August 11, 2025 • 8 mins
Larry and Mike talk about how cities in NJ have been making positive improvements in the infrastructure and areas. Paterson NJ has been a city that has had some issues over the years, and what could be done to turn Paterson Around?
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's go to Mike Kelly, who was an award winning
columnist for North Jersey dot Com and The Record. He's
with us every Monday at this time. You know, Mike,
I talked to you a little bit by text yesterday
and you had me thinking about the cities that have
made some remarkable comebacks in New Jersey. Cities like Newark
(00:20):
we had its problems, it's been doing pretty well recently.
And Camden, New Jersey, which had the highest crime rate
in the country, and it's now doing well. Why can't Paterson,
New Jersey do that?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Good morning, Larry you. And let's not forget Jersey City, Yes,
undergoing a renaissance. You know, at one time or another
three of the top ten poorest cities were located New
Jersey was Newark, Camden and Patterson. All those cities have
struggled a bit, you know, but they've clearly there has been,
as you correctly point out, in Newark and Camden and
(00:56):
certainly in Jersey City, real upgrades in quality of life.
Patterson Patterson a very very different story. And I think
what's happening there it's the politics, the leadership in the town,
and we just can't ignore that. What you and I
were talking about yesterday via text, was the fact that
now there are three three count three of nine municipal
(01:20):
council members who were facing criminal charges. So the latest
was a councilman named Luis Velles was charged with illegally
pulling a fire alarm at city Hall. We still don't
know why he did that because there was no fire,
but he pulled the fire alarm nevertheless. And then two
(01:41):
other guys on the council are still awaiting prosecution for
election fraud indictments. And then let's not forget the previous
mayor who was sent to jail for corruption, then got
out on a plea agreement to never run for office anymore,
(02:01):
then was re indicted for running for office. So it's
it is a bit of a mess.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
It is a mess, and I don't know how to
get out of that mess. It's funny you mentioned the
fire alarm. We have our own here in New York Jr.
Mom Bowman did that when he was in Congress. He's
no longer. He's no longer in Congress. He lost, but
he did that the stop of vote when he was
a House member. Do you know that Zurimam Donnie's talking
(02:30):
about making him head of schools after I know you
think you got problems, but I think it's safe to say,
with all of these stories over the years, historically New
Jersey might have the most corrupt politicians in the country.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, I know, certainly we have the reputation. Larry Illinois
is maybe running ahead or a close second. Louisiana is
giving everybody a run for its money over the years.
But you know, Larry, it's it's really it's really sad.
First of all, there are a lot of municipalities in
(03:10):
New Jersey. They're over five hundred municipalities, so there's a
lot of public officials, and there is a lot of
money going around, particularly in real estate that sort of thing.
So it's pretty easy I think for some of these
guys to put their hands out and get and get something.
Look at our recent senior Senator Robert Menendez. He's now
(03:31):
in federal prison for taking gold bars in a new car.
And we had problems with Robert Torroseli years ago. He
was never indicted by the Feds, but he was taking
all kinds of gifts and that sort of thing. So
it's it's been an ongoing problem for many, many years.
But I think this on this local level here, this
(03:51):
was I was really drawn to this because I think
it illustrates the problems of running a trying to put
a city back on its if you can't even get
the public officials to play by the rules. And I
think we could start by not pulling the fire alarm, right, Larry,
I mean, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Look at what's it gonna take though, I mean, obviously
Patterson can't fix its own problems, it can't get out
of its own way. Will it take the state getting involved.
Will it take going after Patterson and making some changes.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Well, the state has already got involved. The state took
over the police department, as you know, a couple of
years ago, and then the state Department of Community Affairs
has also played a heavy role in keeping an eye
on Patterson. You know, the mayor Andre Seyak is trying
to position himself as a reformer and a guy who's
above all this and that sort of thing. But you know,
(04:46):
and so far he's come out of this very clean.
But you know, it really I think prevents good people
from getting involved in politics in a city like Patterson,
because you know, they're just afraid of getting involved in
this toxic stew of how life goes on there, and
(05:08):
the result is that the city just never really pulls
itself out of its decline. It's a city that's really hurting.
If you drive through there, you can see that with
your own eyes. It's a city that really really needs
like a you know, a really solid rebuilding and cleanup,
(05:29):
and it's just not getting it.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Yeah, I wasn't talking about just the police department. I
was talking about more like what the state did with
Atlantic City when they moved in and they basically took
over the city. They took power away from the government
there to make sure that it was a go to
destination that would be safe because they had massive corruption
as well, and they were able to really fix the city.
