(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 22, 2010)
SOUTH AMBOY — At a hearing last week before Superior Court Judge Phillip
Paley, sitting in New Brunswick, it was ordered by the Judge that six
“misplaced” provisional ballots from the disputed Nov. 2 South Amboy mayoral
election be opened and counted.
This was done at the Middlesex County Board of Elections Headquarters on
Jersey Avenue, New Brunswick, with the determination that three votes were
cast for City Council President Fred Henry, the Democratic nominee for Mayor,
and three votes were cast for Independent candidate for Mayor Vincent Mackiel.
In the tie-vote contest between Henry and Independent candidate Mary
O’Connor, that left Henry with a three-vote lead prior to individual ballot
challenges, which were scheduled for Monday, Jan. 10, at 8:30 a.m. before Paley
after a telephone conference with the Judge two days after the hearing.
Attorneys Michael Baker represented Henry, and Christopher Struben
represented O’Connor at the hearing. Representing the Board of Elections was Deputy
Attorney General Donna Kelly.
Struben had asked that the six ballots, which were discovered following a
recount requested and paid-for by O’Connor, not be counted because “the
security and integrity of the ballot procedures were not followed” in that all
of the “affirmations” were torn from the envelopes which held the ballots.
Kelly said the Board had kept the ballots locked inside a room in its
Jersey Avenue offices within an envelope.
“The question is, ‘Were the ballots compromised during the past 6
weeks?’” Paley said.
Turning to the lawyers, the Judge asked, “What if there was solid-proof of
security? Would you accept the ballots?”
Kelly replied that she directed the Board to put the opened ballots inside
another envelope, and “they were put in a box and locked in a closet.” She
went-on to explain the process of maintaining a provisional ballot.
There were 22 provisional ballots submitted, three of which were voided by
the Board’s staff after painstaking research of the registration rolls. But
of the 19 remaining ballots that should have been put-through the scanner,
there were only 13 the day they were counted by the Board.
Kelly maintained that everything was “done according-to procedure,” and
that there was “no indication that any unauthorized person had access to the
ballots.”
Thus, she said, there were “six valid votes that need to be counted.”
Baker agreed with Kelly. He also stated that “no one slipped-in any
ballots.”
Struben disagreed and stated, “The problem here is security of the ballots.”
He maintained that the “chain-of-custody” was broken when the six ballots
were lost, and again when they were found and opened.
Struben went-on to cite the law, which states that if there is any
discrepancy and the ballots in-question would change the result, the court has to
hear them.
Paley said he wanted “all the votes to be counted” and so-ordered.
Following that, Struben “will have the right to challenge the results” of the
counting.
The Judge set Thursday, Dec. 16, at 4 p.m. as the date and time for a
conference call with the attorneys regarding any challenges and another court
date.
With that, O’Connor, members of her team and her attorney went to Jersey
Avenue for the opening and counting of the six “misplaced” provisional
ballots, while the only person from Henry’s team who attended the counting was
Baker. Henry and his team were in court, but they did not go to Jersey Avenue.
At the Board’s office, the ballots were opened and counted.
After the Council meeting which followed the the opening and counting of
the six ballots but was before the conference call, Henry explained that he
left without going to Jersey Avenue because “I was happy to get out of there.
“The ballots weren’t counted the first time, and they should have,” he
said. “I don’t think they were tampered-with in any way. I think they got the
count right this time.”
Henry said that “it’s the American way of doing things that all the votes
are counted,” and “to suppress them as she (O’Connor) wanted to do is
wrong.”
Asked if he was ready to be sworn-in at the Council Reorganization, which
City Clerk Kathleen Vigilante said will be held on Wednesday, Jan. 5, Henry
replied, “At this point, yes.”
After the conference call, Paley scheduled another hearing on votes that
were cast and not counted, votes that were not cast, and allegations that some
of the voters do not live in South Amboy.
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Sunday, December 26, 2010
Ruiz Sworn-In As Deputy Chief
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 22, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — Mayor Wilda Diaz late last week swore-in Capt. Benjamin Ruiz
as Deputy Chief, the first Hispanic senior uniformed commander of the Police
Department, at an emotional afternoon ceremony which was moved to the
McGinnis School, State Street, to accommodate a larger-than-originally-expected
crowd.
Some longtime city residents, who came to the U.S. mainland from San
Sebastian and other Puerto Rican cities, openly wept during the ceremony.
“They never expected that this day would ever come,” Diaz explained
afterward at a crowded reception held at ZPA Hall, Grace Street.
There was a standing-ovation after Diaz pinned the Deputy Chief’s badge on
Ruiz.
A member of the of the Department for the past 22 years, Ruiz joined in
1988 and rose through the ranks to Captain in July 2004.
“I’ve already heard him mention his plans to develop more
community-policing, and I’m certain that Deputy Chief Ruiz will take our Department in bold
new directions that we can all be proud-of,” Diaz said at the ceremony.
“He’s a long-time community leader in Perth Amboy, and it’s an honor to swear
him in as Deputy Chief. On behalf of the City of Perth Amboy, I thank him
for taking-on this new endeavor.”
The Department, which was accredited in June 2009, has established a table
of organization of 132 uniformed officers supplemented by 10 part-time
Special Class I officers and 50 volunteer Auxiliary officers, as well as civilian
911 dispatchers and report-takers and other non-uniformed civilian support
personnel.
The Department maintains an Investigative Division, a Traffic Division, a
Juvenile Bureau, a Domestic Violence Response Team and a public relations
office, and operates a centralized 911 Dispatch Communication Center for all
emergency services, housed in the Public Safety Complex.
“I do best when I speak from the heart, but to make the Mayor happy, I did
write a speech,” Ruiz said after his swearing-in, evoking laughter.
“It has not only been a pleasure of mine to be a resident of this city, but
to now serve as Deputy Chief, I am privileged to serve this community,”
Ruiz declared. “I look-forward to the success of our Department and our city.”
After initially serving as patrolman in the Uniformed Patrol Unit in 1988,
Ruiz was promoted to Detective of the Narcotics Unit and thereafter to the
Juvenile Division in 1991. After being appointed as Sergeant in the Community
Service Bureau, he was elevated to Lieutenant in May 2001, finally serving
as Captain for the past six years, most-recently in the Uniformed Patrol
Division.
Throughout his career, Ruiz has attended numerous advanced training classes
and schools, including Domestic & International Terrorism School
administered by the FBI, Narcotics & Dangerous Drug Law Enforcement administered by
the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Middlesex County Police Instructors Course.
Ruiz also was a 14-year veteran of the Middlesex County Special Operations
& Response Team (SORT), which he headed.
Aside from his 25 years of law enforcement experience, Ruiz also has been
heavily involved in the community as a resident, serving as a former member
of the Housing Authority and Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Ruiz coached several recreational basketball and softball leagues in Perth
Amboy.
PERTH AMBOY — Mayor Wilda Diaz late last week swore-in Capt. Benjamin Ruiz
as Deputy Chief, the first Hispanic senior uniformed commander of the Police
Department, at an emotional afternoon ceremony which was moved to the
McGinnis School, State Street, to accommodate a larger-than-originally-expected
crowd.
Some longtime city residents, who came to the U.S. mainland from San
Sebastian and other Puerto Rican cities, openly wept during the ceremony.
“They never expected that this day would ever come,” Diaz explained
afterward at a crowded reception held at ZPA Hall, Grace Street.
There was a standing-ovation after Diaz pinned the Deputy Chief’s badge on
Ruiz.
A member of the of the Department for the past 22 years, Ruiz joined in
1988 and rose through the ranks to Captain in July 2004.
“I’ve already heard him mention his plans to develop more
community-policing, and I’m certain that Deputy Chief Ruiz will take our Department in bold
new directions that we can all be proud-of,” Diaz said at the ceremony.
“He’s a long-time community leader in Perth Amboy, and it’s an honor to swear
him in as Deputy Chief. On behalf of the City of Perth Amboy, I thank him
for taking-on this new endeavor.”
The Department, which was accredited in June 2009, has established a table
of organization of 132 uniformed officers supplemented by 10 part-time
Special Class I officers and 50 volunteer Auxiliary officers, as well as civilian
911 dispatchers and report-takers and other non-uniformed civilian support
personnel.
The Department maintains an Investigative Division, a Traffic Division, a
Juvenile Bureau, a Domestic Violence Response Team and a public relations
office, and operates a centralized 911 Dispatch Communication Center for all
emergency services, housed in the Public Safety Complex.
“I do best when I speak from the heart, but to make the Mayor happy, I did
write a speech,” Ruiz said after his swearing-in, evoking laughter.
“It has not only been a pleasure of mine to be a resident of this city, but
to now serve as Deputy Chief, I am privileged to serve this community,”
Ruiz declared. “I look-forward to the success of our Department and our city.”
After initially serving as patrolman in the Uniformed Patrol Unit in 1988,
Ruiz was promoted to Detective of the Narcotics Unit and thereafter to the
Juvenile Division in 1991. After being appointed as Sergeant in the Community
Service Bureau, he was elevated to Lieutenant in May 2001, finally serving
as Captain for the past six years, most-recently in the Uniformed Patrol
Division.
Throughout his career, Ruiz has attended numerous advanced training classes
and schools, including Domestic & International Terrorism School
administered by the FBI, Narcotics & Dangerous Drug Law Enforcement administered by
the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Middlesex County Police Instructors Course.
Ruiz also was a 14-year veteran of the Middlesex County Special Operations
& Response Team (SORT), which he headed.
Aside from his 25 years of law enforcement experience, Ruiz also has been
heavily involved in the community as a resident, serving as a former member
of the Housing Authority and Zoning Board of Adjustment.
Ruiz coached several recreational basketball and softball leagues in Perth
Amboy.
Charity Group Gets Its Start
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 22, 2010)
“David’s Touch,” a non-profit organization that started last year in
memory of David, the first-born son of Jenny Perez-Rosado, who passed-away five
years ago at Age 9, held its first-ever benefit night at The Shannon Rose,
St. Georges Road, Woodbridge.
This was followed six days later by a bowling benefit at Majestic Lanes,
Route 9, Hopelawn.
David, who was born in Perth Amboy and then resided in Hopelawn, touched
many lives. He was born with a congenital heart disease, after which he was
diagnosed with cancer at Age 8. David was full of life and spirit.
Throughout his short life, he was interviewed by Fox5 News several times, given an
award by the City of Perth Amboy and had many celebrations aboard the
Cornocopia Princess.
At the end of his journey, his mother hired a white, horsedrawn carriage to
lay David to rest at Alpine Cemetery. She started a foundation in his
memory named “David’s Touch,” whose purpose is to keep David’s memory alive by
providing toys for kids in hospitals during the Christmas season.
Last year, “David’s Touch” was blessed with over 150 toys, and this year,
with the help of the community, it is pushing to spread David’s contagious
smile to as many youngsters as possible.
“As we approach Christmas to celebrate Baby Jesus — who IS the reason for
the season — and we prepare to buy gifts for our family and friends, I’d
like to invite everyone to be part of something special started last year by
in loving memory of little David, and donate a gift for a sick child,”
Roxana Troche, Jenny’s aunt, said. “People say that sometimes children achieve
much-more in a few years than many of us in our lifetime. In his nine short
years on this earth, little David had many achievements, but what will always
be in my mind and heart is that little David touched many lives with his
smile, with his good sense of humor, and with his love.”
“In his short years here on earth, David endured obstacles that many of us
never face in a lifetime: he underwent multiple open-heart surgeries and a
heart transplant,” Jenny said. “Through it all, he was blessed with a love
for life and a great spirit. Since David passed-away, I’ve traveled an
extremely-difficult road, but I’ve noticed that being able to put smiles on other
children facing the trials that my son endured brings me solace. This is
something that I know will keep his memory alive.
“David and other children like him should never be forgotten,” she
continued. “My mission in forming this organization is to spread David’s
contagious smile by providing toys for children who are in hospitals during the
holiday season.”
For more information about future events, call (732) 896-0656.
“David’s Touch,” a non-profit organization that started last year in
memory of David, the first-born son of Jenny Perez-Rosado, who passed-away five
years ago at Age 9, held its first-ever benefit night at The Shannon Rose,
St. Georges Road, Woodbridge.
This was followed six days later by a bowling benefit at Majestic Lanes,
Route 9, Hopelawn.
David, who was born in Perth Amboy and then resided in Hopelawn, touched
many lives. He was born with a congenital heart disease, after which he was
diagnosed with cancer at Age 8. David was full of life and spirit.
