from tomorrow's nyt - today some great ideas how to show our support for healy. July 26, 2009 Hoboken Mayor?s Fall From Reformer to Defendant By NATE SCHWEBER HOBOKEN, N.J. ? No one seemed to be home in the town house of Mayor Peter Cammarano III on Saturday as about 100 protesters chanted for him to step down. One of the demonstrators put a huge mock check on Mr. Cammarano?s front door and in the memo line wrote in big letters, ?To resign.?/ While Mr. Cammarano, one of several New Jersey public officials arrested in a sweeping federal corruption case last week, vowed the day after the arrests that he would do no such thing and denied all charges, the scene outside his home seemed to show how carefully cultivated political ambitions that began in childhood had been suddenly turned into the stuff of a vaudeville skit. As the city?s youngest mayor, and in office for less than a month, Mr. Cammarano had campaigned as a reformer and had aspirations that seemed to extend well beyond the boundaries of his small city. But some here see his arrest on charges of accepting $25,000 in bribes as another example of how his public persona is at odds with the facts of his life. ?He ain?t who he says he is; that?s the bottom line,? said Tom Bertoli, a political operative who has run several campaigns in Hudson County. Born in Wayne, N.J., Mr. Cammarano graduated from Boston University and moved to Hoboken while at Seton Hall University Law School. He joined a law firm, but his heart clearly was in politics. He was the city?s coordinator of the Kerry-Edwards campaign, and two years later was the state legal director in Senator Robert Menendez?s campaign. He was elected to Hoboken?s City Council in 2005. 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. ?His ambition is something you glean from Peter,? said Councilman David Mello, 39, who was sworn in to the Council on the same day as Mr. Cammarano. Mr. Cammarano had integrated himself into Hoboken?s community and seemed to be a devoted family man. He attended St. Ann?s Church each Sunday with his wife, Marita Erbeck, and their daughter, Abigail, said the Rev. Thomas A. Crangle, the church?s pastor. On Wednesday, his 32nd birthday, Mr. Cammarano volunteered at the parish?s annual feast. ?As far as what we know of him, he?s a great man, a great family man, a very faithful man,? Father Crangle said. Yet, in 1996, Mr. Cammarano was sued for failure to pay child support in Passaic County for a daughter he had with a high school girlfriend, who declined to comment for this article. If was not clear how or if the case was resolved, and Mr. Cammarano could not be reached for comment. ?His hidden family troubles were an example of just how little people in Hoboken truly knew about the guy,? said Perry Klaussen, who writes the blog Hoboken411.com. ?Shakespeare wouldn?t write this play because nobody would believe it.? Mr. Cammarano was a regular at the Malibu Diner, an always-open beacon of chrome, neon and over-easy eggs in the northern of this city of about 45,000. According to the criminal complaint against Mr. Cammarano, Michael Schaffer, a close associate, took three payments of $5,000 cash from a government witness, believed to be Solomon Dwek, an F.B.I. informant who was posing as a developer. Prosecutors said Mr. Schaffer, a commissioner on the North Hudson Utilities Authority, took an envelope with $10,000 cash on behalf of Mr. Cammarano in the parking lot of the Malibu Diner. Inside the diner, according to the complaint, Mr. Cammarano told the government?s witness, ?I promise you ... you?re going to be treated like a friend.? Mr. Cammarano?s rise began last year, when Hoboken faced a fiscal and government crisis. Mayor David Roberts and the City Council had failed to pass a budget. As a result, the state mandated a watch on Hoboken?s finances, a distinction that up to that point had been reserved mainly for rough-and-tumble municipalities like Camden, East Orange and Irvington. In the aftermath, Mr. Roberts declined to seek another term. Mr. Cammarano stepped up to run for the vacated seat and, with Mr. Robert?s endorsement, defeated Ms. Zimmer in a squeaker. He promised to curb corruption and quickly set about making a public show of his commitment. The week before his arrest, he issued a statement condemning Hoboken?s housing director, Hector Claveria, who had been arrested on bribery charges in a separate case. ?This administration has a clear-cut, zero-tolerance policy against any violation of the public trust,? Mr. Cammarano said on July 15, calling for Mr. Claveria to resign. In a statement on Saturday night, Gov. Jon S. Corzine, who had earlier called for the resignations of two assemblymen charged last week, said he would consider trying to oust elected officials ?serving under a cloud? if they refuse to leave on their own. ?If no such power exists, he?ll ask the Legislature to devise a law to ensure a public official is removed from office if they are officially charged with a public corruption crime,? the statement said. On Saturday, officials in Lumberton Township, N.J., voted to fire Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt, one of those charged, from his position as township administrator, stripping him of his $90,000 salary. Officials decided to order an independent audit of their own finances, which Mr. Van Pelt supervised in his role as administrator. ?We have no evidence at this time that there?s anything wrong,? Mayor Michael Mansdoerfer said in a telephone interview. ?But we?d rather be safe than sorry.? Mr. Cammarano?s lawyer, Joseph Hayden, said his client, who is out on $100,000 bond, will plead not guilty. Mr. Cammarano went to work early on Friday and met with representatives from city departments, said Bill Campbell, a spokesman for the city. ?It?s business as usual here,? he said. ?It?s like any other day.? Julie Bosman contributed reporting.

