Wards won't wreak havoc in New Brunswick

October 26, 2009

After reading editorials to your paper, as well as Unite New Brunswick flyers and signs, I am not convinced that the type of government in any city or town, anywhere, has a direct correlation with crime, unemployment, higher taxes and corruption.

I have been unable to find any reasoning behind this twisted logic to explain how the type of government alone contributes to higher crime rates and unemployment. I see adjoining towns that have ward governments that work well, so well that their towns are listed as being in the top 10 places to live in the U.S.

Urban areas may have problems but not only because they have a ward system of government — there are many that have at-large governments that suffer the same difficulties. New Brunswick may not have the highest crime rate but it has its fair share of violent crime. Just last week, a man was found shot in a car and another was shot downtown. Can we blame the at-large government for these shootings? I don't think so.

I am also surprised to see corruption mentioned as a reason not to have wards. I believe that the city has had its share of corruption including John Lynch — remember him? Corruption is rampant in our state and is not dependent on the type of government.

As far as wards tearing our city apart, it would be refreshing to see a difference of opinion within the City Council. It would also be refreshing to have new voices and ideas so that this city can become a better place to live and work.

I don't believe that wards will create roadblocks or divide neighborhoods but instead it will create new people compromising, working together and coming to agreement as to what is best for all of New Brunswick. I also think that is what democracy is all about.

MARGE KERBER
New Brunswick

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Wards will help serve all New Brunswick residents

http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090928/OPINION02/909280309/1061

September 28, 2009

I read with a lot of interest Mr Bucca's letter professing the merits of an at-large City Council and the accomplishments of the current administration in New Brunswick.

I don't know what history book Mr. Bucca used to come up with his statements about the ward forms of government, but I think he is misinformed. As a matter of fact, the main reason at large local governments became popular in this country was to disenfranchise minorities.

Prior to Jim Crow, most local governments were ward-based. It appears to me that there are many disenfranchised residents here in New Brunswick.

Having lived in New Brunswick for more than 20 years, I don't see how the current form of government does anything to benefit me or the majority of residents. The development of downtown doesn't serve the city residents: I would say that the majority of us can't afford to live, shop or go to restaurants there.

I don't see how the Gateway project where a new multi-level Barnes and Noble book store, along with 200 condominiums and a 657-space parking garage will be beneficial either. Has anyone noticed the Barnes and Noble less than five miles away? Or New Jersey Books, a small business owner still waiting to open his new store?

There are at least 10 condos for sale at 1 Spring Street (I believe the owners are heading towards bankruptcy) and condos for sale at the other high-end buildings downtown. Drive through downtown and you will see "leasing now" signs for many high-end apartments.

Do you think we need 200 more condos? My understanding is that while Rutgers students have a severe lack of parking on the College Avenue side of town, this new garage will not help alleviate that situation. So where is the benefit except to DEVCO, Rutgers and the Parking Authority?

What Mr. Bucca failed to mention about New Brunswick schools is that the school district has met No Child Left Behind only because six out of 10 schools in New Brunswick passed; there are four that still need improvement. Looking closer at the statistics, our school district doesn't come close to meeting the NJ State Proficiency Standards for language and mathematics.

For example, in the elementary schools for the 2007-2008 school year, the district had 56.9 percent proficiency in language arts while the state standard is 73 percent. Mathematics is a little better, 56.6 percent with a state standard of 69 percent.

New Brunswick High School graduated only 70 percent of their students this year, 6 percent less than those who graduated last year. Sorry but I wouldn't call that doing well.

For a lot of years, New Brunswick residents have not had a choice in what happens in their city and their schools because the ballot did not give them a choice. We have a choice this November: We can vote either "Yes" or "No" on the ward question.

I urge all New Brunswick residents to look around their community and ask themselves if this is what they want for themselves and their children. If not, you have the power to change it on Nov. 3 by voting "Yes" for wards.

