GOVERNOR CORZINE AND DEMOCRATIC LEADERSHIP FAILED NEW JERSEY HOSPITALS

The Corzine administration and Democrat leadership that claim to care for New Jersey health care system has failed New Jersey hospitals.

A total of 15 acute-care hospitals have closed around the state since 1997, including 11 in the northeastern counties of Bergen, Essex, Hudson and Passaic, according to the New Jersey Hospital Association.  Among the most recent are Barnert Hospital in Paterson, Pascack Valley in Westwood and Union Hospital. We have witnessed dramatic fall of Passaic hospitals with the last of the three in bankruptcy proceedings this year.

All of this happened under years of Democrat rule in New Jersey.

The Kaiser Family Foundation, a national foundation committed to sound health policy, ranks New Jersey 50th — second lowest in the nation — in terms of healthcare expenditures to hospitals. And Public Citizen, a national consumer watchdog group, ranked New Jersey’s Medicaid program 39th out of the 50 states, largely due to its poor reimbursement to providers. New Jersey, in fact, ranked dead last in reimbursement, according to the Public Citizen analysis. Other groups have witnessed New Jersey’s difficulties and responded. Standard & Poor’s, a major Wall Street ratings group, has downgraded the credit rating of many New Jersey hospitals and predicts that the state will experience additional hospital closures due to its harsh marketplace.

Major problem causing hospital closing is not enough funding for charity care. Presently, all hospitals receive at least 50 cents back for every $1 of charity care they provide. Those “safety net” hospitals that serve most of New Jersey’s uninsured population must receive at least 96 cents to ensure their ability to continue serving patients. We estimate that at least 50 percent of the charity care is used by illegal aliens using the emergency rooms in our hospitals.

As a result the unfunded mandates on hospitals effectively ask them to provide uninsured individuals with the catastrophic health insurance they are free not to procure, at the expense of insured patients and, in the case of investor-owned hospitals, of shareholders as well.

In 1995, New Jersey had 112 acute care hospitals. As of 2008, there were 75 hospitals remaining with half of them losing money.

Democrats Want Orthodox Vote, Robert Yudin Says it’s Not Going to Happen!

New Jersey – The Democrats’ outreach to Jews in the New Jersey gubernatorial race came into focus this week as the National Jewish Democratic Council began a special focus on Bergen County and its large Orthodox population.

“We are really focusing hard on northern New Jersey, especially Bergen County,” said Linda Berg, NJDC’s political director. “I really can’t give you a sense of how much we are spending. Our members are busy raising money. We have an ad campaign, and we will be doing direct mail, but we don’t like to disclose numbers,” she said.

With an estimated 100,000 Jews — 15,000 of them in the Orthodox community — Bergen has a higher concentration of Jewish voters than any other county in the state.

“We feel there are a lot of Jews there, and we want to make sure we don’t have a fallout of the Democratic vote in a place where there is a big concentration of voters,” Berg said.

She is dispatching organizers “who are going to events where Jewish voters gather” and “doing phone-banking on issues to get out the Jewish vote.

“We are targeting Orthodox voters,” Berg said. “We have a few Orthodox rabbis who work with us very closely. We have people in New Jersey who know how to talk to the Orthodox vote.”

Robert Yudin, who chairs the Bergen County Republican Organization, said the Democrats “should be worried about the Jewish vote. There is a very big uneasiness about the direction the Democratic Party is going, relative to the Middle East,” he told NJ Jewish News. “When you couple it with the absolute corruption going on in Bergen County, there is an uneasiness, and you are going to see a larger percentage of Jews voting Republican than in past years.”

Yudin said he believes the Orthodox community “is overwhelmingly going to vote Republican” because “they are furious with Obama over Israel. As far as the rest of the Jewish community, most of them will probably vote Democratic, but I suspect we’re going to see more of the Jewish community voting Republican than have in past years.”

Unlike Corzine or independent candidate Christopher Daggett, Republican candidate Chris Christie supports vouchers and tax credits for families who send their children to parochial schools, an issue that resonates with many Orthodox voters.

TRENTON: Training change for EMTs sought

Looking to ease demands on a training fund for emergency medical technicians from which $4 million is being taken to balance the state budget, state lawmakers are moving to extend EMT certifications from three years to five.

