John P. Corea, 45, used his position as head of the municipal parking authority in Hudson County to skim more than $600,000 from meters over the course of nearly three years beginning in June 2005, according to authorities. The indictment, handed up Friday, charges him with first-degree counts of conspiracy and money laundering as well as official misconduct, theft and misapplication of government property.

Harrison took the biggest hit, with more than a half-dozen examples of spending and employee perks the report considers excessive - including the $241,851 paid to former Administrative Clerk/Deputy Municipal Clerk Marion Borek when she retired after 61 years with the town, the bulk of it for 881 days of accumulated unused sick leave.

After a drawn-out election process, Councilman-at-Large Peter Cammarano edged out Fourth Ward Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer by 161 votes yesterday to become mayor of Hoboken.

"This election has been a long and arduous one and a very close one, but it is over," the 31-year-old Cammarano told Hoboken Now's Carly Baldwin shortly after provisional and newly found absentee ballots were tallied at county Board of Elections offices in Jersey City. "I'm satisfied with this margin of victory."

City officials confirmed yesterday that Mason requested backpay totaling $8,816, a reestablishment of her council salary - roughly $22,000 per year - and council health benefits going forward.

Mason confirmed the request after the City Council meeting on Wednesday, and said that she finally listened to all the supporters who told her she earned her salary and should take it.

This newspaper considers the 31-year-old attorney at the Newark law firm of Genova, Burns and Vernoia and the 2006 statewide legal coordinator for Robert Menendez's successful U.S. Senate campaign as Hoboken's best person for stabilizing local taxes and making certain the city's land use follows its Master Plan.

This election is a seminal moment for the Mile Square City. Voters will put a face on the government that they want to guide them out of a fiscal morass that requires state control of the city's finances and has led to a 23 percent increase in municipal taxes.

A major weakness in the lame duck administration of Mayor David Roberts has been its inability to find steady revenue streams. Rather than raise taxes or cut city services, the administration has relied on one-shot gimmicks, such as the sale and lease-back of the municipal garage. Worse, this past year's budget was badly underfunded and the City Council was kept in the dark about the state of the city's fiscal health. 

Both Bergin and Mayor David Roberts are named in the suit, filed this week by Joel Mestre, who alleges that Bergin called him derogatory names and gave away his job duties to whites.

Mestre also claims in the suit that Bergin once said to him: "Just because I don't eat rice and beans and don't agree that they should be sold at every store, that doesn't make me a racist."

Bergin called Mestre's accusations "lies."

The Attorney General's Office issued a subpoena for records from Weehawken's Building Department earlier this week, Renshaw reports. The Attorney General's Office ordered Weehawken's Building Department to turn over documents by Sept. 17 related to its oversight of construction projects in neighboring Hoboken, according to Weehawken township attorney Rick Venino. Read more about the investigation into Arezzo here.

Investigators from the DCA visited Alfred Arezzo's city office roughly two weeks ago to pick a number of documents, the sources said. The DCA confirmed there is an ongoing investigation, but refused to provide details. The state's uniformed construction code gives the DCA jurisdiction over the state's construction offices, but it does not conduct criminal investigations.

Election fever hits the mile square city

Its been a rough and tumble week for the Robert's administration. Following revelations that a pro-administration councilman was arrested in NYC for Driving Under the Influence, City Hall was once again rocked with allegations that "FEMALE STRIPPERS" entertained at a Friday afternoon birthday party in the City Hall Parking Utility Office.

A city hall source reports that three female Parking Utility workers purchased a "stripper birthday-gram" for a male co-worker. Nothing more, nothing less. 

There is no doubt that ELECTION FEVER is alive and well in Hoboken where there are SIX Council seats up for grabs in the May, 2007 election.