The original Englewood Report closed its doors after nearly 4 years of loyal reporting. Yet, as the French humorist Alphonse Karr once said, "the more things change the more they remain the same." Nearly a decade later, The Englewood Report is back on the scene, with the very same mission as before. And what is that?

Quoting from the last edition on December 1998:

With this issue The Englewood Report winds up its fourth year of publication.  Our stated mission was and remains "to inform Englewood citizens about matters of concern which may not appear in the commercial press and to stimulate public interest in these matters." 

In our first issue, we reported on measures being taken by our then new City Manager and discussed threats to the integrity of some residential neighborhoods.  In our second issue, we discussed issues facing our public schools.  In our third issue we wrote about changes in our downtown business district.  These subjects have remained important and, along with many others, have continued to receive our attention...

Local government (or any government for that matter), in the absence of adequate public attention, can too easily fall into the hands of persons with private agendas which may not coincide with the public interest.  Private agendas may include the accumulation of political power, ambition for higher office, personal vendettas, or simply ego gratification, not to speak of monetary gain.  It helps to make the right choices on Election Day, but even if we do, open and accountable government doesn't just happen.  It requires effective communication between us and our elected and appointed representatives.  Our officials are more likely to represent the public interest as opposed to any private agendas if citizens demand public input and full justification for important actions.

The last edition of The Englewood Report (Vol. 4, No. 10, December 1998)

For several years there has been an ongoing tug of war in Englewood between advocates of responsible local government and their opponents allied with Bergen County political boss Joseph Ferriero.

This contest has now acquired a new dimension since Mayor Michael Wildes, a one-time thorn in Ferriero's side, joined the boss’s team. Having strengthened his hold on the County, Ferriero is more determined than ever to crush his remaining opposition.  Local activists narrowly defeated controversial changes to Party rules that would place every municipal election under Ferriero control.

A Power Shift

Until a year ago, the Ferriero faction, including Jack Drakeford, Vernon Walton and Doug Bern, formed the controlling majority of Englewood's City Council. 

With the replacement of Bern by Ken Rosenzweig in January of 2006, the control changed.   And following the replacement of Walton by Gordon Johnson in January of 2007, Jack Drakeford remains the sole Ferriero ally on the Council.

This power shift has been accomplished in successive June Democratic Primaries.  Since there is no effective Republican Party in Englewood, the November General Election is normally irrelevant locally (the recent Independent challenge to Mayor Wildes being an exception).  The June Primary Election each year, generally ignored by most of the voting public, has thus become the main political battleground.  It is reasonable to expect that June of this year will see one, or perhaps two, more hotly contested primary contests, as  Charlotte Bennett Schoen’s Second Ward seat and Jack Drakeford’s Fourth Ward seat, will be on the ballot.

2007 Primaries

Englewood is part of the 37th New Jersey State Legislative District, including twelve largely Democratic towns, and we will also be voting in June for a State Senator and two State Assembly members to represent us in Trenton. Incumbents Senator Loretta Weinberg of Teaneck, and Assembly members Valerie Vainieri Huttle and Gordon Johnson of Englewood, have rejected Ferriero’s backing and expect to face opposition from his hand-picked candidates, including Wildes.

Violet Cherry

Another aspect of this power contest has been the long and fruitless action against Violet Cherry, who until recently had been both Director of the Englewood Department of Health and Chair of the Englewood Democratic Municipal Committee. Under Cherry's leadership, the Englewood Municipal Committee warred continually with Ferriero and his County organization.  When the opportunity arose, Ferriero’s Council allies appointed persons to the Board of Health who prioritized punishing the Boss's Englewood critics.  After considerable turmoil and over a quarter of a million dollars in taxpayer expense, the Board of Health failed to exact any penalty, leading the Bergen Record to conclude that the case against Cherry was weak or incompetently (though expensively) presented. 

It is our opinion that the punishment to the innocent party -- the taxpayers -- did not match the offense. It is bad enough that the shameless pay-to-play machine raids the public treasury to reward friends with patronage jobs and contracts. It is even more outrageous to have agents of the machine hypocritically raid our treasury to engage pay-to-play lawyers like Wilfredo Ortiz and John Carbone to attack an opponent for doing a pale imitation of what the machine practices as a virtue.

"Government is supposed to be us. It is supposed to be the means to make our communities better places to live. But in New Jersey, too often government is a means to a single end: the improvement of life for those who possess power." 
- Larry J. Sabato, a national political science expert at the University of Virginia

In the 1990s, the City of Englewood amended its Zoning Ordinance to permit "Planned Unit Development" (PUD) in the City’s industrial area. The rationale was to permit denser development, reverse the declining proportion of tax revenues provided by the industrial area and, thereby, benefit residential taxpayers. The PUD concept combines residential, office and commercial development. From a tax revenue perspective, office construction is normally most beneficial, since additional costs to the municipality are lower.

To utilize the new zoning, the development firm S. Hekemian Kasparian Troast LLC (HKT) proposed some years ago to develop a major site in Englewood’s industrial area south of Route 4, and received the support of the City Council for their plan. The original plan for a large office, hotel and residential project received opposition from industrial property owners who objected to losing their land under eminent domain, and from citizens in neighboring Leonia, from which the property would have been accessed. In addition, there was concern in some quarters over the reappointment of Councilman Doug Bern as the lawyer for the Northwest Bergen County Utilities Authority, whose chairman was none other than Michael Kasparian of HKT. Concern also arose from the apparent relationship that some Englewood Council members enjoyed with Democratic County Chairman Joseph Ferriero, whose law firm represented HKT. However, this plan was eventually aborted after a judge ruled that legal procedures had been improperly followed.

