Teague: Low voter turnout allowed party to seize power in Paterson
By Corey Teague
Published: May 12, 2018
The election is over.
The people have spoken and elected two new council representatives, re-elected one current councilwoman and a new mayor. I respect our system of democracy but it would be very remiss of me to not say that I am equally disappointed in the low turnout by Paterson voters on Election Day.
To be exact, 62,186 registered Paterson voters decided to stay home on Election Day. The low turnout paved the way for the machine seize political power over a city that has all but completely fallen to ruin.
Don’t get me wrong, I agree that it is time for us all to unify. But I also believe we as Patersonians should be made clear as to the plan by which this unification will come about. Catch phrases are nice, but results are better. To this end, I am going to demand transparency of the highest order going forward from city government.
To the newly elected/re-elected officials: congratulations again. On July 1, 2018 you will take the oath of office and assume your positions at city hall. Need I remind you that you campaigned to be in those seats. It’s my responsibility as a city activist to HOLD YOU ACCOUNTABLE.
Please don’t take it personal. Again, this is what you wanted.
I will be there, to praise you when you do well and to admonish you when you don’t. Lastly, I hate to end this letter on a pessimistic note but I strongly feel that unless some major positive changes take place under this new administration, I honestly won’t see a reason to celebrate anytime soon. In fact, if nothing of any positive significance happens for Paterson in the next four years I think it’ll be safe to finally call it quits for Paterson.
There is a lot riding on this. Those who won on Tuesday have their work cut out for them.
Corey L. Teague
Activist, ex-school board member