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<title>The Englewood Report</title><link>http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/index.php</link><description>Find out what&#x27;s going on in Englewood&#x2c; NJ with The Englewood Report&#x27;s RSS Feed.</description><dc:language>en</dc:language><dc:creator>TheEnglewoodReport@gmail.com</dc:creator><dc:rights>Copyright 2007 The Englewood Report</dc:rights><dc:date>2011-04-04T00:21:40-04:00</dc:date><admin:generatorAgent rdf:resource="http://www.realmacsoftware.com/" />
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<lastBuildDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2011 00:30:39 -0400</lastBuildDate><item><title>Ned Feldman</title><dc:creator>TheEnglewoodReport@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>History</category><dc:date>2011-04-04T00:21:40-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/ned_feldman.php#unique-entry-id-184</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/ned_feldman.php#unique-entry-id-184</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Feldman was Mayor of Englewood&nbsp;for only two years, but he had an impact on this small suburban city which reverberates to this day, four decades later. &nbsp;  It was during those two years, 1970 and 1971, that the political logjam which had stymied a rational solution to the City&rsquo;s disgraceful slum housing problem was finally broken. &nbsp;  It was during those years that the power of the Republican in-group which had controlled our politics for much of the 20th century was ended for good. &nbsp;  Feldman was a forceful leader who made the most of his position as mayor, a position which had (and has) limited legal authority under Englewood&rsquo;s unusual system of government.


...A self-made man, he worked his way through college and law school and founded his own investment banking firm. &nbsp;  Prior to becoming mayor, he was active in the community, including service as President of the Jewish Community Center and of the Community Chest.


In the election of 1967, Englewood&rsquo;s recently revived Democratic Party had gained control of the City government for the first time, with the election of Mayor Bob Miller and Councilman-at-Large Bill Mettler. &nbsp;  The main issue in that election was the location of new housing, using federal urban renewal funds, to replace several acres of substandard dwellings in the Fourth Ward. &nbsp;  Washington was requiring that a portion of the new housing be located outside of the &ldquo;ghetto&rdquo; area, which the local Republican leadership refused to accept. &nbsp;  After the Democrats gained control they rezoned for housing the area in the Second Ward which is today Rock Creek Terrace, and took other steps to move forward a comprehensive slum removal and rehousing program. &nbsp;


Before the program could be implemented, however, the Democrats lost control, with the election in 1969 of Republican Mayor Ned Feldman and Councilman-at-Large Hank Boemi. &nbsp;  After taking office, Feldman, although a Republican, did not, however, accept direction from the local Republican leadership, in the person of State Senator David Van Alstyne,. &nbsp;  He resisted pressure to make patronage personnel changes in City Hall, and, more annoyingly from Van Alstyne&rsquo;s viewpoint, he continued to press forward on public housing, including the Second Ward site. &nbsp;  Procedural difficulties in Washington had followed the advent of the Republican Nixon administration in 1969, and Englewood&rsquo;s application for federal urban renewal funding was in serious trouble until Feldman took a hand. &nbsp;  He journeyed to Washington in 1970, met with Housing & Urban Development Secretary George Romney, and persuaded Romney to restore Englewood&rsquo;s funding, a $4.18 million grant. &nbsp;

...Prior to his election as Mayor, Feldman had been elected to a Charter Commission which recommended certain changes in Englewood&rsquo;s form of government to be voted on by the electorate. &nbsp;  The principal changes were the elimination of an elected mayor and the creation of the new position of city manager, to be filled by a non-political professional subject to the supervision of the elected city council. &nbsp;  Although Feldman campaigned for the recommended Charter change, it lost narrowly in November, 1970, due primarily, Feldman believes, to opposition from long-time City Clerk Joseph Carney.&nbsp;


In 1971, Feldman received much publicity for advocating successfully that a State senior citizen tax relief program be extended to tenants as well as homeowners. &nbsp;  In May, 1971, he received the B&rsquo;nai B&rsquo;rith Torch of Liberty Award for his support of civil liberties.


