Sharpe James | |
---|---|
Member of the New Jersey Senate from the 29th district | |
In office June 21, 1999 –January 8, 2008 | |
Preceded by | Wynona Lipman |
Succeeded by | Teresa Ruiz |
37th Mayor of Newark | |
In office July 1,1986 –June 30,2006 | |
Preceded by | Kenneth A. Gibson |
Succeeded by | Cory Booker |
Personal details | |
Born | Jacksonville,Florida,U.S. | February 20,1936
Political party | Democratic |
Sharpe James (born February 20,1936) is an American former politician from New Jersey. A Democrat,he served as the 37th mayor of Newark from 1986 to 2006 and as a state senator for the 29th legislative district from 1999 to 2008. He is the longest-serving mayor in Newark's history and is a subject of the 2005 feature-film Street Fight ,which depicts Newark's 2002 mayoral election where James faced a closer-than-expected challenge from Cory Booker. Once a popular figure in New Jersey politics,his career effectively ended after he was convicted of high-profile corruption charges in 2008. [1] [2]
James was born in Jacksonville,Florida,in 1936. He has been a resident of Newark since 1940. [3] He graduated from South Side High School (since renamed as Malcolm X Shabazz High School),earned a B.A. in education from Montclair State University and a M.A. in physical education from Springfield College. [4] He received the 1961 Department of Physiology Award from that school,and later completed postgraduate studies at Washington State University,Columbia University,and Rutgers University. He also served with the U.S. Army in Germany. In 1988,James was awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Montclair State University,and,in 1991,an Honorary Doctorate from Drew University. [5] Prior to politics,James worked as a teacher,athletic director and professor at Essex County College.
James was first elected to public office in 1970 as a South Ward Councilman. He was reelected to the council in 1974,defeating his sole opponent by a ten-to-one margin. [6] He was elected to a third term in 1978,and in 1982 he became the first ward councilman elected to an at-large seat. [7] As a councilman,he chaired New Jersey's Black and Hispanic delegation. [8] In 1977 he led an effort to halt landings of Concorde jets at Newark International Airport,claiming it would add to air and noise pollution in the area. [9] In 1983,after talk show host Phil Donahue made comments about Newark being "a place foreigners wouldn't want to visit",James demanded an apology. In response,Donahue sent James a letter apologizing for the remark. [10]
On January 30,1986,James announced he would run for Mayor of Newark to challenge four-term incumbent Kenneth A. Gibson. [7] James won the May 13 election and was sworn into office on July 1 of that year. He was the first Newark mayor to run unopposed when he sought re-election in 1990 and handily won re-election in 1994 and 1998. James became Newark's longest-serving mayor when he was re-elected for an unprecedented fifth term in 2002,a year after being named "Mayor of the Year" by the New Jersey Conference of Mayors. His 2002 reelection campaign,against then-Councilman Cory Booker,was documented in the 2005 feature film Street Fight . James faced scrutiny over a racist and homophobic statement involving a slur made to Booker during a public confrontation prior to election day,but still was victorious in the tense election. [11] [12]
James became known in his early years as mayor for often wearing jogging suits in public and making high-profile efforts to attract development to Downtown Newark. In 1997,Newark saw the completion of the acclaimed New Jersey Performing Arts Center. James became known as an example of "machine politics". He had a reputation for questionable campaign tactics,including alleged use of the police force for his own purposes,intimidating supporters of his opponents and attacking his opponents' heritage. [13]
In 1987 and 1988,James served as the New Jersey chairman of Jesse Jackson's campaign for the 1988 Democratic Party presidential nomination. [14] In December 1992,James was a member of the New Jersey State Electoral College,one of 15 electors casting their votes for the Clinton/Gore ticket. [15]
In 1996,James's chief of staff,Jackie Mattison,was charged in federal court with receiving over $17,000 in bribes from an insurance broker from Millburn. [16] [17] He was later sentenced to 41 months in federal prison. He was released in 2000. [18]
In terms of housing,James' policy in the 1990s was to demolish Newark's massive,but mostly abandoned,housing projects,and replace them with small-scale public housing or market rate middle class residences. Following the September 11 terrorist attacks,James offered to assist nearby Jersey City in providing aid for New York City where the attacks occurred. [19]
In 2006,James championed the relocation of the New Jersey Devils to the City of Newark. The Prudential Center is the newest arena in the Newark metropolitan area. On March 16,James filed for reelection as mayor,but announced eleven days later he would not seek a sixth term. [20]
In June 1999,while serving as Mayor,James was appointed to the New Jersey Senate to fill out the unexpired term of the late Senator Wynona Lipman,and won election to that seat the following November. He was re-elected for a full term in November 2001 and continued to hold both offices. His Senate district encompassed part of Newark in Essex County and all of the Township of Hillside in Union County.
