Special Guest Speaker Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi
March 21 – 7pm
650 American Legion Drive, Teaneck N J
(Don’t forget to bring a pantry item for the American Legion food drive-support our veterans’ good works)
Teaneck N J , We are very fortunate to have Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi as our guest speaker on March 21, Tuesday. Assemblywoman Schepisi has been an advocate for towns deciding what happens in their own town….wouldn’t you think that is the right way forum for these decisions to be made?
Don’t think for a moment this isn’t going to affect your town or any town in NJ for that matter….we brought this issue to your attention last year and now it’s rearing it’s ugly head in full force on the state level.
In a decision that could reshape hundreds of communities, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled in January that municipalities must allow the development of affordable housing for poor and middle-class families whose needs were ignored for more than 16 years.
A recent article in NorthJersey.com highlighted Affordable Housing affecting the towns in Bergen County.
“Two Pascack Valley towns have thrown their support behind legislation that aims to bring affordable-housing litigation in the state to a screeching halt and pressure the state Legislature to take action on the issue. The governing bodies in Emerson and Woodcliff Lake approved resolutions last week backing the bills, which were introduced by Assemblywoman Holly Schepisi.
One bill – A4666 – urges a freeze on all affordable-housing litigation through the end of the year. A companion bill – A4667 – calls for establishing a bipartisan Affordable Housing Obligation Study Commission that would be composed of professionals and elected officials to determine each town’s affordable-housing obligations.
State Sen. Gerald Cardinale, R-Demarest, has sponsored similar legislation in the Senate.
Towns have been submitting their housing plans to state judges for approval, after the state Supreme Court ordered them to bypass the Council on Affordable Housing, which has been inactive for years because of bureaucratic dysfunction.
Schepisi said the Legislature should be dealing with the issue, not the courts. “There are a host of out-of-the-box ideas and thinking that we as legislators should be exploring, and we’re not,” Schepisi said, adding: “We need to also question if the obligation should rest with the state rather than each municipality.”
