For his 24 years in the state Assembly, Joseph Doria made the long drive from Bayonne to Trenton twice a week, 57.68 miles, or about one hour and seven minutes each way driving.
Through rain, snow, sleet and hail; winter, spring, summer and fall, Doria made this trek, keeping his appointed rounds in the state legislature.
When he was defeated in the 2003 primary, Doria should have been relieved. No more hectic rush-hour traffic out of the New York area. No more mad dash to get to the state Assembly through the streets of Trenton, which were often blocked by reconstruction and shopping mall traffic.
But he was not relieved.
When the tragic and untimely death of State Sen. Glenn Cunningham occurred in 2004, Doria – a real yeoman – decided he should shoulder the responsibility again and pick up the daily routine that took him out of his beloved hometown of Bayonne to the hallowed halls of the state Senate.
It was a wearisome task that Doria, earlier this year, decided he would finally shed.
Some callous and suspicious political cynics believed Doria had ulterior motives for his decision not to run for re-election. Some claimed he had already heard word about a possible top-level position in the government of Gov. Jon Corzine.
Doria, however, had turned 60 the previous June, and said he wanted to spend some quality time with his family and enjoy the fruits of his labors by living a less hectic life in his hometown.
Rumors abound about a possible state appointment.
Some claim Corzine will offer Doria a post as commissioner of education for the state – while others claim he was offered a lesser post. Still more enticing is the report that Doria could become the next chairman of the Department of Community Affairs, perhaps the most powerful post in the state outside the governor’s office itself.
But alas, Doria would have to get back on the highway treadmill, taking the long road to and from Trenton, not just once a week, but five days a week, a weary trek that may even wear out the staunch and loyal Doria. Will Doria shed his position as mayor, leaving the city in the midst of its biggest budget crisis in more than a decade, to become so powerful a player on the state stage? Can Doria stand years more traveling New Jersey highways when his heart is really still in Bayonne?
Or will Doria look closer to home for a job, something that reaches back into his administrative past in academic life?
One rumor suggests Doria could be looking to fill a post as president of Hudson County Community College, when the contract of the current president expires early next year.
Although Doria would still have to leave his precious Bayonne each day, he would only have to put up with the mad dash along Kennedy Boulevard from Bayonne to Journal Square and back, and might not have to even shed his position as mayor until the seat comes up for re-election in 2001.
Decisions, decisions. Reports suggest that Doria will wait until after Labor Day to make up his mind. That way, if he decides to abandon his mayoral post, the city will not face a special election for mayor until November 2008.
If he leaves now, the city would hold a special election this coming November and a free-for-all of potential candidates seeking to seize control of the city. Is Doria leaving for the State House? An aide said last week that if he is offered a position there, he will take it. He is apparently on a short list. Some critics in Bayonne believe he will definitely go, explaining how Doria – as mayor – could issue raises to key city workers right as residents are being hit with hefty tax bills, then leave so he does not have to deal with the inevitable future tax hikes.
One key political observer claims that Doria would love to cap off his political career with a state cabinet post, although the observer said Doria has been on the slide since 2001 when then Gov. Jim McGreevey stabbed him in the back by making Albio Sires speaker of the state Assembly instead of Doria.
McGreevey spelled the doom of several prominent political forces during his own rise to power – including former U.S. Sen. Robert Torricelli.
Doria, who has a doctorate in education, has been denied several opportunities to become a college president. He previously had his eye on Hudson County Community College only to have the legendary Wally Sheil steal it out from under him decades ago. Most recently, reports suggested that Doria might move on to Ramapo College. But he was denied this partly because the administration there wanted to promote someone within their own ranks.
Perhaps Doria really does want to make the daily trek to Trenton just so he can boast that he finally made the big time. But some believe that he would be better served by taking some high-profile job as a lobbyist that would allow him to use his contacts in Trenton, yet also allow him to maintain a life in Bayonne.
Political tidbits
Jersey City Schools Superintendent Charles Epps and State Sen./North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco are vying for the unenviable title of the highest paid public official in Hudson County.
The questions is: are the taxpayers getting their money’s worth?
Epps, Sacco, and others around the state hold multiple government jobs, boosting their eventual retirement salaries on the backs of taxpayers, who will likely lack even Social Security in the future.
Under Corzine, the state legislature did away with dual office holding, but not dual job holding. Sacco is an administrator in the public schools. And those who already held two elected offices (Sacco is mayor of North Bergen in addition to being a state senator) were grandfathered in.
One critic of multiple job-holding suggests that the state Republicans were right in saying that the law should have imposed a restriction on jobs too, so that Sacco, Epps, and the other dual job-holders in Hudson County and in the state would be restricted to one pension at retirement.
People around the county – particularly senior citizens – are being forced out of their homes by higher and higher taxes which pay the salaries and later the pensions of politicos with several jobs.
This says nothing about the number of jobs that go to family members of public officials on the state and county levels.