Rumor has it that Councilman David Mello will be supporting Councilman Tim Occhipinti’s reelection in the 4th Ward.
This ought to seem odd since Mello is loyal to Mayor Dawn Zimmer, whom Occhipinti opposed in 2013.
But the 2015 election may be stranger than usual, even for Hoboken.
Mello, who has not responded yet to the rumor, might have good reasons to support Occhipinti, even though another candidate, Dana Wefer, is running in Occhipinti’s ward with Zimmer’s support.
Mello reportedly went to school with Occhipinti, but more importantly, Mello is a member of the Hoboken Housing Authority board where Wefer also serves as an unpaid chairperson. If Wefer successfully beats Occhipinti and former Assembly Ruben Ramos, then she or Mello will have to leave the HHA. Rules say only one council person can serve at a time, and Wefer has made it clear she has no intention of leaving the board.
Even odder in this year’s election is the fact that Zimmer and her arch rival, outgoing Councilwoman Beth Mason, for a short time appeared to both be supporting developer Frank Raia against Councilman Michael Russo. Zimmer won’t officially endorse Raia if only because Raia helped bankroll Occhipinti’s bid for mayor against her two years go. But Raia’s people, just prior to the filing of signatures for this year’s elections, said they had scheduled a meeting with Zimmer. Also, when asked about why she had not backed a candidate against Russo, Zimmer told The Hudson Reporter there might be a last-minute surprise. This was prior to the filing deadline, suggesting she knew exactly what Raia would do.
It’s an uphill battle for Raia at best, but winning may not be his objective. By helping keep Russo busy while Zimmer candidates organize in other wards, Raia may be rewarded by Zimmer reappointing him to the North Hudson Sewerage Authority after the election.
Another close Fulop supporter gone
Mayor Steven Fulop’s firing of Ryan Strother as director of the Jersey City Recreation Department didn’t shock a lot of people, but it should be a warning to others.
Many of Fulop’s early supporters have won key positions in municipal government, most likely hoping to ride his coattails to the governor’s office if and when he successfully wins that election in 2017.
Many of these positions are overseen directly by his office. In fact, this week, Jersey City approved giving the cultural affairs office more clout by taking it out from under another department.
But there is back biting and jealousy going in behind the scenes.
Strother, for instance, angered a number of people last year when he was accused of giving preferential treatment to African-Americans when hiring for programs. Councilman Daniel Rivera, once a sharp critic of Strother, said he and Strother later developed a good relationship, despite the difference. But it appears that someone in his department held a grudge and reported Strother for failing to fire a registered sex offender in the department.
This behind-the-scenes office politics isn’t new. Muhammed Akil, then chief of staff to the mayor, was forced to resign in 2014 when someone leaked information about a radical speech he made 20 years ago while still in college. Those in the know said some of the background information could not come from someone outside City Hall, but had been gleaned by someone with access to Akil’s personnel files.
The demoting of former Police Chief Robert Cowan last year is another loss of an early supporter. Cowan recently abandoned his lawsuit against Fulop. Cowan claimed it would have cost too much to pursue. Fulop, of course, flexed his muscles by hiring two former prosecutors from the Operation Bid Rig sting. Fulop’s strategy for dealing with opponents inside government or even outside – such as with the Friends of the Loew’s Theater – is to overwhelm them with force, much the way Union General Sherman did to the South during the American Civil War.
Cowan reportedly got removed because he refused to go along with changes in police organization, one of which would have shifted control of the Internal Affairs Unit from Cowen to Public Safety Director James Shea. Cowen claimed the move was illegal. Others claim Cowen had too much say in internal affairs matters, which prompted the change.
But this seems to be a pattern among those close to Fulop, where access to power had given some individuals a sense of entitlement. This ultimately leads them to go too far. So you have to wonder who will go too far next, forcing Fulop to fire them.
Not in my neighborhood
Last week, state Sen. Sandra Cunningham came out against establishing a new center for ex-offenders near a school in Ward F.
She claims that Ward F already has its share of halfway houses, and that these should be spread around the city.
This comes after a backlash from the community about the program that would have been installed in church near MLK Drive in Jersey City. Community members did not want the ex-offenders so close to a school They also complained about not being told in advance.
Even Ward F Councilwoman Diane Coleman complained, while her mentor, Eugene McKnight, not only benefited from a second chance opportunity, but is also a member of the staff of the program proposing to set up the facility at the church.
For ex-offenders coming home from prison, all this sends a mixed message. The old saying “It takes a community to raise a child” might well be adapted to it “takes a community to reintegrate an ex-offender.”
For many of those returning home, they did not have of family and community support prior to going to jail; many may feel the same lack of support from a community that largely failed them in the first place when they come back.
Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.