Hackensack officials hoping April vote will give them control of school board, budget

Jason Nunnermacker, a lawyer who ran unsuccessfully for City Council, was president of the Hackensack Board of Education until he was defeated in the April 2018 school board and budget election.

The seat held by Lara L. Rodriguez, who is now Board of Education president, is one of three that will be open in the April 16 school and budget election (photo from Hackensack Public Schools website).

Editor's note: Now that the special school election in Hackensack is behind us, residents have another election coming up in April, when they can vote for three members of the Board of Education and say "yes" or "no" to a proposed budget for the 2019-20 school year.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Mayor John Labrosse and other members of the City Council hope to build on their victory in Tuesday's special balloting and take control of the Board of Education after the April school election.

If three council-backed candidates are successful in defeating incumbents on April 16, they would join three elected in 2018 to form a 6-3 majority on the school board.

City officials also are hoping the many older homeowners who voted against the $170 million school construction and renovation proposal on Tuesday will also reject the proposed tax levy to support the 2019-20 school budget that will appear on the April ballot.

About 45% of the property taxes paid by every home, condo and small business owner goes to support the city's schools.

Last April, voters approved a tax levy of about $82.9 million to support a 2018-19 school budget of about $117.2 million.

School officials haven't made public the proposed tax levy or budget for the 2019-20 school year.

On Tuesday, 2,917 ballots were cast, with 2,265 against the proposed $170 million bond issue and 30-year tax hike, and 652 in favor.

The results from the Bergen County clerk's Election Division included 499 mail-in ballots (305 against, 194 in favor) and 51 provisional ballots (38 against, 13 in favor).

School budget

On April 16, rejection of the proposed tax levy would allow the City Council to trim the budget and recommend reductions in expenditures or leave it as it is.

The school board is obligated only to follow the dollar amount of the cuts, not any specific recommendations.

But if council allies win and flip control of the board, any recommended cuts likely would be adopted.

Then, the council would perform a forensic audit of the budget, which has soared above $100 million in recent years, exceeding the city's own budget.

And they'd also work quickly to determine how many students from out of the district are attending city schools at taxpayers' expense.

As many as 200 students from Paterson, Newark and New York City may be illegally attending school in Hackensack, one council member said.

School renovations

If school officials hope to salvage their plan to renovate existing schools at a cost of about $68.3 million, they would have to give two months' notice for it to appear on the April ballot.

The rest of the plan rejected by voters on Tuesday -- $101.5 million to build a new junior high school and parking garage on the high school campus -- appears dead for the foreseeable future.

Zisas or Democrats?

In the school election last April, the three open seats being contested were held by Mark A. Stein, Jason Nunnermacker and Daniel F. Carola, portrayed by critics as stooges of the Zisa family political machine.

They were defeated by three council-backed candidates, Frances Gogelja, Lancelot Powell and Carlos Velez.

Starting in 2013 and with the Zisas' backing, Nunnermacker, a lawyer, had tried but failed repeatedly to get elected to the City Council.

Still, other city residents believe Stein and others on the school board were loyal to local Democratic Party officials.

Team Hackensack

Bu that ignores Team Hackensack, described by former four-term Mayor Jack Zisa in March 2016 as a new "community organization" formed to back candidates in municipal and school board elections.

To kick off the effort, the former mayor, disgraced former Police Chief Ken Zisa and cousin Joseph Zisa greeted an overflow crowd of loyalists at the Crow's Nest Restaurant & Pub.

Read: When the Zisas ran Hackensack,
greed, nepotism and partisan politics were king

The seats of  board Vice President Timothy J. Hoffman, above, and board member Modesto Romero, below, also are open in the non-partisan election on April 16 (photos from website of Hackensack Public Schools).

Hackensack officials, homeowners urging 'no' vote on $170M school bond, tax hike

HARD SELL: At a City Council work session on Tuesday night, Leila T. Amirhamzeh, a member of the Hackensack Board of Education, and former Superintendent Joseph Cicchelli (not shown) outlined the ambitious $170 million plan to build a junior high school and parking garage, and upgrade six existing city schools.

VOTE 'NO': Mayor John P. Labrosse Jr. left the dais and put on his "taxpayer and citizen" cap to speak against the plan. He charged school officials with trying to trick voters by claiming on the Jan. 22 ballot that the "average tax impact [would be] $308.66 over 30 years," when, in fact, the tax hike would be $308.66 every year for 30 years.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK -- The real cost of the $170 million school construction referendum on the ballot in 12 days would be $318 million when 30 years of interest are included, critics said Tuesday night.

