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It appears the whole forum is dying

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I'm celebrating Dan!! If this thread died so quickly it must mean that there isn't ANY cronyism and nepotism in JC! What a relief.
I can't wait to tell the tooth fairy.

the "Crony Chronicles" thread is dead.

sorry, Brewster this threads a dying.....

from Sunday's NY Times -

Bribes and Punishment


July 15, 2007
Ideas & Trends
Bribes and Punishment
By NELSON D. SCHWARTZ

TO many Americans, the execution last week of China?s former top food and drug official after he confessed to taking bribes was an extreme reaction by the Beijing government to growing worries about the safety of Chinese exports.

After recalls of everything from toothpaste and tires to pet food and toy trains, China?s leaders decided to make an example of Zheng Xiaoyu, 62, whose punishment came just six weeks after he was found guilty. Indeed, Senator Charles Schumer of New York, a leading critic of China, called it a ?surreal response.?

But several people died from the tainted products. And China is not alone in treating corruption as a capital offense.

For instance, Vietnam occasionally imposes the death penalty. In 2006, the government executed Phung Long That, a former anti-smuggling investigator in Ho Chi Minh City, for accepting bribes and helping to smuggle roughly $70 million worth of goods.

In fact, throughout history, bribery has often been thought of as a crime that could harm the state ? thus worthy of extreme punishment. Severe sanctions for bribe-taking have a long and bloody history. Here are a few examples.
Stripped of Citizenship

STRIPPED OF CITIZENSHIP

Plato said bribe-taking merits ?disgrace? in his ?Laws,? and in ancient Athens, corrupt officials faced the loss of their citizenship and the right to participate in the political institutions of the city-state.

Demosthenes, the great Athenian orator and political leader, was found guilty of accepting bribes in 324 B.C. and was fined 50 talents, equivalent to roughly $20 million in today?s dollars, says Michael Gagarin, a classics professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

Demosthenes, who then went into exile, was comparatively lucky. Other Athenian officials were executed for taking bribes. ?Bribery was taken very seriously and certainly could lead to capital punishment,? Mr. Gagarin says.
A Poke in the Eye

A POKE IN THE EYE

In Byzantium in the 11th century, corrupt officials were blinded and castrated, according to Walter Kaegi, a history professor at the University of Chicago. Besides being blinded and flogged, bribe takers were deported and their assets confiscated. As for castration, Mr. Kaegi says, it tended not to be a statutory punishment but rather the ?result of public outrage.?
Find Religion

FIND RELIGION

In Constantinople under Emperor Justinian, Mr. Kaegi says, John the Cappadocian, who supplied the emperor?s army with tainted food, was publicly flogged and then forced to become an Orthodox priest.

?That was a merciful punishment,? Mr. Kaegi adds.
A Fine and Paying for Meals

A FINE AND PAYING FOR MEALS

Bribe-takers in early America didn?t have to worry about the pillory or whipping-post, classic punishments in Puritan New England. Instead, they faced a choice of jail or paying a fine. Most chose the latter, says David Konig, professor of history and law at Washington University in St. Louis. ?Prison wasn?t any fun then,? says Mr. Konig. ?And you had to pay for your own food.?
The Lenient Approach

THE LENIENT APPROACH

Although the Twelve Tables, an early legal code in the Roman Republic, imposed the death penalty on judges who accepted bribes, enforcement grew lenient after the rise of the Roman Empire. Richard Saller, a history professor at Stanford, says Rome ?had a real problem trying to define what qualified as a bribe and what was a friendship gift. There was a pretty broad range of quid pro quos.?

Emperor Tiberias sought to curb rapacious local governors from extorting tax payments from subjects but still left local officials plenty of room to obtain gratuities. Tiberias said he wanted his ?sheep shorn, not flayed,? meaning that while citizens might have to keep paying, local rulers shouldn?t be excessively greedy when demanding payments.

You would think that the political opponents would have a dossier on each and every person in this current JC administration. The unions definitely have one and use it against them and I'm sure BIG business do the same!

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I plead ignorance Dan! Exactly the kind of ignorance I started this thread to fight. Thanks for the additions.

I'm glad this thread finally took off, I thought it would scroll off into oblivion. While I agree with the point that any experienced pol appoints those he's had experience with, there's another corrupt level for the completely unqualified yet connected, like Michael Brown, of FEMA fame. My memory may be rose tinted, but I recall most of Clintons Arkansas crew were well qualified, at least those in FEMA.

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect professionalism from our public employees, and shining a spotlight on how they got their jobs other than qualifications is blow for good government, which the Lord know we need some of. I have no idea of Mr. Smiths qualifications other than a connected powerful father, but if by compiling a list of similar families that have a high incidence of management level public jobs we can see a pattern emerge, then perhaps conclusions may be drawn.

If our city were perfectly run, maintained and financially fit, this would be a non-issue. It's not and we pay the price for the bunglers who wheel & deal while we stand knee deep in sewage.

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Sure, this happens in the private sector as well. However hiring family members and friends without qualification is not common, especially for a public company.

I share your frustration with this system, but allow me to add some perspective.

The same system is in place on the national level. Remember all of those Bush appointees we've heard so much about over the last six years. All republican organizers and donors or their friends and family members.

As far as I know, the same system is in operation everywhere, but why it seems so much worse in Hudson County I don't know.

Maybe the long-term control of one party.

I think it was Robert Moses, who at the end of the reign of Boss Tweed in NYC, instituted the civil service exam in order that the government offices were filled with people who were qualified to hold their positions and could not be replaced with political appointees after each election.

