On Repairing Our Reputation

It was 1987 when Raymond Donovan, the former U.S Secretary of Labor under Ronald Regan asked, "Where do I go to get my reputation back?" after being acqitted of charges that included larceny and fraud in connection with a constructon project for the New York City subway system.

There are many in my hometown of Keyport who may be wondering the same thing about our community’s reputation after the recent confession to felony charges by our former mayor, John Merla.

As revealing as it was to find out that, although admitting to all accusations made by the U.S. Attorney, the sentencing will be for only one charge, with guidelines that call for 24-30 months in prison, we are still left to wonder how this scenario was arrived at, and what give and take transpired to allow this leniency to be somehow satisfactory.

Perhaps time will tell.

With this confession comes a clear deliniation between the right and wrong, between the friendship and the public figure, between the accomplishments and the betrayals of the public trust, between the innocent and the felon.

It was disheartening to read the reactions to this news by individuals who maintain high level and influencial positions within community organizations. It seemed to come across that to them, our former mayor should be allowed some discount on his failure to be honest, and his willingness to work at personal gain, while using this community’s name and reputation to do so.

An example of this settlement’s failure would be the charge stemming from the September 11, 2003 get together with the government witness, a meeting where our former mayor accepted $9,000.00 for the promise of work.

Within hours of accepting that envelope, our former mayor told an assembled goup of 150 people who had gathered to mark the second anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy – that Sept. 11 will always be "a day of mourning, a day of thinking and a day of trying to forget even though we’ll never forget" and that “the country should keep in mind those who lost their lives and the soldiers fighting for our rights and our freedom,” Merla said. A youngster later approached the then mayor and asked for a donation for a fundraiser. Attempting to play the Big Man On Campus in front of a large group of individuals, Mr. Merla produced a $100 bill and gave it to the child.

Ironically, it was disclosed during my interview with the FBI that the $9,000 payment made to Mr. Merla that day was comprised of $100 bills.

While many would point to his many accomplishments in our town, his felony confession now provides the filter through which they must be viewed, assessed, and properly valued.

The restoration of our community’s reputation rests with each of us, our elected officials, and the leaders of all community groups and organizations that have been tarnished and harmed by Mr. Merla’s criminal violations. Convincing statements and actions are needed from our collective leadership, to assure those who would potentially invest and consider living and/or working here; that there are not two sets of understandings of right and wrong in Keyport. That confessed felons are not to be held up as an example of what we, as a community, strive for in a moral foundation.

To this end, I applaud Councilman George Walling for asking that a new plaque be installed on the front of Borough Hall without the name of our now disgraced mayor. While to some this one action might seem to be a small step, I would hope that other community organizations and groups follow this lead as it pertains to them and this disgraced mayor.

I received assurances at the 1/23/07 Council meeting from the Borough Council and Mayor Bergen that they will contact the US Attorney’s office and obtain all of the videotapes of Mr. Merla and the government witness, and make them available to our community. In doing so, the tapes can be viewed without the filtering of the news media or other descriptions and opinions of the events that took place, so that by using their own judgment, everyone can draw their own conclusions based on the actual facts that were found by the U.S. Attorney to be suitable for evidence.

However you feel, perhaps you might want to make your feelings known to the judge before the May 8th sentencing. His address is as follows:

Honorable William J. Martini
District Judge
U.S. District Court – District of New Jersey
Martin Luther King Building & US Courthouse
50 Walnut Street
Newark, NJ 07101