L. Harvey Smith

Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone (D-Bayonne), indicted today on charges that he that funneled legislative paychecks for aides into a campaign account, stands an excellent chance of winning re-election if he refuses to drop out of the race.  It might be impossible for a Democrat to lose District 31, which includes Bayonne and part of Jersey City.

Democrats have a 8-1 voter registration edge in the 31st district.  Chiappone was unopposed in the 2007 general election; in 2005, Democrats won by more than 18,000 votes.  Bayonne delivered a margin of nearly 5,000 and the plurality in Jersey City was over 13,000.

Jersey City attorney Irene Kim Asbury, the Republican candidate for State Assembly in the 31st district, addresses a group in Jersey City.

A first in New Jersey political history: the announcement that Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone (D-Bayonne) has been indicted on state corruption charges will be the first time two sitting Assemblymen from the same district will be charged with crimes at the same time.  Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City) was arrested in July.  Chiappone and Smith were running mates in the Hudson County-based 31st district in 2007.

Smith has refused calls by state Democratic leaders to resign, and Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts has suspended his pay and stripped him of his committee assignments.  Smith was not a candidate for re-election at the time of his arrest; he gave up his seat to run unsuccessfully for Mayor of Jersey City last May.  His term in the Assembly expires in January.  Last spring, Democrats picked Charles Mainor, a Jersey City police detective, to run for his seat.

But Chiappone is the Democratic nominee for Assembly, running on Gov. Jon Corzine's ticket, and faces no legal obstacle to remaining in the race.  Republicans have never won the 31st district since its creation in 1973, and the last time a Republican represented this part of Jersey City or Bayonne in the Legislature was in 1921.

Staffers working for a legislator who resigns or dies in office keep their jobs until a successor is elected and seated.  While there are no formal rules dictating how legislative offices should operate in the event of a vacancy, in recent years the Senate President and Assembly Speaker have authorized district offices to remain open and staff to continue to be paid.  Those staffs are supervised by the Senate Secretary or the Assembly Clerk, although there is relatively little oversight in those situations.

The staff of former Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt (R-Ocean) remains intact, even though Van Pelt resigned last week after being arrested on federal corruption charges.  And while Speaker Joseph Roberts has effectively suspended two legislators facing criminal charges without pay, Joseph Vas (D-Perth Amboy) and L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City) continue to have district offices and staffs who report to them.

Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City)

Much to the chagrin of Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts (D-Camden), Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City) today vowed to stay in office while he fights charges that he took bribes totaling $15,000 when he ran for mayor of Jersey City earlier this year.

"I am guaranteed under the Constitution of the United States and the state of New Jersey with a presumption of innocence in the criminal proceedings against me," Smith wrote in a letter to Roberts. "I believe that resignation of my position as assemblyman is inconsistent with that presumption of innocence."

Upon receipt of Smith's letter, Roberts issued a statement reasserting his own initial response to the freshman assemblyman's legal predicament.

"Assemblyman Smith's decision is disappointing," said the Speaker. "As I have said, the right to the presumption of innocence is a hallmark of our democracy, but serving in the Legislature is a privilege, not a right, and any member charged with criminal activity is incapable of effectively representing their constituents. My decision to suspend Assemblyman Smith's pay and benefits stands. This money belongs to the taxpayers."

The Jersey Journal reports today that Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City), who was arrested last month and accused of taking $15,000 in bribes, will resign.

Smith, a freshman, is the former city council president and acting mayor of Jersey City.  He ran for mayor in the May municipal election, coming in third out of five candidates. 

Smith is charged with taking the bribe to help an FBI informant win approvals from the Department of Environmental Protection for a residential project.

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."

Since the three assemblymen who were charged with corruption this year have so far refused calls to resign, Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) today took it upon himself to suspend their pay and benefits.  

Roberts said that his legal counsel informed him that he does have the authority to strip Assemblymen L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City), Daniel Van Pelt (R-Ocean Twp.) and Joseph Vas (D-Perth Amboy) of their $49,000 per year salaries and health benefits.    

“The right to the presumption of innocence is a hallmark of our democracy, however, serving in the Legislature is a privilege, not a right. The Assembly is often referred to as the ‘People’s House,’ and I want the people to have full confidence in the integrity of its members,” said Roberts.

Van Pelt and Smith were netted in last week’s huge federal corruption bust for allegedly taking bribes.  Vas has been charged by federal and state authorities who allege that, during his time as Mayor of Perth Amboy, he used city funds for personal benefit, rigged an affordable housing lottery, and used his insider status to flip his own property at a huge profit.

Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville)

Assembly Deputy Speaker John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) says that he is the "DOT official" described in a criminal complaint against Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City) and that he told Smith he was not interested in doing legal work for someone later identified as federal informant Solomon Dwek.

According to the complaint, Smith allegedly told Dwek during a meeting at a Hoboken diner that he would seek help from a powerful contact in the Assembly to expedite a development project Dwek told Smith he was trying to build on Route 440.

Smith called Wisniewski, the Chairman of the Assembly Transportation, Public Works and Independent Authorities Committee, in an apparent attempt to earn a $10,000 cash payment.  Smith's efforts to obtain Wisniewski's legal help went nowhere fast, according to the complaint, a point verified by Wisniewski. 

The meeting allegedly took place on Friday, July 17.
 
"He called me on a Friday," Wisniewski told PolitickerNJ.com, saying that Smith offered to recommend him for some legal work.

"I have a policy. If a member of my (the transportation) committee calls, I take the call," Wisniewski said. "He told me that people he was working with were looking for an attorney to help them with the DOT. I said, 'Harvey, I can't take a private client and represent them before the DOT.'

The U.S. Attorney's office says there will be no new developments in Operation Bid Rig today, which means no one will be arrested or indicted for at least the next twelve hours.  Six individuals arrested yesterday, including Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City), are scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Mark Falk this afternoon.

If Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith (D-Jersey City) resigns following his indictment on federal corruption charges today, the special election convention to fill the remaining six months of his term is likely to be uneventful.  Since Smith gave up his Assembly seat to run unsuccessfully for Mayor, Democrats already have a candidate: Charles Mainor, a 42-year-old Jersey City police detective who was picked to run by the Hudson County Democratic Organization last April.