Dear Editor:
When I first heard that the Township would be having a contested election for the first time in 12 years, I was quite happy. After all, while the Turner team has done a fine job of running the Town, having other voices on the council might improve new ideas and actions. When the campaign started, I was concerned that WIN seemed to be a one issue slate and that they spent more time pointing out problems than proposing solutions. However, I thought that as time went on, they would clarify their plans. When I saw this week’s Reporter, I expected to hear those plans- after all, this was the perfect forum. I was quite disappointed in what I read. WIN has the luxury of being able to snipe at the incumbents, pointing out everything that is wrong, however they don’t follow through and provide any solutions to make me want to entrust the Town to their care: We all know that parking is tight in Town- there are too many cars and not enough spots. The Turner team has made some progress in dealing with this, creating some new spots, changing some of the parking rules and expiring the parking permits to try and prevent commuter parking in town. What would WIN do beyond this? No answers so far.
Does Weehawken have crime? Of course, but I feel safe in this town. The crime that we do have is mainly against property and there is a significant police presence day and night. Again, what is WIN’s plan here? Beats me… Is Park Avenue where I would like to be? Nope- but the comments by WIN candidates that the type of shops on the Avenue should be decided by focus groups and surveys is totally ridiculous. The market should, and will, decide what shops the community needs. The Town needs to provide assistance and incentives to businesses of all types, not micromanage the make up of the street. And of course, there is the Waterfront. Am I 100% happy with the plan for the Waterfront right now? No, but I also recognize the rights of the owners of the land to develop their property within the bounds of the law and to profit from their investment. I agree that the Waterfront development will present a number of challenges to traffic, emergency services, and public access. However, this issue has been decided by the courts and now we need to concentrate on minimizing the impact and maximizing the benefit to the community. WIN has not presented any information on what specific actions they would take regarding the Waterfront if elected and I fear that a WIN administration would squander much time, effort and money in an ultimately unsuccessful effort to roll back the waterfront development. In short, while I differ with the Mayor and his team on some issues, I feel that they have provided the Town with generally good management over the past 12 years. I do not have confidence in the WIN ticket to provide new solutions to existing problems or to be able to deal with the realities of running a town in Hudson County. For this reason, I feel that Mayor Turner and his team are clearly the right choice for Weehawken this year. I also hope to see the WIN folks at the Council meetings, making their positions known and offering some ideas – your actions between now and the next election will determine your credibility and viability as an alternative to the present administration.
Al Berg