(Press Release) PERTH AMBOY – Mayor Wilda Diaz has sent City employees into the streets distributing false information at taxpayer expense in Perth Amboy’s hotly contested election, but local attorney Joseph B. Vas is demanding that state authorities put a stop to her illegal campaign activity. New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal recently issued guidance that prohibits Diaz and other mayors from using city police officers and resources in political campaigns.
In a desperate attempt to maintain power, Diaz has been using police and firefighters to distribute campaign literature and food in the ongoing election. Diaz has further blurred the line when she promoted her campaign manager to the rank of “acting captain” within the city’s police department despite not being on the current civil service list for such a position.
https://patch.com/new-jersey/woodbridge/attorney-general-mayor-keep-cops-out-campaign-nodx
In typical Diazonian politics, City employees have been required to distribute political propaganda that identifies Diaz as Mayor and falsely informs residents that they are protected against rent hikes over five percent per year.
Vas stated, “It’s impossible to believe that for the entire time Diaz has been Mayor, she and all of her Council allies have ignored the very essential protection residents need to survive. Perth Amboy already has the highest COVID-19 rate and highest unemployment rate in Middlesex County, couple that with no rent control and you could see an uncontrollable increase in homelessness. Perth Amboy deserves more qualified and attentive leadership. You can’t fail at addressing the basic needs of residents and then pretend to care.Action, not words, are what are required at this critical time. The Mayor and Council’s decision to consent to a 100% increase in rent in the middle of a pandemic without even hearing from the Tenant is devastating. Not only does it shatter faith in due process, but it is the ultimate betrayal when residents need openness and honesty more than ever from their elected officials.”
Vas said a city rent control ordinance was invalidated because Diaz and city councilmembers, including three council members that are now candidates for Mayor, neglected to appoint members to the rent leveling board for the past 12 years to a panel that was supposed to enforce the law.
According to court documents, City Attorney Peter King, the city’s chief law enforcement officer, stated that the rent control ordinance which was enacted in 1983 “was no longer valid” because the Mayor had failed to appoint members to effectuate the ordinance. The issue came to light after Staten Island-based Cande Land LLC purchased the building at 263-265 New Brunswick Avenue and learned that rents could only be increase five percent each year.
“Over a period of 12 years, the entire time Diaz has been Mayor, Perth Amboy officials failed to appoint members to the board stripping tenants as well as landlords of due process,” said Vas. “The law became invalid as a result of negligence by Diaz and the City Council, but now the Mayor is trying to cover up her incompetence by falsely informing tenants about their ‘rights’ and using municipal employees to distribute the lies. Attorney General Gurbir Grewal recently issued guidance that prohibits Mayor Wilda Diaz from using city police officers to boost her campaign in the upcoming election. The state has an obligation to maintain the integrity of our voting system and preventing public officials from lying to voters under the color of law and at taxpayer expense should be at the heart of fulfilling that duty,” stated Vas.
