The fact that it was virtual – not in person – was not what made Teaneck’s 2020 Council Reorganization on July 1 so radically out of character.  It was the content which began very badly and ended even worse. It began when:

1. in a period of 5 minutes, 6 of 7 Council members quickly selected 3 white males for the 3 Council leadership positions (Mayor and 2 Deputies).  The Council to a person  brazenly and rudely ignored Gervonn Rice’in the process.
2. Then Council  equally brazenly ignored – and/or derided – the fact that the 24 very diverse resident’s who spoke in Good and Welfare implored Council to reverse course. No town demographic (age, sex, race, religion) was missing from this chorus of requests. But then following the residents’ appeals, Council members to a person answered with statements either a) lauding their own credentials or b) calling their critics aging muppets (sic.) etc.
3. But the onslaught continued. The closing pre-Benediction agenda called for Item “XVIII Miscellaneous”. But that opaque agenda item actually turned out to be a clandestine cover so Deputy Mayor Elie Katz could propose a raft of nominees for the town’s land use boards. That is what it was adroitly unmasked by Councilwoman Rice.  It was basically an effort to dump current PB alternate Denise Belcher. Rather than have Belcher move her up as designed to the full open seat on the Planning Board, Katz wanted her gone. He got it. He then went on to propose approving who would be Council’s PB member (Schwartz, of course) and propose creation of the renewed Council Subcommittee on zoning. Along the way Katz repeatedly ignored Councilwoman Rice’s efforts to serve in any of the several positions for which he sought Council approval – without any written resolutions, of course. (Some or all of these Katz moves are probably in violation of the Open Public Meetings Act since actual Council actions must be pre-announced and then occur only after opportunity for public input).
4. To wrap up this painful 2 hour & 20 minute debacle, the new Mayor inexplicably decided to go ahead and read his now ill-conceived pre-prepared “new Mayor’s statement’. In the majority of the statement Dunleavy claims his allegiance to precisely the diverse Teaneck whose blatant rejection he and his 5 other Council colleagues had  just demonstrated.

Did all this really happen on July 1? How will you know? Well it is easy. Just play the Township’s official video of this meeting and simply allow each of these 4 segments to speak for themselves. You can do it for yourself. But to make it easier, that is precisely what follows in this post.

1) For Mayor and Deputy Mayors – 3 white guys – a 5 minute video:

2) In Good and Welfare 24 very diverse residents say “stop it” – about 1 hour of video

3) Surprise – let’s sneak some unannounced business into the agenda (Caution – this is very brutal stuff)

4 The new Mayor claims continuity with the Township’s longstanding commitment to diversity that he has just helped repudiate

Let’s take a look at just who called into participate in the pubic input (the G&W) on July 1: Well, 10 of those 24 residents who called to criticize the Council’s selections are black, 10 are Jewish; 4 are “other”.  Ages – 20-86. Male & Female. Which Teaneck quadrants? All of them!

Listen to the observant Deena:  And check out Blue Teaneck and its commentary

Blue Teaneck: An Eruption of Community Outrage
click here

What is the proper followup to Wednesday’s Council Re-org debacle. Clearly groups of very diverse sorts are gathering together. We surely do not know all of the groups who are doing so (nor should we).
But its it clear that the 100 Black Women will do so , as will Teaneck Women Together,. There will be several groups exploring whether and if so how Teaneck governance processes should be changed (including reform of how we elect a Mayor, how we chose an-at-large or ward-based Council, and even whether Teaneck should remain non-Partisan).  It is unclear from whence such coalescing leadership will come. Will it be the Teaneck Democratic Municipal Committee (TDMC)? Will it be the NE President’s Block Association, Or will it be grassroots folks simply gathering on virtual media to explore options, Or will it emerge directly from the frontal attacks on the current Council when it next meets on July 14.
The likelihood is that the Council’s willingness to ignore the resident community has finally crossed the line.

Expect major citizen participation on July 14.. Expect persons in the streets with placards. Then, expect strong opposition to the programs being charted by the Planning Board. We can hardly wait for the Board of Adjustment to re-emerge!  
Will it all stay peaceful?  We surely hope so and are committed to its being so. But at this point residents recognize that very major demonstration of opposition will be required! Council has told us all exactly  who they are. We will need to tell Council who “we” are!  Council do not expect this opposition to slink away. This time, the line has been crossed!

TEANECK — Simmering resentment over the results of Teaneck’s May municipal election boiled over on Wednesday when a group of residents erupted during the Township Council’s reorganization meeting.

Critics decried the council’s move to appoint three white men as mayor and deputy mayor while dismissing the lone Black council member’s attempt to become deputy mayor. A town with Teaneck’s population — 27% of residents are Black and 20% are Latino — should have leadership that reflects that diversity, they said.

“We speak on our diversity constantly but we are not an inclusive and an equitable community,” said Lucria Ortiz. “We need to examine that at this time.”

The council unanimously appointed Councilman James Dunleavy as mayor and appointed councilmen Elie Katz and Mark Schwartz as deputy mayors by a 6-1 vote. Councilwoman Gervonn Romney Rice, who has no allies on the seven-member governing body, made a motion to be appointed deputy mayor but twice received no support.

“I am extremely, extremely disappointed,” Gwenetta Reese told the council. “We’re in a world of Black pain and with what’s going on in today’s world. I cannot believe that none of the council members, including the newly elected council members, did not even second her nomination. It’s a sad day.”

Dunleavy told NorthJersey.com that council members looked at the work ahead and decided to vote for leaders who can “get those things done.” He noted that the mayor and deputy mayor positions in Teaneck are largely ceremonial, so Romney Rice has just as much power as he does.

“I’m sad that race has been brought into it and I understand the optics of it, but I think we did what was best for Teaneck and I just hope that Councilwoman Rice continues to be a strong contributing member of our council,” he said.

Romney Rice was appointed to the council in 2016 and won election to her first full term in 2018. At Wednesday’s meeting, she thanked her supporters for speaking out on her behalf and chided the council for ignoring “what the people are saying.”

“It’s very unfortunate, but I will continue to serve,” she said.

Schwartz compared the parade of council critics to Statler and Waldorf, the Muppet characters synonymous with crotchety hecklers. He noted he has previously supported a black woman and a Muslim man as mayor.

“For the first time in 10 years I decided to choose an Irish Catholic man,” he said. “And by the way, this Irish Catholic man is a minority in town.” 
Katz, addressing Romney Rice, noted that he has supported her in the past.