Monday, May 20, 2013
Group founded by Westwood woman to collect signatures at Teaneck festival.
A group working to have Bergen County's Blue Laws eliminated through a voter referendum will collect signatures at Teaneck's Memorial Day festival on Cedar Lane. Westwood resident Rosemary Shashoua, the group's founder, said they have collected 575 signatures as of Sunday, NJ.com reported. It will take 2,500 signatures from registered Bergen County voters to get on the November ballot. According to the group's Facebook page, they hope to collect as many as 500 signatures at the Teaneck event. Group volunteers plan to setup outside 446 Cedar Lane. The petition can be downloaded here. The push to repeal Bergen's Sunday shopping restrictions picked up after Gov. Chris Christie temporarily suspended the regulations in the wake of Hurricane …
Monday, March 25, 2013
"Modernize Bergen County" is seeking 2,500 signatures to get a voter referendum aimed at repealing blue laws on the ballot in November.
A group of Bergen residents seeking to repeal the county's "blue laws" intend to get 2,500 signatures for a petition by the end of June so they can get their initiative on the ballot in November. The laws prohibit the sale of certain items — clothes, furniture, etc. — on Sundays. Westwood resident Rosemary Shashoua, the founder and chair of "Modernize Bergen County," previously told Patch she believed that permitting seven days of retail business each week would create more jobs and increase local tax revenue to counter economic troubles and ever-increasing property taxes. Members of the group also pointed to the difficulty of enforcing the laws because of online commerce on sites like eBay. The group has now just about completed their …
Monday, February 4, 2013
The president of the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association said he expects Bergen voters will repeal the county's "blue laws."
The leader of a retail group expects Bergen County will get rid of its "blue laws" prohibiting the sale of certain items on Sundays, according to a report on NJ.com. John Holub, the president of the New Jersey Retail Merchants Association, said he believes there is more support to repeal the blue laws now than there was the last time voters considered the issue in 1993, according to the report. "It's not a matter of if they'll repeal, it's just a matter of when," Holub said in the report. "We are light-years away in public sentiment than we were 20 years ago." The blue laws have been debated around the county since Gov. Chris Christie temporarily suspended the laws after Hurricane Sandy. Westwood resident Rosemary Shashoua is the leader of…
Monday, January 28, 2013
In a Letter to the Editor, Mitchell T. Horn responds to Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbiera's recent comment that Modernize Bergen County's Blue Law repeal argument is "ridiculous."
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Monday, January 28
Editor's note: This letter from Mitchell T. Horn on behalf of Modernize Bergen County is addressed to Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbiera and the citizens of the borough: On behalf of the Campaign to Modernize Bergen County, lead by Mrs. Rosemary Shashoua, I would like to respond to the recent public comments calling our argument “ridiculous”. I would like to start by saying that this is an attempt to diffuse the situation and evolve the discussion from an emotional battle to a logical debate. We have the utmost respect for the residents of Paramus and their passionate desire to preserve the peace and quiet in their borough. We also think that the mayor of Paramus is doing an outstanding job and we would do the same thing if we were in his …
Friday, November 9, 2012
Paramus Mayor Richard LaBarbiera states that although he and borough residents disagree with the ruling the borough will abide it and hopes this will be the final weekend for Blue Law suspension.
A Bergen County Superior Court Judge ruled in favor of suspending Blue Laws —meaning Paramus stores will be open Sunday —despite the mayor's efforts to protect the law, claiming it favors the quality of life of borough residents. Mayor Richard LaBarbiera stated Friday that "although the residents of Paramus and I strongly disagree with this ruling we will of course abide it." "The County Executive says that this will be the last Sunday without the Blue Laws and I intend to hold her to that," said LaBarbiera in a statement. "The Blue Laws are absolutely essential to keeping Paramus livable and I will never stop fighting to make sure they are always here to protect our quality of life. I thank the many Paramus residents who expressed their …
Phil
11:25 am on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
In a world that's 24/7 365, and living in N.Y.C.'s 6th borough (Bergen County), having a day of a little down time...ain't so bad. It all comes down to quality of life issues. Maybe, just maybe Bergen county and its blue laws help provide that quality of life that makes this county a place that people seek out to live. The arguments that people who need only Sunday to shop doesn't pass the smell … more ›