Armando Fontoura

PREDATORS IN OUR MIDST

Mastrangelo Calls for Essex Internet Child Safety Unit;
Fontoura's Website Remains Stuck in 1998

(Cedar Grove, NJ) -- U.S. Attorney Chris Christie announced yesterday the arrest of 14 child pornography offenders, including a man from Verona. In response, Essex Sheriff's candidate Rich Mastrangelo today reiterated his call for the creation of a detective's unit to catch online predators.

"Today's predators don't need to hang around school bus stops. They could be talking to our children in our own living rooms through the computer. Bergen, Passaic, and Westchester Counties all have units designed to set up stings to catch predators, just like you may have seen on Dateline. Essex County has nothing."

COUNTY POLICE FADE AWAY
UNDER SHERIFF'S WATCH

Audio Tape Confirms Fontoura Too Weak to
Fight Administration for Public Safety

(Cedar Grove, NJ) -- On Oct. 2, the 111-year-old Essex County Police, protectors of county parks and roads, will be disbanded. Its policemen will become regular officers of the Sheriff's Department. After he repeatedly broke contract rules because of lack of manpower, Armando Fontoura decided to bust up the County Police union rather than fight the administration for new hires. While Fontoura claims the disbanding is for efficiency, in reality it illustrates the weakness of a sheriff unable to stand up to friends in his own political party. When Jim Treffinger tried to snatch $4.8 million from the Sheriff's budget in 2000, Fontoura pulled out all the stops to oppose him with a public uproar. This year, however, Fontoura let $3.5 million slip out of his department without making a peep against Executive Joe DiVincenzo, his former campaign manager. In a recently released audio recording Fontoura admits he is helpless to stop public safety funds from draining away.

"If you don't have five votes on a freeholder board you can't fight the administration," said Fontoura in the audio tape, recorded during a meeting with County Police officers and sent out by a member of the force. "The administration is very good at going there, before I can get to there and get...the vote that they need. You know. So, they have more things to trade with than I do. I don't have anything to trade with other than PBA cards, which, you know, that's about it. Most of the--all the guys here are civil service so I can't even offer anybody a job for their son or their daughter, which I wouldn't do anyway. It's hard for me to bargain. Very frustrating."

MASTRANGELO CHALLENGES FONTOURA TO
FIRST DEBATE IN A DECADE

The Public Deserves an Informed Choice in
November's Sheriff Election

(Cedar Grove, NJ) -- The last time Sheriff Armando Fontoura had to defend his record and debate the issues, Bill Clinton was just starting his second term and 'Y2K' was the disaster that would end the world. The last time Fontoura faced an opponent, cell phones were a novelty and 'Seinfeld' was must-see-TV. Fontoura hasn't debated in an election since 1997, back when the biggest county threat that Emergency Management had to worry about was icy roads.

Washington, D.C. – Last week, Congressman Scott Garrett voted in favor of three important pieces of legislation designed to enhance security at our nation’s borders by providing law enforcement with the requisite tools and authority to enforce immigration laws.

“We must secure our borders first and foremost. Until we do, all talk about tinkering with other aspect of U.S. immigration policy is premature,� said Garrett. “The focus in the illegal immigration debate needs to be on the word illegal, not the word immigration. I supported these three bills today because of the immediate impact they would have on fixing this problem and making our country more secure.�

The three bills, all of which passed the House, include:

•The Community Protection Act of 2006 (H.R.6094), which provides for the deportation of alien criminals and the detainment of dangerous aliens who cannot be deported

•The Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006 (H.R. 6095), which provides for greater prosecution of those who smuggle illegal aliens and also affirms state and local law enforcement’s authority to enforce immigration laws

•The Border Tunnel Prevention Act of 2006 (H.R. 4830), which makes it a crime to build or finance border tunnels that pose serious breaches in security along our borders.

These votes follow Garrett’s support earlier this month of the Secure Fence Act (H.R. 6061), which authorizes the construction of a 700-mile reinforced fence along our nation’s southwest border. The bill also requires the Department of Homeland security to employ a “virtual fence,� consisting of cameras, ground sensors, and unmanned aerial vehicles, along the entire border.

