Voter’s Guide from the League of Women Voters is available below
Download the entire guide here: LWV 2021 Primary Candidate’s Voter’s Guide
League of Women Voters: 2021 Democratic Primary Guide and Debate [video + pdf]
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Statement from Keith Kaplan: Silence is not an option — It wasn’t the flag
//We are living in dangerous times. Attacks are happening around our Country.
It is repugnant to find out that such HATE is now home here in Teaneck!
Now, there’s also a claim that the raising of the flag is what brings antisemitism into acceptability?
No.
Post Hoc Ergo Propter Hoc is a logical fallacy. Continue reading “Statement from Keith Kaplan: Silence is not an option — It wasn’t the flag”
Statement regarding planned protests [Schwartz, Kaplan & Orgen]
//Statement from Deputy Mayor Schwartz and Councilmembers Kaplan & Orgen:
Due to the overwhelming number of emails, we cannot respond to everyone individually at this time. We want to thank you for your correspondence and the many valid points you and others have shared.
Requests for assembly concerning the right to protest (e.g. in public rights of way) generally receive automatic approvals in accordance with general freedom of assembly laws. Our police chief, attorney, and outside expert counsel have approved this permit with our Township Manager. The manager has the ultimate say, not the Council. Continue reading “Statement regarding planned protests [Schwartz, Kaplan & Orgen]”
Guest Post on Flag Raisings (and response)
//Reader Yoni Bak wrote in:
“I’m not opposed to the Pride flag,” Pruitt said. “I’m opposed to flags, because I think that’s going to be an opportunity down the road for internal community conflict that we could do without.”
That’s Councilman Henry Pruitt at the council meeting in September 2019 in response to the proposal to fly the Gay Pride Flag on Teaneck Township property. He was, of course, 100% correct. We hoisted the pride flag and later painted a BLM mural on a parking lot and now every group wants not only to have the right to publicize their symbols but to have the Township give it official endorsement.
Now there’s a Star of David flag about to be flown which will surely generate controversy. And there will be endless debates about it. And demands for new flags to be flown. And the council will be spending all its time on matters that are not specifically related to the Town but signal which ideologies get our approval.
Why not allow residents to display their symbols of choice on private properties and properties owned by various institutions (Schools, Houses of Worship, etc) & let the Town focus on actually governing?
Mr. Bak raises the core issue at hand, which is whether or not the Council, as representatives, should fly flags. Deputy Mayor Pruitt did indeed make the issue explicit and those in attendance, as well as others on the council, felt that flag raisings would be appropriate.
The flags are flown in support of residents, in a clear showing that they should feel accepted and safe from attacks and dangers which they face.
When someone marches with a rainbow flag and is attacked, the reason is clear. The rainbow flag symbolizes that they are a member of or supportive of the LGBTQ+ community.
In a similar way, when someone marches with an Israeli flag and is attacked, the reason is clear. The Israeli flag symbolizes that they are a member of or supportive of the Jewish community.
As such, the flag has come to symbolize those under constant and rising attack within our borders.
And raising it becomes symbolic of the same message other groups have received.
WHEREAS, acts of hatred and violence against members of the Jewish community have been on the rise in our area and the Township Council wishes to affirm the inherent right of its Jewish residents to live without fear of attacks and hatred
So starts the resolution passed by the Township Council on April 27th, 2021. I would encourage anyone with questions or concerns to read it first.
This is not unprecedented Continue reading “Guest Post on Flag Raisings (and response)”
Washington Place Traffic Study and Police Reports
//The Teaneck Police Department was asked to conduct a report as to traffic and safety on Washington Place.
Here are the findings:
On Thursday, March 11, 2021, the Traffic Bureau was asked to conduct a speed survey on Washington Place. This request was prompted by a resident’s email that claimed that there was a speeding problem and that vehicles were traveling the wrong way on a one-way street. Continue reading “Washington Place Traffic Study and Police Reports”
Why the cluck can’t I own a chicken?
//People like raising chickens. They give delicious eggs and people that raise them say that it’s a clean sustainable pet/food source that should be available in Teaneck.
There’s also a local ordinance prohibiting it:
Sec. 6-5: Keeping of pigs, horses and certain other animals prohibited.
[R.O. 1951, ch. 6, § 4; Ord. No. 3411, 12-20-1994, § 1.]
No person shall keep or allow to be kept in any building or premises, or on any lot of ground of which he may be the owner, tenant, lessee or occupier, any pigs, horses, mules, cows, pigeons or poultry of any age or description.
Repeal movements have come and gone since the rule was created in 1927. There’s one happening now.
It even has a Facebook Group: Keep Chickens Teaneck
So what’s the deal with chickens and this ban?
The practice of owning chickens in town was regulated in the ’20s as population density turned Teaneck from farmland to residential1. It was formally banned anywhere a decade later in 1937.
(census estimates show the population changing from 4,192 in 1920 to 16,513 in 1930 and then to 25,275 in 1940)
This ordinance is one of the oldest the municipality has.
Ordinance 412 appeared in July 1927
Community Choice Energy Aggregation: Coming soon?
//NJ is part of the PJM interchange for electricity. PJM has a horrible history of meeting clean energy goals set by the State and consequently, instead of generating clean energy, providers like PSE&G have met quotas by purchasing certificates from power plants in other areas that count towards the clean energy mandate.
The CCA program extends the ability to purchase those certificates (called RECs or Renewable Energy Credits) from third-party electric suppliers.
Some towns seem to have had a rocky start, unable to find bids, some found initial bids, but couldn’t find renewals. The information (pro and con) is laid out below.
My hope is that people will share and read about the program to have an informed discussion at our subsequent council meetings.
