Newark

PENNACCHIO: LATEST NEWARK PROBE DEMONSTRATES NEED FOR MORE OVERSIGHT OF CITY SPENDING

Read More >

IS NEWARK LAW FIRM MAKING IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS
TO THE MIDDLETOWN REPUBLICAN ORGANIZATION?

MIDDLETOWN TOWNSHIP (MONMOUTH COUNTY, NJ): According to Middletown Democratic Chairman Joe Caliendo, he has serious concerns that the Newark law firm of Gibbons, Del Deo, Dolan, Griffinger and Vecchione is making in-kind contributions to the Middletown Republican Party.

Read More >

Former Mayor Sharpe James spent 20 years as the city's chief executive without having to be accountable to many people. He and his administration were investigated by government agencies on numerous occasions, but amazingly he was never indicted. There are accusations, innuendos, rumors and strong reason to believe that it wasn't just a coincidence that the mayor's former chief-of-staff was arrested and went to jail for having a few hundred grand in cash hidden in the floor boards of his home. (His chief-of-staff was also a very close relative.)

Every time Sharpe James was challenged on how a public servant with a limited income could own a huge yacht, millions in real estate and appear to live really high on the hog, his typical response would be to rhetorically ask, "Why is it that a black man in America can't have money?"

Sharpe James has been playing the "race card" forever. Every time he's been challenged by the media regarding his spending practices, the way he ran his administration, the strong-arm tactics that his police force used against his political nemesis Cory Booker in the 2002 mayoral campaign, James would never respond directly. He was the master of obfuscation. He was all smoke and mirrors. But I have always given Sharpe James credit for being Newark's best cheerleader. He was an advocate who helped bring in private investments and keep my home town of Newark afloat, even if the economic activities were disproportionately focused in the downtown area.

But now everything has changed. Sharpe James' out of control spending of public money appears to have caught up with him. In a series of front page stories that started in the Star-Ledger and now has expanded to the New York Times and other major publications, James is being challenged on his use of two credit cards that he had full access to and appeared to spend tens, even hundreds of thousands, of dollars on trips to exotic locations, lodging in four-star hotels, and eating in only the best restaurants.

It was reported that James took a trip to Rio de Janeiro during his last week in office using both credit cards, one assigned to the city, and the other to the police department. James spent nearly $7,000 for him and his private security detail to take a five day trip. James argues that he was on city business. More specifically, James said that he was following up on a 2004 trip he took to Rio in which he lectured on "affirmative action, sanitation, housing and poor people." He had his two body guards with him because "Brazil is a hot spot for crime�everybody knows that."

But one must wonder why James had to go to Rio in the last few days of his 20 year reign to follow up on a speech he made two years ago. James told reporters to call Brazilian officials and find out from them. However, Brazilian officials made it clear that James called them to ask if he could come down and have a one hour meeting with them to compare notes. Five days in a luxurious hotel with two body guards, eating at the best restaurants, for a one-hour meeting? Couldn't the mayor just have placed a call or sent an e-mail asking for feedback? No, not Sharpe James. He appears to have convinced himself that he was owed the right to use bank credit cards to live like a king, even though the state government had banned such a practice for municipal officials for obvious reasons.

Now, grand jury subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney's office and the state Attorney General’s office had been delivered to city hall and to the police department. Investigators want to know more about these credit cards and exactly how the mayor and his entourage used these credit cards for what looks like private activities that should have never been funded with public tax payer money. This all at a time when Newark youngsters are being shot and killed on the streets and the new Booker administration seeking every dollar it can to hire more police to protect individual residences and businesses.

But Sharpe James couldn’t care less. Just as when he was mayor, he refuses to have an open, candid, meaningful conversation about his irresponsible spending practices. But this is no Newark issue. This is an issue for the entire state of New Jersey to deal with. It is an issue for the Democrats in the state legislature to ban the current practice of allowing candidates who amass huge financial war chests to use left over money to create bogus civic non-profit organizations that are nothing more than slush funds to keep living the good life. It appears that's exactly what Sharpe James was prepared to do with the campaign money he had and never used when he opted not to run for mayor against Cory Booker a few months ago.

Jon Corzine and the Democratic legislative leadership must tell the former mayor and current State Senator, "No, Sharpe, it's over." We're not going to stand idly by while you rape the public treasury and gorge yourself at the public trough. Sharpe James is hopeless. He'll never understand. The bigger question is whether his Democratic colleagues in the Statehouse are willing to do something about it.

Oh, yeah, the last time Sharpe James came under heavy pressure from the Feds? That investigation seemed to go up in smoke and disappear. Democrat Bill Clinton was president at the time. Sharpe James was Clinton's friend and a major political supporter. That's some coincidence, don't you think? We'll see what happens now.