MARGE KERBER
New Brunswick

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Court upholds decision for one ballot question

http://www.dailytargum.com/news/court-upholds-decision-for-one-ballot-question-1.1911287

By Mary Diduch

Associate News Editor

Published: Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, September 23, 2009

New Brunswick voters will only see one referendum question asking to change the city council format on November’s ballot after an appeals court upheld a lower court’s ruling in favor of local grass-roots organization Empower Our Neighborhoods.
Judges Dorothea Wefing, Carmen Messano and Laura LeWinn of the Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey unanimously upheld Middlesex County Superior Court Judge James Hurley’s Sept. 18 decision, invalidating the City’s approval of another community group’s — Unite New Brunswick — petition to add a second charter-change question in addition to EON’s on the ballot.
Now voters can either vote for EON’s proposition of a hybrid, ward-based council or to keep the current five-member, at-large council.
“This period of distraction is over now,” EON spokesman Charlie Kratovil said. “People can finally have a fair debate about whether or not wards are better for the city.”
City spokesman Bill Bray said the city is dissatisfied with the judges’ ruling.
“The city is reviewing the judges’ ruling, which obviously came in late today, and we are disappointed,” he said. “We’re confident that our reading of the law was correct. Unfortunately, the courts have disagreed.”
While the city could appeal the decision to the state supreme court, Bray would not comment on whether the city would take this action.
The ballots for November are to be printed this week.
EON filed the lawsuit when City Clerk Dan Torrisi approved UNB’s petition asking voters to expand the five-member, at-large city council to seven members at-large.
But EON claimed this act was illegal, as state law said two questions could not be placed on the same election ballot by two different petitions. Hurley had already mandated that EON’s question be placed on the ballot in a previous decision in August.
Although Hurley ruled in favor of EON last week, the city appealed and subsequently lost.
UNB member Glenn Fleming said it is unfortunate the voters would not be able to have more choices for their government come November.
“A lot of people did want change, just not that type of change,” Fleming said. “We don’t feel like we lost, but the people of New Brunswick lost.”
He said yesterday’s decision is still new for the group, but they will still work for their cause of expanding the at-large council.
“We’re still going to do whatever we can, even if we have to get it on the ballot next year,” Fleming said.
Every day EON members canvass the streets and most believe wards are the best way to govern New Brunswick, Kratovil said.
“I’m really excited about finally getting to be able to have a fair election on this,” he said.
EON President Martha Guarnieri said she is happy the appellate judges ruled with Hurley.
“I think that people in New Brunswick want wards, and now they get an honest shot at having them,” she said.
Guarnieri said she is looking forward to November’s election, as it will incorporate the masses.
“Now the real battle begins,” she said.

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Appellate ruling ends debate about New Brunswick council ballots

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/appelate_ruling_ends_debate_ov.html

By Karen Keller/The Star-Ledger
September 23, 2009, 9:14PM

NEW BRUNSWICK -- A ruling today by the state Appellate Division delivered a final blow to New Brunswick in a yearlong battle against a local grassroots group over the makeup of the city council.

As a result of the ruling, voters will see just one question on the November ballot about changing the council. The question will ask whether the council should be expanded from five to nine members, with six of those members elected according to the ward in which they live. Currently the five members are elected at large.

Empower Our Neighborhoods started the war over council structure last year by collecting signatures on a petition in support of a ward system. The group argues that a ward system better represents citizens living in poorer parts of the city and allows for a wider field of council candidates because it would cost less to run for a council seat in a small geographical area as opposed to the entire city.

Charlie Kratovil, a leader of Empower Our Neighborhoods, said he was happy with yesterday’s ruling.

"Now finally this period of distraction is over and we can focus on a fair and honest debate about what our government should be," Kratovil said.

In its appeal this week, the city was supporting a second petition filed Aug. 31 by a separate group of residents, Unite New Brunswick, that wanted a second question to be printed on the ballot that would only ask whether the council should expand from five to seven members.

That second petition was rejected Friday by state Superior Court Judge James Hurley. He said state law prohibits two questions about a change in city government from appearing on the same ballot. The appeals court judges Wednesday agreed with Judge Hurley.

The city has no official position on which council structure is better. Mayor James Cahill also has not declared a stance, but in public comments he has given the strong appearance of favoring the current system.

Supporters of the at-large system argue the ward format pits different neighborhood interests against each other. And they emphasize that with only three proposed at-large council members, residents would not be able to vote for a majority of the council members.

Bennet Zurofsky, attorney for Empower Our Neighborhoods, said he believes the city is wasting taxpayer money by fighting the local group.

"Clearly, the city’s only purpose is to frustrate EON’s intent to get wards on the ballot," Zurofsky said.

But city spokesman Bill Bray said before the ruling Wednesday the city’s elected officials have the right to use taxpayer money to ensure the residents who signed the second petition are represented.

"It is our responsibility to protect people’s rights," Bray said. "EON sued us. The only reason we had to spend the money we spent is because we were sued."

