Residents of Hudson County’s 33rd District can vote on Tuesday for a state senator and two assemblymen. Democrats Bernard Kenny (the incumbent state senator), Assembly Speaker Albio Sires (who is also mayor of West New York) and assembly hopeful Brian Stack (also mayor of Union City) are facing off against Republicans Rafael Fraguela (a current assemblyman) for state senate and Elise Dinardo and Jose Munoz for state assembly.
In some ways, the three Democratic candidates running for state legislative slates represent three distinct views that provide their ticket with a multi-faceted approach to government. Sires, who is Cuban, brings to the ticket a remarkable inner view of what it means to be an immigrant, taking pride in the fact that he has not forgotten his roots or the reason that the people of West New York elected him mayor. In seeking to retain his seat in the assembly, Sires believes he brings to Trenton that same point of view, carrying to the state the needs of urban New Jersey.
Nearly a polar opposite, Bernard Kenny reflects the academic aspects of government, helping Hudson County and the state by seeking answers to problems that seem beyond local government’s ability to fix. Kenny, in seeking re-election, hopes to continue his quest for answers to some of the most troubling problems in the state.
Between these two extremes, Brian Stack represents the reform movement that bridges the gap between the needy and the resources available to help them. Stack as a community activist, and later mayor of Union City, has served as a conduit for resources.
The Republican candidates have been profiled in previous issues of the Reporter and can be found on the web at www.unioncityreporter.com, www.westnewyorkreporter.com, or www.hobokenreporter.com.
Albio Sires
On the sink in the private bathroom in West New York Mayor Albio Sires’ City Hall office sits a single lone Bonsai tree. Bonsai trees are known to represent calm and harmony.
The same could be said for the tree’s owner. Sires is a study in quiet power.
The Cuban immigrant who left his homeland with his parents and brother in 1962 to escape the totalitarian rule of Fidel Castro has climbed to a position of power in state and county politics that few can claim.
A sizable man who stands well over six feet tall, Sires exudes a dignified air that is neither off-putting nor antagonistic.
His position as Speaker of the General Assembly, and his being the first Cuban-American to lead a legislative body in any of the 50 states, allows Sires to let his reputation proceed him.
“First and foremost,” said Sires in a recent interview, “I see myself as a guardian of programs that are important to this (33rd ) District. School funding, prescription drug benefits for seniors, which, by the way, the governor wanted to cut and I told him, ‘That’s not going to happen,’ education programs.” Continued Sires, “Also, money for hospitals – St. Mary’s in Hoboken, Palisades General in North Bergen, all of these got $1 million. These hospitals are under a lot of pressure because of all the charity care [people that cannot pay their medical expenses] they provide.”
Sires went on to explain that although his position in Trenton is solid and he is well-respected by his colleagues, there are, admittedly, “certain issues that people down in Trenton can’t understand or relate to. Issues that are unique to Hudson County.”
Those issues, of course, tend to revolve around open space and the need to keep it that way while still maintaining a decent level of development and expansion of the tax base.
The West New York waterfront, which includes the N.Y. Waterway ferry service and a host of new luxury condominiums, has proven to be a boon to the pocketbook and prestige of the town.
Said Sires in a recent interview, “The waterfront generated $7 million in tax revenue last year.”
In a unique agreement with the main developer on the waterfront, Roseland Properties of Short Hills, every time a luxury condominium is erected on the waterfront, a percentage of money (based on the number of units in the development) is given by Roseland to West New York. This money is earmarked for affordable housing in areas away from the waterfront. This has resulted in the construction of 143 units of affordable housing in town.
Perhaps nothing in the history of Sires’ time as mayor of West New York has challenged him more than the scandal that rocked the West New York Police Department in 1999. It was revealed that widespread corruption had plagued the department for years. The scandal made national news and resulted in the firing of many high-ranking police officers. At the time, according to Sires, there were 102 police officers and 51 supervisors. Said Sires, “There were too many chiefs and not enough Indians.”
Sires made a commitment to completely revamp the police department from the top down. Tapping police veteran Joseph Pelliccio to run the department, the West New York police have done what Sires referred to as a “180 degree turn around.” Now the ratio of officers to supervisors is 123 police officers and 33 supervisors (including 12 sergeants). The West New York Police Department has hired a record number of officers in the last year, seven to date.
West New York’s UEZ (Urban Enterprise Zone) area has also proven to be a boon to the town’s coffers.
Said Sires, “The UEZ has really helped Bergenline Avenue. I fought for the UEZ with then-governor Christie Todd Whitman. All the money we’ve spent on Bergenline Avenue for beautification projects, new stoplights, has been UEZ money.”
Not many towns can claim to have a mayor who also happens to hold one of the most important positions in state government. And while Sires is quick to downplay his dual role and the effect it has on West New York, the prestige it brings to the town is undeniable. New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey’s frequent visits to the municipality illustrate Sires’ clout on the state level.
Said Sires about the dual roles he holds, “It’s a big balance and challenge to keep the state issues and the town issues equal, but I think I do a pretty good job.”
Summing up what he thinks he brings to the job as mayor, Sires said, “I’ve lived here for 42 years and I watched the town deteriorate. But hopefully, we can continue the turnaround that this town has seen since I came into office.”
Added Sires, “I live the local issues day to day and bring that perspective to Trenton.”
For Sires, the immigrant is not a hazy childhood memory, but something fresh in his mind. When he talks about the struggles of families in the city of West New York, he isn’t talking theoretically. He remembers the struggles his own family had, the language barriers and the struggle to find work.
Brian Stack
To hear him tell it, politics was on Brian Stack’s mind almost from day one. Said the Union City mayor and Hudson County freeholder in a recent interview, “When everyone else was racing from school to football or baseball practice, I was running toward city hall to volunteer my time.”
