BERGEN’S SOVIET STYLE IMPERIALISM ON DISPLAY IN FAIR LAWN ROAD INCIDENT

GOP SAYS COUNTY OPEN SPACE FUND SHOULD BE SCRAPPED   

HACKENSACK -- The imperial Bergen County government marching into Fair Lawn behind a 10-ton bulldozer epitomizes the abusive power that the freeholders and the county executive are wielding now, say Bergen County Republicans  

Freeholder candidate Paul Duggan said the county‘s attempts to plop a bulldozer down in Fair Lawn and start tearing up the ground to build a road to a county park without approval are tactics last scene by the Soviet Union.

“When I read what the county was doing to Fair Lawn, I was having flashbacks to the Soviet invasion of Hungry in 1956,” quipped Duggan, born and raised in Ireland.

Duggan was referring to the events of November 3, 1956, when Soviet troops surrounded Budapest and closed the country's borders in response to a democratic uprising.

“I don’t want to exaggerate the point, but it is a serious matter when an arm of government just rides roughshod over the population and undertakes a threatening act opposed by the town’s government and its residents, ” said Duggan.

ABUSE OF POWER AND MONEY

The Bergen GOP says the incident in Fair Lawn, speaks to larger problems with county government – its closed, one party government and its abuse of taxpayer money. 

“We now have a government in Bergen County that feels it does not need to confer with the people of the county about how it alters their communities or how it spends their money,” said GOP candidate Chris Calabrese of Upper Saddle River.

Calabrese noted that a published report in the Record quoted a county spokesperson who said the county was under no obligation to contact local residents about the $245,000 road project to provide drive up access to Saddle River County Park.

“The fact that not one freeholder has stood up to condemn the remarks of the spokesperson or to defend Fair Lawn is absolutely shocking,” said Calabrese.

 PROBLEM WITH TRUST FUND 

Freeholder candidate Jeff Heller of Ramsey said the showdown over the county park in Fair Lawn bespeaks a bigger issue that needs addressing – the way the county is spending its open space trust fund money. 

Heller said the county has defended its actions in Fair Lawn, saying there is a need for more playing fields. But says Heller the county is misusing its open space trust fund money on municipal projects instead of on purchasing more land for county parks and open space.

The Republicans noted that of the $19 million the county spent this year from the open space trust fund on 70 projects, only about 10 of the projects and about $6 million, went to actual open space preservation.

“If the county needs more open space for recreation fields, it should be using county taxpayer money to pay for open space to create fields. Instead they are spending taxpayer money for artificial turf fields in Wood-Ridge and Rochelle Park, and a $40,000 improvement to Lyndhurst’s municipal building,” said Heller.

“Why are homeowners in Ramsey being taxed to pay for municipal improvements in other towns under the guise of an open space tax?” he asked.

 OVERHAUL TRUST FUND 

Calabrese said county’s open space tax should be frozen and the manner in which the money is being spent should be investigated. “The public has been mislead about the open space trust fund by the county. The tax for the fund should be stopped and the matter put to a public referendum. People should be asked if they want to be taxed to pay for municipal park improvements. 

“It’s obscene that the county didn’t have the money this year to purchase development rights to a 23 acre farm in Franklin Lakes, but it has the money to pay for artificial turf fields and swing sets for municipalities,” said Calabrese. “Shouldn’t those local improvements be paid for by the municipalities?” 

Duggan said most taxpayers are not aware of how the county’s open space tax money is being used. “I don’t think taxpayer would be voting to tax themselves to build tennis courts in someone else’s town,” he said.