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Date: 1992/03/08 Sunday Page: Section: NEWS Edition:
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ORANGE NORTH WARD RESIDENTS TO
VOTE ON RECALL
KEVIN C. DILWORTH
Orange
Councilwoman Louise Corvino wants voters in the North
Ward to reject a ''politically motivated'' recall effort against
her, while challenger Donald Page, a school board member , says it is
time for a change. A recall election,
believed to be the first in the city's history, will be held tomorrow. Polls in
the North Ward, where 3,177 people are eligible to vote, will be open 7 a.m. to
8 p.m. Corvino, an eight-year
councilwoman, on Friday maintained that keeping her in office ''will ensure that North Ward residents
have an honest and concerned voice on the council, not another political rubber
stamp of Mayor Robert L. Brown.''
Page, who supports the mayor, countered that Corvino's ''obstructionist''
attitude needs to be replaced with ''positive solutions and answers. ''I have only discussed these concerns during
this campaign,'' added Page, a mayoral appointee to the
Corvino and Page last faced each
other in the May 1990 non-partisan election that
Corvino won, 666-471. The petitions seeking her ouster cite her for failing to support
Police Director's Charles Cobbertt's efforts to
improve the department's morale; for not endorsing a
The morale issue in the problem-plagued police
department is a responsibility ''strictly up to the director himself,'' she
argued.
The issues in the petitions are vague, Corvino said,
adding that Superior Court Judge Carol A. Ferentz in
Page, who did not attend the court hearing,
disagreed with the assessment of what Ferentz said. ''The issues
involving the reason for the special recall election has been
reaffirmed and made very clear by Judge Ferentz,'' he
countered.
The judge questioned how the recall petition
organizers could say Corvino was
''single-handedly'' responsible for those things mentioned as reasons for
removing her from office, especially the Quality Education Act, which is a
responsibility of the Legislature and not the city council. She also questioned
if some who signed might have been misled by statements listed on the
petitions.
Page contended Corvino frequently participates in ''political maneuvering that is purely and clearly blocking or delaying
the business of the council, the mayor and the administration.'' He did not
give examples. ''When positive issues are discussed, concerning the welfare of
our citizens, only positive solutions and answers must be addressed,'' added Page. Again, he did not elaborate. ''The North Ward residents of
Corvino lambasted Page for not discussing
any real issues and reiterated her stance that he ''is a mere puppet of Mayor Brown,'' as are council members Mims Hacket, Dwight Mitchell and Marion Silvestri,
none of whom ''ever vote against or challenge anything that the mayor has asked
them to approve.''
Page responded,
''That's untrue. I'm not a rubber stamp of the mayor or anyone else. I intend
to look at issues, to study issues and vote on them for their merit.''
What the