For every “big win’’—such as getting Amazon.com and other Fortune 500 ratables like McKesson Corporation and Walgreen’s to come to Robbinsville Township—there have been numerous other battles waged along the way that I am equally proud of as mayor.
Fighting the good fight, especially when the bests interests of our residents is involved, is important to me.
Whether that fight involves contesting a ridiculous housing conversion law passed in the middle of the night, clawing for our fair share of energy receipts from the state, making sure Jersey Central Power & Light delivers improved services and communications to our residents or wrestling Christmas back from the Politically Correct Police, I do not mind stepping into the ring time and time again.
Unfortunately, I don’t always win. Sometimes the deck is stacked. Sometimes there must be compromise. But government leaders should always do everything they can to right a particular wrong, especially when the issue directly impacts their constituents.
The latest scrum involved Cablevision and its initial plans to remove WCBS from the Robbinsville-Hamilton system effective Jan. 28.
Without getting into all the details as to why Cablevision first made the decision to remove the affiliate—although its lengthy battle with CBS network executives over the past year has been very well chronicled in the media—it became abundantly clear to me through the feedback I received that something had to be done to keep the station on our cable system. Had the removal of WCBS come to pass, fans of the New York Jets would have been denied access to not only their favorite National Football League team but also every other AFC game carried in the New York market each Sunday. The lack of competition in the marketplace also has been a long-standing issue that we sincerely hope will be rectified in the future.
Something had to be done, so on Jan. 6, I sent a letter to township clerk Michelle Seigfried announcing my decision to veto cable franchise ordinance 2013-29 granting municipal consent for the operation of a cable television franchise to Cablevisions Systems Corporation/Cablevision of Hamilton. We did not want our residents to feel shortchanged, and we certainly did not want any type of “backdoor’’ rate increases associated with the removal of WCBS now or in the future. We also want to see more fair competition among providers.
Much to Cablevision’s credit, it came to the table one day after my veto, and I am very happy to report that representatives heard our concerns and agreed to reinstate WCBS and WCBS HD, albeit at another location on the dial. We certainly appreciate Cablevision’s willingness to listen, and then address, our concerns.
Any win is a good win when it benefits the tax-paying residents of Robbinsville, and you can be sure that I will always be willing to fight the good fight on their behalf.
Dave Fried is the Mayor of Robbinsville.
