January 12,2017
the staff of the Ridgewood blog
Glen Rock NJ, Glen Rock Mayor Bruce Packer says Glen Rock Welcomes People from shithole countries,
Packer at the Glen Rock REOG meeting said , “I had mentioned in my speech at the reorg meeting that I would like to see the council reconsider the Welcoming Community Resolution. To those who say it is not necessary, because we obviously welcome everyone, I would suggest that you probably would have said the same thing about our country. You know, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free…” and all that. Nothing about exclusions for shithole countries.That is what our country used to stand for and what Glen Rock still stands for.This is not a partisan statement but this is what patriotism should look like.We can’t assume that everyone is willing to welcome one and all when the elected leader of our country does not.
I’d love to see our local leadership send that clear message and we will include it on a future agenda for discussion.
I am a true believer that, as Martin Luther King Jr said, “Silence is Complicity” and I could not stay silent after seeing what was said.”
“The question remains will Ridgewood follow suit ?” The post on this question should be good. Get the popcorn out.
This guy is a complete idiot. he probably would cry at the thought of having Haiti immigrants live on rock road. What immigrants could afford glen rock anyways.
Bruce, give it a rest already. Nice polo btw.
Will Bruce sponsor a family with his own money instead of the rest of the population sponsoring them with their money? That’s the real question no matter where legal immigrants originate and yes some countries ARE sh*tholes. There is corruption and abuse of their own people including death. Amazing how these dunderhead politicos always want to give away other people’s hard earned money. Therein lies the real issue – can immigrants sustain themselves here on their own when they arrive – aka merit system for those who can provide the labor or services that are needed without going on public assistance. Liberals have changed the narrative and have everyone believing that’s it fine to want other people’s money but greedy to want to keep your own hard earned money. So unless Bruce ponies up the cash bigtime, he’s just another blowhard.
This is the ultimate virtue-signaling opportunity for small potatoes lib Dems to demonstrate their willingness to advance the progressive political agenda by nakedly sacrificing the welfare of their constituents. The mayor of Glen Rock is simply trying to leapfrog past his peers in the eyes of state party bigwigs. He is a contemptible opportunist.
This d!ck is hoping to impress little Josh so he can make a career in politics. This idiot should concern himself with the wellbeing of his own constituents. There are other people and institutions who are assigned to deal with world issues. I believe that you can identify an idiot when you see one and this guy doesn’t even need to open his mouth. How can he not understand that maybe 40-50% of his constituents may support Trump and his policies!? I am SOOOO happy I din’t purchase my house in Glen Rock and I was really close to.
What I can’t understand is how can the residents elect this clown to manage their town. Local government should be politically neutral.
Glen Rock is right next to that shithole of Paterson
That’s why I would never buy a house there (and the tax rate is higher than here)
Ridgewood could learn a lot from how Glen Rock manages their council meetings; not sitting on high, where you cannot hear a thing, but around a table, where everyone has equal opportunity, and yes, open public meeting with Roberts’ Rules.
Good for the Mayor of Glen Rock! Maybe he shouldn’t have used the “s….” word, but how else can we make the point that it doesn’t matter the color of one’s skin, (only people from Denmark???) but as we are so close to MLK day, but by the content of their character. And, as for the blog, some of these comments are right out of Breitbart type comments, where people scroll for the opportunity to say nasty things.
What are these previous posters afraid of? Hard working people?
Shameful!
Cannot wait for the GR Mayor to declare GR sanctuary city and
launch himself into the leftist,socialist spotlight. Wonder how his constiituents feel. Maybe he can explain why places like El Salvador and Haiti are not “sh_tholes” and why we should not have the right to determine who qualifies for legal immigration status and enter our country?! Can’t wait! Spare us pulling the race card too! Suggest the GR educate himself on the history, funding and “gifting” of the “Statue of Liberty” to the US, the original purpose of the Lazarus poem and how they relate to our immigration laws and policies.
What an idiot this mayor is…
Maybe he has a future in RW politics…
Anonymous@3:56,
“The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ” Winston Churchill.
Put another way, truth does not equate to nastiness and yes, some countries are indeed shitholes. By any reasonable metric (per capita GDP, average longevity, infant mortality, hours per day the electricity is on, availability of clean water, basic human rights protections, percentage of GDP stolen by politicians, nutritional intake, average educational level, percentage of the country ruled by warlords or criminal gangs, etc. etc.), Haiti, Somalia and North Korea are “shitholes”. Shitholes are usually distinguished by comparing the number of people trying (or merely wishing) to get out of the country compared to the number trying to get in. If the former is above five figures or 30 percent and the latter is approaching zero, the country probably qualifies as a shithole. Usually, shitholes have reached their wretched state because of the culture and institutions (not the skin color, but nice try at attempting to inject the hackneyed Leftist racial angle) of the people who live in them. And be honest (if you’re capable), who would be more likely to have a positive contribution to the United States in terms of employability (aka “self-sufficiency”) and taxes paid vs. benefits consumed, someone from the countries listed above or someone from Norway (not exclusively, that was simply the leader Trump had just met with). Either way, this question is above Mayor Packer’s pay grade and he has absolutely nothing to say about who moves to Glen Rock. That is determined by the means of the person who rents or buys there, which usually excludes people who emigrate from shitholes. He should stick to his knitting and just make sure the potholes get filled in on time. As for you, if your bleeding heart keeps you up at night,, sponsor a family in a qualifying country (as I have for a family in Guatemala for 25+ years). But don’t ask the rest of us to do what you won’t just because your party’s policies always fail and you simply want to nullify our suffrage with the votes of the eternally-dependent.
this will the new drama in Ridgewood like the gay pride flag last year (organized by Aronsohn’s puppies against Susan).
It was Norway, not Denmark, 3:56pm. Fodor’s guide has Denmark down as a ****hole. They say something is rotten there.
Grandstanding….
How abt Glen Rock aims low and brings over a couple hundred families over from Paterson first?
A fantastic Mayor in an incredible town. Good job, Bruce.
I am proud to live in Glen Rock. Our leadership is amazing. I’m thinking most of you in Ridgewood should feel grateful for your household staff which likely comes from other countries. How will you afford your housekeepers and lawn maintenance teams soon?
Joy S….for snowflake? JK…you go girl, lovin’ you some bleeding heart liberalism. It never gets old, does it.
We bought our first home in Glen Rock almost 20 years ago and I still think it was the nicest town I’ve ever lived in. Many times I regretted moving.
These towns can welcome in all of the people from “shithole countries” they want. The people that will feel the burden are the already over-taxed residents of Glenn Rock.
You can rest assured the newly minted Glenn Rock citizens from the “shithole countries” will not be contributing to the tax base yet they will most likely be sending children to the schools, along with the additional burdens placed on local resources such as fire fighters, police, and EMS services.
So PLEASE Glenn Rock be the bastion of hope for those looking to come here from said “shithole countries”.
I agree with anonymous who moved from Glen Rock. We bought our first home there and I have always felt it was the nicest town I’ve ever lived in. It has a sense of community which I have not found in other “desirable” towns in Bergen County.
I wouldn’t want these people in Ridgewood. Uhg.