Patricia Quattrocchi's blog

Rahway councilman Bobby Akbar has seemingly worked overtime to get himself embroiled in one bad situation after another.  The rookie council member was recently suspended with pay from his teaching job when accusations came to  light that he had made an inappropriate telephone call to a female member of the high school track team that he coaches. The young woman on the receiving end reported the incident to someone within the school system. The Rahway School Board immediately suspended Akbar with pay from his $55,000 fifth-grade teaching job which he had held for about 6 years, as well as any coaching duties he performed for the schools. A month long investigation by the Rahway Police Dept did not yield any charges nor would the Rahway police disclose the full nature of the probe. However, Akbar did officially resign from his teaching post with what could be called a "golden parachute" as the resignation will not take place officially until January of 2010 according to the school board assistant superintendent. Though it appears he will remain on the school system's payroll till January newspaper reports are offering conflicting reports of whether he will return to the classroom until the resignation takes effect, let's hope not.

But that is not all, just this past June Akbar pleaded guilty in municipal court to charges of disturbing the peace, to avoid being tried on domestic violence assault charges which involved a woman who was not his wife but rather a fellow Board of Ed employee. The incident which was said to have been actually witnessed by the police took place on school grounds and resulted in his being arrested. No details have actually been made public as to what transpired; New Jersey state law disallows such information being released in domestic violence situations to protect the victim. However, it is public knowledge that the other teacher involved was non-tenured and is no longer employed by the city and that Akbar was required to pay a $500 fine plus court costs because according to the prosecutor who handled the case he created a very dangerous condition by peeling out of the parking lot. It is anybody's guess how an assault charge as the result of a domestic violence incident, actually witnessed by law enforcement and sealed from public disclosure gets downgraded to a disturbing the peace violation for basically making noise while driving in an unsafe manner.

Supposedly these are not the only missteps the councilman has taken during the short time since winning the Nov. 08 election and last weeks resignation. It has been widely discussed in Rahway for months that he exhibited questionable and aggressive behavior toward one of the players he coached. Reportedly Akbar was witnessed by hundreds of Rahway High Football fans after a championship game on December 8th at Rutgers Stadium roughing up a player who did not perform up to his standard. School officials have admitted being aware of the incident but claimed they were powerless to do anything about it unless the youths parents complained, and apparently they did not.

Could it be that the passing of Akbar's "Glory Days" are taking their toll on this local high school sports hero as he makes the lonely pilgrimage everyone does deeper into his thirties? Are the throngs of admirers harder to come by so he seeks to satisfy his ego by exerting some sort of influence or force over those weaker than himself? Surely one does not resign from a well paying and what could be emotionally rewarding career position without a fight unless there was something that the accused didn't want the public to know about. And what of the school board? Are their hands so tied by the confines of tenure and labor union constraints that they are not willing to risk their collective necks by releasing an explanation of the suspension and are calling it a personnel matter?

Rahway Police Captain Joseph Mikajlo has confirmed that an investigation of the message incident has indeed taken place but that criminal charges have not been filed. One cannot help but question this outcome as so many of the key players are connected politically to one another. The Rahway council president, James Baker said he believes that  the police chief can ensure that the investigation of the Akbar case can take place "without prejudice". Baker went on to say that he did not think that political affiliations would have any bearing on the police chief's duties or responsibilities and to "let the facts be as they may."

The newly sworn in mayor of Hillside, Joe Menza, is rapidly becoming a hero of sorts as is often the case when the little guy puts up a gallant fight against "the machine." Menza was the winner of a runoff election in a town that has what are known as nonpartisan elections for its governing body. However Hillside's elections are nothing but nonpartisan as they have for years been dominated by one very well funded political party.

The machine here is of course a political machine which by definition in US politics is a party organization headed by a single boss or small autocratic group, that commands enough votes to maintain political and administrative control of a city, county or state. In his Political Dictionary William Safire defines "Machine Politics" as the election of officials and the passage of legislation through the power of an organization created for political action. Hierarchy and discipline are hallmarks of political machines'

Chris Christie paid a visit to downtown Plainfield, here in Union County last week, he was accompanied by the District 22 GOP Assembly candidates, Dr. Martin Marks and William "Bo" Vastine. With members of the press following he went door to door visiting some of the shops and chatting with passersby on the street. It would seem that when word got around that there were actual Republicans who had the nerve to set a foot in Plainfield, Democrat Assemblyman Jerry Green appeared on the scene. Green  later shared his version of the events on his blog as did Dr. Marks and Mr. Vastine on their campaign web site and it seems that  Assemblyman Green 's report of what transpired has a different slant from the others including what appeared on the news broadcast by NJN that evening.

