Letter to the Editor: Mayor Should Step Down

Responding to the city's recent proposed city budget and serving in his second term representing city residents, Democratic Committeeman Cedrick Goodman is calling for intervention from state regulators to reject the city's recent budget proposal that would once again raise property taxes on the poor and elderly while awarding pay raises in the city Mayor's Office.

With almost every municipality in the entire State of New Jersey forced into consolidating into shared services to save jobs, and avoid tax increases statewide, the greed in the City of New Brunswick appears to continue. During the most difficult and harshest economic climate since the great depression, affecting the U.S. at every level - federal, state and county - local municipalities have been affected by budget cuts to scale back spending.

Our city currently faces a $4 million dollar deficit, our state Medicaid programs are stretched beyond capacity and our elderly and every economically challenged city resident can barely afford food. They can no longer be burdened with more debt and saddled with additional economic hardships by this city or its officials who only appear to be concerned with securing life long six figure retirement pensions while passing these huge costs and expenditure onto the poor and middle class residents who can‘t afford it.

On March 1, 2010 after learning that Gov. Chris Christie had implemented pension reform to eliminate state pension abuse and double dipping in the New Jersey pension system, it was recorded that state municipalities would be facing a $16 million dollar shortfall. After meeting with Mayor James Cahill to express my concerns for city residents I recommended salary cuts, proposed budget cuts and the immediate resignations throughout our city government for every employee with 25 years of service and those with the highest salaries, benefits and pensions, specifically those within our police and fire departments. Current data indicates a huge percentage of our city expenditures are absorbed primarily by these two departments that would include huge pensions for life at the taxpayers expense.

With budget cuts from our state and federal levels, future budget insertions and budget estimates becoming limited because of spending cuts and more fiscal accountability at the current and future grant subsidies we receive. I recommended that those cuts and savings in these departments would prevent future property tax increases on city residents during these hard economic times and those savings and resources could be redirected back into the urban community for jobs, fully paved roads, construction, and community development opportunities for minority residents could help spur economic growth for struggling families until our state returned to full economic recovery.

Politics as usual prevailed. The tax and spend policies of this administration and its master plan of redevelopment has resulted in forcing families to exit for greener pastors due to their decaying quality of life that has resulted in depreciated home values that’s ripe for investors resulting from the city's designed urban and social policies. Their target population goal and purpose was the relocation of the African-American and Latino communities from the downtown area and throughout the city to attract and consolidate private and business partnerships dollars under redevelopment, while avoiding federal and state fiscal oversight. This has resulted in my view as a city for sale of pay to play offering huge profit of returns for private investors.

Its time that we have the public discussion about the city's history of political corruption, nepotism, cronyism, property taxes and civil rights abuses that has plagued this city for decades. What efforts or policies are now in force by our city's police department that will prevent future occurrences of police brutality, racial profiling, and prevent civil liability that resulted in the murder of an unarmed lifelong city resident, Mr. Barry Deloatch by officers Brad Berdel and Daniel Mazan? What police conduct reforms are now in place for correction or discipline of our public servants and those sworn to protect and serve the general public and not violate the public trust? Why hasn't anyone been held accountable or addressed the long history of political corruption, nepotism, cronyism, and discrimination throughout city government? What efforts have been made to address the huge minority hiring disparity, salaries and minority leadership positions throughout city government as well as the democratic leadership?

Due to the many years of urban and social neglect, government waste and abuse, corruption that constantly taxes poor residents, I hereby publicly vote no confidence in the mayor and his administration, and as an elected representative of this city and born resident native, call for the resignation of the Mayor of the City of New Brunswick, James Cahill, to immediately resign his official duties and step down. 

-Cedric Goodman

Middlesex County Democratic Organization

Committeeman 4th Ward, District 1