Are Robert Jackson and his Montclair 2012 slate connected to the Essex Count political machine? This worker, handing out campaign literature near the Dunkin’ Donuts on Bloomfield Ave., is from Newark. He said he was getting paid and knew nothing about Jackson or the campaign.
Jackson, 4th Ward candidate Renee Baskerville and councilor-at-large candidate Patricia Hurt all had signs in front of Glenfield School today. The Turner campaign says the practice is illegal and that it has instructed its workers not to place signs on school property.
This is a non-story.
Ditto. There are illegal signs from almost (and maybe even) every candidate in public areas. Isn’t he within his rights to hire a pamphleteer? from anywhere?
It’s difficult to see the correlation between paying a man a few bucks to hand out pamphlets and being part of a “political machine”. Gimme a break!
It amazes me that you chose to post this election day. You make a mockery of some poor guy out there making an honest buck doing something that is legal and been going on forever.
You made a fool of this guy. A new low.
If this person were white and well spoken would you have posted it? Doubtful.
Got a flyer on my car, like all the other cars in my parking lot, and guess what, most people will just toss them on the ground causing more garbage to pile up on the streets, that won’t be picked up. What a waste!
https://www.ecode360.com/7186388#7186388
CHAPTER 178. HANDBILLS AND POSTERS
§ 178-1. Attachment to trees or poles prohibited.
§ 178-2. Fastening advertisements to sidewalks.
§ 178-3. Distribution of handbills.
§ 178-4. Violations and penalties.
Bryan Walensky (M2012 Campaign Manager) mentioned here in issues related to street money:
https://grafixavenger.blogspot.com/2011/07/bluewater-operations-llc-contacts-ga.html
Bluewater LLC also referenced here:
https://www.hobokenhorse.com/2011/08/mason-street-money-revealed-permanent.html
I hasten to point out that there is no indication that there is anything wrong with this hired leafletter or anything M2012 is doing.
veeka,
Political leaflets are exempt.
In that same code you reference it says:
“This section is not intended to prevent the lawful distribution of anything other than commercial and business advertising matter.”
All I know is that the canvassers must not have known the difference between GR and MTC because we got one stuck on our door knob, and I can only see the tops of trees in MTC.
He seems like a hardworking guy doing his job the way he’s been told to do it. It doesn’t bother me for a candidate to pay people to spread leaflets just as it doesn’t bother me for a candidate to pay the USPS to send campaign literature. I cast my vote by doing my own research and judging the fliers.
I work in NYC. I can’t walk 5 feet without someone trying to hand me something. If you don’t want it, don’t take it. Problem solved!
But, thanks, Debbie, for your important alert that a BLACK MAN FROM NEWARK has infiltrated Montclair.
“The Turner campaign says the practice is illegal and that it has instructed its workers not to place signs on school property.”-
Any comments from the other Mayoral candidates on this earth shattering scandal or just a free plug to have Turner come off as looking good when I’m sure Jackson had no idea where volunteers place signs.
How do we know another slate didn’t pull the sign from somewhere else and place it there? Messing with signs is par for the course in any election. When we were kids we used to switch signs all the time. Non -issue and it’s obvious where your allegiance lies. Please attempt to be fair today and let the people decide.
more of an implication that the volunteers are part of the Democratic Political machine and sent here to get their guys elected and save public sector union jobs to keep their support base. Wouldn’t matter if he were black or white, well spoken or not. Do RPM and FM have the financial resources or wherewithall to bring in people to rally the electorate like M2012 does? Probably not because the other 2 slates are not backed by the local political powerbrokers.
Shame on you Debbie! You even use the vernacular of the RPM campaign asking if he is part of the “Essex County Machine.” Was your post paid for by RPM or are you just a volunteer for them?
This IS a tactic of the Democratic Party Machine.
It also means that this slate does not have enough volunteers who have been working for them. I find it insulting to the voters because these folks who are hired by the day or hour cannot possibly address the issues. To my mind it also means that this slate didn’t get out and walk the town enough.
