The Battle Over the Replacement for Blunda

Alan Silber

PERTH AMBOY –  During the first public portion of the regular 8/10/15 Council Meeting, Resident Alan Silber was concerned about how the Council decided on the appointment of Arlene Quinones Perez, Esq. to replace City Attorney Mark Blunda. Silber stated, “You (the Council) went into a closed session after the conclusion of the Caucus Meeting. Then you came out and started the regular Council Meeting. You didn’t say what you were going into closed session for. When they came back out, there were three late starter Resolutions, one which dealt with the appointment of a new Law Director.”

The Amboy Guardian obtained a copy of this resolution which states: Resolution consenting to the appointment of Arlene Quinones Perez as Director of the Department of Law effective September 1, 2015 and waving the residency requirement.).

Silber continued, “Are you going to vote on this and did you research this potential appointee?”

Councilman Fernando Gonzalez was the first to answer Silber, “I did research and had questions about this appointment.”

Councilman Fernando Gonzalez

Resident Stanley Sierakowski said, “This law firm (DeCotiis, FitzPatrick & Cole, LLP) where this appointee comes from has a bad reputation. This is taxpayers money being spent. This resolution should be tabled or maybe be a temporary appointment.”

Resident David Caba asked Councilman Gonzalez, “How long did you research this firm?”

Gonzalez responded, “One day,” then continued, “My son is a lawyer. I looked up articles on this firm and specifically the individual considered to be hired (Arlene Quinones Perez, Esq.) With modern technology, it’s very easy to do research very quickly. I did some research on the whole firm and more research on the individual we will work with. I even researched other firms she worked with and I know she’s only been with this present firm for five months. She has had excellent reviews from all she’s worked for and has not been involved in any scandals.”

Besides the back and forth with Councilman Gonzalez, Caba asked other Council Members if they had researched this lawyer.

David Caba

Councilman Bill Petrick said, “Not enough.”

Councilman Joel Pabon said, “Yes, I did.”

Council President Lisa Nanton said, “No.”

Caba appreciated the Council’s truthful responses.

During the second public portion,  Silber came up to speak again. “You’re hiring the law firm – not just the individual lawyer from that firm.”

When voting on the ordinance came about, everyone voted “Yes” except for Councilman Fernando Irizarry who voted, “No.”

No action was taken on this resolution. A “Late Starter” Resolution requires unanimous vote to be placed on the agenda for consideration. There was no unanimous vote on this resolution with Councilman Fernando Irizarry’s “No,” vote. The Resolution therefore was tabled.

Alan Silber congratulated Irizarry for voting “No” to hire this lawyer, then turning towards the outgoing Attorney, Mark Blunda, Silber complimented him on being a fine representative, “Although I many have not agreed with everything you say.”

David Caba told those in attendance, “We (people who come up and speak about issues concerning what’s going on in the City) are not gadflies. We are just informed. If we didn’t come up here, this ordinance would not have been tabled and it would have passed. We’re not getting paid for coming up here. Don’t look out for the interest of McCabe and Vitale. I’ve come to the Council Meetings since 1992 and I respect Mr. Blunda. He should not be going through this.”

“I called many people today regarding this young lady. When Mr. Blunda was hired, I did zero research and I was very happy with him. Some of the people (County Democratic Party Chair, Kevin McCabe, Senator Joe Vitale) who you claim want her here, but they really don’t want her. The fact of the matter is she is fighting the people you claim that want her here.”

Gonzalez mentioned that he’s  also the one that wanted another late starter resolution.

This pertained authorizing an independent evaluation of the delivery of legal services to  the City of Perth Amboy and the structure of the department of law to recommend the most efficient and cost effective method of delivering legal services to the City.

Irizarry was absent for the Caucus Meeting and the Regular Council Meeting did not start until 8:46 p.m. Irizarry arrived at that meeting at 8:57 p.m. during the first public portion. He had been waiting at the hospital for the birth of his first grandchild.