Former Hoboken Mayor Cammarano pleads guilty
Former Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, who was arrested in last July’s FBI corruption sting operation that netted 44 public officials and religious leaders, pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court.
Cammarano was elected mayor last June, was sworn in on July 1, and three weeks later was among those rounded up by the FBI for allegedly taking bribes from a government informant posing as a developer, under the guise of accepting campaign donations. Cammarano, 32, was charged with taking $25,000.
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Police arrest made in incident at school board forum
Hoboken police made an arrest last week on a warrant issued for Lane Bajardi, a local politically involved Hoboken resident. The arrest came after Bajardi was accused of allegedly assaulting a local blogger at a Board of Education forum a week and a half ago. However, police noted that the arrest was based largely on the alleged victim’s testimony, with minimal investigation, and that it will have to be heard in court.
Bajardi was charged with robbery because he allegedly took the victim/blogger’s camera during the forum. Police said that the charge is likely to be downgraded to a disorderly persons offense.
Bajardi frequently is one of the few critics of the new administration of Mayor Dawn Zimmer at council meetings, and is said to be a strong supporter of Zimmer’s political foe, Councilwoman Beth Mason.
Bajardi has, for some time, been part of the political back-and-forth in Hoboken’s heated politics. Recently, Bajardi has been a target of his political opponents’ ire, and a picture of Bajardi’s head was put onto a graphic on another blog deriding him. That blog is not the blog written by the alleged victim in the school board incident. However, the victim did post a blog entry against Bajardi last November saying, “You have become completely tactless, obnoxious, overbearing and rude in your personal attacks on the acting mayor in the City Council and it’s absolutely disgraceful.”
The victim/blogger has said that the incident took place in front of several witnesses, two of whom have anonymously corroborated parts of his story to the Reporter.
The police put out a press release saying: “The complainant is a 46-year-old Hoboken resident who alleged that on April 12, 2010 while attending a Hoboken Board of Education candidate’s forum at Stevens College, Mr. Bajardi [allegedly] knocked him to the ground, assaulted him, and took his digital camera. The victim further stated he had to follow Mr. Bajardi to obtain his camera back before Mr. Bajardi [allegedly] destroyed it. Based on the statement provided, Mr. Bajardi was charged with robbery.”
Det. Lt. Mark Competello said: “This is not your typical prototype robbery, however the facts as provided by the victim do sustain the charge initially. The decision to upgrade or downgrade a criminal charge rests with the Hudson County prosecutor … and I presume the charge will ultimately be downgraded to a disorderly person offense and be adjudicated in municipal court. There was no investigation by Hoboken police pertaining to this incident; the charge was produced upon information and belief of the [victim]. In incidents of this nature police intervention is minimal and both parties’ versions of the incident are heard in court, where a judge will ultimately decide the outcome. It must be noted that Mr. Bajardi is to be afforded the presumption of innocence, until such time this matter is adjudicated in court.”
Hoboken to open ‘storefront’ art exhibit
On Friday, April 23, at 5 p.m., hob’art cooperative gallery will inaugurate its first empty storefront temporary exhibition, entitled “Art Works,” at 716 Washington St., Hoboken. Council President Peter Cunningham is arranging a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the occasion and to honor the determination of hob’art President Liz Cohen and Public Relations Director Roslyn Rose, to make this a reality. Mayor Dawn Zimmer, County Freeholder Anthony Romano, Councilman Dave Mello, and Cultural Affairs Supervisor Geri Fallo are also expected to attend.
Spurred on by a New York Times article describing the luring of artists to empty storefronts, Cohen and Rose pursued the idea for months before meeting with the owner of 716 Washington St., Barbara Tulko, who opened the store to hob’art artists. “Art Works” was taken as the title for this show in honor of Rocco Landesman, the new Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts. Landesman has stated that art works to attract people and eventually jobs. He has started a pilot program, Our Town, to support local arts districts.
The hob’art artists invited to exhibit in this first show are board members of the gallery. It is a way of thanking the board for the hard work and dedication they have devoted to furthering the mission of the group.
JC cops angry after council votes down fire, police contracts
Jersey City police officers who showed up at last week’s City Council meeting left in disgust before it ended after the council voted to not approve contracts for police and fire officers.
The council voted 8-1 against both contracts with Mariano Vega being the sole council member to vote for both of them, saying the raises stipulated in the contracts were already considered during the negotiation process.
