Jerramiah Healy

Jersey City good government activist Dan Levin, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in May, wants Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy to resign and the municipal government to install a host of reform measures in the wake of this week's corruption bust that gutted the city's political scene.  

“Given Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s confirmation that he is indeed the “JC Official 4” cited in FBI criminal complaints, we call for his immediate resignation, as well as that of Council President Mariano Vega.  The implication that both men have engaged in activities that compromise their ethical responsibilities to their constituents warrants their immediate removal from office,” said Levin.  

Healy was not arrested, but is mentioned frequently in the federal government’s complaint against Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, city official Ed Cheatam and political consultant Jack Shaw, who allegedly solicited money from a federal informant to funnel into Healy’s reelection fund.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy this afternoon acknowledged that he is the person known as “Jersey City Public Official 4” in the federal criminal complaint against three Jersey City insiders.  

“Based on review of the complaint, it is clear that I am Jersey City Public Official 4. I did nothing wrong at anytime. Right now we are going to continue to conduct open and honest government and are focused on moving the city forward. In fact, yesterday we solicited instructions and advice from the U.S. Attorney’s Office on how to secure the offices and records of those officials who were charged and suspended,” Healy said in a written statement.  “We are complying with those instructions and will continue to cooperate. We will make no further statements at this time due to the ongoing nature of this investigation.”

Although a slew of public officials and political figures were arrested or charged yesterday -- including Healy’s two opponents from May mayoral election -- Healy was not.  

The complaint, however, casts political consultant Jack Shaw and Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini – who both were charged – as acting as middlemen for JC Public Official 4.  It even quotes Beldini telling Shaw that JC Public Official 4 would not be comfortable talking finances in front of co-defendant Edward Cheatam because there were “too many snakes.” 

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, the Hudson County Democratic Chairman

Since the corruption arrests of more than a dozen Jersey City officials and political figures came down yesterday, Jersey City has been rife with speculation about the identity of "JC Official 4" - a high ranking Jersey City elected official who turns up prominently in the federal complaint against Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, city official Ed Cheatam and political consultant Jack Shaw.

The federal complaint mentions what appears to be the indicted officials acting as a middlemen for JC Official 4, taking cash and structuring it to donate to his campaign fund in exchange for his help furthering cooperating witness Solomon Dwek's real estate interests.

PolitickerNJ.com has confirmed that "JC Official 4" is Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, the Hudson County Democratic Chairman.  A source close to the mayor admitted as much, but held that he had done nothing wrong.

JC Official 4 is described in the complaint as "a high-ranking elected official in Jersey City, NJ... (who) was seeking reelection on or about May 12, 2009."

That JC Official 4 appeared to be Healy was first mentioned by the Jersey City Independent's Jon Whiten yesterday, who noted that the complaint said that Beldini was treasurer for JC Official 4's reelection campaign.  In this year's election, Beldini was treasurer only for Mayor Healy's campaign.

According to the complaint, JC Official 4 first met with Dwek on March 13 of this year, along with the three defendants.  The complaint does not quote him at that meeting, with only Shaw and Cheatam telling him that Dwek "the CW was ready to develop real estate with JC Official 4's ‘help' and ‘assistance,' and JC Official 4 was further advised by the CW that ‘approvals are key.'"

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy – whose town had far more public officials busted today than anywhere else– said all of those arrested have been suspended without pay.

“Today’s arrests of several Jersey City public officials are shocking and dismaying. We are saddened by the negative light this has cast on our city and want to assure the public we have always conducted honest and open government,” said Healy in a statement.  “We have had only one criterion when making policy decisions and that is – what is best for the city? We are immediately suspending without pay those city employees who were charged today pending the outcome of this case.”

Councilman Steve Fulop went a step further, calling on Council President Mariano Vega and Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini – both of whom were arrested for allegedly taking bribes -- to resign.  

