The New York Times has a story today on Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano’s transition from “reformer to defendant.”
It notes the rally at his house on Saturday, his comment two weeks ago on ‘zero tolerance’ for corruption (as also noted in a Reporter story published on this site today under “Hoboken news”), says Cammarano was sued 13 years ago in Passaic County for failure to pay child support, and describes the mayor’s longtime political ambitions.
The story completes a picture of someone who said one thing publicly and did another. In fact, after the child support story first broke last month, Cammarano responded to local media that “The story alleges that I have an arrest record for unpaid child support, which is completely false.” (While it may or may not have been false that he was arrested, he failed to own up to having been sued for owing the support.)
One thing the Times story does not mention is Cammarano’s recent announcement that he was going to propose reducing the value of gifts that can be given to city workers from outsiders, from $400 to $25 each. The ironies abound.
The Times story notes:
“Three days before his arrest, Mr. Cammarano told Dawn Zimmer, whom he defeated in a runoff by just 161 votes, just how long his political ambitions had been with him.
” ‘He said, “I’ve been preparing for this since I was 11 years old,” ‘ said Ms. Zimmer, who is now the Council president and is in line to succeed him should he step down or be forced from office.”
The Times reporter actually called the mother of Cammarano’s first child, who declined to comment for the story.
Read today’s Reporter story, which appeared on the cover of the print edition HERE. Or go back to our homepage for the breaking news on Saturday’s protest.
Public v. private on Cammarano: His ironies, ambitions, and the Times mentions his child support