(05:52):
I mean, it hasn't come back one hundred percent, but
it's made some huge strides. Why couldn't they do that
in Patterson?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Well, you know they could, they could if they wanted.
The problem here is that the problem here is that
the state itself does not have I don't believe the
resources to run every government in every municipality around the state,
and I think that would be a large undertaking. As
(06:21):
I said, they did take over the police department, which
was a big deal. The police department was just you know,
just not getting things done because crime was on the rise.
But you know, I think we're seeing this time and
time and time again. We're even seen in Washington, d C.
Where the Trump administration wants to take over the government
in Washington because the local government there is just simply
(06:43):
not getting the job done. And I can tell you
that's been a long standing problem in Washington, d C.
That started long before Donald Trump even became a politician.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
No, it's a mess in Washington, d C. And I
admire him for wanting to do this, to go in
and try to fix it, because it's been unsafe. It's
absolutely unsafe, and it's a mess. There's homeless all over
the streets. So I hope he can get it done.
But more importantly, is it the fact that nobody cares
about Patterson that the state Because you're saying, I don't
(07:13):
know if they'd want to get involved. Why wouldn't they
want to get involved?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
You know, that's a great question you raise, Larry, Does
anybody care about Patterson? And I think that's that you know,
that may very well be the deeper question here. I
don't know. I don't think people in in in Trenton
are sitting there and saying, hey, listen, we as a
moral uh just from a moral perspective, we need to
(07:39):
focus some attention on this city that is hurting right
now and and and why can't we do that. We're
not getting that kind of leadership out of the current governor.
I'm not sure we'll get out of the new one,
whoever that will be. But the problem here is that,
you know, I think uh new and this is probably
the American way as well. We all value home rule.
(08:02):
We all want to be able to elect our officials
and run our local towns and cities the way we
see fit. Witness New York City, Witness Washington, d C.
You know, but you know, sometimes I think you need
a heavier hand to step in and say, hey, folks,
you're not doing it right.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Mike Kelly is an award winning columnist for North Jersey
dot Com and the Record with us every Monday at
seven o five. Good talking to you, Mike, Thank you always.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Larry, thanks
Let's go to Mike Kelly, who was an award winning
columnist for North Jersey dot Com and The Record. He's
with us every Monday at this time. You know, Mike,
I talked to you a little bit by text yesterday
and you had me thinking about the cities that have
made some remarkable comebacks in New Jersey. Cities like Newark
(00:20):
we had its problems, it's been doing pretty well recently.
And Camden, New Jersey, which had the highest crime rate
in the country, and it's now doing well. Why can't Paterson,
New Jersey do that?
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Good morning, Larry you. And let's not forget Jersey City, Yes,
undergoing a renaissance. You know, at one time or another
three of the top ten poorest cities were located New
Jersey was Newark, Camden and Patterson. All those cities have
struggled a bit, you know, but they've clearly there has been,
as you correctly point out, in Newark and Camden and
(00:56):
certainly in Jersey City, real upgrades in quality of life.
Patterson Patterson a very very different story. And I think
what's happening there it's the politics, the leadership in the town,
and we just can't ignore that. What you and I
were talking about yesterday via text, was the fact that
now there are three three count three of nine municipal
(01:20):
council members who were facing criminal charges. So the latest
was a councilman named Luis Velles was charged with illegally
pulling a fire alarm at city Hall. We still don't
know why he did that because there was no fire,
but he pulled the fire alarm nevertheless. And then two
(01:41):
other guys on the council are still awaiting prosecution for
election fraud indictments. And then let's not forget the previous
mayor who was sent to jail for corruption, then got
out on a plea agreement to never run for office anymore,
(02:01):
then was re indicted for running for office. So it's
it is a bit of a mess.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
It is a mess, and I don't know how to
get out of that mess. It's funny you mentioned the
fire alarm. We have our own here in New York Jr.
Mom Bowman did that when he was in Congress. He's
no longer. He's no longer in Congress. He lost, but
he did that the stop of vote when he was
a House member. Do you know that Zurimam Donnie's talking
(02:30):
about making him head of schools after I know you
think you got problems, but I think it's safe to say,
with all of these stories over the years, historically New
Jersey might have the most corrupt politicians in the country.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Yeah, I know, certainly we have the reputation. Larry Illinois
is maybe running ahead or a close second. Louisiana is
giving everybody a run for its money over the years.