Read More >

Among the unsolved murders profiled in the Star-Ledger today was Harry Dudkin, a 78-year-old Assistant Essex County Prosecutor who was killed on March 5, 1987 at his family stationary store in East Orange. "At first, detectives theorized that he had fallen and hit his head, but an autopsy the next day uncovered a .38-caliber slug in his head," the Star-Ledger wrote. "By the time detectives canvassed the neighborhood, the crime was two days old." Only then did investigators realize that the store's daily receipts were missing.

About forty years before his murder, Dudkin almost went to Congress. He was the Democratic candidate for the House in 1948 against five-term Congressman Robert Winthrop Kean, the father of the future Governor and grandfather of the '06 U.S. Senate candidate. President Harry Truman called for his election during a campaign appearance in Newark on October 6, but on Election Day he lost to Kean by 4,737 votes -- 53%-45%. He ran again against Kean in 1950, but lost by 8,598 votes -- 54%-46%.

Read More >

MERKT: JAMES AND EPPS REPRESENT WHAT NEW JERSEYANS HAVE GROWN TO DISTRUST IN GOVERNMENT
CALLS THE ACTIONS OF TWO FELLOW LEGISLATORS 'UNACCEPTABLE' BREACH OF PUBLIC TRUST

Read More >

ESSEX IS MURDER
CAPITOL OF NEW JERSEY

Continued Killings Confirm Crisis;
State Police Report Shows Surge in Slayings

(Newark, NJ) -- The city of Newark lost three of its sons this week to fatal street shootings. Police are without suspects or leads because witnesses fear coming forward. The city of Orange lost one of its finest because a known gang member was still on the streets. The recently released State Police Crime Report reveals just how large a problem murder has become in Essex County. With New Jersey last year seeing its highest number of murders since 1993, nearly a third of them occurred in Essex County. Detective Rich Mastrangelo, candidate for Essex County Sheriff, demanded to know why Armando Fontoura wasn't taking extraordinary steps in such an extraordinary crisis.

"When it comes to violent deaths, Essex County is suffering more than any other county in the state. Essex is continually the only county to see murders in the triple digits," said Mastrangelo, a decorated police officer. Murders in Essex climbed from 136 to 147 in 2005. There were 418 murders in the whole state....

Read More >

ACTING GOVERNOR CODEY ORDERS FLAGS TO FLY AT HALF-STAFF
TO HONOR POLICE DETECTIVE KIERAN T. SHIELDS

TRENTON

– In honor of Police Detective Kieran T. Shields, Acting Governor Richard J. Codey signed the following Executive Order calling for the United States and New Jersey flags to fly at half-staff on Saturday, August 12, 2006. Read More >

New Providence Councilman Brooke Hern tells a great story about his experiences as an aide to then-Congressman Robert Torricelli:

"I had only recently graduated from the Political Science program at American University, and I had landed a job working for the Torch. It was my responsibility to keep the Congressman on schedule and fully briefed for each stop along the way. Typically, I would begin and end most days either at the Congressman's house or at our district office. But this not-so-typical day in politics would end dodging cars in the streets of Newark.

Moments before my unexpected stop, we were making our way past was was the site of the Torch's Senate office in the Gateway complex. The Congressman was talking on his cellular telephone. As we turned the corner and proceeded along McCarter Highway, he suddenly ended his call and issued an unexpected command: "Stop the car, right here!" Naturally, I checked the mirror and began to pull into the far right lane, when he commanded, "No! Right here!" That was quickly followed by a resounding "get out! Get out! GET OUT!" At first I thought perhaps the car was on fire, and that he was merely concerned for my safety. But as I stepped out of the car and watched him slide into the driver seat and speed away, it was quite clear that I had just been tossed aside like a dead armadillo.

As I watched the Congressman drive away, I realized that my keys were in the ignition of his car, and that he was approaching a red light at the corner. I quickly made my way to the car and tapped on the window, and told him that I needed to retrieve my keys. Otherwise, I would not be able to drive my car and get into my house. When the light turned green, he pulled through the intersection and over to the right side of the road. As he twisted himself into the back seat and aggressively wrestled with his suit jacket, he reprimanded me because he could not find his keys. I reached into the car and removed my keys from the ignition. He finally located his keys, closed the window, and drove away.

Then I walked to Penn Station and took a bus to our District Office in Hackensack, where I retrieved my car and drove home. I appeared at his house the next day to pick him up. Thereafter, we never spoke of the incident. We simply carried on as if it never happened."

Hern is now a Republican.

Read More >

WOLFE ASKS FOR INFO TO ASSESS THE IMPACT OF ABATEMENTS AND EXEMPTIONS ON PROPERTY TAXES

TAX EXEMPTIONS TO DEVELOPERS ARE COSTING THE STATE & POOR NEIGHBORHOODS HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

Read More >

An old-time Newark Democratic machine lieutenant, Louis Turco, used to say there are some guys you just don't want to talk to unless they're standing in a rain puddle with sparks flying up their back.

Read More >