Townships all over New Jersey have been convening emergency meetings online as they grapple with how to respond to the dual public health and economic crisis caused by the COVIC-19 pandemic.
But not Teaneck, whose town council has been completely dormant.
The town’s last council meeting took place on March 24, when the council hastily introduced what they touted as a “zero increase” budget despite dubious revenue projections and irresponsible borrowing that simply adds to the township’s ballooning debt.
Their next meeting is not scheduled until May 19, a full week after the May 12 town council election.
Denise Belcher, Ardie Walser, and Gina Gerszberg, who are running for town council as the People for Progress, point out that the current council’s failure to convene any emergency meetings during this crisis is a clear dereliction of duty.
It is important to note that the failure of the current council to conduct government business during the pandemic is actually part of a larger pattern, according to Belcher, who noted, “This council had already hit a historic low in terms of both the number and the duration of its public meetings.”
Gina Gerszberg concurred, saying, “In 2007, the council had 47 public meetings. This year, only 19 meetings were scheduled. Four have already been cancelled—and three of those cancellations happened before the pandemic even reached Teaneck.”
Walser, who is currently President of the Teaneck Board of Education, said, “This is the opposite of what we have been doing on the BOE.”
The BOE has held about a dozen virtual meetings since the Mayor called for the township to shelter in place a month ago: this includes all previously scheduled public meetings, workshop sessions, and committee meetings, as well Town Hall meetings for all 7 public schools. “That’s because the BOE recognizes the need to support our students and their families, many of whom have been devastated—both financially and emotionally—by his terrible pandemic,” Walser said.
The People for Progress team noted that the council’s failure to hold public meetings undermines the democratic process.
This failure is especially inexcusable in view of the incumbent candidate Schwartz team’s latest political publicity stunt: pleading with NJ’s Governor to defer property tax collections until the COVID-19 pandemic ends.
Given that Schwartz is the town’s Deputy Mayor, he should know that the council already has the authority to call an emergency meeting to discuss remedies such reducing penalties for late payments, as so many other NJ towns have done. Asking the Governor to step in is nothing but a desperate attempt to deflect attention from his council majority’s failure to govern.