At a noisy City Council work session, school officials outlined the ambitious building plan and answered questions from members of the public, but most of the city officials and residents who spoke said they will vote 'no' at the special election on Jan. 22.

'YOUR VOTE COUNTS!' The two sides of a large postcard sent to every Hackensack resident by a group of condo owners led by Martin J. Cramer, an attorney who lives on Overlook Avenue. Polls will be open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Jan. 22.

Hackensack Smart Schools Inc.

Martin J. Cramer, a former Teaneck councilman and township attorney who now lives in a Hackensack condo, is organizing opposition to the $170 million school bond.

"Our tax rate in killing us," said Cramer, who is calling his group, Hackensack Smart Schools Inc.

On Tuesday night, Cramer said he met with school officials to discuss the plan, but noted it is illegal for the Board of Education "to advocate" in favor of the referendum.

Cramer and others objected to the size of the proposal -- $169,904,226 -- which they said was far larger than referendums put forward by other school districts.

And they also dislike the board's single, take-it-or-leave it ballot question lumping $101.5 million in new construction with alterations, repairs and upgrades to six existing schools.

Deputy Mayor Kathleen Canestrino said the proposal could be divided into as many as four questions.

And she added that she and most other residents would support renovations and upgrades to the city's existing schools, which are said to average 100 years old.

Canestrino said those repairs and upgrades, including air conditioning, could be paid for by an average tax hike of  about $108 a year for 30 years.  

Residents who spoke, including a woman who identified herself as a former educator, also said it would be wrong to mix younger and older students by building a new junior high school on the Hackensack High School campus.

Higher tax impacts

On the ballot, school officials estimate the average assessed home at $245,431 and the average tax impact as $308.66 each year for 30 years, but if your home's assessment is double the average, you'll pay double the average tax hike.

My home is assessed at $561,000, so I would have to fork over roughly $650 a year or $19,500 over 30 years.

In an open letter, Mayor John P. Labrosse Jr. said:

"There is no question that our schools are in a state of serious disrepair, largely due to years of neglect and lack of proper maintenance. Everyone knows our children deserve better. But is this the best plan for the city?

"We believe a more phased-in approach that lessens the immediate impact on taxpayers would be a better plan. Let's take care of those long-ignored maintenance issues and make the required upgrades to modernize our schools."

The Fanny Meyer Hillers Elementary School in Hackensack in an April 2016 photo. The school is under the flight path of business jets that use Teterboro Airport.

Scrooge threatened to ruin our Christmas with $650 hike in school taxes for 30 years

VOTE NO: The irresponsible Hackensack Board of Education is seeking voter approval to borrow nearly $170 million to build a new junior high school and parking garage, and upgrade six other schools in the district. 

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- I was momentarily puzzled when I received three mail-in ballots the day before Christmas.

What election could possibly be scheduled for January?

Then, I remembered the irresponsible Hackensack Board of Education is seeking voter approval for nearly $170 million in school construction, including a new junior high and a 350-space parking garage (to be built near the high school at a total cost of $101,572,500).

Board officials and the superintendent of schools are keeping their fingers crossed for a big snowstorm on Jan. 22 -- the date for the special school election -- to further discourage the city's apathetic, lazy or stupid voters.

Mail in your vote

But if you're smart, you'll apply for a vote-by-mail ballot like the ones my wife and I and our college-age son received the day before Christmas, and will use to vote a resounding "no."

If you go to the polls on Jan. 22, you'll be confronted by a ballot with a blizzard of small print laying out the $169,904,226 in proposed school construction and upgrades.

Even "door-hardware replacement" and "roof exhaust fan" upgrades are listed for various schools. 

Still, I see no mention of adding solar panels or using geothermal energy to power the proposed new school -- and save tens of thousands of dollars in utility costs in the coming decade.

30-year tax hike

After you plow through all that type, you'll learn the "average [property] tax impact" would be $308.66 a year for 30 years on a home with an average assessed value of $245,431.

But my home in the Fairmount section is assessed at $561,000, so I would have to fork over more than twice as much each year for 30 years -- roughly $650 a year or $19,500 over 30 years.

Rubber stamp

For years, only a small number of the more than 22,000 registered voters in Hackensack have turned out for April school board elections, leading to repeated approvals of annual school budget and property tax hikes.

About 45% of every property tax bill in the city goes to support the schools, yet apathetic, lazy or stupid voters stay home year after year, guaranteeing automatic approval of higher local taxes.

Many of these same morons bitch and moan about high property taxes, even as they do nothing to stop the annual increases imposed by school board officials. 

Much of those increases are for hikes in administrative salaries, said to be among the highest in the state.

