Squad leader claims ‘harassment’

Letter says Jewish group not up to code

PASSAIC — The city has told one of two Passaic-based Orthodox Jewish volunteer ambulance squads that it must shut down because the squad isn’t up to city code.

But the squad’s founder called the city’s action “harassment” and questioned why the other Jewish squad wasn’t scrutinized.

On Monday, the city sent a letter signed by its law firm, Scarinci & Hollenbeck, to David Kaplan, 26, founder of Hatzolah EMS of North Jersey, saying the squad wasn’t in compliance with city law.

The letter said Hatzolah must shut down operations by the end of the day on May 19 if it did not fulfill the requirements of proving that all volunteers are qualified and that the squad has insurance that covers any legal action against the city up to $2 million. The requirements are outlined in a 2004 ordinance.

Kaplan said his squad does meet city requirements and showed necessary proof to the city last September. A letter to Kaplan from former Mayor Samuel Rivera, dated Sept. 12, states that Hatzolah is qualified to provide emergency medical services in Passaic and that a certificate remains in effect for two years from that date.

But Acting Mayor Gary Schaer said to the best of his knowledge Hatzolah had not met all the city’s requirements.

Hatzolah is licensed to operate by the state’s Department of Health and Senior Services, although a license is not necessary to operate, said spokeswoman Marilyn Riley.

As of Wednesday, Hatzolah had not provided documentation to the city, Kaplan said. But Hatzolah is continuing operations anyway, he said, because Kaplan believes the city’s letter is unfair and unfounded.

To complicate matters, a second Hatzolah ambulance service with a similar name — Hatzolah of Passaic/Clifton — has never been used informally by the city and is not on the list of squads the city uses. Hatzolah means “rescue” in Hebrew. The squads are local chapters of a worldwide organization that has volunteer ambulance squads in Jewish neighborhoods.

Greg Hill, the business administrator, said the city has not checked whether the second Jewish squad is violating city law. Schaer, an Orthodox Jew, said he asked Hill on Tuesday to verify that all private ambulance squads comply with city law. Passaic has only the two Hatzolahs as private squads.

The city’s paid squad, which has two ambulances, is overseen by the Police Department. When both vehicles are in use, the city calls other municipalities and private squads to ask if they can dispatch an ambulance immediately. Andy White, police spokesman, said Kaplan’s Hatzolah has been called in recent months after the Clifton squad and a private company based at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Last week, the City Council entertained a resolution that would formally add Kaplan’s Hatzolah to the city’s list of mutual aid services. But the resolution was defeated by a 3-3 tie vote. A tie means the measure is rejected.

The three Orthodox Jewish council members voted against the resolution, while the three Hispanic members voted in favor.

Schaer, who proposed the resolution, said he voted against it because he believes Hatzolah was stoking ethnic divide in the city.

“Picking up an ambulance group that’s working primarily in one part of town — I don’t think it’s a good idea, if we’re continuing our fight to unite Passaic,” Schaer said.

Kaplan said Hatzolah serves the entire city, not just Jews.

“It’s ludicrous, because the whole point of doing 911 is we service anybody. We don’t ask them, ‘Are you Jewish? Are you Orthodox?’ when someone calls,” Kaplan said. “Gary Schaer has furthered the stereotype that we only want to help ourselves.”

Hatzolah gets an average of 600 calls a year to its direct line, Kaplan said. He did not know what percentage was Jewish.

Councilman Gerardo Fernandez said he supports the squad.

“We never had a problem before. We voted for it. I voted ‘yes’ because they’re providing a service with the community. They’ve been doing it all along,” Fernandez said.

On Tuesday, Schaer said that the letter sent to Kaplan was purely out of concern for public safety.

“It’s not my personal feelings at play here. This affects the health and welfare of city residents,” he said. “What’s relevant is what’s in compliance.”

Reach Karen Keller at 973-569-7158 or kellerk@northjersey.com myheraldnews.com

No shortage of ideas for campaign, ethics reform

Trenton’s triumvirate of Democratic leadership — Governor Corzine, Senate President Dick Codey and Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts — promised us The Great Campaign Finance and Ethics Reform Crusade for 2008.

But as we close in on the year’s halfway mark, the accomplishments have been modest, at best. Successive waves of scandals and FBI stings produced a bumper crop of proposals, but little action.