The New Jersey State First Aid Council, which supports the bill, says the change wouldn’t fix the dilemma looming for the training fund, which is projected to have almost no money remaining by next summer.

But the council says the change would allow time to replenish the fund, which is financed through 50-cent surcharges on all moving violations, by reducing demands to pay for EMT training for a few years and provide a window to figure out a long-term plan.

“While this bill will provide some help, it will not solve the problem,” said Howard Meyer, a 38-year EMT who is legislative director of the New Jersey State First Aid Council. He said additional laws will be needed within the next year.

“Other than having $2.4 million returned to the fund, there have been no other suggestions brought forward on how we can assist the volunteer EMT training community quickly, and quick action is needed now,” Meyer said.

Sen. Diane Allen, R-Burlington, said Gov. Jon S. Corzine ought to consider using part of the state’s unexpectedly large collections from its tax amnesty program — $617 million and counting, easily topping the $200 million expected — to avoid raiding the EMT fund.

“We know that we have $400 million more. Why not wait to see what’s going to happen in the budget as it is rejiggered to see if this is actually needed? Since it is based on the funds being stolen, maybe they don’t have to be,” Allen said.

The bill was approved 24-14 by the Senate last Thursday and is now before an Assembly committee. It requires approvals there, by the full Assembly and by Corzine before it can become law and wouldn’t take effect until more than six months after it is enacted. Thedailyjournal.com

Breaking News 2 Robberies in the last 10 minutes by gunpoint

The passaic police department is on a search for  a green Mercedes older model  with scratches on the side door. Shots were fired at victim #1 but Thank G-D the gunman missed, nothing was taken from him. A 2nd victim was outside the Home Depot in Down town passaic. Victim # 2 was robbed but no shots were fired and a hand gun was displayed.

Update; 11:17Pm 6 Passaic County Units are in passaic searching for the gunman.

PCJN is first to report this story as well as all Breaking News

Free Parking In The City Of Passaic Starting The 15

Starting on December 15th and continuing until January 5th, the Passaic Parking
Authority in conjunction with Mayor Dr. Alex Blanco will offer free parking
throughout the city for the convenience of our residents, visitors and holiday
shoppers. We encourage everyone to take advantage of this yearly incentive and
visit our downtown area, do some holiday shopping and dine at our city’s many
restaurants.

The free parking program applies to the downtown parking malls and all of our
on-street parking meters. PCJN

PassaicJews Moderator’s Car Towed in Passaic – Newborn Infant Stranded

Full letter with links to photos can be found at the end of this post.

Passaic, NJ — Forget to move your car for alternate side parking in Brooklyn, Newark, Monsey or Clifton – you will pay a moderate fine.

Forget to move your car in Passaic – you will pay a fine, have your car towed, run around Passaic for half-a-day, get the run-around at the police station, then pay towing and storage charges.

File photo of a car being towed.

Recently, the moderator of PassaicJews.com, a popular yahoo group with the Passaic Jewish community, had his car towed as it was parked outside a pediatricians office in Passaic, stranding his mother with his newborn baby. Their crime? Failing to notice an alternate side parking sign 200 feet down the street.

As the moderator of PassaicJews, Michael Feigin was able to immediately post an urgent message on PassaicJews and secured a ride for his mother and newborn daughter. However, Mr. Feigin questions what someone without access to the resources he had would have done.

About a year ago, the Passaic community was up in arms about the alternate side towing, and tried to get the policy changed, without any success. At that time, this reporter was present when Passaic City Councilman Chaim Munk was asked what it would take to stop alternate side parking in Passaic.  Councilman Munk’s exact answer was: “when (then mayor) Sammy Rivera stops taking bribes from Raineri’s.”

So we ask the obvious question: Does Counciman Munk’s previous quote mean that the towing will stop when current Acting Mayor Gary Schaer “stops taking bribes from Raineri’s?”

Maybe this incident and this article will cause Acting Mayor Gary Schaer to stop the outrageous towings in Passaic. Dare we hope?

