O’Connor Appealing Judge’s Decision
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Jan. 19, 2011)
SOUTH AMBOY — Superior Court Judge Phillip Paley, sitting in New Brunswick,
last week upheld the election of Democrat Fred Henry as Mayor over
Independent candidate Mary O’Connor by two votes after disqualifying the vote of a
hairdresser who maintained that she lived half-the-time in the back of her S.
Broadway salon.
An appeal of Paley’s decision to certify Henry over O’Connor as the winner
and not order a new election after his review of 23 contested
election-ballots was expected to be filed yesterday by Christopher Struben, O’Connor’s
attorney.
Struben said the Judge “addressed only nine of the votes” in making his
ruling and “did not even consider the whereabouts of 103 provisional ballots
sent to South Amboy but never returned to the Board of Elections.”
In addition, O’Connor’s team discovered on Jan. 8 that a couple living in
Matawan who had sold their Barkalow Street home 16 years ago had cast their
votes in South Amboy, in what Struben called “a clear case of voter-fraud,”
but Paley would not allow that evidence to be presented, saying that it was
submitted “too-late.”
Henry, who was leading by three votes before the Judge’s ruling, apparently
is free now to make any permanent appointments he wants, which Paley had
prohibited him from doing prior to last week’s hearing.
In compliance with the Judge’s previous order, all appointments which would
have expired and been up for consideration at the City Council
Reorganization on Jan. 5 were continued with holdovers who had been appointed by former
Mayor John O’Leary.
The only appointments made at that time were three Council members
appointed as representatives to the Planning Board and Redevelopment Agency and to
the Middlesex County Housing & Community Development Committee.
The respective Council members unanimously appointed to those positions
were Council President Joseph Connors, the Board’s former Chairman; Councilman
William Schwarick and Councilman Donald Applegate.
Paley made his latest ruling last week after reviewing a seven-page
petition by Struben, a six-page cross-petition by Michael Baker and Karl Kemm,
attorneys for Henry, and a 19-page brief by Senior Counsel Flavio Komuves of the
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey Foundation, Newark,
participating in the case as an “amicus curiae” (friend of the court),
detailing ACLU’s legal arguments concerning three voters allegedly denied their
rights by election officials.
The Middlesex County Board of Elections, represented by Deputy Attorney
General Donna Kelly, also a party to the case, did not file any documents.
Copies of all filings in the case, which are legally “public documents,”
have been obtained by the Amboy Beacon, which disclosed the names of the
voters connected to all 23 contested ballots in its Jan. 5 edition.
Paley also heard testimony early last week from some of the contested
voters and prospective voters involved in the election dispute, which arose over
the closeness of the vote for Mayor on Nov. 2 following what most observers
agreed was among the dirtiest campaigns in county history.
In addition to the usual rash of reports of campaign-signs being torn-down
or put-up without authorization, last 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 the
mysterious “endorsement” of Independent Vincent Mackiel’s mayoral candidacy by a
non-existent “South Amboy Tea Party.”
The unofficial vote-tally on South Amboy’s nine voting-machines had Henry
as the winner over O’Connor by 14 votes, with two other Independent
candidates, Mackiel and John Dragotta, trailing.
On Election Night, the counting of Mail-In Ballots (MIBs), formerly-known
as “absentee-ballots,” had Henry as unofficial winner by eight votes, which
was shaved to three votes the next day after additional MIBs were found.
That left the counting of 22 provisional ballots by the Board of Elections,
which produced a one-vote margin for Henry.
O’Connor requested, paid-for, and was granted a recount, which led to the
same lead for Henry. However, O’Connor later discovered that the Board
miscounted not once, but twice, a provisional ballot which was cast for Henry by
a Sayreville resident but was supposed-to have been covered by a sticker.
That ballot’s disqualification was affirmed by the state Attorney
General’s Office, whose investigators and several FBI agents were conducting an
ongoing probe of alleged voter-fraud at the Board’s Jersey Avenue headquarters
at the time.
If certified as final at that point, a tie-vote would have triggered a
special election between Henry and O’Connor on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
There were 22 provisional ballots submitted, three of which were voided by
the Board of Elections staff after painstaking research of the registration
rolls, which should have left 19 remaining ballots to be put-through the
scanner, but only 13 of them were counted — and later, recounted — by the
Board.
The six “misplaced” provisional ballots were discovered on Nov. 23 — three
weeks after the election — at the Jersey Avenue facility by workers who
broke the seals on all of the envelopes.
At an earlier hearing, Paley ruled that the six ballots, now-resealed, be
opened and counted, and three votes each were found to have been cast for
Henry and Mackiel, leaving Henry with a three-vote lead prior to the individual
ballot-challenges heard by Paley.
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 that the votes were “valid,” and stated that “no
one slipped-in any ballots.”
Struben disagreed and stated, “The problem here is security of the
ballots,” Struben said, maintaining that the “chain-of-custody” was broken when the
six ballots were lost, and again when they were found and opened.
Last week, the Judge declined to accept the applications of Alexa Hess,
whose provisional ballot was rejected; Michael Berardo, whose MIB was voided,
and Eric Cheng, who was denied a provisional ballot.
Hess said that while applying for her driver’s-license, she was asked if
she wanted to register to vote, she said “yes,” and marked-off the
“register-to-vote” section. When she went to the polls, her name was not in the book,
so she filled-out a provisional ballot.
Paley ruled that Hess did not do-enough to make-sure she was actually
registered, so he declined her vote.
Berardo stated that he received his MIB, but lost the envelope, so he
e-mailed the Board on what he should do. He received an e-mail back, telling him
to mail the MIB to Jersey Avenue. Following the instructions, Berardo said
he mailed his MIB.
