Although it’s not yet determined if Freeholder Chairman Sal Vega will leave his Freeholder seat to take the state Assembly seat vacated by West New York Mayor Albio Sires, Vega has apparently already made his first moves in taking Sires’ place as mayor.
Sires is expected to easily win his bid for the 13th District House of Representatives seat, and will resign his posts as mayor and state Assemblyman.
During Sires’ tenure as mayor, he has trusted the city to the care of Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner, serving as the West New York town administrator.
With Sires’ rise to the House of Representatives, Turner will relinquish his post as town administrator and join Sires’ congressional staff.
Vega has apparently already named Bayonne’s Harold “Buddy” Demellier to replace Turner as the town administrator.
Demellier, one-time close associate and chief of staff to Jersey City Mayor Gerry McCann, and later Bayonne Mayor Leonard P. Kiczek, returned to county political circles shortly after former County Executive Robert Janizewski exited the scene. He was the campaign manager for Jerramiah Healy’s successful 2005 Jersey City mayoral bid, and is said to have been a key advisor to Hoboken Mayor Dave Roberts’ bid for reelection as well. Demellier was recently rewarded for his political loyalty to the current administration with an appointment as director to the newly created county department of Roads and Public Property. Most who know him describe Demellier as “politically crafty” but fiscally competent, and will most likely do Vega well in West New York.
Adding insult to injury?
In a move that more than one political observer called “recklessly bold,” State Assemblyman and Union City Mayor Brian Stack held a small organizational meeting last week at the same time State Senate and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco was holding a major fundraiser.
But even bolder, perhaps, was the fact that – despite a call from U.S. Senator Robert Menendez saying he was running late – Stack allowed the meeting to end prior to Menendez’s arrival.
Menendez, who is seeking to retain his seat against Republican challenge state Senator Tom Kean, Jr., walked into an empty hall.
Those at the scene claim Menendez was seriously peeved and fumed out, suggesting that he might not be able to count on Stack getting out the vote for him on Nov. 8 in Menendez’s home town.
“I guess there’s some trouble in paradise,” one observer said.
Where in the world is Donald Scarinci?
Menendez, of course, has been the subject serious Republican attacks, among which was revelations that his closest friend and sometimes chief fundraiser, Donald Scarinci, had been caught on federal tape trying to push Dr. Oscar Sandoval into hiring someone as an apparent condition for winning at contract with Hudson County.
Some Menendez supporters apparently blamed Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise for the Sandoval revelations – claiming a lawsuit filed by the county to regain money lost in various Janiszewski’s corrupt schemes led to exposing the tape at a time when Menendez was in a tight race for the U.S. Senate, Republicans later admitted they got their information from Janiszewski – who is serving out a 41 month sentence as a result of his illegal activities while in office.
Scarinci, meanwhile, resigned his position with the Menendez campaign, then ducked out of sight, saying he did not want to distract from the real issues of the campaign, which have to do with President George W. Bush and the alleged mishandling of the War in Iraq.
Scarinci’s vanishing has led to a new political game in Hudson County, called “Where in the world is Donald Scarinci,” and an office pool among politicos who will win the prize if they can determine the place where Scarinci is hiding out.
According to some knowledgeable people, some participants in the pool have put down places such as Hunter Mountain where Janiszewski hid out for several years prior to his facing charges of extortion. Others with a longer political memory claim Scarinci is scuba diving off the coast of India – alluding to the place where fugitive state Senator David Friedland fled after faking his own death in the 1980s. Some believe Scarinci might have sought spiritual wisdom from an Indian guru similar to the trip taken by the Beatles and some members of the Rolling Stones in 1967.
“Some even claim he’s walking around with the spirit of Gandhi,” one source joked. “Or perhaps has taken a cruise on the Queen Mary (II).”
Indeed, the Queen Mary II docked in Bayonne briefly just when Scarinci disappeared, and if so, Scarinci is somewhere in Canada.
Along with leaving the Menendez, Scarinci took a leave of absence from his Bergen County law firm, and may soon lose his position as legal counsel to the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority. Gov. Jon Corzine has asked for Scarinci to be removed.
Kenny will likely get position on the Port Authority
In order to avoid a bloody political civil war among Democrat in Hudson County, Corzine apparently has already offered state Senator Bernard Kenny a position on the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. This will allow Stack to get Kenny’s state Senate seat.
But a civil war may be inevitable anyway as state Assemblywoman Joan Quigley defends her seat against a challenge Jersey City Councilman Bill Gaughan.
Since Sacco is standing firmly behind Quiqley and DeGise is behind Gaughan, other Democrats may have to choose a side next June
Another split also appears to involve the County Sheriff’s seat since Stack is opposed to the incumbent Joe Cassidy, and apparently has another candidate in mind. These splits might cause a political battle having North Hudson fighting South Hudson.
Mayor Healy appears to have made up politically with his former rival Assemblyman Louis Manzo, as Healy and state Senator and Bayonne Mayor Joseph Doria got together for a Manzo fundraiser at the Split Tree House. Healy, of course, may be looking over his shoulder at Councilman Steve Fulop, who may or may not run for mayor in 2009.