I’d like to see what is being handed out. In Bloomfield, in the past, the Democratic Party has initiated “rumor campaigns” at the last minute by paying young people from East Orange and Newark to not only give out flyers but to misrepresent that they were from Bloomfield.
Are these people being paid at least minimum wage? is the “street money” paid in cash and not reported? Will we find this expenditure on the ELEC reports for this candidate and slate?
great points Pat. You would think that all the race baiters on this site stirring up fear about FM and RPM could be looked to as the M2012 volunteers who live in town and would pass out flyers and address some of the issues.
Handing out flyers and cards on election day or the week prior with hired help is not illegal. Campaigns hire high school kids, college kids all the time to make the rounds. All they are doing is handing cards touting the candidate reminding them to vote. It works or they wouldn’t do it. A well run campaign should be ready to counter tactics like on election day. I never liked the tactic and I think it’s cheesy but putting a video up of some guy earning a legal buck is wrong. It’s belittling the man. Believe me, far be it that I’d ever pull for a Dem. I’m just saying that what they are doing is legal like it or not.
Yeah? And who is going to do anything about this guy, Aqui Hoy? He has his posters up *inside* the schools!
Yikes!! The vid didn’t load before I read the comments, but this guy is as articulate and knowledgable as some of those well scrubbed college kids who were at my door for Obama.
He offered you a handout, what were you looking for? A campaign speech from a volunteer?
But to act like this is something nefarious or out of the norm is unseemly.
This is indeed a tie in with the Democratic Party and exactly what you might expect them to do. The Montclair 2012 slate needs some inexpensive paid volunteers. So they recruited from Newark. Those are the facts. Big deal.
Let’s not be shocked.
There is nothing wrong with them doing it although it does create an impression that’s not particularly non-partisan. There is also nothing wrong with reporting about it.
Great to see the Baristanet of old back doing real time coverage without concern who gets offended. Posting the reality clip of Karen Turner last night talking about potentially cutting back on the Library is no different. It’s the same kind of on the spot news. That is the the genius of the internet.
Debbie Galant is a leader of the ‘put it on the table and let them hear it’ local news philosophy.
Right on Debbie!!!
Yes, facts are facts, but “Would you cast a vote for Jackson after talking to this man?” is what showed up in my feed. It is an ugly, divisive way to report on it.
If this post is the “genius of the Internet,” then the Internet is an ass.
“Would you cast a vote for Jackson after talking to this man?”
Why is that an unfair question to ask the reader? He knew nothing about the slate he’s working for.
Sending vans into Newark on election day to get cheap labor to push flyers to voters is a long-time political party tactic. You see it all the time in Bloomfield elections — which are very partisan — but not in a non-partisan local race.
By the way, RPM is not the only one accusing Montclair 2012 of being a party machine slate. So does Susswein.
This is bad politics. Yuk!
Maybe I am confused about what Baristanet is supposed to be. Debbie do you hold yourself out as being a reporter?
Attempting to recruit student labor under the guise of extracurricular credit is also a “long-time political … tactic.”
It’s illegal to distribute political pamphlets or post signs within 200 feet of a voting booth. Beyond, it’s perfectly legal, and campaigns recruit helpers all the time.
That said, boy I’ll be glad when this election is over.
First, I think the source of the video and photo should be noted on the post, especially if the source is linked with any campaign/slate. Also, is that Debbie’s voice asking questions or someone from a campaign.
Did Debbie ask for comments from the three slates before posting this or did a campaign send her this video and photo with the planted caption: “Are Robert Jackson and his Montclair 2012 slate connected to the Essex Count political machine?”
There is a comment from the Turner campaign in the posting. If Debbie asked the other candidates for comments and they decided not to make a statement, then it should be noted in the posting. The post implies the plural, “Leafleteers” and I only see one man in the video. Did you find other people from Newark to support your claim?
The reporting looks biased because of the content, her verbiage, and the omissions and it makes me wonder if she is not part of some other political machine. I welcome real-time coverage, but are you reporting or taking a side?
