Firms doing business with Hudson County during the 14 years Robert Janiszewski served as county executive often had to go through two consultants: Geoffrey Perselay and Paul Byrne, sources say.
Perselay served as county administrator and warden of the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny under Janiszewski until 1995 when he stepped down to become a consultant for companies dealing with Hudson County and other private and public entities throughout the region.
Byrne, who last served in public office in 1981, was a childhood friend of Janiszewski’s who helped Janiszewski get into politics in the mid-1970s.
“This is not to say that we did anything illegal,” Byrne said, yet admitted that Janiszewski frequently played one consultant off against the other in a kind of bidding war for services, with county employees often torn between loyalties. Each consultant gets fees from vendors based on the level of contacts, contracts approved and other factors, similar to the way lobbyists work on high levels of government.
FBI tapes played as evidence in the bribe trial against Freeholder Nidia Davila-Colon revealed a heavy concern with avoiding William Northgrave at one event when Colon said she was to speak with Janiszewski about arranging the bribe. While this could be a sign of Northgrave’s remarkable integrity, it may also have been Sandoval’s desire not to allow word of the operation to reach Perselay – to whom Northgrave had a close relationship. Sandoval was a client of Byrne’s at the time.
Northgrave served as Janiszewski’s chief of staff until January 2000, when his position switched to county counsel. Northgrave, along with later Counsel David Drummeler, were part of Janiszewski’s inner staff, and were often involved in the twice-a-month “Agenda Meetings” in the county executive’s office that decided what items would be presented to the Board of Freeholders for their approval.
According to several sources, Perselay “had the ear” of several key people in the county executive’s office, allowing him to make recommendations to the county executive. Perselay was also close to Bobby J’s wife, Beth Janiszewski, a powerful political figure in her own right, who distrusted the close relationship Byrne had with her husband. As a result, there was often tension between the various figures close to the top.
Filling Janiszewski’s shoes
Democrats are still working out who will lead the party. Janiszewski’s demise as a political leader, several prominent Democrats said, leaves the party feeling its way through a transition period. While several people believe County Executive Tom DeGise is a nice man and a capable administrator, they do not see him as the spark that brings the party to life. Similarly, State Senator Bernard Kenny is seen as one of the most intelligent men in Trenton, but his laid-back style may not be enough to fire up the party to help transform Hudson County back into the Democratic powerhouse it once was. West New York Mayor Albio Sires, although the assembly speaker, is not seen a political dynamo. In a list of potential Democratic leaders, Freeholder and Union City Mayor Brian Stack, State Senator and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner and even Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham are not seen as unifying figures, despite their individual attributes at leaders in their respective corners of the county.
Janiszewski – despite his power struggles with Jersey City Mayor Gerry McCann in the early 1990s and Rep. Bob Menendez in the late 1990s – had a talent for reaching out into the political community and commanding party unity. Several public officials said another figure of Janiszewski’s ability does exist but would not likely be acceptable to many factions – that would be McCann.
Manzo and McCann make up
The primary election that may make Louis Manzo the Democratic candidate for Assembly in the 31st District puts to an end a 14-year-old feud which began in 1989 when McCann fired Manzo from the Jersey City Board of Health. Manzo’s 1991 election to the Board of Freeholders would later become the critical point in a power struggle for control of the Democratic Party.
Janiszewski and McCann had locked horns, and Manzo’s election as an independent gave Janiszewski the votes on the Freeholder board to reverse McCann’s takeover of the Hudson County Improvement Authority.
Manzo, described as “a real reformer” at the time, was not so much attached to Janiszewski as peeved at McCann.
This temporary alliance with Janiszewski, however, spoiled Manzo’s public image as a reformer and may have been responsible for his inability to break out of the pack of mayoral hopefuls seeking to take McCann’s seat the following year.
Manzo took a break from politics from 1993 to 1997 to write a 640-page book called God’s Earth Also Cries, a fictional account of a health inspector who fights development in a shore town.
Manzo returned to the politic scene in a run for freeholder in 1997 and lost, but the return seems to have rekindled some of his former spirit.
Freeholder Bill O’Dea believed the 2003 run in the Assembly primary might have been Manzo’s last shot.
“He certainly ran like he was a boxer with one last championship bout,” O’Dea said. “He was out there morning and night, in front of supermarkets, or going door-to-door. When it rained, he got on the telephone. He was a man possessed.”
Manzo, who had previously run as a lone wolf, also learned to work as part of a team, and one member of that team – the man who helped shape the strategy that brought the nomination to Manzo and his running mates – was Gerry McCann.
So when asked recently if he forgave McCann, Manzo hesitated a moment before saying, “Yes.”
Bits and pieces
County Executive spokesperson Jim Kennelly has given new meaning to “putting his money where is mouth is” with the recent campaign in the 31st District primary. People saw him on the street stripped down to his T-shirt in an energetic effort to get the vote out.
Frankie and Johnnie’s Restaurant in Hoboken became a popular spot for married mayoral couples last week when Hoboken Mayor Dave Roberts and his wife, Anna, Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell and his wife, Annette, and Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham and his wife, Sandra, all showed up separately