The letter from the PassaicJews moderator, as posted on PassaicJews.com:

Dear PassaicJews members,

Yesterday, my mother borrowed my van with the car seat to take my newborn baby to the doctor. She parked on Pennington Ave in front of a sign that said not to park when it’s snow covered. She is from out of town and didn’t realize she had to walk all the way to the other end of the block to look at a second sign, facing the other direction, which looked identical to the first sign, to realize that it said it was street cleaning day.

The visit took five minutes. Yet, when she came out, the car was gone. My new baby daughter was stranded without a car seat while her mother was busy trying to recover from surgery.

While I have the ability to post my urgent messages directly to hundreds of subscribers on PassaicJews and my baby was soon brought home by a very generous person with a car seat, what if someone doesn’t have these resources?

To make matters worse, when I finally was able to secure another car and go to city hall, I specifically asked a police officer if I could park on a street where the signage was unclear (covered in stickers). He told me, “Well, the sign says no parking, but we really don’t enforce it around here. You’re on your own.” Just in case, I found another parking spot… but as I drove around I saw cars of city employees parked:
- in front of fire hydrants
- in front of crosswalks
- in front of driveways
- in front of within 25 feet of corners

Pictures of all of this with license plates of offenders are online at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PassaicJews/files/Selective_Enforcement_in_Town/

If you have trouble with the link, go to PassaicJews.com and click on “Yahoo Message Group” and then “Files” and then “Selective_Enforcement_In_Town” and then each individual picture.

… and don’t try and get your car back too quickly. The city won’t have the tow report! Missing a document? Go figure out where your car was towed to, get the document, and come back again. Driving someone else’s car? Better have them come to Passaic!

The towing of first time offenders, selective enforcement, and corruption in Passaic must be put to an end.

- Michael J. Feigin, Esq.
Moderator, PassaicJews.com
Patent and Trademark Attorney, PatentLawNJ.com

Mayor With a Past Has a Future in Prison

 

WHEN a federal judge sentenced former Mayor Samuel Rivera to 21 months in federal prison on Aug. 15, an era ended in this tattered city of nearly 70,000, leaving many here debating Mr. Rivera’s tumultuous past and wondering what is to come.

To many, Mr. Rivera, 61, had been an improbable choice as mayor; he was an explosive man who had been implicated in the deaths of two young men. But to others in this city of shifting demographics, he was the forceful leader they needed to fight crime.

“He was a good politician in his first four years,” said Gary Schaer, the former City Council president who became acting mayor when Mr. Rivera resigned. “But in the last three years, he became inebriated with his own power, he forgot himself.”

In a crowded Passaic field, Morales says she has fire in the belly

DENVER – You can’t stray far from New Jersey’s ward politics here, not if you’re at the Hotel Inverness, where Ritzy Morales told PolitickerNJ.com that she definitely intends to run for mayor of Passaic.

A longtime director of constituent services for U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson), Morales, 41, said she plans to submit 700 petitions to the municipal clerk in advance of the Sept. 12th filing deadline, and expects to have at least 400-500 of them certified to earn well over the required 200.

“The public has known me for a long time,” said Morales, born in Paterson and a resident of Passaic for ten years. “I have strong values, and I wouldn’t even accept a cup of coffee from someone as mayor, because of the negativity left by Sammy Rivera. I would definitely stop corruption.”

A judge sentenced Rivera on corruption charges earlier this month. Now Morales is one of seven people jockeying to win a special election on Nov. 4th to fill in for the disgraced former mayor. The field consists of School Board member Alex Blanco, city supervisor Vincent Capuana, councilman Jose Garcia, Councilwoman Maritza Colon-Montanez, real estate developer Jose Sandoval, bail-bondsman Carl Ellen, and Morales.

Latinos make up the biggest voting bloc at 52-54%, with the two biggest sub-communities split between Puerto Ricans and Dominicans. Puerto Ricans have the upper-hand numbers-wise – 2,000 to 800-900 registered Dominican voters – but they still don’t quite have the rock solid Election Day numbers that orthodox Jews possess: 1,800-2,200 votes.

“I see a lot of potential in Passaic, and a lot of growth opportunity to unite all of the communities in the city,” said Morales.

She’ll be in a dogfight for Puerto Rican base votes with Colon-Montanez. The latter will have another scrap on her hands in addition to Morales, meanwhile, as Colon-Montanez will be trying to shore up the remnants of Rivera’s political apparatus, even as Capuana tries to do the same thing from within the base camp of the old city guard.

