Hi Gov. Murphy, it’s us, again, the people of Kearny and greater West Hudson and The Observer newspaper. You may remember us, since back in 2019, we were the ones who fought you for a year+ to get the Keegan Landfill closed. Remember that? Wow, that seems like an eternity ago, before COVID-19 and all, right?
But remember how just before Christmas three years ago, the NJ Sports & Exposition Authority, finally, relented and closed down the damn place?
You may recall that all happened after a relentless effort, led by Kearny Mayor Alberto G. Santos, the Town Council, Cristina Montague, scores of residents and this newspaper banded together in ways once thought impossible.
After that, some here forgave you; but not all. In fact, you lost a good number of districts here in 2021 when you sought re-election.
Still, after all that, we kind of figured there would be no chance in hell you’d ever mess with Kearny in unfathomable ways. And yet here we stand, again, despite your promises and assurances you wanted this state to be done with fossil fuels, with word you’re backing a gas-based power plant for NJ Transit in our town that would be online 24-7-365(6).
We’re told it’s so if God forbid another Sandy happens, the trains will still be able to run. But see, here’s the thing — you made a promise: No more fossil fuels in Jersey. And yet here we are aware of a plan to build a fossil-fuel power plant in our town, one that comes with numerous potential health and environmental disasters.
Oh, Phil, what have ye done? Is your memory that short? Are you seriously considering this plan? Are you honestly ready to dump on the people of Kearny — and its neighbors — again?
We are somewhat early this time, we know. But we want this to be very clear: We don’t want this here. And up to now, we see no viable alternatives that would make this any more desirable.
We stand on the precipice of yet another battle with you. So let us be first to fire a warning shot. We will yet again band together to fight you on this. We will Tweet you. Send Facebook messages. Call your office in Trenton. Interrupt your press conferences and other appearances. Write letters.
We will do as we did in 2019 again in 2022 and 2023 to ensure this NJ Transit plan is scrapped completely. And our recent history should remind you vividly — we won’t stop until you stop. We won in 2019 and we will win again in 2022 & 2023. Scrap the damn plan now while it’s still early enough for you to save face.
Because nothing — nothing else — will suffice.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off 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 Facebook Live, 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 West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.