First-Time BOE Candidate Announces Run, Thomas Paine Turns 275

The Fort Lee Common Sense Society sponsors an annual celebration of the birthday of American Revolutionary War patriot Thomas Paine, who was born on Jan. 29, 1737. This year, with Paine’s actual birthday falling on Sunday, the celebration took place Wednesday at .

This year’s celebration also marked the official kickoff of the Common Sense Society’s “$17.76” fundraising campaign. (Full Story)

****

David Sarnoff has been a Fort Lee resident for slightly more than 10 years; he has two children in the Fort Lee public school district, a third- and a fourth-grader, and he’s taken an active interest and regularly attended meetings since his kids started attending.

Last week, Sarnoff, a partner and recruiter in an executive search firm focusing on the placement of attorneys, announced that he has filed a petition to run for a seat on the Board of Education, and he said he’s “in it,” whether the election takes place in April or November. (Full Story)

****

Fort Lee Borough officials said Thursday that they want about an acre-and-a-half of land back that the Port Authority took by eminent domain several years ago for the purpose of building a helix providing direct access to the lower level of the George Washington Bridge but ultimately abandoned the project.

The area in question is on the right as you take the side entrance to the GWB toll plaza off Bruce Reynolds Boulevard and directly across Bruce Reynolds from Redevelopment Area 5.

“The property we owned was actually the extension of Central Road; the other properties were all privately held,” explained Fort Lee Councilman Joseph Cervieri at a relatively brief Mayor and Council executive session. “Several years ago, the Port Authority went in and took it by eminent domain with this plan for this helix, which was supposed to be completed by 2011. That was their five-year plan. It never happened. It’s now off the board.” (Full Story)

****

When the approved a firm to conduct a search for a permanent superintendent for the school district at its regular business meeting on Jan. 23, it did so only after removing a line from the services the company proposed offering to meet with “stakeholders” prior to conducting its search.

Leadership Advantage’s original proposal included 10 points of service it would provide, including meeting “with designated stakeholder groups in a full day and evening session designed to provide for participation and information gathering that would be of further help in the search process.”

But in the resolution approved by the board, that line had been whited out of the proposal, causing concern among some residents that they were deliberately being shut out of the process. (Full Story)

****

Dozens of Korean-Americans and representatives from various organizations across Bergen County and the state, including several Fort Lee residents, rallied Wednesday in support of one of Gov. Chris Christie’s nominees for the New Jersey Supreme Court at an event in Hackensack sponsored by the Korean-American Voters Council (KAVC).

A former assistant United States Attorney for New Jersey currently serving as first assistant in the state Attorney General’s office, Philip Kwon, who is Korean-American, has been the target of what former Edison Mayor Jun Choi called “inappropriate, speculative attacks” in the media in reference to recent articles in the Star Ledger raising concerns about Kwon and his family’s legal issues, which Christie has said have been resolved. (Full Story)

****

The week in review appears every Sunday on Fort Lee Patch.