JERSEY CITY – With less than a week to go until the Jersey City Council At-large special election, a minor dust-up is brewing between the campaigns of two bracketed slates of candidates.
In one corner are candidates Omar Perez and Suzanne “Sue” Mack, who are running on a slate together. In the other corner are Radames “Ray” Velazquez and his slate-mate Kalimah Ahmad, the incumbent at-large council representatives.
Its issue is who circulated a campaign flier Wednesday that read, “Column ‘A’ Democrat State Senator Brian P. Stack supports school board member Sue Mack (C16) and Omar Perez (C17).” Elsewhere, the flier depicts a Jersey City sample ballot and has one arrow highlighting Stack’s ballot position and another highlighting Column C.
Absent from the flier is language stating who released or paid for the political piece. State election law mandates that such information be included on campaign literature.
Yesterday Stack denied that he has endorsed the Perez-Mack ticket, and at a political forum held Wednesday night for the at-large candidates, Perez said that he has “met with” several political leaders and elected officials. At the forum Perez and Mack each said they did not know who had circulated the flier.
Now, Velazquez is calling on the state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) to investigate the matter.
In a release sent Thursday, a Velazquez spokesman wrote that, “Stack has denied endorsing Mack and Perez and the literature did not include any “Paid for line” identifying who is responsible for it, a clear violation of election law.”
The release quotes Velazquez, stating, “Senator Stack has denied having any part in this and we have no reason to believe otherwise.
Therefore we are calling on ELEC to conduct an investigation into the Mack-Perez campaign. This is a sinister attempt to trick Jersey City Democrats by implying that Mack and Perez are Senator Stack’s running mates. It must be exposed for the fraud it is.”
A Velazquez spokesman said an official ELEC complaint will be submitted by Nov. 4. ELEC violations are punishable by fine and are individually investigated by the Commission.
“Mack and Perez are engaging in the same old dirty tricks that have been a blight on Jersey City politics for years,” said Velazquez. “Putting out literature without a paid for line is akin to lying straight to the face of voters. They should be ashamed of themselves and owe Jersey City an apology.”
The Stack-Mack-Perez piece isn’t the only campaign literature that has raised eyebrows in the waning days of the campaign, and Velazquez’s indignation might cause a stir.
Several residents last week took issue with a Velazquez-Ahmad mailer that listed “Bringing businesses like Goya Foods to Jersey City” and “no layoffs” among the City Council’s accomplishments this year. In fact, 366 city employees have been laid off. Goya Foods received a state-based tax credit to move to Jersey City.
Velazquez, Ahmad, Mack, and Perez are among 17 candidates running for two City Council At-large posts vacated over the last year. Former City Councilwoman Willie Flood resigned in January due to poor health. Former Council President Mariano Vega resigned last fall after pleading guilty to corruption charges after being arrested in 2009 in the massive FBI sting that netted 46 public officials and religious leaders.
Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy appointed Ahmad to temporarily fill Flood’s vacancy. The mayor appointed Velazquez to temporarily replace Vega, whom some would argue, engaged “in the same old dirty tricks that have been a blight on Jersey City politics for years.” – E. Assata Wright