School election issues: Zisas, higher taxes, overbilling of legal fees, sexual harassment

WHAT ELSE IS HE HIDING? Hackensack Board of Education President Jason Nunnermacker, in black hoodie, hiding from the camera at a May 2016 City Council meeting, above and below. Nunnermacker, a key ally of the Zisa family political machine, and two other school board members are seeking new 3-year terms in next Tuesday's board and budget election.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Nearly 5 years after the Zisa family political machine was thrown out of Hackensack City Hall, their allies retain an iron grip on the local school board.

Even as enrollment declined, the budget for Hackensack schools long ago soared past $100 million -- exceeding the city's own -- and the proposal for 2018-19 totals $117,143,515.

This budget would rely on $82,865,444 in local taxes -- or nearly half of every property taxpayer's bill -- plus state aid, tuition, state and federal grants and other funds. 

Ten years ago, the tax levy was $56,698,771, so about half of any increase in property taxes in the last decade was driven by higher school budgets.

Next Tuesday's school election ballot asks residents to vote "yes" or "no" on the proposed school budget; a "no" vote would allow the City Council to review the proposal, cut it or leave the budget as it is.

NorthJersey.com (The Record of Woodland Park) published two stories on next Tuesday's election, but the first, on March 25, stated incorrectly the proposed school budget is $112 million. 

The second, on March 27, used the correct, $117 million figure.

Frances Cogelja, Lance Powell and Carlos Velez are running for Hackensack Board of Education seats in next Tuesday's school election.

The Zisas

Mayor John Labrosse and his slate of reformers defeated allies of the Zisa family political dynasty in the 2013 City Council election, and again in 2017.

But Labrosse says Jack Zisa, a former four-term mayor; and brother Ken, the disgraced former police chief, "and their friends still control the Hackensack Board of Education."

"Yes, voters tired of their waste and corruption threw them out of City Hall, but they're still in control of our schools," the mayor said.

Jack Zisa "owns and operates companies that have received millions of tax dollars in insurance premiums" from the school board, which is controlled by friends and allies like President Jason Nunnermacker and school board attorney Richard Salkin.

Sweetheart deal

Since 2000, Jack Zisa also has collected rent on a Main Street building he acquired in a sweetheart deal made possible by friendly Bergen County officials, while he still was mayor.

The initial six-year lease with the Bergen County Special Services School District more than doubled the purchase price, and as of May 2017, the district has been paying more than $380,000 a year to rent the building at 293-295 Main St.

See: When the Zisas ruled Hackensack...

School for scandal

"Did you know that School Attorney Salkin has ruled there is 'nothing wrong' with school employees doing political work for Zisa candidates on school time and on school property," Labrosse says in campaign material for school board hopefuls Francis Cogelja, Lance Powell and Carlos Velez.

"Did you know that Salkin ovebills the school district by tens of thousands of dollars, and Nunnermacker and other school board members do nothing to stop him?"

Anthony Zisa

In the April 2016 school election, Hackensack High School teacher Anthony Zisa apparently supplied the addresses of members of the teachers union to the Zisa-backed board candidates.

Over the objections of the teachers union president, Team Hackensack invited teachers to a meet-and-greet barbecue at Anthony Zisa's home, 337 Maple Hill Drive in Hackensack.

Anthony Zisa, son of disgraced Police Chief Ken Zisa, lives in the home of his late grandfather, Frank C. Zisa, family patriarch and onetime mayor of Hackensack, once known derisively as "Zisaville."

State probe sought

Now, the "Putting Our Kids First Team" -- Cogelja, Powell and Velez -- are calling for a state investigation of Salkin, who, they allege, has raised his compensation by 50% and is working without a contract.

They say Salkin, the school board attorney, received $144,000 in the current school year, compared to $95,000 two years ago.

Last year, Salkin was the campaign manager for the Zisa-backed slate that lost the City Council election.

Referring to an Open Public Records Act request, Cogelja said, "We did learn that he overbilled taxpayers by $13,000 last year and we demand that he return these funds to the school district."

Candidates

Frances Cogelja, a member of the Fairmount School PTA, wants to increase school security by providing retired police officers in every school to protect children and staff members.

Her running mate, Lance Powell -- an education and health-care professional, and a public school parent who lives in Hackensack -- wants to upgrade school facilities, and stop insurance and legal-fee abuses.

The third member of the team is Carlos Velez, a city resident who is a public school principal in the Bronx.

