the West New York Reporter Local pol details plan to replace Mayor Roque
NINE WEEKLY NEWSPAPERS SERVING HUDSON COUNTY • STORIES UPDATED CONTINUOUSLY AT WWW.HUDSONREPORTER.COM • A PUBLICATION OF THE HUDSON REPORTER
VOLUME 16, NUMBER 26 • SUNDAY, AUGUST 19, 2012
Wiley also confirms short-lived dancing job
The saga continues
LESS CROWDED, NOT LESS EVENTFUL – While West New York’s Wednesday Board of Commissioner’s meeting was slightly less well attended than usual, the usual amount of contention and drama ensued.
NEW CONTENDER – Commissioner Count Wiley plans to petition to hold a recall election and to run to replace West New York Mayor Felix Roque.
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By Gennarose Pope Reporter Staff Writer
ount Wiley, the West New York Commissioner of Parks and Public Property, says that when he found out in a 2010 town meeting that taxes would be raised 52 percent, he was appalled. Wiley’s bachelor’s degree is in political science, but he had spent the past 10 years work-
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ing as a chiropractor until doctor (and current mayor) Felix Roque called upon him to take a stand against the past administration. In 2010, Wiley and Roque launched a recall election against then-mayor Silverio “Sal” Vega. The attempt failed due to a technicality, but their slate achieved a surprise election upset against Vega in May of 2011. But a year later, things changed again. In May of 2012, Roque and his son Joseph were arrested by the F.B.I. on charges of allegedly hacking into a website politically opposed to the mayor. Roque was formally indicted last week. In June, Roque and the majority of the fivemember board voted to reassign each commissioner to a new department, removing Wiley from the Department of Public Works, and it was the last straw, he said. That’s when he decided to attempt a recall election for the second time in only two years. “It wasn’t a decision to be mayor; it was a decision to be someone who will finally take responsibility for the town and treat the people how they should be treated,” Wiley explained in an interview last week. “I’ve gotta do what I’ve gotta do.” In West New York’s form of government, five people run as a slate of commissioners. After
see WILEY page 7
WNY Board of Commissioners meeting proves, once again, contentious
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By Gennarose Pope Reporter Staff Writer
he politicking, bickering, and pleas from residents to work together and behave like adults carried on during Wednesday afternoon’s uncharacteristically short and under-attended West New York Board of Commissioner’s meeting. At the outset of the meeting, Mayor Felix Roque and the commissioners said they hoped to move through matters quickly that day because they were scheduled to attend a Formula One meeting to discuss the race set to run through the streets of the town in June 2013. As one of many asides, Commissioner Count Wiley, who has announced his plans to run a recall election and replace the mayor (who was indicted last week for alleged computer hacking), was not invited to the Formula One meeting. “Listen, I only have one thing to say. Here, a lot of people are pro, con, everything, but thing is we need to move on,” resident Wayne Cooke pleaded during the public comment session that afternoon after an hour and a half of back-andforth between commissioners and residents. “You talk bad about the previous administration, but guess what, they’re gone! So do me a favor: stay positive!”
Cooke then went to the wall and pointed to the portraits of the mayors hanging there. The mayor who preceded Roque, Silverio “Sal” Vega, was not among them. “There’s a picture missing,” Cooke said. “Out of respect for the community, no matter you like the guy, or don’t like the guy, the guy deserves to be there.” “I agree with you,” Roque said. “Do I have your word?” Cooke asked. “You do,” Roque answered. And there were plenty more words that preceded this conversation that spoke volumes about an administration divided and up in arms only a year after they were voted in over Vega’s, with the declared intent to prevent the sort of division and disquiet rampant in the former administration from happening again.
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One explanation for the division and disorganization during the meeting is that in June, the mayor and three commissioners (Wiley voted no) voted to approve an ordinance that reassigned each of the five commissioners to new departments.
see COMMISH page 10