Last week, a gunman shot 5 people at Ashanti, a neighborhood restaurant in Englewood. As usual, Mayor Wildes' immediate reaction was to play politics with this tragedy. This time, Wildes blames the shooting on an absence of basketball courts in the 4th Ward. Here is Bob's response, as printed in yesterday's Bergen Record:

Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes is shameless.

In response to the recent shooting in Englewood, he asks: "How can we build million-dollar projects and not have a basketball court and an arts studio for children in the 4th Ward?"

Good question – to ask of himself. After all, he has had more than eight years as a councilman and mayor to answer it.

Wildes' Planning Board has provided millions of dollars in tax breaks to the developers of these "million-dollar projects." And unlike representatives in neighboring towns, Wildes has never gotten these developers to build more facilities for our youth. Meanwhile, he doesn't seem to be complaining about the tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions he gets from developers.

Most embarrassingly, Wildes ought to know that the 4th Ward's McKay Park has seven lit basketball and tennis courts, along with playing fields, a public swimming pool and an indoor skating rink. If Wildes wants to fight crime and help our city's youth, he should learn what facilities Englewood already has, stop sucking up to developers and start getting developer-funded facilities.

Robert Stern
Englewood, July 11

You can find additional letters on the shooting at the Bergen Record's website. For further information of this tragedy, read this article.