When Feldman sought to run for reelection in 1971, he and his allies, councilmen Ed Johnson and Leonard Rubin, were denied renomination by the Englewood Republican organization, and instead filed for the election as Independents. &nbsp;  Despite a strong endorsement from The Record, and from influential persons in both parties, as well as a well-run, well-financed campaign, none of them were elected in the three-way contest which ensued. &nbsp;...  Walter Taylor for mayor and Walter Ganz for councilman-at-large, were elected with less than 40% of the votes. 

...Thus Englewood&rsquo;s transformative public housing program, which was started under Democratic Mayor Miller, and completed under the following Democratic mayoralty of Walter Taylor, was actually made possible by Republican mayor Feldman successfully lobbying a Republican administration in Washington, against the wishes of his own party leadership. &nbsp;  And the local Republican Party has never recovered from the split which occurred as a result of Feldman&rsquo;s independence.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>This Year&#x27;s Board of Education Election</title><dc:creator>TheEnglewoodReport@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>Schools</category><dc:date>2010-04-15T00:44:35-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/this_years_boe_election.php#unique-entry-id-183</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/this_years_boe_election.php#unique-entry-id-183</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The six candidates for the Board of Education in this year&rsquo;s election, scheduled for April 20, have campaigned as two separate slates: Brown, Diaz and Garrison are running as the "SEEK" candidates, while Santiago-Babb, Cureton and Meltzer are calling themselves "the Blue Ribbon Team."    Brown, Garrison and Meltzer are incumbents, and the split largely reflects the intense personal animosity on the Board which arose during the extended superintendent selection process in 2008-2009, with Brown and Garrison on one side and Meltzer on the other.


...As parents, my wife and I have learned to set high expectations for our children &ndash; whether in their school work, their chores or in how they behave as young citizens. 

...I am running for the Englewood Board of Education because I believe my education and professional experience in finance give me the skills needed to tackle the financial challenges ahead.   My experiences as a parent have taught me that we must keep expectations high for all our children.


...The district has made extraordinary strides over the last several years (e.g., improvement in college readiness and significant rise in applications to college, increase in admissions to selective colleges like Columbia, Cornell, Carnegie Mellon, Harvard and Princeton, state-of-the-art academic facilities, and a new Mandarin language program for elementary school students).   However, there is so much more to be done in order to meet President Obama&rsquo;s challenge for the next decade to have every American child prepared for college and career by high school graduation.


...I know that many of our neighbors are dealing with unemployment or under-employment and are struggling to take care of their families and preserve the standard of living that they deserve. 

...That said, we still must work hard to maintain the high educational standards and keep our eyes on the prize of ensuring a thorough and efficient education for every child in our public schools. ...  The city should expect that the school district turn over every stone to look for ways to cut costs and conduct its operations more efficiently before simply demanding more tax money during a time when people are struggling &ndash; even people who are firm supporters of public education. 

...In order to maintain the high standards and the progress made over the last several years, the district will have to work to do even more with fewer resources.   I have had considerable experience in the private sector in cutting costs and doing more with less and believe I can assist the district during this fiscal crisis.


...I believe we can preserve all the programs and services that are absolutely critical for our collective success (e.g., early childhood education, AVID, courtesy busing, the Academies@Englewood, the alternative high school education program) by thinking out-of-the&ndash;box about how we deliver services. ...  For example, the administration must use the internet and electronic mail much more efficiently to deliver information rather than spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on paper communications and board materials. 

...I am an adjunct professor at Yale and have developed a new course for a legal scholars program for minority undergraduate pre-law students at City College in New York City. 

...I have a track record over the last six years of working extremely hard to build meaningful programs that have helped our students and community. 

...It is important that we have board volunteers who not only appreciate the power of a great public education, but also understand financial management and how to create and execute shared services arrangements. 

...I am proud to have been commended by my fellow Board members for my work in guiding our construction program and for my record of service to the Board. 

...An additional administrative function that I have performed during the past 8 years has been to assist the Office of the Chief (E.P.D.) to compile, prepare and present the Fiscal Reports and Budget for the E.P.D. in a coordinated effort with the Englewood City Manager, and, on occasion, to personally present the Department&rsquo;s Budget Report and Request to the Englewood City Council. 

