THE BLACK HAND FORUM

B, do you happen to still have the links to the reports mentioned above?

From what we've seen elsewhere the Commission can approve or override a vote.

[quote="Chris Christie" post_id=244555 time=1669293644 user_id=69]
Do we have all the information or did things get summarized? Sounds to me like an impeachment process where he was allowed to remain in office until the decision was made. All these office position formalities and nuances played and still play a larger part in "the life" than most people give it credit for.
[/quote]

I connected a couple different reports but I need to check the dates on them. The consiglio was discussing plans to take Cerrito down as boss some time earlier and then the informant (Lima I'm pretty sure) was told the San Jose Family were planning an election. From what he said, Cerrito was still boss but apparently he considered stepping down when he realized the vote would go the other way, indicating he had no control over the process.

I think Cerrito did remain official boss until his death because later there was discussion of an election where Manny Figlia was the candidate when Cerrito passed. If Cerrito had lost the election / been deposed I'm curious if they would have given him a seat on the consiglio if it still existed. They're one of the Families who took the consiglio very seriously throughout their known history.

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On the subject of elections, Bompensiero said when Licata became boss they did hold an election but members typically voted the same way as their captain and Angelo Polizzi had unfair advantage as he had the largest crew so that would tip the election. It was basically agreed upon beforehand for everyone to vote for Licata because they didn't want a drastic leadership change given the heat they were under and couldn't meet. Scarpa also talked about how his decina met where the captain asked people for candidates but also offered his "opinion" which the soldiers ultimately agreed to after discussion. The soldiers were able to offer their own candidates for both the Colombo boss and consigliere position but the captain talked them out of it.

I find this information highly interesting. Dominick Anzalone, Pittsburgh heavyweight who was partners with Angelo Ripepi in gambling operations had an apparent falling out with LaRocca over casino money he felt was owed to him. Anzalone transferred out to San Jose and he was described as very wealthy and per this document, he "sent one Charles Carbone from San Jose to Pittsburgh to meet with LaRocca. I interpret this as Anzalone was higher up than Carbone "at this particular time."

https://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=93693#relPageId=14&search=Charles_Carbone

Do we have all the information or did things get summarized? Sounds to me like an impeachment process where he was allowed to remain in office until the decision was made. All these office position formalities and nuances played and still play a larger part in "the life" than most people give it credit for.

Saw something interesting.

The San Jose Family was unhappy with Joe Cerrito's leadership so the consiglio arranged for a new election. Cerrito remained boss while this was being planned but when he learned he was unlikely to win the election he planned to step down beforehand to save face. Not sure this ever took place, the election or Cerrito stepping down.

They operated very traditionally so this may tell us something about how things were meant to operate. If Cerrito had won the election, would he be considered "re-elected"? Comes across very close to a term of political office which makes sense (rappresentante). What's weird is the idea of an election being held while a boss still has the title and he himself is one of the candidates.

We know the Commission held meetings every five years where the members were re-elected even if they already had a seat.