Throughout his short life, he was interviewed by Fox5 News several times, given an
award by the City of Perth Amboy and had many celebrations aboard the
Cornocopia Princess.
At the end of his journey, his mother hired a white, horsedrawn carriage to
lay David to rest at Alpine Cemetery. She started a foundation in his
memory named “David’s Touch,” whose purpose is to keep David’s memory alive by
providing toys for kids in hospitals during the Christmas season.
Last year, “David’s Touch” was blessed with over 150 toys, and this year,
with the help of the community, it is pushing to spread David’s contagious
smile to as many youngsters as possible.
“As we approach Christmas to celebrate Baby Jesus — who IS the reason for
the season — and we prepare to buy gifts for our family and friends, I’d
like to invite everyone to be part of something special started last year by
in loving memory of little David, and donate a gift for a sick child,”
Roxana Troche, Jenny’s aunt, said. “People say that sometimes children achieve
much-more in a few years than many of us in our lifetime. In his nine short
years on this earth, little David had many achievements, but what will always
be in my mind and heart is that little David touched many lives with his
smile, with his good sense of humor, and with his love.”
“In his short years here on earth, David endured obstacles that many of us
never face in a lifetime: he underwent multiple open-heart surgeries and a
heart transplant,” Jenny said. “Through it all, he was blessed with a love
for life and a great spirit. Since David passed-away, I’ve traveled an
extremely-difficult road, but I’ve noticed that being able to put smiles on other
children facing the trials that my son endured brings me solace. This is
something that I know will keep his memory alive.
“David and other children like him should never be forgotten,” she
continued. “My mission in forming this organization is to spread David’s
contagious smile by providing toys for children who are in hospitals during the
holiday season.”
For more information about future events, call (732) 896-0656.
Monday, December 20, 2010
BULLETIN (12/19/10): HARBORTOWN FIRE
Initial reports of a structure fire at Harbortown, a private 32-unit housing complex in Perth Amboy indicate that it started today around 6:30 p.m.
Residents have been relocated with friends and families and to vacant rentalunits. Upon arrival, Perth Amboy Fire Department found one structure with a heavy volume of fire. Reports indicate that PAFD had no engines to respond, with all 3 vehicles damaged (see AB story, 12/15/10 issue) after last remaining engine was struck by another vehicle, so outside agencies had to be called in to help. Ten civilians received minor injuries and were treated; no fatalities reported. The Jankowski Community Center , Olive St., was opened as a shelter for displaced families.City officials are working closely with Harbortown management along with the Red Cross to relocate those families who were affected by the fire. City safety personnel, fire and police are on-site and are managing the current situation, according to Mayor Wilda Diaz. The fire is under investigation, and further details are expected to follow.
Residents have been relocated with friends and families and to vacant rentalunits. Upon arrival, Perth Amboy Fire Department found one structure with a heavy volume of fire. Reports indicate that PAFD had no engines to respond, with all 3 vehicles damaged (see AB story, 12/15/10 issue) after last remaining engine was struck by another vehicle, so outside agencies had to be called in to help. Ten civilians received minor injuries and were treated; no fatalities reported. The Jankowski Community Center , Olive St., was opened as a shelter for displaced families.City officials are working closely with Harbortown management along with the Red Cross to relocate those families who were affected by the fire. City safety personnel, fire and police are on-site and are managing the current situation, according to Mayor Wilda Diaz. The fire is under investigation, and further details are expected to follow.
Sunday, December 19, 2010
B.A. APPOINTMENT CONFIRMED
Fehrenbach Drops ‘Interim’ From Title
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 15, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — If you have the opportunity to hire the top person to whom
other city Business Administrators and the N.J. League of Municipalities turn
for advice for under $200,000, and not have to pay any benefits whatsoever,
is that a “no-brainer”?
Four members of Perth Amboy’s City Council thought-so when they voted last
week to confirm the appointment of Gregory Fehrenbach as Business
Administrator by Mayor Wilda Diaz.
The Resolution was moved by Councilman William Petrick, seconded by
Councilman Kenneth Gonzalez and adopted 4-1.
“I’m completely-in-favor of getting-rid-of the ‘Interim,’” Gonzalez
declared.
The lone holdout was Councilman Fernando Gonzalez, who explained that he
voted “no” on the confirmation because Fehrenbach would be granted a waiver
from the city’s residency requirement as part of his employment package.
“Due to the residency, I do not waive it,” Fernando Gonzalez declared. “I
vote ‘no.’”
Fehrenbach’s experience spans nearly four decades and includes numerous
stints as Sussex County Administrator and work for Dover Township, Edison,
Lakewood, New Brunswick, Ocean Township and Piscataway, and consulting in Bergen
and Union Counties.
“His knowledge-base is such that he’s acknowledged as one of the
most-recognized municipal-government people in the State of New Jersey,” said City
Law Director Mark Blunda, who was called-upon by Diaz to do independent
research on Fehrenbach.
“He has frequently testified before the State Legislature on
local-government matters as well as the League of Municipalities,” Blunda went-on. “When
he telephones state officials, they call him back and they listen.”
The Council’s vote on Fehrenbach followed a report by Middlesex Water Co.
updating its public-private partnership with the City of Perth Amboy under
which the city’s water and wastewater systems and Runyon Watershed in Old
Bridge are being operated by the privately-owned water-provider.
As-always, Fehrenbach came to the table fully-prepared to go toe-to-toe
with the firm’s three top administrators, which he did — laying at their
doorstep the documented responsibility for causing nearly 52 percent of Perth
Amboy’s potholes during the course of laying the groundwork for a renegotiation
of the terms under which former Mayor Joseph Vas agreed to privatize the
delivery of water and wastewater services to the city’s residents and
businesses.
Fehrenbach’s ability to understand and analyze complex financial matters
such as “the water contract,” as it is called by Council members, and to
explain them to laymen is often cited by city officials in dealing with the man
referred to by Blunda as “the Derek Jeter of the profession.”
“He announced a tax-increase on July 1, and he got a standing-ovation,”
Council President Kenneth Balut said of Fehrenbach, who was first
brought-aboard in an “acting” capacity — along with Blunda — by Diaz, a newcomer to
elective public office, at her first Council Reorganization on July 1, 2008,
following her defeat of 18 year-incumbent Vas by about 1,200 votes less than
two months earlier.
Fehrenbach served as Interim Business Administrator through Jan. 5, 2009,
when former Trenton Business Administrator Jane Feigenbaum was appointed as
Business Administrator by Diaz at a $130,000 salary, plus the usual benefits
that go with that job.
Fehrenbach continued to work on an “as-needed” basis as a consultant on
various projects requiring his expertise, returning as Interim Business Admi
nistrator on Sept. 22, following his presentation of “a session on budgeting
in New Jersey local government” at a Council Special Meeting to get
newly-elected Councilmen Kenneth Gonzalez, Joel Pabon Sr. and Petrick up-to-speed on
financial issues they would be facing.
As predicted in the Amboy Beacon’s Sept. 8 edition, Feigenbaum resigned,
and the Council voted to confirm the Mayor’s appointment of Fehrenbach on a
90-day contract through Government Management Advisors LLC at the monthly rate
of $17,500 and to waive the residency requirement on 3-1 vote, with
Fernando Gonzalez again opposed and Balut absent.
Under his newest contract with Perth Amboy, Fehrenbach is to be paid for
the next six months at the hourly rate of $125 “for no more than an average of
133 hours per month.”
That amount would work-out to a maximum of $199,500 in one year, which all
five Council members acknowledged as “a lot of money.”
However, Blunda explained that Fehrenbach’s contract also specifically
waives all of the benefits to which he would be entitled as Business
Administrator, which is “less than the city would pay anyone not nearly as-qualified.”
Blunda said that Fehrenbach will receive no health insurance
(hospitalization, prescription or vision), no pension, no sick-leave, no vacation-days, no
paid-holidays, no professional dues, no conference-reimbursements, no
travel-expenses, no cellphone and no longevity-pay.
Fehrenbach “will be paid only for the hours that he works,” Blunda said.
“In all my years of experience, I’ve never seen anyone who’s
more-knowledgable about government, more-efficient or more-hardworking,” he added. “We
strongly-recommend this to the Council.”
After the Council voted, Diaz thanked the governing body for confirming her
appointment of Fehrenbach.
“Thank you for doing the right thing,” she said. “He’s been the voice of
reason.”
Praising both Fehrenbach and Blunda, Diaz said that “their expertise and
their experience is committed to the City of Perth Amboy.
“It’s not about just earning a paycheck; it’s caring-about what’s
going-on in our city,” she said. “They came-in and gave Perth Amboy a fresh start.”
Resident Alan Silber applauded Fehrenbach and Blunda as “the A-Team” of
municipal government.
“It’s not a matter of whether someone lives in Perth Amboy, although I
invite Mr. Fehrenbach to move here,” he said. “We had people who lived here,
and they’re going to jail. Living here doesn’t make you a good person.”
Silber’s remark was a reference to Vas and his longtime Mayor’s Aide
Melvin Ramos, who are awaiting sentencing on federal corruption convictions.
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 15, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — If you have the opportunity to hire the top person to whom
other city Business Administrators and the N.J. League of Municipalities turn
for advice for under $200,000, and not have to pay any benefits whatsoever,
is that a “no-brainer”?
Four members of Perth Amboy’s City Council thought-so when they voted last
week to confirm the appointment of Gregory Fehrenbach as Business
Administrator by Mayor Wilda Diaz.
The Resolution was moved by Councilman William Petrick, seconded by
Councilman Kenneth Gonzalez and adopted 4-1.
“I’m completely-in-favor of getting-rid-of the ‘Interim,’” Gonzalez
declared.
The lone holdout was Councilman Fernando Gonzalez, who explained that he
voted “no” on the confirmation because Fehrenbach would be granted a waiver
from the city’s residency requirement as part of his employment package.
“Due to the residency, I do not waive it,” Fernando Gonzalez declared. “I
vote ‘no.’”
Fehrenbach’s experience spans nearly four decades and includes numerous
stints as Sussex County Administrator and work for Dover Township, Edison,
Lakewood, New Brunswick, Ocean Township and Piscataway, and consulting in Bergen
and Union Counties.
“His knowledge-base is such that he’s acknowledged as one of the
most-recognized municipal-government people in the State of New Jersey,” said City
Law Director Mark Blunda, who was called-upon by Diaz to do independent
research on Fehrenbach.
“He has frequently testified before the State Legislature on
local-government matters as well as the League of Municipalities,” Blunda went-on. “When
he telephones state officials, they call him back and they listen.”
The Council’s vote on Fehrenbach followed a report by Middlesex Water Co.
updating its public-private partnership with the City of Perth Amboy under
which the city’s water and wastewater systems and Runyon Watershed in Old
Bridge are being operated by the privately-owned water-provider.
As-always, Fehrenbach came to the table fully-prepared to go toe-to-toe
with the firm’s three top administrators, which he did — laying at their
doorstep the documented responsibility for causing nearly 52 percent of Perth
Amboy’s potholes during the course of laying the groundwork for a renegotiation
of the terms under which former Mayor Joseph Vas agreed to privatize the
delivery of water and wastewater services to the city’s residents and
businesses.
Fehrenbach’s ability to understand and analyze complex financial matters
such as “the water contract,” as it is called by Council members, and to
explain them to laymen is often cited by city officials in dealing with the man
referred to by Blunda as “the Derek Jeter of the profession.”
“He announced a tax-increase on July 1, and he got a standing-ovation,”
Council President Kenneth Balut said of Fehrenbach, who was first
brought-aboard in an “acting” capacity — along with Blunda — by Diaz, a newcomer to
elective public office, at her first Council Reorganization on July 1, 2008,
following her defeat of 18 year-incumbent Vas by about 1,200 votes less than
two months earlier.
Fehrenbach served as Interim Business Administrator through Jan. 5, 2009,
when former Trenton Business Administrator Jane Feigenbaum was appointed as
Business Administrator by Diaz at a $130,000 salary, plus the usual benefits
that go with that job.
Fehrenbach continued to work on an “as-needed” basis as a consultant on
various projects requiring his expertise, returning as Interim Business Admi
nistrator on Sept. 22, following his presentation of “a session on budgeting
in New Jersey local government” at a Council Special Meeting to get
newly-elected Councilmen Kenneth Gonzalez, Joel Pabon Sr. and Petrick up-to-speed on
financial issues they would be facing.
As predicted in the Amboy Beacon’s Sept. 8 edition, Feigenbaum resigned,
and the Council voted to confirm the Mayor’s appointment of Fehrenbach on a
90-day contract through Government Management Advisors LLC at the monthly rate
of $17,500 and to waive the residency requirement on 3-1 vote, with
Fernando Gonzalez again opposed and Balut absent.
