The guilty plea of Paul J. Byrne last week had the county talking.
But no threat of federal imprisonment will keep this political operative from speaking his mind or pointing his finger at the person he most believes was responsible for corruption in Hudson County during the 1990s After his appearance in court, Byrne paused to answer questions about his one-time best friend and former County Executive Robert Janiszewski, saying political enemies stab you in the back, but friends like Bobby J. stabbed him in the heart.
Janiszewski, as a witness and operative for the federal government, testified last year that Byrne had operated a lucrative business behind the scenes, using his close connections to the county executive.
Although Byrne has answered these accusations in numerous ways over the last year, his guilty plea hinted at a possible grain of truth to Janiszewski’s claims – something Byrne dismissed when he had asked how people could take the word of a liar.
Byrne said Janiszewski had turned on those that had aided him most, old friends, rather than enemies or even strangers.
“There is not a time in my life when I hadn’t known Bob Janiszewski,” Byrne said. “We were rolled around together in our baby carriages, and more than once I helped him out in his personal life. When his first marriage broke up and he had no place to go, he stayed with me.”
Byrne had hoped to use his trial to unmask the Janiszewski administration, but an unfortunately lack of money and Byrne’s illness (diabetes) created a situation in which he had to make a decision whether or not he would get on with his life.
Revenge may be sweet, but survival is more important, and if anything, Byrne is a survivor.
“I don’t have to hang my head about anything,” he said. “I can still walk proudly around my old neighborhood. Bobby J. can’t.”
Of course, Byrne won’t be walking too far if the judge sentences him to the maximum of 37 months in jail. But for now, he has become something of a folk hero for Hudson politics, the man who would not give up his friends.
“I got more than 100 calls the night of the trial from people wanting to wish me well,” Byrne said. “I know Bobby J. can’t say that.”
A state corruption probe?
Election fund charges against Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto last month may be the beginning of a new state-orchestrated probe into Hudson County political dealings ahead of next year’s gubernatorial elections. Although any area is a possible target for this new plunge into the endless pit, there is a hint that patronage will be targeted, such as jobs given to relatives, girlfriends, boyfriends, sons and daughters of supporters and such. The investigations will likely cover the whole county, from the northern tip of North Bergen to the southern tip of Bayonne.
This may have been the result on the ongoing federal probes that have resulted in a host of guilty pleas by public officials and vendors doing business in Hudson County. U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie has been critical of the attorney general’s inaction in the area of corruption, although in the attorney general’s defense, there was the small matter of Sept. 11, 2001 and its aftermath to keep his office occupied.
Former Secaucus Mayor Anthony Just called a state probe long overdue.
“I was too honest for them,” Just said, referring to the assorted influence-peddlers seeking to develop and pick up town contracts. “They weren’t making any money while I was mayor.”
“Shrewdness in public life,” Will Rogers once wrote, “is always admired, while honesty in public men is seen as dumbness and is never rewarded.”
Three strikes, you are out
The political ramifications of the alleged gay-bashing in Secaucus took a remarkable turn with the recent filing of a lawsuit against the town by two gay men who claimed to have been harassed by some of the volunteer firefighters.
Secaucus has suspended 15 volunteer firefighters for refusing to take sensitivity training required after the initial complaints were filed.
This is not the first time members of the North End Firehouse have challenged Mayor Dennis Elwell’s authority, putting the mayor in a precarious political predicament. The all-volunteer department is key to his ability to keep taxes low in Secaucus, and his administration appears to have tolerated a significant amount of guff in order to prevent losing volunteers.
The two gay men claim drinking and parties – including women – have been routine at the North End Firehouse despite regulations imposed by the town in 2001. This would have been in defiance of the authority of the fire chiefs, the town council and the mayor.
When Elwell ordered the “party room” closed in May, many of the same firefighters issued a letter to the town saying they would resign if Elwell did not rescind his order. Elwell left the matter to the fire chief to resolve, and the room was soon reopened. But Elwell ordered the Fire Department to take sensitivity training. A crew of firefighters refused. This last act of defiance, however, may have pushed Elwell too far and forced him to take action even at the expense of losing 15 percent of the fire force.