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The New York Times
Charges Against
Trenton Legislators Inspire
Bipartisan Surprise
By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI,
nytimes.com on the Web, September 7, 2007
TRENTON, Sept. 6 — In the
ethically murky realm of New Jersey politics, where it is common practice for
state lawmakers to collect multiple government paychecks, Assemblymen Alfred E.
Steele and Mims Hackett Jr. are known as minor players who have refined their
skills at working the system to find job opportunities for themselves and their
relatives.
In addition to drawing a salary for the Assembly seat he has held since 1995,
Mr. Steele is paid to be a Passaic County undersheriff (he is also a minister at
Seminary Baptist Church in Paterson). Assemblyman Hackett, who draws
another paycheck as mayor of Orange, is frequently cited, even by Democratic
colleagues, as an example of New Jersey’s long tradition of nepotism because he
has used his office to provide “stipends” to his wife, sister-in-law and at
least two of six children.
Despite their reputations, Democrats and Republicans said it was surprising that
Assemblymen Steele and Hackett had become the latest legislators to face
corruption charges brought by the United States attorney for New Jersey,
Christopher J. Christie. They are the two highest ranking of the 11 local
officials arrested on Thursday, charged with taking bribes in exchange for
promising municipal contracts to undercover agents posing as insurance brokers.
“These were low-key guys who spoke only when they had something to say, but
generally were respectful and respected and kept out of trouble,” said Joseph
Cryan, chairman of the state Democratic Committee. “Frankly it’s a real
surprise that these two folks would even be alleged to be in something like
this.”
Assemblyman Steele, 53, is a graduate of Northeastern Bible College and entered
politics in the early 1990s as a Paterson city councilman. John Currie,
the Passaic County Democratic chairman, said that Mr. Steele was so active in
the community — through his ministry, various charities, youth programs and
family activities with his wife and three daughters — that he urged him to run
for higher office. He has been deputy speaker of the Assembly, a post with
little real authority, since 2002, seven years after he arrived in Trenton.
As a legislator, Mr. Steele is known as a dependable Democrat, though he has
occasionally broken ranks with the party and worked with conservatives on social
issues, like restrictions on abortion and the drive to oppose gay marriage.
“He was a reasonable person,” said John Tomicki, executive director of the
League of American Families, a conservative group. “Even though I never
discussed religion with him, his inner core obviously influenced the positions
that he would take and, at times, led him to vote differently than others in his
party.”
Mr. Hackett, 65, who entered politics as he wound down a long career as a
teacher in Union City, is a native of Alabama and has never completely lost his
Southern accent or graciousness.
“He always managed to be a kind and decent gentleman,” said Richard Thigpen, a
former Democratic Party official who is now a vice president at the Public
Service Enterprise Group, a utility company. “In politics, people take
things personally, attack their opponents personally, insult them, demean them.
He never stooped to any of that.”
Even before entering politics, Mr. Hackett was known for his energy and ability
to work several jobs simultaneously. As he and his wife, Bernice, raised
six children, Mr. Hackett supplemented his teaching income by working as a
private investigator.
In 1988, he was elected to the City Council in Paterson and became mayor in
1996. In 2002, Mr. Hackett won an Assembly seat.
In 2003, when the Democratic-led Legislature took up the issue of tightening
ethics regulations, Mr. Hackett was widely criticized for providing work for his
relatives — a practice he defended by saying that they were qualified and
provided public service at a reasonable price.
In his recent campaigns, Mr. Hackett, chairman of the State Government
Committee, said he was instrumental in the adoption of several ethics bills.
But Republicans, who called the bills ineffective when they were passed, said on
Thursday that the criminal charges were more evidence that Mr. Hackett and
fellow Democrats were not sincere about stricter ethics rules.
“Through their personal actions, they continue to prove that their government
actions at fighting corruption are nothing more than window dressing,” said Tom
Wilson, chairman of the New Jersey Republican Party.
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