Addiego and Rudder Request Speaker Roberts Begin Expulsion of Arrested Assemblymen

August 3, 2009

Contact: Robbie Kenney / (609) 654-1498
Senator Dawn Marie Addiego

Addiego and Rudder Request Speaker Roberts Begin Expulsion of Arrested Assemblymen

Lawmakers Drafting Legislation to Begin Expulsion of Arrested Assemblymen and Urge Legislature to Convene Immediately

Saying the suspension of pay and benefits of the assemblymen arrested on corruption charges is a good but insufficient step, Assembly members Dawn Marie Addiego and Scott Rudder today urged Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr. to convene a special session of the Legislature to begin the process of expelling Assemblymen L. Harvey Smith and Joseph Vas.

“Last month’s arrests of legislators, mayors and local officials – and the resignation of a key member of Governor Corzine’s cabinet – proved that the Democratic tact of pretending New Jersey is not infested with corruption does not work, ” Addiego said. “We must act now to purge the Legislature of anyone – regardless of party affiliation – who is accused of breaking the public trust.”

Addiego and Rudder, both R-Burlington, wrote a letter to Roberts asking him to convene the Legislature to approve a resolution they are drafting, which would create a bipartisan legislative panel to conduct expulsion hearings – a step required by Assembly Rules. The Burlington County lawmakers last week requested the Office of Legislative Services to prepare a resolution that included Daniel Van Pelt, but his inclusion became moot when he resigned Friday.

“While these assemblymen are presumed innocent, that presumption is less important than preserving our state’s democracy, which has been threatened by countless immoral office holders over the years, ” Rudder said. “These arrests reflect how Governor Corzine and the Democratic legislative leadership have allowed corruption to poison New Jersey. We must immediately purge the Statehouse any unscrupulous official and fix the glaring holes in our ethics laws that Democrats have continually ignored.”

The letter from Addiego and Rudder to Speaker Roberts follows:

August 1, 2009

Honorable Joseph J. Roberts Jr.
Speaker of the New Jersey General Assembly
Brooklawn Shopping Plaza
Rt. 130 South & Browning Rd.
Brooklawn, NJ 08030

Dear Speaker Roberts,

We commend your decision to suspend the pay and benefits of Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith, Daniel Van Pelt and Joseph Vas. We share the public’s disgust with elected officials who have once again reinforced New Jersey government’s reputation for corruption.

Unfortunately, the public’s confidence is so shattered that we must ask you to take another extraordinary step and convene an emergency session of the Legislature to start the process of formally expelling these legislators accused of betraying their constituents for personal greed. We can also use this time to begin implementing the long-ignored comprehensive ethics reforms that last month’s arrests have shown are so desperately needed.

We have asked the nonpartisan Office of Legislative Services to draft a resolution creating a bipartisan special committee, which is required under Assembly Rule 7:6 to expel a member for disorderly conduct. Our original request also included former Assemblyman Van Pelt, but that was before he made the correct decision to resign. We hope it has your support.

If we do not send a strong message that corruption is not tolerated in New Jersey, the sad images of mayors, lawmakers and other officials filing into court will continue to be replayed throughout the world and we will never regain the trust of those we represent.

New Jersey’s laws are woefully inadequate at deterring corruption and the prudent first step toward fixing that would be purging the people’s house of any official arrested on corruption offenses.

Sincerely:

Assemblywoman Dawn Marie Addiego
8th Legislative District

Assemblyman Scott Rudder
8th Legislative District