A Dominican who is making his own big play to unite all parties, Sandoval is nonetheless a Republican who has fought the power on numerous occasions and lost. Ellen has the challenge of outleaping the reality of 12% African-American voter registration in Passaic, and appealing to base and new voters.

Then there’s Blanco, who is said to be close to Acting Mayor Gary Schaer, an orthodox Jew who with his endorsement can deliver a plurality of his own ethnic community. But Schaer remains coy about his pick, and Morales hopes she can gain his support.

She acknowledges that one of her chief challenges will be striking down her opponents’ attempts to depict her as an inner sanctum Pascrell plant.

She’ll have to fight the campaign mail piece, perhaps, that suggests she was tossed into the race simply to drain votes from fellow Puerto Rican Colon-Montanez so that Blanco – in the event he’s the back room establishment pick settled on by Schaer, Pascrell and Passaic County Democratic Chairman John Currie – can rely on a split Puerto Rican vote, and himself unite Dominicans, Jews and others, to scratch out a win.

But Morales insists there’s no stalking horse back story to her candidacy. She wants to win.

“I have a loyalty to Bill and to the party, but I am an independent person,” said Morales. “They affiliate me with Bill. Bill has taught me how to be independent, and he taught me how to care about people. This was a hard decision for me to make. When I spoke with the congressman, he definitely opened the door to allow me to do this. But ultimately this is for me to decide. I have a fire inside my belly to help people.”                By Max Pizarro  Politickernj.com

Holocaust Survivors’ funding falls victim to budget crunch

Jewish activists are lamenting the death of a bill in the State Legislature that would have provided $500,000 for services to Holocaust survivors.

The combined monies were intended for programs administered chiefly by local Jewish federations, including counseling, case management, home care, and semi-monthly survivors’ gatherings called Cafe Europa.

“The funding was contained in a supplemental appropriations bill,” said State Sen. Robert Gordon (D-Dist. 38), one of the bill’s prime sponsors. He said he wasn’t sure just how it was removed but did say it fell victim to the state’s financial crunch.

“The state is broke,” explained Gordon. “We are going to wind up closing hospitals. That is how dire things are. Things I submitted years ago that would have gone through without batting an eye were just slashed out of the budget.”

The New Jersey State Association of Jewish Federations, which would have distributed the funds to individual federations, began seeking the appropriation in April.

Passaic Resident Taxed for Basements and Attics they are Not Allowed to Live in, Gary Schaer Thinks it’s Fair.

By MEREDITH MANDELL, STAFF WRITER | 08/08/08 04:02 AM

Dorothy Blostein sits in her attic on Ascension Street in Passaic. She has lived here for 44 years and says a recent reassessment that includes her attic is unfair. (KEVIN R. WEXLER/Staff Photographer)

City reassesses space in 1,000 homes

PASSAIC — Roughly 1,000 city homeowners will be paying hundreds more in their quarterly tax bills this year because the city has adjusted its assessment for basements and attics that have been untaxed for more than a decade.

Tax bills sent out in July reflect the changes, and some residents are complaining that the city failed to give them advance notice.

City Tax Assessor Thomas Poalillo said that, because of a computer error, for 16 years about 1,000 homeowners had been paying a lower amount in taxes than they should have as a result of their property being incorrectly assessed.

Poalillo said Appraisal Consultants, the company that did the city’s last revaluation in 1992, put the wrong amount of livable space these residents have into the city’s tax assessments computer database.

Poalillo said that last year he decided to correct the error by 2008 and add these people’s attics and basements as part of their assessments.

“From 1992 to 2008, these people weren’t paying taxes on the correct assessment,” he said.

“It’s my job to treat everyone equally. Now everyone is being assessed correctly. Now everyone is on the same playing field.”

Dorothy Blostein has been living in her two-story house at 168 Ascension St. for 44 years and said she never has been assessed for her attic.

The assessment on her home went up $15,000 this year, which translates into a tax increase of $909 a year under the current tax rate.

Standing on the stairs of her dusty wooden attic on Thursday, the 79-year-old Blostein said she was shocked in July when she received her third- and fourth-quarter bills for 2008.