From 2002 to 2003,James served as Assistant Democratic leader of the senate,and from 2004 to 2005 he served as Assistant Senate Majority leader under Bernard Kenny. [21] He became vice chairman of the Senate budget committee in 2004,serving in that position under Senator Wayne R. Bryant,who was indicted in March 2007 for corruption charges. [22] On April 9,2007,James announced he would not seek re-election to his State Senate seat. [23]
In 2005,a New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request was submitted asking that James hand over a City Hall-issued debit card he had received in 2002. The OPRA request showed that James had spent over $70,000 with the card for personal expenses over a two-year period. [24] In August 2006,an OPRA request further revealed that James had spent over $80,000 with a credit card provided by the Newark Police Department for several vacations,including a $6,500 vacation to Rio de Janeiro in June of that year. [24] On August 21,the U.S. Attorney's Office,led by U.S. Attorney Chris Christie,issued subpoenas for debit and credit card records for further information. [25] In a response,James claimed no wrongdoing,and explained that,"as the last of the civil rights mayors in America,I had to travel and sell this city and the world about the Newark success story". [24] In September,federal authorities began their own investigation into potential wrongdoing committed by James. [26]
In March 2007,federal investigators subpoenaed documents between James and Tamika Riley,his mistress and a former store operator,under accusations that James rigged the sale of city lots to Riley,who quickly resold them for hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit. [27] The U.S. Attorney's office launched a separate investigation into these allegations later in June. [28]
On July 12,James was indicted by a federal grand jury on 33 federal charges,namely mail fraud and conspiracy. [21] In a press conference regarding the indictment,Christie alleged that James rigged the sale of nine city lots to Riley in a "cut-rate scheme" between 2001 and 2005. [29] Later,he further alleged that James had also misused city-issued credit cards for himself and eight women during out-of-state vacations between 2001 and 2006. [22] At his arraignment,James pleaded not guilty. [30]
On February 26,2008,James' trial was opened. [29] [31] His lawyers maintained that James had not violated federal law. [32] In the first week,prosecutors presented a video tape of James testifying about Senate Bill 967,which was legislation he sponsored in 2004 to amend the Faulkner Act,with them alleging that James urged the passage of the bill so he could increase his power and illegally benefit himself. The defense counter-argued that James was acting properly in his capacity as a senator and should have enjoyed immunity. [33]
On March 5,prosecutors presented more than a dozen memos from James regarding the land deals,which revealed that he had been monitoring whether city developers he was acquainted with were getting a chance to buy the lots. [34] To prove this,prosecutors called up James' longtime secretary Rose Marie Posella,who testified that James met routinely with developers in his Newark City Hall office. She also testified that Tamika Riley had privileged access to James and that City Hall officials were aware they were having an affair. [34] On April 1,the defense called up former councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins,who testified that the city council set a uniform price for city-owned land for redevelopers and that James had not been involved in the process. [35]
The jury began deliberations on April 8 [32] and on April 16 they found James guilty on all counts. [1] On May 12,the U.S. Attorney's office announced that the remaining charges against James for his misuse of city-issued credits cards had been dropped,thus sparing him of a second trial. [36] On July 23,Judge Bill Martini upheld the convictions, [37] and on July 29,James was sentenced to 27 months in prison and was ordered to pay a $100,000 fine. [38] Originally,prosecutors urged for a 15-to-20 year sentence for James,but Martini argued that James' years as a public servant played a role in the more lenient sentence. [39] Tamika Riley was also found guilty on those five counts and eight others,including tax evasion. [40] In September 2008,the Federal Bureau of Prisons denied James' request to serve his sentence at a federal prison in Fort Dix [41] and instead reported him to FCI Petersburg in Virginia. [42]