– Keith Kaplan
What is Community Choice Energy Aggregation?
The general concept behind the program is to allow an entire County / Town(s), to use their collective purchasing power to decrease electric rate prices for clean energy supply. In theory, if you can make clean energy less costly through aggregation, everyone can replace dirty energy sources while spending the same amount they paid through PSE&G (or at a small discount).
The legal basis for the program can be found in the NJ legislature’s Government Energy Aggregation (“GEA”) Act of 20031. It permits counties and municipalities to create an ordinance (or resolution) to establish an “Aggregation Program”.
Does Air Become Cleaner?
It does…. somewhere. But only if the Municipality can find a bid. Continue reading “Community Choice Energy Aggregation: Coming soon?”
East Tryon Avenue Traffic Study and Police Reports
//The Teaneck Police Department was asked to conduct a report as to traffic and safety on East Tryon Avenue (between Teaneck Road and Crescent Avenue).
Here are the findings:
On Tuesday, August 25, 2020, the Traffic Bureau was asked to conduct a speed survey on East Tryon Avenue between Teaneck Road and Crescent Avenue. This request was prompted by an East Tryon Avenue resident that was concerned about a speeding problem. The resident stated their concerns in an email to Councilman Keith Kaplan. Continue reading “East Tryon Avenue Traffic Study and Police Reports”
Current Bonding Across Local Municipalities
//How does Teaneck compare to surrounding areas in terms of bonding?
In the State of New Jersey, municipalities may bond up to the debt limit1, which is 3.5% of the equalized valuation2 of taxable real estate.
In plain English: each town adds up the value of all their land, buildings, etc… averaged over the last three years. The limit they can bond is 3.5% of that number. And since the amount each town can bond is relative to their individual valuations, you get a metric that can be compared.
The annual debt statement, allows you to compare neighboring municipalities’ percentage of authorized debt, against each other.
(The data below are pulled from the authorized debt statements submitted to the State)
Here’s how Teaneck looks, based on the submitted annual debt statements from Bergenfield, Bogota, Englewood, Hackensack and New Milford
Each link below will bring you to the Annual Debt Statement, filed under oath with the State of New Jersey.
| Year | Teaneck | Englewood | Bergenfield | Bogota | Hackensack | New Milford |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 0.877% | 1.717% | 1.24% | 1.648% | 0.982% | |
| 2019 | 0.947% | 1.657% | 0.910% | 1.747% | 1.687% | 1.099% |
| 2018 | 0.826% | 1.818% | 0.520% | 1.279% | 1.273% | 1.128% |
| 2017 | 0.744% | 1.820% | 0.510% | 1.111% | 1.330% | 1.106% |
| 2016 | 0.619% | 1.810% | 0.410% | 1.057% | 1.368% | 0.986% |
| 2015 | 0.605% | 1.809% | 0.423% | 0.841% | 0.881% | 1.022% |
| 2014 | 0.588% | 1.517% | 0.415% | 0.721% | 0.719% | 0.996% |
| 2013 | 0.527% | 1.206% | 0.508% | 0.913% | 0.508% | 0.708% |
| 2012 | 0.487% | 1.069% | 0.534% | 0.913% | 0.698% | 0.506% |
| 2011 | 0.497% | 0.940% | 0.540% | 0.790% | 0.730% | 0.500% |
| 2010 | 0.477% | 0.910% | 0.550% | 0.690% | 0.630% | 0.480% |
- 40A:2-6. Debt limitation
No bond ordinance shall be finally adopted if it appears from the supplemental debt statement required by this chapter that the percentage of net debt as stated therein
pursuant to 40A:2-42 exceeds 2.00%, in the case of a county, or 3 1/2%, in the case of a municipality. - 40A:2-41. Contents of annual debt statement
The annual debt statement shall be in the form prescribed by the director and shall set forth as
to the local unit:
a. Gross debt;
b. Deductions;
c. Net debt;
d. The equalized valuations of the taxable real estate, together with improvements, for
the last 3 preceding fiscal years, and the average thereof;
e. Net debt expressed as a percentage of such average of equalized valuations; and
f. Any other information or detail required by law or by the director. The amount of any item which is indefinite or unascertainable may be estimated.
L.1960, c. 169, s. 1, eff. Jan. 1, 1962. Amended by L.1964, c. 72, s. 5.
We stand in solidarity with our AAPI Community
//We Stand United with our Asian, Asian-American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Communities
Written by Keith Kaplan & Michael Pagan with members of Grace Community Chapel
Dear Friends,
The Teaneck Council will be adopting a Resolution on Thursday night declaring solidarity with Asian, Asian-American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Communities to stand in support with those affected by the terrible shooting in Atlanta, Georgia on March 16th.
Sadly, hate crimes motivated by anti-Asian sentiment have jumped 1,900% in New York City in 2020 and almost 3,000 reports of anti-Asian discrimination between March 19 and December 31, 2020 have been recorded by the Stop AAPI Hate.
Moreover, racially-motivated assaults and harassment targeting of AAPI seniors have dramatically increased and include the recent attack and subsequent tragic death of 84-year-old Vicha Ratanapakdee in San Francisco on January 28, 2021.
In response to the xenophobic and inflammatory rhetoric about COVID-19, President Joseph R. Biden Jr. issued an Executive Order on January 26th during the first week of his administration to show that most Americans across the country abhor this type of behavior by the bigots who commit these crimes.
The Teaneck Mayor and Council unanimously passed a resolution rejecting hate within the Township and support measures at the municipal and state level to combat the insidious and persistent impact of racism.
The Resolution that will be adopted by the Teaneck Council this Thursday night will:
Continue reading “We stand in solidarity with our AAPI Community”