...As a Parent and as a member of the Englewood Board of Education I will encourage and vigorously promote policies and programs that strive for and support high academic achievement in a balance with positive social, cultural, and personal individual development goals.   Realizing that tax increases is a concern when preparing the yearly budget, it will be my position as a board member to explore alternatives to increase taxes.   I will initiate an assessment on the usage of resources/services in the district, and study if shared services with surrounding districts and the City of Englewood would be a viable option. 

...I feel the Englewood Public School System is striving to become better and I support Flagship programs such as: Dual language immersion, The Avid Program, and the Academies at Englewood. 

...I have a long commitment to education, from my children&rsquo;s K-12 years through my 10 years as Director of the In-School Volunteer Program. 

...Given the Governor&rsquo;s edict and even going to cap, the cuts are drastic, with a tremendous negative effect on students&rsquo; education, classroom sizes, teachers and assistants, administrators, secretaries and other staff. ]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Turning a Corner?</title><dc:creator>TheEnglewoodReport@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>Politics</category><dc:date>2010-01-06T20:45:58-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/turning_a_corner.php#unique-entry-id-182</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/turning_a_corner.php#unique-entry-id-182</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[As we enter a new decade and welcome a new mayor, we at the Englewood Report hope that we may be starting a new chapter in the history of Englewood.   We no longer have a grandstanding mayor more interested in scheming for higher office than governing.   We no longer have a city council which takes its orders from the County political boss.   We have a city manager who is striving to instill pride and a sense of service in the City work force.   We have a Board of Education which has at last settled on a new superintendent.   Englewood, of course, is only a microcosm in this world full of daunting challenges at every level of government, but we would like to think that we may have turned a corner locally.


Some things we would like to see happen as we move forward are:


Decisions sooner or later to be made by the City Council about the Lincoln and Liberty school and the firehouse properties, as well as the skating rink, should take into account the social needs of the community as well as the financial needs of the City.   Our new mayor has, for example, indicated his desire for a community center facility which will bring all parts of the community together.


Developers should no longer be tempted to assume that zoning regulations can be overridden if enough favor is curried with or enough pressure is placed on City officials.


More attention should be paid to the City&rsquo;s appearance, specifically in the parks, and in the directional and informational signs at our borders and within Englewood.   A plan should be developed and implemented for the City-owned Harvey property at 500 Liberty Road.


In the public schools, the Board and Superintendent should settle their differences and not allow budget constraints to divert their attention from continuing to raise standards at all grade levels.


More attention should be directed to protecting Englewood&rsquo;s historic buildings, which clearly contribute to our attraction as a place to live and thus to property values.   For starters the Historical Preservation Advisory Committee can be elevated to the status of Historical Commission in line with our neighboring towns.


We should not be reluctant to point out the strengths which our city has, as opposed to the problems which need to be solved.   In addition to our attractive and historic homes, we have a strong and generally prosperous downtown shopping district.   We have an extraordinary number of religious institutions for a city of our size.   Englewood Hospital & Medical Center, Bergen PAC, and Flat Rock Brook Nature Center are all unique in their own ways.   There were good reasons why New Jersey Monthly magazine rated us the most livable city in the state a few years ago!]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Superintendent Controversy Finally Resolved</title><dc:creator>TheEnglewoodReport@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>Schools</category><dc:date>2009-11-02T22:01:34-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/superintendent_controversy.php#unique-entry-id-180</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/superintendent_controversy.php#unique-entry-id-180</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Now that the Englewood Board of Education has, after 20 months of wrangling and dissension, finally given Acting Schools Superintendent Richard Segall a three-year contract as Superintendent, we hope the Board will be able to better focus on its primary function, which is oversight of the Englewood Public School system.   We also hope that personal antagonisms which have too often been displayed in public meetings can be minimized.   As we said last April, such dissension "can only be demoralizing to the staff, parents and students."   In any democratic body there are differences of opinion, which should be expressed forcibly if necessary.   But the practice of democracy also includes the acceptance by those who are outvoted of the decisions which have been reached.


