Officials reject resident’s call to resign from office
BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer

FREEHOLD — Resident Tom Baldwin, who is a regular speaker at Borough Council meetings, rose from his seat during the Dec. 4 meeting and once again asked Mayor Michael Wilson to step down from his position.

He also asked Councilman Marc Le Vine to resign from the governing body.

Baldwin initially stood up to take issue with the meeting procedure, which he said did not allow for interactive dialogue between officials and residents. He expressed his desire for a change in the way the meetings are handled.

He moved on from that point to state his belief that the behavior of the mayor and council members during the time a federal lawsuit concerning immigration issues was being discussed was “hateful and uncooperative.”

The lawsuit was recently settled by the borough and advocates for the Latino immigrants.

“You refused to talk to us,” Baldwin said. “We (immigrant advocates) asked to speak to (Borough Administrator) Joseph Bellina to set up a peaceful meeting. We agreed as gentlemen to set up this meeting and then received a call the morning of the meeting canceling it.”

Addressing Bellina, Baldwin said, “You said the meeting was canceled because there was nothing to discuss. That’s why we had to seek legal advice, because you would not talk to us. Instead you played hardball. As a result, the borough will now have to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars because of the suit when it didn’t have to cost you one red cent. I ask you Mayor Wilson to do the honorable thing and step down. And I am asking you Mr. Le Vine to do the same thing.”

Baldwin did not receive a response from Wilson, but he did receive one from Le Vine. Baldwin had previously told Le Vine that he did not like the comments the councilman made at a meeting on Nov. 10 in regard to the settlement of the immigrants’ federal lawsuit.

“Mr. Baldwin,” Le Vine began, “your words are insulting and you don’t deserve a response for your call for me to step down. I have a right to express personal views that many others happen to share. As for my comments on Nov. 10, I was reviled by the vote I had to cast to allow a bunch of pro bono advocate lawyers to get rich by defeating the legal will of the American public in regard to illegal immigration.”

Le Vine said he was also disappointed that the federal courts would allow illegal immigrants to engage in a lawsuit against the borough.

“I spoke no disparaging words about the immigrants themselves other than that they broke the law to come here. I simply went on to say that I believed that the same market forces that have overwhelmed Freehold Borough with illegal immigration will be turned around to set us on a better track and bring the town the same prosperity that the surrounding western Monmouth County towns enjoy. This is the destiny that Freehold Borough deserves.”