Under his newest contract with Perth Amboy, Fehrenbach is to be paid for
the next six months at the hourly rate of $125 “for no more than an average of
133 hours per month.”
That amount would work-out to a maximum of $199,500 in one year, which all
five Council members acknowledged as “a lot of money.”
However, Blunda explained that Fehrenbach’s contract also specifically
waives all of the benefits to which he would be entitled as Business
Administrator, which is “less than the city would pay anyone not nearly as-qualified.”
Blunda said that Fehrenbach will receive no health insurance
(hospitalization, prescription or vision), no pension, no sick-leave, no vacation-days, no
paid-holidays, no professional dues, no conference-reimbursements, no
travel-expenses, no cellphone and no longevity-pay.
Fehrenbach “will be paid only for the hours that he works,” Blunda said.
“In all my years of experience, I’ve never seen anyone who’s
more-knowledgable about government, more-efficient or more-hardworking,” he added. “We
strongly-recommend this to the Council.”
After the Council voted, Diaz thanked the governing body for confirming her
appointment of Fehrenbach.
“Thank you for doing the right thing,” she said. “He’s been the voice of
reason.”
Praising both Fehrenbach and Blunda, Diaz said that “their expertise and
their experience is committed to the City of Perth Amboy.
“It’s not about just earning a paycheck; it’s caring-about what’s
going-on in our city,” she said. “They came-in and gave Perth Amboy a fresh start.”
Resident Alan Silber applauded Fehrenbach and Blunda as “the A-Team” of
municipal government.
“It’s not a matter of whether someone lives in Perth Amboy, although I
invite Mr. Fehrenbach to move here,” he said. “We had people who lived here,
and they’re going to jail. Living here doesn’t make you a good person.”
Silber’s remark was a reference to Vas and his longtime Mayor’s Aide
Melvin Ramos, who are awaiting sentencing on federal corruption convictions.
Two Used Firetrucks Alleviate Perth Emergency
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 15, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — Responding to an alarming report of vulnerability by Fire
Chief David Volk early last week at its Caucus, the City Council voted
unanimously two days later to authorize the purchase of two used firetrucks from the
Borough of Bound Brook for $45,000.
In a timely covergence of mutual interests, the Resolution was moved by
Councilman William Petrick, a former Volunteer Fire Chief, seconded by
Councilman Kenneth Gonzalez and adopted 5-0.
“Absolutely yes,” Gonzalez exclaimed during the roll-call vote on the
measure.
A visibly-concerned Volk reported to Council members at their Monday
afternoon work-session that the Fire Department’s fleet, consisting of “three
engines and two ladder-trucks,” plus a rescue-vehicle, was dangerously-depleted
because of extensive — and expensive — repairs which would be needed to
put two of the engines back-on-line as fully-operational.
He told the governing body that one of the engines was down and “in-need of
repair” with “two cracked cylinders” at an estimated cost of $25,000 to
fix.
Volk said a second engine — a 1987 model with 88,000 miles — was being
“kept-in-reserve” because of “mechanical problems and body-corrosion,” and
“only being used for structure-fires.”
He said the latter vehicle “is continuing to develop problems” because
“the passenger-seat broke and part of the body came-off” due to the extensive
corrosion.
“Both ladders and the rescue are in-service,” Volk added.
Business Administrator Gregory Fehrenbach told the Council that, because
“two of the city’s three engines are in bad shape, and to repair them would be
as-expensive or more as to purchase replacements,” it would be his
recommendation to “declare as surplus and retire” the first engine “and use the
money to purchase the better of two Bound Brook engines.
“If we can identify an appropriate funding-source, we should use it to
purchase the second Bound Brook vehicle for our reserve vehicle,” he added.
Fehrenbach said the city needs “vehicles you can count-on,” and the
purchase of Bound Brook’s surplus engines for $45,000 “could postpone for a year
(until 2012) our own purchase of two new vehicles for 2011.”
He told the Council that the serious condition resulted from the previous
city Administration having “no capital-improvement program for the past five
or six years,” and thus, “this equipment was being utilized too-long.
“The Chief and his staff believe it would be a much-better use of our
money” to purchase the two engines from Bound Brook than to put the two engines
back-on-line as fully-operational, Fehrenbach stated.
Council President Kenneth Balut, a retired Perth Amboy police officer,
suggested that the city “borrow” the $45,000 needed to purchase the two
firetrucks “from the $193,000 we have sitting-in the Police Forfeiture Fund,”
which is overseen by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
“This IS ‘public safety,’” he declared.
“There’s been an enormous amount of debate over this,” Fehrenbach noted.
“I’m not saying that we should use the money for this,” Balut explained.
“I’m saying we should borrow it and put it back. I believe the Prosecutor’s
Office is totally off-the-wall in what they approve for the use of this
Fund.
“It can be used to rent vehicles, but not to purchase them,” he said.
“That makes absolutely-no-sense.”
Volk passed-out copies of reports on the two Bound Brook engines, which are
being replaced with two new vehicles. one id a 1988 model with 19,000
miles, while the other is a 1984 model with 22,000 miles.
“Bound Brook has 150 responses in a year,” the Chief noted. “Our Engine 1
did more than that last month.
“They’re asking $45,000 for both of them,” he said. “Both of these
vehicles were declared ‘surplus’ last week. They were going to put them on-line,
and I asked them to hold-off and give us a chance to purchase them.”
“We would be crazy not to take them,” Gonzalez declared.
“It’s a fortuitous turn-of-events,” Fehrenbach said.
Questioned by Petrick about the two engines’ condition, Volk responded that
“both underwent pump-tests that they passed annually at 25-percent
above-capacity.”
The Chief also pointed out that “one engine would give us a higher
pump-capacity than we have now.”
The Council also voted unanimously to accept the bid and award the 2011
annual contract for fire engine repairs to Absolute Fire Protection for $73,500.
That Resolution also was moved by Petrick, seconded by Kenneth Gonzalez and
adopted 5-0.
Volk explained that this contract would cover minor repairs throughout the
year, “nothing like” the previously-discussed engine overhaul.
PERTH AMBOY — Responding to an alarming report of vulnerability by Fire
Chief David Volk early last week at its Caucus, the City Council voted
unanimously two days later to authorize the purchase of two used firetrucks from the
Borough of Bound Brook for $45,000.
In a timely covergence of mutual interests, the Resolution was moved by
Councilman William Petrick, a former Volunteer Fire Chief, seconded by
Councilman Kenneth Gonzalez and adopted 5-0.
“Absolutely yes,” Gonzalez exclaimed during the roll-call vote on the
measure.
A visibly-concerned Volk reported to Council members at their Monday
afternoon work-session that the Fire Department’s fleet, consisting of “three
engines and two ladder-trucks,” plus a rescue-vehicle, was dangerously-depleted
because of extensive — and expensive — repairs which would be needed to
put two of the engines back-on-line as fully-operational.
He told the governing body that one of the engines was down and “in-need of
repair” with “two cracked cylinders” at an estimated cost of $25,000 to
fix.
Volk said a second engine — a 1987 model with 88,000 miles — was being
“kept-in-reserve” because of “mechanical problems and body-corrosion,” and
“only being used for structure-fires.”
He said the latter vehicle “is continuing to develop problems” because
“the passenger-seat broke and part of the body came-off” due to the extensive
corrosion.
“Both ladders and the rescue are in-service,” Volk added.
Business Administrator Gregory Fehrenbach told the Council that, because
“two of the city’s three engines are in bad shape, and to repair them would be
as-expensive or more as to purchase replacements,” it would be his
recommendation to “declare as surplus and retire” the first engine “and use the
money to purchase the better of two Bound Brook engines.
“If we can identify an appropriate funding-source, we should use it to
purchase the second Bound Brook vehicle for our reserve vehicle,” he added.
Fehrenbach said the city needs “vehicles you can count-on,” and the
purchase of Bound Brook’s surplus engines for $45,000 “could postpone for a year
(until 2012) our own purchase of two new vehicles for 2011.”
He told the Council that the serious condition resulted from the previous
city Administration having “no capital-improvement program for the past five
or six years,” and thus, “this equipment was being utilized too-long.
“The Chief and his staff believe it would be a much-better use of our
money” to purchase the two engines from Bound Brook than to put the two engines
back-on-line as fully-operational, Fehrenbach stated.
Council President Kenneth Balut, a retired Perth Amboy police officer,
suggested that the city “borrow” the $45,000 needed to purchase the two
firetrucks “from the $193,000 we have sitting-in the Police Forfeiture Fund,”
which is overseen by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
“This IS ‘public safety,’” he declared.
“There’s been an enormous amount of debate over this,” Fehrenbach noted.
“I’m not saying that we should use the money for this,” Balut explained.
“I’m saying we should borrow it and put it back. I believe the Prosecutor’s
Office is totally off-the-wall in what they approve for the use of this
Fund.
“It can be used to rent vehicles, but not to purchase them,” he said.
“That makes absolutely-no-sense.”
Volk passed-out copies of reports on the two Bound Brook engines, which are
being replaced with two new vehicles. one id a 1988 model with 19,000
miles, while the other is a 1984 model with 22,000 miles.
“Bound Brook has 150 responses in a year,” the Chief noted. “Our Engine 1
did more than that last month.
“They’re asking $45,000 for both of them,” he said. “Both of these
vehicles were declared ‘surplus’ last week. They were going to put them on-line,
and I asked them to hold-off and give us a chance to purchase them.”
“We would be crazy not to take them,” Gonzalez declared.
“It’s a fortuitous turn-of-events,” Fehrenbach said.
Questioned by Petrick about the two engines’ condition, Volk responded that
“both underwent pump-tests that they passed annually at 25-percent
above-capacity.”
The Chief also pointed out that “one engine would give us a higher
pump-capacity than we have now.”
The Council also voted unanimously to accept the bid and award the 2011
annual contract for fire engine repairs to Absolute Fire Protection for $73,500.
That Resolution also was moved by Petrick, seconded by Kenneth Gonzalez and
adopted 5-0.
Volk explained that this contract would cover minor repairs throughout the
year, “nothing like” the previously-discussed engine overhaul.
Ruiz Swear-In
Set For Friday
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 15, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — Capt. Benjamin Ruiz will officially take the Oath of Office
as the city’s first Hispanic Deputy Police Chief in a ceremony scheduled for
Friday, Dec. 17, at 4 p.m. at City Hall, High Street.
Ruiz, a 1979 graduate of Perth Amboy High School, Eagle Avenue, is the
Police Department’s senior Captain, having served in that position since 2004.
His appointment by Mayor Wilda Diaz, which took-effect early this week, was
listed on the City Council’s meeting-agenda last week for discussion at a
closed-door executive session.
Unlike many of his recent predecessors, including retiring Deputy Chief
E.J. McDonald, whom he succeeds, Ruiz continues to live in Perth Amboy.
McDonald’s retirement is effective on Friday, Dec. 31, but his last day of
work was last Friday, as he uses-up accumulated sick-leave and vacation-days.
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 15, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — Capt. Benjamin Ruiz will officially take the Oath of Office
as the city’s first Hispanic Deputy Police Chief in a ceremony scheduled for
Friday, Dec. 17, at 4 p.m. at City Hall, High Street.
Ruiz, a 1979 graduate of Perth Amboy High School, Eagle Avenue, is the
Police Department’s senior Captain, having served in that position since 2004.
His appointment by Mayor Wilda Diaz, which took-effect early this week, was
listed on the City Council’s meeting-agenda last week for discussion at a
closed-door executive session.
Unlike many of his recent predecessors, including retiring Deputy Chief
E.J. McDonald, whom he succeeds, Ruiz continues to live in Perth Amboy.
McDonald’s retirement is effective on Friday, Dec. 31, but his last day of
work was last Friday, as he uses-up accumulated sick-leave and vacation-days.
Resident Questions Role
Played By Backyard Party
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 15, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — Whether a backyard barbecue was a Cinco de Mayo celebration
or a 2010 political campaign event may determine the future of the Perth
Amboy Animal Shelter, Fayette Street.
Resident Alan Silber told the City Council last week he has evidence that
the party was identified as a “campaign rally” on the website of Moving
Forward Together, a campaign ticket in the May election consisting of Council
candidates Maria Garcia, Kenneth Gonzalez and William Petrick.
A potential problem may arise because of the city’s strict “pay-to-play”
regulations which are applicable to Gonzalez and Petrick, who are now Council
members.