Despite progress which has been evident in many regards, turning around a school system which a decade ago could well have been described as "troubled," is a long-term project.   It requires clearly defined goals, ways of measuring progress toward those goals, and continuity of purpose.   As we also pointed out in April, our schools have "seen excessively frequent administrative turnover," which is not conducive to such continuity.   The selection of Segall, who is an administrator with considerable length and variety of service in our community, should be positive in this regard.


Segall, in an interview with us after his appointment as interim Superintendent, discussed his objectives for the district.   One which makes sense to us is requiring teachers to instruct students more about the ways in which knowledge can be gained, as opposed to simply teaching the knowledge itself.   Another is striving to match the gains which have been made in Reading and Writing in the area of Mathematics.


As is the case every year, three members of the Board may be seeking reelection at the end of their three-year terms next April.   We would suggest that if those members whose terms expire in 2010 cannot adjust to the decision which has been made, and work cooperatively with their fellow Board members and the Superintendent, they should not count on electoral support which may have been available to them in the past.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Controlling Our Growth</title><dc:creator>TheEnglewoodReport@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>Development</category><dc:date>2009-11-02T22:05:07-05:00</dc:date><link>http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/controlling_our_growth.php#unique-entry-id-179</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/controlling_our_growth.php#unique-entry-id-179</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[There is currently concern being expressed by some of our citizens over certain language which appears in the proposed updating of Englewood&rsquo;s Master Plan.   While their concern may be exaggerated because of the limited influence of the Master Plan on policy, we think the issue which is the cause of their concern is an important one.   Do we in fact want to deliberately encourage further population growth in Englewood&rsquo;s 5-square mile area?   After an influx following World War II, our population in the 2000 census was nearly unchanged from the 1960 census, at 26000+, but that number will almost certainly show a new high in the 2010 census due to significant new development in the current decade.   Our view is that limited population growth can be positive for the economic and social health of the community, as long as its attendant costs are reasonable.


The public school construction program authorized in the 2004 referendum, and nearly completed now, provided for some expansion in the number of students to be served, but there has been no effort to our knowledge to gauge how many more new housing units can be built in Englewood before we will need further school expansion.   From the point of view of local taxes, this is the crucial question, since new development is generally tax-positive until it requires the building of more schools.   In recent years new market-rate housing construction here has had little effect on the school population, but there is no guarantee that this will continue to be so.   There is plainly a disconnect between 1) the efforts of the Board of Education to raise standards to meet the needs of more families and 2) the implicit assumption of the Planning Board that the schools can absorb limitless additional population.


Previous Master Plans have targeted the Office-Industrial zone in the southwest part of Englewood, containing largely low-rise commercial properties, for more intensive mixed-use development.   The objective has been to increase property tax income from this area, preferably from office and hotel buildings which require minimal additional costs to the City government.&nbsp;   As implemented, however, developers have pleaded an inability to profit from any construction but rental housing.   They have thus been allowed to build projects which, while adding to our tax revenue, bring in significantly less than they might, and also present the possibility of greater school costs in the future.


In addition to further development in the industrial area, the draft Master Plan also addresses the downtown business area and adjacent properties.   In particular it recommends residential development of the site presently occupied by the vacant Lincoln School and then says (provocatively to some) "Liberty School presents more complex planning issues but should also be partly or wholly a residential development, although a mix of uses may be possible."


At some time in the next several months, decisions are likely to be made regarding the future use of the Lincoln and Liberty School sites, which have been declared surplus by the Board of Education and are owned by the City government.   Those decisions will be made by the 5-member elected City Council, and not by the unelected Planning Board.   Indeed history shows that Planning Board recommendations are frequently ignored or rejected by the Council, and there is no reason to assume that the council will on this occasion allow language in the Master Plan to override its judgment.