The Judge ruled that Berardo did not do-enough to obtain clarification on
instructions on how-to return his MIB
Cheng stated that every time he gets an MIB, it is for Sayreville, not
South Amboy. He said that he has notified the Board, but is told each time that
his home is in Sayreville. Cheng produced his tax-bill, showing that he pays
property taxes in South Amboy, not in Sayreville, his water and sewer
bills, his driver’s-license and his children’s school records, all showing that
he lives in South Amboy.
Paley ruled that Cheng did not present sufficient evidence to show that he
lives in South Amboy.
At the same time that the Judge rejected the machine vote of Carol McGloan,
he accepted the machine vote of Grace Hoffman, both of whom were found to
be Sayreville residents.
McGloan, a South Amboy business owner, testified that she lives half the
time in Sayreville and half the time in the back room of her hair salon.
Hoffman openly-acknowledged that she has, in fact, lived in the Parlin
section of Sayreville for at-least three years, but that she votes in South
Amboy because she “loves the town,” and is thinking about moving there.
Paley ruled that McGlone was “not a credible witness,” and he declined her
vote, but he accepted Hoffman’s vote.
The Judge made no rulings on the provisional votes of Bert Colon, Kenneth
Horn, Victoria Kedmenec, Jay Vignola and Darlene Gallucci, allegedly
residents of South Amboy for less than the minimum 21 days, and the MIBs of Joshua
Gonzalez, Jeremy Gonzalez, Maria Crowley and Dennis Crowley, allegedly signed
by messenger Ryan Tooker, son of Business Administrator Camille Tooker,
which Struben said should be disallowed.
Paley also took no position regarding the MIB of Taryn Congleton and the
machine votes of Gary Bouchard, Robert Point, Kevin O’Connor and Felipe
Burgos, which were disputed by Baker on alleged non-residency grounds, or the
applications of Patricia Santucci, Anthony Santucci and Marie Santucci, who
were allegedly denied provisional ballots, and John Thomas O’Leary, Mayor
O’Leary’s son, whose MIB was voided, cited by Baker as being deprived-of their
rights.
In his submission, Komuves maintained that Hess, Berardo and Cheng were
denied their rights by election officials.
Saturday, January 22, 2011
School Board Authorizes Lawsuit To Recover $2.6M Loss
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Jan. 19, 2011)
PERTH AMBOY — The Board of Education voted last week to authorize Board
Secretary/Business Administrator Derek Jess and Board Attorney Victor Medina to
negotiate contingency rates with the Edison-based law firm of Methfessel &
Werbel to pursue the recovery of $2,593,400 allegedly bilked from the Perth
Amboy school district over nearly six years for healthcare-related programs
that never existed.
The Resolution was moved by Mark Carvajal, seconded by Board Vice President
Kenneth Puccio and adopted 8-0. Member Israel Varela left the meeting
before the vote was taken.
The Board also voted to authorize the filing of a lawsuit against insurance
brokers Francis Gartland, 69, of Baltimore, MD; Brian Foley, 36, of Summit,
and two of Gartland’s companies, Gartland & Co. Inc. and E-Administrative
Systems Inc., who have been indicted by a State Grand Jury on charges of
participating in the alleged scheme.
That Resolution was moved by Carvajal, seconded by Kurt Rebovich Jr. and
adopted 8-0.
Board President Samuel Lebrault said that Jess and Medina will negotiate
with Methfessel & Werbel for contingency rates “a little lower” than those
presented by attorney Steven Kluxen in a closed-door executive session with
the Board to discuss the scope of the litigation.
At a Board meeting last year, Medina explained that the massive loss
occurred over such an extended period of time because of “a mastermind scheme” in
which “funds were diverted from our health-benefits account” by people
with “superior knowledge” that “was, for all intents and purposes,
undetectable” because it was “designed to avoid detection.”
Professionals working on the district’s behalf “had looked-over everything
and were sure that everything was Kosher,” Medina said at that time.
“Nobody could find what had occurred; couldn’t find what they did — that’s
how-well they covered their tracks.”
Frank Cotroneo, 59, a Bernardsville insurance broker, has admitted that he
participated in bilking the district out of those funds and has agreed to
pay restitution of $2.6 million to the Board, along with a Public Corruption
Profiteering Penalty (PCPP) of $2.9 million.
Gartland and another of his firms, Federal Hill Risk Management LLC;
Gartland’s son-in-law, Derek Johnson, 39, of Lutherville, MD, and their business
partner, Thomas Kelleher, 62, of Parksville, MD, also have been indicted by
a State Grand Jury for allegedly conspiring to steal $216,495 from the City
of Perth Amboy by collecting payments for a non-existent “wellness program”
for city employees at a cost to Perth Amboy of $15 per employee per month.
PERTH AMBOY — The Board of Education voted last week to authorize Board
Secretary/Business Administrator Derek Jess and Board Attorney Victor Medina to
negotiate contingency rates with the Edison-based law firm of Methfessel &
Werbel to pursue the recovery of $2,593,400 allegedly bilked from the Perth
Amboy school district over nearly six years for healthcare-related programs
that never existed.
The Resolution was moved by Mark Carvajal, seconded by Board Vice President
Kenneth Puccio and adopted 8-0. Member Israel Varela left the meeting
before the vote was taken.
The Board also voted to authorize the filing of a lawsuit against insurance
brokers Francis Gartland, 69, of Baltimore, MD; Brian Foley, 36, of Summit,
and two of Gartland’s companies, Gartland & Co. Inc. and E-Administrative
Systems Inc., who have been indicted by a State Grand Jury on charges of
participating in the alleged scheme.
