Roselle resident Stephen Jung, 74, has raised a question about whether Mayor Donald Shaw would be subject to removal from office as a result of his criminal conviction in New York for selling heroin.
The Thompson Avenue homeowner posted the relevant state law in Real Roselle, a Facebook discussion group.
According to the law, 2C:51-2 Forfeiture of public office, position, or employment, “A person holding any public office… who is convicted of an offense shall forfeit such office, position or employment if: He is convicted under the laws of this State of an offense involving dishonesty or of a crime of the third degree or above or under the laws of another state or of the United States of an offense or a crime which, if committed in this State, would be such an offense or crime.”
Jung, a Democrat registered to vote in Union County, declined to say if he believed that Shaw could be ousted and instead responded to a question from another resident about whether he thinks this could be applicable to the recent news of Shaws drug conviction, by stating that he is not a lawyer.
Shaw spent three years in prison on Rikers Island and probation after he admitted to selling heroin.
Documents reveal that Shaw ran up almost $5,000 worth of E-ZPass violations while using a municipal car for driving at late night hours in New York City, where he had been convicted for selling heroin.
“Obviously, the political bosses who are backing the drug dealing mayor will not take any action to remove him, even if he is disqualified by this conviction,” said Richard Blaine. “However, the voters have a chance to throw the bums out on Tuesday. All you have to do is vote for the candidates in Column B instead of the crooks in Column A.”
Shaw is locked in a close contest against former Assemblyman Jamel Holley, who was a councilman and the youngest mayor ever elected in the borough.
Assemblyman Reginald Atkins, Roselle’s municipal political boss, was quoted saying that he expects Holley to lose.
“I’m not concerned, because everyone in Roselle that I speak to wants everything to move forward; we don’t want to go backward,” Atkins told a blog operated by David Wildstein, the political dirty trickster associated with former Governor Chris Christie. “That’s a testament to how strong the current administration is, and how we want to move things forward.”
Atkins noted that Holley was soundly defeated in his 2021 primary challenge against state Sen. Joseph Cryan, the anti-abortion lawmaker who is heading the Column A slate.
Holley, who served as mayor before ascending to the State Assembly in 2015, appears to be running an entire slate of challengers, including three candidates for the legislature against Atkins and his 20th district running mates.
Roselle board of education member Angela Alvey-Wimbush is challenging Cryan, while Charles Mitchell and Myrlene Thelot are seeking the Democratic nomination for Assembly on Holley’s Column B team.