Congratulations to Mr. Jackson and Co. You weren't my choice, but I hope you succeed in proving me wrong the next four years. Please fix our town. My family would like to call Montclair home for (most of) the rest of our lives. A sentiment I'm certain is shared by many others. Good luck.

Well done...and congratulations to all candidates. The stiring of the political debate is what makes a democracy just that.

Now let's get it together...and move on. Thanks Mr. Jackson for stepping up...now the follow through.

Mark Haefeli - you should be ashamed of yourself for your posts yesterday. Your posts weren't part of the "stirring debate" but instead were just attacks, insults and accusations against candidates. You represented the worst of the town.

Montclair 2012 - good luck, the town put it's trust in you and we hope that your leadership makes Montclair better off in 2016 than it is in 2012

Mark H...I will never be able to look you in the eye again. Your comments over the past few weeks were mean, divisive, hypocritical and unnecessary. You didn't make this a debate...you just spewed out ignorant attacks. You obviously don't care, since you had no shame in attaching your name to your comments, but I'm sure you lost a friend or two.

I think this shows that it will take some work to bring the town together.

One year from now I predict taxes will be 6.5% higher and the municipal budget will be 10% greater.

Will we have to vote on that if taxes increase through the 2% cap Christie put in place? Even if it comes to a vote, there is no doubt the town will support exceeding the cap based on this election.

congrats to all workers, unions and suppliers who rely on Montclair's budget largess for their existance...you just dodged a bullet

"Will we have to vote on that if taxes increase through the 2% cap Christie put in place?"

Health benefits and pension benefits are exempt from the cap. i.e. union benefits set to increase! Debt service is exempt. (borrow!)

There are other ways around the cap. Back doors were negotiated into the cap to get it past a democratic legislature.

Dang folks, I smiled and thought, reading the first few comments that all will be better... Then I get some folks not being able to look others in the eye, and RoC bringing me back to earth with basic, Montclair math.

(And Mark, I read your posts as full-throated yes, but offensive no. I'll still call you friend because you started with a comparison of relative experience and credentials, to that Jackson wins. This was also apparent to me during the debate I heard, he was easily the most impressive and knowledgeable. So while I didn't vote for him, I'm sure he'll work hard to make Roc's Montclair math come true, as I suspect Turner might have too considering our form of Gov.)

Oh, well. I wish Jackson Well.

At this point Turner should be trying to start unifying the town and encouraging people to move forward rather than still trying to justify what she said and did not say.

At this point, if i were Turner, I'd be writing a letter to the NY Times for that piece of propaganda that ran right before the election. She needs to step back up to the plate with CCM and remain a voice for fiscal sanity. Otherwise we'll continue to borrow our way into oblivion. I see a whole new fleet of garbage trucks and some great affordable housing units being built very soon.

Jeff J. is clearly a class act. Wow. Talk about a class gracious guy.
I am thrilled that Progress Montclair got their heads handed to them. While they might be smart credentialed people, they came off a smug, elitist and extremely in your face. They were getting direction from professional politico types who were obviously giving them the usual advice "when you get poked in the eye with a stick, blow their head off with a bazooka", when someone criticizes your position, attack their credibility. Typical stuff. Glad people saw through it for what it was. Nasty unpleasant stuff. If they were actually calling their opponents before the polls were closed warming them that they were going to lose and be shunned around time that's shameful.
Massd mailings at 5pm on election day threatening people about property tax increases is lame.
I know the "guru" who ran their campaign. A long track record of losing everything in sight. Spends way too much time listening to the Rush Limbaughs and Karl Roves of the world I would guess.

To build a slate without a single qualified person of color in Montclair. That takes major chutzpah.

As others have pointed out, there will be a lot of tears and hand wringing about high taxes and how we may need to leave town at Bradford and the Montclair Golf Club this weekend.

Jeff is indeed a very smart guy...

I don’t think I’ve seen an election where the choice was clearer. What I can’t understand is the outcome.

There's a lot of hand-wringing and hyperbole here today, but why not step back and think about the tactical reality of the RPM campaign? They were running in a town a quarter of which is African American. They did not find an African-American candidate to join their slate (I'm sure they tried, behind the scenes, but clearly didn't succeed), nor did they recruit a prominent advisor or spokesperson from that community. That handicapped their campaign from the starting bell.

