Catching The Dirty Little Fish

While much of the nation is surprised and tut-tuts at New Jersey (deservedly so) for constantly electing corrupt politicians such as Corzine and Menendez to top statewide posts, one needs to understand that there are no other types of politician in New Jersey; from the bottom up, they are all mired in the muck. Finally, though, recently appointed Attorney General Stuart Rabner is looking at the bottom of the pond and realizing the scum that resides down there is just as harmful to the average Jersey resident as that which (unfortunately) rises to the top:

The mayor of a southern New Jersey town was indicted yesterday, charged with public corruption for offering government jobs to his political opponent in exchange for the man pulling out of a local election.
Carneys Point Mayor John M. Lake was charged with two counts of bribery and one count of official misconduct, state officials said. The opponent didn't exit the town council election, and Lake lost the race for the board's one open seat.

Lake's Democratic opponent for town council, Anthony Rullo, told the Associated Press he was surprised when Lake showed up at his home July 4 and began offering him municipal jobs. Rullo said the caveat was that he had to drop out of the race by a certain deadline that would prevent another candidate from being placed on the ballot.
Rullo said Lake first offered to reappoint him to the sewerage authority -- a five-year appointment that pays $1,500 a year -- if Rullo agreed to back out.
He said Lake later upped the ante, offering Rullo a part-time job at the authority that pays an estimated $10,000 to $12,000 a year. When that didn't work, Lake then offered him a job as a housing inspector for up to $15,000 a year, Rullo said.

This is one of the reason that taxes are so high in New Jersey and services are so poor - jobs that need to be done, and done well, are handed out as political patronage, or as we see above, as outright bribes. Who cares if a building falls down? Hey, we got "our man" on the Board, right?

The Asbury Park-Press comments in an editorial:

Attorney General Stuart Rabner's announcement this week of the indictment of a small-town mayor from southern New Jersey may look like he snagged a small fish in a big pond. But eight weeks into the job, Rabner has had little time to cast out all his lines. We encourage him to reel in every corrupt politician he can find — all are "keepers" for prosecution.

Rabner, a former prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office with extensive experience in fighting corruption and terrorism, gives New Jersey residents hope that the days are numbered for the state's culture of corruption. Even though Lake's arrest may look like small potatoes, it should cause considerable unease among public officials who engage in political horse-trading and use their power to give taxpayer-funded jobs to people who do them favors.
We hope Rabner has his sights set on bigger fish. But we're glad to see him reeling in the little ones.

I share the APP's enthusiasm for the indictment, but I do not care for their characterization of Mayor Lake as a "small fish". Small in statewide stature to be sure, but large in representation of the corruption that goes on in every single township in the state of New Jersey. I am sure there is many a crooked small-town Jersey official that got quite nervous upon hearing of Lake's indictment - if the big guys can dip into Carneys Point, who says they can't wade into my tiny 'burg, right?

Remember the Rudy Guliani method of policing - when graffiti-tagging, turnstile-jumping and breaking windows became serious criminal offenses, the mental leap to committing armed robbery and murder became much harder to make. If one small-time small town mayor can get sent to the hoosegow for illegal patronage, who knows how that can reverberate up the ladder?

UPDATE: I like Rabner's resume:

Rabner’s federal career was notable for his prosecution of corrupt public officials, including former Hudson County Executive Robert Janiszewski in 2002 and former Somerset County Prosecutor Nicholas Bissell in 1996. In 2005, he prosecuted Hemant Lakhani, a British national who attempted to purchase shoulder-fired, surface-to-air missiles for terrorists. Lakhani was convicted after trial and sentenced to 47 years in prison.

A refreshing change from the usual stench that hangs over New Jersey Attorney Generals...