IRVINGTON, NJ — On Friday, Jan. 12, Municipal Council Vice President Renee Burgess and Elouise McDaniel, president of both the Irvington Joint Block Association Coalition and Nesbit Terrace Block Association, learned that Burgess’ formal complaint against McDaniel has been postponed and moved from Irvington Municipal Court to Newark Superior Court.
Burgess accused McDaniel of committing offence 2C:33-4A, which is harassment in the state Code of Criminal Justice, according to the ww.law.justia.com website. Burgess’ complaint against McDaniel was issued on Monday, Dec. 18, in response to alleged actions committed at the Municipal Council’s regular meeting on Tuesday, Dec. 12.
Their first date in the Irvington Municipal Court had been scheduled for Friday, Jan. 12. But when Burgess and McDaniel showed up at court that day, they were informed that the case had been moved out of town, likely to avoid any perceptions of bias, because Burgess is currently a sitting at-large councilwoman.
“It was postponed while they move it from Irvington to Newark,” said McDaniel on Friday, Jan. 12. “We got here in time for our hearing, scheduled for 9 a.m., but they told us to go to the window and, when we got there, they told us that it had been moved to Newark and we would receive notification about a new court date in the mail. Now I have to turn the case over to my lawyer.”
Burgess did not have any comment for the record about either the case or that it was moved out of Irvington to Newark. McDaniel said the “we” she referred to was Irvington NAACP Vice President Kathleen Witcher and Cathy Southerland, a colleague previously involved in organizing the short-lived effort to recall Mayor Tony Vauss in 2016.
According to the Irvington Police Division, an officer was dispatched to 101 Union Ave., on a harassment report Friday, Dec. 15.
“Upon arrival, I was met by Councilwoman Renee Burgess, the victim, who stated that, on Tuesday, Dec. 12, at approximately 8 p.m., she was conducting business as usual at the Irvington Town Council meeting,” the police report said. “Victim stated, at the conclusion of the agenda, she posed the question to the audience: ‘Is there anyone who would like to express concerns at this time?’ to which no one responded. Victim stated she posed the question again and, since there were no citizen who raised questions or concerns, the meeting ended at approximately 8:20 p.m.”
The reporting Irvington police officer added that Burgess “stated that, moments after the gavel was lowered and the meting officially adjourned, Ms. Elouise McDaniel, the suspect, jumped from her seat and shouted: ‘What are you doing, the meeting isn’t over,’ and proceeded to charge the dais where the victim was sitting.”
“As the suspect charged forward, she continued to shout: ‘I want to talk,’ and directed her eye contact toward her, stating: ‘I’m gonna get you,’ ‘you’re gonna pay,’ ‘I’m gonna get you,’” according to the police report. “Victim stated citizens in the audience attempted to calm the suspect down and, although she did exit the building, she remained outside the door for several minutes, shouting: ‘I’m going to get you. You’re going to pay, I’m pressing charges.’ Victim stated she was unable to vacate the Municipal Building for at least 20 minutes, until she was certain the suspect was gone, as she was in fear for her safety.”
According to police, a copy of the surveillance video and council meeting and the resident sign-in sheet for Friday, Dec. 12, was placed into evidence and Burgess “was advised to court for complaint purposes.” According to township clerk Harold Wiener, if any video of the altercation exists, it didn’t come from his office.
“We don’t videotape the meetings,” said Wiener on Tuesday, Jan. 2. “There are security cameras in there but for my purposes they’re not part of the official record. They’re for security reasons only. We verbally record the meetings, we don’t videotape them.”
According to Wiener, the Friday, Dec. 12 meeting ended earlier than McDaniel and others in the audience were probably accustomed. Council President David Lyons was not present at that meeting, so Burgess served as acting president and ran the meeting.
“The meeting adjourned at 8:07 p.m. It started at 8 p.m., so it was seven minutes long. There was no public participation,” said Wiener on Tuesday, Jan. 2. “There were 35 resolutions total; 32 were on the consent agenda, two were on the non-consent agenda and one was a walk-on that got defeated because it only had four affirmative votes and, according to law, it needs five super affirmative votes to pass. There were three resolutions that weren’t on the consent agenda. They took three roll call votes. Two members were absent. Council member (Vern) Cox and Council member Lyons were absent.”
Public Safety Director Tracy Bowers confirmed that Burgess filed a formal complaint against McDaniel with the Irvington Police Division, as a result of her alleged behavior and comments at the council’s regular meeting on Friday, Dec. 12.
“I can confirm that a criminal complaint has been lodged, which needs to be adjudicated in court,” said Bowers on Tuesday, Jan. 2. “In the meantime, a police officer will be in attendance at the caucus and council meetings, to make sure that everyone is safe. Please note that a police officer at the council meeting is customary. However, at the time of this incident, the assigned police officer had not gotten there yet.”
Weiner said the fact that the meeting only last eight minutes might explain why the police officer assigned to provide security at the meeting was not on site when the alleged incident occurred.
Burgess v. McDaniel case postponed and moved to Newark court added by Chris Sykes on
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