Just when you thought the feud between Union City and North Bergen; between Mayor and State Senator Brian Stack and Mayor Nicholas Sacco could not get any worse; think again. North Bergen has announced it plans to dissolve its association with the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue Department after a quarter century and form its own fire department in conjunction with Guttenberg.
In a press release from the township, North Bergen states, “Township officials plan to create a shared services agreement with neighboring Town of Guttenberg to provide fire protection services in that community as well. North Bergen’s departure from NHRFR was forced by continuous false statements and political attacks against the community orchestrated by Union City Mayor and State Senator Brian Stack and his allies, all of which have made a working relationship between the two municipalities no longer possible.”
Part of the issue surrounds the Union City Board of Commissioners recently passing a resolution objecting to the North Bergen Board of Education’s 24-year placement of pre-school trailers in Braddock Park. Mayor Sacco stated, “Brian Stack has consistently put his own political agenda ahead of what’s best for North Hudson residents, but when he attacked our youngest children and opposed our plans to provide them with the educational facilities they deserve, including many students with special needs, he crossed a line and made it impossible for us to continue working together in any way. It’s sad to see Stack’s political posturing destroy our regional fire department, but we cannot see any path forward now given his deplorable actions. We will move forward with a renewed North Bergen Fire Department that will continue to keep our residents safe.”
West New York’s Board of Commissioners have also passed a resolution objecting to North Bergen’s placement of the trailers in the county park.
That’s just the tip of the iceberg. In addition to Mayor Stack’s political attacks on North Bergen, officials also cited the disproportionate amount of service calls in Union City compared to its annual appropriations into NHRFR, which is why North Bergen and Guttenberg officials plan to exercise an exit clause in the NHRFR operating agreement to begin the process of leaving the department and creating their own, paid department.
Guttenberg Mayor Wayne Zitt told Hudson TV that the five mayors in NHRFR’s communities need to sit down and restructure the funding formula which makes up the management agreement of the regionalized fire department. He says there’s no oversight by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs, something he blames on former Governor Christine Whitman. Unfortunately, Witt says he does not anticipate a meeting of the minds, which is why creating a new, paid fire department with North Bergen is the best step for his residents.
“Guttenberg has already been exploring creating our own paid fire department, so this news that North Bergen will also be leaving North Hudson Regional comes at a perfect time for our residents because now we can work together with a trusted partner to provide more cost effective services,” said Mayor Zitt. “North Hudson Regional has not operated transparently or followed its own funding formula for years and that mismanagement led by Brian Stack and his allies has been tolerated for too long. It’s time to turn the page and move forward without NHRFR, and this new shared department will enhance public safety for both Guttenberg and North Bergen residents.”
North Bergen Commissioner and NHRFR Management Committee member Anthony Vainieri stated in a press release, “Mayor Stack has continued to abuse his political power to try and take over Hudson County, and when he stoops as low as attacking three and four year olds in North Bergen what can be next? It’s time to move forward and focus our resources on protecting the people of North Bergen, and reforming our own local fire department is the best way to accomplish that goal, and we welcome Guttenberg to join us.”
In a text communication with Hudson TV, Vainieri added, “For years Stack wanted to leave regional. He had lengthy talks with Jersey City. Why do you think he took so long to sign on with regional for another 25 yrs. All the other 4 mayors were waiting on him. Ask any firefighter. Then he couldn’t get the deal he wanted in Jersey City and only signed on with regional if in 5 years you can opt out. That’s when he went in full speed to support McGreevey for Jersey City Mayor. If McGreevey wins, he’s leaving, leaving us with the bill.
In January, he stopped all the professional contracts at our reorganization meeting, that were North Bergen recommended, that already have been working with regional. Union City has the most responses, Union City is always late with their payments, Union City has the most superior officers, most personnel. North Bergen is almost close to paying the same amount into regional. Brian Stack has full control over Mayors Sires and Turner and will dictate to them to do anything he wants to harm North Bergen. We can’t stand idle with our residents in jeopardy of fire services. We don’t feel safe at this point. When you’re in business with partners and the time comes you can’t trust your partner, you break away. That’s what we’re doing. We are given adequate amount of time to leave regional and not like Stack, the last minute.”
Mayor Zitt told Hudson TV that North Bergen and Guttenberg’s decision to leave NHRFR will take quite some time to become a reality. The municipalities will need to reclaim their fire houses and firefighters, plus acquire the needed equipment to operate.
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner, who heads the NHRFR Management Committee, disputes some of the information and reasoning behind North Bergen and Guttenberg’s decision to pursue their own fire department.
Turner says DCA did a full review and audit of NHRFR’s operation within the past year and found no issues or red flags. Turner told Hudson TV that “we have to keep politics out of public safety. The issue of pre-school trailers in Braddock Park has nothing to do with NHRFR. Every town in the NHRFR has a representative on the management board. Never has the issue of Union City getting preferential treatment ever been brought up. The Chief would not stand for it, nor would I.”
Turner says should North Bergen and Guttenberg leave NHRFR, everything would have to be negotiated between the two sides. The firehouses, staffing and fire equipment. It would be a long and expensive process for those two municipalities, but the burden would fall on them, not on NHRFR nor the remaining three municipalities.
In a county that’s virtually a one political party system, it’s unfortunate that so much disagreement always seems to exist between its leadership.