“You can see it’s not finished,” Blostein said, looking at the various objects she keeps in her attic: suitcases, a box of photo albums, an old computer and speakers. “It’s just junk,” she said, her voice beginning to rise.

Schaer wants bus shelters, Rivera had opposed them because “they attract nuisances such as the homeless, public urination and graffiti,” and Jewish residents concerned about inappropriate ads.

by PCJN Staff, with some quotes and information from a Herald news article by Karen Keller.

Passaic, NJ — Acting Mayor Gary Schaer would like a private company to install bus shelters in Passaic, in return for advertising rights. Of the city’s 119 NJ Transit bus stops, only three have shelters. Schaer himself takes a public bus from the intersection of Van Houten and Main avenues to his finance job in Manhattan at least twice a week.

Schaer, also a state assemblyman, pushed for the concept in January, But Samuel Rivera, then the mayor, said he didn’t want shelters. Rivera said he believes they attract nuisances such as the homeless, public urination and graffiti.

Many residents rely on buses in Passaic, where 31 percent of city residents over age 16 do not have access to a car, according to the Census. Statewide, 6 percent of adults don’t have car access.

With the rising cost of gas, that figure is likely to increase.

“The cost of gasoline is such that (riding the bus) is the way everyone is going,” Schaer said.

Many residents of Passaic have expressed concern about the shelters. Shelters in other cities are known to attract undesirables, litter, and even used drug needles. Jewish residents are also concerned about the appropriateness of the ads, in terms of modesty. Often, oversized images of barely-clad females can be seen at bus shelters throughout city’s that have them. A local Passaic Rabbi, on condition of anonymity told a PCJN staff member, “better to get wet in the rain occasionally, than have ourselves and our children exposed to constant schmutz (filth)!”

On the blog PassaicJews, poster Kalman Eller writes: “Any way to make sure that the ads are not a-la-Times Square?”

A quick search of the words “bus shelter ad” on Google Image Search, reveals images of a number of highly inappropriate ads on the first results page alone.

NYU Grad Students Propose Turning Passaic’s Tallest Building — Currently an Abandoned Eyesore — Into High-Class Apartments.

By MEREDITH MANDELL, HERALD NEWS STAFF WRITER

Michael Stanco discusses a sales strategy for Passaic’s Bank Tower on Thursday as part of a final project in a real estate development class at NYU. (LESLIE BARBARO/Staff Photographer)

NYU students see future in Bank Tower

If a group of NYU students had it their way, they would convert the city’s tallest building, now filled with asbestos, pigeons and mold, into a luxury residential tower for yuppies.

Four graduate business students presented a redevelopment plan for the Bank Tower at 663 Main Ave. Thursday evening, as part of their final class project for professor Michael Zampetti’s real estate development class at New York University. The class is a requirement to graduate from the university’s Schack Institute of Real Estate.

The students proposed converting the dilapidated former bank and office building into 54-unit luxury one- and two-bedroom residential rental units with a 24-hour concierge, gym, library and recreation room. The ground floor of the 11-story building would include an anchor retailer, a fast-food restaurant and a dry cleaner.

The group’s project would target young professionals. After five years, the owners would sell the units as condos. Based on market research, the students estimated the units could rent for between $1,100 and $2,800 including utilities, and sell for $182,000 to $394,000.

Scott Masonis, 33, who works part time at Deutsche Bank, said out of the four sites in the tri-state area the students could choose to study, Passaic’s bank building seemed to be the toughest. Masonis is the group’s team leader.

Trial of ex-official in Passaic postponed

  TRENTON– A judge on Thursday agreed to postpone the corruption trial of Jonathan Soto, a former Passaic city councilman, until the fall so that his lawyer can have more time to review the government’s evidence.

Soto, 33, is facing a 15-count indictment, including charges that he took $22,000 in bribes and solicited narcotics from undercover FBI operatives.

Soto appeared at an early afternoon hearing at U.S. District Court. Following a series of closed-door meetings between Judge Ann Thompson, Soto’s lawyer, Jose L. Ongay, and U.S. Attorneys David Bocian and Hope Olds, the judge agreed to allow Soto’s lawyer more time to review the hundreds of documents and tape recordings the government is using as evidence against his client.