The two Councilmen may have to decide whether they can vote on a contract
with the Perth Amboy Happy Home Shelter, whose Acting Director is local
businesswoman Wilma Matey, owner of the Water Street home where the party was
held.
Matey has been seeking to take-over operation of the city’s Shelter from
retired police officer Richard Cielesz and his wife, Michal, both certified
Animal Control Officers (ACOs), for almost a year, but the Council has taken
no action.
“There were people drinking, signs with candidates’ names, and people
walking-around with clipboards and pens,” Silber said. “It was more than just a
pig-roast for sharing with friends.”
As for Matey’s reported contention that the event cost only $150, Silber
said that if others brought food to the event, those donations should be
counted as “in-kind contributions” to the Moving Forward Together campaign.
“You can’t just bring things,” he said.
Matey, who spoke before Silber, read a prepared statement responding to
charges about the event which have been raised by others.
In her statement, Matey contended that “there are a few chosen city
officials who seem to feel that things should stay the way they are.
“These officials have stopped at nothing to prevent me from taking-over,
even-though it would benefit our city and the animals in many ways,” she said.
“I’ve complied with their entire request; now, they’re even pressuring
several Council members by telling them they can’t vote due to it being a
‘conflict-of-interest.’ ”
Matey also charged that Council President Kenneth Balut, a retired Perth
Amboy police officer and a friend of Cielesz, and Councilman Fernando
Gonzalez, who ran with Balut in 2008, should abstain from voting on “the licensing
for police-towing, taxicabs and bars that come in front of them” because
those interest-groups “gave contributions — and pig roasts — for their
campaigns.”
She went-on to say that “it’s sad that the same mentality of vengence and
protection-of-friends has poisoned the Council Chamber again, and that
instead of getting what’s good for all the citizens of Perth Amboy, we’re back
to what’s good for a few.”
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 15, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — Whether a backyard barbecue was a Cinco de Mayo celebration
or a 2010 political campaign event may determine the future of the Perth
Amboy Animal Shelter, Fayette Street.
Resident Alan Silber told the City Council last week he has evidence that
the party was identified as a “campaign rally” on the website of Moving
Forward Together, a campaign ticket in the May election consisting of Council
candidates Maria Garcia, Kenneth Gonzalez and William Petrick.
A potential problem may arise because of the city’s strict “pay-to-play”
regulations which are applicable to Gonzalez and Petrick, who are now Council
members.
The two Councilmen may have to decide whether they can vote on a contract
with the Perth Amboy Happy Home Shelter, whose Acting Director is local
businesswoman Wilma Matey, owner of the Water Street home where the party was
held.
Matey has been seeking to take-over operation of the city’s Shelter from
retired police officer Richard Cielesz and his wife, Michal, both certified
Animal Control Officers (ACOs), for almost a year, but the Council has taken
no action.
“There were people drinking, signs with candidates’ names, and people
walking-around with clipboards and pens,” Silber said. “It was more than just a
pig-roast for sharing with friends.”
As for Matey’s reported contention that the event cost only $150, Silber
said that if others brought food to the event, those donations should be
counted as “in-kind contributions” to the Moving Forward Together campaign.
“You can’t just bring things,” he said.
Matey, who spoke before Silber, read a prepared statement responding to
charges about the event which have been raised by others.
In her statement, Matey contended that “there are a few chosen city
officials who seem to feel that things should stay the way they are.
“These officials have stopped at nothing to prevent me from taking-over,
even-though it would benefit our city and the animals in many ways,” she said.
“I’ve complied with their entire request; now, they’re even pressuring
several Council members by telling them they can’t vote due to it being a
‘conflict-of-interest.’ ”
Matey also charged that Council President Kenneth Balut, a retired Perth
Amboy police officer and a friend of Cielesz, and Councilman Fernando
Gonzalez, who ran with Balut in 2008, should abstain from voting on “the licensing
for police-towing, taxicabs and bars that come in front of them” because
those interest-groups “gave contributions — and pig roasts — for their
campaigns.”
She went-on to say that “it’s sad that the same mentality of vengence and
protection-of-friends has poisoned the Council Chamber again, and that
instead of getting what’s good for all the citizens of Perth Amboy, we’re back
to what’s good for a few.”
Saturday, December 11, 2010
TIE-VOTE FOR MAYOR?
County Miscount Gave Henry Lead
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 8, 2010)
SOUTH AMBOY — Florida had its hanging-chads in 2000, and South Amboy’s
2010 election-outcome may hinge-upon an “identifiable ballot.”
The Middlesex County Board of Elections apparently miscounted the
provisional ballots cast in the city’s hotly-contested race for Mayor on Nov. 2,
leading to the strong likelihood of a special election on Tuesday, Jan. 18, with
the city’s voters asked to choose between the two tied candidates to
succeed Mayor John O’Leary, who decided in March not to seek an unprecedented
seventh four-year term as Chief Executive of the “Pleasant Little City.”
Despite a recount held three weeks ago which reaffirmed a one-vote lead by
Democratic City Council President Fred Henry over Independent mayoral
candidate Mary O’Connor, it now appears that the election resulted in a a tie
between O’Connor and Henry, with 1,127 votes each.
As of early this week, O’Connor and her attorney, Christopher Struben, were
still awaiting a response to a request filed a week earlier with Superior
Court Judge Philip Paley, sitting in New Brunswick, for a hearing on alleged
discrepancies in the counting of ballots in the city election.
On Monday, attorneys for the Board met with lawyers representing both her
and Henry and suggested that the Board, too, may file its own petition with
Paley to seek permission to count six provisional ballots which were
“misplaced” during the initial counting on Nov. 5 at the Board’s headquarters on
Jersey Avenue in New Brunswick.
However, O’Connor said after the meeting that she and Struben question the
integrity of those additional ballots in light of alleged “mishandling”
that led to their being opened by the Board’s staff after they were discovered
the day before Thanksgiving.
Citing ongoing investigations by the FBI Field Office in Somerset and the
state Attorney General’s Office concerning the conduct of elections at the
county level, the Board prevented O’Connor’s researchers from obtaining
access to documents needed for her court presentation until Nov. 23.
“The Board and the (Middlesex County) Clerk’s Office have lawyered-up, and
they weren’t allowing anyone to look at any documents,” O’Connor said
last week.
“When I finally got to physically-see the provisional ballots, I saw that
they made a mistake in counting a vote for Henry that shouldn’t have been
counted,” O’Connor stated early this week. “We put that into our petition to
the court, but the Board of Elections admitted today (Monday) that they made
a mistake, and it’s a tied election.”
The recount approved previously by Paley — which cost O’Connor $248 — was
conducted by the Board of Elections at its Edison voting-machine warehouse
on Friday, Nov. 19, and — as-expected — resulted in an identical outcome.
“The Board certified an election that was incorrect not once, but twice,”
O’Connor said early this week. “Meanwhile, I feel like they’ve done nothing
but put-up roadblocks.”
In the recount, Henry again received 1,075 votes to 1,061 for O’Connor on
the city’s nine voting-machines, based in various public buildings throughout
the one-square-mile municipality, for a slender 14-vote lead. This was
shaven to three votes after O’Connor received 59 Mail-In Ballots (MIBs),
formerly known as “absentee votes,” to 48 for Henry.
This is where one point where questions are expected to be raised by
Struben.
The counting of MIBs increased Henry’s unofficial vote-total to 1,106 to
1,098 for O’Connor on Election Night — a spread of eight — but that
difference was reduced to just three the following day, when a bag containing more
MIBs, reportedly from the city’s First Ward, was discovered in New Brunswick
and immediately added to the count.
O’Connor questions how the additional MIBs became separated and how they
were found.
O’Connor also received seven of the 12 provisional (challenged) ballots
counted by the Board to five for Henry, further reducing his margin to one vote.
Although 22 provisional ballots were reported to have been cast, only 12 of
them were counted by the Board at its Jersey Avenue headquarters after
eight ballots reportedly were voided by its staff, and the Board voted
unanimously to accept seven of the ballots challenged by O’Connor, rejecting only one
of them. Those seven went back into the mix with five unchallenged ballots,
and were pumped-through a counting machine, after the rest of the county’s
provisionals were counted by that device.
The counting of one of those seven is where another question was expected
to be raised by Struben.
Following the insistence of Board member Donald Katz that a vote cast by a
city employee who lives in neighboring Sayreville be counted for
non-municipal candidates only, given the fact that both South Amboy and Sayreville are
in the same Congressional District, the Board voted unanimously to allow the
counting of that ballot.
However, the law identifies such a ballot as an “identifiable ballot” that
cannot be counted, according to an informed source.
After being able to examine the ballot at Jersey Avenue, O’Connor said her
researchers noticed that “there was a sticker over his Council votes, but no
sticker over his vote for Fred Henry,” and thus the vote apparently was
counted as a vote for Henry by the Board on both Nov. 5 and Nov. 19.
At that time, the Board also left a mysterious 10th uncounted provisional
ballot — reportedly cast by a woman who voted for O’Connor, but which was
not examined by the Board — unaccounted-for.
That ballot — discovered by O’Connor’s researchers before she filed her
request for a recount — was voided reportedly because no records were found to
show that the voter had registered in-time to vote on Nov. 2. However, the
woman has insisted that she registered to vote through the state Motor
Vehicle Commission (MVC).
If her ballot had been counted, that, too, would have resulted in a tie
between O’Connor and Henry with 1,128 votes each, thereby forcing a special
election.
But if Paley rules in-favor of accepting that ballot, O’Connor would win
the election by one vote.
Another MIB, also reportedly for O’Connor, was found in the Board’s office
one week after the election, but this one was rejected unanimously by the
four-member Board because the voter allegedly did not comply with proper
procedure.
At that emergency meeting, Administrator James Vokral explained that the
ballot was “put in the wrong pile” because the outer envelope in which it was
supposed-to be mailed was not used, but was replaced with a regular brown
envelope.
The voter placed his MIB inside the proper inner envelope and sealed it,
but failed to attach his signed certificate to the inner envelope.
“This ballot would have been voided even if it had been put in the proper
pile,” Vokral said.
However, that voter is believed to have signed an affidavit claiming that
he followed the Board’s instructions before he mailed his ballot.
O’Connor and her attorney were informed by the Board more than three weeks
after the election that five more provisional ballots were discovered at its
Jersey Avenue headquarters.
O’Connor told the Amboy Beacon that she received a telephone-call at 3:15
p.m. that day: “The Board of Elections found five provisional ballots.”
In what had been believed to have been “empty envelopes” when her
researchers were at the building, five additional uncounted ballots were discovered,
she said.
“I’ve been down-there for days, asking for provisional ballots, and I was
told there were none,” O’Connor said. “The Board said they didn’t exist.
“The FBI was down-there a week before, scouring the place, and I’m sure
they didn’t find them.”
When O’Connor and Struben arrived, she said they were told by Vokral that
it was “more like six” ballots that were found.
The ballots were found to have been from the South Amboy election after one
envelope was opened, and the five others were opened as-well, O’Connor said.
“After they opened one South Amboy envelope, why did they open more of
them?” she asked. “Is this the accepted practice, or did they vary from normal
procedure?”
O’Connor said the Board’s actions raise questions about whether their
actions were “inept” or if they constitute “gross negligence” because “these
ballots were mishandled four times.
“They were mishandled at the intial opening; the Board wouldn’t let me see
them before the recount; they wouldn’t let me see them at the recount, and
I asked for a copy of the questionable ballot, and they wouldn’t give it to
me,” she said. “Since then, I’ve learned that I am allowed to have a
copy.”
O’Connor’s request to go further, if approved by Paley, could include an
examination of any heretofore uncounted MIBs and provisional ballots, as
well as challenges of specific individual ballots which were counted.
At-least one business-owner who was openly registered to vote in South
Amboy while actually living in Sayreville and as many as three police officers
who live out-of-town but may have participated in South Amboy’s 2010 election
remain unresolved issues.
Meanwhile, Henry has said that he believed the contest “is finally over,”
so he intended to appoint a transition team to “work with Mayor O’Leary to
make this change as-smooth-as-possible and move-forward.”
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 8, 2010)
SOUTH AMBOY — Florida had its hanging-chads in 2000, and South Amboy’s
2010 election-outcome may hinge-upon an “identifiable ballot.”
The Middlesex County Board of Elections apparently miscounted the
provisional ballots cast in the city’s hotly-contested race for Mayor on Nov. 2,
leading to the strong likelihood of a special election on Tuesday, Jan. 18, with
the city’s voters asked to choose between the two tied candidates to
succeed Mayor John O’Leary, who decided in March not to seek an unprecedented
seventh four-year term as Chief Executive of the “Pleasant Little City.”
