Mayor Lichtenstein - 2/16/06

APP: Milagros Pedraza had never met Mayor Meir Lichtenstein before a brief ceremony in his office two days ago. "I love him," the 51-year-old township resident bellowed as she left. Granted, Pedraza's daughter had just been married by the township's top elected official, but Lichtenstein is finding a lot of fans in his first seven weeks as mayor. Now that the novelty has worn off — Lichtenstein is one of the first Orthodox Jewish mayors in New Jersey history, if not the first — the 35-year-old property manager is ready to focus on his initiatives for 2006. "Religion has nothing to do with how you pay taxes, with how the streets are paved," Lichtenstein said this week in his first extensive public comments since taking over as mayor last month. "While in the beginning, there was more fanfare . . . people realize I'm going to do the job I have to do." Committeeman Menashe Miller was elected with Lichtenstein in 2003 — although the mayor is a Democrat, Miller is a Republican — and, as a rabbi, can understand the pressure of being the first observant Jew to serve as mayor since Lakewood has transformed into a commu-nity that includes an estimated 6,000 Orthodox families. But he knows Lichtenstein can handle the pressure, whether the constituent is wearing a yarmukle (traditional Jewish head covering) or not. "He's available to everyone," Miller said. "What's on his head makes no difference in how he governs." So now, as the requests for interviews have receded, Lichtenstein has time to push what he hopes will be his legacy for 2006. In an hourlong sit-down at his municipal building office this week, Lichtenstein said the most pressing issue is the downtown quandary involving day laborers. Merchants complain the men — many of whom are illegal immigrants — deter business. Immigrant advocates say they are simply filling jobs others won't do. Township officials are now discussing ways to solve the issue, including holding an as-yet unscheduled summit on the issue later this year. "People are here and it's not our place to enforce immigration," Lichtenstein said. "But we do have to recognize we have an issue here." Lichtenstein hasn't convinced everybody he will deal with the problem. Patricia DeFilippis, who owns a professional office building on Fifth Street, said politicians just talk about dealing with the downtown's problems. It recently took 13 days, she said, to remove graffiti from her building. "Nothing gets done," said DeFilippis, a Dover Township resident. "Everybody has meetings, meetings, meetings." Lichtenstein hopes to win over people like DeFilippis, although one way is admittedly to schedule more meetings. The mayor wants department heads to meet with one another, at least monthly, to see how they can help one another. He also wants to meet with school district officials to discuss the state's school funding formula, one school officials say short-changes Lakewood.