Sayreville Democratic mayor wants Pollando out after bribery charges announced

Sayreville Mayor Victoria Kilpatrick wants Thomas Pollando to resign is post as a commissioner of the local Economic Redevelopment Agency following his arrest on bribery charges relate to a local strip club.

She is also seeing a full probe of his local activities.

“I am officially calling for an investigation into any and all borough projects involving Mr. Pollando,” she said.

Pollando, the Sayreville Democratic municipal chairman, was charged with bribery and receipt of an unlawful benefit by a public servant for official misbehavior after allegedly taking thousands of dollars in a cash bribe in exchange for using his political connections to help the owner of Club 35, who was charged with money laundering and promoting prostitution.

“Over a several week period in July and August 2022, Detectives from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office were conducting electronic surveillance of a business in Sayreville,” the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s office said in a statement on Thursday evening  “While conducting surveillance, detectives observed Pollando accept several thousands of dollars in cash, and state that he would attempt to use his political clout to influence an ongoing criminal case.”

“As your Mayor, my primary goal is to protect our great Borough, represent the interest of residents, and ensure that we continue to be Sayreville Strong with integrity woven into the fabric of how we operate daily,” stated Kilpatrick, a Democrat.

She also wants Pollando to resign from the Sayreville Athletic Association, a borough-sponsored children’s organization.

Pollando is the second Democrat to quickly call for Pollando’s ouster from local positions following the prosecutor’s announcement that he has been charged.

Just a little more than one hour after the arrest was announced, Middlesex County Democratic Chairman Kevin McCabe demanded Pollando’s resignation as the local party chairman.

“The conduct alleged against Tom Pollando is wholly unacceptable. As such, I am demanding his immediate resignation from his position as Chair of the Sayreville Democratic Organization,” McCabe said.

McCabe is also seeking “a full accounting of the finances of the Sayreville Democratic Organization in order to determine any further possible financial malfeasance.”

“As leaders, we must hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards, and we will continue to have zero tolerance for corruption.,” McCabe said.

Middlesex County Republican Chairman Rob Bengivenga called the allegations against Pollando “appalling.”

“There is no place in politics or government for this type of behavior but unfortunately this seems to be a reoccurring theme for the Sayreville Democratic Party because this the second time in in less than four years a Democrat from Sayreville has been charged with bribery,” Bengivenga said.

In October 2018, Democratic Councilman Ricci Melendez pleaded guilty to receiving a commercial bribe connected to his employer, Bloomberg LP, in a New York court.

Word of his plea never reached Sayreville residents  — although there is some talk that Pollando knew and asked him to not announce anything until after the election — and Melendez remained on the council for another month before resigning to pursue new career opportunities.  It took several weeks for the real reason of his departure to become known.

“The Republican Party, under the leadership of Chairwoman Karen Bebert and former chair/councilwoman Donna Roberts have been looking to make Sayreville safer, the Democratic leadership is taking bribes from a go-go bar that was filled with crime,” Bengivenga said.  “This is exactly why we feel there needs to be a change in Sayreville.”

Roberts and Democratic Councilwoman Michelle Cassidy Maher are up for re-election in November.  Each party controls three council seats, making this a control election.