Gov. Jon Corzine cannot be happy reading the news from Roselle this morning.
Besides illegally firing Plainfield councilor and Roselle CFO Adrian Mapp on Wednesday evening in a uproarious special council meeting, Roselle's council president Jamel Holley waived indictment to be charged by the Attorney General's office with vote-tampering yesterday.
The acres of ink spilled in the media this morning (see links at end of post) cannot but give the governor the heebie-jeebies, considering every vote he can muster in Union County will be precious this fall.
A four-member majority of the Roselle Borough Council has been carrying out the apparent will of Union County Dem chair Charlotte DeFilippo in trying to undercut Mayor Garrett Smith, who has been uppity enough to challenge the county Democratic machine.
Wednesday's special meeting at which the four fired Mapp (after Smith and councilwomen Sylvia Turnage and Samantha Dowe refused to participate, calling the proceeding 'illegal') is only the most recent maneuver in the protracted war-by-proxy DeFilippo is waging.
Previously, it came to light that Holley and the cabal of three had colluded in secret meetings with representatives from the neighboring, smaller and whiter borough of Roselle Park to dismantle Roselle's finance department and turn the running of both towns' finances over to the smaller of the two.
Turned down by the state, and decried by Roselle residents, the shared services plan came in for more public criticism when it was discussed at a recent Roselle Park council meeting (see here).
Roselle Park mayor Joseph DeIorio, who knew of the planning all along, never questioned why his opposite number in Roselle was not involved, thus giving away the game. He lamely tried to blame Roselle pols, saying 'if they didn't tell you, shame on them'.
Another plan has been submitted to the state by the Roselle council's attorney, another DeFilippo operative.
L'AFFAIRE HOLLEY
Complaints about council president Jamel Holley's conduct during the 2006 primary have been circulating ever since the election. No reason was given for why it took the Attorney General's office over three years to bring the charges. If convicted of the third-degree offense, Holley would have to give up his council seat.
Holley is a protegé of former Assemblyman and Roselle political heavyweight Neil Cohen, whose child pornography case is wending its way through the courts (a fifth count was recently added).
Cohen's office has yielded other embarrassments to the Democratic establishment, on which Corzine must count for getting out the Union County vote --
- Cohen's longtime campaign treasurer Rosemary McClave was indicted for stealing campaign funds and tampering with public records. McClave, close to DeFillippo, has served as treasurer of many Union County campaign committees, from county officials to legislators;
- Charlotte DeFilippo, herself a Cohen employee and chair of the Union County Dem organization for three decades has had her records subpoenaed by the Attorney General's office, which is said to be particularly interested in the affairs of the Union County Improvement Authority, of which she is the executive director, and the financial dealings of the Camelot Title Agency, in which she had an ownership interest.
With plenty of Democrats who are unhappy with the shenanigans of the County Democratic machine (Plainfield, Roselle, Elizabeth and Linden come to mind), Corzine has to worry not only that the conduct of political 'friends' such as Holley and his Roselle council cronies, will be an embarrassement, but that disgusted Democrats may either vote for his opponent or sit out the November election altogether.
Either way could be disastrous for Corzine.
What is he going to do to pull the fat out of the fire?
What CAN he do?
- Council President Jamel Holley --
- NJ Newsroom: "Council president charged with illegally filling out ballots"
- PolitickerNJ: "AG charges Holley with violating absentee voting law"
- Ledger: "Roselle council president accused of ballot tampering"
- Philly Inquirer: "Roselle official facing ballot charges"
- Mapp Firing --
- Shared Services Scheme --
-- Dan Damon
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4 comments:
A lot of this is about pay-for-play contracts to enrich cronies. When this scandal first broke, Holley was "relieved" of his position as one of Cohen's aides and given a $65,000 a year patronage job. DeFillippo was "relieved" of her no-show position as Cohen's aide and still earns over $130,000 as head of UCIA. The UCIA is the development authority for the Monarch at Plainfield. Fishman and Dornoch have given lots of camapaign moolah to the Union County machine. As you mentioned, McGlave was in charge of the campaign money for Cohen. You are right Dan. Corzine must be quite dismayed at this crew. The ballot tampering case with Holley originally included 62 ballots, half of which were so obviously forged that the judge immediately threw them out. Keep in mind that for a town the size of Roselle, 62 absentee ballots in a primary was an INORDINATELY large amount, and immediately raised suspicions. That they were all supposedly for ONE candidate in one ward made it look even more suspect. Keep in mind that the office Holley worked in for Asm. Cohen was the 20th legislative district, which is the office of Sen. Ray Lesniak and Asm. Joe Cryan. Like DeFillippo, Cryan also had an interest in the Camelot Title Agency. The AG is looking into the contracts that were given out. this is part of what Holley is involved in, handing out contracts to pay-for-play entities. Everyone knows that Ray Lesniak controls Charlotte DeFillippo and Charlotte DeFillippo controls Jerry Green who in turn controls Sharon Robinson-Briggs. What's interesting is the "charge by accusation" that Holley preferred, no doubt at his lawyers' suggestion to avoid seeing the three words "grand jury indictment" associated with Holley's name in print. It's not looking good for Corzine with all the corruption in Hudson, Essex, and Union County. The ballot tampering scandal in Essex County has led to 5 indictments so far, and now the Holley scandal. Looks like an ABC (Anyone But Corzine) year, thanks to these people. I'm a Democrat, by the way, but I will not vote for these so-called Democrats who are simply in office to enrich themselves at the expense of hardworking stiffs.
Here's something funny about this case. The ballots that Holley is accused of tampering with were for the candidate running against Dansereau. Smith supported Dansereau against the machine and now Dansereau, who wouldn't have been office but for the help of Smith, is part of the Holley/DeFillippo machine. It merits a look into her background. Are there any favored contracts/jobs for herself and her family? Just asking.
http://countywatchers.blogspot.com/2006/09/courage-is-secret-of-liberty_04.html
A plague on both their houses. Neither side has the best interests of the town at heart.
Dan,
Lest we forget that Jerry sold property to the UCIA. Property that he acquired for approximately $60,000 and sold for approximately $700,000.
His hands are in this mess along the way...we can only hope that they get cuffed with the rest of the crooks!
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