Jersey City Board of Education President Noemi Velazquez responded angrily to two requests from Ward E Councilwoman Eleana Little that she made in response to the arrest of special needs parent Emily Pecot at Thursday’s BOE meeting.
Instagram photos.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“While I respect your public service and hope to build a productive and collaborative relationship, I am writing today because I find the events of last night unacceptable. As a member of another elected body that hears public comment, sometimes into the wee hours of the morning, and is sometimes yelled at during public comment, I understand it can be unpleasant. However, that is part of our jobs,” Little wrote to the BOE trustees Friday.
“I feel this Board has repeatedly treated parents’ advocacy with disrespect and disdain (e.g. reducing public comment from 3 minutes to 1 minute, even threatening to reduce it to 30 seconds). I feel parents’ frustrations are understandable. Most importantly, however, they are members of the public, who we work for.”
Little’s remarks came in light of Pecot being arrested for defiant trespass for allegedly disrupting the BOE meeting for yelling out from the audience, which came about an hour after she was critical of the board, and Vice President Dejon Morris in particular.
Further, BOE Trustees Dr. Matthew Schneider and Tia Rezabala issued a joint letter denouncing the arrest, stating such actions should only be a last resort for when there is “a clear risk for harm,” prompting Little to release her email and the response from Velazquez.
Little added that she was “disturbed” to see Pecot arrested, and as a result, asked the BOE to restore public comment to three minutes per person and to only remove members of the public “if they pose an active threat to anyone in the room.”
Velazquez did not respond favorably, stating that while she felt the need to respond, she was not going to directly answer her on a holiday weekend.
“It is imperative that I acknowledge receipt of your email. However, it is much more important that I prepare for a pleasant holiday weekend with my family. Therefore, at this time I will NOT release the passion merited by your uniformed one sided view, lack of political experience and avanging [sic] syndrome,” the school board president replied.
“Rest assured that upon my return next week, I will be addressing your desire to reprimand and offer a corrective plan about an issue of which you are clueless.”
Velazquez said she was attending a funeral Tuesday morning and would respond after the services conclude.
“I emailed the BoE to let them know that what happened at last week’s meeting is not acceptable, and I made what I thought were two very reasonable requests so we can avoid this in the future,” Little wrote in her Instagram post.
“Board President Noemi Velazquez responded with personal insults and made it clear that she is not interested in discussing this in good faith … I’m disappointed, but not surprised-this type of behavior has become a pattern with BoE leadership.”