This Week at NJ21st: Flood Fail, Turf Tale, School Ready, Debt Steady

Aug 16, 2025

Oooh yeah — serving up alliteration, rhythm, contrast and a dash of parallelism in one epic newsletter title. You’re reading high-class material, baby.

Flooded Out, Fed Up Our continuing coverage of the 07/25 flood event starts with a powerful call to action from one of the many families impacted. Michael Leblond took matters into his own hands, documenting ongoing neglect along the Passaic River, while Shauna ensured residents’ concerns were on record at the latest Town Council meeting.

The Turf Field Story Keeps Changing Laura peels back yet another layer in the Turf Field controversy, revealing that what the Mayor, Recreation Department, and Council sold as an urgent “lease agreement” needed for grant funding may have been something else entirely—or was it? The answer depends on which version of their story you believe.

Back to School—But When? An educator in the community examines when different districts start the school year and explores the potential benefits of moving to an earlier start.

NJ’s Debt Problem, Explained John breaks down New Jersey’s debt—and what the steep price tag means for residents, communities, and schools.

We didn’t cover our social’s last week so here’s a two week run down…

We posted 15 questions resident could have asked during the 08/07 2025 Meeting about the 3.5 million “emergency” bond.

We validated community concerns about the special “bend over backwards” treatment political donors get while families whose homes continue to flood keep hearing “our hands are tied” from the Mayor and Council and asked how things could be different.

We pushed out a call to action – asking community members to support our work in one of three ways.

We created a section on our Wiki dedicated to the controversial “emergency” bond.

We shared a New Brunswick News report on an elderly woman who was tased, pepper sprayed and shot by police.