The eventual Council decisions should take into account 1) the financial desirability of recovering all or part of the funds advanced to the Board of Education for the school properties, 2) the financial desirability of placing some or all of these now tax-exempt properties on the tax roll, 3) the possibility that there may be publicly beneficial not-for-profit uses for them which would justify the forgoing of tax revenue, 4) the desirability to the community of job providing businesses, 5) strategic timing, which would appear to suggest waiting until real estate market conditions improve before making any move with important long-term implications, and, finally, 6) as explained above, the implications to the school system of further population expansion.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>A Repeat of a Sad History?</title><dc:creator>TheEnglewoodReport@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>Bob&#x27;s Corner</category><dc:date>2009-08-10T20:38:38-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/a_repeat_of_a_sad_history.php#unique-entry-id-178</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/a_repeat_of_a_sad_history.php#unique-entry-id-178</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[Remember Jim Florio, the one term governor of New Jersey, elected in 1993 and turned out of office in 1997?


The 2009 Gubernatorial campaign has the look and feel of the end of Florio's tumultuous first (and last) term. &nbsp;  Back in 1994, Governor Florio rammed through a sudden tax increase that so ticked off NJ voters that they held the grudge for four years. &nbsp;  The Republican candidate Florio lost to, Christine Todd Whitman, had a particularly effective campaign message: I am not Jim Florio. &nbsp;  Whitman, the elected protest candidate, turned out to be quite the irresponsible Governor, &nbsp;rewarding the voters with a lethal dose of "fiscal conservatism" which featured raiding the state pension fund and increasing state debt from $7 billion to $16 billion. &nbsp;

...While Governor Corzine has some plausible deniability regarding responsibility for the tanked economy of NJ, USA, he has little excuse for his "go along to get along" approach to County Bosses whose support he courted, regardless of the cost to his credibility and reputation. &nbsp;  Now that the Democratic political perp walks continue, candidate Corzine has chosen State Senator Loretta Weinberg as his running mate to, no doubt, buff up his thin ethics resum&eacute;. &nbsp;  After all, while the Governor was making nice with the Bosses, Senator Weinberg --&nbsp;famously and repeatedly -- got in the grill of now indicted BCDO Boss Joe Ferriero. &nbsp;  Weinberg's nervy exploits against Ferriero and his cronies have been chronicled here in&nbsp;The Englewood Report.&nbsp;   When Corzine's new running mate was introduced to a cheering throng of supporters in Englewood&rsquo;s own Bergen PAC theater, she thanked the Governor for being on "her side" in her running battle with County boss Ferriero.  ...  Corzine be able to bask in Loretta Weinberg's moral authority? &nbsp;...  But, then again, the incumbent governor is running against a protest candidate who, like Whitman, has some obvious and critical weaknesses of his own. &nbsp;  Twelve&nbsp;years after Whitman challenged the Democratic incumbent,&nbsp;history&nbsp;is repeating itself.


Now, as before, the Republican gubernatorial candidate's chief claim to fame is that he is not the Democratic incumbent.   Yes, Christie made a name for himself as a prosecutor who made a small dent in the subset of NJ corruption that is illegal. &nbsp;  But even that record is undercut by some inconvenient truths.   For one, while posing as the Avenging Angel of the Pay-to-Play State, Christie himself awarded a huge, sweetheart, suckup, no-bid contract worth tens of millions to a political crony -- lobbyist/"consultant", Republican ex-Attorney General and Christie's former boss, John Ashcroft.   This should lead any alert, Independent voter to immediately suspect the character of someone who can deliver political goodies in the millions while disingenuously claiming to be a reformer. &nbsp;  Such a voter will be forgiven if they imagine what a gladhanding Christie might do with billions if elected Governor. &nbsp;  But, this is not all. &nbsp;&nbsp;


For those who think that it's time for NJ to have a prosecutor as governor, need we point out how major examples of the species (Elliot Spitzer, Rod Blagojevich and Rudy Giuliani) turned out?   Insatiable grandstanding, ethical grandeur, sanctimonious anger, arrogant swagger and large personal appetites are the sine qua non of the stereotypical testosterone laced prosecutor who works the courts.   But that macho junk isn't predictive of success in an executive who has to work the legislature.


