Fair Lawn

“It’s obscene that the county didn’t have the money this year to purchase development rights to a 23 acre farm in Franklin Lakes, but it has the money to pay for artificial turf fields and swing sets for municipalities,” said Calabrese. “Shouldn’t those local improvements be paid for by the municipalities

“The mistakes of current and prior administrations have left Fair Lawn with a huge debt and escalating taxes, and those

mistakes need to be rectified.”

GORDON SEEKS TO STOP PREDATORY PRACTICES,
REIN-IN ROGUE TOW TRUCK OPERATORS
Complaints of Sky-High Fees, Lack of Accountability Spur Legislation

(FAIR LAWN) -- Aiming to counter increasing complaints of heavy-handed practices by unscrupulous rogue tow-truck operators, Assemblyman Bob Gordon said he is drafting legislation to overhaul the practices of the state's towing industry to crack-down on towers who prey on unsuspecting motorists.

Fair Lawn Councilman Edward Trawinski will run for Bergen County Freeholder on a slate with County Executive candidate Kathleen Donovan. He'll join incumbent Freeholder Elizabeth Randall and Surrogate candidate Jae Kim on a line that will oppose the Bergen County Republican Organization ticket of Todd Caliguire for County Executive and Robert Yudin for Freeholder. The BCRO slate will not have candidataes for Surrogate or for the second Freeholder seat. Congressman Scott Garrett and U.S. Senate candidate Thomas Kean must decide which line to run on. Trawinksi, a former Mayor, has lost two races for Freeholder and one for Congress, but staged a comeback last year when he beat David Ganz, a Bergen County Freeholder, in a local race in Fair Lawn.

Since the Bergen County-based 38th legislative district was created, every State Senator has eventually lost re-election. Republican Frederick Wendel, elected in 1971, lost to Democrat John Skevin in 1973. Skevin was defeated by Republican John Paolella in 1981, and Paolella was ousted by Democrat Paul Contillo in 1983. Contillo was unseated by Republican Louis Kosco in 1991, and Kosco lost in 2001 to Democrat Joseph Coniglio. The district was viewed as politically competitive until '01 redistricting, when heavily Democratic Fair Lawn and Fort Lee were added to the 38th. Coniglio, who had been viewed as a possible candidate for the state Board of Public Utilities earlier this year, seems to be in strong shape to break the curse, but then again, so did Contillo (when he beat Kosco in 1987), and Kosco, who held the job for ten years. Possible Republican Senate candidates in 2007 include Hasbrouck Heights Mayor Ronald Jones , the Director of Security for Hackensack Medical Center, and Paramus Councilman Keith Zakheim, who must first win re-election next year.