Despite a recount held three weeks ago which reaffirmed a one-vote lead by
Democratic City Council President Fred Henry over Independent mayoral
candidate Mary O’Connor, it now appears that the election resulted in a a tie
between O’Connor and Henry, with 1,127 votes each.
As of early this week, O’Connor and her attorney, Christopher Struben, were
still awaiting a response to a request filed a week earlier with Superior
Court Judge Philip Paley, sitting in New Brunswick, for a hearing on alleged
discrepancies in the counting of ballots in the city election.
On Monday, attorneys for the Board met with lawyers representing both her
and Henry and suggested that the Board, too, may file its own petition with
Paley to seek permission to count six provisional ballots which were
“misplaced” during the initial counting on Nov. 5 at the Board’s headquarters on
Jersey Avenue in New Brunswick.
However, O’Connor said after the meeting that she and Struben question the
integrity of those additional ballots in light of alleged “mishandling”
that led to their being opened by the Board’s staff after they were discovered
the day before Thanksgiving.
Citing ongoing investigations by the FBI Field Office in Somerset and the
state Attorney General’s Office concerning the conduct of elections at the
county level, the Board prevented O’Connor’s researchers from obtaining
access to documents needed for her court presentation until Nov. 23.
“The Board and the (Middlesex County) Clerk’s Office have lawyered-up, and
they weren’t allowing anyone to look at any documents,” O’Connor said
last week.
“When I finally got to physically-see the provisional ballots, I saw that
they made a mistake in counting a vote for Henry that shouldn’t have been
counted,” O’Connor stated early this week. “We put that into our petition to
the court, but the Board of Elections admitted today (Monday) that they made
a mistake, and it’s a tied election.”
The recount approved previously by Paley — which cost O’Connor $248 — was
conducted by the Board of Elections at its Edison voting-machine warehouse
on Friday, Nov. 19, and — as-expected — resulted in an identical outcome.
“The Board certified an election that was incorrect not once, but twice,”
O’Connor said early this week. “Meanwhile, I feel like they’ve done nothing
but put-up roadblocks.”
In the recount, Henry again received 1,075 votes to 1,061 for O’Connor on
the city’s nine voting-machines, based in various public buildings throughout
the one-square-mile municipality, for a slender 14-vote lead. This was
shaven to three votes after O’Connor received 59 Mail-In Ballots (MIBs),
formerly known as “absentee votes,” to 48 for Henry.
This is where one point where questions are expected to be raised by
Struben.
The counting of MIBs increased Henry’s unofficial vote-total to 1,106 to
1,098 for O’Connor on Election Night — a spread of eight — but that
difference was reduced to just three the following day, when a bag containing more
MIBs, reportedly from the city’s First Ward, was discovered in New Brunswick
and immediately added to the count.
O’Connor questions how the additional MIBs became separated and how they
were found.
O’Connor also received seven of the 12 provisional (challenged) ballots
counted by the Board to five for Henry, further reducing his margin to one vote.
Although 22 provisional ballots were reported to have been cast, only 12 of
them were counted by the Board at its Jersey Avenue headquarters after
eight ballots reportedly were voided by its staff, and the Board voted
unanimously to accept seven of the ballots challenged by O’Connor, rejecting only one
of them. Those seven went back into the mix with five unchallenged ballots,
and were pumped-through a counting machine, after the rest of the county’s
provisionals were counted by that device.
The counting of one of those seven is where another question was expected
to be raised by Struben.
Following the insistence of Board member Donald Katz that a vote cast by a
city employee who lives in neighboring Sayreville be counted for
non-municipal candidates only, given the fact that both South Amboy and Sayreville are
in the same Congressional District, the Board voted unanimously to allow the
counting of that ballot.
However, the law identifies such a ballot as an “identifiable ballot” that
cannot be counted, according to an informed source.
After being able to examine the ballot at Jersey Avenue, O’Connor said her
researchers noticed that “there was a sticker over his Council votes, but no
sticker over his vote for Fred Henry,” and thus the vote apparently was
counted as a vote for Henry by the Board on both Nov. 5 and Nov. 19.
At that time, the Board also left a mysterious 10th uncounted provisional
ballot — reportedly cast by a woman who voted for O’Connor, but which was
not examined by the Board — unaccounted-for.
That ballot — discovered by O’Connor’s researchers before she filed her
request for a recount — was voided reportedly because no records were found to
show that the voter had registered in-time to vote on Nov. 2. However, the
woman has insisted that she registered to vote through the state Motor
Vehicle Commission (MVC).
If her ballot had been counted, that, too, would have resulted in a tie
between O’Connor and Henry with 1,128 votes each, thereby forcing a special
election.
But if Paley rules in-favor of accepting that ballot, O’Connor would win
the election by one vote.
Another MIB, also reportedly for O’Connor, was found in the Board’s office
one week after the election, but this one was rejected unanimously by the
four-member Board because the voter allegedly did not comply with proper
procedure.
At that emergency meeting, Administrator James Vokral explained that the
ballot was “put in the wrong pile” because the outer envelope in which it was
supposed-to be mailed was not used, but was replaced with a regular brown
envelope.
The voter placed his MIB inside the proper inner envelope and sealed it,
but failed to attach his signed certificate to the inner envelope.
“This ballot would have been voided even if it had been put in the proper
pile,” Vokral said.
However, that voter is believed to have signed an affidavit claiming that
he followed the Board’s instructions before he mailed his ballot.
O’Connor and her attorney were informed by the Board more than three weeks
after the election that five more provisional ballots were discovered at its
Jersey Avenue headquarters.
O’Connor told the Amboy Beacon that she received a telephone-call at 3:15
p.m. that day: “The Board of Elections found five provisional ballots.”
In what had been believed to have been “empty envelopes” when her
researchers were at the building, five additional uncounted ballots were discovered,
she said.
“I’ve been down-there for days, asking for provisional ballots, and I was
told there were none,” O’Connor said. “The Board said they didn’t exist.
“The FBI was down-there a week before, scouring the place, and I’m sure
they didn’t find them.”
When O’Connor and Struben arrived, she said they were told by Vokral that
it was “more like six” ballots that were found.
The ballots were found to have been from the South Amboy election after one
envelope was opened, and the five others were opened as-well, O’Connor said.
“After they opened one South Amboy envelope, why did they open more of
them?” she asked. “Is this the accepted practice, or did they vary from normal
procedure?”
O’Connor said the Board’s actions raise questions about whether their
actions were “inept” or if they constitute “gross negligence” because “these
ballots were mishandled four times.
“They were mishandled at the intial opening; the Board wouldn’t let me see
them before the recount; they wouldn’t let me see them at the recount, and
I asked for a copy of the questionable ballot, and they wouldn’t give it to
me,” she said. “Since then, I’ve learned that I am allowed to have a
copy.”
O’Connor’s request to go further, if approved by Paley, could include an
examination of any heretofore uncounted MIBs and provisional ballots, as
well as challenges of specific individual ballots which were counted.
At-least one business-owner who was openly registered to vote in South
Amboy while actually living in Sayreville and as many as three police officers
who live out-of-town but may have participated in South Amboy’s 2010 election
remain unresolved issues.
Meanwhile, Henry has said that he believed the contest “is finally over,”
so he intended to appoint a transition team to “work with Mayor O’Leary to
make this change as-smooth-as-possible and move-forward.”
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
BULLETIN:
CAPT. BENJAMIN RUIZ IS EXPECTED TO BE SWORN-IN AS PERTH AMBOY’S
FIRST HISPANIC POLICE CHIEF AT WEDNESDAY’S CITY COUNCIL MEETING!
FIRST HISPANIC POLICE CHIEF AT WEDNESDAY’S CITY COUNCIL MEETING!
5 MORE BALLOTS FOUND
Court-Date Awaited For S. Amboy Election Challenge
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 1, 2010)
SOUTH AMBOY — When everyone following the 2010 election-results for Mayor
of South Amboy thought they had heard everything, something unbelievable
happened last Wednesday.
Five more election-ballots were discovered on Thanksgiving Eve at the
Middlesex County Board of Elections headquarters on Jersey Avenue in New
Brunswick.
Independent mayoral candidate Mary O’Connor told the Amboy Beacon that she
received a telephone-call at 3:15 p.m. that day: “The Board of Elections
found five provisional ballots.”
In what had been believed to have been “empty envelopes” when her
investigative team was at the building, five additional uncounted ballots were
discovered, she said.
“I’ve been down-there for days, asking for provisional ballots, and I was
told there were none,” O’Connor said. “The FBI was down-there a week ago,
scouring the place, and I’m sure they didn’t find them.”
Despite a recount held two weeks ago, it appears that the election of a new
Mayor is not over yet.
A request by O’Connor for a recount of the Nov. 2 city election’s votes in
her contest with Democratic City Council President Fred Henry and two
others — with only one vote separating her and Henry — was approved by Superior
Court Judge Philip Paley, sitting in New Brunswick.
Two days later, the recount — which cost O’Connor $248 — was conducted by
the Board of Elections at its Edison voting-machine warehouse, resulting in
an identical outcome.
Henry again received 1,075 votes to 1,061 for O’Connor on the city’s nine
voting-machines, based in various public buildings throughout the
one-square-mile municipality, for a slender 14-vote lead. This was shaven to three
votes after O’Connor received 59 Mail-In Ballots (MIBs), formerly known as
“absentee votes,” to 48 for Henry.
O’Connor also received seven of the 12 provisional (challenged) ballots
counted by the Board to five for Henry, further reducing his margin to one
vote. As Board member Donald Katz read-off the names, staffers with count-sheets
called-out “Five” each time five votes were tallied.
On Election Night, the 2010 campaign for two at-large Council seats and one
Ward Council seat resulted in the Democratic Council nominees easily
defeating their opponents, newcomer Gross leading with 1,135 unofficial votes,
followed by incumbent Councilman Joseph Connors with 1,014, Republican nominee
Saverio Sagliocco with 982, Independent Eugene “Gene” Reagan with 751 and
GOP nominee David Longenhagen with 680. Recently-appointed First Ward
Councilman Donald Applegate, running unopposed, received 463 unofficial votes.
Those numbers have changed slightly since then, but the margins were
sufficiently-wide to assure the Council winners of their victories.
Although there were 22 provisional ballots reported cast, only 12 of them
were counted by the Board after eight ballots were voided by the staff, and
the Board voted unanimously to accept seven of the ballots challenged by
O’Connor, rejecting only one of them. Those seven went back into the mix with
five unchallenged ballots, and were pumped-through a counting machine, after
the rest of the county’s provisionals were counted by that device.
That left a mysterious 10th uncounted provisional ballot — cast by a woman
who voted for O’Connor, but which was not examined by the Board —
unaccounted-for.
That ballot — discovered by the Independent’s researchers before she filed
her request for a recount — was voided reportedly because no records were
found to show that the voter had registered in-time to vote on Nov. 2.
However, the woman insisted that she registered to vote through the state Motor
Vehicle Commission (MVC).
If her ballot had been counted, there would have been a tie between
O’Connor and Henry with 1,128 votes each, thereby forcing a special election on
Tuesday, Jan. 18, with the city’s voters asked to choose between the two tied
candidates to succeed Mayor John O’Leary, who decided in March not to seek an
unprecedented seventh four-year term as Chief Executive of the “Pleasant
Little City.”
Another MIB, also reportedly for O’Connor, was found in the Board’s office
one week after the election, and this was rejected unanimously by the four
-member Board because the voter allegedly did not comply with proper
procedure.
At that emergency meeting, Administrator James Vokral explained that the
ballot was “put in the wrong pile” because the outer envelope in which it
was supposed-to be mailed was not used, but was replaced with a regular brown
envelope.
The voter placed his MIB inside the proper inner envelope and sealed it,
but failed to attach his signed certificate to the inner envelope.
“This ballot would have been voided even if it had been put in the proper
pile,” Vokral said.
However, that voter is believed to have signed an affidavit claiming that
he followed the Board’s instructions before he mailed his ballot.
O’Connor’s request to go further, if it is approved by Paley, would
include an examination of any heretofore uncounted MIBs and provisional ballots,
as well as challenges of specific individual ballots.
At-least one business-owner who lives in neighboring Sayreville and as many
as three police officers who live out-of-town may have participated in
South Amboy’s 2010 election, following a contentious campaign which was branded
by many observers as the city’s “dirtiest.”