City attorney Bill Hamilton yesterday afternoon said he had no comment. The city could still request an appeal to the state Superior Court.

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State appeals panel keeps second question off ballot in New Brunswick

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NEW BRUNSWICK — A state appeals panel Wednesday upheld a lower court's ruling that a second question seeking to change the City Council cannot appear on November's ballot.

The decision means city voters will find only one question on the Nov. 3 ballot. That question — initiated in a petition filed by the group Empower Our Neighborhoods (EON) — asks residents to expand the City Council from five to nine members, with six of those members elected based on wards.

"The current city government has discovered that they can't beat us in the courts," said Martha Guarnieri, EON's president, in a statement sent via email. "I am confident that an honest and fair election will bring wards to New Brunswick on November 3."

A second community group, called Unite New Brunswick, filed a petition in August asking to have a second question placed on the ballot, this one asking residents to expand the City Council to seven members but keep intact the at-large system of electing council members. City Clerk Daniel Torrisi certified the petition and last week the City Council approved the question's appearance on November's ballot.

EON sued, saying it was illegal for the city to process the Unite New Brunswick petition because state statutes only allow one such petition to move forward at any given time. The EON petition was filed last October — 10 months before the Unite New Brunswick petition.

On Friday, Superior Court Judge James P. Hurley, sitting in Middlesex Vicinage, ruled in EON's favor. The city — one of three defendants along with the Middlesex County Clerk and Unite New Brunswick's Committee of Petitioners — immediately appealed Hurley's decision.

Wednesday afternoon, a three-judge panel comprised of Appellate Court Judges Laura M. LeWinn, Dorothea Wefing, and Carmen Messano affirmed Hurley's finding and his reasoning.

Glen Fleming, a Unite New Brunswick petitioner, said no decision has been made as to whether to ask the Supreme Court to take up the case. But he said Unite New Brunswick will continue to fight to bring the city together regardless of whether its question appears on the ballot.

"That would be bogus if we didn't," he said. "We're still going to be pushing forward and we have to sit down and decide which action we're going to take now. We still believe this city has a good story to tell. We still believe wards will tear this city apart."

Bennet D. Zurofsky, an attorney representing EON in the matter, said the case was a simple matter and the city wasted taxpayers' money by appealing Hurley's ruling.

"It's an appeal that never should have been taken by the city," he said.

Bill Bray, the city's public information officer, said city officials were disappointed in the ruling and were reviewing the decision.

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Judge rules in EON’s favor, overturns city clerk decision

http://www.dailytargum.com/news/judge-rules-in-eon-s-favor-overturns-city-clerk-decision-1.1905254

By Ariel Nagi and Mary Diduch

Published: Sunday, September 20, 2009

Updated: Sunday, September 20, 2009

Middlesex County Superior Court Judge James Hurley ruled on Friday that City Clerk Dan Torrisi improperly approved a petition filed by community group Unite New Brunswick because another petition had been approved to appear on the November ballot.
UNB’s petition sought to ask voters to increase New Brunswick’s city council to seven at-large members from five.
Hurley’s ruling that UNB’s referendum question cannot appear on the ballot overturns Torrisi’s Sept. 2 decision and the City Council’s unanimous approval on Wednesday at their public meeting.
Torrisi’s lawyer Marvin Brauth argued that statute 40:69A-21 allows multiple questions on the ballot, even if they are conflicting alternatives.
But Judge Hurley said the statute does not allow multiple questions unless they are on the same petition, and in this case, two separate petitions were filed one after the other.
“The harm is it wasn’t in the [original] petition,” Hurley said. “It is clear to me that [the law] simply means one petition.”
Empower Our Neighborhoods’ question — which is already on the ballot after two years of litigation — asks voters if the current council should be increased to nine members — with six elected by wards and three at-large.
EON organizer Matthew Korostoff said adding two more at-large council members does not make any significant changes to the current form of government, and adding more questions to the ballot may cause both petitions to lose.
“My suspicion is that they were trying to split the vote [and] that this is actually filed disingenuously, hoping that it would lose and that our petition would lose, which is so diabolical,” he said.
Brauth said multiple questions could be placed on the ballot and voters may choose to vote for more than one. The question that receives the majority would prevail.
“As general application, you can have as many questions on the ballot that can fit,” he said.
But Judge Hurley said this would weaken the vote.
“If you have two questions, [and] I want to vote for government A and government B, you’re going to have the voter vote for both?” Judge Hurley asked. “Aren’t you diluting the vote?”
EON’s attorney Renee Steinhagen said EON is not denying the voters two options.
“There is nothing inherently wrong with two questions to voters, but they should come from the same petition,” she said.
Korostoff said placing this question on the ballot is a way of preventing a change in the city’s current form of government.
“The attempts to block voters from making this choice becomes transparent,” he said. “They are not even trying to hide it anymore.”
UNB member Kyle Kirkpatrick said the group is disappointed with the court’s decision.
“It’s more of a bump in the road more than anything,” he said.
City Spokesman Bill Bray said the city filed an appeal of the decision.
“Obviously the city isn’t satisfied with the decision,” he said.
The city is confident in their interpretation of the law and that the higher, appellate court will agree with them, Bray said. The appeal was filed Friday on an emergency basis to be heard before the November ballots are printed next week.
EON spokesman Charlie Kratovil said he is unsure whether the appellate court’s decision will be made in time, but is happy with the ruling.
“It’s good that the justice system is living up to its name and … overturning the actions of the city [with the court’s rulings],” Kratovil said.
He said the city has spent $75,000 of taxpayers’ money so far to fight the EON lawsuits.
“Their continuing to do that … seems against the will of the people they’re supposed to represent,” Kratovil said.
He said EON is working on their campaign and promoting their message throughout the community.
“This second question never really stopped us,” Kratovil said. “[The second petition] was intended to be a distraction, and I think that period is over.”
Kirkpatrick said while he is unsure of how the appellate court will handle the case, he hopes they rule in UNB’s favor.
“We hope that we can still have the question on the ballot,” he said.
If not, Kirkpatrick said the group would still campaign and spread their message of an expanded, at-large council system.