yvonne,

i recall having seen in the flurry of news that jk is intending to continue with the lawsuit against nl. what effect his indictment would have on the depositions starting august and the hearings starting october is too early to tell.

certainly, she could cross-file to claim that jk's indictment is prejudicial to the case.

jk's perception in the public's opinion has deteriorated, which may in fact work for her and give her fewer reasons to resign - voluntarily - to avoid potentially negative information recorded during the deposition, which can be used against her in a later election.

of course, nl's side will try to rake as much muck on jk as possible during his deposition. if she hires a lawyer with half a brain, he'd go for as many questions where jk would have to take the fifth as possible.

no doubt, we will witness two political (self) implosions.

o-

and 15 upstanding citizens arrested for extortion. Quote:

i have this odd suspicion that mastique and t_mizu_101 may be closely related to each other. is there anyone else who share this view?

he should be stressed out big time.

July 25, 2009
Corruption Case a Blow to Corzine?s Campaign

By DAVID M. HALBFINGER and DAVID W. CHEN
Reeling from a widespread corruption scandal that has ensnared some of his closest allies, Gov. Jon S. Corzine of New Jersey struggled on Friday to assure his supporters that he can survive the blow and stabilize his campaign.

Mr. Corzine, whom allies described as discouraged and frustrated, saw a member of his cabinet tainted by the investigation and mayors he has befriended being led away in handcuffs.

The governor responded quickly to the scandal by abruptly switching his choice for lieutenant governor this weekend, opting at the last minute for a reform-minded lawmaker, State Senator Loretta Weinberg, as a running mate over a flashier contender with longstanding ties to a politician previously convicted of graft.

Top Democratic lawmakers were even discussing in private the possibility of replacing Mr. Corzine on the ballot this November, and candidates for other offices were talking about breaking publicly with him to maintain their own election viability. Mr. Corzine has trailed his Republican opponent, Christopher J. Christie, in double digits in some recent polls.

With Mayor Cory A. Booker of Newark, who has made no secret of his interest in the governor?s office, waiting in the wings, another potential Democratic candidate emerged on Friday, as Representative Frank Pallone Jr. let it be known he would step in should Mr. Corzine bow out.

Mr. Corzine showed no intention of doing so. He circulated a new testimonial from President Obama calling him ?a bold leader for New Jersey? and reached out to supporters to tell them he was ?in this to stay,? according to one person who received a call.

He rebuffed Democrats like Senator Robert Menendez who urged that he overhaul his campaign team, people briefed on the conversations said. And he forged ahead with plans for a weekend of barnstorming with his new running mate, Ms. Weinberg, whom Mr. Corzine is expected to introduce as his choice for lieutenant governor at 2 p.m. on Saturday at a theater in Englewood.

?We?ll leave the gossip to everyone else,? said Sean Darcy, a spokesman for Mr. Corzine?s re-election campaign. ?We?re looking forward to this race. This thing?s just getting started.?

Indeed, Mayor Booker acknowledged the speculation about Mr. Corzine?s prospects but said he was solidly behind the governor. ?Those of us who are committed to winning this election believe in Jon,? he said in an interview. ?I feel confident he?s going to stay in this race to the end. Leaders in this city, at least, are going to work very hard to see that he?s elected.?

Yet the latest corruption scandal sharply altered the terrain in the governor?s race by putting the focus, at least for now, back on the issue that catapulted Mr. Christie, a former United States attorney, to prominence.

?The debate on Election Day has to be about something other than ethics,? said State Senator Raymond J. Lesniak of Union County, one of the state?s most influential Democrats. ?If it?s about ethics, Corzine loses. Not because Jon Corzine?s weak on ethics, but because it?s Chris Christie?s strength, and now it?s national news.?

Mr. Corzine has run ads for weeks questioning Mr. Christie?s ethics concerning a series of lucrative no-bid contracts he awarded to friends and political allies while he ran the prosecutor?s office. But some Democrats said Friday that Mr. Corzine would now have to find a new line of attack.

After all, his own commissioner of the Department of Community Affairs, Joseph V. Doria Jr., had his home and office searched by the F.B.I. On Thursday, Mr. Corzine said he had asked for and received Mr. Doria?s resignation.

Another important ally, Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy of Jersey City, the state?s second-largest city, acknowledged on Friday that he was the unnamed public official mentioned in several criminal complaints to whom a federal informant gave campaign donations through intermediaries in exchange for anticipated help on real estate projects. He denied any wrongdoing.

Mr. Corzine and Mr. Healy had planned to attend a joint news conference on Friday to hail a gun-control bill passed in June, but the event was canceled after Thursday?s corruption arrests, said Jennifer Morrill, a spokeswoman for Mr. Healy.

