I dont' know if this was posted before, and I'm not going to check, but I was just watching some vile videos on YouTube featuring Michelle Malkin, and the Worst Person in the World featured was a JC deputy mayor. Sheesh ... you have to be pretty bad to be worse than both Bill O'Reilly and Michelle Malkin. Webmaster Edit: Changed youtube video from link to embedded.

I seem to remember the woman reported this back in oct.
Healy didn't do anything until the JJ ran the story.

Equipado arrested at home

Thursday, February 08, 2007
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The former Jersey City deputy mayor who allegedly tried to shake down couples he married at City Hall for cash was arrested at his home yesterday and charged with official misconduct, authorities said last night.

The crime is a considered a third-degree felony and could carry jail time for Ador Equipado if he is convicted, authorities said.

Equipado - who resigned last month after The Jersey Journal brought the allegations to light - was taken into custody during the early afternoon and released on a summons for a later court date, authorities said.

"When these allegations were brought to my attention I took swift action and requested his resignation," Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy said.

"It's unfortunate and disappointing that this has occurred, but the public trust in government is paramount," Healy added. "We have taken measures to assure that the type of infractions alleged in this case never occur again."

Appointed deputy mayor by Healy two years ago, Equipado, 62, asked - against city policy - at least five couples for money to perform their weddings. It wasn't clear last night if the investigation by the Jersey City Police Department's Special Investigations Unit had turned up more cases.

Equipado allegedly requested $150 from one couple, telling them he was a minister collecting money to feed the homeless. He allegedly told another couple he was raising money for charity work in the Philippines.

Equipado - who couldn't be reached to comment - is also accused of trying to sell couples phone plans with a private company he works for.

I gotta give "props" to the Jersey Journal for running with this story.

In the past, this is the kind of story they would have brushed under the rug.

Now, if only they could uncover some of the "tips" the developers pay to city officials we might get somewhere.

-M

More pointing at cash-cravin' deputy mayor

KEN THORBOURNE - JERSEY JOURNAL - JAN 10

Another couple has come forward to say recently resigned Jersey City Deputy Mayor Ador L. Equipado asked them for money - in violation of city policy - before marrying them.

Equipado told them he was raising money for a charity in the Philippines, they said.

The groom, Mithilesh Rajda of Greene Street, wrote Mayor Jerramiah Healy a letter on Saturday, saying Equipado repeatedly asked him and his bride-to-be, Jesal, for a donation to support charity work in the Philippines before agreeing to marry them on Dec. 26.

"I felt very uncomfortable and thought that if I did not give him money, he would not perform our marriage," Rajda wrote. "Under pressure, I told him that all I had was $5 in my wallet so he backed off and said he would give us a phone call sometime."

City Hall has not responded to his letter, Rajda said. It is the fourth complaint from a couple about Equipado asking for money.

One couple said they gave him $150 because Equipado claimed he was a minister collecting money to feed the homeless. Another couple said Equipado spent a considerable amount of time trying to sell a family member a private phone service that he represents.

Confronted by Healy Thursday night, Equipado, 62, resigned his $66,360-a-year post. Equipado did not return phone calls yesterday seeking comment.

The Police Department Special Investigation Unit is investigating the entire matter, city officials said. Last week, Healy spokeswoman Maria Pignataro said none of the three other people who perform weddings for the city accept fees or tips.

But that appears not to be the case.

The Rev. Michael Kelly, of Riverside Assembly of God Church - who receives no compensation from the city - told The Jersey Journal he accepts tips but doesn't solicit them and charges out-of-towners $50 to perform weddings.

Carl Czaplicki, Healy's chief of staff, said yesterday that Kelly accepted $60 from one out-of-town couple and charged another $50 but gave it back and told them to have dinner on him.

"There is no policy that says we charge $50 for out-of-town weddings," Czaplicki said.

City Clerk Robert Byrne said the city has never adopted an ordinance to allow city officials to charge for weddings.

Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini and the Rev. David Hoffman also perform weddings for the city.

Hoffman, who works up to 20 hours a week for the city and is paid roughly $14 per hour, couldn't be reached for comment. But Czaplicki said Hoffman has never taken money. Beldini, who earns $53,174 a year, said she's never charged for weddings and doesn't accept tips.

Healy plans to issue an executive order to make the no-charge policy doubly clear, Czaplicki said.