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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/nj_court_prohibits_new_brunswi.html

N.J. court prohibits New Brunswick ballot proposal to change council makeup
By Thomas B. Haydon
September 18, 2009, 5:25PM

NEW BRUNSWICK -- A Superior Court judge today prohibited the proposal to change the New Brunswick city council from appearing on the November ballot, saying it improperly competed with another proposal to create a ward system of government in the municipality.

City attorneys said they will immediately file an already prepared 18-page brief with appellate judges. The case faces a deadline next week when the county clerk must complete all ballots for the November election.

Judge James Hurley, sitting in the court house in New Brunswick across the street from city hall, issued a restraining order prohibiting a proposal from the citizens' group Unite New Brunswick, which sought to enlarge the council from the current five members to seven members.

The case was brought to court by another grassroots group, Empower Our Neighborhoods, which fought for more than a year to get a separate question on the ballot proposing an nine-member council, with six elected by wards and three elected at-large. Currently all city council members are elected at-large.

Last month, Hurley ruled in favor of putting EON's proposal for a ward system on the November ballot.

On Aug. 24, Unite New Brunswick filed petitions proposing the seven member council with members elected city-wide. On Wednesday, the current city council approved the proposal after a public hearing. EON went to court for a restraining order.

In court today, Marvin Brauth, a Woodbridge attorney representing the city, argued that state statute permitted more than one proposal for changing the city government to appear on the same ballot. Newark attorney Renee Steinhagen, however, argued multiple questions could only arise from the same petition for change.

"The statute scheme does not allow different groups of political parties to coming in and interfere," Steinhagen said.

Hurley, in his ruling, said permitting two questions would dilute the number of votes. "Neither question would pass," he said.

Immediately after hearing the ruling Brauth said the city was filing an appeal.

EON contends the second question is backed by city leaders. At the council meeting Wednesday, Council William Cook admitted he collected residents signatures on petitions for the second ballot question.

"Another good ruling," EON leader Charles Kratovil said.

Glen Fleming, a leader for United New Brunswick, said the group was looking to give residents more choices. Today's decision, he said, limits those choices.

"This is slight bump in the road. We'll keep moving on," Fleming said.

Eric Aronowitz said the deadline for getting a question on the ballot is next week, but there may be some flexibility because this only involves ballots for a single municipality.

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Judge: Only one petition-initiated question allowed on November ballot in New Brunswick

NEW BRUNSWICK — A judge Friday removed a second petition-initiated question from the ballot for the upcoming November election in the city.

Superior Court Judge James P. Hurley ruled that a referendum question seeking to expand the City Council to seven members cannot be place before voters in the upcoming General Election because the ballot already includes another question seeking to change the makeup of the council.

