Posted by Always room for one more... on July 18, 2003 at 17:05:45:

The Economist
May 10th, 2003

Paterson
Not in politics, it seems

WHAT on earth is happening in New Jersey? Last week, Martin Barnes, the former mayor of Paterson, one of the state's largest cities, was sentenced to three years in prison for accepting more than $200,000 in bribes. He was also fined $1,000 for accepting cash, a swimming pool and the favours of a young lady, all provided by thoughtful city contractors.

Once behind bars, Mr Barnes won't lack for political gossip. Milton Milan, who used to be mayor of Camden, another big town, is currently serving a seven-year sentence for a litany of crimes. A former mayor of Irvington, Sara Bost, who has pleaded guilty to witness tampering, may soon join them. Last month, Kenneth Saunders, a former mayor of Asbury Park (of Bruce Springsteen fame), was charged with conspiracy and bribery. A former Newark mayor pleaded guilty to tax evasion last autumn.

And let's not, forget the political boss of one New Jersey county who was recently indicted on 20 counts of extortion, fraud and conspiracy. Or the Hudson County official who was charged with bribery and has bizarrely disappeared into the witness-protection programme. And so on. Some three dozen indictments have been issued to New Jersey politicians in investigations in the past year.

Why has New Jersey suddenly become the Louisiana of the north? It is not a party thing: in New Jersey both the Republicans and Democrats seem equally criminal. The obvious people to blame are the state's much maligned "organised-crime community": this is the land of Soprano as well as Springsteen. Many of the guilty mayors had ties to the mob.

Locals prefer to point to the fact that their state is unusually fragmented. Most of the power resides not with the governor in Trenton, but with its 21 counties, 566 municipalities and 600 school districts. There are tens of thousands of public officials who have access to large budgets of one sort or another. Many politicians double dip (hold more than one elected office).

However, the most plausible explanation for the sudden burst of convictions is that, until recently, nobody really minded. David Rebovich at the Rider Institute for New Jersey Politics argues that New Jersey voters have generally not been too concerned by political labels; what they have wanted is political pork-and that, they have accepted, meant cutting the odd corner. The impetus for the current arrests has come from an unusually hyperactive federal prosecutor, Christopher Christie, who has already (somewhat worryingly) been nicknamed "Big Boy" by George Bush.

Now there are demands for a bigger overhaul of New Jersey's numerous and dysfunctional municipalities. In theory, the Democratic governor, James McGreevey, is all for wholesale reform. But he has not yet committed to signing a law that would ban "pay for play" (ie, it would prevent campaign donors from winning government contracts).

There are some signs of change in public attitudes. Mr Christie is so popular that people are talking about him as "New Jersey's Giuliani". One of the state's fastest-growing companies, Commerce Bank, has just stopped making campaign contributions in New Jersey, lest they be misinterpreted. Over three-quarters of New Jerseyans now say they think there is some political corruption in their state. Heaven knows what the other quarter are up to.

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