Question forCouncil Candidates Part 2

23-Oct-2012
  Part 2 of  five questions for the candidate who are running for the two seat that are being voted on for Bogota Borough  Council. Election day is Tuesday 6- November the polls will be opened from 6:00a to 8:00p
  The Candidates are :
- For the Republican Party:
  Former Councilwoman Anne- Marie Mitchell she was twice elected to the Bogota Borough Council the most recent time being from 2007-2010. Ms. Mitchell is the current Treasurer for the Bogota Library Board ,along with being a Trustee of the Bogota Rescue Squad.
Tina Trotta Is running for Borough Council for the first time she is a member of Big Sisters of America, and a Volunteer for the American Red Cross.
 The questions  will be posted in three parts. Not every question was answered by every candidate but the answers listed are the candidates own work from the correspondents with Bogota Blog NJ. The order in which the answers are presented is random, so each candidate will be the first answer listed for a question.
   Bogota Blog NJ hope this will serve as a useful tool in for the Citizens of the Borough to help them decided on who they should trust with their vote. Bogota Blog NJ will NOT be endorsing any one candidates or party. It is the firm belief of this outlet that the best person with the best ideas be giving the chance to serve the community.

- For the Democratic party:
  Incumbent Councilman Jorge Nunez. he is seeking reelection to a second term as a Bogota Councilman. He is a member of the Bixby School PTA, as well as being a past PTA Board Member. Council Nunez has served as Fire and Police Commissioner during his term as Council Member.
  Rob Robbins  is running for Borough Council for the first time. He has served as a member on the Board of Education, and is the current President of the Bogota Democratic Club. Mr. Robbins also has served as the president of the Bixby School PTA.

Bogota Blog NJ
-At one time there was talk of a Federal Grant to build an overpass at Ft.Lee rd. ( or at least do a study on it.) What has happen to it. Also what kind of plan can be made to quiet the trains at that crossing.

Rob Robbins
It is my understanding that the overpass project at Fort Lee road had a few issues that had put the project on the back burner.
I am told one of the reasons the project had not moved forward was the fact that some trains carried shipments with 2 containers one on top of the other, this presented some clearance issues. 
It has since been filled in but did you know at one time there was an underground walkway? 
Also, I have been told a conductor is required to blow the horn before every crossing as a warning the train is approaching. I am not sure we can do much about the noise. If you are in the walkway I am sure you would want to know a train is coming.

Tina Trotta
I do believe this is a slightly tougher project to make happen.  When dealing with this area or project you must consider that the railroad 
has rights to this area.  Again however with anything in business if you stay focused on an issue and have open and respectful conversation&nbsip;
with parties on a regular basis this develops a relationship where all parties can compromise. I cant imagine that if a consistent (and this is very 
important and lacking in Bogota) council or experienced one could not be able to discuss the need to quiet the trains.  A respectful relationship with 
the railroad for example will only bring co-operation with them to have more consideration for the Bogota residents in terms of the noise. Strong 
leadership is supposed to be able to bring grants to the table for us in our town.  I have not heard of any great effort for new grants for some 
time with the current council.

Anne- Marie Mitchell
Yes at one time there was discussion of a Federal Grant to build an overpass over Fort Lee Road. From my understanding, nothing ever came of it since the railroad (CSX) would not give us permission to use this area.

Jorge Nunez
I am not familiar with anything we can do to reduce or eliminate the noise generated by the passing trains. I would be in favor of looking at what other communities have done to help their residents in this regard.
I support reconnecting or bridging access on Ft. Lee Rd., it is a win/win opportunity for everyone. If re-elected, I will pursue this initiative to a successful outcome.

Bogota Blog NJ
-What can be done to attract more business, and industry to Bogota?

Tina Trotta
Bogota needs to keep its small town old feel - this makes this town 
desirable in terms of real estate values.   For example many garment center companies are running out of room in the North Bergen, Jersey City, 
Secaucus areas which they have located to in order to leave the high rents of NYC.  One example could be a warehousing facility for garment 
center companies. This could create a good amount of JOBS for local Bogota residents.  Could again increase growth for the local restaurants and businesses
and bring in desperately needed tax revenue.  Some of these garment companies are billion dollar organizations that could really bring a great 
amount of help to Bogota.  Recent example is in Jersey City with the cooperation of the state to give the Goya food company breaks to award them the 
ability to build a distribution center.  This not only brings in construction jobs to develop but also much more money into the local economy.   The 
tax revenue for this deal to Jersey City is almost $1 million dollars a year.  Now the Goya project is a large parcel but just think of what might be 
able to be done with the Sifford site in Bogota.

Jorge Nunez
We can start by literally cleaning up Main Street, replace or repair inoperable lampposts, and promote the viability of an attractive and clean main street to the area tenants and landlords through a Business Improvement District initiative that engages the entire community.

Anne- Marie Mitchell

I believe that in order for us to attract more businesses, we need to clean it up, especially Main Street, and the property located on West Fort Lee Road from the railroad to Court Street. We also need to go out and see what businesses would be interested in opening up their businesses in Bogota. I believe the location of our town between New York City and the various airports in the area can be one of the many attractions.