Dover mayor and council must censure Sergio Rodriguez

I speak for myself and for most Dover residents when I say that the Dover Mayor and Council must censure Councilmember Sergio Rodriguez for his disparaging remarks against our police department, his harassment and his physical violence against our residents.

When I was mayor, I motivated all our town employees to give their best each day. The officers in our police department, particularly Chief Jonathan Delaney, always give their all to our community. Even the local Black Lives Matter Chapter wrote a letter supporting Delaney. No other chief in the country ever received the support of any chapter of the Black Lives Matter Movement. Delaney is held in the highest regard by his fellow chiefs and officers throughout our state.

Delaney cannot be bought or corrupted. I worked alongside Jack Delaney, the chief’s father, on the Board of Aldermen. Jack is a righteous man who raised a righteous son. Delaney respects our residents and respects the law.

Rodriguez spent his election campaign and his first few months on the council sowing mistrust in our police and making passive aggressive comments about our police department. The current mayor insists that the nationwide issues of homelessness and alcohol abuse are in our community because I gave Delaney orders not to enforce the law. That’s ridiculous! My husband was a police officer. I would never interfere with the crucial work of our police department. The current mayor is taking advantage of the changes in arrests due to criminal justice reform and the pandemic to twist my words and to twist Delaney’s words.

The Dover Council must use its power to censure Rodriguez. I know a lot about censure since the current mayor used censure against me once in response to campaign literature. The mayor made false accusations, twisted the words on a flyer about my opponent and pressured a majority of the board members to vote in favor of censure. I was censured for mere words. There was no video. I didn’t harass anyone. There were no criminal charges. And I certainly did not disparage our police department or kick a man suffering alcohol abuse and homelessness.

It is a disgrace that our community is in the Daily Record, on NBC, News 12 New Jersey, and 1010 WINS — not because of our beautiful cherry blossom trees or our youth’s achievements — but for the video of Rodriguez harassing and kicking a man sitting on a public bench. Rodriguez moved here from Washington, D.C. to make a name for himself, to use us, to take credit for honors he doesn’t deserve and work he didn’t do. Do you know why we see less men drunk on the street now than in February? Because now they are working during the day as landscapers, as painters and as construction workers. How dare Rodriguez say that his violence is the reason for any improvements?

As a Christian, I can tell you that Jesus would never ask us to harass or kick or humiliate people suffering homelessness, unemployment and alcohol addiction. We are better than that. It is the council’s duty to censure Rodriguez. He has ridiculed our town one too many times.

Carolyn Blackman is a former Dover mayor.

This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Dover NJ: Mayor, council must censure Sergio Rodriguez