Soto, dressed in a charcoal gray suit, remained silent throughout the five minute hearing.

Two weeks before, Ongay wrote the court asking for more time because he plans to file a motion to dismiss the charges due to “entrapment.” In addition, Ongay said he has not met enough times with his client, who has missed five appointments with him because of “health problems.”

Soto and Ongay quickly exited the courtroom after the hearing and declined to comment. Bocian, the U.S. attorney, also declined to comment.

After his arrest in September, a judge ordered Soto to get treatment for drug abuse and to receive mental-health counseling as a condition of his bail.

According to the March indictment, Soto told FBI agents in recorded conversations that he “wanted to go smoke.” The indictment did not specify what controlled substance Soto was referring to.

Soto’s father, Arturo Soto, 64, said in a telephone interview after the hearing that his son was never addicted to drugs. When asked what the court meant by “health problems,” Arturo Soto said, “That’s the first I’ve heard of it. No, no, no way. Maybe cause he’s gained weight. He’s heavy, you know.”

FBI agents arrested Soto, along with former Mayor Samuel Rivera and former Councilman Marcellus Jackson last September.

They were accused of taking bribes from undercover FBI agents in exchange for helping to get public contracts for a fake insurance company called Coastal Solutions LLC.

The three were among 11 public officials nabbed on corruption charges in a statewide FBI sting dubbed “Operation Broken Boards.”

Rivera and Jackson have already pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

Soto, a teacher at Lincoln Middle School in Passaic, has been suspended without pay since his indictment in March.

He has avoided speaking publicly and has kept a low profile. He is active in church, at Principe de Paz, where his father is pastor.

And he worked briefly as an election poll worker during the Democratic primary in February.

The next hearing is set for Sept. 12.

Soto’s trial is scheduled to begin October 27.  Myheraldnews.com

NJ Assemblyman Resigns in disgrace

Disgraced Assemblyman Neil Cohen (second from right), Assemblyman Gary Schaer  and State Sen. Loretta Weinberg  look on as Gov. Jon Corzine signs bills into law in the Ahavas Israel Shul in Passaic. Rabbi Ron Eisenman is behind the disgraced assemblyman.

MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (AP) — A New Jersey legislator resigned Monday amid reports that he’s under investigation for suspected possession of child pornography.

The clerk of the Assembly received a one-sentence letter from Assemblyman Neil Cohen just before 9:30 a.m. Monday. Cohen said his resignation is effective immediately, but he did not offer any explanation.

Cohen has not been charged with a crime.

Colleagues who use the same legislative district office as the 57-year-old Democratic lawmaker said last week that they told law enforcement authorities about images of child pornography found on his computer.

State Assemblyman Joseph Cryan, who shared a district office with Cohen, said the investigation began after a staffer in the Union Township office found a printout of a nude girl, possibly in her early teens or younger.

Cryan and State Sen. Raymond Lesniak said they referred the case to the state Attorney General’s Office. Attorney general spokesman Peter Aseltine said the office does not comment on whether it is investigating cases.

Cohen, an unmarried divorce lawyer, has served in the Assembly in 1990-91 and continuously since 1994.

Regarded as one of the most liberal legislators, Cohen is also considered one of the busiest, having introduced 342 bills this legislative session — 94 more than any other legislator.

“Assemblyman Cohen was a respected legislator who dedicated his life to the State House and whose legacy would have been great,” said Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts. “Unfortunately, all of that will now be forever overshadowed.”

“We sincerely hope he receives the help he desperately needs,” Roberts said.

Gov. Jon S. Corzine issued a statement Monday calling the allegations “deeply disturbing.”

“All of us who have worked with him are shocked by the reports,” Corzine said. “Child pornography reflects a horrible debasement of children that is totally intolerable. Creating, distributing and using child pornography should be pursued vigorously by law enforcement wherever it is found.”

Cryan said Cohen remained hospitalized for psychiatric treatment on Monday.

Cohen did not return a call to his cell phone Monday morning.

Will Gary Schaer really run for Mayor this coming November?