If anything, Corzine took a step backward, proposing a $750,000 cut in the Election Law Enforcement Commission’s budget. Howls of criticism led him to restore most of the money, but there seems little interest in taking any leaps forward.

The triumvirs say they want to do something. Roberts supports public financing for all legislative contests someday. Corzine has pounded his fists, vowing to modernize the campaign system. And Codey, who argues that great strides already have been taken, has kept his door open.

They need not look far for ideas. There has been a below-the-radar, bipartisan push for reform. Here are a few ideas that would not cost much, other than some political capital.

The Sammy Rivera Legal Defense Fund Act. Legal defense funds have become an outgrowth of the corruption scandals in recent years. Rivera, the former Passaic mayor who pleaded guilty to federal bribery charges this month, set one up. So did former state Sen. Joseph Coniglio of Paramus, who is also facing federal corruption charges.

Both men can take unlimited sums of money from friends, family and political donors without having to publicly disclose it. And there is nothing to stop them from spending the money for personal needs. Sen. Loretta Weinberg, the Teaneck Democrat, and Republican Sen. Diane Allen want ELEC to regulate the funds and require routine disclosure of contributions and expenses.

The Jonathan Soto Ethics Training Act. Soto, the former Passaic City councilman, was swept up in the same federal bribery sting that ensnared Rivera.

“I have other friends in other municipalities and I’m all for getting my feet wet as well, man,” Soto allegedly told federal agents posing as insurance company officials eager for Passaic business.

One bipartisan bill would require ethics training for elected officials. I’m not sure such a bill will prevent new corrupt buccaneers, but a strong presentation — complete with footage of shackled public officials in orange jump suits — might keep a few hands out of the cookie jar.

The Attack Ad Awareness Act. Candidates would be free to participate in so called “issue advocacy” organizations as long as they came clean and disclosed their involvement to ELEC. These groups, which enjoy tax-exempt status, run attack ads to boost the prospects of their favored candidate. Confronted, they insist that their operations are totally independent, but no one believes it. Sen. Leonard Lance, a Republican from Hunterdon County, would require candidates to disclose their involvement, the names of donors and what they gave.

Wind Down the Wheeling Act of 2009. Several bills would severely curb the massive blocks of cash county parties donate or “wheel” into local and legislative races. The practice allows party brokers to amass large sums of money from around the state and pump them into local contests. It allows special interests to evade contribution limits and expands their influence on newly elected (and beholden) lawmakers.

The Paul Sarlo Dual Office Ban: The Sequel. Lawmakers grudgingly agreed to bar future lawmakers from holding another elected office. But it allowed 17 lawmakers to remain double-dippers until they retire or are booted out of office. That could mean decades. Why not abolish it in time for the 2009 campaign? Note to Sen. Paul Sarlo, who is also Wood-Ridge’s mayor: Why not take the lead by resigning the city hall post and sponsoring the complete ban? Not a bad way for an ambitious lawmaker to boost his statewide profile.

The Anthony Impreveduto Lobbying Ban: Part II. The Legislature did ban convicted ex-legislators from becoming lobbyists, like former Secaucus Democratic Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto, who resigned from the Legislature in 2005 for improper personal use of campaign funds. Weinberg and state Sen. Bill Baroni, a Republican from Mercer County, also want to bar them from representing clients before local governments and agencies.

E-mail: stile@northjersey.com

NEW JERSEY # 1 FOR DUMBEST DRIVERS IN THE UNITED STATES

How smart are drivers in AMERICA? Not very, according to the 4th annual GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test. 33 million licensed Americans would not pass a written drivers exam if taken today and may be unfit for the roads!

But where are the smartest and dumbest drivers?
For the first time ever New Jersey drivers rank as the dumbest. And to throw salt on the wound, they have the lowest average score ever. No score has been below 70% before.

Where are the smartest drivers?          The home of Dorothy and the Jayhawks (Kansas) rises from fifth smartest to smartest in 2008. They just beat out Idaho and Nebraska which rank second and third.