In June 2009,James' attorney Alan Bowman attempted to convince an appellate court to expunge the convictions,although his efforts failed. [43] [44] On April 6,2010,James was granted early release after 18 months served. As per a court order,he was banned from running for elected office for the remainder of his career. [45] Seven days after his release,James filed an appeal to reverse his convictions. [46] In September 2010,one of his convictions was overturned,but the four remaining convictions were left unchanged. [47] He further appealed seeking to overturn the convictions due to a juror being dishonest;this appeal was dismissed in February 2013. [48]
In 2011,the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission filed a lawsuit against James alleging that he and his campaign treasurer,Cheryl Johnson,improperly used about $94,000 in campaign funds to pay for legal fees. [49] On August 17,2012,the New Jersey Superior Court ruled in favor of the commission and ordered that both James and Johnson had to pay the money back. [50] In January 2015,a state appeals court struck down an appeal by James and upheld the higher court's ruling. [51] [52]
In 2013,James published a 17-chapter book titled Political Prisoner,which he had written in prison. [53] That same year,he advised the election campaign of his son John Sharpe James,who won a seat on the Municipal Council of Newark. [54] [53] That same year James endorsed Cory Booker,a former foe he had defeated in the 2002 Newark mayoral race,in the special election for U.S. Senator to replace the late Frank Lautenberg. [55]
In 2022,James attempted to run for office as an at-large candidate for Newark City Council despite a court order banning him from running a public elected office. His certification was denied by Newark City Clerk Kenneth Louis on March 3,2022. [2] James attempted to sue after his candidacy was rejected,arguing that while he was prohibited from holding public office,running as a candidate was not prohibited. A judge dismissed his suit and James declined to appeal the dismissal. [56]
The U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey is the chief federal law enforcement officer in New Jersey. On December 16,2021,Philip R. Sellinger was sworn in as U.S. Attorney. The U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey has jurisdiction over all cases prosecuted by the U.S. attorney.
Ronald L. Rice was an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1986 to 2022. He represented the 28th Legislative District. Rice is one of the longest-serving state senators in New Jersey history.
Cory Anthony Booker is an American politician serving as the senior United States senator from New Jersey,a seat he has held since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party,Booker is the first African-American U.S. senator from New Jersey. He was the 38th mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013,and served on the Municipal Council of Newark for the Central Ward from 1998 to 2002.
William E. Baroni Jr. is an American Republican Party politician and law professor. He represented the 14th legislative district in the New Jersey Senate and General Assembly. In 2010,New Jersey Governor Chris Christie named Baroni to serve as the Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
William D. Payne is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1998 until 2008 where he represented the 29th legislative district. He served as the Assembly's Deputy Majority Conference Leader from 2002-2008.
William John Martini is a senior United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey,having been in active service from November 14,2002,to February 10,2015. Martini is one of 24 judges seated on the New Jersey District Court,and his highest profile case to date was the corruption trial for former Newark Mayor Sharpe James.
Kenneth Allen Gibson was an American politician of the Democratic Party who was the 36th mayor of Newark,New Jersey from 1970 to 1986. He was the first African American mayor of a major city in the Northeastern United States.
