Anthony Chiappone

Anthony Chiappone (born November 13, 1957, Brooklyn, New York) is an American Democratic Party politician who served in the New Jersey General Assembly, where he represented the 31st Legislative District from 2004 to 2005 and again from 2007 until his resignation in 2010.

In 2009, Chiappone and his wife Diane were indicted on charges of official misconduct and violating campaign finance laws. They originally pleaded not guilty to the charges. In a plea agreement on June 25, 2010, Chiappone pleaded guilty to filing false campaign finance reports, and in exchange the charges against his wife were dropped. As a result of his guilty plea, he was forced to give up his Assembly seat, officially resigning on July 16, 2010.

Chiappone served in the Assembly on the Health and Senior Services Committee, the Human Services Committee and the Regulated Professions Committee. His legislative office was located at 663 Broadway in Bayonne. He had challenged incumbent Mark Smith in February 2010 to become Mayor of Bayonne, New Jersey.

Chiappone also served as a Councilman-at-Large for the city of Bayonne having won a third four-year term in May 2006 and serving until April 2009 when he resigned. Chiappone had served on the Bayonne City Council since 1998, as a Councilman-at-Large since 2002 and representing Bayonne's First Ward from 1998-2002. As a City Council Member, Chiappone sat on the Board of School Estimate Committee, the Bayonne Economic Development Committee, the Cable TV Committee, member of the CDBG Committee, was a member of the Bayonne Economic Opportunity Foundation, and a Commissioner of the Base Local Redevelopment Agency that oversees development of Bayonne's Peninsula.

He simultaneously held a seat in the New Jersey General Assembly and on the City Council. This dual position, often called double dipping, was allowed under a grandfather clause in the state law enacted by the New Jersey Legislature and signed into law by Governor of New Jersey Jon Corzine in September 2007 that prevents dual-office-holding but allows those who had held both positions as of February 1, 2008, to retain both posts.

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