My lawyer was just on The Daily Show

Guardsmen replaced on council

Tuesday, August 2, 2005



PROSPECT PARK - The Borough Council was assailed at a special meeting Monday night over its decision to fill two vacancies left by councilmen serving overseas in the National Guard.

Mayor Will Kubofcik swore in Richard Esquiche to replace Councilman Thomas Jefferson, who has been deployed to Iraq until November 2006. Radhames Capellan took the oath to replace Councilman Herb Perez, who is stationed in Germany. Perez said last week he expects to return to the borough in March.


The local Democratic Committee nominated Esquiche and Capellan as replacements.

During a dramatic public hearing, the two servicemen's wives were among those who protested the decision.

"I'm just appalled," Cathy Jefferson said. "The freedom that my husband is fighting to protect is the freedom that allows [the council] to make these decisions."

Jefferson and Perez have hired attorney Harley D. Breite, the former municipal prosecutor, to fight their removal from the council.

In a letter dated Monday, Breite called on the mayor and council to pass for a resolution allowing the guardsmen to remain on the council until their military service ends. He said the councilmen should not be removed without a public vote.

- Paul Brubaker |and Suzanne Travers


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