Note: The Web sites of the Star-Ledger and Trenton Times have not yet been updated with today’s news.
New Jersey’s state government is better than Rhode Island and New Hampshire’s, but worse than pretty much everyone else; Sammy Rivera is granted a trial delay; Sharpe James’ former secretary ready to talk about credit card statements; gas tax an option; municipalities brace for cuts in state aide.
TAKE THAT, RHODE ISLAND AND NEW HAMPSHIRE!
Congratulations, New Jersey – your government's not the worst!
A recent survey from the nonprofit Pew Center on the States gave the Garden State a "C" grade, because of long-standing fiscal problems coupled with infrastructure and other problems.
The nonprofit handed out the marginally satisfactory grade to just six other states Monday – Alaska, Arkansas, California, Illinois, Maine and Massachusetts.
Only two New England states ranked lower: Rhode Island and New Hampshire, which received scores of C- and D+, respectively.
By comparison, with A- grades, Utah, Virginia and Washington state have the most effective state governments, according to the survey. (Harper, Press of Atlantic City)
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/179/story/98607.html
FOR NOW, WE’LL JUST HAVE TO SETTLE FOR HEARING ABOUT THE ANTICS OF SHARPE JAMES
A federal judge has granted Passaic Mayor Sammy Rivera’s request to delay his corruption trial, pushing it back to September to give his attorney more time to prepare the defense.
Rivera, 61, had been scheduled to stand trial on March 24 before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson in Trenton. But at a status conference, the judge reset the trial for Sept. 8.
Rivera’s attorney, Henry E. Klingeman, asked for a postponement to at least July to give him time to review the government’s evidence, which includes secretly recorded conversations between the mayor and informants working for the FBI. Klingeman also had commitments to other clients due to stand trial over the next few months.
Rivera was arrested last Sept. 6 as part of a statewide FBI undercover sting that passed out more than $130,000 in bribes to officials in return for favorable action on public contracts. (Sampson, Herald News)
http://www.northjersey.com/news/northernnj/Passaic_mayor_.html
THE BEST SHOW IN TOWN
When former Newark Mayor Sharpe James returns to federal court today, prosecutors are expected to continue building their case against him through testimony of his former secretary. She has already romantically linked her ex-boss with a businesswoman accused of getting special treatment from him for land deals that netted her a hefty profit.
Rose Marie Posella, who was James' personal secretary for his 20 years in office, had just completed testifying about expenses on the former mayor's credit card statement in November 2002 when U.S. District Judge William Martini ended court for the day on Tuesday.
On the stand for nearly two hours, Posella told the jury she considered Tamika Riley, James' co-defendant, his girlfriend and that Riley had extraordinary access to the married Democratic mayor, sometimes calling a private line reserved for his wife and other close insiders. (Spoto, Star-Ledger)
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/03/james_trial_resumes.html
ONE OF MANY PAINFUL CHOICES
A Democratic senator said Tuesday he is building a consensus on a plan to raise tolls 45 percent and increase the gas tax by as much as 18 cents per gallon in order to pay for the state's transportation needs.
Sen. Raymond Lesniak, D—Union, told the Associated Press he believes the plan could be approved by year's end. He has previously said motorists are more likely to accept higher transportation fees if they pay for transportation needs, as opposed to using toll hikes for both road repair and paying off state debt.
Gov. Jon S. Corzine, while welcoming a debate on alternatives, said he has concerns that a gas tax hike would be a "regressive" levy that comes as gasoline prices are already rising, but he left the door open for such a move.
The tax "is not my favorite choice" Corzine said, adding that he will not back away from his plan to reduce state debt and rein in spending and borrowing. (Tamari, Gannett)
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS0301/803050306/-1/NEWS10
SOAP OPERA DIGEST
New Jersey's gay former governor said his four-year marriage produced a child and was not a fraud, as his estranged wife contends.
In court papers made public Tuesday, Jim McGreevey said the claim that he concealed his sexuality from his wife is without merit and should be dismissed.
His lawyers said Dina Matos McGreevey has no legal claim even if McGreevey, now openly gay and living with a male partner, hid his bisexuality or married her to advance his political career.
