Douglas H. Palmer

MAYORS JOIN GUN CONTROL ADVOCATES IN PRAISING LEGISLATURE FOR PASSING “ONE HANDGUN A MONTH” BILL

 
TRENTON- Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, Mayor Jerramiah Healy of Jersey City, Mayor Douglas H. Palmer of Trenton, and Mayor Robert Bowser of East Orange today joined the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence President Paul Helmke in praising the New Jersey State Legislature for passing the “One Handgun A Month” bill through both the Senate and the Assembly. 

Atlantic County Democrats say they plan to ammend their party bylaws so that County Committee members convicted of a crime would automatically be removed from office. Ronald Ruff, the Democratic County Chairman, said today that he has sent certified letters to Craig Callaway, Ramon Rosario and Gibb Jones -- three former Atlantic City Councilmen who had been convicted on federal corruption charges this year -- requesting that they resign their party posts. "You are not welcome in our party," Ruff wrote. "This party has no place for those who violate the public trust."

In 1982, Trenton steakhouse owner Joseph "Jo-Jo" Giorgianni was convicted of molesting a fourteen year-old girl and almost avoided prison when his lawyers argued that at 565 pounds and suffering from asthma, he couldn't handle prison. A Judge actually bough the argument and Giorgianni remained free until he was videotaped in Atlantic City with a ringside seat at a boxing match -- surrounded what the Trentonian called "a cloud of cigar smoke." He eventually served three years in prison.

Now the convicted sex offender fancies himself as a political player. Three years ago he won election to the Republican County Committee in Trenton's North Ward. GOP Assemblyman Bill Baroni has called for his resignation, but local Republicans have declined to press the matter -- and interestingly, several key Mercer Democratic legislators and party officials have passed on making comment. Giorgianni apparently played a key role in the recent Trenton mayoral campaign, backing Mercer County Freeholder Tony Mack over incumbent Douglas Palmer, both Democrats.

In 1982, Trenton steakhouse owner Joseph "Jo-Jo" Giorgianni was convicted of molesting a fourteen year-old girl and almost avoided prison when his lawyers argued that at 565 pounds and suffering from asthma, he couldn't handle prison. A Judge actually bough the argument and Giorgianni remained free until he was videotaped in Atlantic City with a ringside seat at a boxing match -- surrounded what the Trentonian called "a cloud of cigar smoke." He eventually served three years in prison.

Now the convicted sex offender fancies himself as a political player. Three years ago he won election to the Republican County Committee in Trenton's North Ward, and apparently he played a key role in the recent Trenton mayoral campaign, backing Mercer County Freeholder Tony Mack over incumbent Douglas Palmer. Mack and Palmer are both Democrats. In 2004, Giorgianni contributed $2,000 to George W. Bush's re-election campaign.

Former U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli still has $2,119,472 left over from the 2002 campaign he terminated five weeks before the election, and in the last three months he has used $57,000 from that warchest to fund candidates running for office this year.

Torricelli contributed $20,000 to Cory Booker's campaign for Mayor of Newark -- half of that three weeks before the May election, and the other half just before the Council runoff. He gave $5,000 to Joseph Doria, who was running for re-election as Mayor of Bayonne, and $5,000 to the re-election campaign of Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer. Another $5,000 went to Trenton 2006, a group of Council candidates allied with Palmer, He also gave $5,000 to Newark City Councilman Luis Quintana's re-election bid (Torricelli's reports identifies the contribution as going to Louis Quinenna), and $1,000 to Union City First, the fund allied with Union City Mayor Brian Stack. Assembly Budget Committee Chairman Louis Greenwald received a $500 contribution from the former Senator.

The Torricelli warchest also gave a $4,000 campaign contribution to Luis Fortuno, who is Puerto Rico's non-voting representative in the U.S. House of Representatives, and a $4,00 contribution to Tessa Hafen, a former Press Secretary to Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who is running for Congress in Nevada. He also donated $3,000 to Linda Cropp, a candidate for Mayor of Washington, D.C.

Bergen County Democrats gave Torricelli $10,000 -- a partial repayment of a loan the former Senator made to the his former home county party.

Cynthia McKinney, the controversial Democratic Congresswoman from Georgia, will be in New Jersey today to deliver the keynote speech at a campaign event for Newark City Councilman-At-Large Ras Baraka. Baraka was appointed to fill the seat left vacant by the death of Donald Tucker and is seeking election to a full four-year term tomorrow.

Rev. Al Sharpton will spend Election Day in Trenton campaigning for the re-election of Mayor Douglas Palmer. Four years ago, Sharpton campaigned with Sharpe James on Election Day.