Piscataway Dems Call for Independent Observers After Local Meeting Ends in Threats
Sen. Bob Smith declined support for his own bill, told Chairman Light to Violate Committee Bylaws

For immediate release: September 30, 2019

Piscataway, NJ —  After a tumultuous meeting of the Piscataway Democratic Organization last week, three newly elected members called for the State and County Party Chairs to review the organization’s bylaws and operating procedures with the Chairman Ted Light.  Kamuela Tillman, Laura Leibowitz and Staci Berger, who ran after winning the right to have two women serve together and are the first female committee women to do so in Middlesex County history, reported that Chairman Light threatened to have them removed for asking questions about the minutes, suggesting the annual “Christmas Party” be renamed a “Holiday Party” and making motions to support climate change actions, in response to the Global Climate Strike.

In their report, which was published on the Central Jersey Progressive Democrats Facebook page over the weekend, they detailed the conduct of the party committee chairman, Ted Light.  The women said he threatened Berger with removal at least three times.  After they attempted to make a motion to support a bill to ban single use plastic bags, which is sponsored by Piscataway’s own State Senator Bob Smith (D-17), Sen. Smith took the unusual step of telling Committee members to vote against the motion.  He then told Light that the women were out of order and that Light did not have to entertain the motion.  Light ruled them out of order, the women wrote, and ended the meeting by a voice vote that included people who were not elected to the Committee.

“Light then offered to meet with us privately, but said the Committee wasn’t going to change the way it does business.  Except that is exactly what our neighbors elected us to do.  We have a mandate from and a responsibility to our neighbors.  We were elected precisely because our neighbors want better representation locally and stronger voices in our Democratic Party.  The Committee can object to the ideas we raise, and they can even vote down our proposals. But they cannot silence us.  We have the same rights as all of the other Committee members, including the right to make motions and attend the meeting without fear of harassment, intimidation and threats, ” they stated.

In addition to sharing their update with constituents, Tillman said she had sent a copy of the report, the full text of which is available here, to NJDSC Chairman John Currie and MCDO Chairman Kevin McCabe with a request for their assistance to ensure the full and fair participation of elected Democratic Committee members.

“We are asking the State and County Democratic Party leaders to review the bylaws and procedures for these meetings with Chairman Light, and to send an independent observer to future meetings to ensure the rights of all Democratic voters are preserved.As elected representatives of our neighborhoods, we will continue to advocate for issues – be they big or small – that matter to our neighbors and to us all.  We have a duty to speak up and a right to be heard. And we will persist,” she said.