Schwartz, Orgen & Pagan Reject Teaneck Democratic Municipal Committee’s Attempt to Interject Partisan Politics into Election During Time of Public Health Emergency

Teaneck, N.J. — The Moving Teaneck Forward team is rejecting the Teaneck Democratic Municipal Committee’s (TDMC) attempt to interject the broken partisan politics of Washington and Trenton into the municipal election during a public health emergency. The Teaneck municipal election will be held on May 12.

“We have seen over the past week and more so over the past 72 hours that there is no partisan response to an emergency,” said Teaneck Deputy Mayor Mark Schwartz who is a volunteer firefighter and an 18-year member of the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

“It saddens and disappoints me when our community is in crisis and in need, all the TDMC can think about is the politics of backroom party bosses,” said Karen Lew Orgen who as a community pharmacist has been working 6 days a week since the start of the COVID-19 public health emergency. She is also the first female president of the Teaneck Volunteer Ambulance Corps.

“When I am checking in on my neighbors, or talking with my own elderly parents, our community is scared, and we need now more than ever to bring our community together, not break it apart by interjecting more partisan ideology,” said Michael Pagan who is a member of the Teaneck Senior Citizens Advisory Board.

Together, Deputy Mayor Mark Schwartz, Karen Lew Orgen and Michael Pagan issued a resounding rejection of any potential TDMC endorsement:

“We feel that there is no partisan way to fix a pot hole, to pave a road, to maintain a park, and now to lead in a crisis.  We canceled our kickoff in order to help protect our greater Teaneck Community while our opponents choose to hold their kickoff at the peak of the outbreak putting their supporters at risk. Leadership is about judgement and doing what is right, and therefore we reject the failed politics of Trenton and Washington, and vow to keep Moving Teaneck Forward.”

###