Word on the "internet street" has it that all the "King Street Men" supposedly are busy gathering cash for Union County Democratic Committee Chairwoman Charlotte DeFilippo's legal defense fund. Served with subpoenas in October 2007 to produce documents pertaining to both her personal business dealings and those of the Union County Improvement Authority; Charlotte the Director, crowed that in no time flat everyone would be apologizing to her for the inconvenience of the investigation.. "I've been involved in politics for 35 years, and I do it in the most aboveboard and transparent manner," she was quoted in the Star Ledger as having said. "I just want to know who's going to say, 'Sorry, Charlotte' when this is all over."

There is something terribly wrong going on here in Union County. When did it become acceptable for county employees to be abusive toward the public? Just when did the county manager, who in actuality is nothing more than a hired hand like any other CEO or COO of a corporation, become endowed with the right to publicly malign share holders, in his case taxpayers, and get away with it?

Friday, May 1st was the day that the first installment, $5,000, was due from those who are planning to participate in the Love Hope and Strength Foundation's latest musical journey.  This year, 2009, the 30 "trekkers" will be climbing to the roof of Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro. The total minimum amount required for participation in what is being billed as Kilimanjaro Rocks is $14,000 and does not include the cost of air travel or the climber's personal equipment. It is probably pretty safe to assume that barring any unknown circumstances County Manager George Devanney managed to get his money in to reserve his spot once again with his teen music idol Mike Peters of the band The Alarm. To review the entire 13 day itinerary and financial requirements to participate please visit the official website at www.lovehopestrength.org

A few weeks back a letter from a Cranford resident appeared in the Sunday Star Ledger critical of the Union County Freeholders and what was than still a proposal to close the county owned Oak Ridge Golf Course in Clark.  Since than the course has been "officially" closed, "officially" renamed and is now being "officially" torn up to render it impossible to ever "officially" reclaim for golf.  It appears that it is being readied to meet my prediction from a couple of months ago that George Devanney's Music Fest will find a new home at what is now called Oak Ridge Park, situated smack in the middle of an otherwise quiet neighborhood. Columnist Paul Mulshine has chimed in questioning the speed and the wisdom of the course's closing or was that the wisdom of the freeholders in general?

Friday, in the pouring rain, my friend was laid in his eternal resting place. His life, seemed to have come to an untimely end in the minds of many, but it had been rich and full of accomplishments both large and small, no one can deny that. It was almost as though he deliberately crammed as much as he could into everyday because he was afraid he would miss out on experiencing something.  He was one of those rare people that the sun seemed to shine through every pore of his entire body even when the sun was actually no where to be found. He had the kind of a happy disposition that as parents we want to see in our children from the time that they are infants because we know that pleasant people just do better in personal relationships than those who are contrary individuals. And he seemed to have come to terms with what is really important in life and was able to go through his days striving to share his zest for living and his special talents effortlessly with those who had not yet made that discovery in the hope that they too could bask in and appreciate life’s goodness as he did.

When New Jersey receives its share of the Federal Stimulus Spending that was approved by Washington in February the office of the state comptroller will be overseeing how $17 Billion will be spent. Matthew Boxer's office has been quite busy recently, for those who don't know, Boxer is the "Independent" New Jersey State Comptroller. His office, according to the website www.state.nj.us/comptroller.gov,  is an independent office created to bring greater efficiency and transparency to the operation of all levels of NJ's government.  Actually his office does audits, performance reviews and examinations of government contracts. Heaven knows we could certainly use more transparency around these parts.

The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders has announced, thru the County Manager, that there will be 28 employees laid off shortly. Many of those employees who will be effected by the job cuts converged on the freeholder meeting last evening and it has been reported that they were joined by about 35 or so fellow workers, all members of union Council 8.  Council 8 represents approximately 875 county workers the largest bargaining unit and includes practical nurses, mechanics, secretaries and inspectors. County Manager Devanney sites a $24million county shortfall and a crippled US economy as the reasons for the layoffs which would be effective in early April.