By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times
Passaic has a new runner for Passaic County Sheriff and he's a familiar face in the law enforcemant arena. Felix Garcia, a former warden and Passaic County undersheriff, entered the Sheriff's race after the Passaic County regular Republican Organization nominated him last week.
Garcia once worked for his opponent Jerry Speziale and with no other GOP candidates having filed petitions to challenge Garcia during the Republican primary in June, it's likely he and Speziale will face-off at the November election.
Garcia says he plans to "streamline" the Sheriff's Department and reduce it's top-heavy budget, equipment and personnel numbers.
“”We’re spending too much money,” Garcia told the Record.
“Take a look at the parking lot of the Sheriff’s Department in Wayne. There are over 100 sheriff’s cars in the parking lot. There’s too much equipment and too much fat at the top.”
Speziale and Garcia have a tempestuous past stemming from Garcia's 2003 resignation which Speziale pushed for after allegations surfaced accusing Garcia of using jail inmates and county correctional officers to remodel his Wayne home.
No crimminal charges followed the allegations, but in 2004, Garcia filed a wrongful termination suit against Speziale seeking payment for back wages and reinstatement and back wages. That case was settled in 2008.
As part of the agreement, terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Garcia, however, did not get his job back and has since worked as a consultant for a private security firm, FJC Security Services in Jersey City.
The notion that a public employee could sue the government, then work out a “private” settlement that no ordinary citizen would be privy to enraged Right-to-Know advocates and prompted the state Legislature to take action. State Sen. Nia H. Gill (D-Essex) sponsored a bill in 2008 that prohibited public entities and their employees from keeping claims against them confidential. Any settlements would become a matter of public record.
Garcia said Monday that his settlement was worked out before the bill, and therefore it did not apply to him. Garcia won’t disclose the details of the settlement because he claims it would violate a court order.
“I believe the taxpayers have the right to know,” Garcia said. “But there was the court order and I am not allowed to discuss it.”
Garcia gave this assessment of his wrongful termination suit: “I didn’t win. I didn’t lose. The taxpayers lost.”
Bill Maer, a spokesman for Speziale, also declined to discuss the settement, citing the court’s gag order.
Speziale, a Democrat first elected in 2001 after Republican powerhouse Edwin Englehardt stepped down, has amassed a sizeable campaign warchest of $700,000. Garcia says he expects to be outspent by the incumbent, but that he’ll run harder.
“Money is not the object here,” Garcia said. “I’m going to bang on doors. I’ll be shaking hands and taking this election to the voters.”
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