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Date: 1992/03/10 Tuesday Page: Section: NEWS Edition: FINAL Size: 0 words

CORVINO OUSTED FROM ORANGE COUNCIL IN RECALL
KEVIN C. DILWORTH

PAGE EXPECTED TO JOIN FACTION BACKING BROWN

Voters in Orange's North Ward yesterday recalled Councilwoman Louise Corvino, 492-334, and voted to replace the eight-year incumbent with school board member Donald Page, a leader of the recall drive. It was the first time in Orange history that an elected official was recalled, authorities said. Page beat Corvino, 559-357, on the second question on the ballot: Who should fill the remaining 28 months of Corvino's term. ''This is a people victory, and the people wanted a change,'' Page said in his campaign headquarters on Alden Street, as workers tallied the votes.

''This is a victory for all the people. City residents can look forward to a more productive council.'' Petitions supporting the recall cited Corvino for failing to support Police Director Charles Cobbertt's efforts to improve morale in the department, for not endorsing a Jan. 22, 1991, city council resolution opposing an amendment to the state's Quality Education Act and for failing ''to adequately represent the citizens of the North Ward.''

Scoffing at the reasoning behind the allegations, Corvino denied being single-handedly responsible for anything, especially when there were three other council members who voted with her on most of the issues cited. ''I don't feel that this was an election that sought out quality representation for the people,'' Corvino said from her Cleveland Street home last night. ''It was an election to ensure the domination of voting power on the city council.'' The seven-member council frequently has voted in blocs, with Corvino, James J. Brown, Todd Mark Galante and William R. Lewis voting one way, and Mims Hackett, Dwight Mitchell and Marian Silvestri voting in the minority. Corvino, Brown, Galante and Lewis were generally known as critics of Mayor Robert L. Brown, while Hackett, Mitchell and Silvestri were his prime supporters. With Page in office, a 4-3 majority favoring the mayor is expected when the council meets next Tuesday night.

''I have no regrets about the decisions I have made while sitting on the council,'' said Corvino, who operates a family fruit and vegetable business at Cleveland and Washington streets. ''If I had it to do all over again, my votes would all be the same. ''I have nothing to be ashamed of or guilty about, because all I ever did was worry about the city and the people in it,'' Corvino insisted. ''The people have made their choice and now they will have to live with it. But it's still amazing that it took an entire city, from the mayor's administration, assistant city attorneys and department directors to city employees and some council people, to defeat one woman. And it took a whole year to do it.''

Page said he hopes to become a ''role model in the community, especially to young kids. I wish to give them hope of a better future.'' Mayor Brown, no relation to Councilman Brown, administered Page the oath of office at 9:28 p.m., as about 60 onlookers, several of them city employees, looked on.

''What you did here tonight was a tremendous political victory,'' the mayor told Page's campaign supporters. ''There's nothing more difficult than what you did here.'' The recall drive was launched ''for a lot of reasons,'' but mainly because people have wanted to rid the council ''of old thinking and old wounds for a long time,'' the mayor said. ''Tonight, the people decided to vote for a healing process.''

Page last week said that if he were elected, he would give up his appointed seat on the school board and devote his time to city council business. The recall was spearheaded by Hackett; Ann Cobbertt, the police director's wife; Gloria Holland, Mayor Brown's mother-in-law; and resident Kevin Hardaway.

Corvino has argued that morale problems in the police department are Cobbertt's responsibility and prove that he is not effective in his job. Had the resolution opposing an amendment to the Quality Eduction Act been approved, Orange residents might have gotten hit with a 23 percent hike in property taxes, she maintained. ''My campaign slogan has always been, “Honest, clean government,” Corvino said. ''This is what I've given the people''.

Page, who works in the Newark Police Department's records and identification bureau, used the campaign slogan, ''Unity in the community.'' It was the same slogan he used in May 1990, when he ran unsuccessfully against Corvino for the North Ward seat. Page still faces a potential challenge March 20, when Corvino is scheduled to have a hearing in Superior Court in Newark on the merits of the recall and what she has described as misleading statements made to petition signers and inadequate signatures. Since 1963, seven recall efforts, all against Orange mayors, were started with petitions. None ever were filed with the city clerk's office.