In addition to the usual rash of reports of campaign-signs being torn-down
or put-up without authorization, this year’s local contest saw the
resurrection on a weekly basis of a bimonthly community newspaper which was defunct
for about 10 years, now unabashedly promoting the Democratic ticket; the
anonymous distribution of one flier depicting an O’Connor supporter in a Nazi
uniform, and another flier attacking O’Connor as a “terrorist,” and an
alleged “endorsement” of Mackiel’s candidacy by a non-existent “South Amboy Tea
Party.”
During Election Day itself, numerous complaints reportedly were made to the
Police Department, the Board of Elections and the state Attorney General’s
Office, which is believed to have sent an observer to the city to monitor
the voting.
One Council candidate was accused of “electioneering” at the Senior
Resource Center, S. Stevens Avenue, and was asked to leave; a photographer from an
out-of-county daily newspaper allegedly took random photos at a
polling-place and was escorted out, and eggs were said to have been thrown at an
O’Connor supporter’s car by Henry supporters, leading to a heated confrontation
involving the driver’s brother which police officers broke-up. There were
unconfirmed reports that off-duty police were called-out by Police Chief Darren
LaVigne to maintain order.
Because of suspected irregularities, FBI agents who raided the Board’s New
Brunswick headquarters and the County Clerk’s Office to investigate the June
8 Democratic primary election in the county seat are now believed to have
expanded the scope of their probe to other elections, possibly including
South Amboy’s.
The local race followed back-to-back municipal tax-increases of 38 percent
last year and 12 percent this year, plus an increase of over five percent in
school taxes approved in-between by the incumbent Council.
An Amendment to the Calendar Year 2010 Budget adopted by the Council is
expected to increase local taxes by another $722,576, on top of the $39 hike
previously-announced by the Administration and the Council, on a home assessed
at $266,000, the average in South Amboy, from the unamended spending plan.
Using the numbers provided with the CY 2010 Budget as introduced, the
amended Budget is expected to increase the municipal portion of taxes on the
average home by $268.
During the campaign, the challengers criticized the tax-hikes, pledging to
encourage more commercial tax-ratables to replace revenues now drawn from
residential property taxes, while the Democratic incumbents blamed the
tax-hikes on Republican Gov. Christopher Christie.
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 1, 2010)
SOUTH AMBOY — When everyone following the 2010 election-results for Mayor
of South Amboy thought they had heard everything, something unbelievable
happened last Wednesday.
Five more election-ballots were discovered on Thanksgiving Eve at the
Middlesex County Board of Elections headquarters on Jersey Avenue in New
Brunswick.
Independent mayoral candidate Mary O’Connor told the Amboy Beacon that she
received a telephone-call at 3:15 p.m. that day: “The Board of Elections
found five provisional ballots.”
In what had been believed to have been “empty envelopes” when her
investigative team was at the building, five additional uncounted ballots were
discovered, she said.
“I’ve been down-there for days, asking for provisional ballots, and I was
told there were none,” O’Connor said. “The FBI was down-there a week ago,
scouring the place, and I’m sure they didn’t find them.”
Despite a recount held two weeks ago, it appears that the election of a new
Mayor is not over yet.
A request by O’Connor for a recount of the Nov. 2 city election’s votes in
her contest with Democratic City Council President Fred Henry and two
others — with only one vote separating her and Henry — was approved by Superior
Court Judge Philip Paley, sitting in New Brunswick.
Two days later, the recount — which cost O’Connor $248 — was conducted by
the Board of Elections at its Edison voting-machine warehouse, resulting in
an identical outcome.
Henry again received 1,075 votes to 1,061 for O’Connor on the city’s nine
voting-machines, based in various public buildings throughout the
one-square-mile municipality, for a slender 14-vote lead. This was shaven to three
votes after O’Connor received 59 Mail-In Ballots (MIBs), formerly known as
“absentee votes,” to 48 for Henry.
O’Connor also received seven of the 12 provisional (challenged) ballots
counted by the Board to five for Henry, further reducing his margin to one
vote. As Board member Donald Katz read-off the names, staffers with count-sheets
called-out “Five” each time five votes were tallied.
On Election Night, the 2010 campaign for two at-large Council seats and one
Ward Council seat resulted in the Democratic Council nominees easily
defeating their opponents, newcomer Gross leading with 1,135 unofficial votes,
followed by incumbent Councilman Joseph Connors with 1,014, Republican nominee
Saverio Sagliocco with 982, Independent Eugene “Gene” Reagan with 751 and
GOP nominee David Longenhagen with 680. Recently-appointed First Ward
Councilman Donald Applegate, running unopposed, received 463 unofficial votes.
Those numbers have changed slightly since then, but the margins were
sufficiently-wide to assure the Council winners of their victories.
Although there were 22 provisional ballots reported cast, only 12 of them
were counted by the Board after eight ballots were voided by the staff, and
the Board voted unanimously to accept seven of the ballots challenged by
O’Connor, rejecting only one of them. Those seven went back into the mix with
five unchallenged ballots, and were pumped-through a counting machine, after
the rest of the county’s provisionals were counted by that device.
That left a mysterious 10th uncounted provisional ballot — cast by a woman
who voted for O’Connor, but which was not examined by the Board —
unaccounted-for.
That ballot — discovered by the Independent’s researchers before she filed
her request for a recount — was voided reportedly because no records were
found to show that the voter had registered in-time to vote on Nov. 2.
However, the woman insisted that she registered to vote through the state Motor
Vehicle Commission (MVC).
If her ballot had been counted, there would have been a tie between
O’Connor and Henry with 1,128 votes each, thereby forcing a special election on
Tuesday, Jan. 18, with the city’s voters asked to choose between the two tied
candidates to succeed Mayor John O’Leary, who decided in March not to seek an
unprecedented seventh four-year term as Chief Executive of the “Pleasant
Little City.”
Another MIB, also reportedly for O’Connor, was found in the Board’s office
one week after the election, and this was rejected unanimously by the four
-member Board because the voter allegedly did not comply with proper
procedure.
At that emergency meeting, Administrator James Vokral explained that the
ballot was “put in the wrong pile” because the outer envelope in which it
was supposed-to be mailed was not used, but was replaced with a regular brown
envelope.
The voter placed his MIB inside the proper inner envelope and sealed it,
but failed to attach his signed certificate to the inner envelope.
“This ballot would have been voided even if it had been put in the proper
pile,” Vokral said.
However, that voter is believed to have signed an affidavit claiming that
he followed the Board’s instructions before he mailed his ballot.
O’Connor’s request to go further, if it is approved by Paley, would
include an examination of any heretofore uncounted MIBs and provisional ballots,
as well as challenges of specific individual ballots.
At-least one business-owner who lives in neighboring Sayreville and as many
as three police officers who live out-of-town may have participated in
South Amboy’s 2010 election, following a contentious campaign which was branded
by many observers as the city’s “dirtiest.”
In addition to the usual rash of reports of campaign-signs being torn-down
or put-up without authorization, this year’s local contest saw the
resurrection on a weekly basis of a bimonthly community newspaper which was defunct
for about 10 years, now unabashedly promoting the Democratic ticket; the
anonymous distribution of one flier depicting an O’Connor supporter in a Nazi
uniform, and another flier attacking O’Connor as a “terrorist,” and an
alleged “endorsement” of Mackiel’s candidacy by a non-existent “South Amboy Tea
Party.”
During Election Day itself, numerous complaints reportedly were made to the
Police Department, the Board of Elections and the state Attorney General’s
Office, which is believed to have sent an observer to the city to monitor
the voting.
One Council candidate was accused of “electioneering” at the Senior
Resource Center, S. Stevens Avenue, and was asked to leave; a photographer from an
out-of-county daily newspaper allegedly took random photos at a
polling-place and was escorted out, and eggs were said to have been thrown at an
O’Connor supporter’s car by Henry supporters, leading to a heated confrontation
involving the driver’s brother which police officers broke-up. There were
unconfirmed reports that off-duty police were called-out by Police Chief Darren
LaVigne to maintain order.
Because of suspected irregularities, FBI agents who raided the Board’s New
Brunswick headquarters and the County Clerk’s Office to investigate the June
8 Democratic primary election in the county seat are now believed to have
expanded the scope of their probe to other elections, possibly including
South Amboy’s.
The local race followed back-to-back municipal tax-increases of 38 percent
last year and 12 percent this year, plus an increase of over five percent in
school taxes approved in-between by the incumbent Council.
An Amendment to the Calendar Year 2010 Budget adopted by the Council is
expected to increase local taxes by another $722,576, on top of the $39 hike
previously-announced by the Administration and the Council, on a home assessed
at $266,000, the average in South Amboy, from the unamended spending plan.
Using the numbers provided with the CY 2010 Budget as introduced, the
amended Budget is expected to increase the municipal portion of taxes on the
average home by $268.
During the campaign, the challengers criticized the tax-hikes, pledging to
encourage more commercial tax-ratables to replace revenues now drawn from
residential property taxes, while the Democratic incumbents blamed the
tax-hikes on Republican Gov. Christopher Christie.
Perth Amboy: ‘City Of Giving’
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 1, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — For Thanksgiving 2010, the City of Perth Amboy
transformed-into the “City of Giving,” as some 2,000 traditional Thanksgiving turkey
dinners were served to those less-fortunate.
The Trujillo family and friends, Supremo Food Market, White Rose Foods and
St. Vincent dePaul Food Pantry sponsored the largest mass-feeding of the
season, the 2010 Thanksgiving Friendship Feast honoring the memory of Andrea
Trujillo, at St. Demetrios’ Greek Orthodox Church Hall, Wisteria Street.
Andrea Trujillo, who lived in Perth Amboy for almost 40 years, came from
very-humble beginnings but always gave to those less-fortunate than her.
Andrea Trujillo’s favorite holiday was Thanksgiving, so in her memory, dozens of
volunteers joined together to share this Thanksgiving meal and the gift of
giving that she so-enjoyed with a crowd of almost 600, accommodated with two
seatings.
The Thanksgiving Friendship Feast featured roast turkey, stuffing, mashed
potatoes and gravy, and a wide array of salads and cooked vegetables, plus
such Hispanic favorites as arroz con gandules, yucca and pernil, and an
assortment of desserts. Also, over 100 prizes were given-out to those
in-attendance, including major appliances and electronics, in an outpouring of
charitable giving.
The outpouring of giving actually got-started on Friday, Nov. 19, when the
Perth Amboy Merchants Association (PAMA) held a community outreach program
providing FREE turkey dinners for senior citizens at the Hanson Apartments,
Fayette Street, open to residents of the Hanson and Stack Apartments.
That same day, the Salvation Army Perth Amboy Corps, State Street,
distributed 100 turkeys to needy families.
At the Perth Amboy Knights of Columbus Council 299 “Feed the Needy”
Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday, Nov. 21, over 300 people from the local community
were served a free meal.
The city’s Office on Aging invited Perth Amboy senior citizens to a
complimentary Thanksgiving Eve Luncheon on Wednesday, Nov. 24, at the Jankowski
Community Center, Olive Street.
Faith Community Worship Center, Renovation House and Abundant Life Worship
Center teamed-up the next day — Thanksgiving Day — to serve meals at the
Jankowski Community Center, Olive Street, to over 200 families, including the
hard-core homeless. The menu included turkey, corn, peas, beans,
stringbeans, macaroni & cheese, apple and sweet potato pies, juices and sodas.
Vida Church, formerly Mount St. Carmel, at Maple and Fayette Streets,
served 400 turkey dinners to visitors to the Church Hall.
After the holiday, Copa de Oro Tavern, Smith Street, offered FREE turkey
dinners “for those with no place to go” on Saturday, Nov. 27.
PERTH AMBOY — For Thanksgiving 2010, the City of Perth Amboy
transformed-into the “City of Giving,” as some 2,000 traditional Thanksgiving turkey
dinners were served to those less-fortunate.
The Trujillo family and friends, Supremo Food Market, White Rose Foods and
St. Vincent dePaul Food Pantry sponsored the largest mass-feeding of the
season, the 2010 Thanksgiving Friendship Feast honoring the memory of Andrea
Trujillo, at St. Demetrios’ Greek Orthodox Church Hall, Wisteria Street.
Andrea Trujillo, who lived in Perth Amboy for almost 40 years, came from
very-humble beginnings but always gave to those less-fortunate than her.
Andrea Trujillo’s favorite holiday was Thanksgiving, so in her memory, dozens of
volunteers joined together to share this Thanksgiving meal and the gift of
giving that she so-enjoyed with a crowd of almost 600, accommodated with two
seatings.
