Appeal filed over decision that BOE member is a resident

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The former Bloomfield Board of Education member who unsuccessfully challenged, in court, the residency qualification of a current BOE member, has appealed the decision to the NJ Department of Education.

In papers filed with the DOE on May 16, former BOE member Shane Berger said that Judge Leslie Celentano erred by finding that current BOE member Gladys Rivera met the requirements of the Essex County Board of Elections since her name was printed on a ballot. Berger said all a candidate had to do to get on the ballot is to submit a petition. He said Rivera was not truthful on her petition.

Celentano’s ruling, Berger said, acknowledged that there was significant question as to how long Rivera had been domiciled in Bloomfield since testimony could only determined that she moved into the township sometime between July 1, 2015, and March 9, 2016.

“Judge Celentano’s own findings can mean that (Rivera) did not meet the requirements for her position,” Berger’s appeal said.
He had asked the judge to either void Rivera’s candidacy or file an injunction to prevent her from serving. Celantano did neither but said the DOE has the final ruling or it can do nothing.

Rivera, elected Nov. 8, was one of three winning candidates for three three-year seats. Berger, also a candidate, had the fourth-highest vote tally and was not re-elected. The residency requirement is one year from the date of election. Rivera would have had to have been domiciled in Bloomfield since at least Nov. 8, 2015.

There was some public confusion regarding her place of residency prior to the election. Following the election, Berger made it an issue and filed a petition with the Office of Administrative Law. A hearing was held in February with Celentano’s decision coming earlier this month. She ruled Berger did not prove his case. But in his appeal, he said he had met the burden of proof.

“The burden is a preponderance of evidence, which means more likely than not,” according to the appeal.

One challenge Berger had made to Rivera’s residency was that she was not receiving mail at her Bloomfield apartment. Rivera was not having her mail delivered there because she suspected mail tampering. Berger said that claim was because she allegedly saw a neighbor looking in the mailbox.

“No police were called and no one was arrested,” the appeal say. “This in no way, shape or form leads to a plausible concern with mail tampering. This is just a half-hearted excuse as to why she has no footprint in Bloomfield.”

In her ruling, Celentano said Berger’s basis for challenging Rivera was threefold: that Rivera did not have any mail delivered to her Bloomfield address; that until March or April 2016 she was registered to vote in Elizabeth, her former place of residence; and that on her driver’s license, she had changed her address to Bloomfield in April 2016.

But the appeal says that a person can change the address on their driver’s license by going online. This person can then change their voter’s registration address by using the driver’s license, according to the appeal.

Ciro Spina, Berger’s attorney, said in a telephone interview earlier this week, that this is not an allegation that Rivera did anything wrong. He said he was challenging the judge’s contention that these changes of address mean anything while in actuality, they are easily obtainable.

“It doesn’t go to prove or disprove whether she lived there for one year,” Spina said.

The DOE has 45 days to make a decision on the appeal, he said.
Rivera’s attorney, James Key, was contacted and did not comment.

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