Street Fight is a 2005 documentary film by Marshall Curry,chronicling the 2002 Newark mayoral election which pitted upstart Cory Booker against the incumbent Sharpe James for Mayor of Newark,New Jersey. Other credits include Rory Kennedy,Liz Garbus,Mary Manhardt,Marisa Karplus,Catherine Jones,and Adam Etline. Street Fight screened at the 2005 Tribeca Film Festival and was later aired on the PBS series P.O.V. on July 5,2005,and CBC Newsworld in Canada on May 7,2006. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Christopher James Christie is an American politician and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. A member of the Republican Party,he was the United States Attorney for New Jersey from 2002 to 2008 and a Morris County commissioner from 1995 to 1997. He was a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and 2024.
Gregory Paw served as the Director of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice from February 21,2006 to June 20,2008. Paw succeeded Vaughn McCoy as Director,and was succeeded as Director by Deborah Gramiccioni,with whom he had worked closely while she was a special assistant to the New Jersey Attorney General. Paw is now a partner in the law firm of Pepper Hamilton,practicing white collar criminal defense and corporate compliance in the firm's Princeton and Philadelphia offices.
Maria Teresa Ruiz is an American Democratic Party politician,who has represented the 29th Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate since taking office on January 8,2008. She has served as the Senate Majority Leader since 2022,becoming the first Latina to lead either the Assembly or Senate,after succeeding Loretta Weinberg upon her retirement from the Senate.
William Vincent Musto was an American Democratic politician who was sentenced to prison for corruption. He was the Mayor of Union City,New Jersey,from 1962 to 1970 and from 1974 to 1982. He served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1947 to 1966 and in the New Jersey Senate from 1966 to 1982. The New York Times called him a "charismatic and visionary force" in New Jersey politics for decades.
James William Treffinger is a former disbarred American lawyer and Republican Party politician who served as County Executive of Essex County,New Jersey from 1995 to 2003. He pleaded guilty to federal charges of obstruction of justice and mail fraud in 2003.
The Federal Correctional Complex,Petersburg is a United States federal prison complex for male inmates in Petersburg,Virginia. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons,a division of the United States Department of Justice.
The Federal Correctional Institution,Petersburg is a United States federal prison for low- and medium-security male inmates. It is part of the Petersburg Federal Correctional Complex (FCC) in Virginia and operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons,a division of the United States Department of Justice. An adjacent satellite prison camp houses minimum-security male offenders. FCI Petersburg consists of two facilities:
Luis A. Quintana is an American politician who served as Councilmember-at-Large of the Municipal Council of Newark,New Jersey,first elected in 1994. He served as Mayor of Newark from November 2013 to July 2014,after which he was re-elected to his council seat.
David Wildstein is an American businessman,former Republican Party politician,and the founder and editor-in-chief of the New Jersey political news website New Jersey Globe. A former mayor of Livingston,New Jersey,he served as a senior official in the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey during the administration of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie until 2013,when Wildstein resigned in the midst of a scandal involving traffic lanes closures. On May 1,2015,he pleaded guilty to two federal felony counts of conspiracy as part of a plea agreement,but his conviction was later overturned.
Jackie R. Mattison is an American Democratic politician and convicted felon who served in the New Jersey General Assembly. He was chief of staff to Newark Mayor Sharpe James from 1986 until his conviction for bribery in 1997.
The 2006 election for Mayor of Newark took place in Newark,the most populous city in the state of New Jersey,on May 9,2006. Newark is organized under the Faulkner Act. Elections for all seats on the nine member Municipal Council of Newark were held the same day. A runoff election,if necessary,would have taken place. Elections in the city are non-partisan and candidates are not listed by political party.
The 1970 Newark mayoral election was held on June 16,1970. Incumbent mayor Hugh Addonizio ran for a third term in office but was defeated by civil engineer Kenneth A. Gibson. Gibson became the first black man elected mayor of a major city in the Northeastern United States or Eastern Seaboard.