Councilman Venezia: 'I am a Better Public Servant' Because of Lautenberg

Speaking the day of Sen. Frank Lautenberg’s death, Michael Venezia described the late senator’s office as sad and subdued.

The Bloomfield Councilman has worked for Lautenberg’s Newark office as a project specialist for five years. He said word of the senator’s death came in Monday morning.

“We found out about 9:15 this morning," Venezia told Patch. “Everyone is extremely sad and disappointed. We lost our boss and a great friend and a great man.”

Lautenberg, the last remaining World War II veteran in the senate, died Monday morning. He was 89. 

The five-term senator succumbed to complications from viral pneumonia at 4:02 a.m. at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell, his office said in a statement Monday morning. 

Venezia said while Lautenberg’s health had been a recent concern, the death came as a shock.

“He was an unbelievable man,” Venezia said. “I learned from him. I am a better public servant for knowing him.”

Venezia, who is running for the nomination to be the Democratic candidate for mayor in Bloomfield in Tuesday’s primary, said Lautenberg had a profound influence on his life as a public servant.

“When I was first elected, he called me to his office and told me to do what was right with my heart and if you do that you’ll never regret what you did,” Venezia said.

Reflecting on Lautenberg’s legacy, Venezia noted that no other public servant has saved more lives than Lautenberg with the no smoking on airplanes law.

“He was fighting in what he believed in until the end,” Venezia said.

He said Lautenberg’s death hit him personally.

“It hurts,” Venezia said. “I worked for the guy for over five years. It’s tough. He was a great public servant and a great mentor to me.”