A Sad Chapter in Hoboken Politics Ends Today
Today, former Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano reports to federal prison, ending another chapter in the sordid tradition of corruption in Hudson County politics.
More than 6,000 Hoboken voters who put their trust in Peter Cammarano were betrayed when he accepted campaign cash for influence.
There is no pleasure to take from this episode. A family has been destroyed, and more members of our community have lost faith in anyone holding public office. Power corrupts, and an elected official doesn’t have to take an envelope full of cash to betray the people. When elected officials operate without proper checks and balances, they feel no need to work in the public interest. It’s in that environment that backroom deals for political appointments are made in exchange for votes on city councils and public boards.
You will hear my opponent, Michael Lenz, invoke Mr. Cammarano’s name many times during this campaign. He’ll do this in the hope that the public will ignore Mr. Lenz’s own 25-year record of insider deals and influence peddling. He once called himself a reformer, but the truth is that Michael Lenz has spent more than two decades trading his political involvement for personal enrichment. It’s through one of these backroom deals that he was rewarded with a county patronage job for himself. This kind of cynical manipulation of public funds represents an ethical deficiency that, while not technically illegal, is certainly not in the interests of the people of Hoboken, and certainly doesn’t represent the actions of a reformer.
If elected, I will keep my private-sector job and fight only for the people of Hoboken. I will put the integrity of my family name on the line every day and bring dignity and honor to this office, guided by the tradition of honesty my family taught me.
Michael Lenz wants to paint every one of the more than 6,000 people who voted for Peter Cammarano as corrupt. This is cynical and divisive and serves to further discourage voters. For the good of our city, Michael Lenz should stop it now. ◦
