Angel is No Angel

But is he a devil?

Just breaking on Patch:
"Public Safety Director Angel Alicea is stepping down from his post because he met twice with FBI Informant Solomon Dwek, the city announced Friday evening. Until now, Alicea had never disclosed this information.

Dwek is the informant who nailed former Mayor Peter Cammarano and also sat down with Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo,causing him to step down as Council Vice President .

The meetings occured when Alicea was running for council on Cammarano's council ticket.

"He and I mutually agreed today that in light of Hoboken’s recent history and the fact that he had failed to disclose this information either publicly or to me, he could no longer serve effectively in his position as Public Safety Director," said Mayor Dawn Zimmer in a statement."
So Angel Alicea steps down from his salaried appointment ($27.5K) under the presumption of guilt for not disclosing meeting with the radioactive Dwek, while Russo accepted a BRIBE on an FBI surveillance tape, is featured in a book documenting political corruption in New Jersey and gets to KEEP his salaried ELECTED position on the City Council although he too, has broken the public trust...

Angel deserves to be fired.  So does Russo.

Alicea had the sense to step down (and the Mayor had the sense to force him).

City Council President Beth Mason senselessly, gracelessly and classlessly endorsed  Russo's videotaped conduct by not forcing him to step down from the City Council, or the HHA, then blew the smoke of suspicion on all City Council members, slyly suggesting others had meetings with Dwek (only she and Russo did).

Mason even had the chutzpah to say Jake Stuiver was "near" Dwek when she met with him.   You know why?  Stuiver was working for her mayoral campaign at the time and accompanied her as a Mason staffer. Stuiver received NO Dwek invitation and accepted NO meeting with him. He was brought by Beth.

Speaking of Mason's poor judgment for keeping  Russo on the HHA, she's exposed Hoboken to HUD penalties ranging from fines to total loss of federal funding because the actions he spoke of on tape violate HUD's regulatory guidelines.  Certainly the Mayor is obligated to notify HUD of Russo's conduct  to protect Hoboken taxpayers and the HHA from punitive action should they 'discover' it themselves.

There you have it.

Beth Mason has placed Hoboken's public housing in a most precarious position by playing politics with the HHA.

More of the same from that one.  

May 10, people. Get her out.

Back to Alicea. For stepping up by stepping down, GA 's judgment on whether   Angel's a devil can wait until the videotape release.  For sure he was a bad, bad boy for not sharing that information with the Mayor from the get-go.

But like I said, Russo's deception didn't seem to bother Mason. He still keeps his jobs. Plural.

Among the unscrupulous, all is forgiven.

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