The reason they (Team Healy) are quite is because in one way of another they have all benefited from the recent corruption in taking cash from developers in return for favorable planning and policy decisions. The contributions of the cash that went to Team Healy?s campaign war chest of money in which helped all of Team Healy get elected.



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There is a significant difference between an elected official and political rival calling for the resignation of fellow sitting elected official whom is only the target of an investigation and not actually yet indicted, and an average constituent calling for the resignation of an elected official.

As a representative of the city and presumed (hopefully) candidate to replace Healy when he is arrested, indicted and convicted, calling for Healy's resignation before charges are made would come across as insincere and self-serving. Of course, that is not to say that the citizens of Jersey City couldn't or shouldn't call for Healy's resignation or begin a recall process.

In my opinion there are many, many reasons why Healy should not be mayor. But it wasn?t the voters who initiated the current wave of arrests; it was a crooked building contractor looking to save his skin and a prosecutor with political ambitions. It?s not like the voters have risen up (yet) in outrage and indignation and voted them out in a tsunami of reform.

And yes it?s true, JC pols live on a slippery slope of corruption and ethical ambiguity. Some take the slide more readily than others, and there?s no shortage of predators ready to give you a little push or pull. I think at least some JC voters, in the quiet place at the back of their minds, ask themselves what they would do in that position and shudder...

And you usually don?t get to be Mayor of JC without some heavy-duty friends covering your ass up and down the political food chain, in the press, in the business community, in the courts. So I won?t hold my breath waiting for Healy to be indicted before supporting his ouster.

Criminal indictments come and go. The real crimes here are moral and ethical ones for which there is no court but that of conscience, reason, and the ballot box. Healy and his jailbird team should have been long gone by now were it not for the historic and oft cited ?culture of corruption? that nurtured them, and the denial, complacency and cynicism that dominates politics in this town. Team Healy profit from that corruption on a daily basis in ways great and small and so with our tacit acceptance, bit by bit corrupt us as well.

We should not be looking to the courts to clean up our mess for us. The solution is with us. Enough is enough.

It was amazing to see the Council on Monday do absolutely nothing. Except for the Councilman for Ward E (and Councilwoman from Ward F who wasn't there) it was business as usual. The same contempt for any kind of change. When it was proposed that the balance of the remaining summer meetings be moved to the evening so that public has an opportunity to participate, it was rebuffed.

One would think that a parade of city employees, elected and appointed officials being hauled off in handcuffs would have been enough to acknowlege that there is something deeply wrong with the way our city does business. Its disappointing and yes, completely enraging.

Everyone tangled in this mess still has the ability to do the right thing for city and put their self interests aside. Its the council's obligation to do what ever it takes to restore the public's trust and remove any obstacles to the city's ability to function.

It's rather simple. Has Healy been charged with anything? No.

Has he come out and denounce those who work for or with him whom have been charged? Absolutely not.

Now ask yourself, why is that? The Governor, right down to the Hudson county exec DeGise to Councilman Fulop have all been outspoken on the issue. One has to be a fool or have their head buried in the sand as to why the Mayor and the remaining Jersey City Council members have been so quiet about such an important issue.

City Hall. 280 Grove Street.

where is the meeting this morning?

Steve - I think you said it best when you commented for the Shame On You video on Willie Flood:

""I spoke at length to Arnold Diaz about not just Willie Flood but also the way government runs around here, which is hurting the taxpayers," Fulop said. "As I commented in the interview, if the citizens knew what was going on in City Hall, they would be coming here with pitchforks."

and since this scandal is under Corzine's administration as the Governor he too should step down.

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huh. imagine that.

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Not guilty of what? He hasn't been charged with anything.

I don't care if Healy wasn't arrested. it's no brainer that if a Deputy Mayor committed crime, the MAYOR doesn't know about it? c'mon, seriously! of course he does. it's like saying if the Vice President of the US committed a crime in office the President wouldn't know?!!?!?!?!? laughable.

Healy must go!

Under the heading of "everything has it's consequences" the political consultant Jack Shaw who was at the Center of this story was found dead tonight.

Jack was a gentleman and i am saddened by his death.

Steve - once again, you show that you have more class than most people around here. Good on you.




Unfortunately, this mob has already sharpened their pitchforks and lit their torches, so they wont start listening to anyone else's opinion now...

Steve don't look so deep into the hearts and minds of these corrupt and inept people. They are shallow and an easy read.

Good point, Bogart. I understand Councilman Fulop's position and need for diplomacy.

However, even if it turns out that Healy himself did not break the law, one thing for sure is he gave his tacit approval for others to do so. like his Deputy Mayor to collect envelopes of cash on his behalf.

Mayor Healy also strongly shot down Councilman Fulop's pay-to-play and one-city-employee salary initiatives. The only rational reason for doing so is to preserve the culture of corruption that continues under his administration. The Mayor has not proposed a single anti-corruption or improved government transparency during his administration.