The ruling is a setback for a new community group called Unite New Brunswick, which had filed the petition to get its question on the ballot. The group had wanted voted to determine if they wanted the council to be expanded from five to seven members, all elected at-large.

The ruling is a victory for Empower Our Neighborhoods, the group that filed the first petition seeking a ballot question.

The EON question, already on the ballot, asks voters whether the City Council should be expanded to nine members, with six elected by wards.

EON had argued that, by law, the Unite New Brunswick question could not go before voters until EON's proposal is voted on in November.

Attorneys for the city of New Brunswick plan to file an appeal Friday afternoon before the close of day.

Earlier this week the City Council voted unanimously to allow the Unite New Brunswick question to on November's ballot along with the ballot question sought by EON.

Before its vote, the City Council held a 90-minute public hearing on the matter.

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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/new_brunswick_to_vote_on_expan.html

New Brunswick voters could decide two ballot questions on council

By Katherine Santiago
September 16, 2009, 9:05PM

NEW BRUNSWICK -- For more than a year, New Brunswick city officials fought to stop a ballot question proposing a ward system of government, but a citizens group won a court order to put the issue before voters in November.

Tonight, the city council unanimously approved a separate ballot question proposed less than a month ago that would expand the council from five to seven members, but have all council members elected citywide, not by wards.

Council members listened to two hours of sometimes impassioned statements from residents speaking out on the two proposals to change the way officials are elected.

Members of the citizens group Empower Our Neighbors, which proposed the council be changed to six ward-elected members and three at-large members, spoke against the latest proposal to expand the council to seven members elected at-large.

Group members say city officials who have opposed the ward system are behind the proposal for the seven-member at-large council.

"The tactics used by the mayor and council have been nothing but an attempt to thwart the ward-based system," group member Charles Kratovil said. "This is a desperate attempt to keep things the way they are."

Glen Fleming, a leader of the grassroots United New Brunswick, which proposed the seven-member council, said his group wants to give residents a choice.

"This election should be decided by the people," Fleming said.

The issue will go to court Friday when Superior Court Judge James Hurley hears arguments from Empower Our Neighbors members who contend it would be illegal to have two questions for changing the election of city officials on the same ballot.

City Attorney William Hamilton tonight, in response to residents' questions, said New Brunswick could have the two questions on the November ballot.

Since early 2008, members of Empower Our Neighbors battled to get their ward-system proposal on the ballot, finally succeeding in August when Hurley ruled the question should be put before voters in November.

Petitions were filed Aug. 24 for the second ballot question to form a seven-member council.

City Clerk Dan Torrisi on Sept. 8 certified the petitions as valid. The next day, the city council introduced the question, and tonight the council held the required council meeting, all in time to the to meet the Sept. 24 deadline for including the question on ballot.

EON members contend many city employees were used to collect signatures for the latest proposal.

City Councilman William Cook, under questioning from the audience, said he circulated petitions to give residents a choice.

Residents in favor of the ward system say it would give a voice to sections of the city that currently lack representation.

Opponents say a ward system would be divisive and pit one neighborhood against another.

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http://mycentraljersey.com/article/20090910/OPINION01/909100313/1060

New petition aims to nix ward plan in New Brunswick

September 10, 2009

Come November, New Brunswick voters may find themselves with some confusing choices about possible changes to the city's governmental structure.
But residents should be clear about this much: A new plan to increase the size of the City Council from five to seven at-large members is meant primarily as a poison pill to scuttle another proposal that would introduce a ward system.

That's if the latest scheme makes it to the ballot.

A citizens group called Empower Our Neighborhoods succeeded this year in placing on the ballot a question asking voters to adopt a nine-person City Council that would include six ward members.

City officials don't want that, and have been fighting the group's efforts since last year. But a judge eventually overturned the city's rejection of the group's second petition on the issue and ordered the question put to voters in November.

The latest twist comes from another group calling itself Unite New Brunswick, which proposes that the City Council be expanded to seven members, without the creation of wards. Members are pitching this as a method of enhancing the council's performance, but it's really nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to divide and conquer: If support for change is split over the two options, neither is likely to be approved.

It's also no accident that Unite New Brunswick's desire for improving the City Council didn't surface until after the wards question made it to the ballot. And it's also not coincidental that this new petition was very quickly certified by City Clerk Daniel Torrisi, who rejected the two earlier petitions from Empower Our Neighborhoods.

There remains the legal question of whether both proposals can appear on the same ballot. And if voters do have both choices before them, it would be silly to suggest they're being harmed by the additional option.