Another Democratic mayor, Peter Cammarano III of Hoboken, who took office on July 1 ? and whose swearing-in Mr. Corzine attended ? was charged with accepting $25,000 in cash bribes. And it was a few days ago that Mr. Corzine attended a ribbon-cutting with Anthony Suarez, the mayor of Ridgefield, who was charged with illegally agreeing to take $10,000 in cash for a legal defense fund.

The arrests of Mr. Cammarano, Secaucus?s mayor, Dennis Elwell, and more than a dozen other Hudson County politicians will be a distraction for the local Democratic organization?s vaunted get-out-the-vote machine.

And Mr. Corzine?s standing with urban residents was already ominously low, according to recent polls. Huge margins in urban counties like Hudson are essential to a Democratic win statewide, said Brigid Harrison, a political science professor at Montclair State University. ?Many of the foot soldiers will be missing in action, and there is less incentive for those activists to get out the vote,? she said.

Indeed, Mr. Corzine?s inability to galvanize the Democratic base on his own prompted last week?s visit from President Obama, and it may have helped guide his hand in selecting a running mate.

For days, it had appeared certain that Mr. Corzine would choose State Senator Barbara Buono of Metuchen, an expert on the state budget. But Ms. Buono was a prot?g?e of former Senator John Lynch, whom Mr. Christie sent to jail for taking bribes.

Instead, around noon on Friday, Mr. Corzine offered the job to Ms. Weinberg, a 74-year-old widow from Bergen County who is regarded as one of New Jersey?s most liberal politicians, a longtime champion of the rights of women and gay people and a strong advocate of government transparency.

?To progressive voters all across New Jersey, Governor Corzine?s selection of Loretta Weinberg is like adding a jolt of a million volts,? said Steven Goldstein, a leader of the effort to legalize gay marriage.

Perhaps more important, though, Senator Weinberg took on Joseph A. Ferriero, the former Bergen County Democratic leader, who is awaiting trial on federal corruption charges brought by Mr. Christie. She also has a compelling story that undoubtedly would reverberate with many voters worried about their financial footing: she lost her life savings, she has said, as a victim of Bernard Madoff?s Ponzi scheme.

Reporting was contributed by Kitty Bennett, David W. Chen, Kareem Fahim, William K. Rashbaum, Nate Schweber and Karen Zraick.
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

Quote: this troll is a load of fun. 1. healy has not been charged with anything. he is pretty much up to his eyeballs in this little tsunami, but as far as the feds are concerned he is cleaner than your average syrian rabbi. 2. healy has not been charged with anything. yet, there is a chance that one of his buddies may spill the beans. the weakest link may be beldini. she is in her 70s and any time, even in club fed, would probably shorten her life expectancy signficiantly. the healthcare sucks. the clothes are awful. and the food, only $2.70 a day. only criminals can live like that. at 70, a year cuts your life expectancy by half to two-thirds. she is facing 25 years. anything over 5 years is a death sentence in jail (irrespective of the claims in the madoff case.) having read the indictment, she was the moneyman (moneyperson or moneywoman sounds perilously politically correct, so i stick to moneyman.) she was the campaign treasurer. she should have known - ok must have known or knew - what goes in and what comes out. she should know what the receipts are and what the costs are. and most importantly, she signs the financial disclosure forms. people, i have never seen a cashier smart enough to operate a cash machine who at the end of the day could not tell me, on the last cent, what her net take is. so, my guess is that beldini - realizing what is waiting for her in club fed - has the incentive to sing a nice song to the feds. the only thing that could keep her from taking the fall is the honor code, and healy has clearly stated that he supports her - but not the rest of the gang of 44. if there is a signal that she may be the weak link, and healy is aware of it, there you have a clear indication that he is concerned. as he should be. why would he otherwise do it? am i willing to bet the house on that? no. only with my new friend "t_mizu_101" of course, i do not claim, suggest or insinuate that beldini will sing, i am making the educated guess given the seriousness of the crime that she has been arraigned for, her position in the healy campaign, and other circumstances that there may be a more than theoretical possibility that her incentives prompt her to act in a way that can potentially reveal incriminating evidence that may under certain circumstances become a contributing part of another indictment that might have some direct or indirect relationship to a current mayor. 3. and even if healy get indicted, which may not be a theoretical possibility, the question is how much of circumstancial evidence, if any, can be neutered by a smart attorney. and then, healy can run for governor (or from governor if corzine get re-elected). 4. finally, this is a free country. and in a democracy, the elected should have thicker skins that the mere citizenry, perhaps with the exception of my new best friend, "t_mizu_101". and if healy sues people for expressing their own opinions, will our new friend support healy's legal fund? with money? in unmarked bills? buddy, i drink to you

shakatah ---
couple of points

Quote:

healy did support beldini(sp?). called her a friend which will not change. she may be the fallguy (ok woman), but healy came out and supported her. but not anyone else.

