Former Paterson Mayor Joey Torres empties his campaign account to make donation
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PATERSON — Former Mayor Joey Torres emptied his campaign account last month by making an $8,739 donation to a substance abuse treatment program in the city.
Some local political figures see the move as an indication that Torres — who was forced out of office in 2017 after being convicted of official misconduct — doesn’t plan to run for mayor in May. They noted that candidates with impending political plans usually roll over the money from a previous campaign fund into a new one, rather than give it away.
“I think it’s a sign he’s not going to run,” said Councilman Luis Velez, who is among this year’s mayoral contenders.
But Torres said he hasn’t decided what he will do in the upcoming election.
“We’ll see,” he said.
Paterson’s city clerk, Sonia Gordon, notified Torres last month that the municipal law department had instructed her not to accept Torres’ nominating petitions for the mayoral election because his conviction prohibits him from holding public office.
Torres has said changes in state law regarding felons’ voting rights may allow him to run for mayor again. He said supporters have been busy collecting signatures on nominating petitions. Candidates have until March 7 to submit 867 petitions.
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“Once the petitions are collected, then we’ll have to see what the next step will be,” Torres said in an interview on Tuesday.
Torres on Dec. 1 made the $8,739 donation to the House of Hope program on First Avenue in Paterson in order to close out the “Forward Paterson” campaign account he set up for the 2018 race, an election that took place while the former mayor was in prison. That information was contained in a campaign finance report that the state made public this week.
Before his conviction, Torres had collected about $92,000 in campaign contributions for the 2018 contest and had a bank balance of about $64,000 when he pleaded guilty in September 2017. He has been spending down that balance ever since.
Joe Malinconico is editor of Paterson Press.
Email: editor@patersonpress.com
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ: Former mayor Joey Torres empties campaign account