More recently, HKT submitted an altered plan, no longer reliant on eminent domain, and with a new access road from the north to be constructed by the City. Known as Flatrock Square, it included an office building, an 8-story hotel, 399 residential units and a parking deck.

After numerous hearings before the Planning Board, during which HKT resisted the office building requirement, a sudden agreement was reached in August, 2005. Through the auspices of Mayor Michael Wildes, the Planning Board conducted a midnight vote, which allowed for an all-condo project. The Chairwoman of the Planning Board, Hillary Ballon, resigned over the episode (“Englewood planner resigns in protest,” The Bergen Record, 9/20/05).

The HKT drama continues in 2007, as the developers are appearing before Mr. Wildes’ Planning Board to get yet another change on the project. HKT has now requested that the all-condo requirement be waived, claiming the condo market is too weak, and has offered cash payments to the City instead.   The next planning board meeting to discuss the HKT proposal is scheduled for February 21, 8 p.m. in the Englewood municipal court, 75 S. Van Brunt Street.

To most voters, county government is nearly invisible. They know about national and state government from the media, and they may know about local government because of its direct impact on their lives.  In the political backwater which is Bergen County, thus, a quiet but immense change has take place in the last nine years.  Bergen, the most populous county in New Jersey, was formerly known as a swing county politically, with control moving back and forth between the two major parties.  However, since the election of Joseph A. Ferriero as County Democratic Chairman in 1998, campaign contributions have soared to new highs and Democrats have gradually tightened their grip on the county government. As of now, the County Executive and all seven County Freeholders are Democrats beholden to Party Boss Ferriero. Meanwhile, the County Republican Party has all but disappeared as an effective counter force. Joseph Ferriero provides campaign funding for Democratic candidates at all levels in return for their loyalty. In fact, a majority of the Democratic County Committee members in Bergen's seventy towns are now persons chosen by and loyal to him, often because they have County jobs.  Meanwhile, Ferriero uses a variety of means to punish those who are not...

Because of county government’s low visibility, it is not easy to arouse the kind of indignation which one might expect against the blatant old-fashioned political machine which has been created. At some point Ferriero will lose his power in the County either through reform or political change. For now, our best efforts should be put towards identifying and supporting good candidates with the character, courage and principles to run against Ferriero's "pay-to-play" machine.

In a progress report to the State Board of Education dated February 7, 2007, the New Jersey Commissioner of Education, Lucille E. Davy, states "the board of education and the administrative team of the Englewood Public School District have demonstrated their commitment to continuous progress in effectuating desegregation and educational improvement for the students it serves, to accelerate the implementation of policies programs and practices that will dramatically close the achievement gaps and eliminate the racial isolation in the district."

"The initial signs of progress reported (previously) have not only continued, but have picked up momentum.  There is a dramatic, qualitative difference taking root in Englewood." "The focus on raising academic standards, improving student performance and creating small learning communities to prepare students for college is yielding positive results.”

The report comments approvingly on the steps which are being taken to combine the Academies @Englewood and the conventional Dwight Morrow High School into one school.  In the current school year the district has opened the School for Performing Arts in partnership with Bergen PAC, and the School for Communications and New Media.  Three additional programs are being developed for introduction this September.  The aim is to enroll all high school students in an academy program.

Englewood Schools Superintendent Carol Lisa has expressed her gratification with the report, commenting, "We are at a turning point in the district."  "It is only a matter of time when Englewood is recognized as a premier learning environment for residents and choice students."  The Bergen Record comments, "Finally, those children are getting the education they are entitled to and deserve."

SEEK (Supporters of Education for Englewood’s Kids) was formed in 2003 by advocates of public education for the purpose of interviewing and screening candidates for the Englewood Board of Education, and backing the election of those who were deemed most qualified.  Englewood switched to an elected Board by referendum in 2000, after a century during which the Board appointments were made by the Mayor.  The Board consists of nine members, each of whom serves for a three-year term.  Seven of the nine members currently serving were selected and backed by SEEK.

In the 2004 Board of Education election, SEEK successfully backed then incumbent Joan Meltzer, and new candidates Glenn Garrison and Stephen Brown.  Their terms are expiring this year and SEEK has again chosen to support them in the school election which will take place on April 17. Meltzer is a longtime Englewood resident and a former City Councilwoman.  Garrison  has supervised the substantial school building activity which followed passage of the school construction bond referendum in 2004.  Brown, a prominent lawyer, is in his second year as Board President.  The three candidates are expected to cite the previously mentioned State report as evidence why they should be reelected.

In view of the sharply different approaches to government between the former and present City Council majorities, there has been considerable speculation about the future of City Manager Cheryl Fuller, who took office three years ago.  A local newspaper reported that she had resigned, but there has been no confirmation of this.  It is, however, known that some Council members are dissatisfied with her performance, which could result in her replacement.  Under Englewood's City Charter, which took effect in 1980, the City Manager is designated “Chief Executive Officer” of the City, and has authority over all municipal departments.  She (or he) reports to the elected Mayor and Council, who have no administrative responsibilities of their own.