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: Stack supporters, foes fight at meeting 
: Assault charges filed Union City mayor raps 'disgruntled' critics 
: Thursday, March 17, 2005
: By Alexandra Fenwick
: Journal staff writer   
:  
: A Union City Commissioners' budget meeting, being held at a housing complex, escalated into fisticuffs Tuesday night between opponents and supporters of Mayor Brian Stack. 

: Four men, Phil Iacovelli, head of Union City's Department of Public Works; Hector Martinez, a spectator at the meeting; and Luis Ruiz Jr. and Julio Fernandez, both Union City residents who oppose Stack's administration, were all arrested, though none was charged by police. 

: Ruiz's account of the events was corroborated by Fernandez and Frank R. Scarafile, a Union City resident and the superintendent of Little Ferry schools. The three men are among the mayor's frequent critics. 

: Ruiz said words were exchanged between himself and Iacovelli, who then stepped on Ruiz's foot and grabbed his arm. Ruiz said he pushed Iacovelli and as he walked away, Iacovelli punched him in the back of the head. 

: After that, the three said, a melee ensued, in which Fernandez and many others attempted to break up the fight and Martinez swung and hit Fernandez's arm with a metal folding chair. 

: Police handcuffed Ruiz and Fernandez "for safety reasons" and Iacovelli and Martinez were escorted to the corridor of the pavilion, according to police reports. 

: Iacovelli and Martinez could not be reached for comment yesterday, but one onlooker, Andres Garcia, said that after a speech by Stack, his critics reacted by screaming and provoking Stack supporters. 

: Ruiz and Fernandez refused medical attention at the scene but later went to Meadowlands Hospital, in Secaucus, to be treated for back injuries sustained in the fight, they said. Both filed aggravated assault charges, which were met with counter-changes from the others implicated in the scuffle. 

: Police reports determined no cause for the incident, but eyewitnesses said the altercation stemmed from tension between Stack's administration and its critics, known as the YOUNITY organization. 

: Police Chief Charles Everett did not return calls yesterday seeking comment. 

: According to police reports, the fight erupted at about 7:40 p.m. at the Hillside housing complex community center, just as the meeting's public hearing portion was ending and liquor license disciplinary hearings were about to begin. 

: Stack charged yesterday that conflict is part of the YOUNITY agenda. Scarafile, the group's spokesman, denied any intent to start physical altercations. 

: "It's unfortunate because the commissioners and myself have attempted to move meetings around the city and there seems to be a group of disgruntled individuals who come to meetings with nothing constructive to say and they seem to be connected to a so-called opposition group," Stack said. 

: "(They are) leftover remnants from a former administration, and they attempt to disrupt meetings." 

: Stack said the fight marred the fact that the Commission passed a stable tax rate for the fourth year in a row. 

: Scarafile said that what Stack calls disruption, he calls constructive criticism. Scarafile said he had finished asking a list of 20 questions just before the fight broke out. 

: "I've been to a lot of meetings and unfortunately we do have opinions that the mayor doesn't like to hear," he said. 

: "We believe that some constructive criticism is good in a democracy because it checks and balances things. We're not troublemakers. We are citizens of Union City and we just want to ask questions." 

: Ruiz said he is requesting an amendment to the police report, which he said is missing key factual information. 

: "I feel intimidated, but I'm not going to stop going (to meetings)," Ruiz said. "That is my right. I pay taxes in this city and if I want to go, I will go." 


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