Acting Mayor And Assemblyman Gary Schaer

Editor’s Note  We at PCJN believe that Acting Mayor and Assemblyman Gary Schaer has to much to lose to run for Mayor in November. If Gary Schaer would run for Mayor, and win he would only be Mayor for several months, and have to give up his Assembly seat. If he gives up his Assembly seat and lose the Mayor Race next year he is pretty much out of politics’s.

 Why would Gary Schaer pretend to run for Mayor?  Gary Schaer would pretend to run for Mayor to build him self up for the Mayor election next year in 2009.

Also interesting to note that Gary Schaer may try to put a weak Mayor in, this way he can run for Mayor next year and win the Mayoral seat easily.  PCJN Exclusive

Passaic Police Harass The Jewish Community On Friday Afternoon’s

Attention all Passaic resident’s

           It has been brought to our attention that at least the last 2 Friday afternoons the Passaic Police Dept has been out full force on Brook Ave and Main Ave. They have set up a check point with approximately 10 police officer’s. As our PCJN reporter passed by there were 4 cars pulled over all of whom were Orthodox Jews. We at PCJN are going to try to contact the Passaic Police Dept. for comment. And the Acting Mayor Gary Schaer.

Passaic woman charged after leaving tot in SUV

A 33-year-old Passaic woman was charged with endangering the welfare of a child yesterday after she accidentally left a toddler inside her SUV for about three hours in Clifton, police said.

The 2-year-old boy, also of Passaic, was not breathing and had al most no pulse when she finally no ticed him and got help, but the toddler was expected to fully recover, Clifton Detective Sgt. Robert Bracken said last night.

Meira Lebovitz spent part of the day carpooling six children, including several of her own. Later, after dropping off five of the children, she stopped at the Home Depot in Clifton at about 2 p.m., not realizing the 2-year-old was still asleep in the back, the detective said.

While in the store parking lot on Bloomfield Avenue, Lebovitz suddenly noticed she had forgotten to drop off one child, who had fallen asleep in the rear of her Chevrolet Suburban sport utility vehicle, Bracken said. Lebovitz, a friend of the boy’s family, rushed the child into the store, the detective said.

The child was dehydrated, had a temperature of 102.6 degrees Fahrenheit, was not breathing and did not have a noticeable pulse, Bracken said. The boy ap peared to have advanced heat stroke, he said.

Two customers in the store began cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the child as they waited for emergency rescue crews, according to the detective. Nj.com

Squad leader claims ‘harassment’

Letter says Jewish group not up to code

PASSAIC — The city has told one of two Passaic-based Orthodox Jewish volunteer ambulance squads that it must shut down because the squad isn’t up to city code.

But the squad’s founder called the city’s action “harassment” and questioned why the other Jewish squad wasn’t scrutinized.

On Monday, the city sent a letter signed by its law firm, Scarinci & Hollenbeck, to David Kaplan, 26, founder of Hatzolah EMS of North Jersey, saying the squad wasn’t in compliance with city law.

The letter said Hatzolah must shut down operations by the end of the day on May 19 if it did not fulfill the requirements of proving that all volunteers are qualified and that the squad has insurance that covers any legal action against the city up to $2 million. The requirements are outlined in a 2004 ordinance.

Kaplan said his squad does meet city requirements and showed necessary proof to the city last September. A letter to Kaplan from former Mayor Samuel Rivera, dated Sept. 12, states that Hatzolah is qualified to provide emergency medical services in Passaic and that a certificate remains in effect for two years from that date.

But Acting Mayor Gary Schaer said to the best of his knowledge Hatzolah had not met all the city’s requirements.

Hatzolah is licensed to operate by the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services, although a license is not necessary to operate, said spokeswoman Marilyn Riley.

As of Wednesday, Hatzolah had not provided documentation to the city, Kaplan said. But Hatzolah is continuing operations anyway, he said, because Kaplan believes the city’s letter is unfair and unfounded.

To complicate matters, a second Hatzolah ambulance service with a similar name — Hatzolah of Passaic/Clifton — has never been used informally by the city and is not on the list of squads the city uses. Hatzolah means “rescue” in Hebrew. The squads are local chapters of a worldwide organization that has volunteer ambulance squads in Jewish neighborhoods.

