Letter to the Editor from Franklin Lakes Resident Michael Petrino, Endorses James Vinci for Mayor

Politics is not an easy game and not for the faint of heart. Mayor Bivona has started campaigning, so we need to repeat postings and continue efforts.

The feedback on the issues has been great and raising community awareness.

Our politicians are not enacting policy in line with voice of the community.

We need to continue our efforts:

• Please forward this message along with your endorsement and encourage questions.
• Continue to spread the word for our write in solution, James Vinci for Franklin Lakes Mayor
• Please post on Facebook and social media today, and repost this weekend, and on Monday. Do all do not hold off or delay, show your support.
• The more you communicate the better.

Writing in your candidate for mayor at the polls is as easy as recording your favorite show on a DVR. It is that easy.

Please write in your candidate JAMES VINCI for Mayor of Franklin Lakes.

All you need to do is select the Personal choice button here shown by the red arrow:

And then type in the name JAMES VINCI on the write in keyboard - Very Easy!!!

Some information about Jim and his family:

• Jim is a leader in our community serving as a volunteer EMT and Paramedic
• Jim and his wife Mary Jane have lived in Franklin Lakes for 22 years and have raised four daughters in Franklin Lakes
• Jim has retired from a successful distinguished career in finance that included being a Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and a Managing Director at Morgan Stanley and Lehman Bros
• Jim understands the financial challenges that will face our community in the coming years and he has the drive to see us through

Following are the principal reasons I believe we need new and better town leadership…

Pipeline – There is a proposed oil and gas pipeline that will run through Franklin Lakes less than 1,500 feet from FAMS. When the mayor was asked about this at the September 16th Council meeting he would only offer “No Comment”. Fortunately many other mayors in the area are taking interest in this matter, attending the meetings, and passing legislation against this. Can’t we do better than “No Comment”?

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2014/05/20/opposition-growing-against-proposed-n-y-n-j-oil-pipeline/

http://www.northjersey.com/news/nj-state-news/help-sought-to-put-kibosh-on-plan-1.1029247

http://patch.com/new-jersey/wyckoff/pilgrim-pipeline-potentially-affecting-franklin-lakes-present-plans-public-oct--0?utm_source=newsletter-daily&utm_medium=email&utm_term=around%20town&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_content=article-mostrecent

FL Recreation – the Wyckoff “Y” was given a $0 lease for the next 10 years on the Pulis Ave recreation building. Is this in the best interest of FL residents to rent out town buildings for no money for the next 10 years? This requires review and renegotiation. (see attached YMCA Lease and take note of item 22 the towns right to SELL the Rec building).

The Traffic Circle – the residents voted against the change and Frank called the county and now look at it. Draw your own conclusion as to why the majority vote of the residents was not carried through.

The Town Logo – the residents voted against changing it and Frank was quoted in the paper as saying “Mayor Frank Bivona says the survey’s purpose was to get an opinion from the community and a final decision would be made by borough officials.”

http://northwest.bergenpress.com/2014/07/16/franklin-lakes-logo-survey-draws-objections-from-ramapough-indians/

COAH – Frank has been saying that Toll would build (800) COAH housing units. This is just simply untrue. That is not their business model and they would lose $200M if they did this. This was never at risk of happening, but the mayor told everyone it would happen so they passed legislation based on a complete lie.

Toll Brothers – they are building (275) new homes. With an average of (50) homes per year sold in Franklin Lakes, this is a 500% increase in supply. Basic economics tells us that when you increase supply you will inevitably drive down existing home prices, which have already been on the decline over the last 8 years. Next meeting on Wednesday November 5th at 7:30pm. Documents are here for review: click here

Finance – the town was just a few days from running out of money as our bonds were expiring and the Mayor forgot to do a bond issuance. They had an emergency council meeting on September 30th at 8 a.m. to issue bonds. How is it possible that our debt was not managed properly? (see attached meeting minutes ordinance 1606 on page 6)

Reservoir – The current Environmental impact study from Toll Brothers notes that pollutants are feeding from the golf course into the Reservoir. The mayor has this information and is working to suppress it. The town environmental commission is not allowed to hire an independent expert to uncover this. See here: Environmental Impact Report

If like me you are bothered by any of this, then we can all create change…on November 4th at the polls….

Please write-in JAMES VINCI for mayor of Franklin Lakes on Tuesday.

Please post this to social media, share the information, forward the email…

Your Neighbor,

Michael Petrino

MPetrino@PTSdcs.com