With the highly anticipated June 5 primary election a little over a week away, the battle for the 33rd District continues between the candidates of the longstanding Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) and the newly formed Democrats for Hudson County (DFHC).
The candidates are vying for two Assembly seats, one seat for county freeholder, and a state Senate seat, all of which registered voters can vote for on Tuesday. For more details on the candidates, please visit: www.unioncityreporter.com or www.westnewyork.com.
Yet, the feud has mostly circulated between state Senate candidates Brian P. Stack of Union City and Silverio “Sal” Vega of West New York.
Both men are currently assemblymen in the 33rd District, and mayors of their respective towns.
Over the last several weeks, back-to-back press conferences were held, mostly from the Vega camp, calling his opponent to answer questions of responsibility, character, and ethics.
The Vega camp has focused on Stack’s recent federal and state investigations over state grant money awarded to a day care center run by his estranged wife, although he was one of over 40 legislators that was called into question alleging misuse of funds.
Most recently, Vega also released tape recordings of democratic committee candidates signed on his ticket allegedly being coerced into rescinding their candidacy by Stack supporters and even by Stack himself.
However, the Stack camp maintains that there was never any wrongdoing or truth to these accusations. Stack isn’t above name calling either. Throughout the campaign he has called Vega a “do-nothing politician.”
Beyond the squabbling, all the candidates have been trying to get their names and their issues out to constituents of the 33rd District, which encompasses the municipalities of Guttenberg, Hoboken, Union City, Weehawken, West New York, and part of Jersey City.
Run for Senate
However, the closest watched race in this district is for the state Senate seat, which will be vacated by Senate majority leader Bernard Kenny, who will be retiring at the end of his term.
The campaign between Stack and Vega had so much mud-slinging that there was little talk of the issues until recent weeks.
Vega was first elected to the West New York Board of Commissioners in 1991, under the administration of the late Mayor Anthony Defino, and over the last 10 years with former Mayor-turned-Congressman Albio Sires.
Vega was appointed mayor last November and was recently re-elected along with his new Board of Commissioners two weeks ago. He also served as chairman of the Hudson County Board of Freeholders since 1999 before assuming his post in the assembly this past December.
Vega wants to focus on building up the county schools of technology and Hudson County Community College, as well as focus on issues of affordable housing and public safety, which he had addressed at the county level on the Board of Freeholders.
In addition, he wants to address the problem of gang violence in urban areas.
Stack first came into office in 1999 when he was elected to the Hudson County Board of Freeholders. Then following the resignation of then-Mayor Rudy Garcia, Stack was elected to the Union City Board of Commissioners in 2001 and appointed mayor.
In 2003, Stack made a successful run for the vacant Assembly seat in the 33rd District and has continued to serve as mayor and assemblyman for the last four years. Stack won re-election to the Assembly in 2005.
Stack intends to bring more money and funding into the district, especially to provide property tax relief, which has been a problem throughout the state. A top priority is also to protect the funding of the Abbot Special Needs Districts, and to gain more Hudson County representation on statewide boards and commissions, such as the boards of Parole, Violent Crimes, and Public Utilities.
County freeholder
Both parties also have candidates running for the 6th District County Freeholder seat: HCDO candidate Alberto Cabrera of Weehawken and DFHC candidate Jose Munoz of West New York. The district encompasses Weehawken, West New York, and Guttenberg.
Entering public service 13 years ago, Cabrera has served as interim chairman of the town Planning Board, is a trustee at the Weehawken Board of Education, and currently chairs the Zoning Board.
Among the key issues Cabrera is looking to address are education, open space for recreation, and affordable housing.
Going up against Cabrera is Munoz, who had an unsuccessful municipal run for elected office in 2003.
Munoz currently works with parolees at the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny, and wants to focus on issues such as affordable housing, crime, and education. In particular, he wants to rehabilitate the justice system.
Assembly seats in the 33rd District
In the 33rd District, there are two available seats, and four candidates running.
Nicole Garcia and Carol Marsh are supported by the HCDO, and Caridad Rodriguez and Ruben Ramos are supported by the newly formed DFHC.
A resident of Union City, Garcia is the wife of former Union City Mayor Raul “Rudy” Garcia, and is a first time candidate for elected office.
Garcia intends to focus on the preservation of open space, and education, particularly the Abbott District funding, which provides for programs from early childhood care services to remedial or gifted programs.
Running with Garcia for the HCDO, is Carol Marsh. Marsh has been a resident of Hoboken for over 20 years, and was elected to the Hoboken City Council in 2001. In 2005, she made an unsuccessful run for the mayoral seat against David Roberts.
Marsh served on the Hoboken Council from 2001 to 2005, and if elected to the assembly, she wants to focus on constituent needs, affordable housing and ensure that money is wisely being spent at the state level.
DFHC candidate Rodriguez formerly served as the executive assistant to then West New York Mayor and Assembly Speaker Albio Sires. Rodriguez continues to work with Sires managing the congressional office in West New York, and serving as his scheduler.
Most recently, she served as the West New York Commissioner of Parks and Public Property since last November until the municipal election this May.
As a legislator, Rodriguez wants to fight for district issues such as affordable housing, education, and health care legislation for low-income families.
Born and raised in Hoboken, Ramos has served on the Hoboken City Council for the last eight years, first as 4th Ward councilman and as a councilman-at-large since 2001. He was re-elected to that post in 2005. He served as City Council president for two terms from 2002 to 2003.
Ramos was also a keynote speaker at the Democratic National Convention in 2000 during Al Gore’s presidential campaign.
As an assemblyman, Ramos, who is a cancer survivor, wants to address health care, increase funding for higher education, provide affordable housing in the district, and address all constituents’ needs.
Jessica Rosero can be reached at jrosero@hudsonreporter.com Sidebar Ads, press conferences and altered newspaper headlines
For the last several weeks, a slew of negative ads have been pouring out from both Democratic parties. Sal Vega is running for state Senate with the support of longstanding Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO), and Brian Stack is running for the same seat with the newly formed Democrats for Hudson County (DFHC).
For the last several weeks, back-to-back press conferences have been held, mostly by the Vega camp, attacking his opponent’s character and his ethics.
Vega has questioned Stack on recent federal and state investigations over the appropriate use of state grant money, pointed out the postponement of school construction, and recently released tape recordings of county committee candidates allegedly being coerced into rescinding their candidacy by Stack supporters and even by Stack himself.
The Stack camp maintains that there was no wrongdoing and that the tapes were edited to serve the opposition’s purpose.
In addition, several negative print and commercial ads have come through from both sides alleging corruption, bribery, and greed.
One problem is a Vega mailer – twice mailed to homes – that mysteriously removed two words from a Reporter headline, changing its meaning.
The ad reprinted a portion of a Reporter article regarding a fire department position that local politicians pushed through last year, to create a new $75,000 directorship at the North Hudson Regional Fire and Rescue squad. At the time, no local politicians issued public complaints about it.
Now some of those same politicians are saying it’s a waste of money and that it was created for Brian Stack. Stack denies that he wants the job.
When the Reporter recently wrote about the issue, the headline read, “Vega claims Stack’s in line for $75K job.” But what does the resulting Vega ad say that’s been mailed to homes?
Simply: “Stack’s in line for new $75K job.”
As far as Stack’s own negative advertising against Vega, ads have called into question Vega’s affiliation with former Union City Mayor Rudy Garcia, who was recently indicted for alleged involvement in an international illegal gambling operation. Garcia’s wife is running for Assembly on Vega’s ticket.
Two weeks ago, Stack held a press conference to ask for an end to the negative campaigning. – JR