The “scared straight” concept means that something awful will frighten you into doing the proper thing.
In Hudson County politics, it has a slightly different meaning. Local Democrats, seeing the ugly mood New Jersey voters are in, realize they have to put aside their petty differences and try to survive what is likely to be a powerful Republican storm over the next couple of years.
There was no surer sign of Democratic retrenchment then the recent endorsement made by U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez to support the reelection of West New York Mayor Sal Vega. He made the announcement at a fundraising breakfast.
While Vega may have been extremely grateful for the support, this gesture was probably not aimed so much at Vega as at state Sen. and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco – who has long been a rival force to Menendez in Hudson County.
Sacco and Vega were on one side of a Democratic civil war several years ago opposing Union City Mayor Brian Stack’s attempt to become a state senator. Behind Stack, then and now, was Menendez.
Sacco has always been a powerful thorn in Menendez’s side. The fact that these two political brokers seem to agree on Vega for mayor suggests that they are scared of something more powerful than either of them and are willing to set aside their grievances for a while.
Sacco, of course, faces redistricting this year, which could put him head to head with Stack in a move by state Republicans to keep the two most powerful Hudson County Democrats at each others’ throats if their districts are combined. More likely, Sacco’s district will be shifted into Bergen County, forcing him to face off against stronger Republicans. He could use the powerful reach of Menendez, whose close associate, Donald Scarinci, has significant resources to lend in that part of the state.
Menendez, meanwhile, is expected to get a challenge next year, and it would help for him not to have to worry about watching his back here in Hudson County, and to rely on Sacco and Stack to give him a significant voter turnout.
Recent polls show no Republican within reach of Menendez, but things change quickly in politics.
Vega looks like a frontrunner for reelection
It is hard to tell if other Hudson County Democrats such as Rep. Albio Sires and Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner are signatories to this unofficial peace treaty with Vega. If not, they could back another candidate for mayor in West New York. But this is unlikely, partly because Vega already has the support of Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith, who as chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Organization holds a lot of sway in the county. Vega’s chief of staff, Neil Carroll, is Smith’s father-in-law. Vega is a personal friend of Smith’s and has been to Smith’s home in Bayonne on more than one occasion.
This leaves Dr. Felix Roque as the leading candidate against Vega, although Fior D’Aliza Frias, a business consultant, is also running for one of the five commissioner seats in West New York. After the general election, the commissioners pick one of their own to serve as mayor.
Roque, who failed to collect enough signatures last year to have Vega recalled, did get a significant victory this week when state Superior Court Judge Hector Velazquez refused to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed by Roque against Vega and his commissioners. A flyer distributed in West New York accused Roque of fraud. The judge said Vega and his commissioners did not supply enough proof to support the charge against Roque.
A common enemy
The new Democratic unity may have been forged during last year’s election for Hudson County sheriff, when Sacco and Stack found something in common: both wanted to get rid of Sheriff Juan Perez, and adopted Undersheriff Frank X. Schillari as their candidate.
Last week, this Democratic love fest continued with Schillari’s official swearing in at the Brennan County Court House on Newark Avenue, as the political elite joined the throng of police officers and police chiefs from around the county to help usher in a new era – at least until the next election – in the Hudson County Sheriff’s Department. The mayors of all 12 Hudson County municipalities were on hand, even from tiny Guttenberg. Oddly enough, the only police chief absent was the police chief of Jersey City.
To prove once again just how united the Democrats are, Menendez appeared with Rep. Steve Rothman, state Sen. Sandra Cunningham, nearly the whole Hudson County Freeholder Board, the county executive, and the chief of police for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Can Schillari save the Secaucus Democrats?
Once again, Schillari’s name is being bandied about as the possible new chairman of the Secaucus Democratic Party, a party organization that fell into ruin after the arrest of its former chairman and one-time mayor of Secaucus, Dennis Elwell, in 2009.
Although some have suggested former councilman and acting mayor Richard Steffans might step up, some believe he will not. They are looking for a more powerful political mentor they can tie to the hopes of the failing Secaucus Democrats.
The Democrats rose to power in Secaucus during the late 1970s when they challenged the dominance of then-Mayor Paul Amico, and managed to forge an agreement with Amico in the 1980s for an uncomfortable alliance. When Amico stepped down in 1990, Democrats held uneasy power as a new independent move galvanized around people like Dennis Elwell, who beat incumbent Democratic Councilman Anthony Impreveduto in an unexpected upset in 1992.
Elwell became the standard bearer for the independents, until he joined the Democrats in 1999 and became the chief focus of independent wrath, culminating in the election of Michael Gonnelli to the council and later mayor. In November, the last Democrats were swept out of the City Council, leaving the Democratic Party in tatters and searching for a new leader and a new direction, which perhaps Schillari might supply them with.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.