Dear Gov. Phil Murphy, Vincent Prieto, John Ballantyne and every other politician who still ignores West Hudsonís pleas to close the Keegan Landfill forever:
Well, the case is before a judge now. And, with any luck, whether itís in Superior Court, or in the appellate division or state Supreme Court, the Keegan Landfill will be soon be closed once and for all.
Still, in the meantime, we have to tell you all ó your legacies, no matter what the courts decide ó are forever tarnished. You will never receive our support ever again, whether itís in an election or any realm otherwise. You should already be aware of this, but given how tone-deaf you all have been over the last year, we thought weíd remind you in a very public way.
You see, as we noted a few weeks ago, you have put cash above the lives of human beings who call West Hudson home. You have continued to fight this lawsuit despite having a chance to do the right thing by not contesting it. Your inaction has screamed at us that you donít care for our well-being. You might say otherwise, but we know the truth.
As a reminder hereís a little of what weíve experienced the last year or so Ö Thereís the case of the newborn boy whose parents were told he must live where the air quality is strong, following lung surgery at age 2 days. They just bought a home on Beech Street, Kearny, not too long ago, and theyíll likely have to move.
Will you be the ones who buy the house?
Thereís the Kearny resident who experienced numerous visits to the ER and who had several heart attacks, only to be told, by her doctors, they donít know why sheís gotten sick.
Will you be covering her insanely expensive medical bills?
There are the countless people, young and old, who have experienced vomiting from being exposed to high ranges of hydrogen sulfide. There are the kids who have been yanked off the soccer pitch at Harvey Field because the H2S levels far exceed the acceptable level that your state has established.
Will you be reimbursing the medical costs associated with the vomiting?
Will you be reimbursing the field permit fees that are being wasted because you put money above peopleís right to be healthy and practice soccer/football?
Thereís the co-owner of this newspaper whose cough only happens when sheís here in West Hudson, a cough so strong and loud and deep that itís often hard to believe she isnít in hospital struggling to breathe.
Will you cover her expenses if she has to move ó and will you cover her healthcare costs she otherwise wouldnít have if she lived elsewhere?
We could go on, here, ad infinitum.
But youíre getting the point. Or are you?
You have ruined peopleís lives. Your inaction has led otherwise healthy people to become medicinal nightmares. Your silence has been deafening. And yet, it wonít be long until youíre looking for our votes.
Gov. Murphy, God help the residents of West Hudson who push the button for you next time youíre on the ballot. If that happens, we could only imagine said people have no clue who you are and what youíve done here.
And to Mr. Ballantyne and Mr. Prieto, good luck keeping your positions. Surely whomever replaces Murphy would be a fool to keep either of you doing what youíre currently doing (or in this case, not doing) with the NJSEA ó in our minds, youíve been wholly ineffective and unworthy of keeping your overpriced salary (Prieto) and your position of decision-making authority as NJSEA chairman (Ballantyne).
And to the other ìleadersîí who have kept silent when we needed your help, we remember who you all are, too. When your re-election time comes, youíd probably be better off campaigning in Sussex County than you would be here.
We will remember what you did. Or didnít do. And oh, oh, oh, how sweet that chance to boot you the heck out of office will be ó whenever that time comes. You have all been totally useless and have mistaken us for fools.
But none of us will forget ó none of us.
Therefore, in reality, the real fools are all of you. And will it ever be delightful when we can finally say to you, since you didnít hear a word we said in 2019, good riddance. And weíll make an exception this go round ó you can let the door hit you squarely in the bum on the way out.
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.