We at the Englewood Report are relieved to see that Chief David Bowman's legal ordeal in the "faked furlough affair" is over. It always struck us as being a prosecutorial over-reaction to something not rising to that level of public significance.  Unfortunately, the resolution of this case does not magically roll back the clock for Englewood. The City Manager has an assessment and decision to make: is what is good for Mr. Bowman also good for the Police Department and the City of Englewood?

When Englewood decided to go with a City Manager form of government, it chose to have a chief executive officer that would provide expert leadership independent of the political and the personal.  The City Manager is charged with hiring, firing and administrating as professionally and dispassionately as possible in the best interests of the City of Englewood.  This is a necessary and difficult thing to do well -- particularly when it is being done in New Jersey, where the legal and governmental environment appears all too contentious, personal, emotional and political.

Politics and Prosecution

One would have thought that after the expensive and trumped up "Constitutional crisis" over Bill Clinton's "lies" during the Lewinsky affair, prosecutorial discretion would dictate that such power only be used on issues of public importance.  The use of legal power for political revenge and inflated trivialities hijacks a legal system that should be acting on significantly damaging criminality and corruption. Certainly, it is time for our prosecutors to restore our confidence in their independent good judgment.  Don't they have enough to do without excursions into frying the small fry?  Unfortunately, the report card on even our most high profile prosecutors is mixed.  To wit:

While we congratulate Chris Christie on his aggressive pursuit of corruption, our US Attorney has not consistently appeared above reproach.  His timing in the Menendez investigation (just before the last Senatorial election) and Mr. Christie's official steering of $52 million to John Ashcroft's firm  undermines his credibility and moral authority.

The Englewood Report holds that the sensationalized pursuit of Chief David Bowman and, as well, Violet Cherry are uncalled for and over-the-top. Joe Afflito, one of the defense attorneys in the Bowman/Jackson/Clark trial, said it best:

"...Afflito was surprised the case went this far when it could have been handled administratively."   (Record, Nov 20)

Yes, indeed.

We are learning, albeit slowly, that neither the public nor justice is served when the the courts are used for petty cases and political warfare.  It is costly to our trust and our treasury.  And prioritizing it detracts and distracts from the truly significant work that remains undone.

Jobs Policy in the Public Interest

By now, hearing the words "entitled" and "competence" should strike fear in the hearts and wallets of NJ taxpayers.  All political cronies on the public payroll claim "competence" when their pay-to-play or patronage jobs are questioned.  And they often claim entitlement to better than the average taxpayer gets, be it health benefits, work conditions, hours, overtime, retirement age, pensions or even an extra paid Friday off.  Woe be unto those politicians who challenge these "entitlements" on behalf of sorely abused taxpayers.

It has been common practice in national and local politics to use public money, contracts and jobs to promote political prospects and pander to demanding special constituencies.  The measure of courageous and effective public leadership is the willingness to keep the eye on the ball: the public interest beyond the political and personal.

Predictably, ferocious pressure and vitriolic abuse is heaped on such a leader.  But, as Harry Truman once said:

"If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

On November 19, the Board of the Flat Rock Brook Nature Association in Englewood authorized its Executive Director, Stephen Wiessner, to implement his recommendation to install 47 solar panels on the roof of its nature center building at 443 Van Nostrand Avenue at an estimated cost of $78,000. Much of this cost would be covered by a grant from the New Jersey Clean Energy Program, and the balance from savings on the cost of electricity over a period of seven years, according to Wiessner’s recommendation.

Flat Rock Brook, which manages 150 undeveloped, largely woodland, acres in Englewood’s Second Ward, and has provided nature educational programs for area schoolchildren over several decades, is Englewood’s most prominent environmentally focused organization. As such, one of its aims is to increase awareness in the community of environmental concerns and to set an example. The new initiative, which will reduce the demand for electricity generated by burning fossil fuels, is viewed primarily in this light. It is expected that the physical change itself will be implemented by publicity and by educational efforts to spread knowledge and understanding of "green technology."

I’m surprised by how often I find myself explaining to people, many of them long-time residents, about Englewood’s four wards. Created for political reasons, each ward having its own representative on the City Council, the wards also have a social and emotional significance to many. A ward is defined in Webster as "a division of a city for representative, electoral or administrative purposes." Our wards have existed since Englewood became a city in 1899. The members of the Charter Commission, who recommended other significant changes in our local government which were approved by the voters in 1979, chose to retain the ward system.

