Gibson, Kenneth A. (Kenneth Allen), 1932-2019

Kenneth Allen Gibson (May 15, 1932 – March 29, 2019) was an American engineer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the 36th Mayor of Newark, New Jersey from 1970 to 1986. Gibson was the first African American elected mayor of any major city in the Northeastern United States.

Born in Enterprise, Alabama, his family migrated to Newark, New Jersey in 1940. After graduating from Newark's Central High School, Gibson studied civil engineering at Newark College of Engineering (now New Jersey Institute of Technology), but financial challenges forced him to drop out of school after a few months in school to work in a factory, serve in the military and later work for the New Jersey Highway Department, completing his engineering degree in 1963 by taking night classes. He worked as an engineer for the New Jersey Highway Department from 1950 to 1960. From 1960 to 1966, he was Chief Engineer for the Newark Housing Authority, and chief structural engineer for the city from 1966 to 1970.

Emerging from a crowded six-candidate field, Gibson was elected in a runoff election in 1970, defeating incumbent mayor Hugh Addonizio. He entered office as a reformer, alleging that the prior administration was corrupt. Later that same year, Mayor Addonizio was convicted of extortion and conspiracy. After 16 years under Gibson, the city’s unemployment rate had risen nearly 50 percent, its population had continued dropping, it had no movie theaters, only one supermarket remained, and only two-thirds of its high school students were graduating. In 1986, fellow Democratic challenger, Sharpe James, defeated Gibson in his attempt to be reelected for a fifth term. He unsuccessfully ran in 1981 and 1985 for the Democratic nomination for Governor of New Jersey.

After leaving office, Gibson then ran an engineering consulting business until 1998, when he said that the timing was right to return to politics. He ran for Essex County executive but lost in a close vote to incumbent James Treffinger. He was later indicted for bribery and for stealing funds from a school construction project in nearby Irvington, New Jersey, but the charges were dismissed and instead Gibson pleaded guilty to tax evasion in 2002. Gibson died in West Orange, New Jersey.