Disqualified or Not? 11 to 20 New Brunswick Democrats4Change committee challengers out of 50+

Shamy's Shameful Sham.... (0.00 / 0)

Instead of embracing the opportunity for some genuine competition and an issues oriented campaign that might have increased Democratic voter participation, energy and turnout, the Middlesex Democratic Party chose to adopt the tactics of a Joe Ferriero BCDO machine and fight dirty.

Let this be a lesson to all progressives and grass roots activists throughout the state.  

If this tactic "succeeds" then I urge the Democrats4Change to come up with a slate that meets the letter of the law and runs that slate on a write in basis.

The Democrats of Middlesex county should have the opportunity to vote for an alternative to a machine that sells out the values of the Democratic party to big money interests.   That's essentially corrupt.

Here's a bit from the Democrats4Change site...

http://www.democrats4change.com/

Brent Klokis, a 26-year-old who works at a residential architecture firm and is running to be the Ward 6, District 5, committeeman, said he feels the city is at a critical juncture and has two choices: become a culture of million-dollar condominiums and posh restaurants, or revive the existing culture by rejuvenating the neighborhoods. "The first solution (of the current city leadership) is to simply rebuild instead of getting out there into the community," he said. "The truth is that a lot of residents don't even know who is on the committee currently. They barely know their City Council members because no one's out there (in the neighborhoods)." .............................."Democrats for Change" candidates want each neighborhood to have representatives that will put the real-life concerns of their neighbors first on the city's agenda. Noting that current city leaders have grown aloof to the needs of residents and are unknown to most of the city, Thomas Peoples, candidate for committeeman in Ward 4, District 5 said: "There is no communication with the Councilpeople. They never come to the neighborhoods. The only way we can have change is if real people step up to represent that actually LIVE in all neighborhoods." Adam Gold, a Rutgers graduate and candidate for committeeman in Ward 6, District 6 added: "I just want people to be able to answer a simple question: Who is representing you?" "Democrats for Change" slate plan to address citywide issues that impact all residents such as the lack of representation for many constituencies in the city (by supporting ward-based elections) and the need to improve the city's schools and to make them more accountable (with an elected school board). Additionally, candidates plan to tackle specific issues impacting their neighborhoods such as improving street cleaning, alleviating parking and transportation problems, offering greater access to affordable and safe housing, expanding and improving city parks, and providing activities and programs for local youth. "I'm running because I am sick and tired of this city building new condominiums, apartments, and hotels when our schools are falling apart," said Marge Kerber, member of the Second Ward Crime Watch and candidate for Ward 2, District 4. "I can't imagine how much more money New Brunswick would have if, instead of providing tax abatements to those that have no ties to this city, they used the tax money from these projects to improve our schools." Added Brent Klokis, Rutgers graduate and candidate for committeeman in Ward 6, District 5: "We are about more than just downtown."

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by: Nick Lento @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 14:55:31 PM UTC

The machine's dirty, but this tactic isn't. (0.00 / 0)

I think the Democrats4change are OK by the law, at least as I've always interpreted Title XIX. But there is room for interpretation. And it's not dirty to make sure your opponenets meet the legal qualifications to run. Let's see what the final ruing is.

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by: Dvd Avins @ Fri Apr 24, 2009 at 17:30:16 PM UTC

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who will 'rue' the day? (0.00 / 0)

funny typo - yes, one can wait for the ruling, but the question will be after Jun 2nd who is doing the 'ruing.'

Did you read the article about all the timing issues?  You can legitimately ask if the petitions were filed properly, but they will take any angle they can get to have the petitions disqualified. Apparently, some people re-registered just to be sure that they were registered in the right district.  Voter registration is not the only determining factor in establishing residency, so in some of the cases it sounds like disqualification wasn't justified.

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by: kwilkinson @ Sat Apr 25, 2009 at 02:09:58 AM UTC

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At A Technical Level The Tactic Is "Legal"... (0.00 / 0)

...and arguably within the rues.

However the timing of the tactic, as kwilkinson and the article point out, was clearly intended to preclude much chance of the new folks getting on the ballot. That which is legal may also be perceived as dirty.

The irony of this is that had the regulars simply embraced the opportunity for honest competition they would likely have won in a landslide.   Most of the folks who turn out for these primaries tend to be the "regulars".

By playing such partisan hardball the establishment types will have given the reformers lots of free publicity and very strong motivation to stay in the game and fight back.    Even if they don't win this time, they will have been energized for future efforts and ongoing organizing/voter registration etc.

And if the litigation ends up allowing most of the upstarts to actually be on the ballot....they will be all the more motivated to campaign hard.