I'm glad to see that Jersey City's Police Chief Tom Comey has announced that the department's Special Investigations Unit is investigating these allegations against the disgraced Deputy Mayor.

Can you say F*&(^%$ Lowlife.
Yet they let him stay on for vacation time.How about arresting him,what a disgrace.

So if his resignation isn't effective until Jan. 15th then Healy still has time to do the right thing and fire Equipado. It is disgraceful that a corrupt city official is allowed to resign instead of being handed his hat and showed the door.

MORE $HILLED?
Monday, January 08, 2007
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Ex-deputy mayor faces police probe

Two more couples have stepped forward following last week's front page story in The Jersey Journal about the Jersey City deputy mayor who, contrary to city policy, was charging couples to perform weddings.

Meanwhile, an investigation into outgoing Deputy Mayor Ador L. Equipado's actions is now underway, the city's police chief said.

One Jersey City resident, Budnarine Persuad, said he and his wife gave Equipado $150 on Oct. 10 after he told them he was a minister raising money to feed the homeless, and that his trusting wife continued to give Equipado donations after the wedding.

That same day, Doralee Ferrera said she borrowed $50 from her soon-to-be father-in-law to pay Equipado. This was after Equipado agreed to give her a "discount" - charging only $30 - because her fianc?, Oscar, was in the military. But since her father-in-law had only a $50 bill and Equipado didn't have any change, Equipado kept the entire amount, she said. In fact, City Hall weddings should only cost $28.

"I feel robbed. It's terrible," Ferrera said. "It's supposed to be one of the greatest days of our lives and here we are being taken for fools."

Equipado, 62, resigned Thursday night after he was confronted by Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who had been called by a reporter for a story that would appear in the following day's paper.

The story in Friday's newspaper focused on a couple who said Equipado, who earned $66,360 a year as a deputy mayor, shook them down for $50 following the wedding service - and then tried to sell them a phone service plan.

After the story appeared, Jersey City Police Chief Tom Comey announced the department's Special Investigations Unit would investigate the allegations against the disgraced deputy mayor.

"We want to see if a crime has been committed," Comey said.

Unlike other municipalities, Jersey City's policy is that officials who conduct City Hall weddings are not paid and don't accept tips. The only charge is a $28 fee paid to the City Clerk's Office for the marriage license, officials said.

Appointed deputy mayor two years ago by Healy, Equipado, a former Jersey City water department director, didn't return phone calls seeking comment.

In his resignation letter to Healy, dated Jan. 4, Equipado wrote: "I apologize for my actions, and if I have caused any embarrassment to the Office of the Mayor. I thank you for the opportunity to have served the City of Jersey City."

The letter states that Equipado's resignation is effective Jan. 15; Healy's chief-of-staff Carl Czaplicki said the delayed resignation has to do with vacation time Equipado is due and that he is no longer serving as deputy mayor.

Persuad said he trusted Equipado really was taking donations for the homeless because he was a public official. Equipado stayed in touch with his wife after the wedding and she continued to give him donations, he said. The Persauds said they didn't know how much money they'd given Equipado.

"He (Equipado) said he was pastor," Persuad said. "He was saying he needs the money for his church because he likes to help people."

City officials said they didn't know if Equipado is a minister or if he really was raising money to feed the homeless.

The story just turns my stomach.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/Media/D ... untdown-MalkinWorser.wmv/

Heres the link for the worst person of the world on msnbc bit.

Quote:

Can you hear me now?

I think he was charging for Vegas-wedding style entertainment to follow the ceremony:

http://www.filipinoexpress.com/19/04_ador.jpg

Someone just told me they gave him $20 after he said it would go to "people affected by Katrina in the South". I bet a lot more people will come out saying this.

I can't help but see this kind of small-scale corruption as a bad sign...like expecting that one's position as deputy mayor really is a way to sell cell-phone service is just something that comes with the territory.

"Morrison said Equipado finally proceeded with the wedding after she insisted she wasn't changing phone carriers."

Best sentence of 2007 thus far.

I hear the JJ has gotten many calls from other people who were ripped off.The story should be out any day.

Quote:

unless the masses show up on election day(s), it doesn't matter how many show up at city hall. politicians can do the math.

