Democrats are literally one day late in bid to sway non-partisan Hackensack election

At the Stony Hill Inn on Tuesday night, Hackensack Mayor John Labrosse boasted of a clean sweep by his team in the non-partisan City Council election.

-- HACKESNACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

Desperate Democrats allied with the Zisa family political machine tried to influence the outcome of the non-partisan City Council election on Tuesday.

In a shameless partisan plea, a letter from the Hackensack Democratic Organization urged me and other registered Democrats to vote for members of the Zisa-backed slate, Hackensack United for Progress, because all of them are "active Democrats."

That plea came right after the letter noted, "Unlike other elections we are familiar with, ours is a non-partisan government."

Only problem is the letter arrived in many mailboxes on Wednesday -- the day after Mayor John Labrosse and his team swept to victory, defeating two other City Council slates.

Jack Zisa is a registered Republican and former four-term mayor of Hackensack; his brother, Ken, is the disgraced former police chief, who also was a Democratic member of the state Assembly; and another brother, Frank Jr., was deputy police chief under Ken.

Their cousin, Joseph C. Zisa Jr., was the city attorney for many years.

Their rule was so complete, as they ran Hackensack into the ground, the beleaguered city soon became a laughing stock called "Zisaville."

Hackensack voters didn't believe the lies

When the Zisas ruled Hackensack ...

This registered Democrat received the letter a day after the election.

More lies

The letter from the Hackensack Democratic Organization is filled with lies about what has happened to the city since Labrosse and a slate of City Council reformers won the 2013 municipal election.

The letter is signed by prominent Democrats, including Roy Cho, the Hackensack attorney who in 2014 challenged crackpot Republican Scott Garrett unsuccessfully for his New Jersey seat in the House of Representatives.

Former and current members of the Hackensack Board of Education -- the Zisas' power base -- also signed the letter.

So did two high school teachers, Caseen Gaines, campaign manager for the Hackensack United slate; and Anthony Zisa, son of the former police chief.

Anthony Zisa's grandfather, Frank, was the first member of the family to be elected mayor of Hackensack.

Vote totals

The Hackensack City Clerk's Office today released vote totals in Tuesday's election, including mail-in and provisional ballots:

Team Labrosse in Column 2: 

Mayor John Labrosse, 1,944; Deputy Mayor Kathleen Canestrino, 1,852; Councilman David Sims, 1,933; Councilman Leo Battaglia, 1,757; and Stephanie Von Rudenborg, 1,779.

Hackensack United (Zisa slate) in Column 1:

Lara L. Rodriguez, school board vice president, 1,313; Jason Some, 1,365; Michael Williams, 1,267; Carlos Merino, 1,212; and Rommy Buttafuoco, 1,195.

Hackensack Strong in Column 3:

Councilwoman Deborah Keeling-Geddis, 1,094; Anglica Carfi-Meneses, 864; David Dungey, 826; Rafael Rosario, 802; and Rich Cerbo, son of a former mayor, 879.