Quote:

you don't have to look further than philly or dc to find corroborating evidence countering your statement. a political machine is like the mafia, you swear allegiance to it and you do not break its secret oath of silence. and in jersey city and hudson county politics omerta seems to be the same. you don't spill the beans, unless you are willing to take the bullet (even if its proverbial).


a recall can only work if there is a substantial cooperation among people who want change - and not only talk about change. talk is cheap. (and i admit, i love to talk). but, being an armchair revolutionary is just so college. http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/brl/1136233554.html

if there is an interest in thinking through what can be done, what the priorities could be, i am game.

and for entertainment purposes ... http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001 ... 04574308394035238188.html

well, i always thought that healy is the supreme leader. he has pull on the tax board with a lot of other agencies whose decisions can in fact make your life quite intolerable. so...

i see your point. what you are suggesting is one of the many forms community activism can take. my point is that while worthwhile, it may not work.

Quote:

answer - yes. because, you never know who will be your next bff. and if the dead silence from city hall re the nidia lopez-scandal fails to convince you that there is the "great wall of machine politics silence", what will?

Quote:
not quite. there is a slight difference between the ethical standards of the former head of goldie sex, who coincidentally also was a senator and is now the governor, vs. your average machine manufactured jersey city political rubber stamp.

Quote:

we both agree on the principle, but not on the details. part of democracy is to agree to disagree ....

when we moved to jc, we actually looked at the mandalay, and decided against it because of the relatively shoddy condition of the apartment we were shown. even though it was explained to us that everything can be tailored to our wants, we felt that we would be overpaying as mandalay is a condo conversion. as such, lot of the amenities and infrastructure reflect a more shortsighted perspective than an original condo building would have had.

the other reason i would strongly counsel against the mandalay is crystal pointe, which from my perspective, has destroyed the views from mandalay.

does not seem to be working in iran ....

seriously, i have yet to see a pol resign because the voters want it. having a couple of hundred demonstrating outside city hall for a couple of days gets great news coverage probably for a few hours (if they are lucky). soon the demonstrators are forgotten, but the pols remain.

this is the beauty of elected office - once you are in, you have to really screw up and p*ss off the electorate. and as cammarano said .... he won't lose even when he is indicted, since he has 80-85% of a core voting block "blocked-off".

no, neither recall nor demonstrations may be the solution, but community activism is.

Quote:

these are the relevant parts of the nj statues...

finding information on recall election or elections in nj is not easy ...

1. recall election
--------------------------
the relevant law is the Uniform Recall Election Law, Chapter 105, Laws of 1995 (N.J.S.A. 19-:27A-1 et seq.), and the law can be accessed
http://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2008/Bills/A4000/3621_I1.HTM

the relevant section, 19:27A-5. Recall petition; signatures required, states
"5. A recall petition demanding that an election be held for the purpose of deciding whether an elected official shall be recalled from office shall be signed by a number of registered voters of the jurisdiction of the official sought to be recalled equal to at least 25% of the persons registered to vote in that jurisdiction on the date of the general election preceding the date on which the sponsors of the petition file a notice of intention pursuant to section 6 of this act. A recall petition shall be filed with the appropriate recall election official. No recall petition shall demand the holding of an election to recall more than one elected official. "

2. the number of registered voters in jc
---------------------------------------------------
in 2008, there were 139,158 registered voters in jc.
http://www.hudsoncountyclerk.org/elec ... owns_GEN2008_20081117.pdf

so in 160 days, 25% of the registered voters in jersey city have to sign the petition to recall. So, one needs to have roughly 35,000+ signatures.

let's do the math ... 35,000/160 = 219 signatures per day for 160 days ... and considering a 10% spillage, cheating, and all other contingencies, one would need only 240 signatures a day.

what can i say?

3. additional information
--------------------------------
there is information at
http://www.joemustgo.net/Assets/elect ... truction-sheet-123108.pdf

the memo states "SIGNATURE COLLECTION EFFORT (19:27A-5) Upon approval of the petition, the recall committee and registered voters in the jurisdiction of the recall election may solicit signatures of other registered voters in that jurisdiction. Specific requirements on the method of soliciting signatures are listed in the law. The recall effort is limited to 320 days for a Governor or 160 days for other elected officials from the date of the notice of intention. The petition requires the signatures of 25 % of the registered voters in the jurisdiction, as of the last general election."

---- happy recalling.

Quote:

JC official 4 = Healy

starts on page 3
http://online.wsj.com/public/resource ... 23-beldinicheatamshaw.pdf

From the Cammarano complaint:

Defendant Cammarano assured the CW [cooperating witness] that ?[y]ou can put your faith in me.? Cammarano assured the CW that ?I promise you . . . you?re gonna be, you?re gonna be treated like a friend.? [I]f the CW was to ?come over here, you know, and I wanna do, eh, I need a zone change, I need something, I wanna make sure that I, you know, you, you?re my man.