Starting in politics when he was 14 years old, Stack admits, “I really enjoy civics, I enjoy the political process.”
And for someone who enjoys the process, Stack, who is running for the state Assembly in the 33rd Legislative District, certainly puts in the time to prove it. Routinely putting in 90-hour work weeks, Stack has become known, even by his detractors, as one of the hardest-working people in Hudson County politics.
Stack maintains an “outsider” status that he deftly uses to his advantage. According to him, it allows him to almost “infiltrate from within.” Said Stack, “I think they [the Assembly and Freeholders] see that I am a bit of a ‘squeaky wheel.’ When people see me on the street, they yell, “Brian!” They see me as one of their own, and I am. I was born and raised here in Union City.”
Added Stack, “I have to fight for every penny that Union City receives from the state. It’s never easy.” A prime example, according to the mayor, is the $1 million in funds that Union City received from the state for the 47th Street pool.
Stack appears to revel in his outsider status and generally speaks his mind in open sessions. He is not afraid to openly run counter to the status quo, if he feels that it will effect his constituency in a negative manner.
Said Stack, “I see myself as a reformer. And I don’t really think that’ll be a problem [once I get to the Assembly]. I don’t think people see me as a negative candidate. I’m my own person. When I see something that’s wrong, I am not afraid to raise my voice, even on a county level. I am not a part of the ‘old boy network’.”
In a recent interview, Stack pledged that if elected to the Assembly, his focus will always be Union City. Said Stack, “What I bring to the team (Kenny, DeGise Sires, Stack and Inclan) is a local perspective. What the people want to see in the legislature, they can rest assured that I will make it known in Trenton. As it stands, I already ask people what they’d like to see.”
Union City’s designation as a “distressed city” puts it in the unique position of being able to garner millions of dollars in state aid, but still retain the stigma of being a “distressed city.” It has been Stack’s intention to bring Union City out of the depths of depression and corruption and make a it place that people want to stay in and a place folks want to move to.
Keeping the tax rate stable has been a feather in the Stack Administration’s cap. Stack has been trying to find ways to attract new business and development without raising taxes.
Stack’s plan when and if he gets to the Assembly is simple.
“I am looking forward to bringing as much back to the 33rd District as possible,” he said. “Good politics is good government. Basically, I try to help everybody – that’s my policy.
For Stack, government is a very simple issue: to serve the people. This may be rhetoric for many people, but not for Stack. Each step in the political process has been part of an effort to provide better services to a city where many of the people need so much. In seeking the state Assembly seat, Stack is gearing up to find a place where he can be more effective.
As mayor, he has been instrumental in helping to bring relief to people and has sought out new ways for creating new investment – such as the Yardley building’s redevelopment. He admits that his move to freeholder was not what he expected, and he said he would shed that job if elected to the Assembly.
Bernard Kenny
State Sen. Bernard Kenny is perhaps one of the most thoughtful human beings one will ever meet, someone that looks at issues, takes them apart and reassembles them until he knows every aspect.
So during an interview last month at the offices of the Hudson Reporter, he surprised no one when he presented his case as to why voters should re-elect him.
“The legislator has three basic functions,” he said. “To author legislation in response to a need, to represent the municipalities in his or her district and to provide constituent services.”
Although the 57-year-old Kenny makes his living as an attorney, he seems to have a passion for economics, having received his B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania in it before moving on to law. Over the years, he has played role in numerous key committees in the state Senate including Budge and Appropriations, Intergovernmental Relations, and the Joint Budget Oversight committees – and takes pride in his role in helping to give birth to the economic resurgence of Hudson County.
A member of the state Senate since 1993, Kenny has been majority leader since 2002, Assistant Minority Leader from 1994 to 2001 and was a member of the General Assembly from 1987-93.
“Economic development has been a vital part of my mission for the past two decades,” he said, and noted that much of his legislation contributed directly to improvements here in his district and in other parts of Hudson County. These include a business employment incentive program that helped make the Gold Coast of Hudson County attractive to businesses from out of the state. When a lawsuit crippled the state’s tax abatement program, it was Kenny who reshaped it and shepherded it through the legislature. In the last year’s budget crisis, Kenny was one of the problem solvers, helping to bring about the corporate business that helped raise billions in additional revenue.
“The corporations have to pay their fair share,” he said. “Under my proposal, they now do.”
One the key tools that local municipalities have been able to use to revitalize their downtown districts has been the Urban Enterprise Zone, a tool made possible by Kenny’s legislation. The light rail system that promised to help local residents throughout the district get to jobs was also part of Kenny’s agenda.
“I was an early advocate of the light rail along with people like Assemblyman Joe Doria,” Kenny said.
Education is also a key interest of Kenny’s, especially because Union City and West New York are seen by the state as needy districts, with Hoboken also considered needy in some regards. Maintaining funding to these districts is vital. Kenny also points to the state’s school construction program that has already helped the district build new schools in the district.
“When charter schools were first proposed, I was also an advocate of those,” Kenny said.
He also claimed credit for supporting the construction and funding for Liberty Science Center, as well as generating funding for Hudson County Community College – which is due soon to open a campus in North Hudson.
“Much of what I’ve done has to do with quality-of-life issues,” he said. “What does it take to make the urban experience pleasant.”
This includes providing riverfront walkways and the creation of parks. But it could also mean something as simple as providing new sidewalks, lamps and benches for streets like Washington Street in Hoboken.
Kenny believes he, Sires and Stack make up one of the strongest teams the 33rd District has ever seen, and that if all are elected, they can work as a team to provide their district with its share of state aid and other benefits.
“We are looking for things that will have the most positive impact on people’s lives,” Kenny said. “It is important to make cities livable places and to help make certain that places like Bergenline Avenue thrive.”