# America's scummiest mayor? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 7, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-scummiest-mayor/523993 "2010-01-07T03:31:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-scummiest-mayor/523993/21 "2010-01-08T17:21:32Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Sorry, I overlooked **Mr. Excellent** ’s post. :smack: No worries 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-scummiest-mayor/523993/22 "2010-01-08T17:55:40Z")
Frank Hague, the 30-year mayor of Jersey City, N.J., [Frank Hague - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_hague), and James Curley of Boston, Mass., [James Michael Curley - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Michael_Curley), were real pieces of work (and Curley was the inspiration for the political novel _The Last Hurrah_). ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-scummiest-mayor/523993/23 "2010-01-08T17:57:10Z")
> [@joebuck20](#): > > Isn’t that the woman Nerese Campbell on “The Wire” as based on? > If so, what would you expect from someone in cahoots with Clay “Sheeeeiiiiiiittt” Davis? Yes. And I can’t shake that connection. Probably unfair to Ms. Dixon, but I believe that _The Wire_ was not exaggerating much, if at all. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-scummiest-mayor/523993/24 "2010-01-08T18:02:48Z")
Birmingham, Alabama’s (thankfully ex-) mayor, [Larry Langford](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Langford), has to be in the hunt. > [@](#): > > On April 30, 2008, the Securities and Exchange Commission sued Langford in federal court.[21] The lawsuit alleges Langford accepted more than $156,000 in cash and benefits from Montgomery banker Bill Blount in exchange for county bond business. > [@](#): > > On the morning of December 1, 2008, Larry Langford was arrested by the FBI on a 101 count indictment[22] alleging conspiracy, bribery, fraud, money laundering, and filing false tax returns[23] in connection with a long-running bribery scheme. Convicted on 60 counts. ---
**Author:** ![Carl\_Corey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Carl\_Corey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Corey)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-scummiest-mayor/523993/25 "2010-01-08T21:16:54Z")
All good candidates, but in my opinion nothing beats Philip Giordano, the ex-mayor of Waterbury, CT. From Wikipedia: > [@](#): > > While investigating municipal corruption, the FBI discovered phone records and pictures of Giordano with a prostitute, as well as with her 10-year-old niece and her eight-year-old daughter. He was arrested on July 26, 2001, and, in March 2003, was convicted of 14 counts of using an interstate device, his cell phone, to arrange sexual contact with children. He was also convicted of violating the girls’ civil rights. He was sentenced to 37 years in prison. In July 2007 his motion to reduce this sentence was denied by a federal judge. _That’s_ scummy. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-scummiest-mayor/523993/26 "2010-01-08T21:50:48Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Frank Hague, the 30-year mayor of Jersey City, N.J., [Frank Hague - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_hague), and James Curley of Boston, Mass., [James Michael Curley - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Michael_Curley), were real pieces of work (and Curley was the inspiration for the political novel _The Last Hurrah_). Boston mayor Thomas Menino is embroiled in anew scandal-one of his party hacks is under indictment (for selling drugs in City Hall). Menino was just reelected to a fifth term. Corruption continues! ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-scummiest-mayor/523993/27 "2010-01-08T22:15:51Z")
Jerry Springer, for the win, Alex. Jerry not only did several highly questionable things, he eventually lost his office over cavorting with prostitutes. How’d they catch him? It seems he was paying by cheque. That’s right, frequenting prostitutes, while mayor, and paying by cheque. (I don’t even want to think about what kind of prostitute takes a cheque!) ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-scummiest-mayor/523993/28 "2010-01-08T22:18:15Z")
I can’t resist, I must share with you the sordid story of former Oswego, NY mayor John Gosek. It involves cash given to a crack whore in exchange for her arranging to place two 15 year old girls at a motel for his honor to bang. Only there were no girls, just a setup, a sting.blog.syracuse.com/indepth/2009/05/the\_woman\_who\_brought\_down\_osw.html We’re rather proud of the ex-mayor in a perverse way, for running with the big dogs! (in prior years, Mayor Lee Alexander of Syracuse, NY went to jail for for financial shenanigans, but that wasn’t so much scummy as business as usual until caught.) ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-scummiest-mayor/523993/29 "2010-01-09T01:29:41Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > (I don’t even want to think about what kind of prostitute takes a cheque!) They knew he’d be good for it. He was the MAYOR, after all. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2010, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-scummiest-mayor/523993/30 "2010-01-09T01:34:40Z")
And lest we forget: [Mayor Quimby - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayor_Quimby) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/americas-scummiest-mayor/523993.md?page=1)