To the editor:
On Sept. 30 Pascack Press ran a letter from an Emerson resident that made several false and misleading claims that are campaign talking points of Assembly members Robert Auth and Holly Schepisi.
I’m writing today to set the record straight.
First, the writer’s claim that Emerson Councilman Gerald Falotico has repeatedly voted to raise taxes here in town is false. Our municipal taxes remained flat for the first two years of Falotico’s tenure. Taxes increased in the third year, when the budget was created by Emerson’s newly elected Republican mayor, Danielle DiPaola.
School taxes have increased in Emerson for years—which is due to the underfunding of our schools by Trenton for eight years under former Gov. Christie. This has forced Emerson taxpayers to pay for the shortfall. The good news is that we will finally have a chance to bring our school taxes under control because the Assembly passed a new funding law which will increase state aid to Emerson’s schools by 23%. Neither Auth nor Schepisi voted in favor of this measure. I guess they don’t care about serving their constituents.
Secondly, the letter writer is being deceptive when he criticizes John Birkner for an increase in taxes during his 12 years as Westwood mayor. Five minutes of research reveals that Birkner has had a Republican majority on the council during his entire tenure; meaning that he has had no direct control over local taxes in those 12 years.
If the writer is so upset by the tax rates in Westwood, perhaps they should take those concerns up with former and current Westwood councilmembers such as Holly Schepisi’s Chief of Staff Alyssa Dawson, or Schepisi and Auth backer Ray Arroyo.
What Mayor Birkner has done over the past 12 years is help obtain significant grant funding for Westwood that has helped support the town’s financial needs at no expense to taxpayers.
In short, if voters are looking for fiscal responsibility rather than misleading talking points and false arguments they should join me in voting for Birkner and Falotico for the state Assembly this November.
Karen Browne
Emerson
Editor’s note: Alyssa Dawson filled out the unexpired term of Westwood Councilman Peter Grefrath, who resigned, before running unsuccessfully for a seat on the current council. From there she took on her staff role with Holly Schepisi and is campaigning for Bergen County Board of Chosen Freeholders.