There Is 'Frustration And Anger' About Bridgegate, Which Can't Happen Again, Mayor Says

FORT LEE, N.J. — Borough Mayor Mark Sokolich said he takes no pleasure is seeing two former aides of Gov. Chris Christie brought down, but those feelings are quickly dismissed when he thinks about the people affected by the Bridgegate scandal, he said.

"There's frustration and anger at what happened and I take no pleasure in seeing someone else's demise, but I get over that very quickly when I think about the thousands of lives they put in harm's way and they did it in such a callous disregard for public safety and the lives of many people," Sokolich said.

Thousands of people were in gridlocked traffic for three September mornings in 2012 when Kelly and Baroni orchestrated closing access lanes to the George Washington Bridge as political retribution against Sokolich, a democrat, for not endorsing Christie for reelection.

RELATED: Bridgegate Verdict: 2 Ex-Chris Christie Aides Found Guilty in Criminal Trial

Sokolich testified during the trial last month that he felt all along the massive traffic jams were a result of him not endorsing Governor Christie for reelection.

The traffic jams delayed first responders getting to an unconscious 91-year-old woman who later died of cardiac arrest at a hospital, NorthJersey.com reported. The traffic jams also made students late for school and delayed EMS crews in getting to a scene of a motor vehicle accident.

The two aides, Bridget Anne Kelly, the governor's former deputy chief of staff, and Bill Baroni, Christie's top executive appointee at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, were found guilty of all charges connected to the scandal. They each face a maximum sentence of 20-plus years in jail, but judicial experts say they will more likely serve two t0 three years each.

"It is incomprehensible to me that this sort of thing could happen, however when you look at the nature of culture that is allowed to exist in Trenton, it should come at no surprise," Sokolich said. "This can never, ever happen again and shame on us if we don't pass legislation to ensure that this doesn't happen again."

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Photo: Patch file photo of the George Washington Bridge and Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich, via Wikimedia Commons