Political gadflies galore let out an exasperated gasp last week when the details of Joe Barry’s guilty plea were unveiled and they discovered to their dismay that no names were named and no new information about Hudson County corruption was uncovered.
This disappointment had much to do with the anticipation that many of these gadflies had put on Barry’s upcoming trial, and the expectation that the government would at last expose the corrupt inner workings of Hudson County’s political world.
Barry, pressed by federal authorities, was expected either to give up prominent figures in the ever-expanding federal probe or to serve as martyr with his continued silence.
But the political scavengers got neither carrion nor cross, just the image of a worn-out man making his way into federal court where he could finally put to an end several rumor-filled torturous years so he could better predict his future.
Gone from Barry’s face was the one-time robust expression of the extremely successful Hoboken developer. Looking at him, you could hardly imagine him as one more feather in the cap of a politically ambitious U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, who has done for New Jersey politics what Civil War General William T. Sherman did to the South, leaving a wake of political and personal ruin while collecting glorious headlines. Perhaps The Rolling Stones best describe the recent spate of political convictions in Hudson County in their 1968 song called Sympathy for the Devil. In a world where base values are questionable, who the good guys and bad guys are depends upon the rules being applied. As Christie cris-crosses the state mounting up his victories, many struggle to understand the values that see people like Barry and ex-Freeholder Nidia Davila-Colon serving time in federal prison while former County Executive Robert Janiszewski and his wife Maribeth remain fixtures at their ski lodge in New York State, waiting for the moment when they can collect their government pensions.
In a world of twisted logic, Janiszewski – who benefited most from the latest era of corruption – will likely see the least jail time.
As if living up to the lyrics of the Rolling Stones song, the federal government seems bent on punishing people the most not for the ill-gotten gains they received or the possible misuse of federal dollars, but based on whether or not they cooperated with federal investigators. Thus, those who profess innocence and resist turning into agents for the feds suffer the threat of the worst punishment, despite the fact that federal money in Barry’s case was used for the public benefit.
Barry’s guilty plea last week, however, was hardly devoid of new information. The public learned, for instance, just how under-reported Janiszewski’s bribe-taking may have been during his 2002 guilty plea. Janiszewski told the federal court he had taken “more than” $100,000 in bribes. Adding up the $115,000 Barry said he gave Janiszewski with the amounts revealed prior, you have to wonder just how much more than $100,000 Janiszewski actually got and how unfair the application of justice is that would send Barry to jail for giving the money when Janiszewski – who received the cash – will possibly not face jail time at all.
From past prosecutions and those expected in the near future, you can see a new perverse sense of justice being applied as people are prosecuted not for their alleged criminal acts, but for refusing to cooperate with federal authorities. Martha Stewart was not tried for insider trading, but for lying to the FBI. If this is the value being applied, then the most corrupt people in Hudson County should be lining up at Christie’s door begging to cooperate, knowing their greatest sins will be forgiven.
To misquote political satirist Will Rogers a little: Corruption, like taxes and poverty, will always be with us in Hudson County, even after the feds pack up their headlines and go home. Who can say if Hudson County will be a better place for the feds having been here?
Mayor for the week?
Every week someone else’s is name is being floated as a possible candidate for mayor of Jersey City. While Assemblyman Louis Manzo has already declared his intention to run for the November election to fill the unexpired term of deceased Mayor Glenn Cunningham, other names are less certain.
Freeholder Bill O’Dea teased opponents at last week’s freeholder caucus, saying he was running for something but wasn’t sure what. O’Dea, a close friend of Manzo, has received dozens of calls asking him to run. But as long as Manzo remains a candidate, O’Dea will not likely throw his hat into the race.
Bill Gaughan, who serves as the Jersey City Heights councilman and the chief of staff to County Executive Tom DeGise, has firmly removed his hat from the November race.
“This is not to say that I won’t run next May,” he said, alluding to the regularly scheduled mayoral elections slated for May 2005. “But I am not running in November.”
Although he apparently sought council support to act as interim mayor, replacing L. Harvey Smith, he said the reality of a November election is discouraging.
“Whoever wins in November is going to have to start making a budget,” he said. “That’s a lot of work to accomplish in such a short time.”
DeGise and Gaughan may be looking to garner support from the Hudson County Democratic Organization for the candidacy of Councilman Jerremiah Healy.
A former municipal court judge, Healy, 54, has courted HCDO support in the past when he ran against Mayor Bret Schundler in 1997. While he got the encouragement of the HCDO, there was always a question about how heartedly the organization supported him, and perpetually questions afterward as to whether or not he was betrayed by then-County Executive Robert Janiszewski.
Councilman Junior Maldonado may be seeking the mayoral seat and could even use the July 1 City Council reorganization meeting as a stepping stone. Reports claim Maldonado is one vote short of becoming council president. Oddly enough, Smith’s chief of staff and brain trust, Roger Jones, may be behind the move. Councilman Mariano Vega – who has a taste for the mayoral seat himself – may introduce the motion to make Maldonado president. If Jones is courting Maldonado, then Smith is a certain positive vote, as may be Councilwoman Viola Richardson.
If true, then this would leave Councilman Steve Lipski in the position to decide who will head the City Council over the next year.