The police and and fire contracts both offer 3 percent retroactive raises for 2009, 3.3 percent in 2010, 3.4 percent in 2011, and 3.5 percent in 2012. The contracts also called for police and fire to go into a new health plan that would have them contribute more for health care than in their previous plan, which was estimated to save millions for the city.
Before the vote, police officers and a representative for the fire officers addressed the council to encourage them to vote for the contracts.
Fred DiMase of the Jersey City Police Officers’ Benevolent Association told the council that voting down the contract would be “historic.” Joseph Krajnik, president of the firefighters union, tried to harangue the council members into approval by raising his voice during his address.
“This contract is a deal for you, the taxpayers, because we gave up what I swore I would never give up and that’s the traditional plan, and you take it so lightly that we did nothing,” Krajnik said.
But their attempts at persuasion failed as the majority of the council voted otherwise, citing unpaid furloughs and layoffs for civilian union employees, and the city’s going through a budget crisis.
Councilman David Donnelly stated his case against approving the contract, but said it was a tough decision due to several fire and police officers were personal friends of his.
“In any other year this contract would be a no-brainer to vote on, it really would, but these are difficult times.” Donnelly said.
Police officers started expressing their displeasure as the council voted no, with one cop, later identified as Det. Mark Razzoli, yelling at Councilwoman Viola Richardson after her vote.
Razzoli then brought up the issue of Richardson — a former Jersey City police officer — collecting disability from the department and having two jobs in both county government and on the council. Richardson yelled back “Whatever” while Razzoli was escorted out of the council chambers.
As for the contracts, the council and the unions will have to meet in the future to renegotiate. However, if the contracts are not settled by May 22, union members are to contribute 1.5 percent of their salaries toward the cost of health care as stipulated by a law signed earlier this year by Gov. Chris Christie.
Countywide program helps locate missing senior
Hudson County Sheriff Juan Perez announced that his department located a missing senior within hours who had wandered from his home on the morning of April 8, thanks to the county’s “Operation Lifesaver” program.
At approximately 3:15 a.m. that morning, Sheriff’s officers responded to a call from an elderly woman saying that her 83-year-old husband was missing from his home.
The county sheriff’s Operation Lifesaver program then went into effect. A tracking device had already been placed on a person using the service. When the person goes missing, the tracking bracelet is activated and the person is tracked through a GPS-type system.
The missing man was found less than an hour after he disappeared from his home. He was in the parking lot of the White Castle at Newark Avenue and Kennedy Blvd. in Jersey City.
To learn more about Operation Lifesaver, call (201) 915-1300.
Buy a bowl; help the homeless
Students from the Hoboken Charter School and All Saints Episcopal Day School are organizing their annual hunger relief and homelessness awareness day, Empty Bowls, on Saturday, April 24. Monies and food raised by students and their families from both schools on and before that date will benefit the Hoboken Homeless Shelter, St. Matthew’s Lunchtime Ministry Program, and the “In Jesus Name” Emergency Food Pantry in Hoboken.
On Saturday, April 24, HCS students will host the Empty Bowls luncheon at the Hoboken Shelter, 300 Bloomfield St., at 12 p.m. followed by a brief student program of poetry and music under the direction of arts teachers SK Duff and Sean Gavarny.
HCS students and their families will spend the rest of the afternoon collecting canned and dry goods at various partnering grocery stores around town.
Tickets for the lunch and program are available for sale at The Hoboken Charter School or at the Hoboken Shelter on April 24. Tickets are $10 per person, or $25 per family. In addition to a simple lunch, each person in attendance will receive a handmade bowl made by a Hoboken Charter School student as a reminder that unfortunately somewhere someone’s bowl is always empty.
Also during that day, All Saints will host a breakfast on their premises and will collect donations all morning at local grocery stores.
For more information, contact SK Duff at (201) 707-5431, Cheryl Bonder at (201) 963-3280, or Jill Singleton at (201) 792-0736, ext. 15.
Fundraiser to be held for Autism Awareness
Hudson County Community College’s Beta Alpha Phi chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society will hold a luncheon, “Raise Your Fork Against Autism,” on April 24 from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at 161 Newkirk St. in the College’s Culinary Arts Institute/Conference Center. New Jersey has the highest autism rate in the country.
All proceeds will benefit the nonprofit organization, Autism New Jersey. Founded in 1965, the organization provides several services, awareness building, and community outreach partnerships.
For more information on Beta Alpha Phi’s “Raise Your Fork Against Autism Luncheon” and to secure tickets, please contact the Hudson County Community College Foundation office at (201) 360-4006 or email Dr. Lloyd Kahn at lkahn@hccc.edu.