Letters to the editor, March 16

To the editor:

In 1981 my parents made the decision to buy a house in Montclair, a decision I’m sure they would number among the best of their lives. For over 25 years, which included my entire childhood, they were thrilled to be an active part of a thriving community with wonderful public schools, a vibrant artistic and culinary culture and a diverse population.

In the end, however, as with so many of my friends’ parents, high taxes eventually forced them to leave the community they loved so much.

In 2013, when my wife and I were choosing a town to raise our family in, we could only think of one community we could truly imagine being a part of. As a family of modest means, we struggled greatly but finally succeeded with the difficult task of finding a home in Montclair priced for a middle-class family. With the announced reassessment, we are going to have to take a hard look at whether it is financially feasible for a family such as ours to continue living in the hometown that we love so dearly. While we appreciate the difficult realities that those managing a municipal budget face, we believe that this increase will disproportionately affect middle-class families like ours, especially in this age of stagnating wage growth. We would hope that the town shares our interest in keeping Montclair economically diverse and will take steps to address this serious concern, so that when the time comes, my children can avoid having to choose between saving for retirement and raising a family in the town they love.

Seth Orlofsky

Montclair

The writer is the son-in-law of Montclair Local staffer Elizabeth Oguss.

To the Editor:

Regarding your page 1 story about efforts to bring in a ShopRite supermarket to replace the defunct Pathmark that was in Lackawanna Plaza: the efforts should be directed at finding a different store that would provide Montclair residents a new option not readily available presently. Has anyone solicited Trader Joe’s? This would be a natural for Montclair, and there are no other Trader Joes reasonably close to most of the Township. There’s a Trader Joe’s on Route 3 in Clifton, and one in Millburn. ShopRites on the other hand are already easily accesssible, in Essex Green or Brookdale. We don’t need another ShopRite. We do need a Trader Joe’s.

If that’s not possible, have there been any efforts to interest Fairway, or Wegman’s, two fine chains that offer different items than standard grocery stores? There’s a Fairway on Rte 46 in Totowa, but no others, and there are no local Wegman’s.

Montclair would benefit much more with one of these other stores instead of another ShopRite. By the way, don’t get me wrong — I love ShopRite, and shop very frequently at the Essex Green store. But we have enough ShopRites around already.

Emanuel Goldman

Montclair

To the editor:

Thank you for bringing our township newspaper back to our energetic residents.

It reflects the heartbeat of Montclair and we need it, we want it, and we will support it.

Patrizia  Cioffi

Montclair