Although at the level of ideas RPM may have argued that they were representing the interests of ALL of Montclair, the "optics" of their platform and slate sent all the wrong signals to the African American community and to the people who conceive of themselves as strong proponents of racial and economic diversity.

I certainly don't blame RPM for running with the slate that they had (since they were clearly genuine in their sense that the town's financial situation was/is dire), but it is odd that their supporters can't see that this very basic element of the RPM campaign was bungled. This is pretty much Politics 101.

If you concede that the RPM slate may have failed to run a good campaign in a quite fundamental tactical sense, then you have to be genuinely impressed with their strong showing. If only they had had better political instincts, and a little more intuitive understanding of the concerns of Montclair's African American community, they likely would have been celebrating today.

Crafty,

You have a populace that firmly believes all of the fiscal problems can be directly attributed to poor leadership in Trenton. Montclair is proudly progressive. It's why I used to live there. But at some point, the finances must be paid attention to. It's the progressive fabric that so far has allowed property values to hold up relatively well when compared with Montclair's neighbors. Unfortunately, the financial alchemy employed by The Street during the financial crisis is being applied similarly in Montclair. Only the leaders don't realize it. I read a couple days ago where Fried said that our debt rating was still double-A, but does he know how that compares to our neighbors. He also spoke to how far under the state limit on local municipal debt levels that Montclair was. I compare this to someone with a credit card noticing that there's still a little space left before the available balance is maxed out. The only thing keeping this debt experiment alive is the council's lack of transparency on the issue and the low interest rate environment. Fried said one of this council's great accomplishment was that they fixed some of the short-term debt (which Montclair was #2 in the state when it came to percentage of debt that unfixed). Of course, Fried was not forthcoming on what percentage of Montclair's total short-term debt that this represented. Sadly, if the economy recovers, other towns will be able to put the increase in revenues to work. (continued)

Montclair will have to put it to the increasing costs to service their debt. I don't live in Montclair anymore and the services here in Glen Ridge are absolutely fantastic. Perhaps, part of the reason is that Montclair is subsidizing many of our services. And this is the platform that Jackson has chosen to run on. Of course, this means little. Fried's Unity slate ran on a platform of transparency and they did everything in their power to hide Montclair's fiscal problems and make the budget less understandable. I don't even think the council was able to understand it. Their legacy is South Park Street and a BlueWave town lawyer. Let's hope Jackson can do better. Though I honestly feel his slates direction of economic development and selling more of Montclair's overpriced and mismanaged services (net loser) will simply accelerate the gentrification and will do more to damage the fabric than to help it. I sincerely hope I am proven wrong.

I voted for Jackson and do not believe all of the problems were created in Trenton. I am counting on the new team to address the financial issues in town, only with a greater compassion and with the realization that workers (aides, sanitation workers) are human beings, not statistics. The Turner supporters here may not want to realize it but, as Peter said, the slate made mistakes and the venomous dialogue of its supporters on boards like this one freaked people out and into believing it would get an angry facsimile of the Tea Party. Yes, Mark's remarks -- and others, my own included -- were occasionally vitriolic but they were an emotional response to the sense of the Montclair values we appreciate slipping away. Apparently, and thankfully, not yet.
as for the vote, Jackson would have won without Fourth Ward votes. To the more strident Turner supporters, i repeat: your contempt for those who disagreed with you frightened people more than galvanized them.

I’d like to thank the residents of Montclair who engaged in a real and substantive debate about the challenges and choices facing our town. I’d also like to thank all our supporters for their commitment to what was a collaborative and ultimately positive effort.

My sincere congratulations and best wishes to our new Mayor and Council.

