By Nicholas J. Veliky
September 28, 2007

Change is in the wind . . . or is it? It seems the move to make a change in Clifton's form of government has taken an unexpected accelerated turn with the announcement of a fundraiser for loyal past supporters to be held at the Brownstone in Paterson (just asking but why not a Clifton venue?) sponsored by Clifton's carpetbagger Freeholder Bruce James, and the Passaic County Democratic Party. The event is slated to raise funds for the "campaign" to change the form of government from a city manager form of government to a partisan, ward and district with a strong mayor. While he is listed as the host of the event, word has it that Assemblyman Thomas Giblin was brought into the scheme unknowingly, promising to deliver Assemblyman Dick Cody as a key note speaker. It seems Giblin had no idea that there was an ulterior motive behind the event and the appearance of Cody is questionable at this time. Talk about a grass roots movement with ticket prices for the cocktail party and dinner from $300 per ticket and $125 for the dinner only. Come on guys all this to get a crack at Clifton's vendor list, haven't you heard that pay to play isn't in the cards any more, you can't be that desperate, or could you. Who said public service wasn't a lucrative game.

The special City council election to be held in November is starting to get interesting. With four candidates in the running, Matt Ward who is holding the seat temporarily, George Silva and Joseph Chidiac both of whom ran in the last council election and Beverly Carey, a newcomer to the political arena. All candidates are maneuvering for the right to fill the one open seat on the council left vacant when a court ruling prohibited Antonio Latona from taking a seat when he finished second in the general council election but was not able to fill his term because of his conflicting position as a city firefighter.

Councilman Matt Ward got a little short with his comments at the last council meeting. Take it easy Matt, no one is expecting you to come down hard on constituents who are just exercising their rights to be heard at the public session of meetings. All their points are valid and they deserve the right to express their opinions. Calling in the prosecutor may in fact be the solution, but do we really want to get to that point?

While on the subject of things gone array, did you ever wonder what happened to the Clifton High School auditorium renovation project? Well at a recent Board of Education meeting, it was stated publicly that the estimates to do the work on the auditorium came in at $2 million dollars, a far cry from the $800 thousand that was approved and earmarked for the project. Well, as it was stated during the Board of Education meeting, the funds, while not coming close to the amount needed for the project, the board saw fit to spend the $800 thousand elsewhere. Now is this any to handle public funds? What ever happened to being Stuarts of public assets and acting prudently with taxpayer money? $800 thousand dollars is an awful lot of money, where did it ultimately get spent?

As a result of new conference guidelines, the Clifton Mustang Band can no longer perform their pre football game shows to the chagrin of loyal Clifton Mustang fans. While many fans are sitting pat with the new conference rules, portions of the pre-game show have been incorporated into the halftime presentation making the performance an enjoyable yet not the same as the pre-game show. Don't think that this ends here; things will escalate if no compromise to allow the band to perform is reached.

Another Quinn Road special meeting will be held at 7 p.m. 0n Wednesday October 10th. There needs to be a strong showing of residents if there is to be any impact on the process which appears to be a done deal. This project is bad for Clifton and bad for residents in the area of Quinn Road. Make your voices heard .

Like we don't pay enough in taxes already, there is currently legislation pending that will allow municipalities to add a real estate transfer fee when a home is sold in their municipality. The added tax will go directly to the municipality where the property being sold is located. This amounts to nothing more than an additional real estate tax imposed on new home buyers. More on this in the weeks to come.

Athenia Business Association's Street Fair was an absolute success. Thousands of residents and visitors to the city enjoyed all the Athenia Business Association had to offer. Probably one of the more thought provoking aspects of the day was the tee shirt work by Athenia Business Association president Matt Grabowski. The tee shirt carried the message "Mayor Grabowski City of Clifton 2010". Could this be a sign of things to come? Maybe there is change brewing in Clifton. Then again we will have to wait and see.

A Night for Singing, the Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical revue is being presented by the Theatre League of Clifton this weekend. The performances on Friday, the 28th and Saturday the 29th will begin at 8 pm, and Sunday, the 30th will begin at 2pm, all performances at School 3 located on Washington Avenue in Clifton. General admission tickets are $15 with students and seniors at $10 and are available at the door. Be sure to bring the entire family for this great performance by local talent.

Apolo Taxi is there when and where you need them. Based out of Passaic, this car service dispatches clean modern cars. They are ready to take you wherever you need to go, shopping, to the doctor, to meet friends, to worship services. Next time you need a ride, Call Apolo.

Shop Rite of Passaic and Clifton located on Paulison Avenue is offering free culinary classes at their location. The Cuellar family markets, known for exceptional value and service to their clients is offering this extraordinary offer. By the way, the Cuellar Family market is celebrating their second anniversary at their Paulison Avenue Shop Rite. Be sure to check the Clifton Insider for valuable Shop Rite coupons on our back page.