Donations made out to Friends of Elie Y. Katz will help ...? Elie Y. Katz.

Noah: I want to note that Elie's interest in pedestrian safety comes days after he was fined for driving in Teaneck while using a hand held phone. Secondly, as far as I understand, this is a personal effort having nothing to do with his being a Teaneck Council member. Thirdly, perhaps distribution should be coordinated thru the Teaneck youth organizations or Teaneck Comes Together to make sure the reflective belts are widely distributed throughout the township.

Rich: I quote "The following press release was submitted by Councilman Elie Katz:" In Hudson County elected officials give out free turkeys for Thanksgiving. Nothing political, of course. You know, if Harold Gellis (who I do not know) was the leader of this program I would think differently, as long as he wasn't just ticketed for breaking the law while driving.
About those reflective (not safety) belts: Are they made in China? Is the pigment used to make them safe if a child chews on them? Anyone checked on that?

Dear Think: Thank you. I ran for school board in the early 1990s. While I did lose then, I am teaching part-time in the Bronx and tutoring in Teaneck. So far, so good. Regarding negativity, you may have missed my message giving credit to our Teaneck DPW, our Police and Fire Depts. Add the Library and the Clerk's office to that list. They have all earned it. I just call things as I see them. Not negativity. Objectivity. Art Vatsky.

Art-
Ability to view things objectively: the ability to perceive or describe something without being influenced by personal emotions or prejudices according to encarta.msn.com.

I have yet to understand where your objectivity is within the comments about Elies ticket. Are you making the assumption that this is just a political move by Elie giving out these belts? Since it must be that Elie doesnt care otherwise for peoples safety or else he would not have been talking on his phone while driving. Or can we give someone benefit of the doubt that maybe it was an emergency call from a family member. Is it possible it was a phone call from someone at the Teaneck Helping Hands Food Pantry (that he co- founded but i am sure you think that was a political move as well) saying they need more food. Or yes you are right it may just have been a nothing call that could have been taken later. The fact of the matter is you nor i have seen the phone records. I believe your comments are not objectivity but rather a political problem with Elie.

Dear Think: If we are to engage in a discussion, it would be objective of you to give your real name on these messages. The facts are this: Elie got his ticket on Feb 14. It appeared in the Patch on Feb 16, and he announced the reflective belt program on Feb 19. The article and headline begin with the word "Councilman". Sounds political to me. Further, Elie had only to pull over and stop his vehicle to make his call and avoid a ticket. To his credit, Elie admitted he was wrong and he promptly paid his fine and bought a hands-free unit. Case closed.

Great. So not that you have used the words case closed.
#1. Why did you bring this up again?
#2. Lets say this is as a result of his traffic ticket. Who cares? The fact is whether he is doing it for personal interest or not he took the initiative for this program.
#3. Why were you writing to Noah and everyone else visiting the site your suggestions specifically for Elie? If this was truly objective dont you think e-mailing Elie your suggestions privately would have been the right way to go?

Hey, Think, you gotta real name or not? It is true, I could have e-mailed Elie directly. I frequently do. Ask him. And he is a politician. Has been since 1996. Council "members" debate resolutions, ordinances and recently censure motions. They also conduct investigations, control expenses, and set an example for others. What Mr. Katz does as a private citizen may have merit but that is separate from his responsibilities as a member of Council. Think about the other current or potential members of Council who don't have the resources to generate this kind of publicity. With your name, maybe you should think about running yourself: "Vote T. Teaneck for Teaneck Council."

Trust me you have no idea who i am even if i told you my name. I am more of a low key person who doesn't usually get involved publicly when it comes to town politics. However, i will tell you that i have lived in Teaneck for 19 years and have been following its politics for quite some time.

I also want you to know that i have never contributed to Elie's campaign and have in fact never voted for him. My defense for him is not as much for him as it is for the sanity of this township. This township has seen a lot of finger pointing, name calling, and has caused a great of agony to many residents of the community in the last few years. At a time where everyone needs a little bit of uniting and hope that this will be the warm township it used to be there is once again another "conflict". This time its even a positive story of someone trying to help out where there are comments of negativity. The fact of the matter is if this was about objectivity it would have been only dealt with privately. This has to do more with negative feeling about Elie.

The fact that current or potential members of Council dont have the resources to generate this kind of publicity i find to be totally irrelevant. When any Council member wants to do something now do they have to first ask if others would be able to do it? Not sure that makes to much sense.

OK, I don't know you but can I call you "Think" for short? Think, ignoring existing problems is not the kind of "uniting" I want to do. When a ship is sinking, avoiding the fact won't help. Neither will creating a worthwhile distraction on Deck C. You can't fix problems if you refuse to investigate them. Think of Elie as Teaneck's version of NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg. Both are charitable men but Mayor Bloomberg rests on his accomplishments as mayor (and his considerable campaign funds) for his popularity, not on his efforts as a private citizen. Elie's projects seem worthwhile for private citizen Katz but they separate from his activities as a Council member. Come to a Council meeting sometime, perhaps we will meet. Teaneck needs you, Think.

Of course when a ship is sinking you cant avoid the fact that it is. However, in no way shape or form is handing out safety belts involving a major change in Teaneck politics. But all of this is jargon. I think your last couple lines of the most recent comment has said it all. This has nothing to do with safety belts but rather Elie Katz.
Sincerely,
Think