Velez is concerned about the Zisa-controlled school board mismanaging a potential $30 million school construction project.

'Sex toys' suit

As a footnote to the election, a former Hackensack Middle School assistant principal said her boss touched her inappropriately, asked her about buying sex toys and made other lewd comments -- once while touching his crotch -- before abruptly leaving the job after she complained to district officials, according to news reports.

On April 4, Denise Vega Moore filed a lawsuit in Superior Court, Hackensack, against the Board of Education; and Nicole Adams and Rosemary Martin-Marks, both of whom were assistant superintendents of schools and later interim superintendents.

The suit says that in August 2014, she was introduced to her direct supervisor, Corey J. Jones, principal of the middle school.

"With plaintiff present, Jones would frequently make unsolicited and unprompted comments about other employees accusing him of sexual harassment," she says in the suit.

"Jones repeatedly grabbed plaintiff around the waist during her first several months of employment."

On Aug. 18, 2015, while plaintiff was speaking with her co-workers, Jones approached, said "don't you look tan," hugged plaintiff and "kissed her on the cheek." 

Plaintiff reported Jones' sexual harassment to Superintendent of Schools Joseph Cicchelli on June 17, 2016; the board investigated Jones' behavior and he was permitted to resign in July 2017, according to the suit.

Demolition is near for landmark building where The Record and NJMG once thrived

The building at 150 River St. in Hackensack, where The Record and parent company North Jersey Media Group operated until 2009, is being prepared for demolition. The fourth-floor newsroom of the once-great local daily newspaper afforded a sweeping view of the Meadowlands, an elevated section of the New Jersey Turnpike and the Manhattan skyline.

After moving The Record and NJMG to Woodland Park in 2009, the Borg family leased parking spaces in Hackensack to Bergen County and Hackensack University Medical Center. Printing of The Record and Herald News were moved to an NJMG printing plant in Rockaway Township in 2006. 

 -- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

The end is near for the landmark Hackensack building that once served as headquarters for The Record and publisher North Jersey Media Group.

A cyclone fence encircles the building at 150 River St. and two other structures, and employees of a demolition and recycling company were seen working there today.

The city of Hackensack adopted a redevelopment plan for the property and adjacent land that includes up to 700 residential units, 70,000 square feet of retail and a 1.35-acre hotel site.

They would transform the abandoned buildings into a "mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented riverfront project" to support the revitalization effort downtown, city officials said.

The project will be the terminus of Atlantic Street, providing a direct link from Hackensack University Medical Center past the Performing Arts Center and Atlantic Street Park to the Hackensack River, the officials said.

Demolition 

At the city Building Department, an employee said I had to fill out an Open Public Records Act request for information on whether a demolition permit has been issued for the property, and when the buildings are scheduled to be torn down.

The Borg family retained ownership of 19.7 acres along River Street after selling "certain assets" of North Jersey Media Group to the Gannett Co. in July 2016 for about $39.3 million in cash.

Those assets included The Record and Herald News, about 30 weekly newspapers and (201) magazine.

In addition to 150 River St., the land includes 80 River St., and 62 and 70 Bridge St. (Heritage Diner, U.S.S. Ling and former naval museum).

The 150 River St. property, which is in a flood zone, was assessed for $24,947,400, and Macromedia Inc. has been paying $790,053.40 annually in taxes, according to the njparcels.com website.

This 3-story section of the building at 150 River St. contained the executive offices at the end of a hallway decorated with art. A private dining room and then-Publisher Malcolm A. Borg's personal chef were used to entertain the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and other guests.

At the Jersey shore, they ran or walked 5K, but I headed straight for the lobster buffet

LOBSTER RUN: Runners crossing the start line on Saturday afternoon in Asbury Park for the 3rd annual 5K Run/Walk To Care For The Coast, a fundraiser for the American Littoral Society, above and below.

FISH HEAD: Head gear included this fish head, but others wore lobster or squid heads. A delicious lobster buffet awaited runners and walkers at the Langosta Lounge on Ocean Avenue.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

ASBURY PARK -- I'm always amazed and delighted at how a drive of less than 65 miles on the Garden State Parkway takes me back decades to summers on the New Jersey Shore.

On Saturday, I drove down to this faded shore resort with my wife for a 5K run/walk and lobster buffet -- a fundraiser to benefit the coastal-conservation programs of the American Littoral Society, a non-profit I joined in the 1990s.

