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War of the Words 9/19/12

Women Political Leaders Take a Stand – Support Diaz

Diaz Asks Delgado to Denounce His Consultant’s Personal Attacks on Her Delgado Consultant (Devine) Answers Back

PERTH AMBOY — Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg from Bergen Co., Sen. M. Teresa Ruiz from Essex Co., Sen. Nellie Pou from Passaic Co., Asm. Connie Wagner from Bergen/Passaic Co’s., Asm. Annette Quijano from Middlesex Co., Mayor Colleen Mahr from Fanwood, Grissele Camacho, Chair of LUPE PAC (Latina’s United for Political Empowerment) all came to speak in defense of Perth Amboy Mayor Wilda Diaz. The last supporter to speak was Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver (Essex/Passiac Co’s) who is also the first female speaker of the General Assembly.

The gathering of these women at City Hall Circle came about in response to personal e-mails sent to Mayor Diaz from Billy Delgado’s political consultant, Jim Devine.

Some of the comments made by the women who spoke in the Mayor’s behalf were as follows: Weinberg: “For generations, women have been told to sit down and shut-up and accept the fact that they are not as smart as men. It is sickening that in the 21st Century there are people running for office that still believe in this nonsense. Quite simply there is no room for this kind of rhetoric in the state of New Jersey.”

Sen. Nellie Pou stated that she was concerned about the remarks, especially by one gentleman whose name is not even worth mentioning and that it is hard for Latina women. I’m asking Delgado to remove himself from remarks made by his campaign consultant. I look forward for returning back for Mayor Diaz’ second term inauguration.

Asm. Connie Wagner: (a former high school guidance counselor) stated that the comments made by his consultant were very disrespectful. Wilda has stepped up to the plate to make Perth Amboy better. We can respectfully disagree without attacking character. Let’s get back to the issues.

Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver: Stated it was a pleasure to stand with other women and lend support to Mayor Diaz. I am familiar with Perth Amboy because of Bishop Donald Hilliard because of his work in the community. I’ve seen the growth and expansion of the downtown. I am shocked and appalled about the tone of this campaign. A crotch is not required to have intellect, to be savvy and to prove your leadership. In Trenton, the budget has been cut which means that the cities are not getting the money that they had in the past. It is the worst time to be Mayor anywhere.

The Mayor was the last one to speak. Diaz: These women understand the challenges that we have. In response to the email which called me “stupid,” I had to fight a corrupt political machine. I was the one who paid down 54 million dollars of a 250 million dollar debt. I would not call this being incompetent. The S & P gave us a positive outlook. We brought in 600 million dollars of ratables. Let’s disagree with respect. I hope to hear from Billy Delgado about comments made by Jim Devine.

Devine appeared towards the end of the remarks made by some of the speakers and he tried to ask a question when he heard his name being mentioned. He was quickly surrounded by police officers who told him that he had to remove his car that was parked illegally around the curb of City Hall Circle.

After he moved his car to another illegal spot, he came back but was not successful at asking any questions to the Mayor or any of the women who spoke on her behalf. What happened instead is that Devine had a barrage of questions tossed at him from reporters from other media outlets. In the press packet distributed by those working on the Mayor’s behalf were documents accusing Devine of domestic violence and child support arrears.

Devine answered back to the reporters, “I was never charged with domestic violence. We both (his ex-wife) filed domestic violence charges but they were dismissed. “I paid twice as much in child support. I proved I was overcharged.”

Devine who is now the consultant to Billy Delgado’s campaign worked for the Diaz Team in 2008 when Diaz pulled a major victory over the then 18 year incumbent Mayor, Joe Vas.

Devine stated, “There were a number of people to challenge Joe Vas. The Latino Alliance decided to unite behind one candidate. I helped elect Mayor Diaz and I’m proud of it. I left her four days before her inauguration. I have compassion for Wilda, but she lacks leadership. I sent e-mails to her but Delgado did not have knowledge of them.”

Diaz said that the e-mails sent by Devine were demeaning to women in general. In a she said/he said press conference, Devine attempted to justify his comments to her which included calling her “stupid,” “incompetent,” and “not as smart” as Mayoral counterparts in surrounding cities referring to Dan Reiman of Carteret and John McCormac of Woodbridge. Also included in the email sent to Mayor Diaz, Devine did give her credit for the Buckeye Partnership at the former Chevron property. This is just a small sample of a two-page email sent from Devine to Diaz dated 8/27/12.

Diaz acknowledged that Devine worked on her campaign in 2008 but she chose not to retain him after discovering his arrest for spousal abuse and failure to pay child support. In Devine’s email from 8/27/12 he stated: “I have no reason to be dishonest, and had you asked at the time when it would have mattered I would have helped you get the city on track. You never called,” referring to after Diaz won the 2008 Mayoral election.

After the event broke up the Amboy Guardian asked Senator Joe Vitale if he had any comments to make. He said that it was a great turnout of women across the spectrum supporting the Mayor. The personal e-mails that the Mayor received were demeaning and I was stunned by the comments that Devine made.

Vitale also said that the worst part is that Billy Delgado saw the e-mails Devine sent out. When asked if he had given the e-mails personally to Delgado. Vitale stated that he had given them to someone working in Delgado’s headquarters.

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