Matos McGreevey wants to be compensated for the 13½ months that she did not get to spend in Drumthwacket, the governor's mansion in Princeton Township. She is seeking $605,999 in damages.
McGreevey resigned suddenly during his first term after announcing he was gay and saying he had an affair with a male staffer. The couple split when he left office in November 2004. (Delli Santi, AP)
http://www.nj.com/southjersey/index.ssf/2008/03/mcgreeveys_ex_calls_him_fraudu.html
IN SOUTH HARRISON, WHICH APPARENTLY EXISTS
The FBI will join an investigation into recent messages aimed at South Harrison Mayor Charles Tyson, who last fall was the target of a possible bias crime.
Federal investigators will help in a probe of "telephonic and e-mail communications (to Tyson) that may constitute criminal actions," Gloucester County Prosecutor Sean Dalton said Tuesday.
Tyson could not be reached.
Dalton did not describe the content of the communications, which are thought to have occurred last week.
"We're gathe
ring information to see if it meets the guidelines for a hate crime (under federal law)," said Jerria Williams, a spokeswoman for the FBI office in Philadelphia.
The latest incident came after South Harrison's municipal committee on Feb. 27 gave initial approval to a $3,000 reward offer for an arrest and conviction in an apparent racial slur aimed at Tyson.
That occurred in October, when someone painted KKK, an abbreviation for the Ku Klux Klan, on a campaign sign on Tyson's lawn.
Tyson, who is black, was running for re-election at that time. (Walsh, Courier-Post)
http://www.courierpostonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS01/803050411/1006/news01
SNOWFLACK SAYS ‘JERSEY JOE’ IS NOTHING TO LAUGH AT
There were, we know, snickers among some Republicans when Joseph Pennacchio started talking about running for the U.S. Senate. First off, the guy from Brooklyn had given himself a corny nickname, "Jersey Joe." Second of all, some may have thought about Pennacchio's challenge to then Rep. Dean A. Gallo, R-Parsippany, in the 1994 primary. Pennacchio lost the race and for a few years afterward, he was persona non grata in the county's Republican party. The snickers should have stopped by now.
Pennacchio, a state senator from Montville (the 26th District), is methodically putting together some wins from Republicans around the state. The last 10 days have been especially kind to Pennacchio. First, he was endorsed by the Hunterdon County Republican Committee and then the steering committee of the Bergen County Republican Committee. Last Saturday, he won the support of the Union County GOP. Pennacchio also was endorsed by three state senators from Ocean County and on Monday, the chair of the Warren County Republican Committee, Douglas Steinhardt, endorsed Pennacchio after first serving on an exploratory committee for one of his opponents Anne Estabrook.
All of this is insider stuff to be sure. But the benefit to Pennacchio is that he is gaining insider support from outside Morris County. The party endorsements in Hunterdon and Union — and Bergen if the full committee concurs with the Steering Committee — mean that Pennacchio will have the "county line," or preferential ballot position in the June primary. Do the rank and file always follow party leaders? No, but they generally do more than they don't. (Snowflack, Daily Record)
http://www.dailyrecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/COLUMNISTS01/803050401/1100/NEWS01
“CALL IT THE PAY-TO-PROTECT STRATEGY”
Nine years ago, "politically naïve" EnCap officials began playing it safe by taking out an insurance policy.
The eventual price: $120,000 – in political donations.
One allegedly innocent-as-a-lamb newcomer to New Jersey's pay-to-play culture, former EnCap President William Gauger, "understood that by making a contribution it could help 'to make sure something bad doesn't happen," according to a 277-page report released last week.
Gauger and others didn't "feel comfortable" about it, but their troubled consciences did not win the day. The company would need – and get – legislation providing millions |of dollars in tax breaks to the landfill-to-links project in the Meadowlands. The donations, |he told state Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper, were made "with the intent to benefit the project."
Call it the "pay-to-protect" strategy.
