In 2017, Mayor Sal Bonaccorso made a promise—a clear, no-nonsense commitment to the people of Clark. He said, “as long as I’m mayor there are no tax abatements to builders. I’m not going to be doing them a favor in plain English.” That’s what we expect from our leaders: straight talk and a focus on protecting the hardworking residents of this town. But just a few years later, what did we get? Broken promises and bad deals.
In 2020, the mayor and the town council approved a 30-year tax deal for 178 new apartment units at Walnut Avenue and Valley Road. That’s 178 new units bringing new students into our schools, but not a single extra dollar was allocated to cover the costs of educating them. At $21,000 per student, that’s likely hundreds of thousands of new expenses for our schools—and guess who’s footing the bill? You are. We all are. Or our children are.
Then in 2023, they did it again with the CubeSmart deal on Raritan Road. While no new students come from this business, once again, there’s no additional funding for our schools. This pattern is clear: the mayor and council are shifting more and more of the financial burden onto the backs of Clark’s hardworking homeowners, while businesses and developers get sweet deals.
Our schools are already struggling. We have a lot of good teachers here in Clark, but how long can we keep them? Our teachers aren’t paid as well as those in other Union County schools, and without the money to improve salaries, we’re going to lose talent. Worse yet, our kids are stuck in classrooms without air conditioning—learning in the heat, while the mayor and council prioritize everything except what really matters: our children’s future.
This isn’t just about broken promises; this is about trust. Mayor Bonaccorso stood before us, looked us in the eye, and said he wouldn’t sell us out. Yet, time and time again, he’s done exactly that—giving businesses a free pass while our schools and taxpayers are left to shoulder the burden.
The people of Clark deserve leadership that puts us first, not businesses and big developers. Our schools should be getting the support they need, and our hard-earned tax dollars should be protected, not handed out to developers. It’s time to hold Mayor Bonaccorso and the town council accountable. We need leadership that honors its promises, protects our tax dollars, and looks out for the future of our community—not leadership that lets us down for the sake of a deal. Clark deserves better.
