North Hudson’s insistence on a Roman Colosseum election
One is forced to wonder on the eve of Election Day what ancient pagan rites are at work upon the collective subconsciousness right now of the Township of North Bergen. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
http://politickernj.com/2015/05/north-hudson-countys-insistence-on-a-roman-colosseum-election/
West New York mayor’s race: Wiley – “I expect to crush” Roque
WEST NEW YORK – Commissioner Count Wiley, the mayoral candidate leading the opposition West New York United slate against incumbent Mayor Felix Roque, spent most of the last day before Election Day somewhere that might seem counterintuitive to some, but that made perfect sense to Wiley: North Bergen. (Bonamo/PolitickerNJ)
West New York mayor’s race: Munoz shows up at Wiley HQ, ready to hit the streets
WEST NEW YORK – Days after he leveled a diatribe against his longtime political rival, West New York Mayor Felix Roque, former Hudson County Freeholder Jose Munoz rolled into Roque mayoral race foe Commissioner Count Wiley’s headquarters, looking to help take Roque out. (Bonamo/PolitickerNJ)
Watch: Pandemonium erupts in North Bergen senior citizen building
NORTH BERGEN — Pre-election day antics have reached North Bergen’s senior citizen community, where mayoral challenger Larry Wainstein’s campaign alleged today that a political operative working for incumbent Nick Sacco “assaulted” a 17-year-old boy who was visiting a resident with his mother, Yomary Paulino.
Providing little in the way of context, the Wainstein campaign blasted out a video that apparently captured the incident, claiming that Sacco’s campaign had told Ester Cordero, the alleged campaign operative, to keep supporters of his opponent out of the senior citizen housing center. (Brush/PolitickerNJ)
West New York mayor’s race: On Bergenline Avenue, election stirs distrust and disdain
WEST NEW YORK – If an outside observer wanted to take the local pulse of politics by asking questions on Bergenline Avenue, West New York’s main artery, the day before the Hudson County town’s municipal election, what they might find is a steady beat of discontent with politics in general. (Bonamo/PolitickerNJ)
Moriarty’s ‘swatting’ bill passes Assembly Homeland Security Committee
TRENTON — Robert Ianuale knows what it’s like to get swatted.
Not the literal kind of swatting, mind you, where you hit something with a sharp blow from a flat object. No, Ianuale is keenly familiar with another kind, the “SWAT”-ing kind — when police officers, after receiving a false emergency report from prank phone callers, show up at your door decked out in full riot gear to deliver justice on a crime you almost certainly didn’t commit. (Brush/PolitickerNJ)
Baraka receives $1.5 million check for summer youth employment program
Mayor Ras J. Baraka, the Newark Municipal Council, and the City of Newark accepted a symbolic $1.5 million check from the Foundation for Newark’s Future President and CEO Kimberly Baxter McLain today, in the First Floor Rotunda, at City Hall, at 920 Broad Street.
The money will be used to fund Mayor Baraka’s 2015 Summer Youth Employment Program, which will work to provide summer jobs and internships for 2,300 Newark youth in the private and public sectors, working in corporate, business, government, education, and non-profit sites throughout the City. The funding comes from the foundation created with the $100 million gift given to Newark by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. (PolitickerNJ)
In Perth Amboy, Gonzalez seeks to be ‘lone dissenting voice’ against Diaz
PERTH AMBOY – You can almost hear the ABBA soundtrack in the background in the earliest campaign trail evocations of the shared political lifespans of Mayor Wilda Diaz and former Councilman Fernando Gonzalez, but those guitar-accompanied revolutionary strains from the days when the two of them took on then-Mayor Joe Vas have soured and all their common chords for change turned into a bruising collision course. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Sheridan asks AG to supersede Somerset County prosecutor in investigating parent’s deaths
TRENTON — The son of Joyce and John Sheridan, in a letter to Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman today, called New Jersey’s apparent lack of an official state medical examiner “deeply troubling” — particularly as it relates to prosecutors’ since-concluded investigation into the deaths of his parents in October 2014. (Brush/PolitickerNJ)
West New York mayor’s race: Roque dishes out ice cream, Fonseca to dish out campaign attack
WEST NEW YORK – West New York Mayor Felix Roque smiled as a man working inside the Mikey’s Ice Cream truck parked in front of the Kennedy Towers senior housing high-rise building on 62nd Street handed out the dessert delight on Roque’s dime to potential voters the day before the Hudson County town’s municipal election.
