Council Members Outraged by Corruption Arrests

Thursday morning's arrests of several mayors and state legislators on public corruption and money laundering charges has outraged members of the Town Council, who stressed the honor of holding public office.

Councilmen Frank Arena, Tom Bigosinski and Jim Foerst said they did not know any of the individuals who were arrested this morning. The FBI arrests included Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano III, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell, along with two members of the State Assembly and various local officials from Hudson and Bergen Counties. They were charged with various aspects of public corruption with several being caught on wire taps soliciting cash bribes.

"I don’t know any of the people involved," Bigosinski said. "But judging by what I have read in the press, the scope and level of corruption these people were involved in is outrageous"

Foerst said he hopes the cases can be quickly resolved and the guilty can go to jail. He noted that the level of corruption in the state has been hurting the reputation of many of the public officials in New Jersey.

"I'm a lawyer and a politician, and that combo is horrible for the image it conjures up," he said. "This doesn't help."

Arena echoed Foerst's comments about the image problems that today's arrests show regarding the state's political scene.

"We are the laughing stock of the nation because of our corrupt politicians," he said. "We need to shake things up."

Foerst related an anecdote from his first days on the council in 2004. He said he had accidentally forgotten to renew his membership to the Memorial Pool for the summer. Not knowing what to do, he approached the Recreation Department to see if it was possible to still register. He said he was told by Recreation Director Bruce Kaufman that the deadline had passed and no new members could be issued. Foerst said he let the issue drop and did not try to use his position to gain a membership.

"I did not give him a hard time," Foerst said. "I would never as anyone to bend the rules. To see these guys blatantly taking cash for favors is deplorable."

Foerst said the only official arrested this morning that he was familiar with was Cammarano. He said the familiarity came from Cammarano's recent competitive runoff election with Hoboken City Council President Dawn Zimmer. He said his wife has met Cammarano from her work on the staff of Seton Hall Law School, where the Hoboken mayor studied. Foerst said he graduated from the law school before Cammarano enrolled.

Both Bigosinski and Foerst stressed the importance and honor of public service. They said they have approached their positions on the council as a way to serve the public not to engage in corruption. Neither can comprehend the behavior of the officials arrested.

"To me, public service is an incredible honor, so I will never understand how a politician can betray his or her constituents by becoming involved in such brazen and extensive criminal activity," Bigosinski said.