If not for his criminal conviction, Craig Callaway would be taking office as the Mayor of Atlantic City. He resigned as City Council President last year after being sentenced to 40 months in a federal prison for accepting bribes.
Callaway was one of several recent Atlantic City Councilmen to be convicted on corruption charges: Gibb Jones got five years on probation for extortion and Ramon Rosario was sentenced to ten months in prison for taking bribes. Another Councilman, Martin Small, was aquitted.
Now City Council President William "Speedy" Marsh is expected to be sworn in as Mayor today and will serve until the Atlantic City Democratic Committee and the City Council can agree on a replacement. There will be a Special Election in November 2008 to fill the final fourteen months of Levy's term. Possible candidates include Marsh, Small, former Mayor Lorenzo Langford, who ousted James Whelan in 2001 but lost to Levy four years later; Atlantic City Democratic Municipal Chairman Scott Evans, Councilwoman Joyce Mollineaux, former Councilwoamn Barbara Hudgins, and City Business Administrator Domenic Cappella, a Levy ally who nearly ousted Bill Gormley in the 1991 State Senate primary.