From the complaint naming Guy Catrillo, a Jersey City politician:

On or about April 27, 2009, at approximately 5:46 p.m., FBI agents intercepted an incoming call from defendant CATRILLO to the Consultant?s cell phone. During the conversation, the Consultant asked defendant CATRILLO, ?Did you get the money from [the CW] when we saw him the other day [April 23rd]?? Defendant CATRILLO replied, ?Yeah, I, I took care of that. Yeah.? The Consultant responded, ?Okay, good. Then I won?t push to get it.? Defendant CATRILLO then indicated that he had already put the cash to use, noting that ?[y]eah, so, you know, that?s, that?s going out to, uh, you know, to the streets.?

From the complaint naming Mariano Vega, a Jersey City councilman:

On or about March 5, 2009, at a restaurant in Jersey City, defendant Vega met with JC Official 2 and the CW. Before defendant Vega arrived, JC Official 2 advised the CW that the CW could discuss with defendant Vega the development projects that the CW purportedly was interested in doing in Jersey City. The CW inquired of JC Official 2 if defendant Vega would accept cash for his official assistance, to which JC Official 2 responded that the CW could probably give defendant Vega a check (for a political contribution) and that defendant Vega would be ?on
board? with that.

From the complaint naming Rosenbaum (kidney trafficking):

The CW then inquired about the price for purchasing a kidney from a paid donor to which defendant ROSENBAUM responded ?[t]he price with what we are asking here is a hundred fifty thousand dollars.? When the CW reminded defendant ROSENBAUM that an earlier recipient known to the CW (?Recipient 1″) had been charged only one hundred forty-thousand dollars, defendant ROSENBAUM laughed, and quipped ?I knew it?s coming.? Defendant ROSENBAUM also indicated that half of the total price would have to be paid up front while ?the rest of it is?-when I get the donor in the hospital, check them out. . . .?

From the complaint naming Kassin (money laundering):

On or about June 27, 2007, Coconspirator Nahum met with the CW in Coconspirator Nahum?s office in Deal. During the ensuing conversation, Coconspirator Nahum provided the CW with a check in the amount of $9,000 drawn upon the account of defendant KASSIN?s Charitable Organization and made out, per the CW?s request, to COE, a charitable organization operated by Ben Haim. After Coconspirator Nahum indicated that defendant KASSIN was ?big,? the CW asked ?so if I have like, uh, you know, fifty thousand a month for the next three months, he can handle it, no problem?? Coconspirator Nahum responded that defendant KASSIN would be able to do so. The CW then asked Coconspirator Nahum ?[i]f I give it to you, he?ll do it right away?? Coconspirator Nahum replied ?[y]eah, sure.? The CW then asked, by way of clarification, ?[t]hat?s what he does?? Coconspirator Nahum responded simply, ?[y]eah, that?s what he does.? Coconspirator Nahum also confirmed that defendant KASSIN charged a percentage for each of these deals.

Other complaints can be found by clicking on each individual?s name: Moshe Altman; Charlie Ammon; Leona Beldini, Edward Cheatham and Jack Shaw; Joseph Cardwell; Joseph Castagna, Michael J. Manzo, Denis Jaslow; Itzak Friedlander; Richard Greene and L. Harvey Smith; John Guarini; Shimon Haber; Maher A. Khalil; James P. King; Louis and Ronald Manzo; Anthony Suarez and Vincent Tabbachino; Daniel Van Pelt; Lavern Webb-Washington; Jeffrey Williamson; Eliahu Ben Haim; Schmulik Cohen; Levi Deutch and Binyomin Spira; Yeshayahu Ehrental; Mordechai Fish, Lavel Schwartz and Yolie Gertner; Edmund Nahum; Abe Pollock and Naftoly Weber; Arye Weiss.

http://www.politickernj.com/max/31667 ... says-reform-would-be-easy


NEWARK - Standing in front of reporters today at the Peter Rodino Federal Building, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra said incidents like today's massive-scale corruption takedown of elected and public officials could be avoided if there were a more aggressive political will.

"There are easily reforms that could be made that would make our job easier," said Marra. "But the few people who want to change it seem to get shouted down."

New Jersey's top cop, successor to GOP gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie, confirmed Special Agent Weysan Dun's statement about the investigation going back ten years.

"The case spans Mr. Christie's tenure and now runs into my tenure," said Marra.

Max Pizarro is a PolitickerNJ.com Reporter and can be reached via email at max@politicsnj.com.

Quote:

this was an investigation that christie started and he also put a few guys into the slammer. certainly, this will aid him against corzine.

what really blows my mind is how healy with $3m for the re-election, spending left right and center, hobnobbing with corzine, bloomberg, and 'bam could get by this.... is this guy a machiavellian genius, a lucky bastard, or a front? g*d knows.

Quote:

the CW is solomon dwek

from wsj.com ...