Read: Enrollment hike doesn't justify new school

Read: Zisas still control Hackensack school board

READ IT AND WEEP: Don't bother to plow through all the type you'll find on your mail-in ballot or in the voting booth on Jan. 22. Just say "no."

MAIL-IN BALLOT: You can apply for a mail-in ballot in person at the Bergen County Clerk's Office in Hackensack up to 3 p.m. on the day before the Jan. 22 election or by mail not less than 7 days before the election.

If you're feeling angry, apathetic or lazy as Election Day approaches, just vote by mail

Donald J. Trump has claimed to be a self-made billionaire, but that's total fiction, according to a New York Times investigation, and cartoonist Joe Heller of the Green Bay Press Gazette in Wisconsin illustrates the fraud. 

IN HACKENSACK, YOU CAN REJECT

 $165M SCHOOL PLAN FROM HOME

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- If you are one of the Democrats angered by the bitter partisan battle that ended with Brett Kavanaugh getting a lifetime seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, the solution is as close as your mailbox.

All you have to do to vote on Nov. 6 -- in a bid to move Congress to the left -- is apply for a mail-in ballot, fill it out in the comfort of your home and send it in.

The Bergen County clerk sent out forms to register to vote, as well as applications for a mail-in ballot, so you no longer have an excuse to remain on the sidelines, as millions of apathetic or lazy Democrats did in the 2016 presidential election.

If Democrats take control of Congress, there is a real possibility we could see the impeachments of both President Trump and Associate Justice Kavanaugh in 2019.

With a mail-in ballot, you can really procrastinate: 

"Mail-in ballots that bear a postmark date of November 6, 2018, which are received by the County Board of Elections by 8:00 p.m. on November 8, 2018, shall be considered timely submitted," according to an insert in my mail-in ballot.

By the way, you'll need two stamps to mail back the ballot, but you also can hand carry it to the Bergen County Administration Building in Hackensack. 

$165M referendum

Meanwhile, Hackensack's notoriously apathetic residents also can use a mail-in ballot to reject a Board of Education referendum to spend a total of $165.1 million on a new junior high school and existing schools.

If approved, local property taxes surely will go up; about 45% of your taxes already go to support the schools.

School board President Lara L. Rodriguez has mentioned Jan. 22, 2019, as a possible date for Hackensack residents to vote on the proposal -- clearly a strategy to use winter weather keep the vote down.

Well, don't let the school board get away with it: Vote against the plan by mail-in ballot.

Read: Enrollment hike of 120 students

 doesn't justify $165M plan

Ballot deadlines

The deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot by mail is "not less than 7 days prior to an election."

In person, you can apply "up to 3 p.m. on the day before the election."

The voter-registration deadline is 21 days before the Nov. 6 election; this year that's Oct. 16.

And if you received a mail-in ballot in the 2016 presidential election, county election officials were obligated to send you a mail-in ballot for the 2018 General Election on Nov. 6.

And you'll get a mail-in ballot for all future elections, unless your notify the officials in writing you do not want to receive them.

The mail-in ballot, instructions and inserts for the mid-term elections for Congress -- less than a month away -- are in three languages, English, Spanish and Korean. Plus, the Nov. 6 ballot has statewide and Hackensack public questions.

Democrats must vote a straight party line, if they hope to gain control of Congress.

If approved, the first public question would authorize the state to issue $500 million in bonds to provide grants to schools, school districts and county colleges for technical education, school security and water infrastructure improvements. The second public question would set up a Municipal Open Space, Recreation and Historic Preservation Trust Fund in Hackensack.

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.

Update: Apathy of voters and the Zisas are the real stories in all Hackensack elections

Incumbent Hackensack Mayor John Labrosse celebrating a clean sweep in May's municipal election, when his City Council slate defeated the Zisa-backed Hackensack United for Progress and a third slate.

Only 341 registered voters needed

to OK $81.2M school tax levy

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

You'll find the real story about Hackensack elections -- voter apathy -- buried in the last two paragraphs of The Record's Page 1 story on how much the winning slate spent.

But you won't find any mention of the Zisa family political machine, which ran the city for decades before reformers won the City Council election in May 2013.

The Zisas, including disgraced Police Chief Ken Zisa, attempted a comeback in May, backing the so-called Hackensack United for Progress slate.

It's just plain weird for Staff Writer Rodrigo Torrejon not to mention the Zisas in today's story.

On May 5, three days before the election, Torrejon finally broke his silence on the involvement of the Zisas and "their network of political donors," associates and friends:

Attention Hackensack: Stop the Zisas

Record clueless on attempted comeback

Mayor John Labrosse's City Council slate spent $272,672 to win the five contested seats, and Hackensack United (Zisa family) spent $196,672, according to The Record.