Additionally, while the Governor is calling for those elected officials whom have been convicted to resign immediately, Mayor Healy thinks it is quite acceptable for Councilman Vega to continue to sit on the City Council. Likewise he has not made any comment (to my knowledge) about his Deputy Mayor. Contrast that with Corzine whom had no trouble dismissing Joe Doria.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy, aka 'Jersey City Public Official 4' has a complete lack of probity. He should do the right thing and step down. He's lost the trust , confidence and good will of the city electorate. Even if found not guilty, his term in office will be ineffectual.

Thanks, sort of.

I don't think it's too much to ask that a statement from my council member about his position on what he calls of the most important resolutions the council has voted on might include some reference to what the resolution is, without requiring the reader to "fgi" or associate it with a press release from four days ago.

Seems pretty obvious to me that any hope of "team Healy" voting in favor of Fulop's resolution would evaporate if he called for Healy himself to resign.

JFGI, Bogart.

Or reat this thread

Can someone please explain what resolution he is talking about?

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+1.

I appreciate Steve's comments and honest and fair approach to this. The truth shall prevail!

I do agree with Steve. Due process. Although I did not vote for the Healy team I am not running down to the city hall with torches and axes.

If Mr Vega's arrest impedes his leadership then he should step down. Now I do not condone any of this behavior.

It was a tough election. People such as myself wanted new blood. We have to now let the results run it's course. There are ways to change our local government in a more positive fashion.

Good luck to all who attend. I hope it will put some of your feeling at ease. Some of you will be mad as hell and I respect that as well. I mean this is the most sincere manner.

This is why we vote. We did have a low turnout though. Maybe this will entice more to get involved in the voting process. If that is the case then this madness has turned into something positive.

With you or without you, we are kicking that fat, drunk, corrupt bastard out of office.

You expressed your true feelings and I commend you for posting this.

Apologies for the long post - I just wanted to share with you my thoughts that I will voice tomorrow at the council meeting as I recognize many of you cannot attend.

I haven?t called for Mayor Healy?s resignation for the reason that while I know it would be politically expedient to do so, and that I probably could benefit from putting pressure on the Mayor personally more than most others in the city, and although many supporters have encouraged the pressure for a resignation, I sincerely feel it is not the fair, reasonable, or just thing to do.

While this past week is certainly shameful for the city the reality is that if we put personal feelings aside about Mayor Healy, he hasn?t been arrested. The fair thing is to respect the authorities that have more facts than any of us to date of whom chose not to arrest him. If new information were to arise that changes this, I will be the first to point out that he needs to go, but today I feel it is not fair to do. The reality is that none of these issues are simple despite what we see or read. While you give people the benefit of the doubt that have been close to you that they act always in a positive way, in reality we all know that all of us are flawed, and we never know what all people do all of the time around us. The same can apply to Mayor Healy. I would hope mistakes don?t happen in the way that many are accused, but certainly none of us are perfect. Politics aside, I know personally from Manzo, King, Vega, and even my opponent Catrillo, that often decent people make horrible choices. For Healy, while I am uncomfortable with the situation being so close to him, there is a process to follow and I respect the process since he hasn?t been arrested.

I don?t want to get lost in this post the message that I read with regards the ENTIRE ?Team Healy? and who should be ?thrown out?. I myself am a believer that there are no issues that have happened to any of the people involved in last week?s incident that can be defined in clear black or clear white as it relates to their past actions. There isn?t one person there who is pure evil but there are many people who potentially did a very immoral act in violation of the trust that they were given and should be penalized. Although, I didn?t run on their ticket, I share with many the knowledge of much of the good that those people have done in the past for the city.

For example, almost every single one of us that sit on the council (myself included) supported Louis Manzo when he ran for Assemblyman on the democratic ticket. Both elected and residents supported him (15k people many of which are reading this) because we thought the same that they thought in Trenton, that Assemblyman Manzo had a legislative track record that was strong. I will be the first to write Manzo?s character issues as defined today by last week are not so simply defined. Furthermore, when I look back, I believed and even contributed to Jim King because I knew that his civic association always put senior citizens first. My senior citizen constituent?s downtown would say that ?nobody treats seniors like Jim King?. However, in the end, if, what he is accused of doing is accurate - it is reprehensible and shameful beyond doubt to which I can?t explain the disconnect I feel towards him. In any event it is not simple to define. It is no different than Mariano Vega that shouldn?t be defined as a pure horrible individual by this resolution or the revelation this past week. The reality is that one can point to countless good deeds for this city over the past 20 years that he has done. However in the case that these allegations are true there should be severe actions that should be taken. My point is that none of these people should be painted with a clearly defined brush today that they are just terrible people at their core ? they should be penalized if true but there is a process to follow.

In the resolution tomorrow, the assumption as worded for Mariano Vega is innocence. That is what we would all want. The reality though is that while assumption of innocence is the standard in our personal lives the same standard does not apply to a role that is based on the public trust such as elected office. It is for this reason that we are asking for his resignation as he is the only elected official that was arrested. This resolution is amongst the most important that the council has voted on. It is neither political, nor grandstanding but rather the beginning of the process to hopefully eliminate some of your doubts as the government tries to move forward voting on issues that matter to you.

I hope that is helpful and much of this will be conveyed at the meeting
Sincerely
Steve