Even though Democrats in Hudson County should be basking in their post election victory bliss, there a lot of bad feelings lingering from state and local feuds.
The most serious of these appears to be one that has State Sen. and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco fuming.
In working out a number of deals that allowed Assemblyman Vincent Prieto – a runningmate of Sacco in the 32nd District – to chair the Assembly finance committee, Sacco apparently offered to make sure Hudson County’s Assembly votes were in favor of Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver for Assembly speaker.
Unfortunately, Sacco only managed to get five of the six Hudson County assemblypeople to vote for Oliver.
Bayonne Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell – despite the incredibly close relationship between North Bergen and Bayonne over the last few years – voted against Oliver.
Apparently, Assemblyman Joe Cryan – father of Hoboken Democratic Chairman Jamie Cryan – had sought O’Donnell’s support.
O’Donnell represents a district heavily endowed with union workers, and Oliver, along with state Senate Pres. Steve Sweeney, sold out the unions last year to Gov. Christopher Christie when revamping the state’s health and pension system.
Sweeney got paid back with a kick in the teeth from Gov. Christie, who promptly refused to fully fund school districts around the state, something Sweeney apparently thought would happen.
But the selling out of the unions has left a lot of union people bitter at Oliver. O’Donnell, caught between local voters and Sacco’s promise to deliver votes, decided he would cater to the unions’ request to vote against Oliver.
This, however, appears to have strained the relationship between Sacco and Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith, who serves as the chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Organization, and could put Smith’s future as chairman in jeopardy.
Although the chairmanship is a choice made by committee people throughout the county, in truth, the chairman serves as the bequest of the Democratic mayors, and Sacco, being one of the most powerful mayors, could eject him if the statewide embarrassment of O’Donnell’s vote is not soon soothed.
Who can Smith count on?
Smith’s recent appearance at an event held for West New York Mayor Dr. Felix Roque may only rub salt into this wound, since Roque defeated Sacco favorite Sal Vega and has been slowly dismantling the political machine that Vega constructed since Roque took over as mayor six months ago.
West New York has served as a political battleground for many of the recent Democratic political feuds. When then-State Assemblyman and Union City Mayor Brian Stack ran for the 33rd District State Senate seat left vacant by retiring Bernard Kenny several years ago, Vega became the candidate against Stack. Stack made his move because he believed that Sacco and Kenny had deliberately sponsored state legislation against dual office holding as a way of preventing Stack from becoming a state senator at the same time as he was mayor. The Vega/Stack campaign was one of the nastiest in recent memory, although similar tactics appear to have taken place during the Vega/Roque campaign.
Smith, who backed Vega, was speaking at a podium in West New York during that election when Roque led his anti-Vega followers into the crowd, disrupting the speech.
So you have to wonder how warm a reception Smith expected to get now that Roque is mayor, and how desperate his conflict with Sacco may have made him for Smith to seek to reach out to Roque.
When it comes to a vote for chairman of the HCDO next June, you have to wonder which mayors Smith can count on for support since the HCDO is not the friend of Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer, Stack, Roque, or Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner. If Sacco turns against Smith, who can he count on, and who might the Democrats choose to replace him if Smith bows out?
The gamble didn’t pay off
Smith also appears to have alienated Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy during the special election for City Council when Smith appeared to support Suzanne Mack for an at-large seat rather than the two candidates Healy supported.
While Smith gave no official endorsement, it is no secret that Mack carries a lot of weight in Bayonne, where she also serves a key role in transportation planning at the Bayonne Local Redevelopment Authority.
The fact that she didn’t win either of the two at-large seats was not only a shock to most political observers, but also slap in the face of the HCDO and the organization of Councilman Steve Fulop, who also did not endorse Mack, but was assumed to have supported her behind the scenes.
Healy also has some reason to dislike Sacco these days as well. While Sacco was supposed to be supporting Healy’s candidates and even insisted on Healy using Sacco’s favorite political consulting firm for their campaign, Sacco apparently gave victorious Councilman Viola Richardson a campaign contribution, and made an appearance at a fundraiser for Healy’s arch enemy, Councilman Fulop.
Meanwhile Fulop is working the local scene pretty well, recently serving as judge at a macaroni and cheese contest in Jersey City – which, if reports can be believed – was totally without controversy.