The Jersey City Independent "

Photos: Steve Gold

“Mariano Vega* has resigned from his position as Council President today effective Friday,” Mayor Jerramiah Healy says in a statement. “We believe this decision is the right one for our city and our people, and we will work with the governing body to focus on the business of moving this city forward with honest, open and effective government.”

In his pseudo-resignation letter, Vega* says he is “temporarily stepping down … as Council President until such time as I am completely exonerated.”

City Clerk Robert Byrne confirms that Vega* is stepping down only as Council President but retaining his At-Large seat. He says that the council can either continue to function with At-Large councilman Peter Brennan running the show as Council President Pro Tem, or the council could elect a new president altogether.

“It’s outrageous,” Ward E councilman Steven Fulop says of Vega*’s refusal to completely resign. “I’ve never heard of something called a ‘temporary resignation.’ It’s like being ‘a little bit pregnant.’”

Civic activist and former mayoral candidate Dan Levin agrees.

“Resigning the presidency is not enough; he needs to resign his council position,” Levin says. “His votes are tainted.”

Levin adds that Vega*’s move is essentially empty, and that the mayor needs to show leadership and call on him to resign his At-Large seat.

“It’s not enough to think that they’ve done anything when they haven’t done anything,” Levin says.

Phil Kenny is inaugurated to the City Council this July

Elsewhere on the council, Ward B representative Phil Kenny became the first active council member to plead guilty today in federal court. He admits to taking a $5,000 bribe from purported developer (and FBI informant) Solomon Dwek “in return for exercising his future official assistance in obtaining real estate development approvals,” according to the US Attorney’s office. Kenny will face a maximum of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when he is sentenced on Jan. 12, 2010.

As a result of his plea, Kenny is, for all intents and purposes, no longer a member of the council. While Byrne says he has yet to receive a resignation letter, it is likely coming. And if by any chance it isn’t, the prosecutor will be forced to remove Kenny from his seat.

As for his Ward B seat, the council can vote to appoint someone to fill it within the next 30 days; that person would serve an interim term until the November 2010 elections. If the council can’t come to an agreement on who should be appointed, it could in theory continue to operate as an eight-person council until next fall as well. Byrne points out that for almost the entire year of 1992, the City Council was comprised of only eight members.

Levin calls the news of Kenny’s plea “just a shocker,” adding that it shows the overall corruption problem is “bigger than we ever thought.”

As for who he’d like to see replace Kenny on the council, Levin says he believes that “any interim replacement should come from outside the existing political spectrum,” to help restore Ward B residents’ faith in government. Fulop says he was taken aback by Kenny’s plea but that he’s waiting to get more details from Byrne about the process going forward before talking about who he’d like to see in Kenny’s stead.

Like Fulop, Levin, and many others in the political community, Healy says Kenny’s plea caught him off guard.

“I am just as stunned as everyone by this news,” Healy says. “I had always known Phil Kenny to be an honest person who was dedicated to his city and his community.”

Like what you've read here? Please consider making a donation or becoming a sustaining member. As a grassroots news organization, we rely on community support -- as well as paid advertising -- to survive.