 

Bush tells Israeli media peace does not depend on Olmert

US President George W. Bush said in interviews published Tuesday ahead of a visit to Israel that the country’s peace process with the Palestinians does not depend on embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

 

Police suspect Olmert illicitly took hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash from an American fund-raiser. The Israeli leader has said he would resign if indicted. (AP)

Sammy Rivera’s last lie

KNOWING what we know about the man, it would be foolish to try to guess when Sammy Rivera will end his long and largely successful career of deceit. But now that he has left the Passaic mayor’s office under much duress, he has probably told his last lie as a public official. Give him credit for making it a big one.

The mayor’s valedictory whopper had to do with his innocence. Last week, he pleaded guilty to taking a $5,000 bribe in exchange for a city insurance contract. That admission capped eight months of vehement insistence, in and out of court, that he had done nothing of the kind. It was like Rivera’s farewell fabrication tour — three seasons of shameless, outright fraud.

“Definitely, I’m innocent,” Rivera told a Herald News reporter interviewing him at his home earlier this year. “Definitely,” he told a Record reporter calling to ask if he still maintained his innocence, despite signs of plea negotiations.

In September, shortly after the FBI revealed that Rivera and 10 other public officials had been arrested in a bribery sting, the former wrestler vowed, “I’m not going down. I’m going to beat this.” He said he had never heard of the other figures in the case and that the recorded evidence must have been doctored.

After pleading not guilty in January, Rivera continued to refuse calls for his resignation, saying, “The only people who can put me out of office are the courts, and they won’t do that. I am innocent until they find otherwise.”

All the while, Rivera was subjecting the people of Passaic to that many more months of tainted, dysfunctional government. He let his center for day laborers begin to fall apart, engaged in quixotic opposition to bus shelters, forgot to replace the chairman of the library board and gestured obscenely at a resident who criticized him during a City Council meeting.

He even helped paralyze the city government by engaging in a standoff over who would fill the council seat vacated by Marcellus Jackson, who had been found guilty in the same FBI sting.

Rivera’s history of dishonesty dates at least to 1980, when, as a policeman in Puerto Rico, he stabbed himself to help his partner cover up an unjustified fatal shooting.

Decades later, he was so confident in his abilities as a storyteller that he expected us to believe in his innocence even though U.S. Attorney Chris Christie has a perfect record of more than 120 corruption indictments without an acquittal — and even as Rivera’s partners in crime, those arrested in the same setup, began to acknowledge their guilt, one by one. And so Rivera passed up one last chance to do what was honorable, admit his crime and mercifully relieve the people of his services.NorthJersey.com

Assemblywoman Angelini to Seek Legal Opinion on Dual Office Ban as Schaer Assumes Third Public Position and Violates the spirit of the law

Saying Assemblyman and Passaic City Council President Gary Schaer’s new role as acting mayor of Passaic seems to violate the spirit of the Legislature’s ban on dual office holding, Assemblywoman Mary Pat Angelini said today she will request a legal opinion on the matter from the non-partisan Office of Legislative Services (OLS).

“As we are all well aware, the Legislature passed a feeble dual office holding ban last year which grandfathered in dual officeholders who were elected before February 2008,” explained Angelini, R-Monmouth. “This allows Mr. Schaer to serve as a state lawmaker and local councilman. However, now that he has the powers that come with being acting mayor of Passaic as well, it seems he may be violating the spirit of the ban on dual office holding. Since it’s a gray area, I will be requesting a legal opinion from OLS.”

Schaer, D-Bergen, Essex and Passaic, assumed the role of mayor late last week, following the resignation of Mayor Samuel Rivera who pleaded guilty to extortion in federal court.

Angelini questioned the viability of one person serving in three primary public roles.

“How can one person serve their constituents with excellence when you are juggling three different government positions?” she asked. “There aren’t enough hours in a day to make that possible. The bottom line is you cannot serve two masters. Somewhere in that mix, your constituents will be short-changed.”

Angelini said Schaer’s situation is a prime example of the need for an immediate and comprehensive ban on dual office holding and for stringent ethics reform in general, noting that the city attorney who ruled that Schaer could assume the mayoral office is the law partner of Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero.

“This entire situation is a web of ethical conflicts,” stated Angelini. “Not only did Assemblyman Schaer abstain from voting on legislation that prohibits newly elected public office holders from simultaneously holding more than one elective office, but he also serves as vice chair of the Assembly State Government Committee which promulgates these rules.

“Legally, this particular situation may very well fall through a loophole, which is troublesome in itself,” she continued. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s just plain wrong. And as a representative of the people, it’s my responsibility to protect their best interests.”

