RUMANA’S LATE CRITICISM OF COAH DEMONSTRATES HIS LACK OF LEADERSHIP

GOP STRONG

Assemblyman Still Fails To Denounce COAH’s Legitimacy   

PASSAIC COUNTY - With municipalities facing a December 31 deadline to comply with the state’s onerous new affordable housing rules, Assemblyman Scott Rumana has waited until the eleventh hour to summon the courage to question the state’s housing mandates, say the leaders of GOP Strong, a conservative Republican group. 

Rumana and Assemblyman David Russo issued a joint statement yesterday – just three weeks before the affordable housing deadline -- saying COAH needs to be reformed.  Many communities have already spent tens of thousands of dollars trying to comply with the mandate, while others don’t know whether to comply or not.  

Ramaglia said that if not for the efforts by his group to continually question Rumana’s weak efforts to fight COAH, the Assemblyman “was content to allow the state to force its December 31 deadline with no real opposition.” 

Rumana – who is also the Passaic County Republican Party Chairman – “still lacks the courage to denounce COAH for what it is – a socialist program that will destroy many communities” said Ramaglia. 

 “Mr.  Rumana is quibbling over the minutiae in the COAH mandates, rather attacking the wrongheaded socialist principle behind the mandates. He is still calling for just a delay in implementing COAH – not an outright end to the dangerous program.

It is troubling, that he still cannot summon the courage to fight for his constituents in District 40 and for the people of Passaic County,” said Ramaglia. 

If COAH is allowed to stand, towns will be saddled with thousands of units of unwanted, high density, low income housing, and residents and businesses will be hit with added fees and higher property taxes to support new development.

The local economy will also suffer because COAH imposes fees on business expansion to help pay for low income housing. GOP Strong Co-Chair Michael Mecca said Rumana’s sudden awakening to the fundamental problems with COAH’s regulations may come as a revelation to him, but not others  

“Many of us have been  trying to alert residents to the dangers of COAH. And we have been asking the state legislature, not bureaucrats, to reverse affordable housing policy in this state,” said Mecca.
 

 “What is surprising is that I don’t hear Assemblymen Rumana or Russo saying that they want more than a delay of COAH. They should be saying the program is horrible, socialist overkill and should be terminated,” added Mecca. 

LOSING LOCAL CONTROL 

GOP Strong Co-Chair Robert Fass of Wayne, said if Rumana bothered to read the 158 pages of  COAH regulations he would see what municipalities are up against.

“Basically, COAH’s new rules allow the state to take away virtually all zoning and planning power from municipalities and impose the will of this group of unknown, un-elected socialists that comprise COAH.” said Fass. 

“The key question is what in God’s name has Rumana been waiting for? He should have been condemning the plan the moment it was introduced in February, but he has waited until December 9, to question the plan,” said Fass.

“It sounds to me that he is just trying to save his political career by finally responding to the public’s outrage. It’s a little late.”   

As late as last week, Rumana was still endorsing the COAH mandates in principle, while quibbling about the lack of money the state had to help finance high-rise, low-income housing in every town in Passaic County.

 GOP Strong  issued its own statement last week condemning Rumana’s weak attack on COAH, and noting that Rumana still agrees in principle that taxpayers should be saddled with the cost of building homes for people who are in many cases, capable of working for their own homes. 

“A true leader would have been out front in opposing COAH from the second the new regulations were proposed,” said Ramaglia, a West Milford resident. 

“The fact that we had to force Rumana into taking a stand is a testament to his unsuitability to be a leader in the Republican Party.”