Controversial campaign ends with $2,500 in donations

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ—Following a controversy last December that attracted the attention of the national media, Rutgers University will be cutting a check to a New Brunswick soup kitchen for $2,451.90.

By now, Charlie Kratovil is a well-known figure in the New Brunswick community. His most recent attempts to bring grassroots change and “good” to New Brunswick have been gathering a lot of support, but some criticism as well. Johnsonville Press Editor in Chief Alex Giannattasio and Editor Grace Hong sat down for a conversation with Mr. Kratovil to get the inside scoop on what he’s been up to since the end of the Wards Campaign.
What follows is the full transcription of that hour and a half conversation. Do not ask …

New Brunswick, NJ—Commissioners for the Middlesex County Board of Elections announced the unofficial count of provisional ballots Saturday morning in New Brunswick’s hotly contested municipal referendum.

For more than two years, Charlie Kratovil has been embroiled in a political battle with the City of New Brunswick. That battle comes to a head in this Tuesday’s election, when the question of New Brunswick’s system of government will be put to a vote. The last time this question was put to City residents was in 1986. Whichever way the vote goes, the question will not be eligible again for another four years. We sat down with Charlie, and Martha Guarnieri, President and Campaign Manager of grassroots pro-wards organization …

A great deal of Rutgers students affectionately call New Brunswick “home,” at least for eight months out of the year. While the city certainly isn’t without its quirks (we like it that way), it has been a model for growth and development, dating back long before any of us were students. The city of New Brunswick and Rutgers University have together enjoyed over two decades of vast revitalization and enhancement, and that’s no coincidence.

SUPERIOR COURT JUDGE ORDERS NEW BRUNSWICK
TO PUT WARD QUESTION TO VOTERS
Cites Illegality of City’s Charter Study Ordinance

In New Jersey politics, the machine-mentality is the norm. Perhaps it’s the overwhelming population density characteristic of New Jersey communities, or perhaps it’s simply the deep seeded heritage of gang-politics that New Jersey boasts; whatever the reason, last week’s municipal elections bore serious implications for two old guard NJ political machines—those of Edison and New Brunswick.

By the Johnsonville Press Editorial Staff

Several weeks ago, the Johnsonville Press published an article exploring the “wards question” in New Brunswick, as it has been represented in the mainstream media. Later that week, we were contacted by New Brunswick City Spokesman Bill Bray, who took issue with the way the wards question had been represented in our article (which can be found here in full). He offered to meet with our staff to clarify the City’s position.

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ— Launching a bold grassroots electoral campaign of a magnitude not seen in decades, a diverse coalition of 50 New Brunswick residents hailing from all corners of the city filed petitions yesterday afternoon (Monday 4/6) to run for seats on the Middlesex County Democratic Committee in the upcoming June 2 election.

The following is a content-copy of an Empower Our Neighborhoods brochure, designed for the propagation of EON’s position on the wards question. We have included it here, in the same issue as our conversation with New Brunswick City Spokesman Bill Bray, in order to juxtapose the two viewpoints. Hopefully, access to both sides will provide the reader with a clearer understanding of the issue as it is presented to the public.