The parade of Hudson County politicians making their way to Superior Court last week really begs to ask the question about priorities.
Jersey City Councilman L. Harvey Smith and state Assembly members Joseph Doria and Elba Perez Cindiarelli are claiming that massive voting fraud dumped them from the Democratic ticket during the June primary, failing to allow for an honest expression of the voting public.
Following the misguided example set by the 2000 presidential election that decided the courts were better suited for deciding who should serve, Smith and other candidates backed by the Hudson County Democratic Organization decided to challenge the election in court, leaving the Democratic choice in the next election up to Superior Court Judge Arthur D’Italia.
The case which started last week is expected to last three weeks, and leaves the Democratic line in doubt dangerously close to the point at which ballots for the November election must be printed.
D’Italia could rule in several ways. D’Italia could decide to invalidate the results, sending the Democratic Party into chaos. He could determine that Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham, who defeated Smith for the state Senate nomination in the 31st District, was so far ahead that alleged fraud made no difference, and leave Cunningham while throwing out the election results that gave Louis Manzo and Anthony Chiappone their narrow Assembly victories. Or, the judge could decide the challenge has no merit and leave everything as it stands now.
But in the meantime, elected officials parade through the court giving their opinion on the election results, and one has to ask: Is this why we elected these people? Don’t the mayors, assembly people and others have something better to do, such as running the municipalities, the county and the state?
Of course, if Cunningham is dumped off the ticket, the African-American community may just feel disenfranchised, despite Smith also being black. And as one observer noted, a Democratic squabble could turn into a racially divided Jersey City – a divide that would take years to overcome, if ever.
Of course, Cunningham has not helped matters by parading around using the title of state senator before he has actually been elected. Talk about waving a red flag in front of an angry bull?
Who will be freeholder?
Also in court this week are two would-be candidates for the 6th Freeholder district in Jersey City. Former Mayor Gerald McCann and current Jersey City Deputy Mayor Anthony Cruz are seeking spots on the ballot, claiming the deadlines for filing petitions were arbitrary. According to election law, challengers had to file their petitions on the same day as the HCDO named a temporary replacement. The seat is up for grabs because Freeholder Nidia Davila-Colon was forced to resign after being convicted of carrying bribes. Both men asked Superior Court Judge Maurice Gallipoli to discard the July 29 deadline that was imposed, claiming that the deadline was set seven hours after the appointment was made. Instead, they said, they should just allow them to be on the ballot because the deadline was unfair.
In a surprisingly quick ruling, Gallipoli gave the green light Thursday for both candidates to run, avoiding potential problems in last-minute ballot printing. This leaves only one unanswered question in that race. The Republican Party, which has no court case going on but may not wish to offend Cunningham, has yet to name their candidate for that seat, leaving McCann and Cruz to battle Radames Velazquez, the choice of the HCDO.
The letter is in the mail
If rumors were true about all the target letters issued to Hudson County officials during the last few weeks, the U.S. Attorney’s office would go broke from paying postage.
A target letter in this sense indicates a letter issued from some law enforcement agency to an individual saying that the individual has become the subject of a criminal investigation. In this case, rumors are rampant about three or four letters being issued to officials in three or four towns: Hoboken, North Bergen, Secaucus and Lyndhurst.
All this may be wishful thinking by Hudson County conspiracy theorists, all of whom are waiting for the next shoe to drop in the Robert Janiszewski saga. Indeed, Donald Scarinci – whose name has popped up as one of the victims of such a letter (his office is in Lyndhurst) – said he has no reason to fear since he believes he did nothing to warrant such a letter. He said he did not get a letter.
Political trivia corner
Hoboken Councilman Tony Soares, who turned 40 this week, said he is not now and never has been a member of the Anthony Russo Civic Association – as was hinted at in a joke by Hoboken Mayor Dave Roberts last week. But he did point out that Roberts was an ardent Russo supporter.
Jersey City’s Westside political workaholic Richard McCormack also had a birthday this week.
West New York Commissioner Gerald Lange must have suffered a cellular telephone breakdown last week, when he was seen rushing to a public telephone near Memorial High School. Next time try Nextel, commissioner.
Local political observers in Secaucus have nicknamed two political allies, George Heflich and Tom Troyer, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The New York Times suffered a blow last week when the paper’s senior political editor tried to reach former U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli for comment. Political insiders said no one close to Torricelli would give the Times a comment – citing the fact that the Times led the attack on Torricelli’s alleged fundraising habits.
"They wouldn’t take their boots off his neck," one observer said. "And people close to Torricelli won’t forget that."
Oddly enough, the Times – which eventually printed a story using quotes from press releases – was trying to do a positive story about Torricelli’s resurrection.