Worse than the crime itself, is the lack of response by this administration. If find Czaplicki's lack of corrective action very disturbing and am left to assume that there could be more serious transgressions that the administration has turned a blind eye to.

We will soon be reading about once again another conflict of interest in this administration, that the mayor has shrugged off.

What will it take to get the masses to get fed up and show up at City Hall?

He was just named as today's "Worst Person in the World" by Keith Olbermann (@8 pm in MSNBC), surpassing both Bill Oreilly & Michell Malkin for the prize, LOL!!!

All JC politicians and emergency services chief and department directors should have a polygraph test done every 6 months to see how much crap we can uncover.

It is funny what you learn when you google guys like this

Click Here

Wonder if he made more extra money as Director of the Water Department.

Watch the flood of calls come from the rest of the couples he succeeded in shaking down.This year started off with Captain Crook from the fire dept.and now we have a cash and carry deputy mayor who will also sell you a new phone plan.
Its like a bad HBO series

A government official stealing $50 bucks?

If you're going to risk your lively-hood & reputation, I should hope that it's for more than $50 bucks a pop.

Maybe corruption isn't as big a $$$ maker as we all thought. Then again, this guy could just be an idiot.

Any chance of getting Donnell Morrison to run for office here in JC. If she can get a deputy mayor canned in a few months, imagine what else she could accomplish.

Hello, and welcome to Jersey City.

Hey, he showed hustle, gumption, and moxy! Just the kind of self starter we need in city government!

CASH & MARRY
Couple says deputy mayor wanted $$; now he's out

By KEN THORBOURNE - JERSEY JOURNAL - Jan 05

Jersey City Deputy Mayor Ador Equipado resigned last night after The Jersey Journal made inquiries about him demanding cash from a couple he married in October and using the occasion to peddle his private phone service business.

"It is the policy of my office that a mayor, deputy mayor, or any other individual designated to perform marriage or civil ceremonies should not derive a fee for this service," Mayor Jerramiah Healy said in a statement.

The matter came to light this week after the bride and her mother contacted The Jersey Journal and said that City Hall had taken no action when they complained.

Jersey City resident Donnell Morrison, who tied the knot at City Hall on Oct. 6, said Equipado spent the first 10 minutes with her and her husband-to-be quizzing them about their finances and what phone service they used.

When she demanded to know what this had to do with administering the nuptials - which the $66,000-a-year deputy mayor is empowered to do - Equipado handed her and her mother, Carmen Hayes, applications for a phone service he sells.

Morrison said Equipado finally proceeded with the wedding after she insisted she wasn't changing phone carriers.

But the static wasn't over.

Seconds after the bride kissed the groom, Equipado demanded $50 cash, Morrison and Hayes said.

Morrison told Equipado she had already paid the $28 marriage fee charged by the City Clerk's Office. She said she was told there would be no other charges - which officials confirmed is in fact city policy.

At that point, according to Morrison and Hayes, Equipado said, "Consider it a donation to me."

The groom was about to pay Equipado, Hayes said, but she intervened.

Appointed as a deputy mayor in January 2005 by Healy, Equipado, 62, a former director of the city's water department, didn't return several phone calls seeking comment.

He ran unsuccessfully as a Republican for the 31st District Assembly seat in 2001 and for Hudson County freeholder from Jersey City - also as a Republican, also unsuccessfully - in 1999.

City Hall officials confirmed most of the details related by Morrison and Hayes, including the fact that Hayes wrote Healy's chief of staff, Carl Czaplicki, a letter about the matter shortly after the wedding.

Hayes said she only contacted The Jersey Journal because Czaplicki - after speaking to her and her daughter over the phone - never followed up on the matter.

Czaplicki would not comment.

A spokeswoman for Healy, Maria Pignataro, couldn't say last night if Equipado had ever collected money from couples.

Records show he performed 60 weddings between Sept. 1 and Dec. 31.

Three other people regularly perform weddings for Jersey City: Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini and the Revs. Michael Kelly and David Hoffman. None accepts tips or charges couples for their services, Pignataro said.

Municipalities have different policies about charging for weddings.

Several Hudson County mayors charge for the service and pocket the cash, including East Newark Mayor Joe Smith, Union City Mayor Brian Stack, North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco and Kearny Mayor Albert Santos.

Stack has told The Jersey Journal he uses the money to support charitable work.