Letter: North Bergen, N.J., Surplus, Debt and Preschool Questions

Hudson TV received the following Letter to the Editor from North Bergen resident Robert Walden, founder of the Save Braddock Park-Safe Schools Committee, in response to our Oct. 28 story, What Hugo Cabrera Inherits: North Bergen, N.J., Debt, Taxes, Census.

The Mess That Nick Sacco & Hugo Cabrera Created

North Bergen is in bad shape…

The Township’s budget surplus in both 2022 and 2023 was $10-11 million. In both 2024 and 2025, it was over $5 million. The budget surplus is now under a million dollars. How do officials explain this?

“The district’s acquisition and renovation of the former Hudson County high tech high school campus at 2000 85th Street, now Nicholas J. Sacco Junior High School, is authorized at $97,540,426.”

VOTERS APPROVED $65 MILLION, NOT $97.5 MILLION IN A 2018 REFERENDUM FOR THIS PROJECT. How do officials explain this?

North Bergen HS operates at 172% of capacity. How do officials explain this after spending $97.5 million and considering that this year the District added a new school, the Sacco JHS, to the District? You explain it (politely), by saying “poor planning” [writer’s characterization].

How do officials explain Nick Sacco and Hugo Cabrera’s 2001 decision as North Bergen Commissioners to illegally remove a ball field from Braddock Park and replace it with a 17-trailer preschool which it operated for 25 years, in violation of environmental and educational regulations and which jeopardized the lives of the preschoolers, teachers and the general public? You explain it (politely), by saying “they had no other choice” [writer’s characterization], even though they had lots of viable options. North Bergen and probably all Hudson County taxpayers will have to compensate the State big-time for their diversion violation in Braddock Park.

How do officials explain their 25-year failure to build a permanent and safe, state-of-the-art preschool? They explain it by saying the North Bergen BOE is underfunded by the State. How do you explain that the North Bergen BOE is underfunded, considering that Nick Sacco was a State Senator and the Assistant Superintendent of Schools while he was also mayor, for decades? You explain it (politely), by asking “how could that be Sacco’s fault?” [writer’s characterization] and you don’t wait for a response.

How do you explain that the North Bergen BOE Superintendent of Schools receives a base salary of almost $300,000/year? You explain it by saying he doesn’t deserve it. According to US News & World Report, North Bergen HS is rated #360 of 415 high schools in NJ. That puts the HS in the lowest 13% in the State.

How do you explain that the Superintendent of Schools stated in 2017 (5 years after a fire destroyed 2 preschool trailers) that the preschool trailers didn’t violate regulations which required emergency exits? You explain it (politely), by saying he was wrong.

Finally, HudsonTV reports “The municipal levy is up 26.19% since 2023“.

Nick Sacco Sr. and Hugo Cabrera are responsible for creating these problems. How are Nick Sacco Jr. and Hugo Cabrera going to get us out of this mess?

Robert Walden
North Bergen

Editor’s note: What the records show

Hudson TV checked the figures and claims in this letter against public records and our own reporting. Here is where they differ from the record, and where they match.

• Surplus. The township’s audits show a year-end Current Fund surplus of $14.19 million in 2022, $3.91 million in 2023, $5.97 million in 2024 and $5.68 million in 2025. The $10.87 million (2022) and $11.96 million (2023) figures were the amounts of surplus used in those years’ budgets, not the year-end balances. After the 2026 budget uses $4.9 million, $781,959.47 remains, as the letter says.
• High school campus cost. Voters approved $64,958,000 on Dec. 11, 2018: $60 million in bonds plus $4,958,000 from capital reserve. The school district’s FY 2025 report lists the campus project at $97,540,426, funded by $44,627,170 in bonds, $20,000,000 in state aid and $32,913,256 from capital reserve. The larger total includes state aid and reserve funds, so it does not by itself show spending beyond what voters approved.
• Legal claims. The statements that the Braddock Park ball field was removed “illegally” and that the preschool “jeopardized the lives” of children, teachers and the public are the writer’s opinion. The record we have is a March 2011 letter from the state’s Green Acres program about the township’s use of the park land, which the writer has shared with Hudson TV. We found no court ruling or agency finding that establishes either claim.
• Quoted phrases. We could not find the phrases “poor planning,” “they had no other choice” or “how could that be Sacco’s fault?” in Hudson TV’s reporting or in any public statement by officials. They are the writer’s characterizations, not quotes from Hudson TV or from officials, and are marked that way above.
• Timing. Hugo Cabrera was sworn in as mayor on Oct. 28, 2026, succeeding Nicholas Sacco. The surplus drawdowns and the campus decisions described in the letter largely predate his term as mayor. He has served on the Board of Commissioners since 1999 and was among the 5-0 vote that adopted the 2026 municipal budget in June.
• What checks out. The district’s FY 2025 report lists North Bergen High School at 2,369 students in a building designed for 1,377, or 172% of capacity. State data list Superintendent George Solter’s 2025-26 base salary at $291,110. The municipal purpose levy rose from $64,425,000 in 2023 to $81,295,000 in 2026, an increase of 26.19%, as Hudson TV reported.
• Not verified. Hudson TV has not independently verified the U.S. News & World Report ranking cited in the letter or the 2017 statement the writer attributes to the superintendent.

Hudson TV invites Mayor Hugo Cabrera’s office and the North Bergen Board of Education to respond to this letter, and we will publish any response in full on this post. To submit a letter, email info@hudsontv.com.