Mayor Yaede blasts Martin, political foes in radio interview
HAMILTON >> Mayor Kelly Yaede said in a radio interview Monday that transparency “begins and ends” with township leaders.
Appearing on air with WBCB 1490 radio host and lifelong Hamiltonian Joe Fabrizi, Yaede touched on national politics, her support of President Donald Trump and she even took shots at Democratic mayoral challenger Jeff Martin.
She also discussed a health scare that forced her to take a leave of absence and talked at length for the first time about some of the harrowing incidents she said justifies her need for a security detail – a topic that has generated a lot of buzz in the township.
But it was her quip about transparency that really got council members and critics of the township Republican mayor going.
They seized on the irony, pointing to a recent spate of public records lawsuits that has cost township taxpayers thousands of dollars in settlements.
“She said, ‘You might not like the answer, but you’ll get an answer,’” Democratic council vice president Rick Tighe said Monday night. “If that’s the case, why has Mayor Yaede lost or settled several court cases? If she wants transparency, why has she blocked residents and members of council on social media?”
Tighe claimed the mayor, who faces a federal censorship lawsuit, blocked him from viewing and interacting with her on Twitter.
In full transparency, The Trentonian pressed Yaede about why she and her administration continue to fight against recent public records requests for a bodycamera tape of interest to this newspaper.
The alleged contents of the body cam have been described to The Trentonian, which made a formal request for the footage last week.
The administration demanded more than $1,000 in special services fees to fulfill the request, claiming it would take a township employee more than a dozen hours to redact and prepare the footage.
The administration floated an offer to allow a Trentonian reporter to view at least part of the footage at the municipal building, but the newspaper has requested for the township to release an un-redacted version of the tape as its required under the Open Public Records Act.
“The information you have is incorrect,” Yaede claimed when advised what was purportedly on the body cam. “That’s incorrect. [Business administrator] Dave Kenny offered you to review that. Did you follow up with up him? You did not show up. … I have not seen your OPRA request. I do not handle the OPRA requests … You were offered to go in and look at the tapes. Is that not acceptable? It will be released to you.”
Added Tighe: “It’s going to be up to the voters to determine how transparent or not this mayor has been with them.”
Apparently, pesky OPRA requests and alleged online irritants are the least of the mayor’s worries.
She also described to Fabrizi terrifying instances of having her legs slapped by by someone who didn’t like her wearing pants and her blouse “ripped” open.
She also detailed having been pushed into a closet and stalked by an out-of-towner “who was off his medication” but knew “every door” bearing her name.
“I would hope that anyone who follows me doesn’t go through a quarter of what I’ve been through,” said Yaede, who is up for re-election this year.” I’ve had my hair pulled because a man didn’t agree it should be back [in a ponytail].”
She told Fabrizi she couldn’t go into detail about another two dozen incidents, three she says happened in one week, leading to her having an assigned security detail and installing surveillance cameras at her township home.
Yaede’s security detail has reemerged as a hot topic ahead of the 2019 mayoral election,
The Trentonian recently reported that Yaede shelled out nearly more than $4,600 last year to pay for her and bodyguards to travel with her to outof-state business conferences and and stay at ritzy hotels.
Despite clamors from residents who have fought for information to be disclosed under the state “Sunshine Law,” Yaede claimed on air that council members knew how much the township pays for for the security detail, but she didn’t disclose that figure during the radio interview.
Republican councilwoman Ileana Schirmer said she listened with intense amusement to the mayor’s claims.
“Did I miss something?” Yaede’s political nemesis said.
Schirmer said she never got a straight answer from BA Kenny about the cost, outside of his representation that the bodyguards were used on an as-needed basis.
The councilwoman said the mayor security team budget has been a perpetually moving target.
Council president Martin said the administration agreed to advise him of a rough figure on how much the township spends each year to keep Yaede safe but sworn him to secrecy before sharing that info.
He refused the newspaper’s request to publicize the figure for the benefit of residents, saying he would keep his word to the administration.
In a phone interview Monday night, Yaede claimed the security detail figure is less than $25,000 each year.
Admitting there isn’t a dedicated line item in the budget for it, she dodged follow-questions about whether that was an all-encompassing number that included trip costs, saying she had been advised by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office not to disclose financial information about her security detail.
When asked whether she thought it was transparent to essentially tell the public to take a flying leap about the security tab, Yaede repeated the same line she and her administration have fed public inquisitors.
“Any further information would jeopardize the detail,” she said. “I don’t have a budget line item unlike the city of Trenton, who gets three officers around the clock. It’s as needed and that’s all we’re permitted to say. I’ve told you my reasons why. That’s as far the [prosecutor] will allow me to say. That’s what Angelo Onofri will probably tell [you].”
Yaede claimed the cost of her security team is a dead issue with residents who “aren’t banging the door on that. You’re talking to Dave Henderson and a certain group of people.”
Moving on to other topics, the mayor went on an all-out on-air offensive against Martin.
“I don’t need GPS to get around Hamilton,” Yaede said, suggesting the Air Force veteran and Hamiltonian doesn’t live and breathe township life like her.
Martin pointed out that he has lived in the township since 2014 and called Yaede’s jab an “insult to all veterans who go off and serve their country.”