Rone exit stirs mild public response at city council meeting

NEWARK - The seat on the far side of the dais was empty.

That’s where Central Ward Councilwoman Dana Rone sat for Newark City Council meetings in the chamber on the second floor of Newark City Hall.

Banned yesterday by an assignment judge from serving on the council now and in the future because of her obstruction of justice conviction, Rone was nowhere to be found on the premises.

But the public comment segment of today’s meeting brought forth some commentary on the situation that West Ward Councilman Ronald Rice has already said may be a case of "selective prosecution."

Public reaction to Rone’s case included both chastising words for the Council and for the mayor.

"Remember the Newark workers you fired, the housing authority workers you fired," resident Lewis Shockley told the remaining eight members of the council. "The chickens are coming home to roost."

Resident Tenfour Evans went after Mayor Cory Booker.

"Cory Booker, you are not God," she said. "You think you’re God, but you’re not."

The resident said she fears the mayor will try to prevail on the City Council to install a replacement for Rone ahead of a council special election, which presumably will occur on Nov. 4.

"No offense to Jermaine," said Evans, indicating Booker political operative Jermaine James, who was seated in the front row facing the council. "But Booker’s going to make a play. He done made a fool out of himself with Sharpe James and now Dana Rone."

Sources say James, a Central Ward resident, has no interest in the council seat.

A one-woman chant went up in the back of the room: "If Dana Rone’s gone, then everybody else should go; If Dana Rone’s gone, then everybody else should go..." It didn’t really gain traction before Council President Mildred Crump called for silence in the chamber.

Rice told PolitickerNJ.com yesterday that he does not anticipate voting for an interim council person, as he does not wish to meddle in Central Ward politics.

But like the lone protestor in the back of the room today, the councilman remains worried that the state Attorney General’s Office targeted Rone to make an example out of her.