Political battle brewing over Paterson’s plans for Hispanic Heritage Month event
PATERSON — The mayor and two City Council members are heading for a showdown over the timing of a Hispanic Heritage Month celebration planned for October 9.
The organizers of the event, Councilmen Alex Mendez and Julio Tavarez, want to hold it at 6 p.m. at City Hall, a time they argue would make the celebration convenient for working Patersonians, officials said. But Mayor Jose “Joey” Torres says the event should be held during regular business hours, perhaps at noon, so the city can avoid overtime costs for City Hall security and maintenance staff.
“I have 52 different ethnic groups in the city,” said Torres. “If I incur the expense, I have to do it for everybody. We don’t have that kind of line item.”
In an interview on Thursday afternoon, Mendez said he would be willing to reach into his own pocket to cover the City Hall expenses that would be created by the event.
“I don’t want to see the taxpayers have to pay it,” said Mendez. But he also asserted that the mayor ought to seek payment for such costs from all organizations that hold off-hours ceremonies at City Hall. “What I don’t want to see is the mayor use his powers to allow other people to hold events without making them pay,” he said.
Tavarez did not respond to attempts to get their input for this story. The issue was debated late Tuesday night during the City Council workshop session. During that discussion, officials said that Tavarez called Torres “a sore winner.” In an interview on Wednesday, Torres suggested that Tavarez was pushing to hold the event at 6 pm to accommodate his personal schedule and not those of city residents.
Officials said Tavarez has asserted that he plans to go ahead with the event no matter what the mayor says.
“It’s a game of chicken,” said Councilman Kenneth Morris. “You have two cars heading towards each other. Let’s see who veers off first.”
During Tuesday’s meeting, the council members wondered why Torres allowed evening events at City Hall in honor of representatives from Jamaica and Nigeria. But Torres said those events were different because they involved the city hosting foreign dignitaries.
Torres has not said how much he thinks the 6 pm City Hall event would cost Paterson in overtime. He pointed out that Paterson comes under strict fiscal monitoring by the state and he said he did not think officials in Trenton would look kindly on the use of city funds for the Hispanic Heritage event.
The mayor suggested that the council use money from its travel budget for events like the League of Municipalities convention for the Heritage celebration.
“The taxpayers shouldn’t have to pick up the tab for this,” Torres added, citing Paterson’s financial problems.
Councilman Andre Sayegh, one of Torres’ rivals in the recent mayoral race, supported Tavarez and Mendez on the issue. “We should accommodate the hard-working Latino families of Paterson and have the event at 6 p.m.,” he said.
Besides Tavarez and Mendez, the council has one other Hispanic member – Maritza Davila. She said she was disappointed that she was not included in the planning of the event. “I don’t know anything about the program,” Davila said. “I was told, ‘Everything is done, just show up.’ Are you trying to work with me or not?”
Davila said she thought it was important that Paterson hold an event to honor Hispanic Heritage Month. The last time the city had such a celebration was in 2009. Davila said organizers should have looked for ways of cover the costs through private donations, instead of city tax dollars.
“I know we can’t pay overtime for something like this,” she said
