Gary Schaer

Five days into his service as acting mayor of Passaic, Gary SchaerPassaic Acting Mayor Gary Schaer pledged to remove the taint of corruption from a city whose former mayor pleaded guilty to extortion last Friday and resigned hours before Schaer assumed office.

"Throughout my over 18 years of service to Passaic, I have sought to serve with distinction and honor, always taking into account what is best for all of Passaic," said Schaer, 57, an investment analyst broker who served as commissioner of the Passaic Housing Authority for five years prior to his election to the council.

As the successor of Sammy Rivera, Schaer continues in his role as council president, and as the legislature’s first Orthodox Jewish assemblyman, now serving his second term in the 36th district.

Passaic City Council President/Acting Mayor Gary S. Schaer released a statement today in the aftermath of Mayor Samuel Rivera's departure from office. 

Rivera resigned at 5 p.m. after earlier in the day pleading guilty to extortion in federal court.

"This is a difficult time for Passaic," said Schaer. "I am committed, along with my city council colleagues, to restoring confidence to the residents of Passaic and assuring them that the services provided by our municipal government will continue as normal.

Democratic Assemblyman Gary Schaer is upset with Assemblyman Gordon Johnson for donating money to activist Lyndon LaRouche’s political action committee, saying that the donation “makes no sense.”

In a rare shift in party affiliation, the entire membership of the all-Republican governing body in Lyndhurst will switch from Republican to Democrat tomorrow. Nearly 60% of Lyndhurst’s Republican County Committee will become Democrats too.

The party realignment, first reported in PoliticsNJ.com last summer, is far greater in scope than speculated. It represents, perhaps, the most massive shift in Party affiliation of elected and Party officials in a single community in one day. “It’s safe to say something like this certainly doesn’t happen in politics everyday,” said Lyndhurst Mayor Richard DiLascio.

Three Republicans put out press releases this morning attacking their Democratic opponents.

In district one, Republican Assemblyman/State Senate candidate Nicholas Asselta questioned his Democratic opponent, Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew, over his former support for a bill that would have benefited U.S. Vision, a company that was purchased in a partnership between South Jersey political boss George Norcross and Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, a Van Drew financer.

City Council President Gary S. Schaer said that he became aware of the arrests of Mayor Sammy Rivera, Councilman Marcellus Jackson and former Councilman Jonathan Sorto this morning.

“I have been in contact with the Administration and Business Administrator and I am confident that the business of the City will continue without interruption," Schaer said in a statement. "As City Council President, the Council and I will make every effort to ensure that Passaic residents will continue to receive the City services that they have come to expect.”