He Fires Back Residents Still Question Out-of-Town Hirees
Interim B.A. Pelissier shakes hands with some of the attendees at the 10/14/15 Caucus/Council Meetings.
* Photo by C. Maxwell
PERTH AMBOY – At the 10/14/15 Caucus Portion of the Council Meeting, Resident Stanley Sierakowski asked a barrage of questions directed toward Council President Lisa Nanton in reference to the new Interim Business Administrator. Sierakowski read an article from 2007 that questioned the Interim B.A. Peter Pelissier’s pension when he was employed by the City of Rahway, retired from that job and then came back as a consultant.
City Hall, Part of Mural painted by Tom Ward, located inside a High Street Residence
*Photos by Carolyn Maxwell
Sierakowski read the letter in its entirety. A summary of the blog opinion piece is as follows: A person cannot collect a pension and simultaneously hold a job that is covered by the same retirement system in which he is collecting the pension. The article also faults Rahway Officials who allowed this.
Former Council President Ken Balut wondered, “Why do we always have the lawyers from the DeCotlis law firm? Everyone is connected to this firm. Did we hire the lawyer or the firm? We make appointments of people who were involved in messes before. The poor people living in this town are paying for the lifestyles of these people (who live out-of-town).”
After Balut spoke, two attorneys came up to speak. Carlos Bollar from the law firm of Archer & Greiner spoke in support of Acting Law Director Arlene Quinones Perez. He also said that he would be the President of the Hispanic Bar Association in thirteen days. He touted her, “She is an outstanding attorney with integrity. Our membership of the Hispanic Bar Association of New Jersey supports her. Her reputation is impeccable and she is an inspiration and role model to young attorneys.”
Resident David Caba still had questions and he addressed Councilman Fernando Gonzalez, “At what point was Quinones Perez qualified? Since 2009, when she graduated from law school she has held seven jobs. The longest one was nine months. And you did research in one day? You did not vote for Fehrenbach (Former B.A.) who had forty years of experience because he was not a resident. We have all these people who don’t live here that came up to speak and they didn’t give their address. The Mayor from Clinton came here to tell us how to vote. They don’t contribute to our town or see what goes on here.”
Councilman Fernando Gonzalez responded to Caba, “In life we say many things. I prefer to have someone who lives here, but she (Quinones Perez) is qualified.”
Councilman Fernando Irizarry and Councilman Fernando Gonzalez confer with the new Interim Buisniess Administrator Peter Pelissier
Resident Alan Silber came up to speak after Gonzalez made his comments, “A lot of out-of-towners came up here and not one gave their address. We should know where these out-of-towners live. When I come up to speak, I gave my full address. Everyone knows where I live. Having two meetings in one day is not working. It’s on the books. It’s the Open Meetings Act. There were all these announcements about the new Law Director, but none about the new Acting B.A. The public has a right to know about this important position. We need the best we can get. I saw Blunda (Former Law Director) battle and win decisions against four attorneys from the other side. Quinones said that she is part politician and part lawyer. I wonder how long she will be here.”
Resident Reinaldo Aviles said, “No one is questioning Quinones’ credentials. Maybe she should have worked with Blunda like Barrick did under Fehrenbach.”
After everyone spoke regarding both positions, Interim B.A. Pelissier fired back, “Welcome, to Perth Amboy.” He addressed then first speaker (Sierakowski). “I want to address the first speaker. You don’t know how to do research very well.”
At that point Sierakowski interrupted Pelissier, but Pelisser continued, “I did not interrupt you when you were speaking. Now, I’m speaking to everyone. That article (the blog) was an opinion. You should do more research. There was no complaint. There was a reveiw. The Treasury Department did a review on my post retirement from the City of Rahway. There were no violations. This was after the Pension Board asked for a reconsideration because they were not sure how this should be handled. They found no violations. The Attorney General was not involved. When I worked for Rahway I brought them in millions of dollars in revenue and ratables. To the second speaker (Balut) – I will be happy to meet with you personally and tell you all about my background. I was a Captain in the U.S. Marine Corps and served in Vietnam. I have 30 years experience (in municipal business), the last 20 years in Rahway. Remember, I am an Interim B.A. The former B.A. (Barrick) left on short notice. Perth Amboy is a $71 million corporation with 8 departments and it’s a very complex operation. I’ve watched the meetings on TV and I’m very disappointed that you would come up here with an opinion article and not take the time to learn the truth. I’m trying to help you, the City, the citizens and its reputation. You don’t have the ability to do the research. I intend to be the conduit between the Mayor, Council and Residents. I am Interim Business Administrator. The previous Administrator left on short notice. I’ve watched several meetings and you don’t have anything good to say about Perth Amboy. You don’t know how good the City is and how hard the employees work. You don’t know what integrity and loyalty means. You tried to slander me, but I will do my best for the City. I’m here as an Interim B.A. I will be returning to Montana soon, but if I wasn’t, you’d be hearing just as much for me as I’ve been hearing from you. I will not be slandered by someone who doesn’t have the ability to do proper research.”
Councilman Bill Petrick was not present at the 10/14/15 Meetings that took place due to a death of his mother. The next Caucus will be Monday, Oct. 26 at 4:30 p.m. and the next Council Meeting will be Wed. Oct. 28 at 8 p.m. Meetings can be viewed online at PATV look for videos on demand at http://patv.pegcentral.com/
