Dear Friends of Rose Heck,

 Thank you for your interest in my newest endeavor. I am running for mayor, as most of you already know. I never thought there would be a need for me to do so again, but the situation here is alarming to me.

 Those of you who attend Council Meetings know what I mean. What you read in the newspapers is just a small sampling of what is happening, AND what I suspect is happening behind the scenes could be even more threatening to our community.

 I look at Councilman Justin Di Pisa and feel his pain. The Council is in shambles! You all know how supportive I am of women in office; remember when I left the Council I wanted to make sure there was another woman on the Council, a qualified woman. Marlene Verrastro was my Chief of Staff in the Assembly office. I also knew of her volunteer work in our town. She served with honor and dignity. Marlene and I didn't agree on every issue, but that was good. Just because we are Republicans, it doesn't mean we have to agree on every issue.

 We now have two women on the Council vying to be Mayor. It shows on the dais! One-upmanship is the order of the day.

 At first glance they gave the appearance of doing a good job. It even appeared to me as if they were willing to learn and trying to become productive members of the Council.

 Truth be told they leave much to be desired! Each entering this campaign with a plan of using creativity – in other words resorting to the successful formula "Politics of Personal Destruction."

 They used it successfully to gain the momentum they needed to run for the office of mayor.

 I looked at the needs of the community early on, before both of the Democrat Mayoral Candidates placed their names on the ballot, and gave my support to Tom Meli. Why? People might say, "Well he lost last year!" It is my belief that his loss was contrived in conjunction with a set-up situation, worked on by both mayoral candidates, to get him off the Council. He is a bright, productive, energetic, knowledgeable and giving individual, with a mind of his own. In his time on the Council, he was no "Yes" man. Then the climate was so clouded by a politically planned attack on the judgeship situation, and then the unfortunate library matter. Both of these matters are too serious and too long to address right now.

 Tom won the Republican Nomination, as did two Council Candidates: Sonya Buckman and David Gonzalez. Two fairly new Republican Club Members who had taken pro-active positions pertaining to the community.

 When Tom Meli chose to have his name taken off the ballot because of work pressures, it was too late for a replacement name to appear; not that the Republican Organization didn't have a wealth of qualified people from which to choose. The Nominating Committee swung into action and after reviewing a long list of possible candidates, decided that in the best interest of the town an experienced and qualified person should be chosen.

 Well dear friends, when they asked me to run, I made certain they looked at all of the options and proceeded to explain that I would have to ask my four daughters for their permission to run.

 ARE YOU KIDDING? YOU HAD TO ASK YOUR CHILDREN IF YOU COULD RUN!

 YES I DID! I promised them after that horrible, underhanded, miserable Senate race, conducted with the sanction of Governor McGreevey and the Coniglio/Ferriero mob, I agreed never to run for state office again. WHY NOT? It deeply hurt them and my grandchildren seeing my contorted photos, and misinformation plastered in ads all over the New York Television and radio. I would never subject my children or my grandchildren to that again even thought I have been asked to run for both the Assembly and Senate after that first Senate run/loss.

 As a matter of fact most people, for some reason, believed I would still have my Assembly office in Lodi. It was a busy place, with a staff of dedicated workers and volunteers who helped make people's lives easier and better. I could write a book about our accomplishments there. Volunteers included every age group, from seniors to grammar school children with their parents. I loved the work and proud of our accomplishments. But more information will have to wait for another time.

 (GET TO THE POINT ROSE!) My daughters said yes, "You have so much knowledge and experience to offer. Do it, Mom." Enthusiasm varied, with some concerns about "dirty politics again." Could I handle it? Yes, I told them because I believe in the people of Hasbrouck Heights and their ability to know fact from fiction; after all I did win the majority of votes for Senate in my own town.

 Now I am beginning to hear rumbles about a bloody campaign, and dragging my name through the mud! Am I afraid? Not for me but for my children. So let's clear up one move to hurt me and one of my children. Nepotism!

 HERE'S THE STORY! HARD AS IT IS FOR ME TO RE-VISIT BECAUSE IT WAS ONE OF THE HARDEST TIMES OF MY LIFE, HERE ARE THE FACTS!

