Luxury housing projects continued to sprout, Gov. Chris Christie’s scandals brought national attention to local mayors, and the Super Bowl finally came to the Meadowlands. 2014 was a year in which more and more people “discovered” Hudson County and its diverse towns.
But what about residents, new and old, who need to keep up regularly with local news? What follows is our annual rundown of the biggest stories in each town this year.
For more on politics and development in your town, see related articles in this issue.
Guttenberg
New chief: Popular Police Chief Joel Magenheimer retired after more than 30 years on the force. Now aged 65, he was required to retire from his position. To mark the occasion, he was feted at a surprise tribute dinner on March 21 and presented with the “Officer of the Year” award by the mayor at the Town Council meeting on March 24. Magenheimer took on a new role as deputy director of public safety on Nov. 1. A new chief has not been named. Michael Caliguiro remains the director of public safety.
Shared park: A new $2.8 million park opened along River Road on Monday, Oct. 6. Located two-thirds on property owned by North Bergen and the rest in Guttenberg, the joint venture includes a playground, picnic areas, grassy knolls, a direct view of Upper Manhattan across the river, and a semicircular amphitheater.
Hoboken
Christie scandal: In January, Mayor Dawn Zimmer accused officials from the administration of Gov. Chris Christie, including Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, of intending to provide Hurricane Sandy relief funds only if Zimmer helped expedite a private development in Hoboken’s northern end. The development was sought by the private Rockefeller Group, which at the time was represented by a law firm linked to Christie.
Zimmer’s comments came in the wake of the Bridgegate scandal that embroiled Christie’s administration in accusations of deliberately shutting lanes on the George Washington Bridge for political retribution against Fort Lee Mayor Mark Sokolich. In the Hoboken case, Guadagno strongly denied making any mention of a quid-pro-quo to Zimmer. The “he said-she said” has not been fully resolved, although a New York law firm hired by the Christie administration exonerated Guadagno of wrongdoing.
Flooding relief: In June, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan and Christie announced that Hoboken was among the seven winners of the Rebuild by Design competition, established by Pres. Barack Obama in the wake of Superstorm Sandy to deal with flooding issues in various regions. A total of $230 million was allocated to the state of New Jersey for the proposal titled “Resist, Delay, Store, Discharge: a Comprehensive Urban Water Strategy,” which employs a multi-pronged approach to address flooding challenges in Hoboken, Jersey City, and Weehawken.
School controversies: The majority faction of the Hoboken Board of Education voted to legally oppose a state ruling that would allow one of the city’s three charter schools to expand from sixth to eighth grade. The board members said that the charter schools took too much money and resources from the other schools. One member made damning comments saying the schools caused “white flight.” The debate split some of Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s “reformer” voter base, as the board majority had been allied with her in the past, but she herself had children in the charter schools.
Jersey City
Cop murder: Rookie Police Officer Melvin Santiago was murdered in July after responding to a report of an armed robbery. The killer, Lawrence Campbell, one of three men wanted for another murder, had placed a false robbery call to lure police into an ambush. The incident underscored tensions between the police and the local African-American community, and continued a year of more than two dozen murders. Stories appeared in the press about street gang the Bloods threatening to kill policemen, but were dismissed by authorities as rumors.
Change in police leadership: Earlier in the summer, Mayor Steven Fulop demoted Police Chief Robert Cowan after only nine months on the job, explaining that major changes were underway in the department and Cowan resisted those changes. Cowan had also been criticized by officers who claimed he allegedly transferred them as “political retribution.” Philip Zacche was sworn in as Cowan’s replacement and a new table of organization was proposed for the department by Public Safety Director James Shea.
Fulop on the statewide stage: Fulop has emerged as a strong political presence in the region since beating incumbent mayor Jerramiah Healy to take the office in 2013. After some speculated that Christie would have to resign earlier this year, rumors abounded that Fulop may one day run against him.