“Ice cream doesn’t win elections, but caring for people does. And we’ve been doing this for four years,” said Roque, elected without the support of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) in 2011 but who has the organization’s support now, on Monday. “We won by a landslide without the HCDO, and how we have them on board.” (Bonamo/PolitickerNJ)
North Bergen: ‘Racist pig’ remark causing last-minute headache for Sacco
NORTH BERGEN — Just two days before the town’s nonpartisan mayoral election is set to take place, a Republican strategist for the Democratic incumbent here is making waves after he called First Lady Michelle Obama a “racist pig.” (Brush/PolitickerNJ)
Smith introduces — and holds — resolution to dedicate environmental settlement money
TRENTON — A bill that would amend the state’s constitution in order to dedicate all money received through environmental contamination settlements — such as the state’s recent settlement with Exxon Mobil — for certain environmental purposes was contemplated and ultimately held during a hearing of the Senate Environment and Energy Committee today. (Brush/PolitickerNJ)
ELEC: Prieto has the most cash-on-hand with over $500k
Insiders say three of the 40 districts are competitive in a general election, maybe fewer than that in the primary season, and yet that hasn’t stopped the raising of cash for this campaign cycle by candidates, according to the state Election Law Enforcement Commission. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Shaftan upbraids ‘racist pig’ Michelle Obama via twitter
A media consultant for North Bergen Mayor (and state Senator) Nick Sacco (D-32) went off on First Lady Michelle Obama this morning via twitter, calling Obama a “racist pig.”
Referring to a story about the first lady in The Daily Caller, Shaftan took her to task in his tweet with the following observation: “This racist pig is one of the reasons race relations in this country are where they are today.” (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Christie racked up $82,594 bill at sports stadium
Chris Christie racked up an $82,594 bill from the concessions operator at MetLife Stadium during the 2010 and 2011 football seasons, the New Jersey Watchdog reported on Monday as part of a broader look at how the New Jersey governor spent $360,000 of his state allowance over five years. (Van Hall/Politico)
5 Things We Learned From Gov. Chris Christie’s New Hampshire Trip
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie concluded his fourth trip to the first-in-the-nation primary state of New Hampshire on Friday, and he will return to the Granite State on Tuesday. The two-day swing provided some new insights into his thinking as he contemplates a 2016 presidential bid. (Haddon/Wall Street Journal)
Menendez Seeks to Move Corruption Case Out of New Jersey
NEWARK — Senator Robert Menendez asked Monday to have his federal corruption case moved to Washington from New Jersey, arguing that virtually none of the 22 counts listed in his indictment occurred in his home state.
Lawyers for Mr. Menendez and his co-defendant, Dr. Salomon E. Melgen, filed the request in Newark. Abbe Lowell, Mr. Menendez’s lawyer, said during a court proceeding last month that he would probably file for a venue change. The government will have a chance to respond to the motion. (The Associated Press)
New Jersey sees some improvement in wealth index
Andy Kapyrin, the director of research, a partner and a chartered financial analyst with RegentAtlantic in Morristown says home prices are increasing, stock returns on Jersey companies are rising, as well as employment and income levels.
“What we are seeing is a broadening is what’s improving the wealth,” Kapyrin said. “The single biggest piece of good news is actually the level of the index.” (Cutter/NJ101.5)
New Jersey sees some improvement in wealth index
Today is Election Day
Welcome to heaven – PolitickerNJ-style.
Today is Election Day in Hudson County, where voters will go to the polls in North Bergen and West New York to pick their mayors and commissioners.