Angelini suggested that the Assembly State Government Committee debate and vote on bill A-1443, sponsored by Assemblyman Declan O’Scanlon, R-Monmouth and Mercer, which would eliminate the grandfathering clause within 30 days of enactment, when it meets on May 22. Politickernj.com

 

As many as 700 arrested in Iowa illegal immigration raid at the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant

POSTVILLE, Iowa — A raid by federal immigration officials at the nation’s largest kosher meatpacking plant may have resulted in as many as 700 arrests, immigration officials said Monday

Agents from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement entered the Agriprocessors Inc. complex in northeast Iowa Monday morning to execute a criminal search warrant for evidence relating to aggravated identity theft, fraudulent use of Social Security numbers and other crimes, said Tim Counts, a Midwest ICE spokesman.

Agents are also executing a civil search warrant for people illegally in the United States, he said.

Immigration officials told aides to Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, that they expect 600 to 700 arrests. About 1,000 to 1,050 people work at the plant, according to Iowa Workforce Development, the state’s employment services agency.

Chuck Larson, a truck driver for Agriprocessing, was in the plant when the agents arrived. “There has to be 100 of them,” he said of the agents.

Larson said the agents told workers to stay in place then separated them by asking those with identification to stand to the right and those with other papers, to stand to the left.

“There was plenty of hollering,” Larson said. “You couldn’t go anywhere.”

When asked who was separated, Larson said those standing in the group with other papers were all Hispanic

ICE spokesman Harold Ort in Postville did not confirm or deny that anyone had been detained, but went on to say that the children of those detained would be cared for and that “their caregiver situation will be addressed.”

“They were asked multiple times if they have any sole-caregiver issues or any childcare issues,” Ort said.

Aides to Braley said they have been told that “hundreds” of arrests are expected because the action is more of an “investigation” than an immigration raid, and specific individuals are being targeted for arrest as part of the investigation.

Counts described the events in Postville as a “single site operation.” He said he was not aware of any other immigration raids being conducted elsewhere Monday.

Postville Police Chief Michael Halse said he did not know anything about the raid until Monday morning.

Postville is a community of more than 2,500 people that includes natives of German and Norwegian heritage and newcomers who include Hasidic Jews from New York, plus immigrants from Mexico, Russian, Ukraine and many other countries.

The Agriprocessors plant, known as the nation’s largest kosher slaughterhouse, is northeast Iowa’s largest employer.

About 200 Hasidic Jews arrived in Postville in 1987, when butcher Aaron Rubashkin of Brooklyn’s Crown Heights neighborhood reopened a defunct meat-packing plant with his two sons, Sholom and Heshy, just outside the city limits. Business boomed at the plant, reviving the depressed economy while pitting the newcomers against the predominantly Lutheran community.

Former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack said that the Postville immigration investigations were warranted despite concerns that federal official violated the constitutional rights of people in past raids.

“Remember our concern has not been about whether or not there should be raids,” Vilsack said. “It’s the way the raids have been conducted and the way in which American citizens’ rights have been violated by virtue of sort of a roundup process that’s used and what we think are inappropriate and unconstitutional actions on the part of immigration officials.”

Vilsack and others have alleged that immigration officials used humiliation, opposite-sex searches and long periods of secrecy in the Dec. 12, 2006, raids at Swift & Co. in Marshalltown, Iowa, where 90 people were arrested on immigration charges. UsaToday.com

Clinton holds big leads in West Virginia and Kentucky

Even as her campaign appears to be in its final stages, Hillary Clinton is headed for two sweeping victories in West Virginia and Kentucky, the next two states to weigh in on the prolonged Democratic presidential race.

According to new polls released Monday, Clinton holds a 34 point lead in West Virginia and a 27 point lead in Kentucky.

In West Virginia, which votes Tuesday, a Suffolk University Poll has Clinton drawing 60 percent of likely Democratic voters compared to Obama’s 24 percent. That poll also shows Clinton holds a 70 percent approval rating among West Virginia’s Democratic primary voters. Only half the state’s primary the state’s likely primary voters think Barack Obama can beat John McCain in a general election matchup.

