Sweeney announces new Committee chairs

Dick Codey is neither Chair nor Vice Chair (0.00 / 0)

Speaks volumes about the influence of Boss Norcross.
One of the State's most popular leaders gets shoved into the corner like yesterday's newspaper.  

Restore democracy and the Constitution for which it stands.

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by: The Wizard @ Sat Jan 16, 2010 at 14:01:32 PM UTC

Observation (0.00 / 0)

Putting Paul Sarlo in charge of the budget is like putting hiring a pedophile as the principle of a kindergarten.

As a veteran, I can't help but wonder how many votes the new chair of the veterans committee will abstain from.

On the basis of these two appointments, I'll label Sweeney's Presidency as an epic failure.

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by: Thurman Hart @ Sat Jan 16, 2010 at 14:50:48 PM UTC

Does Van Drew's district have any urban areas in it? (0.00 / 0)

That was the chairmanship that struck me as the oddest.  Teresa Ruiz or Sandra Cunningham would have probably been a better choice.

I am also surprised to see that John Girgenti and Ron Rice Sr., staunch Codey allies, got any Chairmanships at all.  I wonder if that means that Girgenti and Sweeney have made peace.

If so, that means that it is probably unlikely that we will see Girgenti's Hawthorne pulled away from Paterson during the next redistricting.  I wonder if Sweeney would go so far to buy Girgenti's loyalty that he would remove Nellie Pou's North Haledon from the district, preventing her from being able to challenge Girgenti in a primary.  If so, this would most likely end her political career, unless she decided to go after Bill Pascrell's Congressional seat instead.

Either way, this would leave Blue Jersey's favorite Hawthorne resident as the best chance of a progressive primary challenge of Girgenti in 2011.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Sat Jan 16, 2010 at 17:58:25 PM UTC

redistricting (0.00 / 0)

Sweeney's going to be in charge of deciding where the new district lines are drawn?

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by: Bill W @ Sat Jan 16, 2010 at 22:16:49 PM UTC

[ Parent ]

He would say no, but... (0.00 / 0)

...we know better.

Techically, redistricting is done by a committee consisting of an odd number of people (13, I believe) with an equal of number of Democrats and Republicans and one independent, chosen by the Chief Justice of the State Supreme Court.

However, the reality of the situation is that after the 2010 census data has been finalized, Steve Sweeney, as the Democratic Party's de facto leader (don't let anybody tell you that the NJDSC Chair is the leader of the party), will have his people draw up a map, Chris Christie and Tom Kean Jr. will have their people draw up a map, and the "independent" will choose which map is "best" based on criteria established by the state constitution.

Following the 2000 census, Dick Codey, who as Senate Minority Leader was our party's de facto leader had his map chosen by someone whose "independence" was questionable.  The Republicans challenged the map, ironically, using the Voting Rights Act.  They correctly charged that the Democratic-friendly map broke up formerly majority-minority districts and made it less likely that African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans could win primary elections in certain districts.

The courts eventually rejected this charge, but Codey had to put his money where his mouth was in the 2001 primary election, when he had to run off the line in his district to protect his chosen Assembly running mates, Mims Hackett and John McKeon, the Mayors of Orange and West Orange, against Pat Sebold and Linda Lordi Cavanaugh, who were backed by the Essex County Democratic Organization and its chair at the time, Tom Giblin.  Hackett and McKeon won, but nobody will ever know if their victory was a vindication of Codey's map or if the Republican charges might have actually been proven true had Codey not run off the line with McKeon and the African-American, Hackett.

So it remains to be seen what Sweeney, Norcross, and Adubato have in mind for the state when they construct the next legislative map, what the Republicans offer up as an alternative, and which map the "independent" chooses.  One thing that I would expect to read about a year or so from now is how the next map protects their allies and squeezes out their enemies.  It will be interesting to see where Girgenti and others (Ron Rice Sr. and Shirley Turner being two of the others) wind up where all is said and done.

Two things that I am hoping to see are my town of Dunellen included in Kip Bateman's district and Shirley Turner's town, Lawrence Township, to be in the same district as Bill Baroni's Hamilton Township.  It would be great if progressives could be engaged and organized enough to weigh in on this process, but I don't foresee that happening anytime soon.

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by: Bertin Lefkovic @ Sun Jan 17, 2010 at 03:28:06 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

Thanks, that makes sense (0.00 / 0)

I'd forgotten that the Chief Justice appoints the tie-breaker. I was afraid that was going to be Christie's choice.

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by: Bill W @ Sun Jan 17, 2010 at 12:42:11 PM UTC

[ Parent ]