JCI Editorial: Mariano Vega Should Resign
By The Editors • Jul 30th, 2009 • Category: Featured, News, Politics
Photo: Steve Gold
Like each home run that Barry Bonds slugged out into McCovey Cove in San Francisco, each vote that Mariano Vega continues to cast on the City Council will be tainted by an asterisk. But the business facing Jersey City’s governing body is much more serious than the game of baseball. We cannot afford to have a councilman who votes under a cloud of suspicion serious enough to involve the FBI.
One week ago today, the council president was arrested and charged as part of a massive federal investigation into political corruption in New Jersey. While we firmly believe in the concept of being innocent until proven guilty (and sometimes even after — hello wrongful convictions!), we call on the longtime public servant to resign his City Council position immediately.
We find Vega to be a decent and affable — if occasionally long-winded — man, and we respect his service. But this is not about Vega. This is about the citizens and the trust of city government. We cannot allow the public’s trust to be further eroded; yet this is exactly what Vega’s refusal to resign does.
In order for this city to truly move forward in the wake of this corruption sting, Vega must no longer govern. It’s that simple.
In honor of the asterisk, from this point forward, until he is proven innocent, the JCI styleguide will declare: all mentions of Mariano Vega should be written Mariano Vega*.
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The Editors is the collective voice of the Jersey City Independent's editorial board.
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