More elected officials should have turned out for protestsSunday, July 29, 2007


It took almost two hours but, finally, Donald Cresitello stepped to the podium on a hot and steamy afternoon and talked about revolution.

Evoking Morristown's status as the "military capital" of the American Revolution, the mayor said it was time for another rebellion. This one would be against illegal immigration.

That hardly has the same pizzazz as going after the king of England, but you've got to pick your spots. Cresitello surely has. For good or for bad -- depending on your point of view -- he has assumed the role of protecting honest Americans from the illegal hordes.

Some of those hordes may have been across the street. As an anti-illegal immigration rally ensued in front of Morristown's town hall, a slightly smaller crowd assembled across South Street. Some stood silently; others yelled and heckled.

Addressing those on the other side of the street, Cresitello said, "They have an obligation to honor America." He added, "I am not a person of hate, ... just the opposite."

Opponents were unimpressed. They shouted, "Shame on you," in reference to Cresitello and carried signs condemning him.

The mayor, who generally speaking restrained himself, slipped up once and called the protesters, "Communists and Marxists." Huh? Was this round two of the Cold War? Did Che Guevara reincarnate himself as a day laborer? It may have been the heat.

The mayor recovered and implored Gov. Jon S. Corzine to appropriate more money and to hire more employees to enforce current laws. He specifically mentioned laws against "stacking," or illegally overcrowded apartments. Cresitello's public call for the governor to act was interesting in light of the fact the mayor is a state employee. He has a "day job" with the state's School Construction Corp.

Many at the rally backed Cresitello's proposal to give local cops the power to enforce federal immigration law. Corzine says he disagrees with the town's approach.

Notwithstanding Corzine, the mayor said "thousands of elected officials" support getting tough with illegal immigrants. That could be the case, but very few of them seem to be from Morris County.

Other than the combative mayor, how many elected officials would you say attended Saturday's rally?

I counted one, Assemblyman Michael P. Carroll, R-Morris Township, and even Carroll, who never shies from political controversy, didn't seem all that enthusiastic about the event.

"It's either this, or painting my house," Carroll said. He left before the rally ended and before Cresitello spoke.

Why weren't there more elected officials there? Specifically, why were there no Morristown council members there? Do they not support Cresitello's plan? In truth, the lack of elected officials attending such rallies -- on either side -- shows their unwillingness to take a strong stand on a major issue.

Illegal immigration is arguably the most important domestic issue in the country today. Elected officials should give their opinions about it. Of course, Congress hasn't exactly set a good example. Various compromise bills to try to solve the problem have failed after Congress caved in to misguided opponents on both the right and the left.

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While there may have been a paucity of officials on hand, there was an abundance of cops. There were cops wearing helmets, cops on horseback and dozens of just plain cops throughout the area. The county's Mobile Command Center was activated and a New Jersey State Police helicopter flew overhead to better watch the approaching crowds. South Street was closed to traffic about an hour after the rally started. Robert Bianchi, the Morris County prosecutor, was an onlooker.

The huge police presence helped avoid any real trouble.



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Fred Snowflack is editorial page editor of the Daily Record. Contact him at fsnowfla@gannett.com or (973) 428-6617.


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