FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Teresa Ruiz

January 23, 2004 973-621-4404

Anthony Puglisi

973-621-2542

ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO RESPONDS TO THREATS,

EXPOSES FRAUD BEING CARRIED OUT BY PBA LOCAL 157

Newark, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. said he will not be intimidated by recent threats made against him and his family, and has notified law enforcement authorities, who are now investigating the source of the threat. The County Executive also announced that his administration has obtained documents that prove PBA Local 157 officials blatantly and knowingly spread misinformation about the environmental safety at the new Essex County Correctional Facility in order to purposely prevent it from opening.

DiVincenzo and other key members of his staff learned of the threats after receiving a flier on Thursday, January 22nd that asks Corrections Officers to “get Ghetto” and help combat a “smart Virus,” a thinly veiled reference that clearly is used to identify the County Executive and his family. The “game plan” outlined in the flier is to interfere with the lives of the Virus and his family at their home, workplace and schools.

“Laying off employees is the hardest decision to make and I have never taken it lightly,” he continued. “We have been working with the State Department of Corrections to hire all of the 150 employees who will be laid off on March 15th as State Corrections Officers. We have been assured that all our officers who are qualified and have good employment records will be considered,” he said, adding he will not tolerate anyone who uses coercion. DiVincenzo noted that 118 officers have signed up to attend a job seminar early in February.

Copies of the flier and other key documents were handed over to the Essex County Inspector General’s Office. Authorities at the U.S. Attorney, the Attorney General’s Office, Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, Essex County Sheriff’s Office and State Police also have been notified.

DiVincenzo and his staff also received copies of documents that prove PBA Local 157 officials knew air quality and soil contamination was not dangerous to the health and safety of Corrections Officers and inmates in the new Correctional Facility. However, union officials continued to spread misinformation and have created an atmosphere of fear and contempt among Corrections Officers and inmates. In addition, PBA officials withheld this information when they appeared before Superior Court Judge Harriet Farber Klein during a hearing on January 16, 2004.

On Friday, January 23rd, attorneys with the Essex County Counsel’s Office and Special Counsel representing Essex County applied to Judge Farber Klein to dismiss the PBA lawsuit based on the results of an environmental report that concluded the environmental conditions of the site were not dangerous. County attorneys also filed a motion to have the hearing scheduled on short notice.

“Ever since I took office, officers from PBA Local 157 have made relentless claims that our site on Doremus Avenue was dangerous to the health and safety of our Corrections Officers and inmates, and have gone as far as hiring an attorney and going to court to prevent us from moving in,” DiVincenzo said. “The documents that we now possess reveal the union has committed a gross act of fraud,” he added.

The County Executive also called the union’s actions “irresponsible.” “They have intentionally generated anger and hysteria among our Corrections Officers and inmates,” he said. “This potentially will jeopardize the safety of everyone in our jail and will make our relocation and adjustment to our new Correctional Facility that much more difficult,” he added.

Because of the “explosive atmosphere” created by the PBA, DiVincenzo said he has asked the State Police to work with the Essex County Inspector General’s Office to monitor operations at the Newark Jail and Jail Annex and the move into the new Correctional Facility.

A March 18, 2003, letter from Sadat Associates of Trenton states there are “no parameters of environmental concern” and that capping contaminated soil at the site will secure the site. PBA Local 157 officials had refused to provide Essex County copies of this environmental report, carried out by their own expert, despite numerous requests.

In an April 2, 2003, letter to inmate advocate T. Gary Mitchell, Joseph Amato, president of PBA Local 157, states there is “not enough concern that would cause a health scare.”