UNION CITY — The first Union City Board of Commissioners meeting since last week’s FBI raid on city hall ended in five minutes, but not without drama.
Last week, federal officials spent time in City Hall looking through documents, although they have not confirmed the reasons.
Tuesday night, it appeared to some people in the audience that the commissioners were avoiding the section of the meeting in which the public could speak. So longtime resident Armando Hernandez exchanged words with Mayor Brian Stack. Hernandez questioned why the public section was cut short and accused Stack of governing without transparency.
Vocal barbs ensued until Stack claimed that Hernandez, who was standing 10 feet away at the time, had threatened him. Stack then ordered police officers to question Hernandez. The officers later said that a report would be filed but no charges would be pressed.
Stack and his fellow commissioners immediately left the building without offering further comment, but Hernandez remained to speak with reporters.
“If they did announce the public section of the meeting, no one heard them,” he said. “That meeting was a disrespect to everyone who came here tonight.”
Hernandez did not reveal specifically what he had planned to ask about, but he hinted that it had to do with the federal raid.
“He obviously does not want to answer questions about what’s happened in the last week,” he said. “It just goes to show there’s no transparency in this town.”
Hernandez said he has lived in Union City since 1968. – Dean DeChiaro