December 2002 - January 2003 Edition

Follow Up on Campaign Promises When Allan Caan ran for Council in 2001, he campaigned on five specific initiatives that he wanted to see enacted. One year later into his four year term, Fair Lawn News followed up to see if he has made any progress. Initiative #1:  Create a coalition to provide discounts for a variety of services throughout Fair Lawn. Caan said "After I took office, the Borough Council formed a Veterans and Volunteer Coalition. We asked businesses to provide a discount to Fair Lawn's veterans and emergency service volunteers. A catalog has recently been issued with over 100 businesses (accountants, attorneys, dry cleaners, restaurants, etc) that provide discounted goods and services for the veterans and volunteers. Everything has been positive, I am delighted with how the program has started.  I want to thank all the businesses who are participating in this program. They are all to be commended." The borough estimates that there are approximately 250 volunteers (fire, rescue squad, ambulance, auxiliary police, and emergency management) and 1,800 veterans in Fair Lawn. Over 1,000 people have already signed up for the new program. Caan said "I do not know of any other town that is doing this. It is a way we can give back something to the dedicated emergency service volunteers and veterans in town." Caan noted that the program sponsors are paying for the photo equipment, identification cards and the catalog printing costs. He said "we have found that we can use the photo equipment for other borough purposes that we didn't anticipate when we started this". Dr. Robert Kahn served on the borough's coalition, and told Fair Lawn News that the program "is a great way for us to say thank you to current volunteers and veterans who made sacrifices for our community".    Emergency service volunteers, veterans and their spouses should call the Municipal Clerk's office at 201-794-5340 to set up an appointment for a photo identification.  Initiative #2:  Put in pedestrian yield signs at dangerous intersections. Caan said "I had seen these signs in a couple of towns like Ridgewood and it seemed to work. Once I was elected, I recommended that the borough install them at dangerous intersections. Working with Traffic Safety Officer Tim Franco, we developed a list of intersections, then we received permission from the county (because the signs are all on county roads) and the state." He said "Many drivers don't realize they are supposed to stop for people who are crossing the street.  Since we first installed these signs in Fair Lawn, I have heard that some drivers are slowing down."  Initiative #3:  Work with county and state officials to institute the Amber Alert System in the tri-state area. Amber Alert is a system which sends out notices to all media and other emergency systems when a child is abducted. Caan said "I worked through Assemblyman Ahearn's office to get the ball rolling on this program". The program is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies and broadcasters to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. New Jersey's Governor and Legislature signed the Amber Alert legislation into law, and now the state is getting ready to begin implementing this system throughout the state. Initiative #4:  Provide a prescription drug discount for seniors who have no prescription drug coverage. Caan said "Now that we have instituted the first three initiatives, I have started looking into what we can do regarding a prescription drug discount for seniors." Initiative #5:  Provide parents with children going to college a benefit to make the tuition payment a little more bearable. Caan said "I have not had a chance to look at this one. More than anything, the federal government may prevent us from doing anything about this, because you are not allowed to discriminate by groups unless the government says it's OK to do that. For example, veterans are entitled to a break on their property tax, because the federal government has decided that veterans are entitled to that. Our discount program for veterans and emergency service volunteers does not offer a tax break, it is just private businesses offering a discount."