has to do is take a closer look at the number of houses of worship in Englewood alone. The City is not that large and we have pretty close to one hundred houses of Worship. So tell me when this diverse Community ever comes together. Not at school.  Not in our houses of worship, not on the sports field, and certainly not in a Community Center. Where and when do we all come together? Only during this time of indoctrination. What do we have in common? What are the issues that concern us all? We need a change of focus.

That being said over 200 people attended the 2nd Master Plan Public Hearing held at Ahavath Torah Synagogue on Broad Avenue. There was standing room only. I also do  not like the apparent fix that has been put in place in terms of discussion at these meetings. It is not a forum where residents actually get to have their say on the future or even the present state of Englewood. The big decisions have already been made. The consultants were clearly elicited to make sure things remain status quo.

The Consultants presented the Mayor's "Vision" which they themselves admitted was very similar to the 2009 Master Plan Vision. It included some of the same information from the old one and most of the photos and information on the updated 2013 version that was included on the City's Website. I will not go through all of the presentations even though I took copious notes. Community concerns are much the same as they were in the first Master Plan Public Hearing on June 26, 2012.

The Impending Tsunami of Municipalities: On Tuesday, Raphael J. Caprio, Phd. from the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University gave a talk on the state of New Jersey's municipalities, There was a lot of talk about Tsunamis and the lack of cash in Englewood's Municipal coffers. For nearly a year, we witnessed a drama where the school board pontificated about deficits. An audit was done to reveal the fact that there was no deficit. Yes.There is a Tsunami of indebtness and no cash flow. There is a Tsunami of events that put the 99% under attack from other quarters. There is a Tsumani of information intended to hold us in abeyance. There is a Tsunami of someone else's FACTS left at our doorsteps. How do we go from a "State of the City" address that says we are broke to a Master Plan Meeting where millions are projected to be spent. A great deal of time was spent describing doom and gloom in the Mayor;s "state of the city" address. We were assured in many different ways that we are in the midst of a financial crisis. Keep in mind that the projected cost of the light rail is over $800 million dollars. We are told that this money comes from the state coffers. That is funny. Remember that there is only one pot of money. That pot of money is collected from taxpayers like you, like me. It is all the same money. 60 cents of every dollar collected from 
taxpayer goes to the local school district. Why is the condition of the school system NOT being discussed as part of this Master Plan? They are discussing the buildings sold by the school district.

Light Rail: A great deal of thought has gone into the planning for this big event that may not even happen. It has clearly been rejected by Tenafly. Englewood residents vary in their ideas of whether we even have a choice to accept or deny this future big event that may not even happen in our lifetimes. A good deal of attention was given to the fact that Englewood Hospital employees would benefit a great deal from light rail. Well, as someone who sat for nearly six hours in Englewood Hospital's emergency room on June 27, 2012, I could care less about that Hospital. I lay on a bed in the emergency room in pain for hours with a bloody leg, while they did whatever. They did actually try to get me to pay the $25.00 co-pay before even cleaning my wound. Excuse me if I do not get all giddy with what makes Englewood Hospital's commuting employees more comfortable. One group actually made a great observation. The idea was that residents of other towns would crowd into Englewood in order to use the "lightrail" and cause tremendous traffic and parking problems. It should also be noted that the station is projected to be located smack dab in the vicinity of three schools. The image of all those cars bring the lyrics of a song to mind. "...You pave Paradise and put up a Parking Lot..."

My problem is that the City is exhibiting the same concept as the Board of Education. They have created a very indelicate and tenable situation with their attempts to bring in more "white people without children" while demonstrating clear indifference to the ones already here. What is wrong with the current residents of Englewood that makes our current administration seek to bring in more different people? It has already been clearly demonstrated that this lip service about diversity and being OneCommunity is a load of baloney. We have many and varied problems that must be dealt with before incurring expense bringing in new problems of which we know nothing.

Benzel Busch: Owns quite a lot of property/land in the area to be developed. They also employ a great deal of people and were not listed as one of the businesses that offers a great deal of employment in the area. One must wonder about this obvious omission.