I see what's happening in Middlesex as a model to be emulated throughout the state.   County committees are the foundation of the party, and that's where activists, progressives and reformers should focus much of their/our efforts....even if/when we lose we do the body politic a service by informing and registering new activated voters.  

Democracy works best when it is not seen as a spectator sport.

NJ is too broke these days to be able to afford the waste and legalized theft that comes with machine politics.

I urge all the folks from democrats4change to hang tough and, whatever happens in this particular skirmish,  stay in this fight for the long term!

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by: Nick Lento @ Sat Apr 25, 2009 at 03:20:22 AM UTC

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The Tactic is 100% Dirty for 1/2 of the DisQ'd Candidates (4.00 / 3)

I am Sean Monahan, one of the disqualified candidates, from ward 5 district 2.

I have lived at my current address for over a year.

The Machine used the date of my voter registration, last October, as the standard for my residency. That was completely unlawful and if its was a mistake one would need to be really incompetent, as they failed to apply the same standard to their own candidates of which at least 3 qualify.

Even if the Machine wins in court, I will still be eligible to run. Once, I present my lease to the court, I believe. Why its up to me to prove this is ridiculous, the City and County Clerks should have recognized the illegality of using voter registration as a proxy for residency,

But here is why my name was included. Had we failed to sue them the ballot would have been reprinted without my name and the 11 others in my situation!

We would have been denied the opportunity to run.

To this end, TK Shamy waited until 4 days after the official deadline to make objections to our candidates. We received the notice of this on Saturday afternoon in the mail.  We had to file the suit on Monday or it would have been too late.

Through a very serious amount of hard work we made that Monday deadline.

It is also very noteworthy that as early as Monday morning the County Clerk of Middlesex county had sworn to our organizers on the lives of her children that our candidates would be on the ballot.

She reversed herself within one hour. Further, she stated that it was not the City that must sue, to change the ballot which had already been approved by her at that time, but rather it was us that must sue them to prevent them from changing the ballot.

The Machine has used dirty tactics to slow us down in the past but they are clearly getting more desperate. One cannot say that this tactic was in anyway legitimate.

They want people to believe that they are simply following the rules and its our naivety that prevents us from following them correctly.

No, they are breaking the rules and using their position of power to say that they are not. Its just like G.W.BUSH, or any other tyrant trying make their way against democracy.

The two sides to this aren't ours and theirs. The two sides are right and wrong.

I am confident we will persevere in this challenge and in getting the ward representation for our city.

We have a city wide coalition dedicated to taking apart this Machine and instituting rule by and for the people in our city.

I have never been more proud of our organization.

empowernb.com
democrats4change.com

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by: smonahan @ Sat Apr 25, 2009 at 13:45:10 PM UTC

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Thanks for posting, running and standing up for your rights (0.00 / 0)

I can't imagine it was Elaine Flynn who was 'swearing on the lives of her children' that you'd all be on the ballot, so I wonder who it was in the clerk's office.  

I went just to get the simple list of registered voters in my HP district, and my own name wasn't on the list of my district - no one was included from Tu to Wr or some such letters in the alphabetical list.  Apparently, someone new was printing up the lists, which cost 25 cents, for what their worth.  In fairness, they supplied me with a more adequate list.  I've had to do some spot checking of their lists, etc in the past, so I can't imagine what's it's like to deal with hard core issues of whether you're being disqualified. Patty Bombelyn in your corner seems to be your best bet at this point.

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by: kwilkinson @ Sun Apr 26, 2009 at 04:21:55 AM UTC

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Hang Tough Sean!!! (0.00 / 0)

Your response confirms my initial gut level "take" on the situation.

Machine politics sucks.  It is inherently/categorically dirty for the simple reason that concentrated power tends to corrupt.

The end state which all NJ progressives should seek is one in which all "dirty" tactics become  illegal within constitutional guidelines.   Obviously, there will always be some grey areas given the virtually infinite capacity of humans to spin and distort things to their own advantage; however this case reeks of a collusive effort to deny one political group the opportunity to run.  

If any of the folks on the ground who have more access to, and knowledge of, the details of this mess believe that there was some kind of conspiracy to deny them ballot access (and not that this was either totally legitimate or just the result of serial incompetence); then I urge them (and/or their legal representatives) to file some kind of federal complaint.   Perhaps an Obama Justice Department will show more concern for electoral rights that the Bush/Christie "Justice" Department did?  Perhaps.

Whatever the legal outcome, this case is just one more example of why the people of New Jersey need to take back control of their government from the political establishments (of both parties) which are  clearly corrupt.  

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by: Nick Lento @ Mon Apr 27, 2009 at 16:17:25 PM UTC

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