To avoid a repeat of last year, when the buffet ran out before the last walkers were served, we did a brisk 2.5-mile walk on the boardwalk before the official 2 p.m. start, and were first on line for the delicious buffet.

Our next stop was nearby Bradley Beach, where my parents owned a summer home from the late 1940s until the late 1970s.

Brooklyn to Bradley

Every summer, we drove there from Brooklyn, shopped in the farmer's market across the tracks in Neptune, and welcomed my mother's brothers and sisters and their families for extended stays in the 8-bedroom house with a wraparound porch.

We usually stopped at the Neptune market after picking up my father at the railroad station on his return from running his dry goods store on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.

My mother, who like my father was born in Aleppo, Syria, cooked her Sephardic Jewish specialties every night, and the refrigerator was always full of leftovers for lunch and snacks or sandwiches in fresh pocket bread.

Great memories. 

See:

In 2017, no crustaceans

 were harmed at Lobster Run

The harsh realities

 of trying to save the coast

LOBSTER TWO WAYS: The buffet at the Langosta Lounge on Saturday included a sinful Lobster Macaroni and Cheese, foreground, and a chilled half Maine lobster from The Lusty Lobster, a seafood market in Highlands.

LUNCH BUFFET: The format of the fundraising run/walk and buffet was switched to the afternoon this year after last year's morning event and brunch included only scrambled eggs with lobster; no half lobsters were served last year.

TOMATO PIE: Before driving back to Hackensack, we stopped at Vic's, an Italian-American restaurant in Bradley Beach that opened in 1947. I ordered a large thin-crust whole-wheat pizza with onions, garlic and anchovies to go.

FULL MENU: Vic's has a full menu and a liquor license.

WEBSITE: Vic's Italian-American Restaurant is at 60 Main St. in Bradley Beach.

WRAPAROUND PORCH: A house on Third Avenue in Bradley Beach.

Asbury Park renewal

Every time we visit Asbury Park, there seems to be little progress on renewing the boardwalk, although many new apartments have been built a few blocks away in the business district.

When I worked at The Record of Hackensack in the late 1980s, I was sent to the faded resort to write about promises of renewal.

Here are some photos I took on Saturday:

AT A STANDSTILL: Not much has changed on this section of the Asbury Park boardwalk, above and below, since our last visit a year ago.

RESIDENTIAL PROJECT: From the boardwalk in front of the Langosta Lounge, we could see and hear work on what looks like a residential high-rise.

ROCKERS' ROOTS: The Stone Pony, know for launching rockers Bruce Springsteen and Bon Jovi, is going strong.

SPLISH SPLASH: A splash park for children is a bright spot on the boardwalk.

At this Costco, you'll find Spanish sangria for $3.50 a bottle and tequila for $399.99

A GLASS OF WINE WITH DINNER: This week, I've been enjoying a 2014 Chianti Classico Riserva and a 2013 Rioja Reserva from the Kirkland Signature label that I bought at the Costco Wholesale warehouse in Wayne. The Rabbit-brand rubber wine stoppers keep both red wines fresh.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

Only two Costco Wholesales in New Jersey have a state liquor license and sell private-label Kirkland Signature wines and spirits, and one of them is in Wayne.

At the members-only warehouse off of Route 23 in Wayne Towne Center, you can find everything from Spanish sangria to European wines to French champagne to fine tequilas.

Like most -- but not all -- Costco items sold under the Kirkland Signature house label, the still and sparkling wines offer high quality and good value.

The Edison warehouse also has a state liquor license and a Costco-run liquor section inside the warehouse, as opposed to a liquor store with a separate entrance run by a third party.

That Costco also happens to be on Vineyard Road in Edison. 

Here is a video I made in the Wayne Costco's liquor section that explores the variety of wines and spirits sold there.

See: Why Is This Costco Different Than Any Other?

RED WINE AND SUSHI ROLLS: The Rioja Reserva from Spain went well with Spicy Tuna & Spicy Crab Rolls I bought in the cafe at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center. At another meal, I had a glass of the Chianti Classico with a slice of Costco's 18-inch Veggie Combo Pizza and a salad of organic spring mix.

VALENCIA ORANGE ESSENCE: A 1.5-liter bottle of Kirkland Signature Sangria was $6.99 at the Wayne Costco or the equivalent of about $3.50 a bottle.

SINGLE MALT SCOTCH: A bottle of Kirkland Signature 18-year Speyside Single Malt Scotch was $54.79.