That Resolution was moved by Carvajal, seconded by Kurt Rebovich Jr. and
adopted 8-0.
Board President Samuel Lebrault said that Jess and Medina will negotiate
with Methfessel & Werbel for contingency rates “a little lower” than those
presented by attorney Steven Kluxen in a closed-door executive session with
the Board to discuss the scope of the litigation.
At a Board meeting last year, Medina explained that the massive loss
occurred over such an extended period of time because of “a mastermind scheme” in
which “funds were diverted from our health-benefits account” by people
with “superior knowledge” that “was, for all intents and purposes,
undetectable” because it was “designed to avoid detection.”
Professionals working on the district’s behalf “had looked-over everything
and were sure that everything was Kosher,” Medina said at that time.
“Nobody could find what had occurred; couldn’t find what they did — that’s
how-well they covered their tracks.”
Frank Cotroneo, 59, a Bernardsville insurance broker, has admitted that he
participated in bilking the district out of those funds and has agreed to
pay restitution of $2.6 million to the Board, along with a Public Corruption
Profiteering Penalty (PCPP) of $2.9 million.
Gartland and another of his firms, Federal Hill Risk Management LLC;
Gartland’s son-in-law, Derek Johnson, 39, of Lutherville, MD, and their business
partner, Thomas Kelleher, 62, of Parksville, MD, also have been indicted by
a State Grand Jury for allegedly conspiring to steal $216,495 from the City
of Perth Amboy by collecting payments for a non-existent “wellness program”
for city employees at a cost to Perth Amboy of $15 per employee per month.
Judge Upholds Convictions
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Jan. 19, 2011)
NEWARK — Sentencing of former Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas and longtime
Mayor’s Aide Melvin Ramos was scheduled by U.S. District Court Judge Susan
Wigenton for February after her ruling early last week against overturning
their convictions on corruption charges and ordering a new trial.
In the Martin Luther King Building and U.S. District Courthouse, Wigenton
ruled that there was “substantial evidence” for the jury to find Vas, 55,
and Ramos, 54, guilty on Oct. 8.
Both defendants were acquitted in Counts 1 through 4 of charges of mail
fraud. They were convicted in Counts 5 and 6 on other charges of mail fraud.
Each count of mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a
fine of $250,000.
Vas was convicted in Count 7 of fraud and misapplication of funds involving
a local government receiving federal funds, which carries a maximum penalty
of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Vas also was convicted in
Count 8 of making false statements to federal agents, which carries a maximum
penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $100,000.
Ramos was convicted in Count 9 of making contributions to a federal
candidate in the names of others, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of one
year in prison and a fine of $100,000. Ramos also was convicted in Counts 10
and 11 of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of
up to $100,000.
In Count 12, Vas was convicted of making contributions to a federal
candidate in the names of others, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of one
year in prison and a fine of $100,000.
As a result of the jury’s verdict, Vas faces a maximum prison term of 56
years and fines totaling $950,000, while Ramos faces a maximum prison term of
51 years and fines totaling $800,000.
In determining the actual sentences, Wigenton will consult the advisory
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines before she sentences Vas on Tuesday, Feb. 22, and
Ramos on Wednesday, Feb. 23. The Guidelines provide appropriate
sentencing-ranges that take-into-account the severity and characteristics of the offenses,
the defendants’ criminal histories, if any, and other factors. However, the
Judge isn’t bound-by the Guidelines in determining her sentence.
Parole has been abolished in the federal system, and defendants who are
given custodial terms must serve about 85-percent of that time.
NEWARK — Sentencing of former Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas and longtime
Mayor’s Aide Melvin Ramos was scheduled by U.S. District Court Judge Susan
Wigenton for February after her ruling early last week against overturning
their convictions on corruption charges and ordering a new trial.
In the Martin Luther King Building and U.S. District Courthouse, Wigenton
ruled that there was “substantial evidence” for the jury to find Vas, 55,
and Ramos, 54, guilty on Oct. 8.
Both defendants were acquitted in Counts 1 through 4 of charges of mail
fraud. They were convicted in Counts 5 and 6 on other charges of mail fraud.
Each count of mail fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a
fine of $250,000.
Vas was convicted in Count 7 of fraud and misapplication of funds involving
a local government receiving federal funds, which carries a maximum penalty
of 10 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Vas also was convicted in
Count 8 of making false statements to federal agents, which carries a maximum
penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $100,000.
Ramos was convicted in Count 9 of making contributions to a federal
candidate in the names of others, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of one
year in prison and a fine of $100,000. Ramos also was convicted in Counts 10
and 11 of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of
up to $100,000.
In Count 12, Vas was convicted of making contributions to a federal
candidate in the names of others, which carries a maximum statutory penalty of one
year in prison and a fine of $100,000.
As a result of the jury’s verdict, Vas faces a maximum prison term of 56
years and fines totaling $950,000, while Ramos faces a maximum prison term of
51 years and fines totaling $800,000.
In determining the actual sentences, Wigenton will consult the advisory
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines before she sentences Vas on Tuesday, Feb. 22, and
Ramos on Wednesday, Feb. 23. The Guidelines provide appropriate
sentencing-ranges that take-into-account the severity and characteristics of the offenses,
the defendants’ criminal histories, if any, and other factors. However, the
Judge isn’t bound-by the Guidelines in determining her sentence.
Parole has been abolished in the federal system, and defendants who are
given custodial terms must serve about 85-percent of that time.
Fire Chief: Harbortown Fire ‘Nothing Short Of Miracle’
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Jan. 19, 2011)
PERTH AMBOY — “What we encountered and what we accomplished” at a
suspicious Dec. 19 fire which destroyed 32-unit Building 15 of the massive
Harbortown complex in the city’s northeastern corner was “nothing short of a
miracle,” Fire Chief David Volk declared at the City Council Caucus early last week.
