Peter Cammarano

Frank "I Am the Law" Hague ruled Jersey City from 1917 to 1947

When Douglas Salters started as an aide to Jersey City Councilman James McLaughlin in 1993, the first thing his fellow City Hall staffers showed him was a desk. Not just any desk, but the one that belonged to the legendary Frank Hague.

Hague was mayor from 1917 to 1947 and word is he profited richly from it, becoming a millionaire despite never making a salary of more than $8,500 a year.  His iron grip on local politics, though never matched, became the symbol of Jersey City's notorious political culture.  His famous desk, which is still in City Hall, has a special drawer that Hague would push out, allowing guests to surreptitiously and conveniently deposit bribes.

"They said ‘This is Jersey City'... I was one day in office when I was shown that, and I realized that this was a rare kind of place," said Salters, who ran for council earlier this year in Ward B on the reform "One Jersey City" slate.

Yesterday, Salters was part of a group of about 80 who were protesting in front of City Hall, where the city council was about to have its first session since Thursday's corruption bust that took down two of Hudson County's mayors, an Assemblyman, the Jersey City Council president, a Jersey City Deputy Mayor and several city employees and political operatives.  It remains to be seen whether the feds will press on against Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who turns up as "JC Official 4" in one of the criminal complaints.

On the “Cammarano for Mayor” website, it still says: “Peter Cammarano is ready to get to work on Day One!” Day One, maybe. However, Peter is just not ready to work on Day 29. Or 30. Or 31.

Hoboken Council President Dawn Zimmer would become acting mayor in the event that Mayor Peter Cammarano resigns, and it does not appear, at least for the moment, that anyone's big enough to threaten her in the special election. 

Gov. Jon Corzine today said Cammarano will be gone tomorrow, but no one's yet heard that publicly from Cammarano.

If he steps down prior to Sept. 4th, the mile-square-city will hold a special on Nov. 3rd, the same day as the gubernatorial contest between Corzine and Republican challenger Chris Christie.

Most people assume Zimmer will run for mayor.

She was the top vote-getter in the May election, and in the runoff beat Cammarano on the machines only to lose by 161 votes after the Board of Elections factored in absentee ballots. Her supporters will be more revved up than ever with a sense of righteousness. Cammarano was already an opponent. Now, charged with allegedly taking cash bribes, he departs as an outright villain.

The defense attorney for Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano in a telephone conversation this afternoon with PolitickerNJ.com would not confirm that his client intends to resign tomorrow.

But he did say Cammarano is finding it hard to govern a week after the U.S. Attorney's Office charged him with taking cash bribes and is "seriously weighing" resigning.

"He'll make a final decision tomorrow and any press conference would, of course, depend on that decision," said veteran criminal lawyer Joe Hayden.

Last Friday, Cammarano vowed to stay in office.

The next day, protesters showed up at his house, and on Monday evening, they descended on City Hall.

Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano may be resigning tomorrow, but Assemblywoman Evelyn Williams (D-Newark) is still the record holder.  Cammarano was sworn in on July 1, was arrested on July 23, and will resign on July 31.  After winning a special election convention, Williams was sworn in on December 12, 2005, was arrested for shoplifting on December 20, 2005, and left office when the Legislature reorganized on January 10, 2006.

After just one month in office, Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano will resign on Friday, July 31.

Peter Cammarano III is expected to announce his resignation as Mayor of Hoboken tomorrow, sources say.  His resignation comes one day short of a month after taking the oath of office, and eight days after he was arrested on federal corruption charges.

Council President Dawn Zimmer, who lost a June 10 runoff to Cammarano by 161 votes, will become the Acting Mayor.  A special election will be held in November to fill the remainder of Cammarano's term.

The 32-year-old Cammarano, a protege of Democratic superlawyer Angelo Genova, was viewed as a rising star in New Jersey politics.  According to a criminal complaints, Cammarano is accused of accepting cash payments in $5,000 increments from a man he thought was a developer looking for a pay-to-play connection in Hoboken.

Gov. Jon Corzine, a Hoboken resident, has been pushing for Cammarano to quit.  So have Zimmer, Councilman Ravi Bhalla, Councilwoman and '09 mayoral candidate Beth Mason, and Assemblyman Ruben Ramos, the Hoboken Democratic Municipal Chairman.

In addition to Gov. Jon Corzine, who lives in Hoboken, Council President Dawn Zimmer, Councilman Ravi Bhalla, Councilwoman Beth Mason and Councilman Dave Mello have all asked Cammarano to leave.

Click here to read Max Pizarro's story, ‘The Rise and Fall of Peter Cammarano', in the New York Observer.

District 22 GOP Assembly candidate Martin Marks this afternoon doubled down on his criticism of Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood) for accepting campaign contributions from three men charged last Thursday with corruption.

During her failed District 7 Congressional run last year, Stender received money from Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, former Assemblyman Lou Manzo, and Manzo's brother, Ronald, all of whom were charged in federal court last week with taking cash bribes related to their own 2009 campaign bids.

"Linda Stender cites technicalities in explaining why she should not
return nearly $4000 in dirty money donated to her by three machine Democrats now under indictment," fumed Marks.

Assemblywoman Linda Stender (D-Fanwood)

Republicans waging a longshot challenge in Legislative District 22 seized on Assemblywoman Linda Stender's 7th Congressional District campaign finances, which include contributions made by three men stung in last week's federal corruption probe. 

Martin Marks and Bo Vastine want Stender to return campaign contributions she received last year from Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, former Assemblyman Lou Manzo and his brother Ronald Manzo, a suggestion the Stender camp calls ridiculous since the account is already closed.

“I spent 9 years as the Mayor of Scotch Plains and the thought of any elected official accepting a bribe makes me sick," said Marks. "Linda Stender should immediately return the almost $4,000 in campaign contributions she received from Mayor Peter Cammarano and the Manzo brothers. These men are alleged to have accepted cash bribes in an attempt to peddle their political influence, and that should have no place here in the 22nd District."

Assemblyman Vincent Prieto (D-Secaucus) could be a casualty of the turbulent world of Secaucus politics, if Democratic-turned-Independent Councilman Michael Gonnelli winds up winning the race for Mayor.  Mayors rule in Hudson County, and since the District 32 Assembly seat is viewed as belonging to Secaucus, Gonnelli might get to pick his own guy when the seat comes up in 2011.  Prieto was picked by Mayor Dennis Elwell after Anthony Impreveduto (D-Secaucus) resigned in 2004.

Senate Republican Leader Tom Kean called on Governor Corzine to order an immediate meeting of the state's Local Finance Board. The board should consider exercising emergency control of cities in turmoil because their mayors and other key officials haven't stepped down after their arrests on corruption charges.