In Kentucky, a Research 2000 poll shows Clinton winning 58 percent of the vote to Obama’s 31 percent. But despite Clinton’s strength in the state, the poll suggests John McCain would easily defeat both Democrats in November — the Arizona senator holds a 25 point advantage over Obama and a 12 point lead over Clinton. Kentucky is considered a solidly Republican state, though former President Bill Clinton carried it twice. The state’s primary is May 20.

It remains unclear how Clinton’s likely large wins in both states will affect the presidential race, given Obama’s significant lead in total delegates. Only 28 pledged delegates are at stake in West Virginia Tuesday, while 51 are up for grabs in Kentucky. Cnn

Death toll in China earthquake up to nearly 9,000

Cnn picture

CHENGDU, China (AP) — One of the worst earthquakes to hit China in three decades killed nearly 9,000 people Monday, trapped about 900 students under the rubble of their school and caused a toxic chemical leak, state media reported.

The 7.9-magnitude earthquake devastated a hilly region of small cities and towns in central China. The official Xinhua News Agency said 8,533 people died in Sichuan province and more than 200 others were killed in three other provinces and the mega-city of Chongqing.

Xinhua said 80 percent of the buildings had collapsed in Sichuan province’s Beichuan county after the quake, raising fears that the overall death toll could increase sharply.

Convictions still haunt ex-mayors

The real punishment may be the remaining life of regret, longing and debt.

Sammy Rivera, 61, may face as little as 18 months in prison when a federal judge sentences him in August for accepting a $5,000 bribe from an FBI informant. But when Rivera finishes whatever term he may receive, his troubles will be far from over if the experiences of other Passaic County mayors toppled by federal corruption charges are any indication.

Although their prison sentences stretched no longer than three years, their punishments seem to have lasted much longer.

Since emerging from their prison cells, three former Passaic County mayors — Louis V. Messercola of Wayne, Joseph Lipari of Passaic and Martin G. Barnes of Paterson — have been saddled with mountainous legal debts and fees.

But the bigger price is the loss of power and influence. While the three disgraced men all still live in or around the cities they once ruled, their presence has eroded from larger than life to practically invisible.

That’s a crushing blow for politicians such as Lipari, who used charisma and backroom dealings to rule Passaic for nearly a decade until his 1993 conviction forced him to step down. Asked to sum up the price of his conviction, he replied: “Very costly. Too costly.”

The former mayor has since regained a semblance of normality, if not opulence. Two black Mercedes-Benzes were parked near the backyard swimming pool of his ranch-style house in Garfield. But the words he spoke in an interview last week echoed a longing for the station he once held.

Of the three mayors, only Lipari invited a reporter into his house, and for an hour he ruminated about his political past while reclining on a couch. Withered by chronic illness and a heart condition, he managed to muster the energy to speak about his life as a street kid with a sixth-grade education who grew up to become mayor.

Lipari spoke defiantly about the charges he once faced, proudly about his accomplishments in office and vaguely about the vicious entanglement of money and politics he found himself in.

“Unfortunately,” the 71-year-old said, his voice a sleepy gravel, “you get wrapped around an axle, and the next thing I know, I’m indicted.”

He asserted he never was convicted of accepting bribes, only conspiracy to extort money and evading taxes, albeit on cash bribes he allegedly took. Lipari was acquitted of seven other charges, including demanding and receiving $175,000 in bribes for steering city contracts to crooked roofing and towing companies.

First regret filled his voice as he wondered how he could have avoided his conviction. “I wanted to testify,” but his lawyers advised against it, he said.

“Maybe that was a big mistake,” he said.

Then mist filled his eyes when his thoughts turned to his beloved Passaic.

“I don’t think there’s a day that goes by that I don’t think about Passaic,” Lipari said slowly and surely. “I loved Passaic. I still love Passaic. The city will always be in my heart.”

And Passaic still loves him, too, he said.

“If I ran for mayor of Passaic, I’d win,” he said. Then, when talk turned to who should come after Rivera, Lipari muttered: “They should appoint me mayor.”

That’s not a possibility. Those who are convicted of federal corruption charges are barred from holding elected office again.

Lipari emerged from prison in 1996. Burdened with debts, he was forced to sell his lucrative meat business, Top Grade Sausage Inc. in Hawthorne, which he said once earned him more than $500,000 a year. His children now own the firm.