FROM TUSCANY: A bottle of Kirkland Signature Chianti Classico was $8.49.

FROM SPAIN: A bottle of Rioja Reserva was $6.99.

As Murphy tries to fix what Christie broke, I wonder who will end evils of Trumpism?

Editorial cartoons continue to explore Russian interference and influence in the 2016 presidential election that Donald J. Trump won in the Electoral College. Steve Sack of The Star Tribune in Minneapolis takes on Russian trolls aiming to influence voters on Facebook, above.

Cartoonist Milt Priggee of Cagle.com has President Trump and Russian dictator Vladimir Putin sailing off into the sunset. Trump has refused to embrace a tough public posture on Russia, as his aides have urged, The New York Times is reporting.

WASHINGTON POST: TRUMP'S 
FALSE CLAIMS (LIES) TOTAL 2,436

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

Editor's note: See a comment at the end of this post about the April 4, 2018, edition of The Record, including errors, the Kushner Companies in Hackensack, Mitt Romney and Toys 'R' Us.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

I started wide-eyed at a headline on the front page of my Gannett-owned local daily newspaper last week:

"NJ bills on

equal pay, 

sick leave

advance"

Even the lack of punctuation in "NJ" couldn't hide the significance of another progressive initiative by Governor Murphy, who was elected last November to end the long nightmare of the Christie administration.

That was The Record's edition on Tuesday. 

Other front pages last week reported Murphy's expansion of medical marijuana, and a proposal for $50 million in additional tuition assistance to low-income students -- the first step "toward making the [community] colleges entirely tuition free by 2021."

The story on equal pay for women began:

"Working women in New Jersey could soon have one of the nation's strongest laws guaranteeing pay equity after lawmakers moved Monday to pass a measure that would ban employers from paying them less than men for 'substantially similar work.'"

Who will end Trumpism?

So, those headlines and other moves by Murphy to fix mass transit, heal the environment and tighten gun control have me wondering who will be elected to begin repairing all the damage to our democracy since Donald J. Trump was sworn in as president in January 2017.

Beside trying to reverse everything Obama, Trump signed a tax law that was a massive giveaway to wealthy corporations that fund conservative Republican campaigns for Congress and the White House.

Will Trump be undone by Special Counsel Robert Mueller's wide-ranging investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election or will control of Congress shift to the Democrats after this November's midterm elections?

Either way, I'm on the edge of my seat.

WP Fact Checker

On March 1, The Washington Post's Fact Checker reported:

"In 406 days [since assuming office], President Trump has made 2,436 false or misleading claims."

For example, here is what Trump said about his tax cut on Feb. 24, 2018, and what the Fact Checker says.

Trump: "I really believe that while the tax cuts are the biggest ever, there has been no bill like that."

Fact Checker: "Trump's tax cut is 0.9 percent of the gross domestic product, meaning it would be far smaller than President Ronald Reagan's tax cut in 1981 -- which was 2.89 percent of GDP.

"Trump's tax cut is the eighth largest tax cut --and even smaller than two tax cuts passed under Barack Obama."

The sign for the Borg's Woods Nature Preserve in the Fairmount section of Hackensack, above and below, was leaning against a tree on Saturday.

Who was Roberta Starr?

Before March 2017, when the payroll-slashing Gannett Co. laid off about 50 reporters and editors at The Record of Woodland Park, expanded local obituaries appeared frequently in the news columns.

Essentially profiles in death of prominent local residents, these expanded obituaries have been few and far between in the past year.

On March 11, the photo with a paid death notice for Roberta Starr caught my eye, because she was a knockout.

A Brooklyn, N.Y., native like me, Mrs. Starr was a classically trained opera singer who "became the first female cantor accepted by the Herzliah Hebrew Institute in New York."

Mrs. Starr "was first, foremost, and always a teacher," the paid death notice said, noting she was profiled in The New York Times in 2001.

Mrs. Starr, 77, of Hackensack died on Feb. 19. The cause was cancer. She is survived by three children and nine grandchildren.

This paid death notice for Roberta Starr of Hackensack appeared in The Record's Local section on March 11, 2018.

General Poor's Tavern

The Record's story on the closing of General Poor's Tavern on Main Street in Hackensack was missing an important detail.

"When The Record had its offices on nearby River Street, the bar was a local hang-out for reporters looking for a story tip or just a cold brew," Staff Writer Rodrigo Torrejon reported last week.

