To the publisher,
As the campaign season approaches, it's important the voters have a forum or venue in which they can discern real information on the candidates and the positions they have staked to make North Arlington a better place.
As campaign manager to the ticket of Council President Steve Tanelli and former Councilman Mark Yampaglia, our commitment to keeping North Arlington small, safe and suburban is more than just a slogan, but a series of positions on the issues important to homeowners who care about the future of this community.
With that said, we have placed in writing a request to Republican council candidate James Bocchino via registered mail to join local Democrats in a viable forum to debate the issues homeowners really care about.
Issues such as stopping EnCap, eminent domain seizure and low income housing is at the heart of the Democratic platform.
Keeping our property taxes stable and within the Consumer Price Index (CPI) was demonstrated in this year's budget where North Arlington was the only South Bergen municipality to offer homeowners a "zero" tax rate increase. Lyndhurst, Carlstadt, East Rutherford and Rutherford all increased taxes at an average of nearly 10 percent. In North Arlington, there was no increase and even Republicans joined Democrats in voting in the affirmative of this financial expression of the borough.
Our aggressive opposition to the recent COAH regulations passed by the legislature and signed by the governor demonstrate our independence to place taxpayers first and prevent the urbanization of North Arlington into an extension of Hudson County. On this issue, Council President Steve Tanelli has demonstrated his leadership abilities and common sense approach to preserving North Arlington's small town character.
Councilman Tanelli and former Councilman Yampaglia have already begun to campaign and are registering voters each and Saturday during the summer at the post office to discuss the issues and keep North Arlington moving in the right direction.
Campaigns are important. They should reflect a lively discussion of the issues as well as the differences between the tickets in this race. We seek a side-by-comparison between our ticket and the challengers.
We welcome all of the local media to participate in a way that makes sense for all concerned.
We're hopeful such a forum is possible.
But the first question is will the Republicans participate? Will Mr. Bocchino and Mr. Herrmann join us in a series of debates?
Will they participate in at least one debate?
The voters of North Arlington deserve a response.
Councilman Al Granell
Campaign Manager for the
ticket of Tanelli & Yampaglia for council
Campaign Manager for the
ticket of Tanelli & Yampaglia for council
