Indicted Clark Mayor Sal Bonaccorso will remain in office until at least next year and take the oath of office for a seventh term after a Superior Court Judge today delayed a hearing until January 10.
Bonaccorso was scheduled to appear before Judge Regina Caulfield today to accept Bonaccorso’s plea, but she called in sick. Instead, Assignment Judge Lisa Miralles Walsh presided over a conference, but was unwilling to step in late and replace Caulfield on the plea. Caulfield’s chambers confirmed that the judge was out today and would “hopefully” return on Friday.
The New Jersey Globe reported last night that the seven-term mayor had signed a plea agreement and was prepared to resign as early as today. The judge’s illness derailed that.
This is the latest delay in a years-long investigation that led to charges against Bonaccorso last November for using township property and employees to run his landscaping business and filing forged permit applications in about two dozen towns to remove underground oil storage tanks. He also faces official misconduct charges – and a five-year minimum state prison sentence — for running a tank removal business out of the mayor’s office.
The state was prepared to have Bonaccorso plead guilty before the November 5 general election, but Caulfield apparently could not find a place on her calendar until November 6; she later rescheduled the hearing for today. The New Jersey Globe has confirmed that Bonaccorso had entered into a plea agreement.
It will forever remain unclear whether the delays affected the election outcome; Bonaccorso was re-elected with 59% of the vote against Democrat Michael Shulman.
But Walsh’s 51-day delay could dramatically affect local politics. Once Bonaccorso is sworn in for a new term, voters cannot choose a new mayor in a free-standing special election within two months; the special election will be moved until November. That will allow an interim mayor selected from a list of candidates submitted by the local Republican organization to remain in office for roughly eleven months.
Most state courts will be closed next week for a judicial conference and the Thanksgiving holiday. For the remainder of the year, courts operate at a lower speed, with holiday closures and increased vacation time for judges.
Bonaccorso also faced criticism for a series of racist rants. Clark paid a $400,000 settlement with a police lieutenant who secretly taped Bonaccorso using racial slurs against Black people. He apologized but refused to resign despite calls from Gov. Phil Murphy and Rep. Tom Kean, Jr. (R-Westfield) to do so.
The mayor’s attorney, Robert Stahl, pushed back on the idea that Bonaccorso was prepared to admit guilt.
“There is no plea,” he said. “The case is still ongoing, and the defense work is still ongoing.’
He is technically correct: there is a difference between a plea agreement, which is signed with prosecutors, and a plea, which is done before a judge. Any defendant can withdraw a plea agreement up until the time of a court appearance.
Bonaccorso is expected to face a lifetime ban on holding public office or receiving public contracts.
A spokesman for the judiciary, Peter McAleer, said the “matter was not heard today because there was a joint request for an adjournment,” but that is in dispute. The attorney general’s office had little choice but to agree with the request, since they can’t compel the signing of a plea agreement.
The New Jersey Globe has requested a recording of today’s conference, although it’s not immediately clear if this was done on the record.
This story was updated at 2:07 PM.