The Associated Press

KEAN SAYS PROPOSED NJ TRANSIT FARE HIKE
YET ANOTHER HIT ON RESIDENT'S WALLETS

With the head of New Jersey Transit calling for a 10 percent fare hike for both bus and rail transportation, Assemblyman Sean Kean said today it's unfathomable that another state agency is looking to pick the pockets of New Jersey residents.

A fourteen-count indictment charged Atlantic City Mayor Anthony Ruffu, Jr. with awarding insurance and other city contracts to firms where he had a personal financial interest. He was acquitted of four counts in a June 1930 jury trial and was awaiting trial on the remaining ten counts when he was killed three weeks later.

The 54-year-old Ruffu and three other family members were returning from a short vacation so they could attend the high school graduation of the Mayor's youngest son. Ruffu's Cadillac was hit by an oncoming train about a quarter mile north of the Absecon station. The four bodies in the car -- all badly mutilated -- were thrown about 200 feet, and wreckage from the vehicle was found 500 feet away.

The Associated Press had incorrectly reported that Assemblyman Anthony Siracusa, a former Speaker and Ruffu's nephew, was among the victims. Papers belonging to the legislator were found in the pocket of another uncle who was killed in the crash.

Siracusa, the Atlantic City Solicitor, was elected to the State Assembly in 1923, and became Speaker in 1927. At age 33, he was among the youngest men to serve as Assembly Speaker, and the first Italian-American to hold the post. During his eleven years in the Legislature, he was considered the leader of "wets" in their fight to repeal the "dry" laws of the Prohibition era. He was also the sponsor of legislation that legalized dog racing in New Jersey.

When incumbent Emerson Richards ran for Governor in the 1934 GOP primary (he lost to Harold Hoffman), Siracusa became a candidate for the State Senate. He lost the general election to Democrat William Howell Smathers, who had been the Judge who presided over Ruffu's trial. In 1936, Smathers was elected to the United States Senate, defeating incumbent Hamilton Fish Kean, the grandfather of the future Governor.

Siracusa, who had been preparing for a political comeback, was just 43-years old when he died of Leukemia in January 1938.

Ruffu, a former newsboy, was a successful insurance broker and builder who became active in local politics. He was elected Atlantic City Commissioner in 1924. He became Mayor following the death of Edward Bader in 1927 and was elected to a four-year term in 1928.

In addition to his indictment, some civic and religious organizations were seeking Ruffu's resignation, charging that he was protecting racketeers, and according to Time magazine "connivance with keepers of bordellos."

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie says he won't run for the U.S. Senate in 2008 against Frank Lautenberg, and told the Associated Press that he intends to continue as federal prosecutor for at least another year. Christie is considered the front runner for the Republican nomination for Governor in 2009, if he wants it.

Christie is the second Republican to decline to challenge the 82-year-old Lautenberg: Congressman Mike Ferguson said last month that he will seek re-election to the House. That leaves State Sen. Thomas Kean, Jr., and Assemblymen Bill Baroni and Michael Doherty as the most likely candidates.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ...
WHY CORRUPTION PERSISTS

Editorial, The Record of Hackensack, December 17, 2006

New Jersey merits a mention in the venerable Harper's Index in the newest issue of Harper's magazine. It is not a flattering reference.

"Minimum number of New Jersey public officials who have been indicted since 2002: 104."

The Harper's Index tries to surprise readers with its list of statistics from around the world. But in this case, it may have shot too low. The Associated Press reports that the number of New Jersey government officials indicted on either state or federal charges since 2002 is about 200. That number might surprise even the hardened residents of this state: 200 indictments in four years averages 50 a year, or four a month.

Indictments of New Jersey public officials have become as regular as rain. Even when we go through an occasional dry period, we know they will come again. To understand why, one need only look at what happened in Trenton last week.

A provision that would have barred elected officials convicted of corruption from receiving public pensions was deleted from a pension-reform measure.

It is a no-brainer that public officials convicted of malfeasance should lose their pensions. Taxpayers should not have to support the retirement of officials who abused their trust. But the sponsors of the pension bill, Senate President Richard Codey, D-Essex, and Assemblywoman Nellie Pou, D-Paterson, say the provision was removed temporarily because of concerns about fairness: If corrupt elected officials stand to lose pensions, should government employees found guilty of corruption forfeit their retirement pay as well?

Fair question. But the answer is obvious: Both corrupt government employees and elected officials should lose pensions.

Codey says legislators are also weighing whether a convicted official with more than one pension should lose them all or just the one for the position that was abused. Say a former teacher elected as a legislator is found guilty of taking kickbacks. Should this official keep the teacher's pension because the corruption didn't pertain to that job?

