In Wake of Criticism, Russo Steps Down as Council Vice President

Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo stepped down as Council Vice President and chairman of the finance committee on Wednesday night, in response to mounting criticism from his council colleagues and the mayor.

"I’m prepared to pay for my political bravado by resigning from my position as vice president of the city council," Russo said. "This is an appropriate political penalty for my political transgressions. But I have committed no crime."

Russo's resignation comes after reporters and authors of the book Josh Margolin and Ted Sherman of Russo's meeting with FBI informant Solomon Dwek. On the tape Russo can be heard saying he is "pro-development." He also told Dwek that "I’ll always make sure my friends are heard before anyone else." A $5,000 donation to Russo's campaign was also discussed.

During Wednesday night's council meeting, Russo apologized for the things he said to Dwek. Russo will remain seated on the city council.

"I talked about people I care for with disrespect and insensitivity. I dismissed the things I believe in and I made myself appear to be ready to betray my office," Russo said. "My words were crude, ignorant and hurtful."

After the meeting—during which Russo implicated to Dwek he would receive preferential treatment when applying for zoning variances for development—the men never met again. 

Council members Ravi Bhalla, David Mello, Carol Marsh and Peter Cunningham—the mayor's allies on the council—called on Russo to resign from his post as vice president on Tuesday.

At the beginning of the council meeting on Wednesday night, the city council passed a resolution 5-4 declaring Russo's conduct "unbecoming." The resolution was introduced by Fourth Ward Councilman Tim Occhipinti and sponsored by First Ward Councilwoman Theresa Castellano, who is Russo's cousin. The minority council members voted against the resolution, because they didn't like the language in the resolution, indicating it implied other members on the Hoboken City Council also met with Dwek. The minority drafted an alternate resolution, which failed.

The resolution followed a heated public portion, during which people both attacked and defended Russo.

The resolution also calls on other Hoboken officials to expose any meeting they may have had with Dwek, if they haven't publically explained it yet. 

Toward the end of his public apology, Russo—who is up for re-election on May 10—focused on his plans for the Third Ward and encouraged everybody to attend a meeting he is hosting about a potential park in the Third Ward.

The minority council members had also called for Russo's resignation from the Hoboken Housing Authority, after the councilman told Dwek on tape he had helped someone become a commissioner. Russo did not step down as HHA Commissioner.

Former Fourth Ward Councilman Michael Lenz called Russo's not stepping down from the HHA "the height of hypocrisy."

In an attempt to win trust from his constituents, Russo asked Third Ward residents to look at his actions, not his words.

"To the people of the Third Ward I say: judge me by my actions. judge the man you see before you today," Russo said.