Martin G. "Marty" Barnes (born 15 March 1948) is an American Republican Party politician from Paterson, New Jersey. He served as Mayor of Paterson, New Jersey for 5 years. He was the first African American mayor in Paterson's history.
Prior to his time as mayor Barnes served as a City Councilman from Paterson's 3rd Ward, first elected to the council in 1974. After Paterson mayor Bill Pascrell resigned in January 1997 to take a seat in Congress, Barnes was appointed mayor by the City Council. Barnes stood for re-election twice in the next fifteen months; he won a special election to serve the remainder of Pascrell's term in November 1997 and then won a full four year term in the city's May 1998 municipal elections.[1] Although Paterson does not hold partisan elections, Barnes was the first Republican elected mayor by Paterson voters since Lawrence "Pat" Kramer was elected in 1978.
See Paterson Pulse exclusive interview Below Near the end of Barnes' term, he became ensnared in a corruption investigation that had been launched by the state into the dealings of several large cities throughout the state. In January 2002, recently appointed New Jersey United States Attorney Chris Christie announced a 40-count indictment against Barnes, citing among other things his forcing contractors to pay for trips he took while mayor and providing "female companions" for him to travel with. Barnes also was charged with extortion and graft, the latter due to his dealings with an Irvington, New Jersey paving contractor who had earned $16 million in city contracts by providing services for see Barnes.[2] It was largely through his dealings with the contractor, United Gunite, that the investigation into Barnes deepened as the firm had been accused of paying bribes to many municipal officials statewide.[3] See Paterson Pulse exclusive interview below Barnes, who was set to begin campaigning to win a second term as mayor in the May city election, initially denied the charges and promised to fight them vigorously, periodically proclaiming his innocence and vowing to vindicate himself at trial while campaigning to keep his seat. Voters in Paterson, however, were not responsive to his efforts and as the probe into his dealings grew Barnes' support waned. Despite his repeated proclamations voters did not buy Barnes' story and he lost the mayor's seat to Democrat Jose "Joey" Torres. see Paterson Pulse interview below
Two months after Barnes' defeat, he entered a plea deal with the federal government which resulted in a 37-month prison sentence in 2003. Although he was admitting guilt, presiding judge William Bassler noted that Barnes had not taken full responsibility for his actions. Judge Bassler specifically noted Barnes' blaming his crimes on overwork and getting "caught up" in city politics for his inability to see that what he was doing was wrong. In sentencing Barnes, Bassler said that Barnes had betrayed the trust of the citizens of Paterson, the city, and his own family with his conduct.[3] As scene in the Paterson Pulse after an interview: Last edition an editorial note followed my column and it was disturbing at best. The inference was that many people were upset at my being able to place a column in this paper. I’m amazed, because I’ve received only compliments from people I spoken with throughout the City. My impression was that my situation from 8 years ago was understood by the majority of the people in Paterson. At the time I was prohibited from communicating about the particulars of the investigation, what ever I said would have been used against me. Now that I think about it I never publicly spoke out about the charges. So for the first time and the last time, I’m going to give the particulars of what I went through.
At no time was I charged, or was it inferred that money was missing from the City and/or any City funds were used improperly. What was inferred was that I failed to report my speaking engagements where I spoke in other Cities throughout the United States, even though I never got paid, were not claimed on my income taxes. The government position was that my rest days were gifts from the host cities which paid all expenses for the trips & should have been claimed. My position was that if the President, Senators and other political figures claimed rest days on their income tax I would do the same.
They also claimed that a sewer contractor gave me gifts for contracts. The facts were that this contractor’s contracts with the City, went from 8 million dollars a year before I came to office, progressively went down over the 7 year period to less than 600 thousand dollars a year.
They systematically went after my family, love ones and friends threatening to charge them with crimes. I knew the reasoning behind these attacks, they were looking further up the food chain and wanted me to give them information. When I refused to cooperate I was indicted after I announced I was running for reelection. You know the results of the election and I had to make a decision. Do I continue to fight and allow them to ruin other people’s lives or do I protect those dear to me. I chose the latter and the rest is history.
The Federal Court allowed my lawyer to be removed from my case so I found myself, two weeks from the start of my trial with no lawyer, no money to hire a new lawyer and the fate of those I cared for, my wife, my son, my friends at the whim of a system that would stop at nothing to reach their goals. The next question was very simple, what was I fighting for, I lost the election, and the court removed my lawyer. I was standing alone with everyone’s life in my hands.
I made the right decision then and would do it again, to protect those closest to me. I agreed for the government to do whatever they wanted to me and leave my family and friends alone. I have no regrets, remorse, or shame in my decisions or actions .
However, I do apologize to my family; love ones, supporters and friends that have defended me over all these years, those that knew much of what I’m writing today and many who didn’t. I’m sorry for putting many through the pain and suffering my actions might have caused. I feel if more of our elected officials were as transparent as I am trying to be here, maybe government would be different and people would have more faith in them as elected officials and as human beings.