The Thanksgiving Friendship Feast featured roast turkey, stuffing, mashed
potatoes and gravy, and a wide array of salads and cooked vegetables, plus
such Hispanic favorites as arroz con gandules, yucca and pernil, and an
assortment of desserts. Also, over 100 prizes were given-out to those
in-attendance, including major appliances and electronics, in an outpouring of
charitable giving.
The outpouring of giving actually got-started on Friday, Nov. 19, when the
Perth Amboy Merchants Association (PAMA) held a community outreach program
providing FREE turkey dinners for senior citizens at the Hanson Apartments,
Fayette Street, open to residents of the Hanson and Stack Apartments.
That same day, the Salvation Army Perth Amboy Corps, State Street,
distributed 100 turkeys to needy families.
At the Perth Amboy Knights of Columbus Council 299 “Feed the Needy”
Thanksgiving Dinner on Sunday, Nov. 21, over 300 people from the local community
were served a free meal.
The city’s Office on Aging invited Perth Amboy senior citizens to a
complimentary Thanksgiving Eve Luncheon on Wednesday, Nov. 24, at the Jankowski
Community Center, Olive Street.
Faith Community Worship Center, Renovation House and Abundant Life Worship
Center teamed-up the next day — Thanksgiving Day — to serve meals at the
Jankowski Community Center, Olive Street, to over 200 families, including the
hard-core homeless. The menu included turkey, corn, peas, beans,
stringbeans, macaroni & cheese, apple and sweet potato pies, juices and sodas.
Vida Church, formerly Mount St. Carmel, at Maple and Fayette Streets,
served 400 turkey dinners to visitors to the Church Hall.
After the holiday, Copa de Oro Tavern, Smith Street, offered FREE turkey
dinners “for those with no place to go” on Saturday, Nov. 27.
ABOVE & BEYOND
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 1, 2010)
PERTH AMBOY — Five Firefighters were commended at the City Council’s last
meeting for action above-and-beyond the call-of-duty in three separate
incidents.
Each Firefighter was presented with a framed Proclamation and a framed Coun
cil Resolution by Mayor Wilda Diaz and Fire Chief David Volk.
At 9:50 a.m. on Oct. 7, Engine No. 1, with Firefighters John DeNardo and
Eric Wilhelm, was driving on Smith Street when they witnessed a vehicle
driving erratically proceeding west on Smith Street. The vehicle ran-through the
red-light at Smith and Oak Streets, running-into a parked vehicle.
After approaching the vehicle, the Firefighters found an unconscious male
driver in the locked vehicle. After requesting EMS Assistance, DeNardo and
Wilhelm broke a rear window on the vehicle to gain access to the elderly male,
whom they found to be in full cardiac-arrest.
After securing the still-running vehicle, DeNardo and Wilhelm removed the
driver, initiated CPR, and connected a defibrillator unit. Upon arrival of
the Paramedics & EMS Unit from Raritan Bay Medical Center, they assisted
those units with further patient care and eventual transportation to the
hospital.
Although the patient unfortunately passed-away after being admitted to the
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) later that morning, the actions taken by the
Firefighters were credited with reviving the driver of the vehicle and preserving
his life, providing the opportunity of receiving advanced care within RBMC.
Had these two not acted in the timely-manner that they did, all available
means of saving his life would not have been able to be undertaken.
Firefighter Eric Wilhelm has been a member of the Career Division since
Jan. 16, 1995, and Firefighter John DeNardo has been a member of the Career Divi
sion since Feb. 23, 1996.
At 2:09 a.m. on Oct. 22, the Fire and Police Departments and Paramedics &
EMS Unit from RBMC were dispatched to a reported truck fire on Route 440 at
Amboy Avenue.
Upon arrival, members found a tractor-trailer adjacent to the eastbound
entrance ramp of the highway from Amboy Avenue and Grove Street fully-involved
in fire.
After setting-up initial extinguishing operations on the truck, members
were made-aware of a second motor vehicle about 300 feet west, under the Amboy
Avenue overpass, with an unconscious male driver.
While firefighters continued extinguishing the truck fire; Lt. Edward
Mullen and Firefighter Eric Kayser approached the second vehicle, along with RBMC
Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) Gary Batista and Matt Redding, to
extricate and treat the unconscious male occupant from the severely-damaged
vehicle.
As these members arrived at the vehicle, a mixture of diesel fuel and water
from the burning tractor-trailer ignited and began flowing down the
shoulder of the highway toward the vehicle and emergency responders.
Faced with a seriously-dangerous situation for not only the trapped vehicle
occupant, but also their own safety, Lt. Mullen and Firefighter Kayser
utilized a fire extinguisher and dry absorbent in an attempt to prevent the
quickly-advancing fire from reaching the vehicle.
At the same time, EMTs Batista and Redding, through physical force and
sheer determination, were able to gain-access to the passenger-compartment of
the vehicle and extricate the driver, who was partially-entrapped under the
dashboard.
Less than a minute after the members were able to move the victim away from
the vehicle, it became totally-engulfed in flames.
The victim was treated by EMS and transported to Robert Wood Johnson
University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he was admitted with
non-life-threatening injuries.
After the removal of the victim, the Department continued to be faced with
a serious situation, where there were now two vehicles fully-involved in
fire, with the possibility of the burning fuel continuing westerly on the
shoulder towards stopped highway traffic and a catch-basin. With the assistance
of a foam unit operated by the Port Authority Police Department, the flowing
flammable liquid was rapidly-extinguished by members of the Department
before any additional damage or adverse impact to the storm-sewer system and
environment occurred.
Had it not been for the extraordinary and heroic actions of the emergency
responders, there certainly would have been one if not two fatalities as a
result of this accident. The entire contingent of emergency responders that
responded to this incident are to be commended for their actions. Emergency
responders, including the Fire Department, under the Command of Capt. Abraham
Pitre, Port Authority Police, Perth Amboy Police and Paramedics & EMS Unit
from RBMC insured that this extremely-serious incident was brought to a
successful conclusion with no loss of life and no injuries other than to the
drivers of both vehicles.
Lt. Edward Mullen has been a member of the Career Division since April 22,
2002 He was promoted to Lieutenant on June 11, 2010, and Firefighter Eric
Kayser has been a member of the Career Division since Sept. 14, 2004.
On Oct. 23, Volunteer Lieutenant/Training Officer Anton Massopust Jr. was
attending a church dinner at the Ukrainian Assumption Parish, Jacques Street.
During the event, a gentleman in-attendance went into cardiac-arrest.
Lt. Massopust went to his aid and found him to be in full cardiac-arrest,
breathless, and with no pulse. Lt. Massopust immediately initiated CPR on the
victim while 9-1-1 was being called for advanced medical assistance. Upon
arrival of members of the Fire Department and Paramedics & EMS Unit from
RBMC, the victim had regained a pulse and his breathing function. The victim
was placed on oxygen and transported to RBMC for further treatment.
Since then, the patient has fully-recovered and was in fact discharged from
RBMC on Oct. 26.
Had it not been for the quick life-saving actions of Lt. Massopust within a
minute of the gentleman entering into cardiac-arrest, the successful
outcome of this incident most-assuredly would have been quite different.
Lt. Anton Massopust Jr. has been a member of the Volunteer Division for
over 40 years, having previously served as Volunteer Chief of the Department
from 1986 to 1987. He is currently a state-certified EMT instructor, as well
as a CPR Instructor certified by both the American Heart Association and the
American Red Cross.
PERTH AMBOY — Five Firefighters were commended at the City Council’s last
meeting for action above-and-beyond the call-of-duty in three separate
incidents.
Each Firefighter was presented with a framed Proclamation and a framed Coun
cil Resolution by Mayor Wilda Diaz and Fire Chief David Volk.
At 9:50 a.m. on Oct. 7, Engine No. 1, with Firefighters John DeNardo and
Eric Wilhelm, was driving on Smith Street when they witnessed a vehicle
driving erratically proceeding west on Smith Street. The vehicle ran-through the
red-light at Smith and Oak Streets, running-into a parked vehicle.
After approaching the vehicle, the Firefighters found an unconscious male
driver in the locked vehicle. After requesting EMS Assistance, DeNardo and
Wilhelm broke a rear window on the vehicle to gain access to the elderly male,
whom they found to be in full cardiac-arrest.
After securing the still-running vehicle, DeNardo and Wilhelm removed the
driver, initiated CPR, and connected a defibrillator unit. Upon arrival of
the Paramedics & EMS Unit from Raritan Bay Medical Center, they assisted
those units with further patient care and eventual transportation to the
hospital.
Although the patient unfortunately passed-away after being admitted to the
Intensive Care Unit (ICU) later that morning, the actions taken by the
Firefighters were credited with reviving the driver of the vehicle and preserving
his life, providing the opportunity of receiving advanced care within RBMC.
Had these two not acted in the timely-manner that they did, all available
means of saving his life would not have been able to be undertaken.
Firefighter Eric Wilhelm has been a member of the Career Division since
Jan. 16, 1995, and Firefighter John DeNardo has been a member of the Career Divi
sion since Feb. 23, 1996.
At 2:09 a.m. on Oct. 22, the Fire and Police Departments and Paramedics &
EMS Unit from RBMC were dispatched to a reported truck fire on Route 440 at
Amboy Avenue.
Upon arrival, members found a tractor-trailer adjacent to the eastbound
entrance ramp of the highway from Amboy Avenue and Grove Street fully-involved
in fire.
After setting-up initial extinguishing operations on the truck, members
were made-aware of a second motor vehicle about 300 feet west, under the Amboy
Avenue overpass, with an unconscious male driver.
While firefighters continued extinguishing the truck fire; Lt. Edward
Mullen and Firefighter Eric Kayser approached the second vehicle, along with RBMC
Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) Gary Batista and Matt Redding, to
extricate and treat the unconscious male occupant from the severely-damaged
vehicle.
As these members arrived at the vehicle, a mixture of diesel fuel and water
from the burning tractor-trailer ignited and began flowing down the
shoulder of the highway toward the vehicle and emergency responders.
Faced with a seriously-dangerous situation for not only the trapped vehicle
occupant, but also their own safety, Lt. Mullen and Firefighter Kayser
utilized a fire extinguisher and dry absorbent in an attempt to prevent the
quickly-advancing fire from reaching the vehicle.
At the same time, EMTs Batista and Redding, through physical force and
sheer determination, were able to gain-access to the passenger-compartment of
the vehicle and extricate the driver, who was partially-entrapped under the
dashboard.
Less than a minute after the members were able to move the victim away from
the vehicle, it became totally-engulfed in flames.
The victim was treated by EMS and transported to Robert Wood Johnson
University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he was admitted with
non-life-threatening injuries.
After the removal of the victim, the Department continued to be faced with
a serious situation, where there were now two vehicles fully-involved in
fire, with the possibility of the burning fuel continuing westerly on the
shoulder towards stopped highway traffic and a catch-basin. With the assistance
of a foam unit operated by the Port Authority Police Department, the flowing
flammable liquid was rapidly-extinguished by members of the Department
before any additional damage or adverse impact to the storm-sewer system and
environment occurred.
Had it not been for the extraordinary and heroic actions of the emergency
responders, there certainly would have been one if not two fatalities as a
result of this accident. The entire contingent of emergency responders that
responded to this incident are to be commended for their actions. Emergency
responders, including the Fire Department, under the Command of Capt. Abraham
Pitre, Port Authority Police, Perth Amboy Police and Paramedics & EMS Unit
from RBMC insured that this extremely-serious incident was brought to a
successful conclusion with no loss of life and no injuries other than to the
drivers of both vehicles.
Lt. Edward Mullen has been a member of the Career Division since April 22,
2002 He was promoted to Lieutenant on June 11, 2010, and Firefighter Eric
Kayser has been a member of the Career Division since Sept. 14, 2004.
On Oct. 23, Volunteer Lieutenant/Training Officer Anton Massopust Jr. was
attending a church dinner at the Ukrainian Assumption Parish, Jacques Street.
During the event, a gentleman in-attendance went into cardiac-arrest.
Lt. Massopust went to his aid and found him to be in full cardiac-arrest,
breathless, and with no pulse. Lt. Massopust immediately initiated CPR on the
victim while 9-1-1 was being called for advanced medical assistance. Upon
arrival of members of the Fire Department and Paramedics & EMS Unit from
RBMC, the victim had regained a pulse and his breathing function. The victim
was placed on oxygen and transported to RBMC for further treatment.
Since then, the patient has fully-recovered and was in fact discharged from
RBMC on Oct. 26.
Had it not been for the quick life-saving actions of Lt. Massopust within a
minute of the gentleman entering into cardiac-arrest, the successful
outcome of this incident most-assuredly would have been quite different.