"Solomon Dwek was arrested on bank-fraud charges in 2006 and was forced to seek bankruptcy protection for himself and his companies, which owned about 300 residential and commercial properties. Mr. Dwek, 36 years old, a religious-school head and philanthropist from Ocean Township, was charged with defrauding PNC Bank out of $25 million. Mr. Dwek remained free on a $10 million bond. A lawyer for Mr. Dwek couldn't be reached for comment.

To ensnare most of the defendants, the Federal Bureau of Investigation used Mr. Dwek to attempt to bribe numerous public officials in New Jersey, including Hoboken and Jersey City, according to a person familiar with the matter. The probe roped in several other real-estate developers who also wanted to bribe officials. The criminal complaints unsealed Thursday referenced an unnamed "cooperating witness" who represented himself as a real-estate developer seeking to pay bribes. A person familiar with the matter said Mr. Dwek is the witness."

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124835404608875685.html

Quote:

one of these criminals will soon sing a nice little song. if you are facing 25 years in a nice cushy penitentiary, you will soon find your lovely and sweat voice to implicate ....

one of the guys was saying that this has been going on for 10 years. so others will fall too.

now, the question is what will happen with the nidia lopez case, now that jimmy is behind bars?

http://www.politickernj.com/matt-frie ... r-chance-council-arrested

According to a federal complaint, a cooperating witness was introduced to King by two unnamed people ? a consultant and Jersey City official involved with the Housing Authority and school board. They allegedly agreed to accept $5,000 on behalf of king for help with zoning changes for a Garfield Avenue property if he was elected to the council.

The consultant, according to the complaint, told the coorperating witness at a later meeting: ?[o]ne thing about Jimmy, even if he?s the only vote on the council, he?ll vote for your projects.?

A release issues this afternoon details the charges:

-- Peter Cammarano III, the newly elected mayor of Hoboken and an attorney, charged with
accepting $25,000 in cash bribes, including $10,000 last Thursday, from an undercover
cooperating witness.

-- L. Harvey Smith, a New Jersey Assemblyman and recent mayoral candidate in Jersey
City, charged along with an aide of taking $15,000 in bribes to help get approvals from
high-level state agency officials for building projects.

-- Daniel Van Pelt, a New Jersey Assemblyman, charged with accepting a $10,000 bribe.

-- Dennis Elwell, mayor of Secaucus, charged with taking a $10,000 cash bribe.

-- Anthony Suarez, mayor of Ridgefield and an attorney, charged with agreeing to accept a
$10,000 corrupt cash payment for his legal defense fund.

-- Louis Manzo, the recent unsuccessful challenger in the Jersey City mayoral election and
former state Assemblyman, and his brother and political advisor Robert Manzo, both with
taking $27,500 in corrupt cash payments for use in Louis Manzo's campaign.

-- Leona Beldini, the Jersey City deputy mayor and a campaign treasurer, charged with
taking $20,000 in conduit campaign contributions and other self-dealing in her official
capacity.

-- Eliahu Ben Haim, of Long Branch, N.J., the principal rabbi of a synagogue in Deal, N.J.,
charged with money laundering of proceeds derived from criminal activity.

-- Saul Kassin, of Brooklyn, N.Y., the chief rabbi of a synagogue in Brooklyn, New York,
charged with money laundering of proceeds derived from criminal activity.

-- Edmund Nahum, of Deal, N.J., the principal rabbi of a synagogue in Deal, charged with
money laundering of proceeds derived from criminal activity.

reassessment post transaction is quite common, particularly when the new price is considerably higher then either the previous price or the prevailing price in the neighbourhood.

if you are considering the purchase of a manse (i.e, in excess of 1mil), you are likely to invite some reassessment, but it seems to be occurring even at prices below that threshold.

L. HARVEY SMITH Indictment
http://jerseycityindependent.com/files/smithfeds.pdf


Louis Manzo Indictment
http://jerseycityindependent.com/files/manzofeds.pdf

Jimmy King, Harvey Smith arrested in FBI sweep of public officials
by The Jersey Journal
Thursday July 23, 2009, 10:52 AM


The list of Hudson County officials ensnared in the statewide corruption roundup just keeps growing.

The names of all the people arrested this morning will be released at a news conference in Newark at noon, but sources tell The Jersey Journal that former Jersey City Ward C City Council candidate Jimmy King is on the list King has filed a lawsuit to have Councilwoman Nidia Lopez removed from office.

Sources say the list also includes former Ward E City Council candidate Guy Catrillo, who lost to incumbent Steve Fulop in the May election. Catrillo, who ran on Mayor Jerramiah Healy's ticket, currently works in the Mayor's Action Bureau. Also on the list is L. Harvey Smith, the former state legislator who was defeated in the mayoral race in May, and LaVern Webb Washington, another city council candidate who ran lost in the May election.

Joe Cardwell, a political operative who has worked with state Sen. Sandra Bolden Cunningham, is also on the list that includes Ron Manzo, Lou Manzo's brother.

more fun

i love the sight of a perpwalk in the morning ....
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009 ... tion_arrests_ensnare.html

just a set of photos
http://photos.nj.com/gallery/4504/New ... on%20corruption%20charges


unbelievable .....

