McCANN TO FAVIA: OUT! -- Says union chief's letter broke the law

Friday, April 27, 2007
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The first meeting of the reorganized Jersey City school board hasn't even taken place - that comes Monday - and former Mayor Gerald McCann, who eked out a victory for a seat on the board last week, is already at war.

McCann has accused Jersey City Education Association chief Tom Favia of illegal campaigning and trying to "instill fear" in his membership, and has invited him to resign.

Riled that opponents raised questions about his pursuit of absentee ballots in nursing homes, McCann has asked the state's Election Law Enforcement Commission to investigate why most of the school board candidates - and sitting board members - have never filed campaign disclosure statements.

"I'm a simple guy," McCann remarked yesterday. "If you're going to throw a punch at me, I'm going to throw one back."

McCann's beef with Favia has to do with a letter signed by the union boss that was placed in teachers' school mailboxes on April 13, the Friday before the election. The JCEA backed incumbent Angel Valentin and basketball star Terry Dehere, both of whom won, and School 28 parent Jenny Garcia, whom McCann beat out for the third open seat by 21 votes.

The Favia letter stated in part, McCann's "sole intent for running is to discredit the efforts of our members. . He (McCann) has been on the attack and stated that our members do not earn their paychecks."

In a letter McCann wrote to Favia that same day, and sent copies to several school officials, McCann accused Favia of, among other things, breaking state law by using "school facilities for political purposes."

Electioneering is prohibited on school grounds, but the union has the right to communicate through the mailbox system, Board of Ed General Counsel Charlotte Kitler noted yesterday.

To balance these contradictory rights, letters about school board elections should be placed in envelopes, Kitler said. McCann insists they weren't.

"This is a typical McCann attack," Favia said. "I don't know what his real motives are. It's not a good start (McCann's tenure on the board), that's for sure."

Of the 11 candidates in last week's election, only two - McCann and former Ward E Councilman Ben Lopez - filed state-required campaign disclosure forms.

According to ELEC Executive Director Frederick Herrmann, school board candidates must file reports if they receive more than $1,000 from any single source. Favia said the JCEA spent $10,000, mostly on advertising, trying to elect its three candidates. The reports were due March 19, April 9, and on May 7.

Dehere said yesterday he sent a letter to ELEC "two of three days ago" stating his intention to file. Garcia and Valentin said they were under the impression the union would take care of everything.

Asked if he's ever filed an ELEC report, Board of Education chair William DeRosa replied, "I don't even know what that is."