What's in this rice pudding?

by: Thurman Hart

Mon Mar 31, 2008 at 05:30:46 PM EDT

This was not entirely unexpected.  Brian Stack had to donate to charity contributions made by Medrano after she was indicted for human trafficking, forced alien labor, and conspiracy charges.  At the time, Stack defended his honor by pointing out that Medrano had used her Fairview address to mislead his campaign.  He stated:

"Anyone who knows my record knows how strong I have been on [the bar establishments]," said Stack. "My biggest opposition has come from the bar owners."

Exactly.  Just like Elliot Spitzer busted a couple of prostitution rings - but that didn't stop him from blowing $80,000 on whores.  The question facing Mr. Stack would be: Why were you so hard on bars and why did they oppose his election?

Is it the rice pudding, baby?  Click on through.

"We like screwing Hudson County residents!"

by: Thurman Hart

Sat Mar 29, 2008 at 05:29:38 PM EDT

We don't know about the booze question, but the discussion evolved into a desire by the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders to expand its travel and meals reimbursement policies for county workers to cover those in autonomous agencies - Schools of Technology, Improvement Authority, etc.

Then that new troublemaker, Freeholder Jose Munoz of West New York, asked whether they, the freeholders, are subject to the same policy - the one that does not allow such reimbursements as alcohol, health spa massages, or stays at five-star hotels.

No, they are not. Who can go on a trip and how much they can spend each day is apparently at the whim of the chairman of the county panel, and this time around it is Jersey City's Jeffrey Dublin.

On Thursday, Munoz motioned to introduce legislation that would make the freeholders follow the same travel and meal rules county workers must obey. O'Dea seconded Munoz's motion.

If you're brave enough, click through and see the asshattery.

While you were splitting

by: Thurman Hart

Tue Mar 18, 2008 at 06:18:13 PM EDT

If you've followed anything in Hudson County politics of late, you know that the long-feared Hudson County Democratic Organization is...well, dis-organizing.  To be more precise, it is (or has or some form of "to be") split.  Sort of.  Maybe.  

It all started when the earth cooled.  But that's too much history to cover here.  Fast forward to a time before State Senator Bernard Kenny fell while jogging and somehow sustained injuries that looked a lot like he got hit by a car.  In fact, go back just far enough for Jon Corzine to win the 2005 election as Governor of New Jersey and watch him name 13th Congressional District Congressman Bob Menendez as his replacement.

Immediately, all of the ambition that had been capped by Menendez' undeniable command of the District came uncorked.  People went crazy.  Cats were sleeping with dogs, unicorns were goring people in the streets, and Albio Sires, the sitting Speaker of the Assembly, was challenged in the primary to replace Menendez by Joe Vas (sort of - Vas actually didn't file for the unexpired term, only for the new term that started in January of 2007).

From there, it kind of gets crazy.  If, that is, by "crazy", I mean "totally predictable and chaotic". Make the jump.

Cut the Patronage Tax

by: Thurman Hart

Fri Feb 01, 2008 at 02:56:48 PM EST

I Have a private business and work in the registers office in Hudson County. It's sad to say, but generally speaking, Ms Flood's problems are just the tip of the iceberg in county government. To oversimplify it can be described as a too many chefs not enough Indians problem. The chiefs all look out for themselves, the gravy train is just too good. In just looking at the registers, and I've been there for 30 years, one notices a pattern. First they get elected, (by the way this election is actually an appointment by the Hudson County political machine in an off year election, its symptomatic of the broken democracy in this county) then they introduce them selves, and they make appointments, and then disappear for most of the time. The reason why they disappear is that there's not much to do. The people that do the work do it well and do it with out the political hacks and appointees. Also these people are making far less than the hacks and appointees. The registers job is a symptom of the great overriding political problem in New Jersey in which only makes the tax burden greater than it already is.
Instead of raising tolls, and raising taxes, then telling us that "we all must share in this burden" Our governor should look to break the political machines throughout the state. In other words fix the problems, don't through money at them.

A Tale of Two Counties (and one Presidential Candidate)

by: Thurman Hart

Thu Jan 24, 2008 at 09:38:48 AM EST

IT WAS the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way

So is the comparison between the supporters of Hillary Clinton in Hudson and Bergen Counties.  Click on through to the other page.  You'll be glad you did.

Once Upon a Time

by: Hudson Observer

Fri Sep 21, 2007 at 09:07:24 AM EDT

Not that I'm talking about any real-life situation here, mind you.  This is all just "pretend".  A fairy-tale, if you will.  It might have happened "once upon a time".

Jump with me.

Bend Over Hudson, We're Gonna Get Paid!

by: Hudson Observer

Tue Aug 07, 2007 at 02:11:51 PM EDT

Forget it.  Doctoring and lawyering are for small potato schmucks.  The real money - complete with easy jobs - are in the public sector.  The Jersey Journal published a list of the highest paid embezzling crooks (ahem) public (wink, wink) "servants" (nudge, nudge).

Make the flip

Menendez To Hudson Hacks: Drop Dead

by: Somewhere In The Swamps

Sat Jul 14, 2007 at 05:15:00 PM EDT

What about recent county politics? Has he distanced himself enough to sit back and enjoy being a spectator of the civil war?

"I don't find it enjoyable at all," he said sounding as if he has a sciatic condition.

"The well has been poisoned," he said. The inference is that there has been so much public animosity expressed in the party conflict that it was virtually impossible to repair the damage.

It appears that the most important lesson Menendez learned in Hudson County was that no one likes it when the pols air their dirty laundry.  Now that he is disengaged, it sounds like he doesn't like it, either.