That account struck me as a pretty stunning admission, but you wouldn't know that by reading Cooper's report. Despite EnCap's "intent," despite some suspiciously timed (and generous) contributions made before key votes, her investigators did not uncover any evidence that the EnCap-linked cash influenced lawmakers. (Stile, Bergen Record)
http://www.northjersey.com/politics/A_stunning_admission_by_EnCaps_ex-chief.html
THAT’S IT, HILLARY – TIME TO THROW IN THE TOWEL
New Jersey Democrats may have backed New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton in last month's presidential primary, but seven leading Democrats from Ocean County on Tuesday endorsed Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for the party's nomination.
"Barack Obama has won the most states, the most delegates and the most votes in the Democratic primary, and that's no accident," said former state Senate president John F. Russo of Toms River.
"Obama has proven that he is the best candidate to represent our progressive values and win in the general election," Russo added.
Joining him in backing Obama were former Assembly Majority Leader John Paul Doyle of Brick; former Ocean County Prosecutor Daniel Carluccio; Ocean County Democratic Finance Chairman Stephan R. Leone and his wife, Judi, a member of the New Jersey Arts Council; former Pine Beach Mayor Russell K. Corby; and former Toms River Democratic Club President Thomas Rodgers. (Bennett, Asbury Park Press)
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS02/803050406/-1/NEWS10
MUNICIPAL AID CUTS
As state officials released data showing that property taxes rose by an average of 5.4 percent in 2007 — the lowest rate in four years — they also detailed municipal aid cuts that are likely to put more pressure on the local levies in 2008.
The 2007 data from the Department of Community Affairs showed the average New Jersey property tax bill grew to $6,796 in 2007, up from $6,446 the previous year.
The data is the first measure of the effectiveness of a property tax cap lawmakers and Gov. Corzine instituted early last year. The cap set maximum annual property tax increases at 4 percent, but included exceptions that allow the taxes to rise by more than that amount.
Average property taxes had grown by about 7 percent annually since 2004. In 2003 they rose by about 4.5 percent. (Tamari, Gannett)
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS/803050312
HOBOKEN’S FINEST
HOBOKEN – Former Hoboken SWAT team members unwittingly paid for Hoboken Police Chief Carmen LaBruno's Mardi Gras trip to Louisiana in 2006 – not himself, as previously stated – according to the Hoboken official who used his own credit card to front the money.
Deputy Coordinator Officer of Emergency Management Joel Mestre – who joined the SWAT team trip as a medic and appeared in various photos – said he paid $1,046.70 for LaBruno's round-trip plane fare and then was reimbursed with a check from the SWAT team bank account. That account, which the New York Times reported is part of a federal investigation, was replenished through deductions from members' wages.
When the entire group returned, Mestre said he asked the chief for the money to pay his credit card bill. But SWAT team leader Lt. Angelo Andriani wouldn't allow LaBruno to pay, Mestre sa
id, and he wrote a check out to Mestre from the SWAT's Trust Company of New Jersey account.
Public Safety Director Bill Bergin told The Jersey Journal in November that he was assured by LaBruno that the 2006 trip was a vacation and he paid for his own trip to Louisiana. Late last year, embarrassing photos surfaced of the chief. In one of the photos, he's posing with a woman who is exposing her breasts.
Yesterday Bergin said the matter is part of the investigation.
"That part of the overall case, along with other things, has to be gotten to the bottom of," Bergin said. (Hack, Jersey Journal)
http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-1/120470101948360.xml&coll=3
IN WALL
Thee township and Police Department have denied allegations by police Capt. Bernard Sullivan that his arrest on drunken-driving charges last year was without probable cause, and that his appointment as police chief was rescinded without due process.
The defendants also are demanding a jury trial to resolve the matter. Court officials said no date has been set. The allegations were made by Sullivan in his $5 million lawsuit against the township, department, the Township Committee and the officers who arrested him. The suit was filed after he was found not guilty of drunken driving.
In their formal response, the township and Police Department denied Sullivan was arrested without probable cause, and said the resolution naming him the next chief was not "final and binding." (Biese, Asbury Park Press)
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS/803050315
SECOND CHANCE BALLOTS
It's been a month since New Jersey's presidential primary, and state officials say they still don't know how many voters cast so-called second-chance ballots for candidates.
A spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office said the office is still getting numbers from county clerks in counties that allowed the use of the second-chance ballots.
The issue stems from a legal finding out of Ocean County the week before the Feb. 4 primary.
Superior Court Judge Vincent J. Grasso ruled Jan 31 that people who cast absentee ballots for a presidential candidate who dropped out of the race could request another absentee ballot. While the ruling wasn't binding in the state's 20 other counties, officials with the Attorney General's Office said county clerks had the discretion to provide replacement ballots.
Attorney General's Office spokesman David Wald said some county clerks opted not to issue the second-chance ballots.
"Our position was … the voter has right to go to a judge if a clerk denied it," he said. (Barlas, Press of Atlantic City)
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/179/story/98559.html
THE BATTLE FOR FORT MONMOUTH
A stalled lawsuit against the Defense Department filed last year by a Fort Monmouth employees union regained traction Tuesday when a federal judge put the case back on an active trial docket.
In a telephone conference, U.S. District Court Judge Mary L. Cooper — sitting in Trenton — allowed the case filed by the American Federation of Government Employees Local 1904, to continue toward oral arguments, according to Eugene LaVergne, the West Long Branch lawyer representing the union.
In November, Cooper put the case, which seeks to undo the fort's federally mandated closure, on inactive status while events affecting the closure played out. Chief among those events was the DOD's issuance of the so-called caveat report, which detailed how the Army planned to close the fort without adversely affecting its support for the ongoing war on terrorism. (Brown and Bowman, Asbury Park Press)
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS03/803050308/-1/NEWS10
IN ATLANTIC COUNTY
HAMILTON TOWNSHIP – He's only been a Republican for a few weeks, but Township Committeeman Nelson Gaskill said Tuesday he'll seek the party's nomination for an at-large seat on the Atlantic County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
Gaskill left the Democratic Party on Feb. 11, saying he was being ignored by party leaders who, in turn, said they were glad to see Gaskill go.
Gaskill said Tuesday he'll seek the nomination for the at-large seat, which is contested countywide, when county Republican leaders hold their annual convention on March 27.
"My entire adult life has been dedicated to serving my community as a volunteer fireman and youth sports coach," said Gaskill, a 58-year-old Mays Landing resident. "I believe my life experiences will bring the perspective of working families to the freeholder board. (Barlas, Press of Atlantic City)
http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/179/story/98560.html
IN VINELAND
As the city government and an energy company waged a war of words over their crumbling partnership last year, a second battle was occurring behind the scenes amid concerns a councilwoman's comments could get the city sued.
Details of the city's efforts to avoid a slander lawsuit emerged in internal documents and e-mails obtained by The Daily Journal. Councilwoman Sheena Santiago provided the documents after the newspaper filed a request with the city under the state's Open Public Records Act.
Santiago late last year publicly questioned the involvement of Houston-based Montgomery Energy Partners in plans to redevelop the aging Vineland Municipal Electric Utility.
The city seeks developers interested in operating the existing West Avenue electric plant using alternative fuels, as well as building a new one, possibly on property owned by the Landis Sewerage Authority near Elm and Mill roads. (Zatzariny, Daily Journal)
http://www.thedailyjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080305/NEWS01/803050320/1002
IN FAIR LAWN
The Borough Council has "put to bed" a dispute about how to handle Borough Manager Tom Metzler's purchase of a $25,000 Dodge Charger without council approval, Mayor Steve Weinstein said.
On the advice of its attorney, the council will not release its decision — which Weinstein said was unanimous — until a public meeting next week.
But Weinstein met with Metzler and Chief Financial Officer Barry Eccleston on Monday to discuss the decision, he said.
"Everyone accepted the situation and handled everything professionally," Weinstein said. (Akin, Bergen Record)
http://www.northjersey.com/news/16246232.html
ROWAN STUDENTS PREPARE FOR PAINFUL RATHERISMS
Dan Rather, a former CBS anchor and award-winning journalist, will appear at Rowan University to mark the 40th anniversary of the Cold War-era summit between President Lyndon Johnson and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin at the Hollybush Mansion on campus.