Kit – It’s 100 feet, not 200…
19:34-6. Prohibited actions in polling place on election day; exception for simulated voting.
19:34-6. a. If a person shall on election day tamper, deface or interfere with any polling booth or obstruct the entrance to any polling place, or obstruct or interfere with any voter, or loiter in or near the polling place, or, with the purpose to obstruct or interfere with any voter or to unduly delay other voters from voting, spend an inordinate amount of time in the polling booth, or do any electioneering within any polling place or within one hundred feet thereof, he shall be guilty of a crime of the third degree.
b. This section shall not be construed to prohibit a minor from entering a polling place on the day of an election to vote in a simulated election at that polling place, or persons from supervising or working at a polling place in a simulated election in which minors vote, provided that the county board of elections has determined that the polling place can accommodate simulated election activities without interfering with the orderly conduct of the official voting process.
Yes! “Would you cast a vote for Jackson after talking to this man…” is a heavily loaded statement. Likewise the rhetorical wondering aloud whether the “political machine” is involved behind the scenes. Both of those phrases have very seedy and nefarious implications. @Spotontarget, this is not “reporting”, it is commentary.
I took the video and that is my voice on the video.
I agree that this video did not have to be posted.
Fact and then question: Jackson has run a very very sloppy campaign, how could he possibly run Montclair?
It appeared, driving back from Panera a little while ago, that the signs in front of Glenfield are now gone. Not 100% sure, because there were schoolbuses, but it looked that way.
Who said they put the signs there? It’s one of the oldest tricks to pull to tick people of. Messing with signs.
What about the other points Debbie?
* Source of the photo
* Did you find other leafleteers from Newark, or just this one?
* Did you ask all slates for comment or just Turner?
what about the turner signs sitting in the public green at watchung plaza? does that imply mr. dino’s is a Turner supporter? give us a break, debbie. this is like some bad willie horton replay. and rpm’s response is typical of the race-baiting and fear-mongering of the right. the new racism in this country is to express fury at being accused when caught in the act of playing the race card. shame on baristanet for playing along.
mtcpublic – nobody wants to hear about the race card. We all just want to live in a town that has good schools, some reasons for people to come here and shop here, is safe, has good roads and parks and isn’t going to file for bankruptcy. This isn’t about race unless ‘business as usual’ in Montclair has to involve playing a race card one way or another in order to gain power. The issues are about responsibility and governing the town responsibly as opposed to the past practices of giving everyone everything they ask for without having a realistic way to pay for it.
I have no horse in this race. I call them as I see them. And RPM was certainly not happy with our coverage of PTA-gate.
Debbie,
This story is in awful taste and you know it. Race baiting at its worst.
Clueless white college kid handing out flyers? Non story.
Black man from Newark handing out flyers? Headline news.
The original headline was shameless. A real low for your site and for your readership.
One more time, what about the other points Debbie?
* Source of the photo
* Did you find other “leafleteers” from Newark, or just this one?
* Did you ask all slates for comment or just Turner?
@relax people – so you would have debbie ignore any story that contains black men from newark! any other townz/cities that you would have her ignore? any oher races?
ps- I think she lives in Glen Ridge
Don’t you mean “dog in this hunt” ? 🙂
I don’t think so Jon, Debbie usually says exactly what she means
https://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_it_mean_I_don't_have_a_horse_in_this_race
Wow. I’m saddened by all of this.
I’ve received four very colorful and glossy mailings from one of the slates, the one I’d guess was the last arrived today – after I had already voted. And I assume those were paid for with campaign money and delivered to my door by people who may or may not live in Montclair. Is that so different?
I think more people like the man in the video should move to Montclair. He seems very pleasant and unflustered by videography and sudden questions. It would make him a great candidate for the next “What Would You Do?” the decide to film here.
@pat gilleran
As you well know, there was no “story”. Debbie created it from whole cloth. The orginal headline was classic race baitng. She changed it only after being shamed by her readership.
That you would attempt to defend it with your straw man argument speaks volumes about you.
Stay classy pat.