Quote:

i'd love to know at this very moment what our illustrious mayor is thinking. what i have not seen is any developers being arrested, which i would have expected, and not some punk-a$$ illegal organ donor scheme. come'on ... organ donors? that is like so 3rd world .....

if nobody turns on healy, which i doubt, he has some impressive clout that man. but if someone does, which given the integrity and the ethical behavior of the arrested pols is an objective fact, my god; we'll see a political massacre - self-implosion - here.

so i see dan levin or steve fulop for mayor after a special election ....

on a related note, the indictment of cammarano (sp?) is a lovely read
http://blog.nj.com/ledgerupdates_impa ... or-Cammarano-Schaffer.pdf

this is just getting better ....

The suspects are scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Newark later today. Those arrested include Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, Secaucus Mayor Denis Elwell and Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Baldini, and Jersey City Council President Mario Vega.


Council President Mariano Vega, Jr. --- corrupt
Ward C (Journal Square) Councilwoman Nidia Lopez ---> lives in florida????

supposedly, the jcfd chief is in custody too.

no, we are not corrupt ... this is jersey. we just live here ....

From WSJ http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001 ... 04574290151758305342.html

Using the Rout in Housing to Lower Taxes

New Tools Help Owners Get Reduced Valuations; Saving Big in New Jersey

By M.P. MCQUEEN

Kim Davidson lives in Bonita, Calif., a San Diego suburb hit hard by tumbling property values. Earlier this year, she made the best of a bad situation and appealed her tax assessment. The county reduced her annual tax bill by more than $1,000 to $3,500.

?I did the whole thing online and walked [my application] down to the mailbox, and a month and a half later, I learned I saved all that money,? says Ms. Davidson, a 44-year-old account manager for a business consulting firm, who purchased the home last year. ?It was incredible.?

View Full Image

Kim Davidson
Kim Davidson?s correspondence with local tax officials. She cut more than $1,000 from her annual bill.
Tens of thousands of homeowners across the country are trying to wring something positive from an epic real-estate crash. In Cuyahoga County, Ohio, which includes Cleveland, hit hard by rising unemployment and foreclosures, nearly 23,000 property owners applied for property-tax reductions this year, up from an annual average of 1,700. Appeals in California?s Sacramento County soared to 12,000 in 2008 from a typical rate of 1,800 a year earlier.

The number of property owners seeking a tax reduction in Clark County, Nevada, which includes Las Vegas, soared to 6,000 this year from about 1,000 annually in recent years. About three-quarters of those who filed appeals succeeded in having their valuations lowered, most by 30% to 40%, county officials say. The county already had reduced valuations across the board for the vast majority of its residential property owners, says Michele Shafe, assistant director of the Clark County Assessor?s office. She said staffers had to work overtime and Saturdays to keep up with demand for reassessments.

Many of the Nevada appeals came from homeowners in recent developments. ?That is where people were paying $400,000 for homes that are now worth maybe $150,000,? Ms. Shafe says.

Many homes nationwide were last appraised prior to the housing crash and are valued for tax purposes at levels higher than today?s home prices. ?If you have a three-year period between assessments and the last one was in 2007, your assessment is still at the top of the market,? says Jacqueline Byers, director of research for the National Association of Counties in Washington, D.C.

Homeowners who want to appeal their assessment in many cases can handle the process themselves, although it?s important to be prepared before going in front of an appeals board, tax experts say. People who want help can hire a property-tax consultant or attorney, but should expect to pay a fee, often 25% to 50% of the amount saved in the first year. And enlisting the service of a real-estate appraiser can cost up to several hundred dollars.

There are also a growing number of local and national online services that use automated property-valuation models to help consumers determine whether they may be able to reduce their property taxes. Initial evaluations are often free at these sites, which include EasyTaxFix.com and LowerMyAssessment.com. For a fee of $50 to $100, users can obtain forms with data already filled in and instructions on how to appeal, and a list of recent sales of comparable properties. Ms. Davidson of Bonita used EasyTaxFix.com to help with her appeal.

Such online services may be able to give you a convenient ballpark estimate of whether your home is overassessed. Tax officials say these sites? results can be supplemented with information from other sources, such as local real-estate agents. Government tax officials also warn that scam artists have been trolling developments in California and elsewhere touting phony property-tax reduction services in direct mailings.

Bringing Home the Bacon

More consumers are appealing their property taxes as home values fall. Here are some tips:

Move fast. You have a limited time to appeal after getting your tax notice.
Check first for errors in property records.
Deliver solid evidence in making your case, including comparable property values.
Nick Osnato, a real-estate appraiser in Egg Harbor Township, N.J., says he conducted his own appeal in March and succeeded in getting his tax assessment lowered by $30,000, saving him about $150 a month in property taxes.

