Although he never thought he would receive any jail time for his arrest last year on charges he disrupted a North Bergen Board of Commissioners’ meeting, Edward “Bo” Scannavino was a little apprehensive as the day approached to answer the charges in Hoboken municipal court. (The case was moved to Hoboken as a charge of venues).
“I was a little concerned,” Scannavino said. “But my attorney [Robert Mayerovic] was convinced that we were going to win from the start.”
In May of 2001, Scannavino was arrested and charged with disrupting the commissioners meeting [where he has been a vocal critic of Mayor Nicholas Sacco and his administration for years] as well as resisting arrest.
At that meeting, Scannavino was led out of the commissioners’ chambers by North Bergen police after he was accused by Sacco of disrupting the public portion of the meeting, where residents are allowed five minutes to speak about issues to the mayor and commissioners.
“But I never spoke during the meeting,” Scannavino said. “I wasn’t obstructing the meeting. I just said to other people who hadn’t been at a meeting before that they had to sign in to be able to speak. But Sacco said that I was out of order. I said, ‘By whom am I out of order? If I’m out of order, then you’re a thief.’ With that, he sent the police over to have me removed.
Added Scannavino, “When Sgt. [Robert] Dowd asked me to leave, I asked him, ‘Am I under arrest?’ He said, ‘No.’ But he put his hands on me to lead me out and I told him not to put his hands of me. I jerked back and was led out of the room. They didn’t handcuff me. They didn’t put me in a seatbelt. But they said they wanted a statement from me and I maintained that I didn’t do anything wrong.”
The police report stated that Scannavino, a former township code inspector who was fired by Sacco seven years ago, made “rude and disparaging remarks to the mayor.”
Scannavino, a former Sacco ally who has been regularly attending commissioners’ meetings to voice his displeasure for the last two years, was glad that the case was heard in a different venue.
Monday, Hoboken Municipal Court Judge Dennis McGill cleared Scannavino of all charges, saying the arrest infringed on Scannavino’s First Amendment rights.
North Bergen officials said that they will change their procedure toward charges for disrupting meetings and will use the charge of “defiant trespass,” in the future.
“We’re going to change our way of handling this after the judge’s decision,” said town attorney Herb Klitzner. “It will be defiant trespass from now on. We’ll be more aware of the law from now on. I can assure you that such behavior at meetings will not be tolerated and anyone who tries to disrupt the meeting in that manner will be prosecuted if we have to. We have to run our meetings in a very businesslike fashion and can’t have these interruptions. We’re not going to pursue any appeal, but we’ll be more aware now.”
Scannavino once again attended the meeting Wednesday to voice his opinion. He was not deterred by the arrest, nor by the judge’s ruling, although the usually boisterous Scannavino was somewhat subdued with his comments.
“If I have something to say, I’m going to say it,” Scannavino said. “I absolutely feel vindicated. I’m going to be there to speak my mind and represent the public. This decision from the judge makes me feel like my battery has been re-charged. I’m going to be out there in full force opposing them.”