But General Poor's was far more than that: 

It was the place for going away parties for Record newsroom staffers who were heading for bigger and better things.

I lost track of how many of those parties I attended, but at one point in the Nineties, I just stopped going to those boozy farewells.

Torrejon's story also was the first acknowledgement I've ever seen that The Record's decision to close its landmark River Street headquarters in 2009 hurt General Poor's, and other businesses on or near Main Street, like Solari's.

"The relocation of the Social Security office [and] The Record headquarters' move to Woodland Park ... have dealt far too many blows to the pub at 45 Main St.," Torrejon reported.

See: Hackensack is behind rank-and-file cops

Abandoning River City

World carmakers still are betting the bank on improving mileage of deadly gas engine

TURNING OVER A NEW LEAF: The long-awaited second-generation Nissan Leaf, a stylish all-electric four-door hatchback, was only a sideshow for the press at the New York International Auto Show in the Javits Center. The show opens to the public on Friday.

ZERO EMISSIONS: Hundreds of auto writers, publicists and advertising executives ignored the zero-emissions 2018 Nissan Leaf, which has a range of 151 miles, as they pushed toward a stage to see the unveiling of a new Nissan Altima with a more efficient internal-combustion engine.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Any hope I had that the global auto industry is quickly developing electric vehicles to ease climate change and cut premature deaths from auto emissions was dashed on Wednesday at the New York International Auto Show.

As a Tesla owner and member of the International Motor Press Association, I skipped last year's two-day preview for auto writers and others.

But on Wednesday, I took mass transit to the show and walked through the exhibits at the Javits Center, looking for all-electric production models. 

They were few and far between, as were the cocktail parties and lounges the industry once employed to capture the hearts, minds and stomachs of the auto writers who flock there every year, and write gushing articles about new models with antiquated gas engines.

No free lunch

In fact, manufacturers asked the New York region auto dealers who stage the annual show for more time to hold press conferences, eliminating the wildly popular box lunch that Subaru has provided in recent years.

As the owner of a Tesla Model S, I was disappointed none of the unveilings on Wednesday were specifically for a new all-electric vehicle that you can buy now.

Of course, Tesla doesn't advertise or take part in the New York show.

And Porsche didn't bother showing the Mission E, saying the all-electric performance sedan still is a prototype that won't go on sale until the end of next year.

Media applause

As a retired newspaper reporter who once covered the industry, I was shocked to hear auto writers from around the world cheering and applauding loudly after Nissan unveiled a new Altima sedan with another dirty engine.

Surely, they weren't cheering the millions of premature deaths from air pollution, including the 58,000 attributed to tailpipe emissions in the United States every year.

Pushing fuel economy

Manufacturers are innovating to produce engines with better fuel economy under government pressure, Consumer Reports says in its 2018 Auto Issue.

Yet, car companies also are seeking relief from even stricter standards, and the Trump administration "is openly skeptical of regulation," the magazine reports.

And Charles Morris, who writes for Tesla aftermarket supplier Evannex, argues:

"Big Oil, supported by its allies in the auto industry and numerous national governments, is fighting the nascent electromobility revolution on several fronts."

"...The media churn out 'EVs are a bust' articles on a daily basis, often employing quotes helpfully provided by auto industry trade groups and oil-friendly think tanks."

See:

When auto riders get a free ride...

 We'll be choking on these cars for years to come

An EV makes Top 10 list at Consumer Reports

CHEAP-LOOKING INTERIOR: Chevrolet displayed the homely Bolt EV (and Volt plug-in hybrid, rear), neither of which have been setting sales records. A Chevrolet spokesman wouldn't comment on why the Bolt EV doesn't appear in its own TV commercial.

THIS EV REALLY STINKS: BMW chose to show the i3s, a sportier version of its funky all-electric car, which has a range of 114 miles, but this one was equipped with a "range extender" -- a 2-cylinder gasoline engine.

Jaguar says the all-electric I-Pace, above and below, is expected to go on sale at the end of the year, and compete with Tesla's Model X. The I-Pace will have an MSRP of $69,500 and a range of 240 miles.

A Jaguar spokesman said the "I" in I-Pace stands for "ion" as in the lithium-ion batteries the four-door hatchback uses.

Hyundai showed the all-electric Kona, above and below, a crossover that also is expected to go on sale at the end of this year. 

The Kona EV will have a range of 250 miles, Hyundai said, a bit more than the Chevy Bolt EV.