Hoboken politics is better than any soap opera or reality show you can ever watch on TV because if you saw this stuff on TV, you wouldn’t believe it.
With Hoboken’s “reformers” facing one of the toughest municipal elections in years – six of the nine City Council seats are up for election on May 10 – they suddenly get a gift from the gods in a 2009 videotape that shows Councilman Michael Russo allegedly agreeing to take a bribe from FBI informant Solomon Dwek.
Apparently not able to articulate the word “yes” during the video tape, Russo went home, spoke with people who were wiser in the ways of political entrapment, and told him not to take the feds’ phone calls again – denying the U.S. Attorney one more high profile public official to charge in what was clearly an effort to get then-candidate Christopher Christie elected as governor of New Jersey.
Since no charges were filed against Russo, the tape should have been protected by privacy laws, but it appears that it was available to other people charged in the case – and perhaps leaked to the press by a defense attorney hoping to make a public spectacle that would continue to put federal investigators in a bad light and somehow influence the court to be more lenient on their own clients. But most likely the feds released the tape.
It is a strange coincidence that Mayor Dawn Zimmer, who has embraced the programs of Republican Gov. Christopher Christie, suddenly gets what seems to be a smoking gun that reformers hope will sway the election in their favor and allow them to retake control of the City Council that they lost in last November’s special election in the 4th Ward.
Unfortunately, this may be less of a blessing to reformers than they think it is, since the hounds now think they have the fox in a tree and can force him out of office.
This would be a massive political mistake, since the reformers, with their associated bloggers, are taking aim at a candidate they may not be able to beat in May, distracting resources from ward races where they stand a better chance – such as the race pitting reformer Jen Giattino against Angelo “Nino” Giacchi, or Tom Greaney against incumbent Beth Mason.
Reformers need to take back at least one seat that they do not currently have in order to control the City Council on July 1, otherwise, Zimmer will become a lame duck over her last two years.
Reformers, of course, are trying desperately to tie Mason to Russo, suggesting that even as far back at the 2009 election, Russo influenced her ticket. But they forget that Mason, going into the runoff, backed Zimmer over Peter Cammarano, who Russo supported.
(Mason issued a statement last week denouncing the actions of Russo, who had become a close ally on the council.)
Will L. Harvey Smith run against Cunningham?
With the Dwek charges taking the foreground of local politics thanks to the Russo tape, people might forget that there is a pending civil war among Hudson County Democrats, and that supporters of state Sen. and Union City Mayor Brian Stack are actively seeking candidates countywide to face off against the slate of candidates being proposed by the Hudson County Democratic Organization for the June 7 state legislative primaries. They must file to run by this coming week.
Some of the proposed candidates will include former state Sen. and Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith, who is rumored to be running for state Senate against Sandra Cunningham in the 31st District after attempts failed to bring along Bruce Alston – who is also running as an independent candidate for state Senate.
L Harvey Smith won his corruption case against the feds last year, and beating Cunningham in the 31st District would bring him significant vindication.
One of his rumored runningmates could be Denis Wilbeck, who apparently is willing to test the waters against Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell, who beat Wilbeck in a three-way Assembly race that included Robert Mays in a special election last November. Mays says he will not take part in a Stack ticket, and that he intends to support Cunningham in the primary.
Stack is also looking for candidates in all nine freeholder races this year, and is willing to take HCDO castoffs such as Hoboken Freeholder Anthony Romano and Jersey City Freeholder Eliu Rivera.
Secaucus School Board Trustee Tom Troyer only laughed when asked if he has been tapped to run for freeholder, but did not confirm or deny that he’d been approached.
The Stack people have even reached into Hoboken seeking candidates to run against County Executive Tom DeGise, are looking to speak with Beth Mason, Frank Raia, and even Michael Novak to see if any of them are interested.
Meanwhile the HCDO may also be looking for a candidate to challenge Stack for state Senate – and this might just be Jersey City Councilman Bill Gaughan or even Board of Education member Sean Connors.
With Assemblywoman Joan Quigley deciding not to run for reelection now that redistricting has put her into Stack’s district, Gaughan may want the seat – although he comes with baggage, since Gaughan is close to former Union City Mayor Rudy Garcia, something Stack doesn’t particularly like. Connors is also rumored to be a possible Assembly candidate, although Stack appears to have his own candidate in mind from Jersey City – possibly downtown activist Shelly Skinner.
Reports suggest that Stack is upset with how redistricting went, causing him to lose West New York and gain a larger portion of Jersey City. He apparently perceives himself as vulnerable now, when in reality, no coalition from Jersey City can overcome his strong Union City voting base.
Meanwhile, State Sen. Nicholas Sacco has made a move to replace Caridad Rodriguez as a candidate for the state Assembly in the 32nd District with the vice president of the West New York Board of Education, Angelica Maria Jimenez.
Marra to replace Snyder?
Reports suggest that former Secaucus Councilman Chris Marra may soon be tapped to replace Bill Snyder, the outgoing executive director of the Secaucus Housing Authority. Marra is a member of one of the town’s most prominent families.