But it is important that voters recognize the underlying motivations here. And the reality is that the newest plan is being offered primarily to kill the wards plan and maintain the status quo. If that's what residents prefer, so be it, but they should be clear about the battle lines before making their decision.

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http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20090909/NEWS/909090349/1003/NEWS01

Coalition formed to support ward-based council in New Brunswick

By JARED KALTWASSER • STAFF WRITER • September 9, 2009

NEW BRUNSWICK — Eleven community groups joined forces Wednesday to campaign for a ward-based City Council.

Leaders of the new "Coalition for Democracy" held a press conference on the steps of City Hall Wednesday to announce the coalition's creation. The group includes Empower Our Neighborhoods (EON), the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, the Lincoln Gardens Block Association, Rutgers Student Union and other groups.

EON also announced Wednesday that it has filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the city from placing a competing question on November's ballot.

Martin Perez, chair of the new coalition and president of the Latino Leadership Alliance of New Jersey, said the coalition proves that support for wards extends well beyond the current and former college students who have helped lead the ward campaign.

"This organization (EON) was being accused that they don't represent the city," Perez said. "We are here to say that's not true. We are here to announce the creation of the Coalition for Democracy of New Brunswick to show you who is supporting this initiative."

The coalition is campaigning for the passage of a ballot measure that would expand the City Council to nine members, with six elected based on wards.

The city currently has a five-member, at-large council.

Trenton City Councilman Manuel "Manny" Segura was among those at City Hall to announce the coalition's creation. Segura is one of three at-large council members. Trenton also has four ward-based council members. Segura said the ward-based council members have a more intricate knowledge of the needs of their respective wards.

"It has been proven that the person that lives right in your neighborhood knows better how to represent the people," Segura said.

What remains to be seen is whether the wards question will be the only ballot question on Nov. 3.

Another citizens' group, Unite New Brunswick, has filed a petition with the city seeking to have residents vote on an alternative measure that would expand the City Council to seven members, all elected at-large. That petition has been certified by City Clerk Daniel Torrisi and is scheduled for a public hearing before the City Council on Sept. 16.

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http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/09/new_brunswick_group_files_laws.html

New Brunswick grassroots group files lawsuit challenging petition for council expansion

By Christopher N. Dela Cruz
September 09, 2009, 1:29PM

NEW BRUNSWICK -- A local grassroots group in the city filed suit today to overturn the city clerk's acceptance of a second petition calling for a change in the city's government on the November ballot.

Empower Our Neighborhoods, which has its own question on the ballot, filed the papers with Superior Court Judge James Hurley, who set Sept. 18 to hear arguments from both sides.

At question is a petition filed by a group, Unite New Brunswick, that recommends the city council be expanded from five members to seven, all elected at-large.

Empower Our Neighborhoods (EON) believes state law forbids having two separate questions relating to a change in government on the same ballot.

EON has waged a two-year battle to expand the council to nine members, with six elected by wards and three elected at-large.

Judge Hurley ruled last month that City Clerk Dan Torrisi had to honor the petition filed by EON and place the ward system question on the ballot. Torrisi had rejected the petition in October 2008.

Members of EON have charged that the city administration, which opposes the ward system, is behind the Unite New Brunswick petition, a charge members of Unite New Brunswick deny.

City spokesman Bill Bray said in response to EON's legal filing that "the city defends its decision in certifying the petition."

Glenn Fleming, a spokesman for Unite New Brunswick said his group anticipated this.

"This is the same group that claimed, 'let the people vote,' and lectured us for a year on democracy," Fleming said. "It's kind of hypocritical now for them to try to get our petition knocked off. They're resorting to the same thing they claim the city was doing to them."

The legal battle began in July 2008, when EON submitted a petition to Torrisi for a vote on the question about wards for last November's ballot, but the clerk rejected it, leading the group to sue the city to compel Torrisi to accept the petition. The legal action was still pending when the ballots were printed for the November 2008 election so EON circulated a new petition in October 2008 for the question to be placed in this November's ballot.

Meanwhile, EON and other groups in New Brunswick announced the formation today of the Coalition for Democracy to campaign for the passage of the question calling for a ward system.

"We strongly believe it is out duty to engage in a process to create a government that is transparent and accessible," said Martin Perez, who is chairman of the coalition's steering committee, at a noon press conference on the steps of city hall.

The coalition currently includes 11 groups representing different constituencies including the Hispanic community and Rutgers University students.