(North Bergen, NJ) With one election behind us and another one facing us next year, it’s time for North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco to decide if he is going to invest the time needed to address the town’s problems or if he wants to continue to pad his wallet with three public jobs, say leaders of the North Bergen Concerned Citizens Group.

“North Bergen is facing a crisis of confidence in its leadership,” says NBCCG organizer Larry Wainstein.

“The town is under a state investigation for criminality which we know occurred at the Public Works Department,  More than 60 subpoenas have been dropped on the town and several workers have already pleaded guilty to wrong doing. Given all that and what is sure to be more to come, we think Nick Sacco should not seek re-election to the state senate,” added Wainstein

NBCCG organizer Luis Gutierrez  said Sacco’s divided attention among his three jobs, school superintendent, state senator and mayor benefits only Sacco, not the town. Sacco rakes in nearly $300,000 from his three public jobs, and will receive a hefty termination package and lifetime pension with health benefits.

“No one can do three jobs well and it shows in the way North Bergen is governed,” said Gutierrez.  “The mayor isn’t on top of things the way he should. And when you bring problems to him, such as the traffic on Tonnelle Avenue, he just ignores you. He’s too busy to attend to town business.“

NBCCG officials say the town has suffered from a lack of attention and lack of leadership not only with the DPW issue, but with a number of issues, including the botched operation of the Housing Authority, that roasted tenants in their apartments this summer, a lengthy lawsuit over access to public records that the mayor doesn’t want released, and the continued operation of Eagle Recycling, which has become a menace to the community, said NBCCG attorney Mario Blanch.     

“There are problems in North Bergen that the mayor seems oblivious to. He can’t possibly condone what is going on at Eagle Recycling and he can’t pretend he doesn’t know what went on the DPW. If he’s too busy to address these issues, he’s too busy to go to Trenton twice a week,” said Blanch

The attorney said he’s not buying Sacco’s propaganda that his service in the state senate helps the town. “I think  that’s just a lot of worthless campaign PR to justify why the mayor gets to pad his wallet and his pension with a $49,000 job in the state Senate,” said Blanch.

“I don’t see Sacco using his clout to send the state’s environmental agency here to crack down on Eagle Recycling and all their violations of environmental and  safety laws,” said Blanch. “What I see is Senator Sacco using his clout to protect a big campaign donor.”