Total Silence from Those Who Claim to Represent Lakewood

 The Lakewood township committee will approve a massive tax increase on homeowners today at the meeting by approving the budget.

Not a word from the very people who claim to represent and advocate for the Lakewood community. They know how to make noise angry videos calling out utility companies over a few hours of power outages but now? Nothing.

Not a single word or statement from Assemblyman Avi Schnall, Chris Smith Bob Singer, or county and state officials about the Lakewood Township Committee’s decision to raise taxes yet again, this time by hundreds of dollars for many families.

Even worse, the committee members themselves haven’t shown the decency to publicly explain or justify this increase. They continue to hide from the public, making it nearly impossible for residents to ask questions or hold them accountable. Since COVID, they’ve avoided face-to-face public meetings, continuing to conduct township business behind screens via Zoom shielded from direct public scrutiny.

Deafening Silence from the Lakewood VAAD

Equally troubling is the complete silence from the Lakewood VAAD an organization that claims to protect the interests of the community. Where are they now, as residents are hit with yet another massive tax hike?

This is the same VAAD that floods us with mailers and robocalls every election season, boasting about how they keep taxes low and urging us to vote for their chosen candidates. But now, when the community is being squeezed hardest, they’re nowhere to be found shamefully silent, like a hibernating bear that only wakes up when it’s time to rally support for their own political interests.

The community deserves real representation, not selective advocacy. Remember this next time they show up with big promises. When it truly mattered, they went silent.

(An Article in Hamodia dated November 2013 by a Vaad spokesman states, there is no real frustration in the kehilla regarding rising property taxes.” Weisberg says and dismissed, as “not serious analysis,” the notion that there is real frustration among the kehillah in regard to rising property taxes.)

The Local Media? Silent Too.

Local media outlets, usually quick to run fluff pieces or hype minor events, have also gone quiet. No headlines, no questions, no investigations into how or why taxes are being raised so dramatically or what impact this has on families already struggling with high costs of frum living including tuition, camp food etc. It’s as if holding power to account is no longer part of their job description.

 The silence is not just disappointing it’s complicit.