The Hudson County Democratic Organization’s selection of Jersey City Council President L. Harvey Smith to go to Trenton as the temporary state senator makes a lot of sense.
What better way can you torture the loser of a primary election than to show him exactly what he’ll miss when the winner of November’s general election takes office in January?
Better still, why not put a big red nose on Mr. Smith, issue him some floppy shoes and a multi-colored hat so that none of the other legislators in Trenton can possibly mistake him for anything but one more clown from Hudson County?
How better can the HCDO better show their respect for the dignified Mr. Smith than by rubbing his nose in his loss?
Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham may be slightly stung by the fact that he will likely have to wait until December to get the seat, but he knows he will get the seat in the end and that Mr. Smith will have the distinction of having served as Hudson County’s lame duck senator.
Why shouldn’t we do this to all losers of political conflict – make certain the pain of their loss gets down deep into the bones so they may never recover?
And the HCDO people who did this are Mr. Smith’s friends? With friends like that, as the saying goes, maybe Smith should look to his enemies. This is being touted as a battle between Rep. Bob Menendez and Cunningham, a personal feud that has the county’s mayors fuming because when it comes to the bottom line, each mayor is paying the tab in election financing.
The truth is: it is not about personalities. It is about contracts. Which contractor gets his or her piece of the huge Hudson County pie?
The fight that will ultimately humiliate Mr. Smith and others can be easily connected to firms like Kenny & Florio, Scarinci & Hollenbeck, Ernst & Young, Wenier-Lesniak as it can to Cunningham-Menendez.
And in the battle over the old order, established under the dictates of former County Executive Robert Janiszewski, and the new order, emerging under Jersey City’s first African American mayor, no personalities matter, only money does.
Comic book heroes?
Cunningham became a comic book hero last week, setting a precedent for Hudson County politics. We can just imagine the comics that might be made based on other politicos.
Bayonne Mayor Joe Doria: the Magnificent Mathematics Man, perpetually counting votes to see if they come out differently. He lost to Lou Manzo in the primary by a scant 200 votes.
North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco: He doesn’t have any superpowers, just multiple alternative identities. Whereas Superman was sometimes Clark Kent, Sacco is sometimes mayor, sometimes senator and sometimes assistant superintendent of schools.
Union City Mayor Brian Stack: I Can Do It All Man. Stack proves that you don’t have to ever delegate authority – a true superhero provided he doesn’t have a heart attack first.
Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell: I Got Land For Development Man. With the last available space for massive redevelopment, Elwell is among the strongest superheroes in Hudson County.
West New York Mayor Albio Sires: Now You See Him-Now You Don’t Man. Where Sires is at any given point in time makes him the equivalent of Hudson County’s invisible man.
Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner: Who Am I Today Man: Dealing with Turner is like dealing with characters in a Pepsi commercial. You know, the ones who zip off masks to become different people. Sometimes Turner is Turner, the mayor of Weehawken; but sometimes he’s the power behind other mayors, stepping into West New York when no one can find Sires. Sometimes he’s in his role as a member of the state Local Finance Board where his is the friendly face for petitioners from places like Hoboken or Secaucus.
Hoboken Mayor Dave Roberts: How Did I Get to Be Mayor Man: Roberts is Hudson County’s equivalent of the Marathon Man in a race in which he is the only contestant, and yet he is convinced he is going to lose. But to whom?
The list could, of course, be extended to other public officials such as County Executive Tom DeGise who might be Swimming With Sharks Man. His comic adventure is to keep from having his flesh ripped apart by the vicious political world into which he was elected.
Rep. Bob Menendez might well be All My Political Friends Really Hate Me Man, for all the loyal supporters who would really want to be supporting someone else.
And last but not least, Gov. Jim McGreevey, who claims Hudson County as his home away from home, as How Else Can I Screw Up Man. Since coming to office, McGreevey has made every wrong decision possible, surrounding himself with a class of characters that have inspired more potential flack that most governors before him except for Jim Florio.
Shooting the messenger
Last week this column took Hoboken’s Michael Lenz to task for failing a portion of his test to become a CFO. As an open critic of Hoboken’s finances, Lenz is fair game for such attacks. This does not mean he is wrong in his criticism, or that failing one of the most difficult tests in state is anything to be ashamed of. The fact that his critics choose to highlight the test rather than answer his questions may merely show how clever they are at diversion. It does not take a rocket scientist to know that if a city spends more money than it takes in, taxes will eventually go up.
Lenz and others have pointed to the basic fact that Hoboken’s refinancing keeps taxes down during a mayoral election year, but at the expense of future years when taxpayers will have to pay more. And that the basic solution isn’t to refinance, it is to stop spending. This, of course, is the real challenge to Roberts’ leadership.