Sore winners suffer a setback in court

No good deed goes unpunished. Assemblyman Reginald Atkins is under fire for working to bring together supporters of Mayor Donald Shaw and his primary challenger, former Assemblyman Jamel Holley, to unify the Roselle Democratic Party.

A Union County Superior Court judge dismissed a motion for restraints and scheduled a hearing on Aug. 23 on the merits of a case filed by minions of Senator Joe Cryan, who is angry that Assemblyman Reginald Atkins brought the losing contender in the mayoral primary into to fold to create a united Democratic Party organization in Roselle.

In a complaint filed by Borough Council members Denise Wilkerson and Brendan Bernier, plus unsuccessful Union County Democratic Committee candidate Johnny Davis, the Cryan lackeys are suing the Roselle Democratic Committee to disrupt the outcome of the party’s organizational meeting held after the primary election. Atkins and other Roselle Democratic Committee officers are also named as defendants.

Atkins is a former Mayor who —as municipal party chair— has led Roselle Democrats to victory in every election since he became the Democratic Municipal Committee chairman prior to 2015.

Atkins served as president of the board of education of the Roselle Public Schools from 2007 to 2016. Elected to Roselle Borough Council in 2016, he served as council president from 2018 to 2019, and he was elected as mayor, serving from 2020 to 2021.

Wilkerson and Bernier claim that their faction consists of 18 county committee members in the borough, while Atkins and Holley have 20, but part of their argument is that they hoped to create gridlock to prevent two seats that were filled in accordance with the organization’s bylaws.

Supporters of Atkins and Holley have a majority of the borough’s 38 county committee seats, but Cryan has an almost unlimited capacity to raise money and a firm desire to prevent Black Democrats, who comprise much of Roselle’s electorate and local government, from exercising power independently. That financial advantage could allow the Senator to gum up Roselle Democrats in court but so far, the flimsy case has garnered no traction with the judge.

The contests for county committee of Atkins and Robin Frieson were tied in the June 6 election but they were filled by Atkins, whose primary opponent, Aida Villeda, dropped out of contention prior to the organizational meeting.

Davis was tied with Frieson in the primary election but the chairman is empowered by the bylaws to nominate qualified Democrats to fill any vacant seats. Atkins designated himself and Frieson, and those appointments were confirmed by a unanimous vote among committee members.

Wilkerson and Bernier claim that two Atkins allies, Lisa Palin and Sylvia Turnage, were absent from the meeting, but that means the best they could have hoped for was to create gridlock.

Cryan is angry that Atkins achieved party unity by inviting former Assemblyman Jamel Holley to serve as Democratic municipal vice chair following his razor-thin defeat in the June 6 Roselle Democratic mayoral primary election, in which incumbent Mayor Donald Shaw won a second term.

In a press release issued before the primary, Cryan was quoted as saying, “It’s time to move Roselle forward with a united voice” but now that the city’s Black leaders are doing that he is no longer interested in party unity.

Holley, who is also a former Roselle councilman and mayor, previously challenged Cryan in the 2021 primary election.

Throughout the reorganization meeting, Wilkerson tried to disrupt the procedures but Atkins kept a steady hand and his team secured a majority from those attending.

“At the end of the day, we followed a fair process,” said Atkins, who went to court expecting to prevail. “It’s all about unity, and it’s unfortunate that not everybody wants it.”

Holley is the first vice chairman of the Roselle Democratic Party, as the result of a move by Atkins, who supported Shaw, to heal any divide left over from the primary battle.

As much as Wilkerson seems intent on getting total control and destroying anyone who refused to fall in line by taking advantage of the democratic process, Atkin is following President Abraham Lincoln’s advice about vanquishing one’s enemies by making them friends.

“It’s become apparent to me that we bring both sides together. This was a good opportunity to start,” said Atkins. “We keep saying we’re stronger together. This was a way to bring people together. It can’t be about one person. It has to be about the town moving forward.”

“While the vast majority of elected Column A committee members determined it best to move forward with a new chair, Reginald Atkins formalized a deal with Jamel Holley, Garrett Smith, and the team that ran against our Democratic Party to try and save his failed chairmanship,” claimed Wilkerson, who shares Cryan’s contempt for the voters.

They believe that ‘our Democratic Party’ includes only those among the political establishment’s inner circle, in a reflection of the same tribalism that has come to dominate the GOP under former President Donald Trump, a renowned racist like Cryan.

Former Mayor Garrett Smith was elected as second vice chair, Councilwoman Cynthia Johnson as third vice chair, Demetria Demoleas as secretary, Lisa Palin as treasurer, Rev. Charles Mitchell as sergeant-at-arms, and the chairman’s wife, Cynthia Atkins, was elected as parliamentarian.