Open Space: The thing that struck me as peculiar and not surprising was the time spent on items of particular interest to the public. The words "open space" was up on the screen for less than 6 seconds. A rendering was shown with tiny green pockets that were supposed to represent green space. The presentation sped on dealing mostly with light rail. One resident even pointed out the fact that the material in the presentation was not representative of what was discussed at the Master Plan Meeting in June of 2012. At this time, the presenter got a little testy and suggested that they had spent a great deal of time making up this presentation for "us" and proceeded. Well gee whiz, our tax dollars actually paid him to do this. So shut up and listen to the criticism. (And stop referring to us all as "you people")

The Community Center: The consultants followed the script very closely and showed an example of a 7.5 million dollar recreation center in Fairlawn.  This act in itself was very comical since they picked the most expensive Center in Bergen County in order to demonstrate to Englewood Residents that we cannot afford a Community Center. Get a grip guys! You are insulting us! Another thing. The Mayor was given a guided tour of the Rhoda Center in Teaneck, New Jersey. Perhaps he and the City Manager should also take a guided tour of the ones in Lodi and Garfield. These Centers were created in existing buildings. Does anyone in this group know the difference between a Recreation Center and a Community Center? They are not one and the same. Community Centers may contain recreational activities, but much more is encompassed. Perhaps the Planners do not wish the various Community groups to commune on the various issues that are discussed at regular Community gatherings in Community Centers.\

James Street: This is one of those Community issues that was not discussed and seems taboo to this group. Why was it not on the list? It is Downtown. it is a blighted area downtown. I predict another set of TAX ABATEMENTS that the average taxpayer will end up paying for down the road. I spent some time on James Street today. I still miss one of my favorite places to purchase garden products and seedlings. All of the empty space on the west side of the street started me thinking about how large Von Roth's Nursery and Garden supplies actually was. I have loads of questions about how a row of houses might end up in the condition of those on James Street. My questions include how the blighted houses just happen to all connect to other property already owned by the same 1 percenter. I also learned to my dismay that the open lots across the street on the West side of James Street also belong to the same 1% er, I do not believe in coincidences. Back in the day a name was given to landlords when such obvious things happened. I also learned that this was some type of historical section of town. So why is there going to be demolition going on? My brother is a builder. If he looked at those houses, he would tilt his head to the side.
"Why are they tearing those houses down, again?
So I look at those houses with my brother's eyes. Why are they being torn down? I also look with my forensic CSI eyes. So what did the investigation into that matter reveal?
James St. house burning.
Another James St. house burning.

Leading the Discussion: We talked about varied issues in our group. The presenter for our group reported about 90 percent of his own ideas. In other words, he wrote down our ideas but gave his own to the public. Even the present 4th Ward Councilman noticed this obvious bias in opinions and spoke on it. We were all incensed. It was a betrayal. A commercial property owner was in the group. Even though his problem manipulated the discussion, the presenter had to be told by one of the group members that he had left out those issues. He left out nearly all of our issues. It was clear that he was following a script and had been instructed as to what was to come out of our discussion. He did not mention the fact that the commercial owner had been denied the building of 8 affordable housing units on 26 East Forest Avenue. In case one didn't notice, he skedaddled out of the place soon after his presentation. He was totally aware of the fact that we were not happy with his presentation.

Who gives a sh*t about the Mayor's Master Plan?:  Strong words. Yes. You bet. Folks have been asking members of our group the same question for over a year.
"Why are you so angry?"
We have a few questions for all of the happy people. What makes you so happy? What are you being given or promised that is making you so satisfied while others are justifiably angry?

How many more 25 year tax abatements do we see in this Master Plan? Whew!
Our state Comptroller has already warned us that this practice hurts the average taxpayer. According to the experts, tax abatements cause municipal Tsunamis. What will it take for us to stand up and listen while reading the writing on the wall? One day you describe a Municipal Tsunami and the next day you describe a plan that will exacerbate the Tsunami. That makes no sense at all. At the same time we are told that even though we are diverse, we are OneCommunity. Crap! Crap! Crap!
These various and diverse Communities need a place to commune and discuss issues that impact on all of us. It is time we all stop relying on other people to give us their FACTS. We must begin to read more and communicate across Ward and religious lines in order to find our own FACTS. What makes us alike instead of what makes us different. Although I am not a supporter, I heard what Rabbi Shmuley was saying at Ebenezer Baptist Church on October 20, 2012. And yes, he is a politician looking for votes, but there are things we must glean out of what everyone is saying these days, regardless of political affiliation.

Study finds tax abatements for developers leave property owners paying more taxes