Another major news conference from the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey and another major indictment, this time of former Newark Mayor and current state Sen. Sharpe James.
As The New York Times describes it:
Sharpe James, the former mayor who towered over politics in this city for two decades and was a charismatic if combative cheerleader as it struggled to regain businesses and middle-class residents, was indicted on Thursday on charges of using city credit cards for personal expenses and letting a companion buy municipal property for a fraction of its worth.
Mr. James, who built a patronage machine largely through cult of personality, is accused of illegally charging more than $58,000 on two city credit cards for Jacuzzi dips, alcohol, movies, meals and weekend getaways for tennis tournaments with friends.
Ouch. A total of 33 counts detailing an array of offenses allegedly showing that the former mayor thought of the city’s budget as his own private bank account. (Here is a copy of the press release issued by U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie’s office yesterday.)
It is important here to remind people that these are just indictments — charges that have yet to be proven in a court of law and that James denies all the allegations.
The James indictment, however, has larger ramifications for the state — or at least it should. The James indictment is just another in a long line of criminal indictments and probes into the questionable dealings of New Jersey’s politicians, another example of what critics call a culture of corruption in the state.
Former Hudson County Executive Robert Janiszewski and former state Senate President John Lynch are both in jail, while state Sen. Wayne Bryant — the former chairman of the Senate Budget Committee — is facing a trial. And there are others, both large and small, who have succumbed to corruption probes.
People in South Brunswick certainly remember Lynch, a Middlesex County power broker and former New Brunswick mayor, who pleaded guilty to bribery charges stemming from his attempts to use his influence to win state approval for a mining company project.
It’s no wonder that people assume the worst about New Jersey politicians (read the letters section of both of my papers and you can see how suspicious most New Jerseyans are about government).
The reality is that corruption in New Jersey — whether the more overt kind perpetrated by Lynch and allegedly by James and Bryant, or the more subtle pay-to-play/campaign-finance tradeoffs that take place at all levels of government — needs to be a major campaign issue. All 120 members of the state Legislature are up for election this year and it is incumbent upon every candidate to say where they stand on these issues and to propose ways in which to fix this mess.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
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Hank Kalet 