North Bergen
New park on hold? North Bergen announced in the fall that it planned to acquire the land in James Braddock Park currently occupied by a preschool. The town struck a “diversion” deal with the county and plans to take over the property in exchange for establishing new parkland elsewhere in Hudson County, although park advocates have objected, claiming it sets a dangerous precedent for chipping away at public park land for development.
School security: In early June a note was found written on a desk at North Bergen High School threatening to “shoot up the school on 6/6/14,” resulting in a virtual lockdown of the school, with a beefed-up police presence on that date. Later in the year the school completed the installation of 225 security cameras as part of a $1.4 million effort to enhance security.
Secaucus
Super Bowl participation: In the week leading up to the Super Bowl, Secaucus hosted Winter Blast, a three-day event in Buchmuller Park that attracted nearly 10,000 attendees and raised more than $20,000 for charity. Games, rides, a “food truck mash-up” and the world’s largest mozzarella football were among the features. The NFL also agreed to pay the town $18,000 after backing out of an agreement to rent municipal space for a staging area during the event.
Tax sharing relief at last: In another win, the state of New Jersey picked up the entire tab for the Meadowlands Intermunicipal Tax Sharing Program for the first time this year. Established in 1972, tax sharing forced some of the 14 towns in the Meadowlands region to contribute money to a development fund for towns that couldn’t develop due to economic reasons. Secaucus, traditionally the biggest contributor into the fund at nearly $3 million a year, hopes to see municipal contributions eliminated thanks to a new bill currently with Gov. Christie for his signature.
Elwell’s back: Former Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell returned home in October after serving almost 30 months in federal prison for accepting $10,000 that federal authorities claimed was a bribe. To this day, Elwell maintains it was not a bribe but a campaign contribution.
Union City
Political unity: In an extremely rare joint public appearance, Union City Mayor Brian Stack and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco stood together to demonstrate support for County Executive Tom DeGise’s reelection in 2015. The two mayors – both of whom are also state senators – have been bitter political adversaries in the past, but they said their past differences are behind them. Vowing to work together, they cited an agreement for North Bergen to provide space to the Union City Department of Public Works.
Weehawken
Flooding help: Weehawken will reap the benefits of the $230 million Rebuild by Design grant designated for the Hudson River. Mayor Richard Turner cited the flooding in the “Shades” section of town during Sandy and said, “This plan will fully protect the residents of Weehawken and could serve as a national model for regional urban resiliency.”
Local boy climbs tall structures: A 16 year-old Weehawken boy with a penchant for daring urban exploration was arrested by the Weehawken Police Department in September for illegally entering and climbing the historic water tower at 4100 Park Avenue, adjacent to the Pathmark mall. The teenager was charged with unlicensed entry of a structure and resisting arrest. Earlier in the year a 16-year-old youth, a Weehawken resident, was charged with sneaking past security and climbing to the top the World Trade Center tower. The teenager pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 23 days of community service.
West New York
School board elected: After voters overwhelmingly approved the establishment of an elected school board in West New York last November, two rounds of elections occurred. The first took place in January, expanding the board from seven members to nine. The two winning candidates had ties to opponents of Mayor Felix Roque, and were supported strongly by Freeholder Jose Munoz. However, Roque won the next round. He successfully postponed the second school board election from April to November, at which time 16 candidates, including two incumbents, ran for four seats. Once the smoke cleared, the four candidates supported by Mayor Felix Roque won the contested seats – three for three years, one for two years – reflecting an apparent upswing in popularity for the mayor. He had suffered a turbulent 2013 in which a scathing state report was released accusing him of meddling in school personnel matters, and he was acquitted of federal charges related to hacking into a website run by political rival Munoz.
Competition for Roque: Meanwhile, two of Roque’s political rivals, Count Wiley and Jose Munoz, announced in December that they will run for municipal positions against Roque’s candidates in the May mayor/commission elections. In West New York’s form of government, five people run for the town commission, and choose a mayor from among themselves.
Art Schwartz may be reached at arts@hudsonreporter.com.