Council members said they were not surprised at the bribery, extortion, mail and wire fraud charges leveled against Mack, brother Ralphiel Mack and Joseph "JoJo" Giorgianni
TRENTON — Several members of Trenton's city council repeated their call today for Mayor Tony Mack to resign from office as news broke that the mayor was indicted today just as the council was set to begin a budget hearing.
"I'm praying, I'm begging him to step down," said Councilwoman Verlina Reynolds-Jackson, a onetime ally of Mack.
Council members had gathered at City Hall at noon for a press conference to decry the violence that has gripped the city in the last few weeks, resulting in several homicides and near-daily shootings.
As council members shuffled into a conference room to begin a budget hearing on the city's capital spending plan, word of Mack's indictment began to spread.
Few were surprised at the bribery, extortion, mail and wire fraud charges leveled against Mack, his brother Ralphiel Mack and Joseph "JoJo" Giorgianni by the grand jury, given the July raids of Mack's home and City Hall.
"I figured this was coming down," Councilman George Muschal said. "When the feds go into this, they do go in to win."
Muschal is a staunch critic of Mack who has accused the mayor of orchestrating a campaign of "full-blown corruption" during his two years in office, but he still maintained that the mayor was innocent until proven guilty.
"Indictments are indictments," he said. "You can pick up an indictment on almost any given day."
Muschal said Mack should step down, but said he had little faith he would.
"He's not going to," he said. "It's a waste of time to ask him to."
Council members Zachary Chester and Marge Caldwell-Wilson also said the arrival of formal charges was not unexpected and called on Mack to resign and spare the city the embarrassment of having him serve while under indictment.
"If you have a mayor working for a city with...indictments against him, that is not a good message for the young people of this city and he needs to step down," Caldwell-Wilson said.
Still, officials said Mack's legal problems need not affect the daily operations of the city.
"The city doesn't have a problem," Council President Phyllis Holly-Ward said. "The mayor has a problem."
Complete coverage of the Mack case by The Times of Trenton:
• Trenton Mayor Tony Mack is indicted on federal corruption charges
• Editorial: Indicted Trenton Mayor Tony Mack must resign now as city continues to struggle
• Trenton Mayor Tony Mack's lawyer says Mack will not take plea deal
• Official testifies in Trenton Mayor Tony Mack corruption case
• Trenton Mayor Tony Mack's brother attends FBI pre-indictment exchange
• Documents show scope of FBI wiretapping in Trenton Mayor Tony Mack corruption probe
• Hudson County developer aided FBI in Trenton Mayor Tony Mack corruption sting
Trenton Mayor Tony Mack holds his second "Ask the Mayor" question-and-answer session in the mayor's conference room at City Hall on Tuesday, November 27, 2012. At right is Mayoral Aide Anthony Roberts.
• Trenton Mayor Tony Mack corruption scandal's three main players
• Trenton Mayor Tony Mack's administration was 'good corruption,' his supporter tells FBI
• Trenton Mayor Tony Mack is arrested by FBI on corruption charge
• FBI subpoenas Trenton City Hall departments as Mayor Tony Mack administration probe widens
• FBI Trenton probe targets possible bribery, fraud, money laundering in Mayor Mack administration
• Trenton City Hall is raided by FBI agents in expanding probe of Mayor Tony Mack