The stench of political rot in Roselle is emanating from a modest 4-family house at 728-732 Thomas Street in Elizabeth—the one Mayor Donald Shaw bought from a couple named Freire, the same surname as the police captain he installed after orchestrating the sham firing of Chief Stacey Williams.
This isn’t just a coincidence. This is the kind of backroom stench that clings to a town long after the deals are done, the kind that makes you wonder who’s really running Roselle—the people or a cabal of grifters with a badge and a budget?
Shaw, a convicted heroin dealer who somehow averted mention of his Rikers Island résumé when he landed his cushy $85,000 county recreation job, and actively concealed that criminal record when he was hired as the municipal recreation director, has spent years dodging accountability like a fugitive from his past.
He won’t answer questions about the Freire house. He won’t explain why his mortgage paperwork reads like a work of fiction. He won’t account for the thousands in E-ZPass violations that taxpayers footed for his joyrides.
Now, he certainly won’t address why his handpicked police chief, Helder Freire—a man who lives in the affluent enclave of Flemington, far from the streets he supposedly protects—just happened to share a last name with the sellers of Shaw’s new home.
The timing is too perfect to ignore.
Before Williams was fighting for his job in court, Shaw was closing on a property sold by Joaquim and Gracinda Freire—a transaction that reeks of the same cronyism that defines his administration.
Helder Freire, the beneficiary of Williams’ ouster, was promoted to chief despite the ongoing legal battle, and his testimony was deemed “rehearsed” by the judge who saw through this charade.
It is not clear if he is related to the couple who sold Shaw his current home in Elizabeth, but the couple is in their mid-90s and could be the police captain’s parents.
In a bombshell revelation, NJTODAY revealed that Shaw purchased the Elizabeth property from the Freires, confirming rumors that the mayor had been living out of town since he and his wife, former 4th Ward Councilwoman Kimberly Shamrock Shaw, sold their previous home at 242 West Fourth Avenue in Roselle.
Now Roselle’s taxpayers are on the hook for nearly a million dollars in back pay and legal fees, all because Shaw couldn’t tolerate a chief who wouldn’t cut corners for a man whose own record reads like a rap sheet.
Citizens have a right to know if a discount on the real estate could have been an incentive for the mayor to try getting rid of the police chief who grew up in Roselle, still lives in the community, and served honorably for 30-plus years. Unfortunately for citizens, Shaw and his law enforcement allies are not talking.
If Shaw lives in Elizabeth, his top cop resides in Flemington, and the Republican fire chief designated as acting business administrator is a denizen of Ocean County, who will be on hand for Roselle when the next crisis strikes?
This is how power works in Roselle.
Williams was railroaded over a private joke, his 31-year career trashed on flimsy charges a judge called “orchestrated.”
The fire chief, a slew of business administrators, financial officers, and the public works staff, were all forced out in Shaw’s political purge.
Councilwoman Cynthia Johnson, the lone voice of integrity and dissent, has been ostracized while the rest of the governing body acts as Shaw’s personal, political shield.
The real crime here isn’t just the corruption—it’s the arrogance.
Shaw operates like a man who believes the rules don’t apply to him, a high school dropout turned petty dictator who treats public office like a license to loot.
He hides his forbidden use of municipal vehicles, sticks taxpayers with his toll violations, and ducks scrutiny like a man with something to hide—because he does.
Administrative Law Judge Thomas Betancourt’s ruling was a start, but it won’t be enough.
Williams’ vindication exposed the rot, but the machine is still intact. The federal lawsuit the legitimate police chief is preparing could tear it apart for good because this isn’t just about a house, or a police chief, or even a million-dollar payout.
It’s about whether Roselle is still a democracy or just a fiefdom run by a man who thinks he’s above the law.
The people of Roselle deserve answers. If the drug-dealing dropout Shaw won’t give them, citizens will have to show up at council meetings to demand them.