GOP GROUP ASKS TOWNS TO APPROVE RESOLUTION OPPOSING STATE’S HOUSING MANDATES

GOP STRONG

Fighting For Republican Victories

MATTER SHOULD BE TAKEN UP BY STATE LEGISLATORS THIS FALL

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PASSAIC COUNTY --  With the national and state economies in disarray the leaders of the Passaic County Republican organization – GOP Strong - are asking municipalities in the county to sign on to a resolution opposing the state’s new low income housing laws and demanding the state legislature  -- not the courts – determine a statewide affordable housing policy.

GOP Strong co- chair Michael Ramaglia said “with the Wall Street meltdown, a credit crunch and falling home prices, it would be absolute insanity for the state to burden every town in the state with  development  they do not want and that few people can afford.

“Republicans need to stand up to the social experimenters in Trenton and say no to a ruinous affordable housing policy that will destroy the environment and raise property taxes in Passaic County.”

Ramaglia said a sample resolution will be sent to Republicans in every town in the county who will be asked to get their local governments to take a stand against the state’s affordable housing mandates.

“Republicans must work from the bottom up to fight to protect  the quality of life we cherish in our smaller, suburban towns – the very towns that the Democrats want to destroy. The moderate Republicans in the state legislature need to be pushed to fight for us,” said Ramaglia.

GOP Strong co-chair Robert Fass, a Wayne businessman said the states new affordable housing quotas will mean hundreds of thousands of units will be built in a state that is already the most crowded and congested in the nation. The result, he said, will be loss of property values for people living in older homes and less business investment in the state

“It would be economically reckless to allow builders to overdevelop our communities in the name of  affordable housing,” said Fass. “Business will not invest here because of the housing obligation and middle aged homeowners and seniors will see their home values drop even further if the state is allowed to continue its absurd housing policies,”

Fass, a partner in a recruiting firm said: “The state needs to take heed regarding what is happening on Wall Street. The financial crisis we are in now started in part because the liberal Democrats in the Clinton Administration extended credit to low and moderate income people. Obviously, many of those people could not afford a home and should have never been extended credit.  

“Owning a home is not a right granted to you by the government – no matter what Gov. Corzine says. It is a privilege you work hard for,” he added

Michael Mecca, a GOP Strong co-chair said the county’s All-Democratic freeholder board should be opposing the state affordable housing plan known as Round 3 of the Council on Affordable Housing mandates. The latest rules prohibit towns like Wayne, Hawthorne and Ringwood  from shifting part of their affordable housing mandate to cities like Paterson that need housing  

“COAH-3 is a disaster for the suburbs and the cities and I don’t see why the freeholder board is not fighting back against COAH,” said Mecca, noting that more than 200 municipalities have joined a lawsuit to fight COAH-3.

“Our Republican freeholder candidates should be pressuring the Democrats to oppose the state’s housing mandates. I hope they will join with us to demand the freeholders petition the legislature to kill COAH now,” added Mecca, a former freeholder.

The legislature needs to stop dodging this issue and face up to a problem it helped to create. As a freeholder, I would be using my office to pressure legislators to do what is best for Passaic County, not the special interests,” he added.