Hawthorne resident criticizes Passaic County Democrats control over freeholder vacancy appointment
By To the Editor
Published: December 8, 2016
I am a retired nurse from Preakness and I cannot believe that after the Nov. 8th election results, the Passaic County Democrats are playing the same games as usual. Have we not learned that people are angry and want change so much that they are willing to give up their civil liberties?
Hector Lora just became mayor of Passaic City after the former mayor was accused of corruption. Hector has to vacate his seat on the Passaic County Board of Chosen Freeholders in order to be mayor of Passaic. I have met Hector and he is a very nice professional person, but he would admit politics was not his first choice; he was selected by friends of the Democratic Party to fill a vacant spot back in 2012.
This is the issue I have with my county. Why are the people not selecting the representatives to these offices, why is one person making the decisions about who can run for a seat and what right does this person have to take away half a million people’s rights to select the candidate of their choice?
For years all the candidates and now elected officials have come from Paterson, Passaic and Clifton with the exception of two or three that were from other parts of the county but if you just look at who sits in the offices now, who they are related to and where their loyalty stands, it is clear, there is no democracy in Passaic County, we are being ruled and as such people in this nation that felt the same way gave Donald Trump the White House, so now all I hear is the next freeholder is Carol Cuadrado, loyal chief of staff to state senator Nellie Pou.
So there are no qualified, trained policy people anywhere else in Passaic County? I am old enough to know and see the pattern. All over social media in the last few weeks Cuadrado has been getting all these recognitions all over the county, why now? And at every event it is the Democratic chair, so it is clear this is who he wants and he seems to get what he wants.
If you do the research, and as a retired woman I do, every single elected county official has been introduced in the same manner. The Democratic chair puts the person he wants before a crowd at an event and then all of a sudden this person is the talk of the party. So where is the democratic process? If I could bet on this selection, I am 100% sure the next freeholder is Carol Cuadrado.
Juana Penaranda
Hawthorne resident