Editing Passaic, New Jersey (section)

===Local government===
{{Further|List of Mayors of Passaic, New Jersey}}
Passaic is governed by the [[Faulkner Act]] system of municipal government, formally known as the Optional Municipal Charter Law, under the [[Faulkner Act (mayor–council)|Mayor-Council]] (Plan B), enacted by direct petition as of July 1, 1973.<ref>[http://www.dudley-2010.com/Faulkner%20Act%2046pages.pdf "The Faulkner Act: New Jersey's Optional Municipal Charter Law"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131012040522/http://www.dudley-2010.com/Faulkner%20Act%2046pages.pdf |date=October 12, 2013 }}, [[New Jersey State League of Municipalities]], July 2007. Accessed October 16, 2013.</ref> The city is one of 71 municipalities (of the 564) statewide governed under this form.<ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/inventory_of_municipal_forms_of_government_in_new_jersey.pdf ''Inventory of Municipal Forms of Government in New Jersey''], [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies, July 1, 2011. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref> Under this form of government, the governing body is comprised of a mayor and a city council. The mayor is elected directly by the voters for a four-year term of office. The seven members of the city council serve four-year terms on a staggered basis, with either three seats (together with the mayoral seat) or four seats up for election in odd-numbered years. Elections are [[non-partisan democracy|non-partisan]], with all positions selected [[at-large]] in balloting held in May.<ref name=DataBook>''2012 New Jersey Legislative District Data Book'', [[Rutgers University]] [[Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy]], March 2013, p. 154.</ref><ref>[https://njdatabook.rutgers.edu/sites/njdatabook.rutgers.edu/files/documents/forms_of_municipal_government_in_new_jersey_9220.pdf#page=10 "Forms of Municipal Government in New Jersey"], p. 10. [[Rutgers University]] Center for Government Studies. Accessed June 1, 2023.</ref>

{{As of|2022}}, Passaic's mayor is Hector Carlos Lora, whose term of office ends June 30, 2025.<ref name=Mayor>[https://www.cityofpassaic.com/156/Mayors-Office Mayor's Office], City of Passaic. Accessed July 2, 2022.</ref> Lora was appointed in 2016 to fill a vacancy that followed the resignation of [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] mayor [[Alex Blanco]] after he was indicted on federal corruption charges; Lora was the Director of the Passaic County [[Board of County Commissioners (New Jersey)|Board of Chosen Freeholders]] at the time and chose to resign his position and accept an appointment to serve as Mayor and finish the remainder of Blanco's unexpired term. Lora was elected to a full term in 2017.<ref>Na, Myles; and Attrino, Anthony G. [http://www.nj.com/passaic-county/index.ssf/2016/11/acting_mayor_named_after_passaic_leader_pleads_gui.html "Anger in Passaic as acting mayor replaces corrupt one"], NJ Advance Media for [[NJ.com]], November 17, 2016. Accessed November 20, 2016. "Freeholder Hector Lora was sworn in as interim mayor Thursday night, hours after Mayor Alex Blanco pleaded guilty to a federal bribery charge. Lora resigned as Passaic County freeholder Thursday, a position he had held since 2013, and for which he had been re-elected last year.... Blanco, a podiatrist and father of four, admitted in court Thursday that he received $110,000 in payments from developers in exchange for directing federal housing funds to their projects."</ref> Members of the Passaic City Council are Council President [[Gary Schaer]] (term ends 2023), Jose R. "Joe" Garcia (2025), Terrence L. Love (2025), Thania Melo (2023), Chaim M. Munk (2023) and Daniel J. Schwartz (2025), with one seat currently declared vacant.<ref name=Officials>[https://www.cityofpassaic.com/229/City-Council City Council], City of Passaic. Accessed July 2, 2022.</ref><ref>[https://www.cityofpassaic.com/ArchiveCenter/ViewFile/Item/186 2021 Municipal Data Sheet], City of Passaic. Accessed July 2, 2022.</ref><ref name=PassaicDirectory>[https://www.passaiccountynj.org/home/showpublisheddocument/1938/637667926512370000#page=72 ''Passaic County 2020 Directory''], [[Passaic County, New Jersey]], April 2021. Accessed July 1, 2022.</ref><ref name=Passaic2021Municipal>[https://www.passaiccountynj.org/home/showpublisheddocument/3402/637678117090430000 May 11, 2021 Summary Report Passaic County Official Results], [[Passaic County, New Jersey]], updated May 18, 2021. Accessed July 2, 2022.</ref><ref name=Passaic2019Municipal>[https://www.passaiccountynj.org/home/showpublisheddocument/3362/637678115100770000 May 14, 2019 Summary Report Passaic County Official Results], [[Passaic County, New Jersey]], updated June 7, 2019. Accessed July 2, 2022.</ref>

The seat expiring in June 2023 that had been held by Salim Patel was declared vacant in June 2022, after it was determined that he had missed more council meetings than allowed by statute.<ref>Fagan, Matt. [https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/passaic/passaic-city/2022/06/21/passaic-nj-councilman-salim-patel-vacates-seat-missing-meetings/7695182001/ "Passaic councilman's seat vacated after he misses months of meetings"], ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', June 21, 2022. Accessed July 2, 2022. "After he missed too many consecutive Passaic City Council meetings, it was announced at Tuesday's meeting that Councilman Salim Patel had vacated his council seat. City Council President Gary Schaer noted that Patel had missed the majority of meetings, all of which were virtual, since the first of the year."</ref>

