Pearls of Wisdom

Election 2011 is here.  Special focus on education.     

VOTERS RULE!

(1) Fort Lee residents must go to the polls, please VOTE! It is the responsibility of each citizen to assume this responsibility granted in our Constitution. You forfeit the right to complain about conditions in your community when you fail to vote.

(2) Please take the time to evaluate the candidates; the future of Fort Lee is at stake.

(3) There have been major drives around the U.S. regarding term limits. One can argue both sides. If a representative is doing a stellar job, you want to reelect; if not to oust. Unfortunately, continual reelection of inferior candidates has created a society of "lifers," individuals who personally benefit from their longevity in office, without representing their constituency with true integrity. 

(4)  We have the most partisan Congress in the U.S. in history, creating a totally dysfunctional organization. Fort Lee has the opposite problem; our Town Council has been primarily Democratic. One can make a very strong argument that we need to have a few Republicans in office to balance the equation. 

THE CANDIDATES

Mayoral Election: 

Mark Sokolich: very popular mayor, local attorney; well-liked and omnipresent; amazing amount of time devoted to mayoral duties; coached various sports; one son in the Fort Lee schools; in favor of current referendum. #1 credit: If you call him or e-mail him, he will make every attempt to address issues of private citizens. 

Judith Fisher: well-spoken; intelligent; low profile; professional career -selling accounting software, involved for years with School #3 PTA. Her position requesting a formal budget audit is well-taken. No public position noted on the referendum.  

Town Council Election: 

Democrats:

Armand Pohan: articulate with a litany of information on Fort Lee finances; somewhat condescending at times. By blogging anonymously, his wife became a one-woman wrecking crew for his campaign. (Maybe she wants him home for dinner more often?!) He has promoted his family history in Fort Lee, but this fact is not relevant to a campaign, only his past performance.

Michael Sargenti: stalwart in community for years, heavily involved in community sports, employed by UPS; limited financial background. His wife is a teacher in Fort Lee. Note: After I criticized Michael Sargenti in a recent blog, he and I met to discuss his involvement in Fort Lee education. I respect Mr. Sargenti for reaching out to me; this showed me character. He expounded his views on education and detailed his personal involvement in the schools and referendums. 

General: The current Town Council’s support of the “red light cameras” is troubling. From my perspective, this will not serve to deter bad driving; its only purpose would appear to be filling town coffers by giving tickets to Fort Lee residents. It is also my allegation that the Town Council failed to negotiate “impact fees” in the Centuria project. (Impact fees = money assessed to the project to offset the additional costs to the Fort Lee educational system, with particular regard to overcrowding.) 

Republicans:

Martha Cohen: running for Town Council for second time; regular attendee at BOE and Town Council meetings; committee member of Fort Lee High School Freshman Academy project; son in the high school; professional career, media executive. Her husband, David, is head of the Fort Lee Republicans. Campaign centers around Fort Lee finances and debt; number of empty stores on Main Street, lack of new business in community.

Alfred Norton: new player in the Fort Lee political game, not always definitive on issues. He appears not to be easily intimidated, as he and Mr. Pohan have been verbally sparring through Patch. His comments characterize him as a bit of a numbers cruncher, a student of Fort Lee finances; very critical of debt.   

Re: The School Referendum and BOE issues

Mr. Pohan agreed in a blog that he supports the BOE referendum as a citizen of Fort Lee but cites the separation of powers between the Town Council and BOE. He states that the Mayor, Mike Sargenti and he had “informal meetings” with BOE members regarding school issues.

Obviously, there is contact between the Council and BOE. I have verified Mayor Sokolich’s direct involvement, but there is no way to verify which council members have participated or to what extent. To the best of my knowledge, neither Mr. Pohan nor Mr. Sargenti has been quoted in the newspapers or made any public appearances supporting or disparaging the original referendum or the second referendum. 

I believe that they both had responsibilities as Fort Lee citizens to take a stance, one way or the other. I am not a big proponent of fence-sitting on controversial issues; i.e. we should know where our representatives stand when the future of the community is at stake.

Martha Cohen supported the original referendums, but with reservations. In the previous election, she was the only candidate who expressed strong views regarding the referendums. She supports the current referendum. To date, I have not heard Al Norton express his position on the referendum.