Greg Hill, the business administrator, said the city has not checked whether the second Jewish squad is violating city law. Schaer, an Orthodox Jew, said he asked Hill on Tuesday to verify that all private ambulance squads comply with city law. Passaic has only the two Hatzolahs as private squads.

The city’s paid squad, which has two ambulances, is overseen by the Police Department. When both vehicles are in use, the city calls other municipalities and private squads to ask if they can dispatch an ambulance immediately. Andy White, police spokesman, said Kaplan’s Hatzolah has been called in recent months after the Clifton squad and a private company based at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Last week, the City Council entertained a resolution that would formally add Kaplan’s Hatzolah to the city’s list of mutual aid services. But the resolution was defeated by a 3-3 tie vote. A tie means the measure is rejected.

The three Orthodox Jewish council members voted against the resolution, while the three Hispanic members voted in favor.

Schaer, who proposed the resolution, said he voted against it because he believes Hatzolah was stoking ethnic divide in the city.

“Picking up an ambulance group that’s working primarily in one part of town — I don’t think it’s a good idea, if we’re continuing our fight to unite Passaic,” Schaer said.

Kaplan said Hatzolah serves the entire city, not just Jews.

“It’s ludicrous, because the whole point of doing 911 is we service anybody. We don’t ask them, ‘Are you Jewish? Are you Orthodox?’ when someone calls,” Kaplan said. “Gary Schaer has furthered the stereotype that we only want to help ourselves.”

Hatzolah gets an average of 600 calls a year to its direct line, Kaplan said. He did not know what percentage was Jewish.

Councilman Gerardo Fernandez said he supports the squad.

“We never had a problem before. We voted for it. I voted ‘yes’ because they’re providing a service with the community. They’ve been doing it all along,” Fernandez said.

On Tuesday, Schaer said that the letter sent to Kaplan was purely out of concern for public safety.

“It’s not my personal feelings at play here. This affects the health and welfare of city residents,” he said. “What’s relevant is what’s in compliance.”

Reach Karen Keller at 973-569-7158 or kellerk@northjersey.com myheraldnews.com

Assemblywoman Angelini to Seek Legal Opinion on Dual Office Ban as Schaer Assumes Third Public Position and Violates the spirit of the law

Saying Assemblyman and Passaic City Council President Gary Schaer’s new role as acting mayor of Passaic seems to violate the spirit of the Legislature’s ban on dual office holding, Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini said today she will request a legal opinion on the matter from the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services (OLS).

“As we are all well aware, the Legislature passed a feeble dual office holding ban last year which grandfathered in dual officeholders who were elected before February 2008,” explained Angelini, R-Monmouth. “This allows Mr. Schaer to serve as a state lawmaker and local councilman. However, now that he has the powers that come with being acting mayor of Passaic as well, it seems he may be violating the spirit of the ban on dual office holding. Since it’s a gray area, I will be requesting a legal opinion from OLS.”

Schaer, D-Bergen, Essex and Passaic, assumed the role of mayor late last week, following the resignation of Mayor Samuel Rivera who pleaded guilty to extortion in federal court.

Angelini questioned the viability of one person serving in three primary public roles.

“How can one person serve their constituents with excellence when you are juggling three different government positions?” she asked. “There aren’t enough hours in a day to make that possible. The bottom line is you cannot serve two masters. Somewhere in that mix, your constituents will be short-changed.”

Angelini said Schaer’s situation is a prime example of the need for an immediate and comprehensive ban on dual office holding and for stringent ethics reform in general, noting that the city attorney who ruled that Schaer could assume the mayoral office is the law partner of Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero.

“This entire situation is a web of ethical conflicts,” stated Angelini. “Not only did Assemblyman Schaer abstain from voting on legislation that prohibits newly elected public office holders from simultaneously holding more than one elective office, but he also serves as vice chair of the Assembly State Government Committee which promulgates these rules.

“Legally, this particular situation may very well fall through a loophole, which is troublesome in itself,” she continued. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s just plain wrong. And as a representative of the people, it’s my responsibility to protect their best interests.”

Angelini suggested that the Assembly State Government Committee debate and vote on bill A-1443, sponsored by Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth and Mercer, which would eliminate the grandfathering clause within 30 days of enactment, when it meets on May 22. Politickernj.com