LeeAnn Carlson

Stuart,
first time I heard you live in Glen Ridge. Now it all makes sense. Why would you give a damn about preserving integrated schools and the costs (and benefits) of maintaining them with a sense of educational equity? among other things that make Montclair a so much richer place than you'll ever understand

MP...it went both ways equally in my opinion. But that's not really what is important here. Look at the fire contract with Glen Ridge. Look at the animal shelter. Look at the ice rink. Look at the pools. Look at the rotting tennis courts on Upper Mountain Avenue. Look at the potential of the planned assisted living facility to fall off of Montclair's revenue roles. The Jackson slate wouldn't even consider outsourcing, yet he thinks neighboring communities will want to buy services from Montclair where we pay much more for our services than our neighbors due to the compassion that progressives believe is worth paying for. One can't ignore the impact of the capital debt either. I wish Jackson and Montclair luck, but his formula is unlikely to work. The only reason Montclair hasn't collapsed yet is due to the extraordinary low interest rates that the government must maintain to keep the national economy from collapsing. At some point, the economy will recover and the interest rates are going to climb. If history is a model, it will climb rapidly. Rapidly enough for the town to default. I am not fear-mongering here. I am just pointing out what is a real possibly and one that was ignored by Russo and Schlaeger their first time around.

MP,

I still own an investment property in Montclair. I have a vested interest there. But really, the reason I moved is that the capital debt scares the heck out of me. I didn't want to pay for it so I moved out. I fear the impact it will have on local services going forward and eventually property values if gentrification does not balance out the impact. By the way, I live two home away from Montclair on arguably Montclair's most diverse street. At least that is what the New York Times wrote about it. Most of our friends still live in Montclair and we still love the town as if we were still residents. We simply made the decision to settle down in Glen Ridge for reasons of affordability. But why am I explaining this to you. :P

One serious question for you MP? In the past decade, Montclair's African American population has dropped by 19%. What do you attribute this too? I attribute it to Montclair's growing lack of affordability, mainly due to the property tax increases. Do you think continuing to raise taxes to maintain the Montclair Ideal is actually serving to maintain that ideal. I firmly believe it is accelerating the gentrification of Montclair. What do you think?

Stu's right about one thing---Montclair is becoming a more uniformly upper-middle-class-and-higher town. The demographic trend is unmistakeable. Over time, there'll likely be a Glen-Ridge-ification of the parts of Montclair that border Glen Ridge. Fairly basic supply-and-demand trends in the NYC area overall will be at the center of this evolution, especially if the economy in the city makes a strong recovery. During the last boom cycle, housing was insanely expensive everywhere you looked within fifteen miles of Manhattan, and housing prices in Montclair (as everyone knows) shot way, way up. Was Montclair "affordable" then?

I think you oversimplify black flight and that the housing bubble, now collapsed, contributed greatly to it. people realized what they could sell their homes for and decided to cash in. I do not dispute the assertion that taxes are too high (though i have not been convinced they are dramatically higher than other desirable towns in the region)....but I do not embrace the rhetoric that aims to punish public workers as the reason we are in this fix. there are more compassionate ways to extract givebacks from unions that to just outsource everyone. and as i have asked Andrew: if the less affluent people in the town were the most affected, why were the majority of the Turner signs on the most expensive properties? yes, we desperately want diversity, racial and economic, but we also must also acknowledge that it comes with burdens and responsibilities. I was actually open to Turner until she suggested/asked/whatever that since kids -- yes, hers -- have ipads these days, did we really need libraries. that, to me, suggested life in a bubble, affirmed somewhat when she "got lost" in the south end.

i do appreciate Turner and CCM making debt-reduction and taxes a greater part of the dialogue and -- as i said -- i expect the Jackson team to incorporate that into their term. but as i said in my earlier post, the anger on this board and others for "what made Montclair Montclair" frightened many people into passing on Turner. You can't bludgeon people for what they truly believe. It's a game extremists (see Sarah P.) play and why they typically do not resonate. I get that many of you are sincerely concerned with Montclair's financials. But many of your contemptuous colleagues did you and the cause no favors.

To our new Mayor, Robert Jackson and Council Members: While I was not a Montclair 2012 supporter, I wish you all well and look with anticipation for the actions you will take to address the critical issues facing Montclair aired by all your neighbors during this intense campaign. In addition to the passions expressed, please take the data, facts and analysis that were shared about our Township government and actively use and expand upon them. I hope you also tap the broad range of Montclair citizens' expertise and talent to help ensure the community thrives. I read something interesting this morning that I hope you and all Montclair citizens can take to heart following this campaign: "Label Jars. Not People. .... Though in and of themselves, labels aren't a problem; they become limitations when coupled with a strong sense of liking or disliking. We become attached to our unexamined convictions."
With thanks and regards, Mary Curtin Creaser

Thanks PS/MP. And I think we are in agreement in a lot areas as par usual. Though, I'm not sure how Montclair is going to succeed in selling its services to neighbors while maintaining a progressive stance on their compensation of public workers, regardless of whether or not you agree with it. The next four years will be interesting none the less.

