Van Pelt resigns

By Matt Friedman | July 31st, 2009 - 5:37pm
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Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt (R-Ocean Twp), the lone Republican arrested in last week’s corruption bust, resigned today at a press conference in Toms River.

The Press of Atlantic City was there.

“While I have an unblemished record of over 20 years of public service, I fully understand the outrage that accompanied these accusations and I recognize the public has its right to its reaction," the paper quotes Van Pelt saying.  He was accompanied by his attorney and took no questions from the press.  

Ocean County Republican Chairman George Gilmore told PolitickerNJ.com last week that his organization would move quickly to replace Van Pelt both in office and on the ballot when he resigned.

Van Pelt is charged with taking a $10,000 bribe from an FBI informant. 

“It was the correct move," said Assembly Minority Leader Alex DeCroce (R-Parsippany). "There was no way he could properly represent the  people of the 9th District with these criminal allegations hovering over him."

DeCroce said the allegations against Van Pelt "broke the bond of trust between him and his constituents."

"Public confidence deteriorates more and more with every corruption scandal. People must feel secure that those elected to serve their interests are beyond reproach and are not placing their own personal interests above their own," DeCroce said.

Two other Assemblymen under indictment, Joseph Vas (D-Perth Amboy) and L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City), have not resigned despite the urgings of the Democratic leadership.

Tags:

Mr. Smith goes to Trenton

Submitted by FalseProphet on July 31, 2009 - 10:01pm.

Jefferson Smith: [His voice very hoarse] Just get up off the ground, that's all I ask. Get up there with that lady that's up on top of this Capitol dome, that lady that stands for liberty. Take a look at this country through her eyes if you really want to see something. And you won't just see scenery; you'll see the whole parade of what Man's carved out for himself, after centuries of fighting. Fighting for something better than just jungle law, fighting so's he can stand on his own two feet, free and decent, like he was created, no matter what his race, color, or creed. That's what you'd see. There's no place out there for graft, or greed, or lies, or compromise with human liberties. And, uh, if that's what the grownups have done with this world that was given to them, then we'd better get those boys' camps started fast and see what the kids can do. And it's not too late, because this country is bigger than the Taylors, or you, or me, or anything else. Great principles don't get lost once they come to light. They're right here; you just have to see them again!

He should have read this quote...

Submitted by Lee Atwater on August 1, 2009 - 11:14am.

"What is life without honor? Degradation is worse than death." General Thomas J Jackson, CSA

Good Riddence

Submitted by JoeSchilp on August 1, 2009 - 9:57pm.

I'd say, "Farewell," but after he broke the public trust, he deserves prison rather than well wishes.

Good riddence, Daniel.

"We are spending more than we have ever spent before and it does not work!"
- FDR's Treasure Secretary, Henry Morgenthau, in 1939, on 8 years of New Deal spending as an attempt to end the Great Depression.

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