The four-alarm blaze, which left 100 residents homeless, is still
under-investigation by city detectives and the Middlesex County Arson Unit to
determine what was its cause.
“There were eight injuries reported, including two police officers, and
there were no firefighters injured,” Volk said. “Quite-honestly, I thought we
were going to lose three of those buildings. It could have been
tremendously-worse.”
Witnesses said they believed that Building 15’s sprinkler-system was
inoperable, and that water-pressure was a problem for firefighters.
“To be quite-honest, I don’t know whether they (the sprinklers) went-off,”
Volk said. However, he insisted that “we had no (water-pressure) problems;
the water was there.”
Volk was joined by Code Enforcement Director Edward Scala, who has been
criticized by Harbortown residents for failing to take-action on theor
complaints about alleged deficiencies at the complex, and Deputy Police Chief
Benjamin Ruiz, who did not speak.
Absent from the meeting, without explanation, were the city’s Fire Subcode
Official and Fire Official — the people who would be most-intimately-aware
of any potential problems with Harbortown’s fire-safety standards.
However, Scala did make an important contribution to the ongoing
discussions regarding the units’ construction when he pointed-out that Harbortown is
not subject-to state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) multi-family
inspections because it was designed as “a grouping of single-family units within
a close construction-area.”
He said the walls between units are supposed-to have a “one-hour
fire-rating,” meaning that they would take an hour to burn-through.
However, residents have said that because of the way the attics are
constructed, the fire was channeled unimpeded throughout most of the structure.
Scala conceded that this might be a shortcoming, while noting that that
part of Harbortown was built “four (Uniform Construction) Codes ago,” under
less-stringent requirements than those now in-effect.
But he said “the state should certainly look-to a change in the Code to
have a sprinkler-system in the attic” in future construction, which he will
recommend.
Currently, “the roof area is not required to have a sprinkler-system,”
Scala said, adding that “the (new) Code has just been adopted, and the next
cycle is not for three or four years.”
He noted that “in-excess-of 800 units” have been constructed at
Harbortown, out of a 1,664-unit total approved by the Planning Board.
PERTH AMBOY — “What we encountered and what we accomplished” at a
suspicious Dec. 19 fire which destroyed 32-unit Building 15 of the massive
Harbortown complex in the city’s northeastern corner was “nothing short of a
miracle,” Fire Chief David Volk declared at the City Council Caucus early last week.
The four-alarm blaze, which left 100 residents homeless, is still
under-investigation by city detectives and the Middlesex County Arson Unit to
determine what was its cause.
“There were eight injuries reported, including two police officers, and
there were no firefighters injured,” Volk said. “Quite-honestly, I thought we
were going to lose three of those buildings. It could have been
tremendously-worse.”
Witnesses said they believed that Building 15’s sprinkler-system was
inoperable, and that water-pressure was a problem for firefighters.
“To be quite-honest, I don’t know whether they (the sprinklers) went-off,”
Volk said. However, he insisted that “we had no (water-pressure) problems;
the water was there.”
Volk was joined by Code Enforcement Director Edward Scala, who has been
criticized by Harbortown residents for failing to take-action on theor
complaints about alleged deficiencies at the complex, and Deputy Police Chief
Benjamin Ruiz, who did not speak.
Absent from the meeting, without explanation, were the city’s Fire Subcode
Official and Fire Official — the people who would be most-intimately-aware
of any potential problems with Harbortown’s fire-safety standards.
However, Scala did make an important contribution to the ongoing
discussions regarding the units’ construction when he pointed-out that Harbortown is
not subject-to state Department of Community Affairs (DCA) multi-family
inspections because it was designed as “a grouping of single-family units within
a close construction-area.”
He said the walls between units are supposed-to have a “one-hour
fire-rating,” meaning that they would take an hour to burn-through.
However, residents have said that because of the way the attics are
constructed, the fire was channeled unimpeded throughout most of the structure.
Scala conceded that this might be a shortcoming, while noting that that
part of Harbortown was built “four (Uniform Construction) Codes ago,” under
less-stringent requirements than those now in-effect.
But he said “the state should certainly look-to a change in the Code to
have a sprinkler-system in the attic” in future construction, which he will
recommend.
Currently, “the roof area is not required to have a sprinkler-system,”
Scala said, adding that “the (new) Code has just been adopted, and the next
cycle is not for three or four years.”
He noted that “in-excess-of 800 units” have been constructed at
Harbortown, out of a 1,664-unit total approved by the Planning Board.
Missing ‘Snow Plan’ Slowed Response
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Jan. 19, 2011)
PERTH AMBOY — Although hampered by lack of access to the city’s Snow
Emergency Plan, Public Works Department employees worked diligently to clear
Perth Amboy’s streets of snow, which they did in a “comparable or better”
manner as other municipalities.
This was how Business Administrator Gregory Fehrenbach assessed the city’s
response to the Dec. 26 blizzard that dumped over 20 inches of the white
stuff on Perth Amboy and surrounding areas at the City Council Caucus early
last week.
Fehrenbach told the Council that “37 employees received overtime during the
storm.”
Public Works Director Paul Wnek allegedly failed to show-up for work in a
timely manner and was dismissed by Mayor Wilda Diaz, and former General
Supervisor Eddie Perez, who was replaced recently by Acting General Supervisor
Frank Hoffman, was on-vacation. Wnek and Perez had the only copies of the
city’s Snow Emergency Plan, Fehrenbach said.
Council members agreed that a copy of the Plan should be posted at Public
Works Department Headquarters, foot of Fayette Street.
