The new Senate committee lineups are taking shape and I just got my hands on the list of committee chairmen/women. Some seem like a natural fit (Vitale, Scutari for ex.) while other appear wildly out of place given their backgrounds and leadership skills. But that's just my take.
Anyway, follow me below the fold to learn who the Senate's gavel-bearers will be for the next 2 years.
Camden is a city in trouble and many politicians from Governor Christie to Mayor Redd to Senator Norcross and Assemblymen Wilson and Fuentes are getting a lot of press coverage. No doubt, there are a lot of bad people who are taking advantage of the city's inbred poverty and the Governor's cutbacks in public safety and education to the detriment of the law-abiding and struggling residents of that city. But the silver lining is that there are also residents who are quietly working below the radar to incrementally improve the situation there.
One such citizen is José Delgado, a retired investigator for the public defender and former long-time member of the Camden Board of Education. I spoke with Delgado this afternoon about crime, education, and the hopes for Camden's future.
Collingswood was among the 0.6 percent of public entities rated by Moody's to receive a "large, multi-notch downgrade," or a downgrade of two or more notches. The borough was dropped an astonishing six notches, from A1 to Ba1.
The primary source of the problem seems to be a development scheme wherein the borough underwrote considerable debt to secure the financing of high end housing:
The downgrade was a reflection of doubts over how Collingswood would fully pay off $8.5 million for the LumberYard, a luxury housing and retail complex near the PATCO Hi-Speedline. The borough will make an extended maturity deadline of Dec. 7, but not without borrowing another $4.5 million to purchase unsold condos, which it will try to lease.
This odd situation has lead Reuters columnist and municipal debt expert, Cate Long to award the Borough of Collingswood the "Muniland Absurdity of the Year Award" Long writes:
The small town of Collingswood, New Jersey is facing some rough sledding in the next 90 days as it attempts to raise cash to pay off loan guarantees it made on behalf of a local condo and commercial development.
The private project, The Lumberyards, originated in 2006 with funding from TICIC, a consortium of New Jersey banks that provided $18,000,000 in construction loans to Lumberyard Condominiums. After completing about one third of the project the developers encountered weak demand when the housing market and economy softened following the 2008 financial crisis. The developers are now broke and have turned to the town of Collingswood, their municipal guarantor, to repay the loan to TICIC.
Thank God the Camden County Democrats can still hand out fat contracts because they sure aren't doing anything policy-wise. Read as they tie themselves in knots over what to do with a new prison no one wants.
Beach Slapped.
A reader has some harsh words for Senator Jim Beach's abstention on marriage equality in today's Courier Post. Whoever wrote that editorial sure was pissed!
Fr. Michael Doyle is the Camden priest recently profiled in a documentary called the Poet of Poverty. The movie was screened last night in Cherry Hill and I cried and laughed and cried and laughed some more. Here's the trailer. And yes, that's Martin Sheen doing narration.
From an email sent out by Chairman Angelini of Gloucester County and Beach of Camden County:
Donald W. Norcross was unanimously nominated today to be the Democratic candidate for the 5th District State Assembly seat being vacated by Speaker Joseph Roberts. Norcross, a longtime labor leader whose work on behalf of working families, charities and civic ventures has earned him the respect of ordinary citizens as well as government and community leaders, was chosen at a special meeting of the Camden and Gloucester Democratic county committees. A resident of Camden, Norcross will be seeking the position left open by Roberts' decision not to run for another term in the November election.
And a comment from the new Assembly candidate:
"I believe we must change the way business is done in Trenton," Norcross told hundreds of Democrats attending the meeting at Brooklawn American Legion Post # 72. "We must put our partisan differences and the special interests aside to do what is best for the ordinary, hard-working taxpayers of this state. The status quo is not working. The state government is wasting too much of our money."
Norcross called for a state-government spending freeze and a moratorium on tax increases. He said that if elected he will push initiatives to create jobs for the growing number of unemployed New Jerseyans, institute tax breaks and other economic incentives for small businesses and stimulate New Jersey's struggling economy."
Norcross will now run with Camden City Council President Angel Fuentes for the seats in November. The changes may not be done in the 5th however, as State Senator Dana Redd is expected to win Mayor of Camden. That would mean that a new Senator would be coming as well and Wally speculated about the implications of that change on a potential contest for Senate President. I'm sure there are varied opinions on this as always. Have at it, but let's try to keep it civil.
We all know by now that Donald Norcross will run for the seat being vacated by Joe Roberts. I'll admit I don't know much about him: The papers mainly mention him as George Norcross's brother, but Blue Jersey users who do know him all seem to praise him. I was just forwarded an e-mail in which Donald Norcross lays out the motivation for his candidacy and his qualifications for the Assembly. I must say it's an impressive case:
We'll have to wait for confirmation tomorrow, but we get this big news from NJ.com:
Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden) is planning to announce Wednesday morning that he will not seek re-election this fall, ending a 22-year career in the Legislature, according to two top Democrats familiar with his plans.
Roberts, the most powerful figure in the lower house, plans to break the news to fellow South Jersey Democrats at an 8 a.m. breakfast meeting in Camden County, said the Democratic sources. They requested anonymity when speaking in advance of the announcement.
Sources in the story say that Donald Norcross, co-chair of the Camden County Democrats and President of the Southern New Jersey AFL-CIO will replace him on the ballot. Nearly no story will go without mentioning that he is also the brother of George Norcross. The 5th district is considered more of a safe Democratic district, but along with this move came speculation of further implications on the Senate:
His departure also has implications for the upper house, where a leadership battle is brewing between Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex) and Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney (D-Gloucester). Traditionally, if one leadership position is filled by a North Jersey Democrat, the other is filled by a South Jersey Democrat. Political experts have said that with Roberts leaving, a North Jersey Democrat could ascend to the speakership and boost Sweeney's chances of wresting power from Codey.
