{"id":2898,"date":"2026-07-12T17:52:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-12T21:52:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/?p=2898"},"modified":"2026-07-12T18:04:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-12T22:04:47","slug":"martin-g-barnes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/2026\/07\/12\/martin-g-barnes\/","title":{"rendered":"Martin G. Barnes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"Martin G. Barnes<\/strong> served as the 53rd Mayor of Paterson, New Jersey<\/strong>, from 1997 to 2002<\/strong>, making history as the city’s first African American mayor<\/strong>. A lifelong Paterson resident, Barnes was born on March 15, 1948<\/strong>, and was raised in the Riverside section of the city. He graduated from Eastside High School<\/strong> and earned a degree in Educational Psychology from Seton Hall University<\/strong> before beginning a career in sales and community advocacy.<\/p>\n

Barnes entered public service in 1974<\/strong> when he was elected to the Paterson City Council, representing the Third Ward. Over more than two decades as a councilman, he became known for his advocacy on neighborhood issues, housing, and economic development. In January 1997, following the election of Mayor Bill Pascrell to the U.S. Congress, the City Council selected Barnes to complete the unexpired mayoral term. Later that year he won a special election and, in 1998, was elected to a full four-year term. Although Paterson’s municipal elections are nonpartisan, Barnes was a member of the Republican Party and became the first Republican elected mayor by Paterson voters since 1978.<\/p>\n

As mayor, Barnes focused on downtown redevelopment, neighborhood revitalization, public safety, and economic investment. His administration sought to strengthen city services, encourage private development, and promote opportunities for Paterson’s diverse communities. His election was viewed as a milestone in the city’s history, reflecting Paterson’s growing diversity and expanding political representation.<\/p>\n

Barnes’ tenure was overshadowed during its final year by a federal corruption investigation. In 2002, he was indicted on charges involving gifts and favors received from city contractors. After leaving office, he pleaded guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion and was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison. These events brought an abrupt end to his political career and remain an important part of the historical record surrounding his administration.<\/p>\n

Following his release, Barnes largely stayed out of public office. He died on December 28, 2012<\/strong>, at the age of 64. Despite the controversy that marked the end of his career, Martin G. Barnes remains a significant figure in Paterson’s history for breaking racial barriers as the city’s first African American mayor and for his decades of public service to the community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Martin G. Barnes served as the 53rd Mayor of Paterson, New Jersey, from 1997 to 2002, making history as the city’s first African American mayor. A lifelong Paterson resident, Barnes was born on March 15, 1948, and was raised in … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"kt_blocks_editor_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2898"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2902,"href":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2898\/revisions\/2902"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/patersonhistory.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}