John K. “Jack” Rafferty, the legendary public servant who served as Hamilton’s first full-time mayor from 1976 to 2000, died Wednesday of undisclosed causes. He was 82.
“Mayor Rafferty left an indelible mark on Hamilton Township,” current Mayor Jeff Martin, a Democrat, said of the former Republican mayor. “We can all learn from his example and strive to be more like Jack.”
When Hamilton Township amended its governing structure to the mayor-council form of government in the 1970s — separating the legislative and executive branches — the voters popularly elected the charismatic Rafferty to the mayor’s seat, consistently re-electing him every four years thereafter.
After serving six terms in office, Rafferty declined to seek re-election in 1999 and served out his 24th and final year in office as the township’s image took something of a nosedive in connection with a social club scandal.
New Jersey state authorities raided the former Baron Athletic Association on Cypress Lane in 1998 on allegations the bocce club and charitable organization secretly operated as an illegal casino and tavern.
Many public officials across the political aisle, including Rafferty, had strong connections to the Baron club prior to the scandal. Rafferty was never charged in the illegal gambling scheme, which had implicated lower-profile club officers.
PHOTO: Jack Rafferty shows off his copy of the Trentonian from the day Ronald Reagan was elected President, also the day Republican Congressman Chris Smith was first elected. (Trentonian file photo)
Baron AA granted the Cypress Lane property to Hamilton Township in 2001, and the township turned it into a dedicated senior center.
Before retiring from politics, Rafferty received permanent honors in 1999 when federal lawmakers designated the U.S. postal building at 680 U.S. Highway 130 in Hamilton Township as the “John K. Rafferty Hamilton Post Office Building.”
In another honor, the Hamilton Area YMCA years ago named its Whitehorse-Mercerville Road branch after Rafferty.
Before becoming Hamilton’s first full-time mayor, Rafferty served six years on the former township committee. When dual office-holding was permitted, Rafferty served as mayor and as a New Jersey State Assemblyman in 1986 and 1987.
In 1996, Rafferty was inducted into the New Jersey Mayors’ Hall of Fame. The following year the New Jersey Conference of Mayors selected him as the Mayor of the Year, according to a speech GOP Congressman Chris Smith delivered in the U.S. House some two decades ago.
“Jack Rafferty was an extraordinary leader — a visionary and doer of great deeds — especially for the people of Hamilton Township,” Smith, a Hamilton Township resident, said Thursday in a statement. “He was smart, tenacious, selfless and had a sense of humor that always brought a smile to anyone he met.”
“He and first lady Doris made all of us Hamiltonians proud,” Smith added. “My wife Marie and I considered Jack a good friend who lent his political expertise to many of my campaigns. We mourn Jack’s passing but celebrate a life that has made all the difference in the world. Rest in peace, our friend.”
Rafferty supported Smith when the congressman first ran for the U.S. House in the late 1970s. Timeless photographs also show that Rafferty supported former President Ronald Raegan on the campaign trail.
Former Hamilton Mayor Kelly Yaede, a Republican, said much of Hamilton’s modern development is part of the legacy that Rafferty leaves behind.
“Jack was a tireless advocate for Hamilton and its residents within Hamilton and across the state,” Yaede said Thursday in a statement. “Whether he was in the Assembly Chambers or walking the halls at the U.S. Conference of Mayors, he touted Hamilton as the best place to raise a family and wouldn’t hesitate to take issue with anyone he did not think gave Hamilton its due respect or fair share.”
Former Mayor John Bencivengo, a Republican, credited Rafferty with getting him involved in politics by asking if he was interested in being part of the township economic development team.
He recalled Rafferty as a “shining star” in local and statewide politics.
“We lost our shining star, a friend to all, a great public servant, a family man, and our mayor for more than two generations,” Bencivengo said Thursday of Rafferty. “Once a mayor, always a mayor. To me, he was my mentor, friend, and a blessing in my life.”
“Hamilton will forever be in his debt,” Bencivengo added. “He turned a place into a township, a township into a strong community of families, parks, schools and thriving businesses.”
Former Mayor Glen Gilmore, a Democrat, said Rafferty’s legacy looms “large over Hamilton.”
“He always cared about people more than politics — which is what we could use more of now,” he said. “He was always a friend to me and I will miss his smile.”
Trenton Mayor Reed Gusciora said Rafferty’s “disarming” demeanor and backslapping reputation made him friends of Democrats and Republicans.
The township mayor was also a gifted public speaker with a “larger than life” personality who strove to do right even if it wasn’t popular, Robbinsville Mayor Dave Fried said.
He remembered Rafferty standing up for him after he got grief for supporting pay-to-play legislation in Robbinsville.
“He was the mayor that I always wanted to be,” Fried said. “Everyone liked Jack.”
Rafferty regularly dropped by township bars to buy rounds of drinks for the regulars and talk to them about issues they were having in Hamilton.
“That’s how he got to know of Hamilton,” said Mercer County Executive Brian Hughes, a Democrat. “He did it from a grassroots, that’s for sure.”
Rafferty in his post-mayoral life stayed involved in local issues by serving as executive director of the Hamilton Partnership and remaining a steady presence in Mercer County and statewide Republican circles.
Former State Sen. Bill Baroni, a Hamilton Republican, remembered Rafferty as a “big part of the heart and soul of Hamilton.”
“It seems we are losing Hamilton’s greatest generation,” Baroni said Thursday, referring to the recent deaths of local heavyweights like Maurice “Maury” Perilli, Paul Kramer and now Jack Rafferty. “All of us in politics follow in their footsteps and can only hope to do a fraction of the works they did.”
Ex-Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer picked up an old trick from the old township mayor after playing on his eponymous baseball team, the Jack Rafferties, which wore green uniforms, a nod to Rafferty’s Irish heritage.
“When I got into politics, I mentioned that I used to play on the team. He knew that, and I said, ‘I’m gonna get a team in the Cadwalader Park and name them the Doug Palmers.’ He said, ‘Now you’re learning.’ … People never forget how you made them feel. And he made me and thousands of people feel special.”
Rafferty even won over his fiercest critics, though it took time.
Vinnie Capodanno was one of Rafferty’s biggest foes during the so-called Baron scandal in 1998. Rafferty was a member of the charity and bocce club that state police learned doubled as a “secret playground of the Hamilton Township elite,” with slot machines, video poker games, roulette wheels and card tables, according to Trentonian archives.
Eleven people were indicted on racketeering-related charges but many of the bigwigs, including Rafferty, were left untouched in the criminal dragnet.
That didn’t stop Capodanno from calling on Rafferty to resign as mayor. The two buried the hatchet before the ex-mayor’s death during a chance encounter at the Foley’s Family Market.
“Eh, Jack, why don’t me and you just forget about everything,” Capodanno recalled telling the old timer. “He put out his hand and I shook his hand. … He was probably the best mayor this town ever had.”
This article originally ran in the Feb. 19, 2021 print edition of the Trentonian and can be found online at:
https://www.trentonian.com/news/former-hamilton-mayor-jack-raffety-recalled-as-dedicated-public-servant/article_3303c9ca-720d-11eb-9d5b-3bd07b648385.html