But one prominent Democratic legislator said Roberts' motives are straightforward.
"There is a desire for all regions of the state to be represented," said state Sen. Raymond Lesniak (D-Union), who said he had known Roberts was preparing to leave but did not know the announcement would come Wednesday. "But I don't believe that this announcement has anything to do with the senate presidency, I think it has to do with the fact that Joe's had a great career and wants to move on."
There had been prior rumors that Sweeney was considering a challenge to Codey's position as Senate President. Things may not be done here however, because the Senator from the 5th District is Dana Redd, the likely next Mayor of Camden. So we may still see more domino's fall before this story is done. What do you think of the news and what are the wider implications of the Speaker not standing for re-election with the rest of the body up on the ballot? Another big question will be who becomes speaker if you assume that the Democrats maintain control after the election?
Blue Jersey's inside sources at the convention in Denver are reporting that a motion was just made and unanimously carried by voice vote to pledge New Jersey's delegates to Senator Barack Obama by acclamation, without the need for a roll call vote. Among those speaking in favor of the motion were Rep. Frank Pallone and labor leader Donald Norcross.
Upon passage, the enthusiastic Jersey crowd gave the motion a standing ovation. The mood of the room was summed up by Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts, who remarked that Garden Staters are going to make it clear that "no matter where we were in the primary, we are coming together for victory."
I think that makes the score Unity - 127, PUMAs - 0.
Updated. Acclimation / Acclamation... Whatever. I was in a rush to beat Friedman. LOL!
Many people, including me, thought that it was an outrage when Rob Andrews and George Norcross decided to put Rob's wife Camille on the ballot for the NJ1 House nomination even though she said she would turn down the nomination when elected. We said it was undemocratic, went against our party's principles and disenfranchised the Democratic voters of New Jersey's first Congressional district.
We were told that we were wrong, that it was democratic because the voters knew the score and the County Committee members of NJ1 would be selecting the nominee. We had to "prevent a Civil War," according to Rob Andrews.
Rob Andrews: It's not in the interest of the Democratic Party to have some big civil war over the Congressional seat at a time when we are trying to have a unified effort in the south. And why her? I'll tell you why her. Because she gave her word that she would abide by the county committee process and she'll keep it and not fall in love with the idea that she maybe won the primary and then not get off the ballot
Apparently a primary where people get to vote for candidates who actually intend to run in the general is equivalent to a massive five year bloodbath.
Those of us who continued to protest this massive disenfranchisement were told that we were wrong and just terribly cynical.
The word among South Jersey Democrats is that Donald Norcross, the brother of one of the state's most powerful political insiders, will replace Rob Andrews in the U.S. House of Representatives. Sources say that the decision to send Norcross, the South Jersey AFL-CIO President and the Camden County Democratic Co-Chairman, to Congress appears nearly final, but that party leaders have little incentive to call a vote to ratify that choice anytime soon.
George Norcross' brother will be the nominee, and there's no need to call a vote of the County Committee members anytime soon. This is how they "abide by the county committee process"? Bypassing the County Committee?
In politics, votes and support should be treated as a privilege to have, not a right, no matter how partisan a district or part of the country might be. As a resident of the 1st district and a Camden County Democrat, I'm concerned that we are treading a fine line that borders on taking the voters we serve for granted and subverting a democratic process for nominating Rob Andrews' replacement. On Blue Jersey, there have been multiple discussions about how this process needs to be completed, including one from last week; but as someone who lives in the district, volunteers for the Camden County Democrats, and is the incoming Haddonfield Democratic Club Vice President, I feel particularly invested in this congressional race and the tarnished image that the decision-making process leaves behind on our party. From my vantage, there is only one way to fix this broken process, though even this course of action would be imperfect.
Two more New Jersey superdelegates now say they are supporting Barack Obama, including one who had previously supported Hillary Clinton. This comes just one week after superdelegate Christine "Roz" Samuels announced she was switching her support from Clinton to Obama.
Various other South Jersey Clinton supporters - including three county chairs and several legislators - have also shifted to Obama's camp.
Two New Jersey superdelegates said that they would support Barack Obama for President: Donald Norcross, the Co-Chairman of the Camden County Democratic Party, and State Sen. Dana Redd, who had previously backed Hillary Clinton. And several key Clinton supporters in South Jersey have also flipped to Obama, including Senate Majority Leader Steve Sweeney, Democratic County Chairmen James Beach (Camden), Rick Perr (Burlington) and Michael Angelini (Gloucester), Camden Mayor Gwendolyn Faison, and South Jersey Democratic leader George Norcross, one of the state's most powerful political insiders.
This is a net pickup of two super delegates for Obama and a loss of one for Clinton. Also endorsing Obama: State Sen. Fred Madden, and Assemblyman Paul Moriarty. [...]
"It's clear the people have spoken. It's time to unite behind a single candidate and that's Senator Obama," said Redd. "He will have won, by the end of this contest, more popular votes, more primaries, more caucuses, more delegates elected by the people and deserves to be our nominee. He has met the burden of proof to be the Democratic nominee and our next President. While we have a great deal of respect for Senator Hillary Clinton's long history and commitment to public service, the results of the past few weeks made us realize it's time for a new direction."
These are almost all the key players in the South Jersey Democratic party leadership.