Lt. Anton Massopust Jr. has been a member of the Volunteer Division for
over 40 years, having previously served as Volunteer Chief of the Department
from 1986 to 1987. He is currently a state-certified EMT instructor, as well
as a CPR Instructor certified by both the American Heart Association and the
American Red Cross.
Amboy Eats: Antojito Latino
(Restaurant Review, Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Dec. 1, 2010)
By Bill George
Antojito Latino, 236 New Brunswick Ave., Perth Amboy. Open six days,
Tues.-Sun., 9 a.m.-11 p.m.; Mon., closed. Call (732) 442-0064. Rating: ****.
Antojito Latino, which translates literally as “Latin craving,” opened on
March 20 in a storefront that used-to be Parnes Bakery before it was
turned-into a Dominican cafeteria-style eatery.
Owners Alvarro, Smirna, Maria and Tino have transformed the previous food
operation into a comfortable dining experience incorporating the best in
Central American, South American and Caribbean cuisine, with a self-serve
all-you-can-eat buffet as its centerpiece.
The theme here is “Conserving Our Roots,” with the goal of offerring the
dining public a choice in authentic Latin dishes spanning a wide variety of
tastes.
The buffet, which is available Tuesday through Saturday between 11 a.m. and
7 p.m., features a soup kettle, 10 hot entrees and a salad bar, with coffee
or tea and dessert included, for an incredible $8.50. A sit-down breakfast
is served between 9 and 11 a.m., and sit-down service is offered all-day
Sundays and as an option when the buffet is open.
The buffet comes with at-least two varieties of rice — white and another —
and red beans, but what brings many local diners back here is the
perfectly-seasoned Pernil (baked pork shoulder), almost-always presented on the
buffet in one piece, ready for slicing, with a crusty skin and tender and juicy
interior. Sometimes, the Pernil is cut-up and cooked with tomatoes and onions
for a taste-sensation. Alvarro says it’s not uncommon for Antojito Latino
to go-through three pork shoulders in one day.
Running a close second to the Pernil in popularity is the Flat Iron Steak
($12.50), which arrives at your table sizzling in a black iron pan, covered
with mushroom slices and garlic cloves, along with an oval platter of white
rice and red beans, joined with a green salad. The meat is so-tender it melts
in your mouth.
Mofongo & Shrimp ($10.50) is a huge oval platter with a mound of smooth
mashed plantain covered with grilled medium shrimp in a garlicky sauce, also
joined with a green salad.
Those who enjoy the flavor of shrimp also will love Shrimp In Garlic Sauce
(also $10.50), featuring 10 extra-large pink beauties in bowl with a
flavorful sauce, accompanied by arepa, a large cornmeal cake covered with white
cheese.
A delicacy for particular tastes, Grilled Red Snapper ($12.50), turned-out
to be a culinary masterpiece at a bargain price. It was only my second
snapper because of the usually-prohibitive price. The entire fish arrives on a
huge colorful oval platter with lime wedges, and the flavorful beige flesh
strips cleanly off the bones. Casamiento — formed brown rice with black and
brown beans — and golden-brown fried yucca, crispy outside and soft inside,
complete the feast.
Grilled Chicken Breast & Garlic Shrimp ($12.50) is a boneless breast topped
with five large garlicky shrimp, with casamiento and tostones (fried green
plantain slices) and a bowl of pink dipping-sauce.
Baked Chicken Breast Stuffed with Crabmeat ($12.50) is exactly-that. The
flaky crabmeat-and-parsley filling is NOT the usual breadcrumb lump that’s
CALLED “crabmeat stuffing.” The boneless breast, topped with two jumbo shrimp,
sits-upon a bed of spaghetti and a tomatoey reddish-orange sauce, with
mushroom slices and onion strands.
Carne Asada ($9) is a perfectly-grilled flat steak topped with pico de
gallo (similar to bruschetta), accompanied by casamiento and a green salad.
Served that way is Grilled Chicken Breast ($8.50).
BBQ Ribs ($8) are four large meaty pork ribs, covered with a slightly-sweet
reddish-brown sauce, tender down to the bone, with arepa and a green salad.
Returning to the buffet, I found many dishes that I really-enjoyed. The
variety of offerings is astounding, given the reasonable price charged for what
can be considered gourmet dining.
In the buffet, on any given day, one might find: Chicken Stew, large white
meat and potato chunks in an orange-colored broth; Chicken Fingers, breaded
white meat strips; Chicken Nuggets, unbreaded pieces of white meat; Lemon
Chicken, breaded boneless white meat pieces in a luscious lemon sauce; Chicken
& Stringbeans, white meat chunks sauteed with fresh stringbeans; Grilled
Chicken, charcoal-grilled wings or drumsticks; Chicken Teriyaki, white meat
chunks sauteed with fresh peppers and onions in a slightly-sweet sauce; Fried
Chicken, crispy-coated pieces; BBQ Chicken, pieces coated with a
slightly-sweet sauce; Dominican-Style Spaghetti, pasta with chicken and peppers in an
orange-colored sauce; Empanadas, crispy doughy pockets with beef or chicken
fillings; Tacos Dorados, rolled tortillas filled with a chicken paste; Pork
Feet & Chickpeas, a great dish over white rice, and Steak, Tomato & Fries, a
one-pan meal. I hope I got them all!
Also, sold a la carte: Burrito ($7 each), large and filling, in beef or
chicken varieties; Pupusas ($1.50 each), filled dough cakes, and Tostadas
(three for $4), Guatemalan tortillas with toppings.
Breakfast ($7.25) can be various starch-meat-egg combinations, such as
Pancakes, Chicharron and Scrambled Eggs (the Pancakes are soft but crispy around
the edges, as they’re supposed-to be, and the Chicharron is hard, smokey
and salty, as it’s supposed-to be), or French Toast, Chorizo and Colombian
Omelette (the soft, cinnamony French Toast and smokey, thick-skinned Chorizo
are a contrast in textures and tastes, but the Colombian Omelette, with sliced
scallions and diced tomatoes, is a REAL treat!).
Beverages include the usual bottled sodas at $1.50 each. To be adventurous,
try the Passion Fruit Shake ($2.50), Salvadorean Fruit Juice ($1.75) or
Raspberry Iced Tea ($1.50). What a difference!
The homemade cakes at Antojito Latino (carrot is my favorite!) aren’t
overly-sweet, but they stand-up to the freshly-brewed coffee.
In evaluating food, atmosphere, service and value, Antojito Latino easily
earns our highest rating of FOUR STARS.
By Bill George
Antojito Latino, 236 New Brunswick Ave., Perth Amboy. Open six days,
Tues.-Sun., 9 a.m.-11 p.m.; Mon., closed. Call (732) 442-0064. Rating: ****.
Antojito Latino, which translates literally as “Latin craving,” opened on
March 20 in a storefront that used-to be Parnes Bakery before it was
turned-into a Dominican cafeteria-style eatery.
Owners Alvarro, Smirna, Maria and Tino have transformed the previous food
operation into a comfortable dining experience incorporating the best in
Central American, South American and Caribbean cuisine, with a self-serve
all-you-can-eat buffet as its centerpiece.
The theme here is “Conserving Our Roots,” with the goal of offerring the
dining public a choice in authentic Latin dishes spanning a wide variety of
tastes.
The buffet, which is available Tuesday through Saturday between 11 a.m. and
7 p.m., features a soup kettle, 10 hot entrees and a salad bar, with coffee
or tea and dessert included, for an incredible $8.50. A sit-down breakfast
is served between 9 and 11 a.m., and sit-down service is offered all-day
Sundays and as an option when the buffet is open.
The buffet comes with at-least two varieties of rice — white and another —
and red beans, but what brings many local diners back here is the
perfectly-seasoned Pernil (baked pork shoulder), almost-always presented on the
buffet in one piece, ready for slicing, with a crusty skin and tender and juicy
interior. Sometimes, the Pernil is cut-up and cooked with tomatoes and onions
for a taste-sensation. Alvarro says it’s not uncommon for Antojito Latino
to go-through three pork shoulders in one day.
Running a close second to the Pernil in popularity is the Flat Iron Steak
($12.50), which arrives at your table sizzling in a black iron pan, covered
with mushroom slices and garlic cloves, along with an oval platter of white
rice and red beans, joined with a green salad. The meat is so-tender it melts
in your mouth.
Mofongo & Shrimp ($10.50) is a huge oval platter with a mound of smooth
mashed plantain covered with grilled medium shrimp in a garlicky sauce, also
joined with a green salad.
Those who enjoy the flavor of shrimp also will love Shrimp In Garlic Sauce
(also $10.50), featuring 10 extra-large pink beauties in bowl with a
flavorful sauce, accompanied by arepa, a large cornmeal cake covered with white
cheese.
A delicacy for particular tastes, Grilled Red Snapper ($12.50), turned-out
to be a culinary masterpiece at a bargain price. It was only my second
snapper because of the usually-prohibitive price. The entire fish arrives on a
huge colorful oval platter with lime wedges, and the flavorful beige flesh
strips cleanly off the bones. Casamiento — formed brown rice with black and
brown beans — and golden-brown fried yucca, crispy outside and soft inside,
complete the feast.
Grilled Chicken Breast & Garlic Shrimp ($12.50) is a boneless breast topped
with five large garlicky shrimp, with casamiento and tostones (fried green
plantain slices) and a bowl of pink dipping-sauce.
Baked Chicken Breast Stuffed with Crabmeat ($12.50) is exactly-that. The
flaky crabmeat-and-parsley filling is NOT the usual breadcrumb lump that’s
CALLED “crabmeat stuffing.” The boneless breast, topped with two jumbo shrimp,
sits-upon a bed of spaghetti and a tomatoey reddish-orange sauce, with
mushroom slices and onion strands.
Carne Asada ($9) is a perfectly-grilled flat steak topped with pico de
gallo (similar to bruschetta), accompanied by casamiento and a green salad.
Served that way is Grilled Chicken Breast ($8.50).
BBQ Ribs ($8) are four large meaty pork ribs, covered with a slightly-sweet
reddish-brown sauce, tender down to the bone, with arepa and a green salad.
Returning to the buffet, I found many dishes that I really-enjoyed. The
variety of offerings is astounding, given the reasonable price charged for what
can be considered gourmet dining.
In the buffet, on any given day, one might find: Chicken Stew, large white
meat and potato chunks in an orange-colored broth; Chicken Fingers, breaded
white meat strips; Chicken Nuggets, unbreaded pieces of white meat; Lemon
Chicken, breaded boneless white meat pieces in a luscious lemon sauce; Chicken
& Stringbeans, white meat chunks sauteed with fresh stringbeans; Grilled
Chicken, charcoal-grilled wings or drumsticks; Chicken Teriyaki, white meat
chunks sauteed with fresh peppers and onions in a slightly-sweet sauce; Fried
Chicken, crispy-coated pieces; BBQ Chicken, pieces coated with a
slightly-sweet sauce; Dominican-Style Spaghetti, pasta with chicken and peppers in an
orange-colored sauce; Empanadas, crispy doughy pockets with beef or chicken
fillings; Tacos Dorados, rolled tortillas filled with a chicken paste; Pork
Feet & Chickpeas, a great dish over white rice, and Steak, Tomato & Fries, a
one-pan meal. I hope I got them all!
Also, sold a la carte: Burrito ($7 each), large and filling, in beef or
chicken varieties; Pupusas ($1.50 each), filled dough cakes, and Tostadas
(three for $4), Guatemalan tortillas with toppings.
Breakfast ($7.25) can be various starch-meat-egg combinations, such as
Pancakes, Chicharron and Scrambled Eggs (the Pancakes are soft but crispy around
the edges, as they’re supposed-to be, and the Chicharron is hard, smokey
and salty, as it’s supposed-to be), or French Toast, Chorizo and Colombian
Omelette (the soft, cinnamony French Toast and smokey, thick-skinned Chorizo
are a contrast in textures and tastes, but the Colombian Omelette, with sliced
scallions and diced tomatoes, is a REAL treat!).
Beverages include the usual bottled sodas at $1.50 each. To be adventurous,
try the Passion Fruit Shake ($2.50), Salvadorean Fruit Juice ($1.75) or
Raspberry Iced Tea ($1.50). What a difference!
The homemade cakes at Antojito Latino (carrot is my favorite!) aren’t
overly-sweet, but they stand-up to the freshly-brewed coffee.
In evaluating food, atmosphere, service and value, Antojito Latino easily
earns our highest rating of FOUR STARS.
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