Hopatcong Council Candidate John Pezzino Says He's No Politician, He's Your Neighbor

Hopatcong-Sparta Patch continues its periodic series introducing the candidates for local office who will appear on the ballot of the Nov. 5 general election. In this installment, we hear from Borough Council hopeful John Pezzino in his own words. Municipal, school and county candidates interested in placing a statement or article in Patch regarding their candidacies may send materials to natalie.davis@patch.com.


I’m John Pezzino. I’m an Independent candidate running for a council seat in Hopatcong. I’m responding to the call for new people and a new vision for Hopatcong by our fellow citizens.

High taxes, high sewer bills, an unbalanced distribution of our financial burden thrust upon our senior citizens, questionable real estate appraisals, a limited selection of services from our business community, underdeveloped municipal properties, safety issues like missing stop signs, the lack of cross walks sidewalks and curbs, and a need for public transportation are among the top issues troubling our community.

I feel I am uniquely qualified to work with our mayor and council, especially since my personal situation and economic status is more in line with the typical Hopatcong taxpayer when compared to those of the present members of the governing body. Working in the private sector where making money is job one, I learned that saving money is critical to maximize profitability. I have gained valuable experience with cutting costs without cutting corners.

Our seniors are on a fixed income, they are faced with rising taxes and fees while they get little, to no increases in their income. They are forced to pay more than they should. Our seniors need help now; we can give our seniors relief by increasing the percentage to all senior citizen discounts and rebate programs. There needs to be a balance in our government’s decision making. They just can’t keep taking and taking without giving something back. I want to keep our seniors here in Hopatcong for their wisdom and friendship, not for their Social Security checks. 

Our borough government is operating as if we are in the midst of a flourishing economy, spending money like it's scooping up buried treasure down at the mud hole, but they’re not. Unfortunately, when they come up short, they simply raise our taxes with no regard to the everyday struggles of our families. 

In this bad economy, they need to show some fiscal restraint and get their hands out of our pockets. There comes a time when they just have to give the people a break.

When the big cities have to redevelop, they have the advantage of being classified as urban enterprise zones. We need to persuade the state to implement a suburban development program that allows us to offer tax savings and benefits to people that shop and conduct business in Hopatcong. Attracting investors is no secret, investors want to make money. We need to make Hopatcong a place where entrepreneurs are inspired to invest. 

We are still paying the high price of Mayor Hodson’s poor judgment with the sewer project, mainly his procrastination [regarding] a reasonable start date forced the state to pull the project money. He foolishly went ahead with the project anyway. To add insult to injury, there were millions of dollars in job overruns due to poor contract administration. So the financing of the job was put solely on the residences that were forced to hook up to the sewer system. It’s just too expensive. We need to give our citizens relief now. For starters, we need to sit down and renegotiate the terms of the loan and stretch the payments over a longer period of time.

I really believe we can lower taxes, but minimally we have to stabilize them. We need to make it a priority in our culture of governing, the need to do more with less and really drive that message home and deliver it to all levels of government. High taxes are a real problem and should not be exploited for campaigns during election season. Hard-working folks are tired of the lip service and are demanding real results. 
 
In my opinion we have not seen enough progress with our Republican-controlled borough government to re-elect their candidates. As for a Democrat holding a position in Sussex County, I hear we have better odds in seeing Bigfoot, but nationally [Democrats] are no better. The fighting and finger pointing of both parties is inexcusable, we can’t afford that kind of nonproductive nonsense in our little borough. 

What I do find encouraging is that more and more people I meet are voting for the candidate that they believe will do the best job, instead of blindly voting the party line like in the old days. 

I am an Independent candidate running for a council seat to represent and work for the people of Hopatcong. A vote for me is a vote for you.