They dubbed it; they didn't dub it. I never said this. I sort of said this. I kind of said this but it was out of context. I see this lady either having a hard time dealing with the truth on some level or not quite as bright as many of her supported held her out to be. Or both.

Sellling services will be tough with our high costs. We need Bob Russo to make up for the damage done in his last term with the increase in debt & Robert Jackson works better than his last term which resulted in a decisive council & 40% increase. These are very low bars. I ask they at least surpass these.

Everytime I read that Fried potato head or Heller-Demolition are "THRILLED WITH THE WAY THE ELECTION TURNED OUT" I want to PUKE! Right there I feel certain we are doomed to more of the same.

Please stop making personal attacks... again, stick with the issues.

With this slate being elected, I can't help but be amazed at the impact that the unions and Essex County political machine have on this town. While I wish the newly elected members much luck in the future I can't help but think that we will continue to spend and bond ourselves into a financial disaster. While it might be painful to cure our financial problems ourselves, it is far less painful than the cure that will be imposed on us by the markets.

it's always the unions, the unions and the political machine, along with the big-spending liberals.
meanwhile, the GW Bush years by marked by huge federal deficits, wild spending on wars that was never accounted for, expansion of government through the department of homeland security, tax cuts that did little or nothing to stimulate the economy. and when all banking chicanery and housing fraud was done, what did we hear? it was the fault of the unions, the teachers, the sanitation workers. time to come up with something better than that while we're trying to figure a way out of the predicament we were put in by people with great power in government and the private sector.

Peter Simon
"Think about the tactical reality of the RPM campaign. They were running in a town a quarter of which is African American. They did not find an African-American candidate to join their slate. That handicapped their campaign from the starting bell."

Harvey Susswein's For Montclair slate had African American candidate Walter Springer running in Ward 2, but Springer and his entire slate (except for white candidate Bill Hurlock in Ward 1) got walloped and placed a distant 3rd after RPM. How do you account for that?

Your "logic" doesn't hold water and you totally ignore another type of "diversity" which Montclair supposedly prides itself on: a diversity of IDEAS, i.e. maintaining a spectrum of ideology, and RPM certainly did an outstanding job in providing voters with an IDEOLOGICAL alternative.

Also seems your ideal campaign slates are like TV show casting calls, i.e. "an "Asian type," "a Latino type," etc., rather than consisting of genuinely qualified people who are truly capable of solving complex problems.

I'm sure Montclair has no shortage of qualified African Americans, Asians, etc. who are more than capable of solving complex problems but you can't drag someone kicking and screaming into politics if they don't want to participate.

After seeing some of Montclair's most dedicated volunteers get tarnished beyond belief for working on the RPM campaign then I can't blame ANYONE for not wanting to get involved in Montclair politics anymore!

Diversity IS important. It is an ahistorical Neo-con fantasy that we live in a color-blind world (or town). Although the rhetoric may have been rough at times, I congratulate those who raised this criticism of the RPM slate and its policy positions and highlighted this issue. It is a constructive criticism and hope they take it as such if they ever run again.

Although they may not be "Tea Party," per se (or even Republican- I take them at their word), it was correct to point out that the policies advocated by RPM were in essence in harmony with the far right's agenda. By sharpening the issues, those who posted here did the the town a service (and they were often rewarded with ridicule). In the end, Montclair rejected the far right's agenda.

Third, I am very disappointed in Baristanet and, somewhat less so, with the Patch for attempting to create a post-election issue of "outsiders" coming up from (code-word) "Newark" to hand out leaflets. NEWSFLASH: Street money to "Get out the Vote" (GOTV) has been part of political campaigning from time immemorial. In fact, anyone who doesn't do it is probably running an incompetent campaign. The hatchet job in that infamous Baristanet video was even more of an embarassment to Baristanet than to the man interviewed, who just wanted to work for a few dollars.

Getting elected and governing effectively are two very different skill sets. That's what the Electoral College is about. Mr. Jackson is apparently an effective campaigner; let's hope he makes a great mayor.