Disgraced Clark mayor resigns under plea agreement in misconduct case

Sal Bonaccorso, the longtime mayor of Clark, leaves Superior Court in Union County Friday, Jan. 10, 2024, after pleading guilty to forgery and conspiracy to commit official misconduct. (Sophie Nieto-Muñoz | New Jersey Monitor)

Embattled Clark Mayor Sal Bonaccorso stepped down Friday as part of a plea agreement that required his resignation following criminal charges and a racism scandal. 

Bonaccorso, 64, pleaded guilty in Superior Court in Union County to conspiracy to commit official misconduct in the third degree, and forgery in the fourth degree. As part of his plea agreement, Bonaccorso will have to pay a $15,000 fine over the course of three years and will be sentenced in February to probation. 

Bonaccorso also agreed to forfeit his right to hold public office or employment again. After the court documents were signed during Friday morning’s hearing, the forfeiture went into effect immediately. 

Voters reelected Bonaccorso, a Republican, in November to a seventh term, despite the public corruption charges and racist rants caught on tape. 

He was first charged in November 2023 when the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office of Public Integrity & Accountability claimed Bonaccorso used municipal resources — computers and fax machines — while operating his oil tank storage removal business, Bonaccorso & Son LLC, without proper removal licensing. They also said he directed or used township employees to perform duties for his business while being paid by the township. 

During their investigation, officials also found fraudulent signatures impersonating an engineer on permit applications.

“Today’s guilty plea secured by OPIA ends a long and sad betrayal of the community by someone who had been in a position of power and trust for a long time,” Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement. “Anyone who betrays the public’s trust by placing their own interests ahead of their duty as a public servant to New Jersey residents will be held accountable.”

His company is now ineligible from bidding for any public contracts, entering into public contracts, or conducting any business with the state or political subdivisions for five years. The company also is barred from conducting, or contracting to conduct, any storage tank removals for three years.

Bonaccorso wore a red tie and black suit in court Friday, making few comments besides directly addressing Judge Lisa Miralles Walsh’s questions. When asked if the value of the township services he used was below $200, he said, “I believe so.” And to another question about the charges he pled guilty to, he responded, “I know now.” 

“Do you understand that it doesn’t matter whether or not you knew then?” Walsh asked Bonaccorso, who replied, “Yes.” 

After the hearing, he walked past reporters without answering questions. His attorney Robert Stahl issued a statement calling the plea agreement the “best course forward for his health, his family and the town he so dearly loves and has devoted more than two decades to.” 

Council President Angel Albanese will serve as acting mayor until the township’s Republican committee submits candidates to serve as interim mayor.

Bonaccorso came under fire in 2022 when NJ Advance Media published a conversation in which he used slurs to describe Black people. Gov. Phil Murphy then called for his resignation, but Bonaccorso refused to step down.