Ladies and Gentlemen we have it a new low. Those of us who follow the internet conversation on the CC matter know damn well that the only threats issued have been against the good people of Rockaway Twp. We have been called racist, anti religion and anti freedom - there have been "prayers" for the removal of obstacles (which some may say is the removal of people - ie a threat)- oh that prayer was not on the internet it was on the wall of Christ Church. We have a larger problem here however, Mr. Jennings has failed to clearly explain in this article that WE are the ones that have been threatened. I personally had to go to the police with emails, internet posts and PM's that told me I was "toast" and that I (and Adam, Kim and John) should live in fear. David Ireland you should be ashamed of yourself - how dare you act in such a vile and disrespectful manner - and you call yourself a 'Man of God" ... START ACTING LIKE ONE (I am not holding out much hope!) Sincerely, Lisa
12/6/05 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom Church's armed guard may be a Jersey first BY ROB JENNINGS DAILY RECORD
ROCKAWAY TWP. -- Christ Church's decision to bring a uniformed, armed private security guard to Monday's planning board public hearing irritated township officials and may be without precedent in New Jersey, according to the state League of Municipalities.
The church's spokesman, Marc Weinstein, said today that potentially threatening "chatter on the Internet" prompted the hiring of a Randolph Systems Inc. security guard who stood inside the municipal building's hearing room.
A Rockaway Township police officer assigned to the 8 p.m. hearing said the private guard had a permit for his weapon and was given permission to carry it in the building.
Mayor Louis Sceusi, though, said he was told that the guard would be in plainclothes -- and the board's chairman, Mort Dicker, said he mistakenly assumed that the guard was an on-duty police officer.
"I was very upset to see a man in uniform," Sceusi said today.
Dicker said it was "somewhat offensive" for Christ Church to bring the private guard to the hearing, the 23rd on the contentious mega-church building proposal.
"I don't know of any imminent threat to the applicant, or any of the people on his staff," Dicker said of the 5,000-member church's pastor, David Ireland.
Weinstein said that Internet message board postings that the church deemed potentially threatening intensified after Christ Church acquired the 107-acre, former Agilent Technologies site on Green Pond Road in August.
"There is really a concentrated hostility directed toward the church ... There's always the remote possibility that it could come to a head," said Weinstein, though he declined to give specifics and added that none of the Internet postings had been reported to police.
Phone calls to Rockaway Township Police Chief Walter Kimble and Martin J. Okun, chief executive officer of Randolph Systems Inc., were not immediately returned today.
Deborah Kole, attorney for the New Jersey State League of Municipalities in Trenton, said she didn't know of any other cases in which an applicant in a zoning matter brought an armed security guard in uniform to a public meeting.
"I'd be very surprised if it's common at all. I have not heard of it. That doesn't mean it's never happened," Kole said.
There has been a township police presence at most of the Christ Church planning board hearings, which have been underway since Dec. 15, 2003. The first hearing was moved to a larger facility in Denville and drew more than 1,000 people.
Attendance, though, has steadily declined and there were fewer than 30 spectators in attendance Monday.
Weinstein said Christ Church first looked into hiring a security guard several months ago after Rockaway Township stopped sending a police officer to every hearing.
Sceusi, who serves on the planning board, countered that the hearings were never unprotected because the police department is based in the municipal building.
"They're right downstairs," Sceusi said.
Township Police Lt. John T. Czohla was at Monday's meeting.
Weinstein said that having police officers nearby was not a substitute for having them actually in the room. Township police, he said, could not be expected to escort Ireland to and from his car in the parking lot.
"We can't expect them to protect us. It's really up to us to hire additional personnel," Weinstein said.
Christ Church, which currently holds Sunday services at a cathedral in Montclair, wants to build a 2,512-seat sanctuary, private K-5 school and other facilities.
The proposal drew immediate controversy in Rockaway Township, with more than 700 people attending a meeting held by an opposition group, Voices of Rockaway Township, in Nov. 2003 -- more than a month before the first hearing.
In recent months, the dispute has spilled out beyond Rockaway Township. Christ Church filed a federal lawsuit in April accusing the mayor, planning board, environmental commission and council of stalling and trying to undermine the building plan.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division is investigating the township's handling of the mega-church application.
Adding to the situation's sensitivity, Christ Church is mostly black and there have been racial overtones in some of the vitriol directed at the church on the Internet.
"Probably something will never happen, but why go there? Our feeling is, the church is doing the right thing to protect itself," Weinstein said. b
__________________
The truth wins out over slick PR and personal attacks.
The Christ Church Plan for the redevelopment of 140 Green Pond Rd is just too big for the area.
"Adding to the situation's sensitivity, Christ Church is mostly black and there have been racial overtones in some of the vitriol directed at the church on the Internet."
I have been following the postings on this forum and NJ.com for the past 2 years. The only "racial overtones" have been the race-bating put forth by Ted Dotty, Russ Jones, Marc Weinstein and other CC supporters.
The whole situation is very sad. But thats what happens when your God is the almighty dollar..........
"There is really a concentrated hostility directed toward the church ... There's always the remote possibility that it could come to a head," said Weinstein, though he declined to give specifics and added that none of the Internet postings had been reported to police."
Weinstein needs to get his hand out of David Ireland's pocket.
I wonder what the next stunt these two lunatics are going to come up with?
indeed the applicant has struck a new low with this PR stunt gone real bad. The very fact that jennings still has a job is enough to convince me that he is a puppet for cc at this point - oh well, more money wasted by ireland.
I would imagine that the town will be looking at our laws and private carry of firearms in public buildings in an intensified way. This entire situation has gone beyond any reasonable persons ability to cope with - time to speed up the court case and be done with this developer in sheeps clothing.
As an aside, I would like to invite the entire cc circus to kiss my a$$, as it has been a few weeks...are you going to make a Federal Case out of that mR Liarland???
