I was notified by the county manager yesterday that the County of Union has decided to hire Bibi Taylor as their new financial director of the finance department of Union County. She will be the first black woman to hold such a position in Union County. So I am hoping that she can move on with her career and the Mayor and Council can find someone else so that we can deal with this year’s budget, because the Mayor and Council are going to have to make some tough decisions.
Like all other municipalities, like Newark and Patterson, I would like to make my position very clear regarding the financial position of Plainfield. My position is thus: whatever I can do as a Legislator I will do, and I will help where I can. I have no intentions of giving any advice to anyone however because they were elected to the City of Plainfield to make those decisions, not me.
I find it rather embarrassing that on a constant basis, Bernice tries to embarrass me by stating former employees that I hired years ago, and are currently working for the city, were hired because of me. That is not true at all! It is obvious that she is clueless as to how the hiring process works. Because if anyone has the bumping rights to bump employees in which she is citing, then the City has to lay them off, period. No one is protected, everyone gets treated the same.
I realize now that no matter what I say or do Bernice will try her best to ruin my career like she has done to others, but I have been smart enough not to fall into her trap. It is obvious that she picks and chooses who she criticizes, and who she does not. I have never seen nor heard her criticize a New Democrat, as if they live in a perfect world. So I am hoping that in the future, her comments would be about what I do as a State Legislator in the 22nd District, and respect the fact that I am not elected to make decisions for the City of Plainfield, the Mayor and Council were elected to do that. If she has a hard time understanding the difference between an Assemblyman and a local elected official, perhaps she should ask one of her friends for clarification.
Ps
Dealing with the issue of the day workers, I was happy with Congressman Pallone in his reaching out and offering support and help on this issue. As he told me, this is not only a state but a national issue, and that both parties in Congress have not reached a consensus as to how to remedy this issue. My whole concern with this issue is not to put everyone into one category. Just because a person is a day worker does not mean he/she is in this country illegally.
Also, there was a comment referencing a statement I made. For the record, I want to make it clear, that all Hispanics and other groups that live in this City are not all illegal citizens and should be treated with respect, which is what I do daily.
The question of uneducated, I did not make the statement that the Hispanic population in this City is uneducated. Currently, there are a group of day workers that are receiving educational help which is bettering their work skills. I am working with groups here in Plainfield that are providing educational services to these day laborers. I was referring to these day workers, wherein they did not receive educational help in Central America and yet sought it here in Plainfield. In the past, there were some day workers from Cuba that received educational help in Cuba and did not seek it here in Plainfield.
This whole idea of helping day workers is not a plan to help those who are in this country illegally, but to help those who are legal citizens. It is up to the federal and state governments to remedy the illegal entry problem. Meanwhile we can ill-afford the downtown area to deteriorate while no one is making decisions one way or another.
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