To the Editor:
I have been watching the Juan Barroso story unfold, hoping someone in a town leadership position would acknowledge and correct the injustice done to him and his family.
Thus far, I have seen our amazing community come together to support Mr. Barroso, but have noticed pure silence from our “leaders.”
Here’s the truth:
This entire case is politically motivated.
Juan Barroso upset the political establishment in our town, and now his family is paying the price.
I will explain.
About a week before the 2023 Kearny mayoral election, I attended the annual Firefighters Mutual Benevolent Association (FMBA) fundraiser dinner. To my surprise, I was the only mayoral candidate who showed up to support this important event.
Days before the event, Juan approached me and asked if I would like to address the dinner attendees. I agreed to do so, and delivered a non-political speech.
Recognizing this was an event to benefit the firefighters’ union, I stated how proud I was to have grown up in a union household, and assured the crowd I would always support the right for workers to organize and collectively bargain for fair wages and benefits.
About two weeks after this dinner, and one week after the election, Mr. Barroso received a “Letter of Investigation.” He was suspended without pay, while being “investigated.”
Mr. Barroso was essentially fired.
Recently, after some pressure from the community, he was given the option to come back to work with a demotion, taking a huge pay cut and giving up some vacation pay. None of us can afford a pay cut in today’s economy, especially not a family with three kids and a fourth on the way.
I should point out: There are several examples of employees in town who were caught (some on video surveillance) committing far worse mistakes, and barely receiving a slap on the wrist, usually because they know someone in the right position. Most of these people still work in their same positions, never receiving a demotion nor a pay cut.
I agree town employees should not and cannot do two jobs at the same time. But it is extremely important to note there are several town and county employees who hold two or more public jobs, standing to collect two or more pensions. Some of these employees are even scheduled the same exact hours for two different positions in two different locations.
How does that work? Would that ever work in the private sector?
How many of us get paid to be at two different jobs at the same exact time? Well, some of our town employees and local politicians enjoy this benefit. The reason behind this is simple: they know the right people in power, while others like Juan are held to a different standard, because he upset the powers that be with a simple act of perceived “defiance.”
We should all be disgusted by these political games and schemes. We need to hire and promote people based only on their qualifications. We cannot deny a job or a promotion or fire or demote someone based on their race, gender, religion, sexual preference or political affiliation!
There have been several examples of people who were forced to switch political parties to obtain a public job. This is totally unacceptable and goes against every fundamental principle of our democracy. These practices need to end, because it is the taxpayers and residents who ultimately suffer the consequences, when you hire based on association rather than qualification.
Juan has been an exemplary pillar of our community. He has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars, not only for his union brothers and sisters, but also for other great organizations such as Camp Fatima.
I am proud to call Juan Barroso a friend, and it’s time for our elected officials to break the silence and defend Mr. Barroso. I hope this letter encourages them to do so.
Sydney J. Ferreira
Kearny
Learn more about the writer ...
Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, an organization he has served 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 social media channels such as YouTube, Facebook, and X, 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 Kearny to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.