Politics & Government
Booker Had No Authority to Vote on Council Seat, Appellate Court Affirms
Mayor's action touched off a near-riot in city hall and led to legal battle.
A state appellate court upheld a lower court’s ruling Friday throwing out the vote cast by Mayor Cory Booker last year for a municipal council candidate, according to NJ.com.
The seat has been vacant since Donald Payne Jr. left the governing body in November after being elected to Congress.
During a raucous Nov. 20 meeting, four members of the governing body voted to appoint Shanique Speight, a former member of the school board. The council was deadlocked over the appointment because the other four members were opposed to the Speight appointment, prompting Booker to break the tie in her favor during the meeting, where angry audience members were pepper-sprayed by police.
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Members of the public were upset because they believed Booker overstepped his authority in casting the deciding vote for Speight, his personal choice for the seat.
The members of the council opposed to Booker’s vote successfully had it overthrown in Superior Court in December, prompting Booker’s appeal. Some members of the council who had supported Speight also initially joined in that appeal.
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City officials were already preparing in the event Bookers's appeal was unsuccessful. Last month, the city clerk's office scheduled a special election for the seat in November. Whoever wins will serve out the balance of Payne’s term, which expires July 2014.
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