Teaneck Resident Calls on Denise Belcher, Danielle Gee, Hillary Goldberg, Chondra Young and BOE Candidates to Denounce Alleged Hate Group TDMC Endorsement

Teaneck, NJ – Teaneck resident Deborah Blaiberg is calling on Council candidates Denise Belcher, Danielle Gee, Hillary Goldberg and Chondra Young as well as local Board of Education candidates to denounce the Teaneck Democratic Municipal Committee (TDMC) endorsement they received considering how the TDMC is being possibly investigated as a hate group by the New Jersey Attorney General for the political organization’s recent remarks about Hindus, Jews and Latinos.

“Shame on Denise Belcher, Danielle Gee, Hillary Goldberg and Chondra Young as well as the Board of Education candidates for accepting the TDMC endorsement,” said Blaiberg who sent a letter to the Attorney General last week requesting that his office investigate the TDMC as a possible hate group. “The TDMC has attacked Hindus, Jews and Latinos and should have no say whatsoever in the Council election or the BOE election. If Belcher, Gee, Goldberg, Young and the BOE candidates were true leaders and really cared about Teaneck, they would denounce their TDMC endorsement and stand up to the bullies and bigots in the TDMC.”

The TDMC passed an Anti-Hindu resolution on September 12^th falsely labeling five major Hindu American organizations as “Hindu Nationalist” with “direct or indirect ties” to an India-based organization simply on the basis that all are Hindu-faith based organizations.  All organizations mentioned are independent 501(c)(3) organizations that are governed by their own board and/or management team; none of the organizations are financially or legally controlled, managed, supervised, or directed by any other organization, domestically or abroad.

Community outrage against the TDMC resolution led to a letter signed by a coalition of over 65 organizations, representing over 190,000 residents of Bergen County and surrounding areas. They called for the rescission of the TDMC resolution.  In addition, lawmakers across New Jersey and the United States joined the Hindu American community in expressing their outrage over the level of hate and bigotry exhibited in the TDMC resolution.

TDMC chairwoman Alexandra Soriano-Taveras, who signed the anti-Hindu resolution, had also made bigoted comments about the Jewish American community in 2021. The community outrage from those comments resulted in her withdrawal from the contest for a State Assembly seat.

Moreover, TDMC Vice President Victoria Fisher who also serves on the local Board of Education made a comment attacking a Latina who was appointed to the local Planning Board when she said: “And for you to pat yourselves on the back for appointing a white woman with no relevant experience is insulting to me as a taxpayer.”

“The TDMC has a long history of being a political hate group that likes to sow division in the community,” said Blaiberg. “Teaneck is a nonpartisan township and candidates for office should not be beholden to such a politically partisan hate group. Any candidate for public office that accepts the TDMC endorsement does not represent the true spirit of Teaneck.”

In addition, Blaiberg has also called for the immediate resignation of Board of Education members who also serve on the TDMC. On September 29^th she sent the following email to the Superintendent of the local school district and the Board members and has yet to receive any response:

“Dear Superintendent and Board Members, 

I am calling on all Members of the Teaneck Democratic Municipal Committee to step down from the board immediately following the third racist attack on a minority. 

First we have an attack on a LatinX woman. Then we have a call to boycott Jewish owned businesses on Cedar Lane and now with this latest resolution attacking the Hindu community it shows that whilst hate has no home in Teaneck it seems to reside within the TDMC. 

It is shameful for this board to allow members of a hate group to remain on this board and therefore all TDMC members should resign immediately. 

One also needs to question if it is appropriate for these people to also be a part of the Superintendent search considering they have shown prejudice towards the LatinX, Jewish and Hindu communities. 

Yours in disgust.”