Thousands march in West New York saying: “Get rid of Sal Vega!”

Thousands of angry tax payers and residents of West New York took to the streets today to protest the brutal 47% tax increased imposed by WNY mayor Sal Vega and his commissioners. About 1:00 PM ET a small group of people gathered at 48 Street and Bergenline Avenue. An hour later hundreds join in prayer for the healing of West New York and deliverance from Sal Vega’s draconian regime. The WNYPD allowed the thousands of marchers to walk in the street. Residents chanted “No More Taxes”, “Sal Vega MUST GO!”, “RECALL SAL VEGA”, among other slogans. They marched from 48st to 60st where the WNYPD allowed the crowd to concentrate in their peaceful gathering. Dr. Felix Roque, the leader of West New York, delivered a fiery speech detailing the lack of leadership and fiscal mess the Vega regime has imposed on its people. He was frequently interrupted by “RECALL SAL VEGA” , and “Sal Vega must go!” chants.

Dr. Roque announced that a recall election will be a reality, and that soon he’ll have specific information to the residents. He pledge his support for the WNYPD and committed himself to hire more cops once fiscal responsibility is restored at City Hall.

Here is the speech he made today across the street from City Hall:

“Ladies and gentlemen, The Town of West New York is mourning today. There is a sense of despair and doom facing our great Town. Our Mayor’s, lack of leadership, fiscal incompetence and high taxes has placed our great town into the perfect storm. The elderly living on a fix income, having saved for their Golden retirement are now losing their properties and hard earned savings. Most don’t have food on their plate, cold, depressed and sheltering in “blankets of despair”. There is no money to pay for their “life saving medications” and some will soon be homeless and living on the streets. The children are suffering their parent’s hardship. Parents, swinging two and three jobs just to make ends meet. The Mayor is creating physiological scars that will never heal. Everyone is praying day and night to the Almighty God for Relief.

“We have a Mayor that lost touch with the pulse of the people and lost touch with himself. He decided to raise taxes 20% last year and 27% this year. In less than two years in power, he has raised our taxes a total of 47%. He blames all his troubles on the prior administration. He was the prior administration along with Mr. Gerry Lange and Mr. Larry Riccardi. Mr. Vega’s fiscal irresponsibility and poor leadership has caused this outrageous tax increase. The reality is that before raising the taxes and burdening each and every one of us. He should have cut the cost. He should have placed a freeze on the hiring. Instead he has hired more employees at a higher paying salary in order to salvage his political career.

“Why are commissioners driving the Town cars for their personal use and using the gas credit cards to fill their private autos?. In times of hardship, why are we paying for the commissioners’ outrageous cell phone bills? Ladies and Gentlemen, we need to stop the waste and abuse. We have to stop the bleeding before we try to resuscitate the town. A political Tourniquet is not the answer. We need to have our public servants accountable for all their actions. We must demand an honest day of work for a day of pay.

Until today, the residents of West New York have been very patient but we have not seen any reductions in our Taxes nor an honest explanation for the high taxes. At this time, I am announcing that we will proceed with The Recall. The Recall is the only option in forcing the Mayor to stop this reckless behavior. The Recall will force him to lower the Taxes, force him not to have future tax increases and start obligating his inner circle to take reductions in their salaries. The Recall is the surgical instrument that will allow us to amputate the current diseased administration.

“I urge you Honorable residents of West New York to be relentless in your effort. I encourage you to attend the commissioners meeting on get involved. We have let our guard down with this current administration. Together we will restore fiscal responsibility and lower our taxes. Next week, I will place permits for a Town Tax Protest to be held on April 19, 2009 at 4PM.

We are a family and must work together as a family. Thank you and may God Bless our Great Country, Town of West New York and may God bring happiness in your lives. Juntos Podemos, Together We Can!

Dr. Felix Roque
March 8 2009