A seemingly harmless gathering at the Stevens Institute Monday exploded into a finger-pointing affair this week after Rep. Robert Menendez (D-13th Dist.) came to town to have lunch with area seniors and discuss Medicare, Social Security and other federal issues. While the milquetoast nature of the topic raised no eyebrows, the fact that the congressman did not invite Mayor Anthony Russo to the affair did. As he fielded questions from the seniors during lunch, Menendez had State Sen. Bernie Kenny, Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons and other anti-Russo politicos at his side. Just hours after the event was over, Russo called to complain. “I would have loved to spend time with seniors, but I was not invited,” Russo explained Monday. “The other company at the lunch, though, would have made me feel a little ill.” Although Russo did not show up, Michael Korman, the public information officer for the city, happened to be standing outside the event when it began. While he says that he was there coincidentally to meet his aunt, Menendez said in a phone interview Wednesday that Korman was actually discouraging seniors from attending the event. “Michael Korman, who works for the city, was outside telling seniors that they should not go inside, and I think that is distressing,” he said. “The mayor worked actively to discourage seniors from going to an event where they could hear about Medicare, Social Security and prescription drug benefits.” Not so Not so, said Korman. “That’s definitely not true,” he said. “I was supposed to meet my aunt and my two little nieces, but all of a sudden I found myself at an event with all these seniors and they were asking me if the mayor was going to be there and I was saying ‘no’ because I knew his schedule. They were disappointed and a little bit angry.” Menendez said that he did not invite Russo to the event because the feisty 53- year-old mayor had made it clear that the congressman did not have his support. The root of their animosity seems to stem from a rivalry that Menendez has with Union City mayor and state Assemblyman Rudy Garcia. While Menendez, who served as the Union City mayor himself before running for higher office, has locked horns with Garcia in the past, Russo has befriended him. In fact, the two men have forged a political alliance that is so close that it is not uncommon for Union city campaign workers to work in Hoboken during tight elections, and vice-versa. In last Tuesday’s school board race, for example, School Board President David Anthony who received the backing of Russo, went out of his way to thank Union City campaign workers in his victory speech for their efforts in his campaign. “The mayor has clearly indicated to me by his actions that he does not intend to support me,” said Menendez. “He sends me messages that say he is with Rudy. He and Rudy were the only ones of the 16 mayors that I represent that declined to be on an annual host committee that I organized for my campaign. They don’t even invite me to city functions.” Menendez added, “When you don’t even get invited to official municipal functions – now I am talking about official events – it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that he has no intention of ever supporting me.” Menendez even went so far as to suggest that the mayor, who is a Democrat, might support a Republican opponent in the next congressional election. Currently, Theresa De Leon of Jersey City and Hal Turner of North Bergen are vying for the nomination. “He has supported Republicans in the past,” said Menendez, referring to Russo’s 1998 endorsement of Republican Governor Christine Todd Whitman for a second term, “and I run on the Democratic line.” Earlier this month, Menendez added more fuel to the fire when he posed for a picture with the Hoboken Parents United slate of school board candidates that was running against the ticket backed by the mayor. While Menendez denied that the photo op counted as an endorsement, he did nothing to stop the slate from using the picture in their ads. When asked if he planned to play a role in future city elections, the congressman left the possibility open. “I have rarely gotten involved in local elections except in Union City, where I am a resident,” he said. “But I don’t disregard the possibility, if there is someone who is always going to oppose you, you have to take that into account.” City officials, for their part, say that they have never left Menendez out of a municipal event. They point to a waterfront ceremony that took place earlier in the year as evidence of a time that the mayor was happy to share the podium with the congressman.
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