The following are excerpts from an article in today’s “The Record”, praising NJ Assemblyman Gary S. Schaer (D-Passaic), and now Mayor of Passaic, NJ. As YWN had reported two weeks ago, former Passaic City Mayor Samuel Rivera pleaded guilty to a federal corruption charge – and is facing as much as two years in prison. Rivera resigned as mayor of Passaic the same day – and was replaced by Gary Schaer.
Article:
Few New Jersey cities stand as truly ravaged by corruption as Passaic does now. The city desperately needs stability and hope. Its new acting mayor, Gary Schaer, is a skilled politician who has the capacity to provide both.
Schaer, the longtime City Council president and a state assemblyman, became mayor by virtue of his office when Sammy Rivera was forced to resign. He faces a desolate scene.
The city lost its once hugely popular mayor — the first from its majority Hispanic community — to a sordid bribery case. Last year, an FBI sting caught Rivera eagerly offering to trade a city contract for $5,000 in cash.
Worse yet, Rivera took further advantage of those who believed in him by fiercely denying the charges for eight months, during which he clung to his office. This month, his guilty plea exposed his denials as mere posturing at the expense of his city.
There’s more. A city councilman, Marcellus Jackson, was caught in the same sting. That left six council members, half from each side of the city’s great divide: three Hispanics and three Orthodox Jews. This tie has the council deadlocked to the point that it has been unable to appoint a seventh member. The deadlock also may prevent the appointment of another acting mayor, leaving Schaer in the mayor’s office until a special election in November.
Schaer by no means looks like the perfect caretaker. The most prominent Orthodox Jewish politician in the city, he is closely associated with his side of town. He also has a history of unnecessarily bitter feuding with some of the city’s other leaders, as well as some instances of excessive tolerance for the unsavory antics of Rivera and others. Finally, he holds one too many elected offices by our count.
But Schaer, more than most of Passaic’s politicians, also has a history of reaching out to people beyond his neighborhood, having served on numerous boards and garnered substantial votes from outside his part of town. He is a seasoned and effective public servant. He has financial expertise that’s useful to the city. And unlike Rivera and Jackson, both of whom had criminal records before they took office, he has had no known brushes with the law.
Especially encouraging was Schaer’s introductory speech as mayor. He recognized the inherent limitations of an unelected executive. He emphasized that he wants to serve the whole city. Most important, he signaled a break with some of Passaic’s self-serving political traditions. He strongly condemned Rivera’s behavior, and he vowed to lower the obscene mayoral salary of $118,000 (which he will not collect), impose a hiring freeze and institute ethics training and oversight.
Schaer will have to redouble his outreach and ethics efforts — and other city leaders will have to cooperate — to make a difference in the months to come. Some City Council members, from the other side of the divide, were already sniping at Schaer last week. To our ears, their tone was wrong for this moment in Passaic — and Schaer’s was quite right.
(Click HERE to read the complete article on NorthJersey.com)
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13 Responses
Does anybody know the real Meaning of the word
KIDDUSH Hashem
I dont think YWN has any idea & does not even know the simple translation & now you could go ahead & delete the email as usual, as you dont like to be critisized & i dont blame you but that is not the way to learn & remember anybody could have a website & does not need any HASKUMA from anybody & therefore it does not mean that you know it all.
Every Monday & thuesday you site is full of Kiddush Hasham & its becoming the biggest joke.
Editors Note: Can anyone explain what levtov32 wants?
# 1 seems to have many questions about life…but offers no answers.
Editors, he’s trying to say “this is not a kiddush Hashem, that you always post stories that you THINK are kiddushei Hashem, but you are wrong, and they are not. Also, you will probably delete his email and not post his comment, which he understands.”
looks like he’s jealous of your successful website
to #1 lev tov see gemorrah yoma 86a 3rd of wide lines 13- 14 lines dicussing chilil hashem, and oppisite is kiddush hashem so, in our not so humble opinion,just kidding, so just that he was written up in news paper does not constitute kiddish hashem..now if they’d mention traits the gemorrah mentions then would be ..but..so actually #1.. is right in this case…
Levtov32
One thing is for sure.
Such talk and babble is definetily a chilul Hashem.
I would recommend that you stop belching such hate and poison because every time someone reads it you are doing the aveirah of lashon hora.
And that is a huge chilul Hashem.
It would be healthy if you saw a Rav or therapist to assist you in your troubles and issues, and you learned how to express yourself in a mature and responsible fashion.
May Hashem help those who need and seek his help.
BTW, Have some matzoh since today is Pesach sheni.
The matzoh may give a taste of chairus.
to #6..if you are refering just to this post (#1) can you explain what chillil hashem, loshon hara and hate your talking about?…losh hora against a faceless website? didnt detect any hate in the “post”..maybe you should look into tht gemorreh mentioned in post #5 and then see if this constitutes chlili hshem ?
I think his speech was really nice & comforting at a time when the city residents need a ton of reassurance (though I also fail to see the elements of a kiddush hashem in it, I don’t see any reason to criticize YWN for this).
But I have 1 reservation: I think his idea to lower the mayor’s salary is a great mistake, since we see that the previous mayor couldn’t make ends meet on the measly $118k, & sadly came across the need to supplement his income with an additional $5,000 by “unkosher” means as a result of that. I think that, in light of recent events, the mayoral salary should actually be RAISED, so that the mayor is able to throw himself fully in to his avodas hakodesh without being hindered by “tirdos haparnosoh”.
Seems to be it is a Kiddush Hashem when a goyish newspaper has good things to say about a frum politician, while contrasting it to “less savory” alternatives.
(Particularly in a paper not known for being friendly to politicians, bureaucrats, etc.)
#9 – I truly doubt that your critisicm has any merit whatsoever. “Couldn’t make ends meet”? “Need to supplement his income with an additional $5000”? You are looking for ways to excuse Rivera’s behavior. Normal people should not need to do so.
$5000 was a drop in the bucket compared to the total reapings that the office of mayor has access to. That’s just all that they caught.
My take on it though is that lowering the mayor’s salary is a pithy token – the waste of taxpayer money is not that the mayor gets paid reasonably well. First, trim the fat that is the public school – who posts their financial data publicly. Then, get rid of the ridiculous benfits packages that go to each and every city employee. Replace that with something realistic (like something the taxpayers get themselves for working in the private sector). Other public employees are also grossly overpaid (though I am afraid to point to the police and fire departments on YW) and the guaranteed salary increases also don’t help.
Most of the data on salaries of public servants can be found on DataUniverse. You pay them – you should know how much!
To # 11: It was just a poor attempt on my part at sarcastic humor.
Since your lines (I take it) were written in full seriousness I must say that I agree fully with everything you wrote. Ditto.
1 thing for sure–YWN stop allowing levtov to even login letalone post—he needs some serious help and should go for some perfesional help and quick before his entire life is ruined-if he wasnt so crazy i would feel bad for him that hes so messed up and depressed
One thing’s for sure, Gary Schaer, because he’s so obviously frum (Hassidic to the goyim who think any kippa wearer, velvet or sruga, is hassidic.) is now under the microscope. Everything he does or says will be minutely analyzed and criticized. It’s up to him to make a kiddush Hashem through his conduct in office. Personally, I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. I wish him bracha v’hatzlacha. He’s going to need it!