In what can only be described as a head-scratching act of utter incompetence, five members of the Kearny Town Council voted to send a man no one seems to know anything about onto the governing body on Tuesday, Dec. 5, 2023 — all on the heels of the very same people who were severely crushed in the voting booth just three weeks earlier having supported a mayoral candidate, Peter P. Santana, who was the last-place finisher among the three candidates.
In fact, when he was asked by Fourth Ward Councilman Jerry Ficeto what was known about new Third Ward Councilman Renato DaSilva, Second Ward Councilman Richard Konopka, who nominated the new DaSilva, fell deadly silent and could or would not offer an answer for several moments.
“I’ll have to Google it,” Konopka suggested, before failing to ever do so.
And that was just the beginning.
In an even more stunning admission, among most of the people who voted in favor of DaSilva — The Fab 5 that includes Konopka, Eileen Eckel and freshmen representatives Stathis Theodoropoulos, George Zapata and Dennis Solano — the consensus statement was that most of them knew nothing about DaSilva nor so much had ever met him before that night.
However, Eckel tersely listed DaSilva being a homeowner and a parent who raised his children in Kearny as principal rationales for choosing him. Some in the audience chuckled at those comments.
Voting against the move were Mayor Carol Jean Doyle, Ficeto and Councilwoman Marytrine DeCastro.
The vote was along the same mathematical path the council used in choosing Santana, over the summer, to be the party’s mayoral nominee — and we know how well that all worked out. So, why not tempt fate and repeat failed history?
Now, one might think since it was always used as a barometer for choosing replacement council candidates for seats, that a candidate’s resume would be paramount in the process last week. In fact, back in 2017, when Santana was appointed to a Second Ward council seat following the tragic death of Jonathan Giordano, some of the very same people who chose him based on his resume, now say it was wrong and unfair to use that very same criteria for picking a new councilman a mere 6½ years later.
This, meanwhile, was all precipitated by yet another overt demonstration the governing body is not only deeply divided, but it is partially tone deaf. When Doyle nominated Fred Esteves to the take the seat (Esteves is the brother-in-law of former Mayor Alberto G. Santos who, of the three potential candidates, had the most solid resume, including stints on the town’s Zoning Board of Adjustment and the Friends of the Kearny Public Library and, most recently, as the party’s vice-chairman), the Fab 5 voted against Esteves while offering absurdly flawed logic as to why they voted as they did — and that was no logic or reasoning.
Furthermore, Eckel said she was upset Doyle suggested there was any kind of division since the county committee had, just a few weeks earlier, unanimously chosen the mayor as the Democratic Party’s chairwoman.
For Fourth Ward resident Melanie Ryan, a frequent critic of the Fab 5, her angst is not about the candidate who was chosen — his professional resume indicates he has a master’s degree in history and he works for the New York City Department of Education. He may very well be a wonderful human being. Instead, however, her issues lie squarely in the absolute reality — nothing is known about DaSilva’s civic involvement in Kearny (or anywhere for that matter.)
“I would have liked the vote to be after the public-participation portion of the meeting so we could have asked questions,” Ryan said after the meeting. “By going out of order and voting before the public session, this was not an option open to residents. But truthfully, based on the response to public input in June, I am not sure it would have made a difference.
“During the meeting, I was admonished by the mayor for commenting from my seat, but the truth is it infuriated me when Councilman Theodoropoulos gave his reason for for Mr. DaSilva and didn’t even give us name right (Theodoropoulos called him ‘Mr. Renato’ before apologizing for mistaking his first name with his surname.) It makes me wonder what the committee and council are thinking when they do things like this with what seems to be little to no information. I really hoped the last six months have highlighted why we, as residents, need to pay attention to what our elected officials are doing.”
Despite the division, Doyle once again took the high road — she often quotes former First Lady Michelle Obama by saying “When they go low, we go high” — pledged to work with the new Third Ward rep.
“As long as you keep the Third Ward first, that’s what I always did,” she said of DaSilva, who assumed the seat she once occupied.
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.