Accusations of racism fly over park with proposed cricket fields

Franklin councilman Rajiv Prasad apologized to the community for calling opponents to Catalpa Park racists during Tuesday night's council meeting at the Municipal Building.

SOMERSET -- A racially-charged controversy has emerged in Franklin Township over a proposed park, prompting a councilman to accuse organizers of a Facebook group of leading a hate group and to request a FBI probe, which, in turn, has led to calls for the councilman's resignation.

The controversy centers around Catalpa Park, a $4.5 million project on a 25-acre tract located on the southern edge of the township that would feature two cricket pitches for the local Indian community, which has faced significant opposition from Tranquility Protection Alliance of Franklin Township -- a Facebook group headed by Brian and Gina Ulrich.

Councilman Rajiv Prasad (D-At Large), who supports the park, has accused the Ulriches of heading a hate group, and, in a July email to the police chief, referred to the married couple as "neo-Nazis" and asked for the FBI to investigate. Prasad, who has said the Facebook group also opposes a proposed Hindu Temple on South Middlebush Road, told the police chief he feared the group would resort to violence, citing a shooting at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin by a white supremacist in which six people were killed.

Prasad apologized about his remarks Tuesday night at the council meeting, saying he didn't understand social media and blamed racially-charged posts on the residents' site. He said he now understands if someone posts something on a Facebook page it doesn't mean that's how everyone in the group feels.

He applauded Brian Ulrich for deleting some of the racially insensitive posts.

But for Gina Ulrich it was too little, too late. "You called us 'neo-Nazis.' Do you know what that means?" she said during an emotional council meeting.

"You can affect my career as a public school teacher. All the apologies in the world aren't going to bring back my reputation, which is tarnished on Google."

Brian Ulrich said he's against noise, traffic and overdevelopment, not the Indian community or the sport of cricket.

"I'm just against knocking down trees and bulldozing pastures and fields to make another park," he said. "I'm not against cricket fields, I'm against building Nascar tracks, tennis courts, anything that's going to change an area from being natural land. Natural land is what Franklin Township is known for."

Many members of the Indian community who were present at the meeting said the councilman showed courage by admitting he was wrong and apologizing.

"Accepting a mistake is the biggest courage," said Susindran Thangaraju, president of the Viho Cricket Club. "It was a sincere apology by councilman Prasad. I think it's time to move on."

John Tibbs, a member of the township's Human Relations Commission, pointed out that both the proposed Hindu Temple and Catalpa Park will serve the Indian community and wondered out loud why both projects have been met with such opposition.

"That's all Indians," he said. "If that's not racism, what is it?"

While some members of the Indian community have said they want to move forward, it's not that easy for opponents of the park who were called racists.

Mary Pat Arace of Franklin Park said she's so disgusted by the situation that she's considering moving out of the township. Scott Siegel of Somerset said the controversy reminds him of the "Joe McCarthy days."

Meanwhile, Mayor Chris Kelly has called for Prasad to resign, saying he's not fit to serve.

"This movement is about people not wanting a park in their backyard," Kelly said. "It doesn't have anything to do with race. Instead of engaging in a healthy debate, councilman Prasad plays the race card. Then, he lied about it but the evidence showed he did it." 

"I'm appalled and frightened that a council person would try to silence free speech in such an offensive and caustic way. He created a toxic environment where people are in fear to speak up about how they feel."

Brian Ulrich's website has also been at the center of another incident involving alleged racism. Stanley Croughter, president of the Pop Warner League, said he believed there were "racial undertones" involved in the Tranquility Protection Alliance of Franklin Township's successful opposition to proposed speakers on the Pop Warner football field at Middlebush Park.

"I wouldn't say the entire group is racist," Croughter said. "All I can say with a strong degree of confidence is that it has strong racial undertones when it comes to the development of parks.

"It took us 10 years to get Middlebush Park and then in our first year we had issues because of the PA system. How can you watch a Pop Warner game without loud speakers. Some of the residents said they didn't like the hip-hop or rap music we played. We use the field eight of 365 days.

"The undertones can't be ignored. I think that's what the councilman is speaking to," Croughter said.

Croughter pointed out that soccer teams use the park's fields 90 percent of the year and he's not familiar with any controversy involving their usage.

As previously reported by NJ Advance Media, the township has proposed building Catalpa Park on the southern edge of the township on South Middlebush and Old Vliet roads. The park would include two cricket pitches -- a sport brought by British colonists to India--and be built on part of a 108-acre tract of land purchased as open space in 1999.

Alice Osipowitz, director of parks and recreation for the township, said the proposed park has been dramatically scaled down with three soccer fields and two softball fields eliminated from the original plans to accommodate residents' concerns. She said a significant buffer between the neighborhood and the park was still in the plans. Township manager Robert Vornlocker also said there would be no speakers or lights at the proposed park.

The township currently has 18 cricket teams that play on three cricket fields, said Thangaraju. But Osipowitz said only eight have township permits. She said she annually turns down about five teams seeking permits.

"I'm struggling to find grounds for my teams to play," said Thangaraju, adding there are more than 100 crickets teams in central New Jersey. "I have to go to Newark, Edison and Union to find a ground to play. I'm really disturbed about the opposition to the fields."

"I think the only thing that sticks out in people's mind is this isn't their sport. They don't understand the sport. It's a gentleman's sport. There is very little noise during the matches. People won't even know we're there. Cricket and the Hindu temple is part of our quality of life. We live in this community and we deserve the community's support."

Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com.Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.