Louis V. Messercola’s leadership unraveled on a day in 1988, when federal agents nabbed him in a grocery store parking lot. He later was convicted of extorting enormous cash bribes from contractors wanting to do business in Wayne. When he left prison in 1991, he declared in a newspaper article that incarceration had freed him from personal demons. NorthJersey.com

NJ considering deposits for beverage containers

New Jerseyans may soon pay as much as 20 cents extra when buying beverages in bottles and cans as part of an effort to boost recycling and combat litter.

On Monday, the Assembly Environment Committee is scheduled to discuss a 10-cent deposit for bottles and cans less than 24 ounces and 20 cents for larger ones up to 3 liters. The bill would apply to juice, sport drinks, water, soda, wine and beer containers.

Consumers would get the money back by returning the container to newly created redemption centers or to retailers. NJ.com

Rabbi, priests, sheriffs support Passaic imam in court

A Jewish rabbi, Roman Catholic and Episcopalian priests, a federal prosecutor and two sherriffs took the witness stand today to heap praise upon a popular Muslim cleric as his attorneys began presenting their case for why he should not be deported.

Mohammad Qatanani, imam of the Islamic Center of Passaic County in Paterson faces deportation for allegedly failing to disclose on his 1996 green card application that he had been arrested and pleaded guilty to aiding the terrorist group Hamas in an Israeli military court three years earlier.

His attorneys argue that Qatanani was detained administratively, convicted in absentia and subject to interrogation tactics Israel’s top court later outlawed as torture.

Among the witnesses subpeonad by Qatatani’s lawyers was Assistant United States Attorney Charles McKenna, who described numerous trips to the Paterson mosque as part of an effort to create better understanding between law enforcement and the Muslim community.

As an example, he said investigators often interpreted the tendency of Muslim women to not look them in the eye as a sign of deceit. Through the dialogue at the mosque, they realized it is routine in Arab culture for women not to look men outside their family in the eye.

“It’s important for us to have leaders in the Islamic community who will be accepting of us and give us inroads in the community,” he said.

The sheriffs of two north Jersey counties echoed McKenna’s statements that the mosque’s open door policies had helped investigators become more familiar with cultural aspects of the Muslim community.

But they also described a more personal connection they had made through their cooperation with Qatanani.

“When I’m in his presence, and he does have a presence, this small, unassuming person, he doesn’t say “boo” but he gives me a better feeling of peace,” said Bergen County Sheriff Leo McGuire. “I feel better as a person to be with him.”

Jerry Speziale, the sheriff of Passaic County echoed McGuire’s testimony saying Qatatani “radiates peace.”

Christopher Brundage, one of two Department of Homeland Security attorneys serving as prosecutors in the case, pressed Speziale and McGuire, asking if they would have different opinions if they had known about Qatatani’s alleged ties to Hamas.

Speziale said he would need to see proof of the conviction himself. McGuire said, “It would surprise me,” but added, “it cannot change my mind about what I have observed.” NJ.com

Gary Schaer becomes acting Mayor and keep’s 3 other job’s

Passaic City Council President/Acting Mayor Gary S. Schaer released a statement today in the aftermath of Mayor Samuel Rivera’s departure from office. Rivera re signed at 5 p.m. after earlier in the day pleading guilty to extortion in federal court.

“This is a difficult time for Passaic,” said Schaer. “I am committed, along with my city council colleagues, to restoring confidence to the residents of Passaic and assuring them that the services provided by our municipal government will continue as normal.

“The hard-working residents of Passaic deserve a municipal government that is honest and trustworthy,” he added. “…While I did not seek this position, my role as Council President statutorily requires this service.” Schaer, who said he would receive no additional compensation or benefits as acting mayor, announced that he will be sworn-in during a “private ceremony” performed by the city clerk. He has scheduled a meeting of the city’s department directors for Monday morning. “Together, we will move forward and continue to improve the quality of life for everyone who lives in our great city,” Schaer said.

Mayor to plead guilty of corruption

(You first heard it yesterday, here on PCJN!)

PASSAIC — Mayor Samuel Rivera was expected to be in Trenton today, pleading guilty to federal corruption charges. But on Thursday, he was in City Hall as streams of well-wishers said their goodbyes.

Men and women stood in a line outside his office, crying. Even the mayor’s hefty bodyguard, Passaic police Detective Lucho Candelaria, was a little misty.