 Ray Heck was the love of my life. We were as different as day and night except for one thing we loved each other deeply. We were married for over 45 years when he passed away. It was a horrible death; A painful death. Watching someone you love Waste away and lose all control of his body and just live day by day fighting the pain and the ravages of cancer is horrific.

 He had been sick for the last 10 years of his life. He was unable to work in his chosen field. (That's another long and sad story – he was manager in the etching department of Master Etching in Lodi. He loved that work and then they shut down and moved to California.)  It was a very difficult time for Ray Heck. He was my champion. Helped make our home his work and was always there for me. He managed my campaigns and did lots of work to help me.

 When his health began to deteriorate, I asked my daughter to come help me part time in the Lodi Assembly Office. I had checked with Trenton and they said of course it was fine, almost every District Office had someone related to them working for them. There were no rules against that. Over the years I had numerous people work in my District Office. Many of those people came from Hasbrouck Heights.

 Senate and Assembly offices MUST have not only qualified people working there but people who are sensitive to the needs of others and could keep those needs confidential. After all when someone is a victim of domestic violence (my office handled many such cases coming from all over the state) or cases of abused children and abused seniors (many came to us for help because we knew how to handle such matters, even when they were victims of fraud we helped); when someone was in need of financial assistance because they were on fixed incomes, or disabled and had no help (again my office helped many, many people above and beyond the norm, helping them to fill out complicated forms, etc.), and so much more.

 I needed someone I could trust to help my office run smoothly while I was handling things in Trenton and helping Ray during his bout with Cancer; one he knew he would lose. (He wanted to live till he was 70; he wanted to see me win the Assembly race in 2001; he wanted to be with us for one more Christmas, he knew it was my favorite holiday.) This child always had a talent that coincided with the work I did, volunteer and otherwise. She began typing my organization agendas when she was 12 years old and then all I had to do was give her verbal updates and she would handle it herself. All my girls are great organizers and hard workers, but the oldest had what was needed to allow me to continue my office's high standard of constituent services.

 RAY DIED ON DEC. 24^TH EARLY IN THE MORNING. It was his wish never to enter the hospital, so I cared for him at home with the help of a hospice worker who came once a week, and then twice a week and ultimately when needed.

 He was in a hospital bed in our bedroom, as I slept on a pullout couch in the next room. I went in that morning, as I did every morning to give him his pain meds. I called the hospice line and they told me to increase the pain meds and they would be there as soon as they could.

 I gave him the additional meds. Wiped his lips with a wet cloth and he looked up at me and asked where he was? I answered, "You are home sweetheart! Then he said, "no more, no more." I said, "I know, I know Ray." He asked what day it was and I told him "It was Christmas!" He looked up at me as I stroked his burning hot face and I kissed him as I said, "You can go Ray, It is Christmas Eve day, it's okay to go."

 The entire family went through what many families go through. The difficulty of losing one's life-partner is not easy. I begged my daughter to stay on and she said "Only for a while Mom. I have to move on. Needless to say, she stayed on to help me. She closed her monthly newspaper in Warren County and proceeded to be not only my Chief of Staff full time, but also a strong right arm as I began the adjustment of living without Ray. It was not easy. It still isn't!

 Then what a kick in the head it was when the Coniglio campaign slammed me for having my daughter work with me. She asked can I leave now, I am leaving anyway, but Trenton told me ask her to stay. It would be too hard to get someone to replace her at this time and besides, you are not doing anything wrong. Tell her to stay until after the election then she can be free to leave.

 Long story short, she was crucified by the Coniglio campaign and I lost the election. I never want any of my children to be used and hurt that way ever again.

 I am a fighter and I would have worked to get rid of that ilk in the Senate, but not at the cost of hurting my children – or my grandchildren, any one of them.

 I was recently told that there was a piece (unidentified person, party or people) bringing that situation up for this election.

 That situation will never be repeated. As a matter of fact I had no qualms about putting through the anti-nepotism law when it came up in Trenton while I was in office. I remember that one of the Democrat Majority Assemblymen didn't like it and the reason he cited was the fact that we could lose good people for example if that law had existed President John F. Kennedy couldn't have appointed his brother Bobby to be Attorney General.

 As for the anti-nepotism bill, if that's what the people wanted, that was fine with me. I voted YES to pass that law.