Mayor Rose Marie Heck Mayor
Inaugural Address
Our Fresh Start for 2008 Has Begun! I planned for this to be a day of Celebration. Today, our promise to bring back our experienced professionals and volunteers has been kept. Add to that the fact that our new Mayor’s Liaisons, Committees and Volunteer Workers are now positioned to bring about positive action to maximize our productivity. I am very pleased that former Council Members Andrew Link III, Garrett Pepe, Tom Meli, Ron Kistner, and Marlene Verrastro have agreed to lend their expertise in the areas previously announced. I thank all of the volunteers who have committed to the year ahead. We have much work to do and together, with our very able Borough Employees, we will work to bring about a brighter future for Hasbrouck Heights. I quote these words most of you have know, "Let us be done with fault finding and leave off self-seeking." My style of chairing meetings is not new. I like all background work to be done prior to the Council’s formal meetings wherever possible. It has been said, "She runs a tight ship." And that is true. I will do my best to discourage public grandstanding and encourage the sharing of ideas in order to work for the betterment of good government and our community. I want all of us to spend our time and energy to come up with ideas that can be put into action to improve our Borough and its image. I encourage all members of this Council to give concise, informational reports. I encourage the public to reach out to this mayor and council whenever there is a need. Our web site will be updated to include our contact information. As I said during the Campaign, The Mayor will be available on Saturday mornings in the Free Public Library so that people do not have to wait for a Council Meeting to ask questions, offer ideas, or just stop by for a chat. You will have that opportunity every Saturday morning from 10 to noon, beginning Jan. 19, 2008 to do that. I thank our Library Director Mimi Hui for all of her help in this regard. I am most grateful to Mimi and her staff for agreeing to work on a Community Calendar. Of course its success depends upon you, the public and representatives of our churches and organizations. More information will be forthcoming very soon. I thank Police Chief Colaneri and Boro Administrator Mike Kronyak for all of the time they have given me to prepare for this coming year. We will soon announce a Police Sub-Station to be placed in Boro Hall. I thank Building Inspector Nick Melfi for preparing an upgrade proposal on fees and fines for the New Year. I thank DPW Supt. Bill Spindler and his department for their work on our expanded Recycling Program and for his cooperation in the discussing new ideas for his department. I thank Recreation Director Rob Brady for his help in planning an expanded program for the coming year. I thank Mike Kronyak for being the top notch professional he is and his willingness to work with a new committee to seek new grants among other things. I thank Boro Clerk Rose Marie Sees for all her time and effort preparing everything for today’s meeting and festivities. I thank everyone who helped with today’s events. Every employee helped make today possible in one way or another. I believe we call it "Team Work." In closing, I invite the public to attend Council Meetings on the Second and Fourth Tuesdays of the month. Our next Council Meeting is set for Jan. 8th at 8 p.m. At that time I will go into more detail as to what we hope the liaisons and committees will help us achieve. I want to recognize my family my two daughters Nancy and Rosemary along with my granddaughter Jessica. As you know I have four daughters and it is rare that they are all able to be in one place at the same time. Due to illness two daughters could not be here. I want to congratulate former Mayor Ron Jones for his work and the damage control he managed over the past year. Thank you Mayor Jones. Happy New Year to all and God bless us on our journey into 2008. Thank You
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