Paying the lawyers is worth it in PomonaMay 4, 2008 Letter in The Journal News In response to an April 25 editorial, "Making lawyers happy," I want to point out that meritless litigation to drive the opposition to the negotiating table is not unheard-of in the legal community, and that may be the strategy of the Rabbinical College of Tartikov as it pursues to build in Pomona. There are a number of credibility issues that the rabbinical college has never resolved. It is not an accredited educational institution, as required by the village code. Simply calling yourself a college doesn't make it so. Requiring accreditation by municipalities for zoning purposes is not unusual. The claim by the head of the religious organization, Rabbi Chaim Babad, that there is a huge demand for rabbinical judges that other religious institutions could not fulfill was also never supported with any evidence. And 15 years of study to become rabbinical judges appears to be excessive since institutions in Israel require only seven years. Some of us see the rabbinical college as the beginnings of another restricted religious community similar to New Square. That community began in 1954 with 20 families moving from Williamsburg, Brooklyn. When New Square incorporated in 1961 and took over zoning control, the population grew. The population for the village, four-tenths of a square mile in size, was 5,920 in 2004. The 2000 U.S. census found that nearly eight of every 10 New Square children lived below the poverty line. Yes, resistance to the rabbinical college will cost money and make the lawyers rich. But we hope the end result will be to the long-term benefit of the residents of the village, town and county.
Mel Cook
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