But you know, Larry, it's it's really it's really sad.
First of all, there are a lot of municipalities in
(03:10):
New Jersey. They're over five hundred municipalities, so there's a
lot of public officials, and there is a lot of
money going around, particularly in real estate that sort of thing.
So it's pretty easy I think for some of these
guys to put their hands out and get and get something.
Look at our recent senior Senator Robert Menendez. He's now
(03:31):
in federal prison for taking gold bars in a new car.
And we had problems with Robert Torroseli years ago. He
was never indicted by the Feds, but he was taking
all kinds of gifts and that sort of thing. So
it's it's been an ongoing problem for many, many years.
But I think this on this local level here, this
(03:51):
was I was really drawn to this because I think
it illustrates the problems of running a trying to put
a city back on its if you can't even get
the public officials to play by the rules. And I
think we could start by not pulling the fire alarm, right, Larry,
I mean, yeah, that's true.
Speaker 1 (04:11):
Look at what's it gonna take though, I mean, obviously
Patterson can't fix its own problems, it can't get out
of its own way. Will it take the state getting involved.
Will it take going after Patterson and making some changes.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
Well, the state has already got involved. The state took
over the police department, as you know, a couple of
years ago, and then the state Department of Community Affairs
has also played a heavy role in keeping an eye
on Patterson. You know, the mayor Andre Seyak is trying
to position himself as a reformer and a guy who's
above all this and that sort of thing. But you know,
(04:46):
and so far he's come out of this very clean.
But you know, it really I think prevents good people
from getting involved in politics in a city like Patterson,
because you know, they're just afraid of getting involved in
this toxic stew of how life goes on there, and
(05:08):
the result is that the city just never really pulls
itself out of its decline. It's a city that's really hurting.
If you drive through there, you can see that with
your own eyes. It's a city that really really needs
like a you know, a really solid rebuilding and cleanup,
(05:29):
and it's just not getting it.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
Yeah, I wasn't talking about just the police department. I
was talking about more like what the state did with
Atlantic City when they moved in and they basically took
over the city. They took power away from the government
there to make sure that it was a go to
destination that would be safe because they had massive corruption
as well, and they were able to really fix the city.
(05:52):
I mean, it hasn't come back one hundred percent, but
it's made some huge strides. Why couldn't they do that
in Patterson?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Well, you know they could, they could if they wanted.
The problem here is that the problem here is that
the state itself does not have I don't believe the
resources to run every government in every municipality around the state,
and I think that would be a large undertaking. As
(06:21):
I said, they did take over the police department, which
was a big deal. The police department was just you know,
just not getting things done because crime was on the rise.
But you know, I think we're seeing this time and
time and time again. We're even seen in Washington, d C.
Where the Trump administration wants to take over the government
in Washington because the local government there is just simply
(06:43):
not getting the job done. And I can tell you
that's been a long standing problem in Washington, d C.
That started long before Donald Trump even became a politician.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
No, it's a mess in Washington, d C. And I
admire him for wanting to do this, to go in
and try to fix it, because it's been unsafe. It's
absolutely unsafe, and it's a mess. There's homeless all over
the streets. So I hope he can get it done.
But more importantly, is it the fact that nobody cares
about Patterson that the state Because you're saying, I don't
(07:13):
know if they'd want to get involved. Why wouldn't they
want to get involved?
Speaker 2 (07:17):
You know, that's a great question you raise, Larry, Does
anybody care about Patterson? And I think that's that you know,
that may very well be the deeper question here. I
don't know. I don't think people in in in Trenton
are sitting there and saying, hey, listen, we as a
moral uh just from a moral perspective, we need to
(07:39):
focus some attention on this city that is hurting right
now and and and why can't we do that. We're
not getting that kind of leadership out of the current governor.
I'm not sure we'll get out of the new one,
whoever that will be. But the problem here is that,
you know, I think uh new and this is probably
the American way as well. We all value home rule.
(08:02):
We all want to be able to elect our officials
and run our local towns and cities the way we
see fit. Witness New York City, Witness Washington, d C.
You know, but you know, sometimes I think you need
a heavier hand to step in and say, hey, folks,
you're not doing it right.
Speaker 1 (08:18):
Mike Kelly is an award winning columnist for North Jersey
dot Com and the Record with us every Monday at
seven o five. Good talking to you, Mike, Thank you always.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Larry, thanks
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