A third slate, incumbent Councilwoman Deborah Keeling-Geddis' Hackensack Strong, spent about $14,000, and finished third (1A and 7A).

Low turnout

"In spite of the amount of money spent and the Labrosse Team's platform of city redevelopment, voter turnout in the city was low," Torrejon says.

"The city has an estimated population of 45,000 and only 18 percent of more than 21,000 [registered] voters cast ballots," he reports (7A).

But turnout in Hackensack has always been low due to apathy sown by decades of rule by one family; elections held in April and May, not November; and weak or non-existent coverage by The Record, once the hometown paper.

More voters in '17

Today, Torrejon quotes Keeling-Geddis, the former councilwoman, as saying all the money spent "didn't really garner that much more votes."

Well, not exactly.

Both the May 2017 and May 2013 elections were hotly contested between reformers led by Labrosse and a slate allied with the Zisas, but turnout was higher this year: 

In May, there were 4,143 total voters compared to 3,513 in 2013 -- a difference of 630, according to the Hackensack City Clerk's Office.

Real apathy

For real voter apathy in Hackensack, you only have to look at the school board and school budget election every April.

After their defeat in the 2013 municipal election, the Zisas consolidated their power on the Board of Education and in the city schools.

The school budget has been rising despite falling enrollment, but few city residents go to the polls and vote "yes" or "no" on the proposed spending plan.

That is the case even though school taxes account for about 44 percent of their total property tax bill.

Maybe, most residents don't know they can vote to accept or reject the school board's proposed budget.

A "no" vote would allow the City Council to examine the budget and recommend cuts, and any disputes between school and city officials would be mediated by state officials.

You'd think senior citizens who live in all of those Prospect Avenue high-rises would vote overwhelmingly against the school budget to reduce their taxes.

341 decide budget

In the April 25 school election, only 642 ballots were cast -- for a turnout of 3 percent in a city with 21,397 registered voters. 

And it took the votes of only 341 residents, including those who sent in mail-in ballots, to approve the $81.2 million tax levy (to support a $109 million budget).

Turnout in prior school elections: 1,133 in 2015, 864 in 2014 and 1,929 in 2013.

Crappy reporting feeds voter apathy

The official campaign photo of the Labrosse Team in 2017.

In The Record, the Trump of eye doctors; Hackensack school plan soars to $109M

These photos of a buff Barack Obama and an out-of-shape -- dare I say fat -- President Trump have appeared on Twitter and elsewhere as the debate over the GOP's proposed American Health Care Act intensifies.

Obama's health care law was called the Affordable Care Act, but the GOP plan doesn't appear to be promising affordable health insurance to the vast majority of Americans.

-- HACKENSACK, N.J.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

In her opening statement, a federal prosecutor told a Florida jury that defendant Salomon Melgen "lied to Medicare for money."

Melgen -- a prominent eye doctor tied to the alleged corruption of U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J. -- is on trial on charges he stole millions of dollars from Medicare between 2008 and 2013.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carolyn Bell said Melgen lied about his patient's diagnoses, the tests he ran and their prognoses to enrich himself to the tune of $72,000 per patient annually, according to a story in The Record today (3A).

Referring to Melgen, Bell used the word "lied" or a variation about two dozen times, The Associated Press reported, reminding many Record readers of President Trump's 2016 campaign and his first months in office.

Shocking news

Meanwhile, NorthJersey.com is reporting the Hackensack Board of Education has proposed a $109 million sending plan for the 2017-18 school year -- about $5 million more than last year.

"The district's spending plan is up about 7.5 percent," Staff Writer Rodrigo Torrejon reported. "The budget is supported by an $81.2 million [tax] levy, which is up about $2 million, or 2.5 percent, from last year."

"The budget was approved without comment during a special meeting Tuesday night," Torrejon wrote on Wednesday, but he didn't mention voters will get their chance to says "yes" or "no" to the tax levy at the April 25 school election.

More than 44% of each Hackensack resident's property taxes go to support the schools, and this would be the second significant increase in the school budget in the last two years.

Nor did the reporter mention board Vice President Lara Rodriguez is a candidate for City Council on a slate backed by former four-term mayor Jack Zisa and former Police Chief and state Assemblyman Ken Zisa.

The municipal election will be held on May 9, and if the Zisa-backed Rodriguez slate wins, taxpayers might be seeing the same kind of hikes in municipal taxes instead of the tax cuts delivered by the current City Council.

See: Hackensack United for Zisa on Facebook