Geographically, Englewood divides roughly into four quadrants: First Ward - northeast, Second Ward - southeast, Third Ward - northwest, Fourth Ward - southwest. Palisade Avenue divides the First and Third Wards from the Second and Fourth Wards, but the other boundaries are more complex. Since the law requires that the population of the four wards be roughly equal, boundary shifts are necessary from time to time. Following the 1960 census, the boundary between the First and Third Wards was moved west to Tenafly Road to reflect the population influx to the Third Ward after World War II. More recently, a shift of the boundary between the Second and Fourth Wards was implemented following the 2000 census. The new boundary, determined by a County commission, with no publicity, shifted residential areas between Dean Street and Grand Avenue from the Second to the Fourth Ward. It also shifted much of our unpopulated (until recently) industrial area from the Fourth Ward to the Second Ward, so that the Second Ward now extends as far as Teaneck! Since this is where large new residential construction projects are either completed or underway, a further boundary change will clearly be needed following the 2010 census.

Each of our four wards has unique characteristics. The First Ward, thought by many to represent the affluent "hill," in fact includes, not only some of Englewood’s most luxurious residences, but a sizable area of modest homes west of the railroad tracks where hispanic immigration has been significant. The Second Ward, also part of the "hill," is known as the center of the growing Orthodox Jewish population of Englewood. It is also the only ward which still has a functioning Republican Party. The Third Ward is the most racially integrated ward, and has historically been the most active politically and in support of the public schools. The Fourth Ward is distinctive in that its population, largely African-American, is more stable and has more cohesion than in the other wards. There are several families in the Fourth Ward who can trace their ancestry here back to the nineteenth century, which is rare in the rest of Englewood.

Although it has become a cliche to speak of Englewood’s diversity, the ward system exists ostensibly to help insure that diverse groups have representation on the City’s governing body, the City Council. The ward system also makes it more difficult for a group from a limited geographical area to gain city-wide control. It could, on the other hand, be argued that our elected officials would be more likely to represent the interests of the City as a whole if they were elected by the entire electorate, as is the case in most of our neighboring towns. It could also be argued that the ward system fosters unnecessary dissension, and that our citizens have in fact far more interests in common than they are aware of. For example, the provision of effective municipal services at a reasonable cost to the taxpayers is clearly an objective of citizens in all four wards.

Regardless of any such arguments, the ward system is here to stay. Our objective then should be to elect ward representatives who see the bigger picture, and who will represent the whole City as well as their wards. Whatever ward we live in, we are all part of this unique community called Englewood, and we will succeed or fail together.

Charlotte Bennett Schoen (D) won reelection for the 2nd Ward Council seat against Republican Norman Gorlyn 618 to 411.  In the 4th Ward contest, incumbent Jack Drakeford (D) had quite a time with Independent newcomer Dierdre Glenn Paul, 498 to 362. The Republican candidate got 35 votes.  For more, check out The Record's coverage.

In the heated Senate and Assembly contests, the 37th District Legislative team whipped their Republican challengers by a huge margin.  This victory was won in spite of their battles with pay-to-play Boss Joe Ferriero's Bergen County Democratic Organization, which attempted to undermine them even though they were on the Democratic Party line.

The BCDO scored victories in the Freeholder election by 10,000 votes out of approximately 130,000 cast.  The Record summarizes:

Ultimately, the GOP message of good government was undercut by the Republicans' limited financial resources. The Democratic incumbents, by comparison, spent lavishly, relying on backing from the Democratic Party -- and the professional contractors and county employees that reliably donate to it.

The Democrats, running as a team, outspent the Republicans by more than 10 to 1.

The BCDO's troubles were evident in Rutherford, where The Boss's choice, incumbent Mayor (and double dipper Freeholder) Bernadette McPherson, was whipped by over a 2 to 1 margin.  Also swept out were BCDO incumbent Councilmen. 

Still, these election results shows that there remains much progress to be made. There may yet be hope for Englewood and Bergen County voters -- but only if they see behind the big money that funds the half-truths and bogus talking points employed to distract them from voting in their own interest.

On September 12, in a piece entitled "Another Zoning Challenge," we reported on the plans of developer Aram Minnetian to build thirty-two townhouse units on the property at 45 Dwight Place, a single-family zone. The case is now scheduled to be heard by the Board of Adjustment on Thursday, November 8. Neighboring property owners, under the leadership of Howard Stotsky, are organizing opposition to the project, and have retained a qualified attorney, Mark Madaio, to represent them.

As we pointed out previously, if approval of this project is seriously considered, no single-family neighborhood in the City will be immune from a similar threat. The neighbors are seeking support in the form of attendance at the November 8 meeting (8 PM, Public Safety Complex), and in the form of contributions to help pay the legal fees. The Englewood Report endorses their request. Checks made out to Kenneth R. Tauber, annotated "45 Dwight Pl," and mailed to Howard Stotsky at 77 Dwight Place will help put a stop to this zoning challenge.