Nowdays people blame these "career bureaucrats" for all of the inefficiencies of government, complain that there is no incentive for them to improve, and lament the difficulty of firing them.

If I were suddenly (and inexplicably) elected mayor, and found that I had to fill a bunch of jobs in various city departments to keep an eye upon how the money is being spent, I would certainly turn to people that I knew and trusted. I don't find it suprising that everyone else does that, too. It would be nice if all of those appointees were competent; maybe they are, maybe they aren't, but I'm sure not all of them are made in order to bilk the public.

I vote in every election, and I'm eager to hold someone accountable and turn the bums out, but the question is always 'who takes their place'. The choice between the HCDO and the DfHC (or whoever they are) in the last primary might seem significant to those running, but I'll be damned if I can tell the difference.

Some years ago after living in NYC for a long time, I moved to Hoboken. I realized soon after that while the politicians in NY may have been just as petty, uninspired or corrupt, NY was big enough that I didn't have to know them personally.

In Jersey, the reality is more difficult to escape.

There is a link here somewhere that points to nj.com and has a master list of all NJ employees. You could do this work to create a database with salaries. Finding out if people are related could be a bit more difficult.

All these people are government employees which everyone pays for. It should be public information if employees of power are hiring based on relation and not of qualification.

Cronyism and nepotism in Hudson County government ? I'm shocked !!!

Those of us who have lived here for years know this is how our "governmental" system works. Those who hold elected office routinely "request" that their family members and relatives be put on County or City payrolls. This form of patronage is repaid by either working in elections for the HCDO and/or "contributing" (buying tickets to political fundraisers) to the election coffers of government officials.

It's a time honored Jersey City/Hudson County tradition. The only way it will ever end is if good people take a real interest in government and hold their elected officials responsible.

Alas, I doubt I will ever see it happen.

Brewster - you are not being thorough -

Eileen Gaughan, daughter of Councilman Gaughan is also a county employee, . Councilman Gaughan is Chief of Staff to the County Executive.

Please be more thorough.....

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This is very interesting to me. I was wondering if anybody besides me thinks that if a major newspaper, i.e. NYT, took up the issue of cronyism in JC it might generate the right mix of embarrassment and pressure to make someone in NJ State with authority to be forced to act.

I can't imagine that the people with authority at the state level do not know. I feel they are not under any real pressure to do anything.

The cronyism and resulting damage to our city from bad decisions to bad management makes ones heart sink. It is imbedded deep in our city and county. Those involved either do not believe it to be wrong or do not care.

Councilwoman Spinello loudly opposed redevelopment pay to play reform, but neglected to share that her father serves on the Redevelopment Authority. She also is employed at the Incinerator Authority. Both the job and council position are attributed to her father. She opposed her constituents when she supported the rezoning of the PJP Landfill for the high cube truck warehouse in her own ward. Regardless of her abilities to perform her job, some might believe there are conflicts of interest.

The more one gets involved in dealing with local government, the more sickening it gets.

Naming names will not do a thing.

What can you or anyone do. Vote, register friend and neighbors to vote and then get them to do so.

And ? the end of the summer / early fall will see a petition drive to place the Pay to Play Reform ordinance on the ballot as public referendum. Much help will be needed to collect the necessary signatures. Contact me if interested.




I posted this previously -

During the Jersey City municipal elections in 2005, two council candidates, now councilwomen publically demanded jobs for relatives/workers in return for supporting Mayor Healy's campaign for a full term -

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"Richardson said she was contacted by Healy three weeks before the announcement about joining his ticket, but it didn't work out.

"When he asked me, I said that I would definitely think about it, but there were certain conditions that we had to work out beforehand," said Richardson. One of those conditions was that Richardson's son-in-law, an employee of the city's Division of Commerce would be considered for the position of director when former director Lenny Grenier stepped down on Jan. 31. But the position ended up going to another person."

*

"Even Willie Flood, who ran for mayor against Healy in the November special election, was not seen as a surprise candidate when she received Healy's endorsement for an at-large seat at a luncheon last Saturday at the Liberty House Restaurant. Flood previously ran on a ticket fielded by Healy when he was a candidate for mayor in 1997 against incumbent Bret Schundler. Flood said at the luncheon that a deal was made with Healy in the months after the November special election, allowing for her to run on his slate.

"We met, and he asked me if I would run with him," she said. "I agreed, but I wanted to make sure that the young people who worked on my campaign would be offered some kind of employment since they worked for no money." Flood said the employment would either be on a city or county administrative level."

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These quotes are from the Jersey City Reporter article of 2/20/2005-

Announcements for mayor, council seats spur intrigue

What allegations,they either work there or they don't.I think this could be a real fun Thread.

Police chief Comey's wife still runs the biggest security company of off duty cops in Jersey City.

How many family members of Healys chief of staff Carl Cibliki are on the payroll.

Do you have proof of those allegations? I don't know anything about those people, and you may very well be right, but you can get yourself into a lot of trouble naming names like that if you're wrong.

We all know examples of cronyism and nepotism in JC. What do you say to gathering all we know into master list? It could be a real eye opener.

I'll start with 2 I've recently had interactions with:

Eileen Gaughan: Daughter of of councilman Bill Gaughan, appointed Chair of the MUA. Qualifications to run an agency with a budget of tens of millions of dollars? None, reportedly not even a bachelors degree.

Kip Smith, supervisor at JC Incinerator Authority. Son of former councilman Harvey Smith. Response to this complaining citizen: "Your taxes don't pay my salary"

What other gems are out there? The JCPD should be good for half a dozen entries at least.