This election season, there are two things worth remembering before pressing the lever in anger:


"Be careful what you wish for, you might get it" and "those who cannot learn from&nbsp;history&nbsp;are doomed to repeat it."]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Choosing a Superintendent</title><dc:creator>TheEnglewoodReport@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>Schools</category><dc:date>2009-07-20T00:36:05-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/choosing_a_superintendent.php#unique-entry-id-177</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/choosing_a_superintendent.php#unique-entry-id-177</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[The Englewood Board of Education, having finally started a search process for the crucial post of Superintendent of Schools, has requested public input to assist them in making their decision.   This newsletter commends the Board for doing so, and would like to weigh in with its own suggestions.


Ideally, the superintendent should be a person with vision, leadership qualities, and political skills.   He/she should be able to develop objectives for the school system, achieve board and public support for them, and have the management skills to make sure the plans are implemented.   The person chosen should make a multi-year commitment to the district, since meaningful objectives are likely to take time to reach.   The Englewood Public Schools have in recent decades seen excessively frequent administrative turnover, which may have bred cynicism among the staff which will need to be overcome.


We hear a lot about the need for our schools to give children the skills they will need to survive and prosper in the competitive global economy.   And at the same time, of course, we have to motivate the children to want to acquire these skills.   We need committed and capable teachers, but we also need school leadership which respects and supports them, and educational organization which maximizes their effectiveness.


And it is the organization which is the main responsibility of the superintendent.   Considering its budget and staff size, the Englewood Public School district has many of the characteristics of a small-sized business corporation, and the responsibilities of the superintendent resemble those of the chief executive of such a corporation.   Management skills, which may not always be sufficiently valued by persons trained in education, are crucial for success.


Dr.   John Grieco, who served as superintendent from 2002 until his death in 2005, had many of the qualities to be sought.   His creation of the Academies@Englewood and his successful initiative to modernize the system&rsquo;s physical facilities have left a permanent mark on Englewood.   We are unlikely to find another Grieco, but we should seek someone who is equally unafraid to challenge the status quo and equally successful in achieving his goals.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Huttle Wins in a Squeaker</title><dc:creator>TheEnglewoodReport@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>Politics</category><dc:date>2009-06-07T22:37:53-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/huttle_wins.php#unique-entry-id-176</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/huttle_wins.php#unique-entry-id-176</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[On June 2, 2009, possibly the hardest fought primary election in Englewood&rsquo;s history was won by attorney Frank Huttle by a margin of 15 votes over Third Ward Councilman Scott Reddin.&nbsp;   In the contest for the Democratic Party endorsement for mayor, Huttle received 1285 votes to 1270 for Reddin and 224 for Democratic Municipal Committee Chair Dierdre Glenn Paul.&nbsp;   In the contest for Council at Large, Huttle&rsquo;s running mate, leadership consultant Lynne Harwell Algrant, received 1343 votes to 885 for Reddin&rsquo;s running mate, attorney Jason Snyder.


&nbsp;


Following the announcements by Mayor Michael Wildes and Councilman-at-Large Gordon Johnson that they would not seek reelection, the Englewood Municipal Committee solicited candidates to run for these positions in the June Democratic Primary and in the November General Election.&nbsp;   After listening to presentations from persons interested in running, the Committee on March 18 gave its official endorsement to Huttle and Algrant.&nbsp;   Normally this endorsement in Englewood is equivalent to election, since running against &ldquo;the party line&rdquo; in a primary is difficult, and there has been no significant Republican opposition in November for twenty years.&nbsp;


&nbsp;


But this time Third Ward Councilman Scott Reddin, who had for some time made no secret of his desire to succeed Wildes, announced his candidacy, and the campaign began.&nbsp;   Initially, &ldquo;Reddin for Mayor&rdquo; signs appeared on streets throughout the City.&nbsp;   Signs with Huttle&rsquo;s picture followed., and then signs urging a vote for Reddin and Snyder.&nbsp;   Only in the last stage of the campaign were signs for Glenn Paul, and for Algrant, seen.&nbsp;   The street signs were supplemented by lawn signs, and the total accumulation would suggest that there has been no recession in the business of local sign makers.


