Rothman ‘Listens’ in Fort Lee Thursday

Dozens of people—both Fort Lee residents and constituents from other nearby towns—packed the Fort Lee Recreation Center Thursday afternoon, when Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9), who represents Fort Lee in Congress, held his third of four town hall-style “listening sessions” of the week.

Originally scheduled to be a 90-minute event, Rothman stuck around more than an hour beyond the scheduled 3:30 p.m. ending time “to make sure everybody’s questions were answered.”

“I was happy to stay,” Rothman told Patch after the listening session did end and before he headed off to Fair Lawn, where he was scheduled to do it all over again Thursday evening.

Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, who has spoken highly of Rothman in the past, introduced the Congressman, saying he was honored to be able to do so.

“When I started my own elected government run here in Fort Lee, I’ve always found myself doing things that are modeled after Congressman Rothman,” Sokolich said. “His policies of disclosure, his policies of transparency, his out-of-the-box thinking, the way in which he handles his constituents are all very, very inspirational to me.”

Rothman then fielded dozens of audience-submitted questions—mostly on issues of national concern, such as gas prices, the economy, Israel and U.S. policy in the Middle East, Medicare, healthcare, social security, the national debt, immigration and jobs, among many other topics.

“We had a very thorough, wide-ranging conversation about a whole list of issues,” Rothman said later.

He even touched on a handful of local issues as they came up, such as security in Fort Lee and at “the bridge” in particular.

He said that’s a question best asked of local mayors and police departments, but he also said, “We in Washington are working as hard as ever … to prevent a terrorist incident from happening.”

“With the killing of Osama bin Laden, there was some concern that some of his supporters might want to express their outrage,” Rothman said. “And I know that law enforcement in Fort Lee and throughout the area is on special alert.”

He defended on multiple occasions his support for what he called “the affordable healthcare law,” calling it “excellent and good for America.”

Another question that came up over and over again was the issue of U.S.-Israeli relations and U.S. policy in the Middle East.

 “I have been fighting for good relations with Israel for nearly 40 years,” Rothman said, adding that he supports “a two-state solution.”

Fort Lee Councilwoman Ila Kasofsky was among the many Fort Lee politicians who attended Thursday’s event, saying afterward that she was impressed—not only with Rothman, but also with the audience and their questions.

“I think this was a very bright, informed crowd, and I think that Steve Rothman cares from the bottom of his heart about the 39 million Americans with no health insurance,” Kasofsky said. “That’s his listening and caring part of him. He’s a true Democrat. I love him.”

But not everyone in attendance shared that sentiment. Keith Jensen, a Fort Lee resident and Republican candidate for State Assembly, said the biggest thing he took away from the “listening session” was what he didn’t hear.

“I didn’t hear at all how he’s going to reduce any of the everyday costs—whether it be taxes or any other benefits we’re getting as taxpayers,” Jensen said. “There were a lot of touchy-feely comments that make everyone feel good. There were a lot of people in the audience from his side and [therefore] layup questions. But at the end of the day, I just want to know how are we going to make government smaller? … None of that I heard.”

Jensen did have a positive take on the event as well.

“It’s good that he’s here,” he said. “It’s good that he’s open to it. I’m not saying that everything he heard from the constituents is going to be take aways and brought home, [but] yet he does identify those issues. He admits that we’re in a very difficult economy right now, and that’s good that he’s not turning a blind eye to it. I just didn’t hear any of the solutions.”

Rothman held similar listening sessions in Lyndhurst on Tuesday and North Bergen on Wednesday. He was scheduled for his fourth listening of the week at the Fair Lawn Municipal Courtroom at 7 p.m. Thursday.