Dear Editor:
I am a member of the Secaucus Municipal Democratic Committee, and I am writing to dispute some statements Al Sullivan made in his “Between the Lines” column on August 16, 2009. Al is mixing fact with fiction, and in so doing, casts suspicion and confusion during a difficult time in our Town’s history. By way of background, I ran on the Secaucus Democrats for Change slate in the June primary. I am new to politics and the Committee. When I was elected, I could never have imagined the unprecedented political events that would soon unfold. Here is a brief summary of the Municipal Committee’s role in this drama. On August 3, the Committee met and voted unanimously for Assemblyman Vincent Prieto to take over as Municipal Democratic Committee Chairman. At that meeting, Mr. Prieto said he would conduct a poll to learn who the citizens would like to see as interim mayor, and at our next meeting on August 10, the committee would select three names from the poll results to present to the Council. Mr. Prieto telephoned prior to the August 10th meeting to advise me of the poll results. He said the poll showed Independent candidate for Mayor, Mike Gonnelli, as having such high name recognition and favorability in every ward that the Democratic Party would probably not run a candidate against him. He said that in his opinion, the Democrats’ best strategy would be to concentrate on maintaining their Council seats. He prefaced telling me the names of the top three candidates for interim mayor by stressing that there is one name who he felt would be the best person for the job and that was Richard Steffens. The other two gentlemen were Richard Kane and Edward Zloty. On the evening of August 10, the committee convened, the meeting was called to order, and a member nominated Richard Steffens, Edward Zloty, and Robert Zych. That nomination was seconded. Mr. Prieto called for the “ayes” and “nays”. Being no nays, the ayes had it. Therefore, those were the three names the Committee would present to the Council. Mr. Prieto also told the Committee members he will bring the pollster in at a later date to present the results, but no date was set and the meeting adjourned.
After the meeting outside in the parking lot, I was told that Mr. Kane withdrew his name. Those are the facts. Reports of secret deals are lies. Our elected leaders have to move forward to focus on the pressing business of governing the Town such as the 2009 budget and Tax Office discrepancies. Last, I want to thank Messrs. Steffens, Zloty and Zych for stepping forward as candidates for interim mayor. We are fortunate to have them and many other concerned and civic-minded residents willing to serve and restore honesty, respect and fairness in government.
Sincerely,
Marilyn DePice
Member Secaucus Municipal Democratic Committee Ward 2 District 4