Martin G. Barnes

Martin G. "Marty" Barnes (March 15, 1948 – December 28, 2012) was an American Republican Party politician from Paterson, New Jersey. He served as Mayor of Paterson, New Jersey for five years. He was the first African-American mayor in Paterson's history.

Electoral history

Prior to his time as mayor, Barnes served as a City Councilman from Paterson's 3rd Ward and was first elected to the City Council in 1974. After Paterson mayor Bill Pascrell resigned in January 1997 to take a seat in Congress, Barnes was appointed mayor by the rest of the City Council. Barnes 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] He was the first Republican elected mayor by Paterson voters since Lawrence "Pat" Kramer was elected in 1978.

Controversy

Near the end of Barnes' term, he was included in a state wide investigation of corruption in several cities. 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" to accompany him. 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.^[2] It was largely through his dealings with this contractor, United Gunite, that the investigation into Barnes deepened, as the firm had been accused of paying bribes to many municipal officials statewide.^[3]

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.

Two months after Barnes' defeat, he entered into a plea bargain with the federal government which resulted in a 37-month prison sentence in 2003. Although he was admitting guilt, presiding judge William Bassler did not believe that Barnes had not taken full responsibility for his actions. Judge Bassler specifically noted Barnes' blamed 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, Bassler said that Barnes had betrayed the trust of the citizens of Paterson, the city, and his own family with his conduct.^[3]

Death

On December 28, 2012, Barnes died in his Pennsylvania home he shared with his wife and son Gregory. He was 64 years old.^[4]

References