Where we're at

Back in July, I argued that newly elected Mayor Katz was sending strong signals that his term in office would be quite a bit different than that of his predecessor. Whereas Deputy Mayor Parker commented about using her office to unite the community and heal past wounds, Mayor Katz mentioned only policy goals among his objectives. Parker was following in the footsteps of former Mayor Kates who had also voiced her commitment to softer goals four years prior, but Katz appeared to be promising to avoid wading into what I termed "murky waters."

Was I wrong? More than half a year into the Mayor's term, the answer is an emphatic no. Mayor Katz has had no problem ruffling a few feathers in his relentless pursuit of his policy objectives, and he has also not hesitated to work behind the scenes to do this. Inclusiveness and consensus building have not been the watchwords of this administration.

However, at the time I also expressed my own cautious approval of a more businesslike approach to handling local affairs. Now I am rethinking that.

Whether the problem is with the concept of more assertive governance in a town that contains such a diversity of opinion or just in the way it has been executed up to now is an open question. What is clear, however, is that tensions are running high and the potential for further polarization is there. A shadow government is taking shape on Puffin Way, running its own public forums in parallel with the official ones and rallying its activists to face down the elected officials it fears are going to remake Teaneck in the image of (insert name of favorite overdeveloped urban hellhole here). It is hard to be convinced that Mayor Katz has as high a regard for the leadership of the Teaneck CCP as he professes to in this week's Suburbanite (see page 20).

It is also hard to blame those who oppose making Teaneck more friendly to development for feeling threatened and responding as they have. While we the public have debated about DMVs and carped about consultant's reports, the real action throughout the first seven months of this Council's term has indeed been taking place behind the scenes and room for meaningful public input into Council and statutory board deliberations has indeed been reduced. Sure, there have been some public meetings here and there, and public outcry supposedly played a key role in scuttling a recommended riverfront development zone and the proposal for a parking lot in Brett Park. Nonetheless, the way things are proceeding makes it abundantly clear that there is a lot that we do not know. The Mayor and his Council supporters want to do things their way surrounded by their supporters with a minimal amount of noisy public debate.

Yes, it is their prerogative to choose their own appointees and yes, it is near impossible to make good on campaign promises by subjecting every item to the input of the voters who already elected you to represent them, but there is a right way and a wrong way to go about implementing an ambitious program to improve the Township. Appearances do matter, and this lesson has not been adequately understood yet by the Mayor and the Council majority.

There is no sense avoiding the murky waters if you step into a turbulent maelstrom instead. The opposition may be guilty of alarmism and demonization, but the Mayor and his cohort have stoked these fears by closing ranks and operating outside the public eye. The motives for this are understandable, but the climate of mistrust it has created makes one wonder whether it is worth it. Once nearly universally liked for the fact that he was (and remains) a friendly and reasonable man with the best of intentions, Mayor Katz has sacrificed much goodwill for no good reason.

So that's where we're at. Mounting suspicion, mistrust, and fear on both sides of one of the more significant issues facing Teaneck right now- and almost all of it unwarranted. And what have we achieved in return?