HOBOKEN—In a letter recently released by the city, Interim Police Chief Edelmiro “Eddie” Garcia has responded to claims by a city councilwoman that “alarming…civil rights violations” occurred during the August Hoboken Housing Authority board special meeting at which Executive Director Carmelo Garcia was fired.
Garcia was terminated at an Aug. 4 meeting in City Hall’s council chambers that saw many more potential attendees that could fit in the room. The proceedings were marked by frequent chanting by HHA residents supportive of Garcia along with sporadic physical altercations, and Hoboken Police were called upon to maintain order.
In an open letter distributed citywide around Aug. 17, 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason alleged that HHA board members brought police from nearby cities, including K-9 units, to the meeting in an attempt to “exploit residents and portray them as hostile.” She also stated that the meeting was held in a room that was not handicap-accessible, “forcing a senior citizen who is confined to a wheelchair to sit outside in the heat.”
In a letter to Zimmer dated Aug. 20, Chief Garcia denied any animus against public housing residents, stating that all of his department’s actions at the board meeting were taken “to ensure that the public at hand during this meeting were afforded the safety and protection they are entitled to,” regardless of their political position.
“It appears that the councilwoman is injecting her own ‘spin’ on this meeting and possibly attempting to take advantage of the media attention that has been so prevalent of late due to recent events happening nationwide,” wrote Garcia, in an apparent reference to the protests in Ferguson, Missouri.
With respect to the presence of police and K-9 units from Union City, Weehawken, and other jurisdictions, Garcia said he was well within his rights to request such assistance and did so “to ensure the pubic safety [sic] city wide while maintaining cost-efficiency in the deployment of overtime personnel,” which is an issue that comes up frequently in City Council meetings.
“This is not a unique situation in hoboken,” wrote Garcia, “as we have regularly deployed mutual aid personnel during many high profile events” including the St. Patrick’s Day LepreCon and Independence Day celebrations.
He said K-9 units were provided by one of the assisting police departments, but not at his request.
Garcia also stated that the council chambers had been handicap-accessible via elevator from City Hall’s Newark Street entrance.
However, in a follow-up letter dated Sept. 3, Mason maintained that the elevator had been non-functioning the night of the special HHA meeting and presented photographs allegedly showing an “Out of Service” sign on the elevator doors.
In the conclusion of his letter, Garcia asserts that the professionalism of his officers could be seen in the results of the meeting.
“NO arrests were made on any police complaint resulting from this meeting,” he wrote, “NO one’s civil rights were violated, there were no civilian complaints lodged against any Hoboken Police Officer, not one person was injured due to activities at this meeting, the meeting itself was not impeded by the actions of any attendee, and area businesses were not affected as a result of police activities which were in place.”
In the month since Executive Director Garcia was fired, the city administration has stayed assiduously out of the fray, with Chief Garcia’s letter being the first major official statement on the events of that night. Mayor Dawn Zimmer has stated repeatedly that she considers the HHA board to be an independent body and did not influence their decision to terminate Executive Director Garcia.
Zimmer was not present at the HHA special meeting on Aug. 4. In her open letter, Councilwoman Mason alleged that Mayor Zimmer refused to meet with the hundreds of residents who engaged in a peaceful march from 221 Jackson St. to City Hall prior to the meeting to “protest the Mayor’s interference with the Housing Authority.”
Carmelo Garcia was elected last year to represent Hoboken in the state assembly. He has had a long-term conflict with Mayor Zimmer, and has an pending lawsuit against her for allegedly forcing him to appoint hand-picked professionals and discriminating against him.
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