PolitickerNJ reporters will be on the scene all day and into the night to bring you routine updates and final outcomes from those two theaters, Verona, Cedar Grove, Ocean and from Perth Amboy, where Mayor WIlda Diaz is trying to maintain full control of the City Council. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Today is Election Day | New Jersey News, Politics, Opinion, and Analysis
Sokolich kicks off reelection campaign in Fort Lee
As if it couldn’t get any more weird on the evening prior to voters going to the polls for nonpartisan elections in West New York, North Bergen and Perth Amboy.
Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich is running for reelection this year and just kicked off his campaign at a big, symbolic event attended by numerous Democratic Party insiders, including Bergen County Democratic Party Chairman Lou Stellato and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Christie vetoes Sarlo’s environmental remediation bill
TRENTON — Taking action on a series of legislation today, Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have required more money coming from environmental damage lawsuits be earmarked for the costs of remediation and restoration of contaminated sites.
Sponsored by state Senator Paul Sarlo (D-36), the S-2791/A-4281 would have amended the Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2015 to allocate one-half of all environmental damage recoveries above $50 million to the costs of remediation, restoration, and cleanup of natural resource damage. Sarlo told PolitickerNJ earlier this year that the bill was written in response to the state’s recent controversail decision to settle with Exxon Mobil over a series of environmental damage lawsuits for $225 million. (Brush/PolitickerNJ)
Superior court hearing on pen/ben case postponed
A hearing in round two of the legal battle between New Jersey public labor unions and Gov. Chris Christie’s administration over the state’s pension and benefit payments has been postponed pending the Supreme Court’s decision on its own case, Superior Court Judge Mary Jacobson has announced.
Originally scheduled for Tuesday, the hearing on the administration’s decision to cut a slated FY2016 payment will be put off until the high court, which held a hearing last week on the FY2015 payment, issues its own decision. (Brush/PolitickerNJ)
Superior court hearing on pen/ben case postponed | New Jersey News, Politics, Opinion, and Analysis
LD20 Democratic Primary: Quijano and Holley raise $80k between them this period
According to their 29-day pre-election state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) report, Assembly incumbents Annette QUijano and Jamel Holley have $28,196 cash on hand.
The pair reported collecting $80,000 for the period ($50,000 from Quijano, $30,000 from Holley), and spent $51,804.
There was no ELEC report immediately available from the LD20 Democratic Primary rival team of Tony Monteiro and Giuliano Farina, or from the LD20 team of Jorge Batista and Vivian Bell. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Not to be forgotten…
As his old rival turned regional pal finds himself running up and down front porch steps in neighboring North Bergen ahead of tomorrow’s election, Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack couldn’t resist transmitting some off-year power vibes at a fundraising rally this past Friday.
The ever-Hudson-fixated Stack wanted to try something different this year, so held his annual event at the Woodmount Country Club in Woodland Park, where over 1,700 people spilled into the lavish surroundings. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
Not to be forgotten… | New Jersey News, Politics, Opinion, and Analysis
AG’s Office cracks down on phoney charities
New Jersey Youth Club, Inc. (NJYC) and a related organization, “New Jersey Youth Club of America A NJ Nonprofit Corporation” (NJYC of America), will cease operations, stop soliciting charitable contributions, and turn over their recently collected contributions to the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, pursuant to a Final Consent Judgment, according to the state Attorney General’s Office. (Pizarro/PolitickerNJ)
AG’s Office cracks down on phoney charities | New Jersey News, Politics, Opinion, and Analysis
Watchdog Report: Christie’s Big Appetite
A new report by the group New Jersey Watchdog paints a lavish picture of Gov. Chris Christie’s spending habits over the course of his time in the front office, where he apparently ran through $360,000 in his state allowance during his five year tenure — with more than 80 percent of it going toward food, alcohol and desserts. (Brush/PolitickerNJ)
Watchdog Report: Christie’s Big Appetite | New Jersey News, Politics, Opinion, and Analysis
Dominican statewide political organization endorses WNY Mayor Roque
The statewide Dominican-American Elected and Appointed Officials Caucus of NJ (DAEOC-NJ) has endorsed West New York Mayor Felix Roque in Tuesday’s municipal election. The organization also endorsed Roque’s commissioner slate, which includes Commission. (Bonamo/PolitickerNJ)