Former Union County Public Works & Engineering Director Frank Dann, who was
hired as Management Assistant on Dec. 20, “jumped-into the breach” for the
snowstorm, Fehrenbach said.
The Council voted at its regular meeting two days later to confirm the
Mayor’s appointment of Dann as Interim Public Works Director, pending the hiring
of a permanent replacement for Wnek.
Dann, who attended the Caucus, said that “every possible person was
called” to acquire a copy of the Plan before he sat-down with the Public Works
Supervisors to divide the city into sections to attack the blizzard.
After finally obtaining the Plan, it was found to be “pretty-much the way
we had devised it,” he said. “Three additional pieces of equipment were
needed for this storm.”
Councilman Joel Pabon asked why the Department was not prepared for the
blizzard. “We knew about it in-advance almost a week,” he said. “It didn’t
catch us by-surprise.”
“I don’t want to go too-far because some of this may wind-up in
closed-session,” Fehrenbach said. “Mr. Dann asked Mr. Wnek about the Department’s
readiness for the storm, and he was told, ‘The Snow Plan is in place; there’s
nothing to worry-about.’”
However, Dann said that he “found the equipment in pretty-bad condition,
pretty-old and worn, and repairs had to be made to some plows.”
As for the smaller Jan. 11 snowstorm, he told Council members, “We’re
absolutely, 100-percent ready to go,” and “there should be no glitch this time.”
“We realize there were some personnel issues the last time,” Councilman
Kenneth Gonzalez said. “What happened before is definitely not going to happen
again.”
“This isn’t the first time I’ve done this sort-of-thing,” Dann stated.
“We were in-contact with the Emergency Management Coordinator this last one,
and will be again.”
Fehrenbach noted that Hoffman “went-back to prior Public Works Supervisors
and Directors for their advice.”
PERTH AMBOY — Although hampered by lack of access to the city’s Snow
Emergency Plan, Public Works Department employees worked diligently to clear
Perth Amboy’s streets of snow, which they did in a “comparable or better”
manner as other municipalities.
This was how Business Administrator Gregory Fehrenbach assessed the city’s
response to the Dec. 26 blizzard that dumped over 20 inches of the white
stuff on Perth Amboy and surrounding areas at the City Council Caucus early
last week.
Fehrenbach told the Council that “37 employees received overtime during the
storm.”
Public Works Director Paul Wnek allegedly failed to show-up for work in a
timely manner and was dismissed by Mayor Wilda Diaz, and former General
Supervisor Eddie Perez, who was replaced recently by Acting General Supervisor
Frank Hoffman, was on-vacation. Wnek and Perez had the only copies of the
city’s Snow Emergency Plan, Fehrenbach said.
Council members agreed that a copy of the Plan should be posted at Public
Works Department Headquarters, foot of Fayette Street.
Former Union County Public Works & Engineering Director Frank Dann, who was
hired as Management Assistant on Dec. 20, “jumped-into the breach” for the
snowstorm, Fehrenbach said.
The Council voted at its regular meeting two days later to confirm the
Mayor’s appointment of Dann as Interim Public Works Director, pending the hiring
of a permanent replacement for Wnek.
Dann, who attended the Caucus, said that “every possible person was
called” to acquire a copy of the Plan before he sat-down with the Public Works
Supervisors to divide the city into sections to attack the blizzard.
After finally obtaining the Plan, it was found to be “pretty-much the way
we had devised it,” he said. “Three additional pieces of equipment were
needed for this storm.”
Councilman Joel Pabon asked why the Department was not prepared for the
blizzard. “We knew about it in-advance almost a week,” he said. “It didn’t
catch us by-surprise.”
“I don’t want to go too-far because some of this may wind-up in
closed-session,” Fehrenbach said. “Mr. Dann asked Mr. Wnek about the Department’s
readiness for the storm, and he was told, ‘The Snow Plan is in place; there’s
nothing to worry-about.’”
However, Dann said that he “found the equipment in pretty-bad condition,
pretty-old and worn, and repairs had to be made to some plows.”
As for the smaller Jan. 11 snowstorm, he told Council members, “We’re
absolutely, 100-percent ready to go,” and “there should be no glitch this time.”
“We realize there were some personnel issues the last time,” Councilman
Kenneth Gonzalez said. “What happened before is definitely not going to happen
again.”
“This isn’t the first time I’ve done this sort-of-thing,” Dann stated.
“We were in-contact with the Emergency Management Coordinator this last one,
and will be again.”
Fehrenbach noted that Hoffman “went-back to prior Public Works Supervisors
and Directors for their advice.”
Council Rejects Pact For Animal-Control
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Jan. 19, 2011)
PERTH AMBOY — No member of the City Council voted in-favor of awarding a
three-year, $293,356 contract last week for animal-control services offered by
Happy Home Shelter Inc., whose Acting Director, local businesswoman Wilma
Matey, was on-vacation.
Under advice of City Law Director Mark Blunda, Councilmen William Petrick
and Kenneth Gonzalez — who moved and seconded the measure for discussion
purposes — abstained from voting on it to avoid “the appearance of a potential
conflict-of-interest.”
The Council’s three other members — Councilmen Fernando Gonzalez and Joel
Pabon and Council President Kenneth Balut — all voted “no.”
The “appearance of a potential conflict-of-interest” arose because of a
backyard barbecue held at the Water Street home of Matey, which she
maintained was a Cinco de Mayo celebration.
However, resident Alan Silber countered that the party was identified as a
“campaign rally” on the website of Moving Forward Together, a campaign
ticket in the May 2010 election consisting of Council candidates Petrick, Kenneth
Gonzalez and Maria Garcia.
