Ed Marable

Mila Jasey wouldn't say much in her first comments as an Assemblywoman-elect; she wouldn't even commit to backing Joe Roberts for Speaker next year.
Mila M. Jasey won a Special Election Convention to replace Mims Hackett in the State Assembly tonight, and promptly took the fifth.

"No comment," she said, when asked if Hackett, who was arrested earlier this month on bribery charges, should resign his post as Mayor of Orange.

What about Gov. Jon Corzine? Should he release his email correspondence with his former girlfriend, CWA President Carla Katz?

"No comment," Jasey said. "That wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment on."

And would she support Joe Roberts for another term as Assembly Speaker? Again, Jasey had no comment.

The Committee to Recall Mims Hackett, Jr., reiterated its call this week for the mayor of Orange to resign rather than force a special election on Sept. 10th, while the mayor’s former executive assistant announced today from Atlanta, Ga., that she intends to proceed to file a civil complaint against Hackett for sexual harassment.

In a release he issued in the wake of the arrest last Thursday of Hackett, who has resigned from his 27th district Assembly seat but appears dug in as mayor, the committee’s spokesman, Bruce Meyer of Orange said, "The recall petition drive... comes to a conclusion today, having been overtaken by current events.

First-term Orange Councilman Ed Marable, Jr., on the ballot as an Independent Assembly candidate against Mims Hackett in the 27th district, says he is the best candidate in the race -- "regardless of what happens to Mims."

The Orange native, a self-described Independent Democrat, said he filed for the Assembly in June out of a sense of frustration over Hackett's concentration of power.  He said he was frustrated by the Essex Democratic Organization's decision to withdraw support for Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo's re-election.