&nbsp;


The last five Democratic primaries in Englewood have been characterized by contests between candidates aligned with the Bergen County Democratic machine and candidates opposed to the machine.&nbsp;   In this year&rsquo;s primary, however, none of the candidates were aligned with the machine, and there were no significant policy differences among them.&nbsp;   There has been nonetheless a degree of bitterness evident, stemming from personality differences and from a perceived challenge to the controlling City Council majority, consisting of council members Reddin, Ken Rosenzweig and Charlotte Bennett Schoen.


&nbsp;


The five candidates presented their platforms at various public forums, notably that of the League of Women Voters on May 21, where they appeared before an overflow crowd.&nbsp;   The usual campaign brochures, handshaking and doorbell ringing were supplemented by letters and emails of endorsement, and by recorded phone appeals.&nbsp;   Based on the volume of signs, mailings, and phone calls, as well as the retention of campaign workers to canvass the City, Huttle clearly outspent the other candidates by a significant margin.


&nbsp;


The Englewood Report commends all the candidates for running a largely clean campaign, focusing on positive arguments rather than on tearing down their opponents.&nbsp;   Englewood can only benefit from this example of democracy in action.]]></content:encoded></item><item><title>Why Lynn Algrant Is Running For Council</title><dc:creator>TheEnglewoodReport@gmail.com</dc:creator><category>Politics</category><dc:date>2009-05-31T12:52:12-04:00</dc:date><link>http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/lynn_algrant_statement.php#unique-entry-id-174</link><guid isPermaLink="true">http://www.theenglewoodreport.com/files/lynn_algrant_statement.php#unique-entry-id-174</guid><content:encoded><![CDATA[I have lived in cities in different parts of the country, so I truly appreciate how special Englewood is.   Until I was 14, I lived in Melrose, MA, a town about the same size as Englewood. ...  Prior to Englewood, I spent my adult years in New York City and Cleveland.   Englewood inspires a strong sense of place and a powerful sense that each of us matters.   Our attachment and commitment to Englewood is a huge part of the city&rsquo;s vibrancy&mdash;and it is something I know my girls, Isabel (9) and Haley (6) will feel growing up here.


My Experience: I am running for Councilperson-at-Large because we are at a critical juncture.   The decisions we make in the next few years will determine the community we will be in the future.    My work as a management consultant has equipped me with financial and people management skills, the ability to assemble task forces to accomplish great goals, and the ability to quickly learn about organizations through asking good questions and listening well.  


Financial Responsibility: We have to ensure that we are an affordable city for citizens of every economic level.    To that end, we need to make smart, innovative choices about how we govern the City and explore making strong, creative alliances with other towns, the county and the state to purchase equipment and explore other efficiencies.   Shared services will not be easy to accomplish, but they may be necessary for the long-term fiscal health of our City.  


Downtown Prosperity: City planners all over the country are trying to create shopping districts like ours.    In Cleveland a developer built a &ldquo;Village&rdquo; to give people a sense of what we have on Palisade and Dean and other downtown venues.    We need to make sure that we continue to promote Englewood in such a way that these businesses thrive.    We also need to make sure that local entrepreneurs have the opportunity to flourish in our central business district.


Greening Our City: We can become a model community for energy efficiency.    I would like to see the City promote and assist homeowners in making their homes more energy efficient &mdash; by installing insulation, new windows and other capital improvements.    This initiative would lower utility bills and increase the value of our beautiful older homes.   We could create a number of good local jobs in the process.


...We offer a wealth of talent, good ideas and commitment to the City.    At the same time, however, I hear real frustration and resignation in the voices of people who don&rsquo;t feel the town is really responding to the needs of its citizens.  


Government: We all want to be heard, understood and served by our government.   We need a government that is open and transparent; a government that earns and maintains the trust of its citizens; a government that is smart, efficient and forward thinking.   I believe that I have the skills to bring more people into direct involvement with the City and the big decisions we face, so that we are all confident that the choices we make together as a City have been well considered, are ethical and fair &mdash; even when we disagree.   With your support, I want to help create the future that Englewood needs and deserves. ]]></content:encoded></item></channel>
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