“He’s leaving, and we’re never going to see him again,” said the mayor’s secretary, Angely Ramirez, who wiped her eyes with tissues.

“It’s just sad for the people who knew him well,” Ramirez said between sniffles. “He helped a lot of people.”

Rivera, a former police detective who built his reputation on being tough on crime and cleaning up the streets, is expected to plead to a two-count indictment alleging he accepted a $5,000 bribe and the promise of another $50,000, in exchange for lucrative insurance contracts with the city. Rivera’s plea hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Trenton.

In an interview Thursday evening with Univision 41, a Spanish-language news channel, Rivera sat down with a reporter and said in Spanish, “I have to resign.”

Julio Luciano, the mayor’s assistant, carried cardboard boxes out of the office. Later, he stood on the steps of City Hall, smoking a cigarette and shaking his head.

“He gave a lot of people jobs and helped a lot of police,” Luciano said. “The people that don’t like him are going to see: Passaic is going to be bad. Without him, there will be a lot of gangs and dirty streets.”

Ramirez said Rivera would not see reporters in his office: “He’s not in a good mood right now,” she said.

Then, about noontime, Rivera emerged from his office. A group of employees surrounded him as he made his way out of City Hall. He shook their hands and embraced them.

When asked whether he had resigned, he simply shook his head and said, “No.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said, offering a handshake. If convicted, Rivera faces up to 30 years in prison on both offenses as well as up to $250,000 in fines on each.

Under state law, once Rivera pleads guilty, he must resign.

Rivera, along with former Councilmen Jonathan Soto and Marcellus Jackson, was accused of taking bribes from undercover FBI agents in exchange for working to get public contracts for a fake insurance company, called Coastal Solutions LLC. The officials were arrested in September as part of a statewide FBI sting dubbed “Operation Broken Boards.”

Jackson pleaded guilty in December and resigned from the council in January. Soto awaits trial.

Neither prosecutors nor Rivera’s attorney, Henry Klingeman, would comment on whether a plea agreement had been struck.

Thus far, all but five public officials have pleaded guilty to being part of the scheme. Among them are former state Assemblyman Alfred Steele, D-Paterson; Jackson, of the Passaic City Council, Pleasantville school board members Rafael Velez, Jayson Adams and James Pressley, and Pleasantville Councilman Peter Callaway. All await sentencing. NorthJersey.com

New Jersey Trooper injured helping accident victim

State police say a trooper severed an artery helping a man get out of his truck after an accident off Route 80 in Allamuchy Township.

Sgt. Stephen Jones says Trooper Cesar Garces pulled into a rest area after a pick-up slammed into the back of a tractor-trailer around 2 a.m. today.

Jones says Garces used a flashlight to break the window of the pick-up truck so the driver could get out. The trooper sliced his wrist, severing the artery.

Garces and the driver, Paul Villano, were airlifted to Morristown Memorial Hospital.

Garces underwent surgery and was released. Villano, whose condition isn’t known, is charged with driving while intoxicated. NJ.COM

Israel turned 60 today

 

Israel celebrated the 60th anniversary of its creation today with fireworks, air force flyovers and street parties, but the atmosphere of heady jubilation was marred by doubts over future security and prospects for peace with the Palestinians.

A security crackdown sealing off the West Bank and Gaza and marches by Palestinians marking the expulsion of some 760,000 inhabitants as part of what they regard as the “Nakba” – the catastrophe – was a stark reminder of the uncertain future of the Jewish State.

Across the country, Israelis held barbecues in backyards and public parks and attended parachute jumps, a Bible quiz, concerts and the inauguration of a footpath around the Sea of Galilee.

The Nasa astronaut Garrett Reisman, the first Jewish crew member on the international space station, sent a greeting from space to the people of Israel. “Every time the station flies over the state of Israel, I try to find a window, and it never fails to move me when I see the familiar outline of Israel coming toward us from over the horizon,” the American-born astronaut said

Breaking News Mayor (sammy) Samuel Rivera to plead guilty tomorrow

Passaic New Jersey   Mayor Samuel Rivera will plead guilty on Friday tomorrow ( 05/09/2008 ) to taking bribes last year.

 The mayor will be resigning from his office tomorrow. He will plead guilty for a plea deal. As more will come we will update you.

You heard this story first from P.C.J.N