Copy of Mayor's Message #1 OLD1

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of you for having the confidence in electing me to be your Mayor. It was the honor of a lifetime to be sworn in on January 2nd, 2024. My promise to you is to always work as hard as I can and do what I think is best for our community at all times.

We certainly did hit the ground running this year. Less than a week after being sworn in, we had a tanker fire on Rt. 17. An amazing job done by our Fire Department! Congratulations to Fire Chief Mike Greco and his leadership team on a job well done. Mid-morning, I received a call from Gov. Murphy's office asking if we needed any assistance from the state. I was proud to say that we had the situation under control. I want to commend our Fire Commissioners, Councilmen Tom Meli and Mike Sickels for their work with the department.  

The Winter of 2024 started off with something we haven’t seen in almost two years, SNOW! A great job was done by the DPW on the two winter storms that occurred in February. Also, a huge thank you to the DPW crews who decorated the circle for Valentine's Day. Thank you to Councilmembers Mike Sickles and Charlotte Sodora for their work with DPW Superintendent, Lenny Masucci.

An honor I have as Mayor is the capability of performing marriages. I want to thank our Board of Health Secretary, Laura French, for organizing the ceremonies over the last few weeks, two of which were held on Valentine’s Day. Our Health Department also held a very successful rabies clinic under Laura's leadership along with our Health Commissioners, Councilmembers Charlotte Sodora and Joe Samperi.

When talking about Hasbrouck Heights, I am always proud to share that we are one of the safest communities in the state! This is due to the hard-working officers of our Police Department. I am happy to share that in the first two months of the year, we have hired three new police officers, including the borough's first female officer.  We also honored long-time Officers Lt. Jim Miller and Lt. Daniel Kroncke for their outstanding service to our community upon their recent retirements.  Thank you to our Police Commissioners, Councilmembers Sue McGuire and Bobby Bing, for their work with Police Chief Joe Rinke and the entire HHPD.

Under Recreation Director Rob Brady, the Hasbrouck Heights Rec. Department is closing down very successful basketball and wrestling seasons. We had a number of our travel basketball teams win their way to the playoffs and the wrestling program held two very successful tournaments in February. A number of wrestlers qualified for the state tournament! On behalf of our Recreation Commissioners, Councilmembers Bobby Bing, Sue McGuire, and myself, congratulations to all our athletes!  

This is just the start of 2024! I look forward to many good things ahead for our great town in the coming months!