The city’s strict “pay-to-play” regulations are now applicable to Petrick
and Gonzalez as Council members.
Matey, who has rounded-up many enthusiastic volunteers, has been seeking to
take-over operation of the city’s Shelter from the two ACOs for almost a
year, but the Council had taken no action, withdrawing the proposed Resolution
from its meeting-agenda on multiple occasions.
At the Council Caucus held the Monday before last week’s meeting, Fernando
Gonzalez angrily-questioned its inclusion on the list of active Resolutions.
“Why is this resurfacing again?” he asked. “We said we weren’t going-to
award anything.”
“A bid has been received,” Business Administrator Gregory Fehrenbach
explained. “You have to take a vote as a body.”
Neither Fernando Gonzalez nor Balut went-into-detail about why they cast
negative votes, but Pabon said he voted to reject the proposal because of
“unanswered questions.”
The Happy Home proposal was submitted by Matey after the Council rejected
an earlier proposal by Woodbridge Township to take-over the city’s
animal-control services, as it had done for Carteret and South Amboy.
The Council’s action last week left the operation of the Perth Amboy Animal
Shelter, Fayette Street, in the hands of retired police officer Richard
Cielesz and his wife, Michal, both certified Animal Control Officers (ACOs),
under Police Department supervision
PERTH AMBOY — No member of the City Council voted in-favor of awarding a
three-year, $293,356 contract last week for animal-control services offered by
Happy Home Shelter Inc., whose Acting Director, local businesswoman Wilma
Matey, was on-vacation.
Under advice of City Law Director Mark Blunda, Councilmen William Petrick
and Kenneth Gonzalez — who moved and seconded the measure for discussion
purposes — abstained from voting on it to avoid “the appearance of a potential
conflict-of-interest.”
The Council’s three other members — Councilmen Fernando Gonzalez and Joel
Pabon and Council President Kenneth Balut — all voted “no.”
The “appearance of a potential conflict-of-interest” arose because of a
backyard barbecue held at the Water Street home of Matey, which she
maintained was a Cinco de Mayo celebration.
However, resident Alan Silber countered that the party was identified as a
“campaign rally” on the website of Moving Forward Together, a campaign
ticket in the May 2010 election consisting of Council candidates Petrick, Kenneth
Gonzalez and Maria Garcia.
The city’s strict “pay-to-play” regulations are now applicable to Petrick
and Gonzalez as Council members.
Matey, who has rounded-up many enthusiastic volunteers, has been seeking to
take-over operation of the city’s Shelter from the two ACOs for almost a
year, but the Council had taken no action, withdrawing the proposed Resolution
from its meeting-agenda on multiple occasions.
At the Council Caucus held the Monday before last week’s meeting, Fernando
Gonzalez angrily-questioned its inclusion on the list of active Resolutions.
“Why is this resurfacing again?” he asked. “We said we weren’t going-to
award anything.”
“A bid has been received,” Business Administrator Gregory Fehrenbach
explained. “You have to take a vote as a body.”
Neither Fernando Gonzalez nor Balut went-into-detail about why they cast
negative votes, but Pabon said he voted to reject the proposal because of
“unanswered questions.”
The Happy Home proposal was submitted by Matey after the Council rejected
an earlier proposal by Woodbridge Township to take-over the city’s
animal-control services, as it had done for Carteret and South Amboy.
The Council’s action last week left the operation of the Perth Amboy Animal
Shelter, Fayette Street, in the hands of retired police officer Richard
Cielesz and his wife, Michal, both certified Animal Control Officers (ACOs),
under Police Department supervision
Sunday, January 16, 2011
S. AMBOY REORGANIZES
Officials Heed Judge’s Warning By Delaying Appointments
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Jan. 12, 2011)
SOUTH AMBOY — With former City Council President Fred Henry and
Councilmen-elect Donald Applegate, Joseph Connors and Michael “Mickey” Gross sworn-in
privately by City Clerk Kathleen Vigilante at City Hall, N. Broadway, on
Saturday, Jan. 1, at various times, last week’s Council Reorganization took
less than 15 minutes.
Applegate was sworn-in to an unexpired two-year term as First Ward
Councilman, succeeding the late Councilman Russell Stillwagon, while Connors and
Gross were sworn-in to full four-year terms as At-Large Councilmen.
At the meeting, Connors, Council Vice President under Henry, was elected as
Council President by the five-member, all-Democrat governing body, and
Second Ward Councilman Mark Noble was elected to succeed Connors as Council Vice
President, both by unanimous votes.
Connors — sporting a new beard — spoke briefly during the “Comments”
portion of the short meeting, announcing that his major goal is to “improve
communications” with the public through “town meetings” and “project-updates
to keep everybody up-to-date.”
Connors explained that the reason he decided to do this was because, as a
result of his campaigning door-to-door in 2010, he found that “the people in
this town didn’t know what was going-on.”
In addition, Connors said after the meeting that he had “pretty-big shoes
to fill” in succeeding Henry. “I hope I can do as-well as Fred,” he said.
As ordered by Superior Court Judge Phillip Paley, sitting in New Brunswick,
Henry — who was leading Independent mayoral candidate Mary O’Connor by
three votes at last count — may have been sworn-in as Mayor, but he had little
to do at last week’s Reorganization because the Judge prohibited him from
making any permanent appointments, pending a hearing scheduled for early this
week.
In compliance with Paley’s order, all appointments which would have expired
and been up for consideration last week were continued with holdovers who
had been appointed by former Mayor John O’Leary.
The only appointments listed on the slender 25-page meeting-agenda were
three Council members appointed as representatives to the Planning Board and
Redevelopment Agency and to the Middlesex County Housing & Community
Development Committee.
