PATERSON — Abed Thabatah voted for Councilman Al Abdelaziz in the city’s previous two 6th Ward elections in 2018 and 2020.
But that won’t be happening this year.
Thabatah said he became so disappointed in Abdelaziz’s performance on the City Council that he decided to challenge the incumbent in the May 14 election.
“He shows up late for the council meetings and he leaves early,” Thabatah said of his opponent. “What kind of representation is that?”
Abdelaziz, who is co-chairman of Paterson’s Democratic Party organization, brushed aside Thabatah’s criticism, saying he was present for council votes on every issue that was important to the 6th Ward.
“I have a track record of results and accomplishments,” the incumbent asserted. “The voters know that I get things done for the 6th Ward.”
A history of one-sided contests
Paterson’s 6th Ward elections have been one-sided contests in recent decades. Abdelaziz won with 79% of the vote in 2018 and was unopposed in 2020.
The closest recent race happened in 2016, when Abdelaziz lost by about 460 votes — or 16 percentage points — to one of his political mentors, Andre Sayegh.
Sayegh and Abdelaziz quickly mended their relationship. After becoming mayor in 2018, Sayegh backed Abdelaziz to be his successor in the 6th Ward.
Abdelaziz, in turn, has been Sayegh’s most consistent ally on the council during the past six years. That’s part of the problem, said Thabatah, who disapproves of Sayegh’s performance as mayor.
“We have to hold the administration accountable for the lack of services,” the challenger said. “The city is disgusting. There’s filth everywhere.”
When asked about Thabatah’s comments about the city’s lack of cleanliness, Abdelaziz attributed the messy streets to the vibrance of the 6th Ward’s South Main Street business district. The councilman said numerous people come to patronize the shops and restaurants in South Paterson and leave behind litter.
Moreover, Abdelaziz noted that the council just last week approved the purchase of solar-powered trash receptacles, many of which he said would be installed on South Main Street.
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Both candidates are Palestinian Muslims
The 6th Ward for several decades has been Paterson’s Middle Eastern enclave. The two council candidates — both Palestinian Muslims — reflect the ward’s demographics.
Abdelaziz and Thabatah have another thing in common: They are both government employees. Abdelaziz works as a $155,000 administrator at Passaic County Technical Institute, and Thabatah is employed as a $75,000 electrician at NJ Transit, public records show.
The challenger said two big issues in the race would be parks and development.
Thabatah pointed out that a large chunk of the 6th Ward does not contain any parks. He said a disproportionate number of Paterson’s recreation projects in recent years have taken place in other wards.
If elected, Thabatah said, he would propose creating a new park on privately owned land in the middle of the 6th Ward. He said he is not at liberty right now to identify the location.
But Abdelaziz asserted that he’s proud of his track record improving parks, including the ballfield and playground at School 25 on Trenton Avenue and the $1 million improvement of Brandes Field on Marshall Street, in the 2nd Ward on the border of the 6th.
The incumbent said part of the difficulty in creating any new 6th Ward parks is the lack of city-owned property in the district. But he pointed out that the Islamic Center of Passaic County recently got city approvals to build a recreation center on East Railway Avenue in the ward.
The challenger claimed that overdevelopment has diminished the quality of life in the 6th Ward, creating overcrowding, leaving little parking and producing high rents. He argued that the area is becoming gentrified.
“Blue-collar workers made Paterson,” Thabatah said. “We’re going from being the Silk City to Silicon Valley.”
Abdelaziz repeatedly has declined to comment about individual developments proposed for the 6th Ward, but he said community opposition has resulted in the rejections of several projects.
“I educate my residents about the development process, and the 6th Ward residents have been actively engaged in it,” the councilman said.
Thabatah said Paterson ought to adopt a law charging developers a parking fee when their projects don’t meet city requirements for the number of spaces.
Abdelaziz has a different idea. He wants to build a new library and police substation at the current location of those facilities on South Main Street, with a multi-story story parking garage on top of them. The councilman acknowledged that he doesn’t know where the city would get the funding for such a project.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press. Email: editor@patersonpress.com