?I looked for sales of homes that were the same size as mine, with the same lot, but that had a lower assessment. That?s it,? he says. Mr. Osnato estimates home values in New Jersey are down between 10% and 20% from a year ago, depending on the area.

Winning an appeal mainly requires producing enough evidence to convince the tax assessor or an appeals board that your property assessment is based on inaccurate or outdated information, or is unfairly high compared to similar properties. In some areas, homeowners have as little as two weeks to file a notice of appeal after receiving their tax bill, but 30 to 60 days is more common. That means homeowners have to be ready to scramble when the tax bill comes.

Check on whether you qualify for special property-tax reduction programs such as special exemptions for people age 65 and over. Then, examine property records for inaccuracies, especially square footage. The assessor keeps on file a property record-card that contains your lot number, zoning category, address, sales records, land value and dimensions, as well as significant features as recorded by the town appraiser. Check it closely for errors, including inaccurate descriptions of the property (say, a three-car garage instead of two). Also check whether significant defects like a leaky basement, which could lower the value of the property, are on record. Nowadays, many municipalities put this information online.

While you are at it, check the assessor?s math, particularly with respect to assessment formulas. Some areas use full-market value, replacement value or sales price. Others use a fraction of the market value.

Next, locate three to five comparable properties and check your property against them, making adjustments for differences. Sales data are available from your local government, or a licensed real-estate agent.

?Look for disparities that cannot be explained away, like the age of other properties or better lot configuration, or view. If those things can?t explain why the assessment is so much higher than others, you may have grounds to appeal on equitability,? says Pete Sepp, spokesman for the National Taxpayers Union, an advocacy group.

If you think your property value is unfairly high, your next step is to contact your local assessor. If the property information on record is inaccurate, the assessor may be able to lower your assessment without a formal appeal. But if an appeal before an appeals or equalization board is necessary, you will have to produce evidence to support your complaint. Bring an appraiser?s report, if you have one, and records of comparable sales along with any other supporting documentation, such as photos, a surveyor?s report and contractors? estimates. If your appeal is turned down, additional appeals usually are heard by a state court.

For more information about how to file an appeal, a brochure is available for $6.95 from the National Taxpayers Union at www.ntu.org.

Experts say there are few drawbacks to applying to reduce your tax assessment. However, if you made additions and improvements to your home that were never properly recorded with your town?usually through a building permit?you might not receive a reduction, and could conceivably face an increased assessment.

Robert Chambers, administrator of the Cuyahoga County Board of Revision, which handles appeals in the Cleveland area, says the most common mistake homeowners make is failing to bring enough evidence about the house.

?Most of the time if a person is denied, it is because of lack of evidence,? Mr. Chambers says. ?They say here is a similar bungalow or ranch, but they don?t adjust for age, square footage, etcetera, which is everything that a certified appraiser must do,? he says.

He suggests refraining from using a hearing as a forum to vent your rage at high taxes. ?You are filing a legal affidavit that says the auditor?s value is wrong and I have evidence to show you that,? he says.

Write to M.P. McQueen at MP.McQueen@wsj.com

and hopefully the lack of community involvement will change as the burden of real estate taxes are increasingly shifted to the taxpayers from the developers. i do not think that the city council - due to political and personal financial reasons - would abandon the politics of abatements. the final para of the report indicates more headaches to come "As this report was written, the country was undergoing the most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression. Many firms, including those on Wall Street, are looking to cut costs. This makes Jersey City, with its relatively low real estate costs, even more attractive. In addition, Jersey City has the advantage of access to a high-caliber work force, prime location and first-rate transportation system. Rather than continuing a policy that awards abatements to developers simply because they ask,municipalities should carefully consider whether the abatement will benefit not only the city but also the county and local schools. After all, their taxpayers bear the responsibility for all." I would not be surprised that our misguided city council will continue to offer abatements to major developers building in JC. Once access to credit becomes easier for large scale commercial developers, more condos and offices will be built on the waterfront. The fact is that it is easier to get from Wall Street to JC than to LIC. Squandering away the strategic advantage of JC for peanuts does not take a lot of brains (or legal residence in the city.) I'm just sayin'.... Quote:

when analyzing mortgages, you may want to check out http://www.mtgprofessor.com/

had lunch there today - friday. the location is amazing; the view is one of the better ones on this side of the river.

the place is definitely in the soft opening mode. the menu has two parts, a part that is fusion-tapas and a part that is traditional italian. my food sucked - the chef must have dropped a few pounds of salt in my pasta. the service was ok. i do hope that my experience is either the exception or just typical rough edges that will disappear with time, because south city grill is getting boring and the food there is increasingly uneven.

so on a scale 1 - 5, where 1 is "the place from hell" and 5 is "the most amazing food ever", this is a 3.

Two recent events that made the news ....

--> Councilman Nidia Lopez
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... is_jersey_city_counc.html

---> Our new taxes
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... y_tax_increase_passe.html

These two events comprehensively reflect the quality, capability, leadership and integrity of our elected officials.

People --- we actually elected these airheads ....