“My top priority since coming to Congress has been ensuring the safety and security of our nation,� Garrett stated. “These important pieces of legislation will allow for great strides in enhancing the security of our borders.�

STATEMENT ON STAR-LEDGER PHOTO BLUNDER

(Cedar Grove, NJ) -- The Essex section of today's Star-Ledger featured a piece about the endorsement of Rich Mastrangelo for Sheriff by the entire County PBA. Unfortunately, the Ledger posted the wrong picture above Mastrangelo's name. Instead of Rich in a police uniform, there was a bald man in a suit. Campaign spokesman Jack Grimes responded with the following statement:

"Obviously they got the wrong guy. Rich isn't bald. After this week's press coverage, the corrections rally, and now the PBA coming out against him, Armando Fontoura is the one pulling his hair out."

WHO'S WATCHING ESSEX COUNTY?

There's Nobody Behind the Wheel at the
Sheriff's Office of Emergency Management

(Newark, NJ) -- Five years after 9/11, the security of Essex County is being handled by an out-of-touch Sheriff, an out-of-county part-timer, and an out-of-work Police Director. In the wake of the anniversaries of the World Trade Center attacks and Hurricane Katrina disaster, today Detective Rich Mastrangelo called for a full public accounting of the structure of the Essex County Sheriff's Office of Emergency Management as well as an audit of the millions in the homeland security funds it has spent.

ESSEX IS NOT READY FOR A TERROR ATTACK CRISIS

County Sheriff Admits His Emergency Management
Department is Unprepared for Mass Evacuation

(Fort Lee, NJ) -- Detective Rich Mastrangelo, candidate for Essex County Sheriff, today joined Sen. Tom Kean, Jr. in drawing attention to the Homeland Security needs of northern New Jersey. Essex County is particularly vulnerable to terrorist attacks on its many bridges, rail lines, ports, and chemical plants--an area that has been called the "two most dangerous miles in America." Just two years ago, captured documents from al-Qaeda revealed the Prudential building in downtown Newark as a prime target. And our neighbor to the East, New York City, remains under constant threat from terrorists. Yet Sheriff Armando Fontoura says his Office of Emergency Management is still not adequately prepared for an evacuation of New York City passing through Essex County.

MAN DEAD ON COUNTY ROAD

County Sheriff Disbanding County Police
While County Properties Still Unprotected

(Newark, NJ) -- An East Orange man was found this week lying on South Orange Avenue with several gunshot wounds in his torso. He was found in the early morning just two blocks away from Vailsburg Park, a county park that should be under the protection of the County Sheriff. Detective Rich Mastrangelo, candidate for Essex Sheriff, today questioned Armando Fontoura's upcoming dissolution of the County Police, the very force charged with watching over the parks.

"It is a shame to lose the County Police. It is sad to see such a proud name and history come to an end. But more troubling than the loss of tradition is the loss of protection. Armando Fontoura claims the change will let him put more sheriff's officers in the parks. But the number of officers under his watch is not increasing--in fact it will decrease as former County patrolmen leave. His manpower problems remain, including the lack of enough officers for court security. Already Fontoura is using Bureau of Narcotics and Warrants officers for court duty to make up for the shortfall. He is more likely to pull the new 'Sheriff's Patrolmen' into the courts than to put more officers into the parks."

SUMMER VIOLENCE DEMANDS ACTIVE SHERIFF

County Parks and Roads are Frontlines
in Fight Against Gun Violence;
County Police Must Increase Patrols

(Newark, NJ) -- A young man in Orange is gunned down randomly in the street. Another taxi driver in Newark is found shot in his cab. In Irvington another young man is shot in the head. In Newark, three men die in three attacks in one weekend--and the next weekend there are three more. Responding to the heavy summer violence, Detective Rich Mastrangelo today again stressed the need for more County Police presence in the key areas of Essex County parks and roads.

"The man stabbed to death collapsed at North Munn Avenue near Vailsburg Park. That's a county park. Another victim, shot in his car, was just two blocks from Stuyvesant Avenue. That's a county road. Those areas should be under watch by the County Sheriff as head of the County Police," said Mastrangelo.

"Mayor Booker knows how critical the county areas are to Newark's public safety," continued Mastrangelo, candidate for Essex County Sheriff. . . .