With huge problems facing the state in its budget, U.S. Senator Jon Corzine seems to be coming out with a tax plan that looks and sounds a little like one of his Republican opponent, Bret Schundler’s.
Although no one knows which Republican will emerge from the pack currently seeking the nod for governor, one thing is certain: the State of New Jersey doesn’t two Schundlers.
If Corzine is determined to model policy after Schundler, he could well lose his bid for governor in November, if facing off against the original Schundler.
After all, if voters around the state are faced with a Schundler-like plan for tax reform or the original thing, bet that public will go for the original.
Besides, Schundler has had more than a decade to perfect his act, getting elected mayor of Jersey City from a crowded field in 1992, and polishing the routine so he could sell it in his sleep.
Corzine won’t be half as convincing. For one thing, Democrats and tax reform mix about as well as oil and water.
Some Democrats fear that if Corzine starts down that road, he might well lose his audience and create a platform for Republicans that will have people calling Schundler “Governor” next year.
“The plan that Corzine has come up with looks and sounds like a Republican spending plan,” said one prominent Hudson County Democrat. “It’s competing with Schundler’s plan and will hurt middle class and poor people. This is a fatal flaw. It will allow the Republicans to control the campaign. When faced with two plans that look the same, people will likely vote for Schundler’s. If we’re going to feel the pain anyway, why not vote Republican?”
Where did all the money go?
A recent report shows the state is billions of dollars behind in its payment to employee pension plans.
This might have been bad news from some recently convicted corrupt public officials such as former County Executive Robert Janiszewski, former Hoboken Mayor Anthony Russo, and former Freeholders Nidia Davila-Colon and William Braker, and former state Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto – who pled guilty to misuse of campaign funds, except that most if not all will see a reduction or elimination of their pensions.
This is particularly ironic for Davila-Colon, who, in carrying bribes from Dr. Oscar Sandoval to Janiszewski to secure contracts with the county, hoped to keep her position with government long enough to qualify for the state pension.
Yet on an even more pathetic note is the lack of common sense all of these political figures in simply refusing to provide better for their future retirement. After all, each of these people collected money and let it slip through their fingers.
Janiszewski was so irresponsible he simply put the cash into a filing cabinet and took some out every now and again if he needed a little pocket money. People who know him, however, also know how infrequently Janiszewski needed pocket money. He almost never picked up the tab on a meal and nearly never left a tip.
Russo took bribes whenever he felt the urge to bet on horses. Unfortunately, he was better at eliciting bribes than he ever was on picking winning horses.
As for Impreveduto, it is difficult to say where his money went – except to say that American Express got most of it. Impreveduto not only lost a significant portion of his pension, but also three different pension-bearing positions.
Of course, school staff in Secaucus where Impreveduto taught, were very generous in bidding him farewell. Last week, they gave him a party. Perhaps some even gave him new license plate holders for the Assembly license plates he still has not turned in after his resignation.
There is, of course, an old adage that one longtime political observer in Hudson County recounted.
“It takes three Bs to make a good politician: brains, balls and a bankroll. Sometimes brains and balls can get a bankroll. But it helps to have all three. The problem is it takes three Ws to compromise a politician: wine, women and wagering.”
Around the county
Although Karen DeSota has flatly refuted claims she was a mobster’s mole, the headlines in various daily newspapers couldn’t have helped her campaign for city council in Jersey City’s Westside.
The on-again, off-again mayoral campaign by Public Works Department Superintendent Michael Gonnelli might well be the basis for a modernization of William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” Although the campaign is unlikely, the indecisiveness has driven some potential allies batty.
“This is the year to run,” said one potential supporter. “There are good issues that someone like Gonnelli could use.”
There are some graphic visual symbols to a changing Secaucus that might have raised the hackles of the general population a decade ago such as the vanishing of the Plaza Diner, one of the centerpieces of Old Secaucus, and the conversion of the Acme supermarket into a CVS drug store. The problem is most of the population of Secaucus has shifted as well and a good portion of the new residents do not have the same tender feelings about historic icons.
With development in the southern portion of Secaucus and other parts of the town, the population will increase by another 30 to 40 percent over the next half decade, leaving fewer and fewer voters to pine for the glories of the past.
In a small correction, last week’s column claimed Nick Mastorelli had moved on from executive director of the North Hudson Community Action Corporation to take a post with Jersey City Mayor Thomas X. Smith. Mastorelli had instead moved on to become the county administrator under County Executive Ed Clark, where he helped establish the community college as well as developed one of the more effective drug treatment programs.
In a last minute agreement, Michael Shababb, who had been slated to become the executive director of NHCAC will accept a five-year contract to continue in his old position at about $150,000 year. Union City Mayor Brian Stack will lead a search committee to find a new executive director. Rumors have it, State Assemblywoman Joan Quigley may lead the list of possible contenders.
But this may not be the end of the problems for NHCAC. Apparently state Senator and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco has some serious concerns about lucrative salaries and benefit packages other employees may have received and wants an accounting of the books to determine who got how much.