Codey says yes. He should reconsider.

Allowing convicted public servants to keep government pensions unrelated to the corruption means some will suffer no significant reduction in retirement pay. They might even make out better than they do now.

An example is former Hudson County Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto, convicted last year of theft and criminal corruption. Two months after his conviction, Impreveduto began collecting a public pension.

Under current law, pension boards have the power to reduce or eliminate retirement pay. Impreveduto had amassed his pension from 33 years working in public schools. A month after he began collecting it, the teachers' pension board reduced it from about $55,000 to $40,000 because of his conviction. The board didn't go far enough.

Corruption flourishes in New Jersey because the public and government do not take necessary steps to stop it. One crucial step is stiff punishment. Senators should reinsert in the pension bill the provision on convicted officials forfeiting retirement pay. It should apply to government workers too, and it should require the elimination of all of an individual's public pensions.

The measure also originally called for mandatory jail time for convicted officials. That should be restored. Too many convicted officials escape jail through plea deals. Impreveduto did.

With 200 officials indicted in the past four years, now is not the time to go easy on corruption. Who knows, maybe strict pension forfeiture rules would cause officials to think twice before accepting bribes.

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BIONDI: HARPER'S INDEX IS YET ANOTHER BLACK EYE FOR NEW JERSEY ON ETHICS

MAGAZINE CITES NUMBER OF PUBLIC OFFICIALS INDICTED AS SHOCKING STATISTIC -- AND ACTUALLY UNDERCOUNTS

Assembly Republican Conference Leader Peter Biondi pointed to the recent inclusion in Harper's Index of the shocking number of public officials indicted in our state during the past five years as just the latest eye opening evidence of how bad the culture of corruption has become in New Jersey.

DeCROCE: IF DEMOCRATS ARE WILLING, SUBSTANTIAL PROPERTY TAX RELIEF CAN BE ACHIEVED NOW

CUTTING GOVERNMENT WASTE AND CONSTITUTIONALLY DEDICATING PROPERTY TAX FUNDS CAN RESULT IN MASSIVE PROPERTY TAX CUTS

DeCROCE STATEMENT ON DECISION BY THE
U.S. ATTORNEY REGARDING BRYANT INVESTIGATION

Assembly Republican Leader Alex DeCroce release the following statement in response to a letter issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office saying it had not objection to an investigation into the conduct of state Sen. Wayne Bryant, D-Camden, by the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards:

"The ethics committee has a lot of work to do. Let's get to it. The committee should reconvene as soon as possible and begin an immediate inquiry into the Bryant matter."

The Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards on Monday asked U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie if the panel's investigation of Bryant might interfere with any investigations being carried out by Christie's office.

According to the Associated Press, in a two-sentence letter issued Friday, Christie said he had no objection.

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CORZINE vs. CORZINE
- ROUND ONE: TRUST AND TAXES -

"The old politics of tax, borrow and spend has failed New Jersey."
- Jon Corzine, New York Times, February 19, 2006

"When I announced my candidacy in December, I pledged a campaign of substance rather than slogans, a campaign of ideas rather than insults, a campaign of straight talk, not false promises."
- Jon Corzine, speech at his campaign kickoff, March 30, 2005

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's personal car was carjacked in Hackensack this morning and his employee, on an errand for the Mayor, was beaten. The car was found about two hours later in Fair Lawn. Bloomberg was not in his 2001 Lexus at the time. The Associated Press reports that the Bloomberg employee, "was approached by a woman who came to the window to ask for money, police said. As he declined and began to roll up the window, a man got into the passenger seat and punched him in the face."

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT ...
Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts Continues to Clam Up on Bryant Scandal;
Announces Democrat Response to Corruption Crisis: 'Hurry Up and Wait!'

Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr. and Senate President Richard J. Codey declined to give specifics about the anti-corruption bills in interviews with The Associated Press, but said the Legislature would move to adopt new corruption-busting laws in the coming weeks. "It's clear that this is necessary and it's clear that it's probably overdue," said Roberts, D-Camden.
- The Associated Press 10/11/2006

"Probably overdue?" That's the understatement of the year!
- Assembly Republican Conference Leader Peter Biondi
News Conference, October 12, 2006

THE ROBERTS REGIME:
FIGHTING CORRUPTION WITH INACTION

TOTAL NUMBER OF DAYS SINCE JOE ROBERTS BECAME SPEAKER: 275

TOTAL NUMBER OF ASSEMBLY VOTING SESSIONS TO DATE: 9

PROGRESS ON ETHICS REFORM TO DATE: 0

BUT IT'S COMING! ANY DAY NOW, ANY DAY NOW...

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