“This is truly a dark day for Jersey City. Yet again, we are disgraced by the conduct of our city’s leadership and the far-reaching embarrassment their actions bring to the city. While the individuals named in today’s indictments deserve their day in court, the sheer scale and widespread nature of the allegations is an outrage to the people of our city,” said Fulop.  “I am calling on Mayor Jerramiah Healy to suspend all city employees involved in this investigation, including Deputy Mayor Beldini, immediately and without pay.  Further, I call on City Council President Mariano Vega, who is named in a complaint and arrested this morning, to resign his office immediately. Councilman Vega’s office has been compromised and he can no longer adequately represent the people of Jersey City underneath a cloud of suspicion and corruption.”

*Update: President Obama referred to the situation in Jersey City at the beginning of his speech.

“I know many of you heard that five officers in Jersey City were shot in the line of duty this morning. I’ve been in contact with Mayor Healy about this issue, and obviously all the families are in our thoughts and prayers.  It’s a reminder of what our law enforcement officials do each and every day to protect us and protect our families. Continue to keep them in mind as we go forward," he said.

Update #2: Jersey City officials want to stress that Healy, after meeting privately with Obama, immediately headed back to Jersey City. 

HOLMDEL -- With five members of his city’s police force wounded in a gun battle with two suspects this morning, Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy came to see President Obama to push for federal legislation to “staunch the flow of illegal handguns into our city,” according to spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill.

Healy had long planned to attend the rally, but was faced with grim news early this morning upon learning that two officers were in critical condition.  He made it to the Jersey City Medical Center at 7:15am and stayed until 11:15am

When he arrived at the hospital, the life of one officer was in serious jeopardy, but his condition has improved.  Healy said that the department has not yet identified the officer.  

“It was very gloomy prognostication, but it’s gotten better and better,” said Healy. “By the time we left, the surgeons, nurses and staff at the JCMC had basically accomplished a miracle and brought this one guy back from the edge…  This could be a very happy ending”

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy knows something about invoking President Obama on the campaign trail.

During his reelection campaign earlier this year, Healy never let voters forget that he and Cory Booker were the first two public officials to endorse Obama – or “our friend at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue” -- for president, even as most of the state’s top politicians threw their support to Hillary Clinton.  Now, with Obama set to appear in-state with Corzine tomorrow, Healy said it will help the governor.

“We’re certainly hoping that occurs. It can only help that the president of the United States – particularly a popular president – is actively campaigning for you, for our governor,” said Healy. 

If Jersey City Councilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez (D-Orlando) resigns or is forced out before early September, Ward C voters would elect a replacement in a November 2009 special election to fill the remaining 44 months of her term.  If Lopez holds off until mid-September, the special election will not be held until May 2010.  Either way, the City Council would appoint someone to fill the vacancy until a special election is held.

Update: Lopez, who attended a Council meeting last night, is in Orlando today. 

What’s bad for Jersey City Councilwoman Nidia Lopez could be good for her predecessor, Steve Lipski.  

If former council candidate Jimmy King’s challenge to the validity of Lopez’s May election is successful in forcing her to step down, Lipski might be willing to replace her.

“That option – this is the first I’m hearing about it.  I’m somewhat dismayed that the election would be questioned.  I think the world of Nidia Lopez and if in the end the seat becomes vacant, I would have to consider whether I would want to step back in and take it,” said Lipski, who declined to seek another term after being arrested for urinating from a balcony onto a group of concertgoers in Washington, DC – an incident that made international headlines and became fodder for late night television jokes.  

Lipski said he barely caught wind of the controversy surrounding Lopez and her Florida house, for which she received a tax exemption meant only for permanent residents.  He had been vacationing in Maine, where he stayed in a cabin without electricity or running water.  He talked to PolitickerNJ.com on the phone from a hospital, where he was at the bedside of his wife, who broke her leg on the trip.   

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. 

Former council candidate Jimmy King’s complaint against Nidia Lopez has grown some legs in Jersey City and Orlando.

The Jersey Journal reports today that Florida officials are investigating Lopez for claiming a tax break on her Orlando home that required her to be a permanent resident, and that they’re seeking repayment of the money she saved from it.

PolitickerNJ.com first reported on Tuesday that the recently defeated King filed a complaint against Lopez attempting to invalidate her election.  

Lopez was sworn in yesterday.  At the inauguration ceremony, she said that she did not want to talk about the charges because it was a “day for celebration,” but referred inquiries about it to her attorney, William Northgrave.