Dear Editor:
Once again, Mayor Stack has shown that rather than face the issues, he would prefer to engage in character assassination. I am referring to Mayor Stack’s recent response to Mr. Francisco Nunez’s letter to the editor in regard to government patronage. Firstly, I read Mr. Nunez’s letter, and he is absolutely correct in what he said. If Mayor Stack was a student of history, he would have known that people like Teddy Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson were some of the driving forces behind the creation of civil service and the elimination of patronage or the ‘spoils system.’ These systems took advantage of municipal employees and helped to create political machines like those of Boss Tweed and Jersey City Mayor Frank “I am the Boss” Hague.
I am also confused by Mayor Stack’s quote, “along with a few other politically motivated employees, he (Mr. Nunez) has managed to make a career of suing the city and taking money from the hardworking taxpayers of Union City.” If Mayor Stack did nothing wrong, how could Mr. Nunez or any other person take money from the taxpayers? My understanding of civil law is that the city would only be required to pay money if they were found liable by a judge or jury or if the city agreed to settle the matter out of court. If the city did nothing wrong, then why would Mayor Stack agree to settle out of court giving away tax dollars?
After reading both Mr. Nunez’s letter and Mayor Stack’s response, the only inaccuracies I found were in Mayor Stack’s explanation and response.
Jorge Cruz