With the Board of Education election out of the way for another year, Hoboken politicos can focus their attention on the upcoming mid-term municipal elections. Six of nine City Council seats will be up in May of 2015.
But there are tea leaves to read in the Hoboken school board results, in particular, the larger than average vote for Peter Biancamano. Although he ran on a ticket, his vote count clearly exceeded everybody else’s, suggesting that somebody thought he was supposed to look good. Somebody – most likely with the use of vote by mail – is polishing Biancamano up for higher office. Since he lives in the 2nd Ward, he will likely be Old Hoboken’s candidate for the City Council if incumbent Beth Mason decides not to run.
This could be a problem for supporters of Mayor Dawn Zimmer who have been promising to unseat Mason. This anti-Mason sentiment could be the factor that pulls together a somewhat-fractured Zimmer team in an off-year election.
With Mason money combined with the wealth of Frank Raia behind him, Biancamano will be hard to beat, even if Zimmer comes up with a strong candidate.
Without ousting Mason as a rallying cry, the Zimmer people may not be able to gain any seats. The one hope in next November’s ward elections will be in the 4th Ward, where Ruben Ramos is expected to challenge incumbent Tim Occhipinti in retribution for Occhipinti running as a spoiler against Ramos in the mayoral election last year.
If there are Zimmer candidates in the contested wards, they have little or no name recognition, and may have a hard time taking advantage of the dysfunction of their opponents.
Zimmer, whose team holds a slim five-to-four majority on the council, has to worry about keeping the slate she has. Most of the council members have lives and careers beyond their civic duty as council members, and one or more might want to move on. She may not find strong candidates as replacements.
All this, of course, merely sets the stage for the 2017 election in which Zimmer must run for reelection. At this point, Freeholder Anthony Romano – with his strong reelection numbers as freeholder – appears to be poised to challenge her, and might even be able to win, if he can convince Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia to stay out of the race, avoiding a split in the anti-Zimmer vote similar to the one that allowed her to win in 2013.
Christie gives Lyles a vote of confidence
Gov. Christopher Christie seems to have taken a side in the aftermath of the Jersey City Board of Education election – in particular, naming Superintendent Marcia Lyles to a new commission to study the effectiveness of standardized testing.
This comes at a time when the three candidates that most strongly supported Lyles lost to candidates seen as pro-union and moderately anti-Lyles.
Christie appears to be seeking to salvage Lyles – especially since he is anti-teachers’ union, and the teachers’ union came out strongly in this election.
Although unions are represented on this new commission, it appears that Christie wants to keep allies in the Democratic-stronghold of Jersey City.
DeGise on the move
With endorsements pouring in for next June’s primary, County Executive Tom DeGise seems well on his way to reelection. But he appears not to be taking anything for granted. He is also holding fundraisers to build up his political war chest in case someone challenges him.
Freeholder Bill O’Dea had thought to make a run against him, but he appears to have changed his mind as prominent public officials from around the county sided with DeGise. While O’Dea could still possibly lure Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop and Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer to his side, he would be hard pressed to overcome the sheer magnitude of support State Senator and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco brings to DeGise.
O’Dea (or anyone else seeking to run against DeGise) would then have to get the support of State Senator and Union City Mayor Brian Stack. But Stack has also committed his support to DeGise, and won’t change his mind, even in the unlikely scenario of a run by State Senator Sandra Cunningham.
Anti-DeGise forces, however, are trying to stir up trouble. They went so far as to print up “Cunningham for County Executive” signs and post several score in Lincoln Park last month during a gathering of the Hudson County Democratic Organization.
If O’Dea refuses to jump into the race, anti-DeGise forces will be hard pressed to find a strong alternative.
Davis in the hot seat
With the Jersey City ambulance contract apparently going to Jersey City Medical Center this week, the politics of the ambulance wars moves to Bayonne, and puts newly-elected Mayor James Davis in the hot seat. A number of Davis supporters want to change providers in Bayonne from McCabe Ambulance to JCMC’s emergency medical techs. Both companies have bid on the new contract in Bayonne. Davis people dislike how close Mickey McCabe was to Davis’ adversary, former Mayor Mark Smith.
Backed by CarePoint Health, McCabe made an unsuccessful bid for the Jersey City contract. But he opened a can of worms when he promised to provide emergency ambulance service at no cost to the city, while he was still charging Bayonne nearly $1 million a year. Now McCabe is expected to submit a bid that would not charge Bayonne, as well as suspend payments for the final year and a half on his current contract.
Davis and his selection committee will have to review the specifications to determine which is a better deal for the city. If JCMC’s bid seems more lucrative, then Davis will have to live with the backlash of having given the contract to a provider outside the city rather than McCabe, a company with a 40-year-track record in Bayonne.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.