Paterson taxpayer says city is stumbling due to failing leadership
By To the Editor
Published: December 1, 2016
In Paterson, our people are barely hanging on to their homes due to what is now routine annual tax increases. Their safety concerns grow weekly from all the ongoing shootings and killings, and they walk through garbage infested streets daily. Add in the lack of funding for critical youth programs, the FBI visits, budget challenges, and the fact that there is no clear vision to move the city forward; there is a reason to be concerned. One must question whether the leaders in city hall are failing us. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the answer is a definitive “yes” practically across the board.
When you look at our high taxes, our high unemployment rate, the absence of a meaningful economic plan to increase ratables and a comprehensive roadmap to move the city forward, yes, the mayor and the city council collectively are indeed failing us all.
Regularly, our leaders aren’t just part of the news; they are the news. Rarely is there a week that goes by that either the mayor or a city council member isn’t in the news for something that doesn’t shed a positive light on Paterson. Pick one: budget, taxes, investigations, conflicts over a street sign, settling court cases initiated by political shenanigans, the list goes on. As leaders, you shouldn’t be the news; you should be enacting positive change and improving the quality of life for the residents of this city. Your behavior and actions are embarrassing. Just stop it!
In my opinion, Mayor Torres is incompetent and ill-equipped to lead the city forward; anyone remotely thinking about re-electing him must get their head examined. Over two years in and we have yet to have a meaningful economic plan to increase ratables or a comprehensive strategic plan to move the city forward. His failed programs, mismanagement of tax dollars, excessive spending, and unethical behavior have robbed the residents and youth of this city. On the other hand, we have a city council that continues to enable and support such behavior. The majority of them thus far have been suspiciously passive when it comes to holding this mayor and his administration accountable. They are either the wrong group of leaders or they have outsmarted all of us and are just secretly helping the mayor execute a plan most of them are privately supporting. I don’t know. I just don’t understand their lack of action when it comes to this mayor. Since when has the mayor become so powerful?
Failing leadership will never move the city we all love forward, and our mayor and council members should be ashamed. Leadership comes with accountability, so as leaders you are all accountable for this train wreck. Fix it!
Mike A. Williams
Taxpayer