Some state legislators’ districts change
HUDSON COUNTY – The state legislative redistricting committee decided over the weekend to support Democratic maps that would largely leave legislative districts unchanged.
“This is a win for Hudson County,” said Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell, who under the Republican map might have his portion of the existing 31st District lumped in with Newark and other portions of Essex County.
The decision came after the 11-member bipartisan redistricting team spent a week at a hotel in New Brunswick, where the five Democratic and five Republican members of the committee lobbied Alan Rosenthal, a Rutgers Law Professor – appointed by the state Supreme Court as the deciding vote for maps proposed by each party.
The new map will affect the upcoming primary and general elections as well as the state legislative district election for the next decade.
Republicans hoped to make radical changes to the districts, similar to those Republicans made in 1991 that broke up Democratic districts around the state.
Federal, state, and freeholder districts are required to change their boundaries to reflect changes in population as shown by the most recent Census. While new freeholder districts probably will not go into effect until the next election cycle in 2014, candidates for the state Senate and Assembly districts will be using the new map for the upcoming election, leaving candidates 11 days to obtain necessary petition signatures to qualify. Had the Republican map been selected, many local Democrats would have been scrambling to get signatures in totally new areas.
“Had the Republican map been selected, the Hudson County Democratic Party would have ceased to be relevant on a state level,” O’Donnell said.
As it is, the most dramatic changes in Hudson County will see State Senator Brian Stack take a larger portion of Jersey City. State Senator Nicholas Sacco will lose his portion of Jersey City and will acquire West New York. State Senator Sandra Cunningham’s district will expand to the west side of Jersey City.
Russo responds to surveillance tape release
HOBOKEN – Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo released a statement on Tuesday morning regarding the newly published surveillance tapes of a meeting between himself and FBI informant Solomon Dwek from 2009, and said he’s “glad the tapes were released” and “they have now lost all their mystery.”
The tape was part of a sting operation by the FBI in 2009 that brought down numerous politicians and religious leaders.
The tapes show Dwek, who was posing as a New York developer, asking Russo if he could have his projects expedited. Dwek and Russo also discuss a proposed $5,000 campaign donation from Dwek.
After the meeting, Russo never met with Dwek again.
“While the tape appears to have been edited in several points, it shows, in long, tedious detail, what many fundraising meetings sound like,” Russo said. “This was a fundraising meeting, and Solomon Dwek is not the first person to offer to make campaign contributions to a councilman.”
The tapes were released in three parts on Monday on NJ.com by the authors of the book “The Jersey Sting.”
At the Light Horse Tavern in Jersey City, Russo and Dwek also discuss local Hudson County politics, family, the survival of Atlantic City, and ultimately, development in Hoboken.
Dwek, after discussing development plans for Hoboken, offers Russo $5,000 which would be forwarded through a third person.
“I don’t want anything in my name,” Dwek says to Russo.
Russo responds: “You’re a smart man.”
Dwek says he’ll give the third party $5,000 “next week” and they’ll “work it out from there.” Then Dwek says there will be more after the election.
Russo appears to nod his head at one point.
But Russo then never had contact with Dwek again. He recently said that once it became clear that Dwek was playing by his own rules, Russo stayed away from him.
Russo was not up for election in 2009, but Council President Beth Mason was in a heated race with now imprisoned former Mayor Peter Cammarano and current Mayor Dawn Zimmer. Russo backs Mason in the tape. Cammarano was arrested after meeting with Dwek in 2009 for accepting $25,000 in bribes.
The maximum donation for an individual to give to a candidate is $2,600.
Harmon Cove fire leaves Secaucus woman dead
SECAUCUS AND BEYOND – A Secaucus woman jumped or fell to her death fleeing a fire that started in her second floor Harmon Cove condominium Sunday afternoon. The Division of Fire Safety and the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office are now investigating the cause of the blaze, which town officials say damaged several units in the building.
The fire broke out late this afternoon in the 200 block of Sandcastle Key Road. The building is one of several that comprise the Harmon Cove Towers condo development along Meadowlands Parkway in Secaucus.
The woman’s body was on fire when she fell out, according to news reports.
Tickets go on sale for ‘Taste’
Tickets for the 11th annual ‘A Taste of Weehawken’ go on sale this week at the Weehawken Library. This year’s ‘Taste’ takes place on April 26 from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Food Court at Lincoln Harbor, located at 1200 Harbor Boulevard along the picturesque Weehawken waterfront.
Each year, hundreds of guests and dozens of area restaurants and eateries come together to help raise money for the many programs and activities for the Weehawken Library.
This year, proceeds from the event will be used to help underwrite the cost of the many children’s programs and events hosted by the library. Some of this year’s funding will also be earmarked for the purchase of new tables in the Community Room which are especially used by the children’s programs.
Tickets are $55 per person for 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m., which includes the extra preview hour and door prizes. Tickets are $30 per person for general admission from 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased in advance at the Weehawken Library, 49 Hauxhurst Ave., with cash, check or money order only.
Tickets purchased at the door are subject to a $5 additional charge each.
For additional information call the Weehawken Library at (201) 863-7823.
NJMC to offer Passaic River program April 6
The NJMC and New Jersey Meadowlands Museum will offer “The Passaic River: 81 Miles of History” on Wednesday, April 6 at 2 p.m. The free program follows the Passaic River through seven counties from its source in Mendham to its end at Newark Bay, with an emphasis on historic activities and structures along the river in past centuries. The focus is on topics such as: early mills, Glacial Lake Passaic, the first successful test of a submarine, extant Native American art and constructions, the country’s first industrial city, and the heroic exploits of the “great descender” Sam Patch.
Meadowlands Environment Center is located at 2 DeKorte Park Plaza, Lyndhurst. For more information, call (201) 460-8300 or go online at www.njmeadowlands.gov/ec.