In addition to his role as council president, Schaer also holds a seat in the 36th Legislative District of the New Jersey General Assembly. This dual position, often called [[double dipping]], is allowed under a grandfather clause in the state law enacted by the [[New Jersey Legislature]] and signed into law by [[Governor of New Jersey]] [[Jon Corzine]] in September 2007 that prevents dual-office-holding but allows those who had held both positions as of February 1, 2008, to retain both posts.<ref>via ''[[Associated Press]]''. [https://6abc.com/archive/6038619/ "N.J. Lawmakers keep double dipping"], ''[[WPVI-TV]]'', March 4, 2008. Accessed June 4, 2009.</ref>

Corruption charges over the past decades have resulted in the federal convictions of two mayors, seven councilman and other public officials, all members of the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]].<ref>Hanley, Robert. [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/11/29/nyregion/the-mayor-of-passaic-is-convicted-of-corruption.html "The Mayor Of Passaic Is Convicted Of Corruption"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 29, 1992. Accessed January 14, 2013. "Joseph Lipari, the Mayor of Passaic, N.J., was convicted today on two charges of extortion and five counts of income tax evasion after a five-week corruption trial in Federal District Court."</ref><ref>Siemaszko, Corky; and Sanderson, Bill. [https://web.archive.org/web/20121102043555/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P1-22641291.html "Passaic's Alston Indicted"], ''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', July 15, 1992. Accessed August 28, 2011. "Former Passaic City Councilman Wayne Alston was indicted Tuesday on federal and state charges of conspiring to take $6,000 in bribes from a landlord in return for preferential treatment in a program administered by the city-based anti-poverty agency Alston headed."</ref> Passaic Business Administrator Anthony Ianoco was terminated in February 2011, after he was charged with cocaine possession, following his arrest in [[Hoboken, New Jersey|Hoboken]], where police arrested him after he was caught driving the wrong way in a Passaic city vehicle.<ref>Conte, Michaelangelo. [http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2011/02/fired_passaic_business_adminis.html "Fired Passaic Business Administrator Anthony Iacono makes first court appearance on DWI, drug charges"], ''[[The Jersey Journal]]'', February 25, 2011. Accessed August 28, 2011. "Iacono, 48, of Lyndhurst, was arrested at 10:36 p.m. Feb. 10 by Hoboken police officers who spotted him driving the wrong way down a one-way street in a City of Passaic-owned car with a flashing light on the top, police said at the time.... The day after Iacono's arrest, Passaic Mayor Alex Blanco announced Iacono's termination from his post as City of Passaic business administrator."</ref>

Alex Blanco became the first [[Dominican-American]] elected as mayor in the United States winning a special election in November 2008 to succeed acting mayor [[Gary Schaer]], who as City Council president automatically moved into the position upon the resignation by previous mayor [[Samuel Rivera]], after Rivera pleaded guilty to corruption charges.<ref>Coyne, Kevin. [https://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/nyregion/new-jersey/30colnj.html "Dominican Wins City Hall and a Community's Pride"], ''[[The New York Times]]'', November 28, 2008. Accessed July 28, 2016. "On the same night that President-elect Barack Obama broke one electoral barrier, Dr. Blanco broke another, becoming the first Dominican elected to a mayor's office in the United States.... 'He's a classic American success story,' said Assemblyman Gary S. Schaer, the longtime city council president who has been acting mayor since Mr. Rivera's resignation, and who encouraged Dr. Blanco to run."</ref> Blanco was elected to serve the remainder of Rivera's term, and was re-elected to a full term on May 12, 2009, with 53.1% of votes cast. He won running against Passaic Board of Education member Vinny Capuana.<ref>Pizarro, Max. [http://politickernj.com/2009/05/blancos-win-reconfirms-schaer-alliance-as-the-mayor-reaches-out-to-capuana/ "Blanco's win reconfirms Schaer alliance as the mayor reaches out to Capuana"], [[Politicker Network|PolitickerNJ]], May 13, 2009. Accessed July 28, 2016. "Mayor Alex Blanco's victory over city supervisor Vincent Capuana last night concretized the alliance between Blanco and Assemblyman/Council President Gary Schaer (D-Passaic), as Blanco secured a full, four-year term. After prevailing in a special election last November, Blanco beat Capuana last night, 4,988 (53.1%) to 4,409 (46.1%)."</ref>

In November 2016, Blanco pled guilty to a single federal count of bribery, agreeing to resign immediately Blanco admitted in court to accepting $110,000 in bribes from two unnamed housing developers in exchange for directing more than $200,000 in HUD funds to a failed low-income housing development. He faced up to 10 years in federal prison upon sentencing, scheduled for February 2017. He was succeeded by Passaic County Freeholder Hector Lora, in an appointment made by the City Council. Blanco is the second consecutive elected mayor of Passaic, and the third in two decades (following Joseph Lipari and Sammy Rivera), to be convicted of or plead guilty to official misconduct charges.<ref>Cowen, Richard. [https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/2016/11/17/passaic-mayor-pleads-guilty-accepting-bribes-developers/94023134/ "Passaic mayor pleads guilty to accepting bribes"],''[[The Record (North Jersey)|The Record]]'', November 17, 2016. Accessed September 14, 2023. "Passaic Mayor Alex D. Blanco, a politician who came into office eight years ago under a banner of honest government on the heels of a corruption scandal that brought down his predecessor, pleaded guilty on Thursday to accepting $110,000 in bribes from two developers involved in a failed, low-income housing project on Paulison Avenue.... At the culmination of a boisterous, if only acrimonious special meeting of the City Council Thursday, Passaic County Freeholder Hector C. Lora, was unanimously approved as acting Mayor."</ref>