The respective Council members unanimously appointed to those positions, in
Resolutions moved by Noble, seconded by Councilman William Schwarick and
adopted 5-0, were Connors, the Board’s former Chairman; Schwarick and
Applegate.
The audience — normally robust at the yearly Reorganization, with
officials’ family members present to observe their relatives taking their
oaths-of-office, and appointees and their family members present to observe their
relatives’ appointments — was slimmer than the agenda, numbering only a
half-dozen.
The Council also voted unanimously to appoint the 24-member Emergency
Management Council, with Henry listed as Mayor; to re-establish eight petty-cash
funds, to designate 11 banking institutions as “official depositories” and
to fix interest-rates for delinquent tax and sewer bills.
Henry, who sat at the dais, spoke to reporters after the Reorganization
about the upcoming decision expected to be made by the Judge yesterday on
whether to certify Henry or O’Connor as the winner or order a new election
following a hearing on Monday and his review of 23 contested election-ballots.
“We’ll find-out more next (this) week, but that may not be the end of it,
as I assume she’ll have the right of appeal,” he said, referring to
O’Connor.
“This is all new to all of us,” Henry said of the post-election challenge.
“These are new areas that we’re exploring. Hopefully, it works-out for me.”
Normally, a ceremony follows the Council’s Reorganization, but not this
time.
“With all of that behind us, we’ll probably have a ceremony,” Henry said.
“No, we WILL have a ceremony.”
“I think we’ll wait until the Mayor thing is over,” Connors said.
Henry also took the opportunity to clarify a quote which appeared in the
Jan. 5 Amboy Beacon.
Henry had stated before the cross-petition’s filing 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.”
The Beacon had noted the irony of such a statement, given the fact that
Henry’s attorney was challenging some presumably O’Connor votes.
Henry said that what he really-meant was that if votes “are illegal, they
shouldn’t count.”
Last week, Paley received a seven-page petition by Christopher Struben,
attorney for O’Connor; a six-page cross-petition by Michael Baker, attorney for
Henry, and a 19-page brief submitted by by Senior Counsel Flavio Komuves of
the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey Foundation, Newark,
participating in the case as an “amicus curiae” (friend of the court),
detailing its legal arguments concerning three voters allegedly denied their
rights by election officials.
The Middlesex County Board of Elections, represented by Deputy Attorney
General Donna Kelly, also a party to the case, did not file any documents.
Copies of all filings in the case, which are legally “public documents,”
have been obtained by the Amboy Beacon, which disclosed the names of the
voters connected to all 23 contested ballots in its Jan. 5 edition.
The election dispute arose over the closeness of the vote for Mayor on Nov.
2 following what most observers agreed was among the dirtiest campaigns in
county history.
In addition to the usual rash of reports of campaign-signs being torn-down
or put-up without authorization, last 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 the myste
rious “endorsement” of Independent Vincent Mackiel’s mayoral candidacy by a
non-existent “South Amboy Tea Party.”
The unofficial vote-tally on South Amboy’s nine voting-machines had Henry
as the winner over O’Connor and the two other Independent candidates, Mackiel
and John Dragotta, by 14 votes.
On Election Night, the counting of Mail-In Ballots (MIBs), formerly-known
as “absentee-ballots,” had Henry as unofficial winner by eight votes, which
was shaved to three votes after additional MIBs were found.
That left the counting of 22 provisional ballots by the county Board, which
produced a margin of one vote for Henry.
O’Connor requested, paid-for and was granted a recount, which led to the
same one-vote lead for Henry. However, O’Connor later discovered that the
Board miscounted not once, but twice, a provisional ballot cast by a Sayreville
resident for Henry which was supposed-to have been covered by a sticker.
That ballot’s disqualification was affirmed by the state Attorney
General’s Office, whose investigators were — along with several FBI agents —
conducting an ongoing probe of alleged voter-fraud at the Board’s Headquarters on
Jersey Avenue at the time.
If certified as final at that point, a tied-vote would have triggered a
special election between Henry and O’Connor on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
There were 22 provisional ballots submitted, three of which were voided by
the Board’s staff after painstaking research of the registration rolls,
leaving 19 remaining ballots that should have been put-through the scanner, but
there were only 13 when they were counted — and later, recounted — by the
Board.
The six “misplaced” provisional ballots were discovered on Nov. 23 — three
weeks after the election — at the Jersey Avenue facility by workers who
broke the seals on the envelopes.
After a hearing, the Judge ruled that the six ballots, now-resealed, be
opened and counted, and three votes each were found to have been cast for Henry
and Mackiel, leaving Henry with a three-vote lead prior to the individual
ballot-challenges scheduled to be heard by Paley.
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Jan. 12, 2011)
SOUTH AMBOY — With former City Council President Fred Henry and
Councilmen-elect Donald Applegate, Joseph Connors and Michael “Mickey” Gross sworn-in
privately by City Clerk Kathleen Vigilante at City Hall, N. Broadway, on
Saturday, Jan. 1, at various times, last week’s Council Reorganization took
less than 15 minutes.
Applegate was sworn-in to an unexpired two-year term as First Ward
Councilman, succeeding the late Councilman Russell Stillwagon, while Connors and
Gross were sworn-in to full four-year terms as At-Large Councilmen.
At the meeting, Connors, Council Vice President under Henry, was elected as
Council President by the five-member, all-Democrat governing body, and
Second Ward Councilman Mark Noble was elected to succeed Connors as Council Vice
President, both by unanimous votes.
Connors — sporting a new beard — spoke briefly during the “Comments”
portion of the short meeting, announcing that his major goal is to “improve
communications” with the public through “town meetings” and “project-updates
to keep everybody up-to-date.”
