Mariano Vega sentenced to 30 months in prison -- The usual suspects come to his defense

Sometimes in Jersey City it's just not enough to plead guilty to crimes of confidence. See, like Mariano Vega you can be convicted of a felony, sentenced to 30 months in federal prison (what was it the movie Office Space called those again?) for being on the take from your city job afforded you by the VOTERS and STILL there is the same little cabal of Jersey City elected officials who think you got a raw deal (project much guys?). Here are some of the comments from certain elected officials in our fair city in Vega's sentence with Johnny's commentary after:

"He was a respected man in the community, all the years of service in the community -- I think that should have meant something." -- Peter Brennan (Yeah Peter, it DID mean something, it means he got to hang onto his city council job refusing to give it up even after being indicted. It probably also kept him from a bigger yet still well deserved sentence)

"I just feel badly that he lost judgment on this issue. He's a hard-working family man, and my heart goes out to his family." --Bill Gaughan (If by hard working you mean trying to not get caught taking bribes then yes, he worked very hard)

"We wish him and his family the best and we're hopeful he can now move on with his life in a positive direction" -- Mayor Jerramiah Healy (Yes, we hope he can move on to another community, one he didn't steal from and live out his days not disgracing Jersey City one more day)

Face it, when you're willing to throw everything away for 30K you're nothing but an elected hooker.

Group attempting recall of Mayor Healy ALSO now has gotten approval to take on 3 city council members

Should these brave Jersey City residents succeed in their recall efforts, not only would Mayor Healy lose his job but also Council President Peter Brennan, At-Large Councilman Mariano Vega and Ward C Councilwoman Nidia Lopez. The wording is now approved and the real work of getting petition signatures will begin before too long. 30,000 valid signatures would be necessary to recall Healy, Brennan and Vega and about 4,200 to recall Lopez.

No doubt those at city hall who hate the hassle of answering to voters are plotting their dirty tricks to void the petition gathering.

It took THIS long to start a recall of Mayor Healy?

OK, so Johnny didn't start it either so he's as much to blame but hats off to Jersey City residents John Lynch, Riaz Wahid and Martha Larkins who sent a letter to the city clerk's office to announce their intentions.

Mayor Kwame Healy of course had no comment, or rather his spokesman had no comment, the mayor is busy and has no time for such questions about his competency.

Wahid told the Jersey Journal "I believe the people of Jersey City deserve leadership that is committed to aiding us in our day-to-day struggles, I have grown frustrated seeing my taxes go up with nothing to show for it." You tell 'em Riaz. We agree.

We'd owe these fine upstanding citizens our thanks for taking on Healy's job but there's more to this story. The group is ALSO going after Ward A Councilman Michael Sottolano, Ward C Councilwoman Nidia Lopez, Ward D Councilman Bill Gaughan, and Ward F Councilwoman Viola Richardson. GIDDYUP kids, you go!

Honest and hard working members of the Jersey City Council, Ward E Councilman Steven Fulop and Ward B Councilman David Donnelly are NOT on the list to be recalled as they provide valuable and HONEST representation.

When you notify Nidia Lopez about the recall effort put extra postage on the letter, it's going to Florida.

Johnny wants to know when and where petitions will be available to be signed off on, you can advertise here for free.

If you're Jersey City Council President Peter Brennan and you don't like certain bills, just kick them down the road six months

Why should business-as-usual supporter Peter Brennan have to hear ideas he doesn't like more than once every six months? Brennan is taking aim at the only real good city council member jersey City employs, Steve Fulop, by demanding any motions that don't pass cannot be brought up again for six months. Yeah Peter, who cares how pertinent these proposals could be. Who cares if the main body of the city council is simply acting obstructionist over new rules they don't want to live by, the city council here does that all the time.

Case in point, Fulop proposed, and rightfully so, that any city vehicle being paying for with taxpayer money be clearly marked as a city vehicle on city business. That's just not how Brennan and the other members of council want to be seen, they think they should keep the cars unmarked and unaccountable to the rest of us. Another case in point would be the fact Fulop wants some open government and wants Jersey City Council meetings on JCTV1, a way of keeping citizens informed. Brennan doesn't want that to happen either (Peter why show the people who vote for you what an obstructionist you really are?) and since the majority of the city council wants to protect their egregious behavior and votes as private as possible, some don't even want to hear about televised meetings for another six months when they can simply ashcan that idea too.

Peter Brennan, what REAL value do you serve on city council? What is it you really really do to help city residents? We'd love a physical tangible list of your accomplishments other than trying to block meetings from teevee or keep your city vehicle unmarked and on the sly.

You know how to reach us.