DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Before discussing how the coronavirus is affecting Montclair, let’s focus on our town’s May 12 municipal election. How many candidates filed to run by the March 9 deadline?
Sincerely,
The Gist of the List
One slate has 7 people, another has 6, and 1 person is running independently. 7+6+1=205 (Claremont Avenue).
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Um…only 7 of the 14 will serve on the new Township Council at that Municipal Building address. Anyway, I assume you’re among the thousands of Montclair voters happy to see more competition in 2020 than in 2016?
Sincerely,
Opposed to Unopposed
There was roughly the same amount of competition during Rio’s 2016 Olympics as there’ll be during Tokyo’s 2020 Games.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
The “Your Voice, Montclair” slate thankfully contains just one Council incumbent: popular, hardworking mayoral hopeful Dr. Renee Baskerville, but…
Sincerely,
A Village Voice
…the “Montclair 2020-Progress in Action” slate contains a too-high total of four incumbents — including mayoral hopeful Sean Spiller — from the overdevelopment-friendly Council in power since 2012. That year reminds me of the Rush song “2112,” but with fewer drum fills.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Does our town have the Electoral College?
Sincerely,
EC as in Travesty
No, it has Montclair State.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
The current Council occasionally does good things, such as approving a rent-regulation ordinance March 10 that will have a public hearing on March 24. Thoughts?
Sincerely,
For Lease Navidad
Not as strong a measure as the Tenants Organization of Montclair would like, but it’s at least something during a time when some local rents are rising too fast. Heck, it’s annoying when local landlord mascot Randy Rent intones Maya Angelou’s immortal phrase “Still I Rise.”
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
No such mascot. Meanwhile, were you surprised when the usually overdevelopment-friendly Planning Board this week criticized some aspects of yet another problematic Pinnacle project? In this case, the proposed too-big MC Residences in an already-packed section of Orange Road.
Sincerely,
Dennis Density
A “once in a blue moon” moment that happens more often than a “once in a brew moon” moment. Yes, beer is not a thing on Earth’s lunar neighbor.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Then there’s Earth’s deadly serious coronavirus that has led to more cleaning of Montclair’s schools; halted some activities for students, seniors, and library patrons; and had other local effects. I hope you’ll be responsible enough to not joke about THAT.
Sincerely,
No Pandemic Panacea
I tried to quarantine every letter in “coronavirus” from the other letters on my laptop keyboard, but couldn’t find a second “o” or “r” on that keyboard.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
How do you feel about Montclair schools being closed for students tomorrow, March 13, so that staff can be trained in online-teaching instruction should that become necessary?
Sincerely,
There to Prepare
A wise precaution in case schools are shuttered for a period of time. If that happens, hire a film crew to shoot a sequel to “The Invisible Man” called “The Invisible Students.”
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Tomorrow is Friday the 13th. Harbinger?
Sincerely,
Ladder-Avoiding Lad
Hannah Harbinger? Harry Harbinger? No one with that last name is among the 14 municipal candidates. In fact, there are only two alliterative names on that list, and neither is Monte Mont or Claire Clair.
DEAR MONTCLAIRVOYANT,
Speaking of alliteration, I have a “pet peeve”: The Star-Ledger periodically blankets my apartment complex with dozens of unwanted sample newspapers (in plastic bags despite Montclair’s partial ban on those eco-wrecking receptacles). Has that happened in your complex, too?
Sincerely,
The Paper Chase
Yup. I twice asked the desperate-for-circulation paper to take back the samples and stop its desperation dumping, but nothing was done. So residents clean up the messes themselves, while humming “Desperado.”
Dave Astor, author, is the MontClairVoyant. His opinions about politics and local events are strictly his own and do not represent or reflect the views of Baristanet.
This is Carmel Loughman – (a great candidate for Councilor-at-Large!)
First, I would like to encourage voters to think about registering to vote by mail (and to vote for me). Here is the site link to do this – https://www.state.nj.us/state/elections/vote-by-mail.shtml
Next, I want to give a shout out to both Mr. William Scott, for his sustained and tireless work on housing issues, and Ms. Ahava Felicidad for her steadfast advocacy for tenants. Without their Herculean efforts this ordinance would not have happened. I need to read it to be sure it has some bite.
Finally, I will be at the Walnut Street Farmers’ Market tomorrow from 9 am – 11 am. I would love to chat (from a socially acceptable distance) about my campaign and position on issues. Please stop by!
Thank you very much for the comment, Carmel!
The mail option is definitely something to be considered during this scary pandemic time. And, as you’ve said elsewhere, people (if they so desire) can split their votes — one doesn’t have to vote for everybody on a particular slate.
As for the Farmers’ Market, at least it’s not supposed to rain tomorrow. 🙂
Glad you mentioned Ahava Felicidad and William Scott and their important work to try to keep some housing affordable in getting-too-expensive Montclair! Others of course have also worked very hard on that issue — including Dr. Renee Baskerville.