Connors explained that the reason he decided to do this was because, as a
result of his campaigning door-to-door in 2010, he found that “the people in
this town didn’t know what was going-on.”
In addition, Connors said after the meeting that he had “pretty-big shoes
to fill” in succeeding Henry. “I hope I can do as-well as Fred,” he said.
As ordered by Superior Court Judge Phillip Paley, sitting in New Brunswick,
Henry — who was leading Independent mayoral candidate Mary O’Connor by
three votes at last count — may have been sworn-in as Mayor, but he had little
to do at last week’s Reorganization because the Judge prohibited him from
making any permanent appointments, pending a hearing scheduled for early this
week.
In compliance with Paley’s order, all appointments which would have expired
and been up for consideration last week were continued with holdovers who
had been appointed by former Mayor John O’Leary.
The only appointments listed on the slender 25-page meeting-agenda were
three Council members appointed as representatives to the Planning Board and
Redevelopment Agency and to the Middlesex County Housing & Community
Development Committee.
The respective Council members unanimously appointed to those positions, in
Resolutions moved by Noble, seconded by Councilman William Schwarick and
adopted 5-0, were Connors, the Board’s former Chairman; Schwarick and
Applegate.
The audience — normally robust at the yearly Reorganization, with
officials’ family members present to observe their relatives taking their
oaths-of-office, and appointees and their family members present to observe their
relatives’ appointments — was slimmer than the agenda, numbering only a
half-dozen.
The Council also voted unanimously to appoint the 24-member Emergency
Management Council, with Henry listed as Mayor; to re-establish eight petty-cash
funds, to designate 11 banking institutions as “official depositories” and
to fix interest-rates for delinquent tax and sewer bills.
Henry, who sat at the dais, spoke to reporters after the Reorganization
about the upcoming decision expected to be made by the Judge yesterday on
whether to certify Henry or O’Connor as the winner or order a new election
following a hearing on Monday and his review of 23 contested election-ballots.
“We’ll find-out more next (this) week, but that may not be the end of it,
as I assume she’ll have the right of appeal,” he said, referring to
O’Connor.
“This is all new to all of us,” Henry said of the post-election challenge.
“These are new areas that we’re exploring. Hopefully, it works-out for me.”
Normally, a ceremony follows the Council’s Reorganization, but not this
time.
“With all of that behind us, we’ll probably have a ceremony,” Henry said.
“No, we WILL have a ceremony.”
“I think we’ll wait until the Mayor thing is over,” Connors said.
Henry also took the opportunity to clarify a quote which appeared in the
Jan. 5 Amboy Beacon.
Henry had stated before the cross-petition’s filing 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.”
The Beacon had noted the irony of such a statement, given the fact that
Henry’s attorney was challenging some presumably O’Connor votes.
Henry said that what he really-meant was that if votes “are illegal, they
shouldn’t count.”
Last week, Paley received a seven-page petition by Christopher Struben,
attorney for O’Connor; a six-page cross-petition by Michael Baker, attorney for
Henry, and a 19-page brief submitted by by Senior Counsel Flavio Komuves of
the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Jersey Foundation, Newark,
participating in the case as an “amicus curiae” (friend of the court),
detailing its legal arguments concerning three voters allegedly denied their
rights by election officials.
The Middlesex County Board of Elections, represented by Deputy Attorney
General Donna Kelly, also a party to the case, did not file any documents.
Copies of all filings in the case, which are legally “public documents,”
have been obtained by the Amboy Beacon, which disclosed the names of the
voters connected to all 23 contested ballots in its Jan. 5 edition.
The election dispute arose over the closeness of the vote for Mayor on Nov.
2 following what most observers agreed was among the dirtiest campaigns in
county history.
In addition to the usual rash of reports of campaign-signs being torn-down
or put-up without authorization, last 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 the myste
rious “endorsement” of Independent Vincent Mackiel’s mayoral candidacy by a
non-existent “South Amboy Tea Party.”
The unofficial vote-tally on South Amboy’s nine voting-machines had Henry
as the winner over O’Connor and the two other Independent candidates, Mackiel
and John Dragotta, by 14 votes.
On Election Night, the counting of Mail-In Ballots (MIBs), formerly-known
as “absentee-ballots,” had Henry as unofficial winner by eight votes, which
was shaved to three votes after additional MIBs were found.
That left the counting of 22 provisional ballots by the county Board, which
produced a margin of one vote for Henry.
O’Connor requested, paid-for and was granted a recount, which led to the
same one-vote lead for Henry. However, O’Connor later discovered that the
Board miscounted not once, but twice, a provisional ballot cast by a Sayreville
resident for Henry which was supposed-to have been covered by a sticker.
That ballot’s disqualification was affirmed by the state Attorney
General’s Office, whose investigators were — along with several FBI agents —
conducting an ongoing probe of alleged voter-fraud at the Board’s Headquarters on
Jersey Avenue at the time.
If certified as final at that point, a tied-vote would have triggered a
special election between Henry and O’Connor on Tuesday, Jan. 19.
There were 22 provisional ballots submitted, three of which were voided by
the Board’s staff after painstaking research of the registration rolls,
leaving 19 remaining ballots that should have been put-through the scanner, but
there were only 13 when they were counted — and later, recounted — by the
Board.
The six “misplaced” provisional ballots were discovered on Nov. 23 — three
weeks after the election — at the Jersey Avenue facility by workers who
broke the seals on the envelopes.
After a hearing, the Judge ruled that the six ballots, now-resealed, be
opened and counted, and three votes each were found to have been cast for Henry
and Mackiel, leaving Henry with a three-vote lead prior to the individual
ballot-challenges scheduled to be heard by Paley.
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