One interesting point the Insider brings up is that Menendez has never liked the gamesmanship of Hudson County Democratic politics.  I call it "interesting" because, though that is what I've always heard from those close with Menendez, it's something I do not ever recall being reported by the media, who revel in painting him as a "party boss."

Even when Menendez was mayor of Union City, he had an extreme distaste for the down-in-the-dirt part of politics and his partner in the county Napoleanic take over of the HCDO in the late 1980s, Bruce Walter, was more the point man in the "what had to be done" part of the campaigns. Menendez enjoyed the day to day legislative aspects of his elected offices - not that, when crossed, he couldn't freeze opposition with that cold stare of his.

I have always hoped that once unburdened from carrying the HCDO albatross around his neck, Menendez would be able to live up to his full potential in Washington.  His recent leadership on immigration reform and Iraq policy are proof of what a deHudsonified Menendez can accomplish.  Good on him.

Not an Adult in the Whole Group

by: Hudson Observer

Tue Jul 10, 2007 at 09:12:54 AM EDT

The Vega camp claims Sires wanted to retain control over some aspects of municipal government. Sires people claim this was not the case and that Vega not only began removing Sires appointees from the city the moment Sires left, but actually put anti-Sires people into key city positions.

In other words, Albio needs to grow beyond West New York fast.  Vega, who appears intent on cutting his own throat, should be his last worry.  He's shown that, if given the opportunity, he'll make the absolutely worst political decision possible.  Get the hell out of his way!

Hudson County "Fliergate"

by: Steven Goldstein, Garden State Equality chair

Wed Jun 06, 2007 at 05:37:54 PM EDT

Since hearing the story, several bloggers and activists, including me, have kept on asking for the flier.  We haven't let up - every hour we've been asking for the flier, at least every hour.  We've been relentless through today.

And as the hours passed, a couple of us got the sinking feeling today that there was never a flier.  In fact, if there were a flier, common sense says it would have been produced yesterday, primary Election Day, when it could have had the maximum effect.  Today a few of us heard, "We're low tech, we don't have a fax" (You've got to be kidding - and if that were the case, how about "Can you come by to pick it up?") to the smoking gun "We can't seem to locate it, but we're still working on it."

So several of us, including a couple of bloggers at Blue Jersey, were "had."  To BigDaddy Dem (I still love your name, BigDaddy), you were right, and we who blogged without the evidence were wrong. 

Some folks today told me to just drop this, the primary's over, move on.  No.  Credibility means a lot - it means a lot to me, to Juan and to others who gave the story the benefit of the doubt.  That is, benefit of the doubt long enough until enough time had passed that it's now obvious there was never a flier.

Enough time has passed, too, that if a flier does suddenly show up 24 hours or more later, heck, anyone could have created it ex post facto.

When I was told this story yesterday, I asked two folks who told me about the flier whether it was at least read to them.  They said yes, and indeed they told me what was read to them.  There's no accusation of prevarication here, merely that we were had.

Allow me to make two things clear, if I may:

My organization endorsed Sandy Cunningham over Lou Manzo.  As an LGBTI civil rights organization, we were correct to do that.  Manzo has flip-flopped miserably on our issues, including being for marriage equality, and against it, within just two weeks - and offering the most ridiculous reasons.  The guy hasn't been that comfortable with our community over the years.

Manzo wouldn't even respond to our calls for an interview.  But because he's an incumbent legislator, we knew enough about his mixed record not to like it.

Sandy Cunningham, in contrast, had an incredible interview with us.  She immediately and unequivocally - and with a passion we hope she'll show others, too - spoke about the need for equality for all, including marriage equality, which she endorsed with genuine excitement.

And yes, Lou Manzo, like too many other politicians in Hudson, has been guilty of more than his share of sleazy campaign tactics over the years, lending credence to this alleged flier.

But that doesn't make it right for us to have been used.  I reject that moral equivalence.

Again, we're sorry and pissed, including at ourselves.  No, I don't know who in the chain of telling the story, before the story got to several of us, was unwittingly "had."  Blue Jersey should look into that.

For now, I appreciate this opportunity to clear things up and to say to those of you who expressed skepticism about the flier:

You were right.

Hudson County Results

by: Thurman Hart

Tue Jun 05, 2007 at 08:47:22 PM EDT

32nd District Assembly (98% counted)
Quigley (44%) and Prieto (43%)The Journal calls the 32nd for HCDO.

33rd District Senate (96% counted)
Stack wins (76%)Vega Concedes

33rd District Assembly (96% counted)
Ramos (37%) and Rodriguez (36%)

County Exec - Degise wins with 60% (95% counted)




Final update 10:10
State Senate 31st District
Sandra Bolden Cunningham 9,489 55.93%
Louis M. Manzo 7,466 44.00%

94% of votes counted - calling this one for Cunningham
More to come

Scorched in Hudson

by: Hudson Observer

Mon Jun 04, 2007 at 11:21:43 AM EDT

This weekend's Jersey Journal calls the Hudson primaries for Brian Stack and his team in the 33rd and Nick Sacco and his team in the 32nd.  The only race that is undecided is the 31st where Sandra "I Only Debate When I Want" Cunningham is trying to knock off Lou "At Least I Didn't Hire a Child Molestor" Manzo. 

I don't live in the 31st, so I'm only going to the polls to write myself in.  It's the best protest vote I know of and, if I happen to win because no one else in the county shows up to vote, I'll be happy.  I'll be overjoyed if Cunningham gets totally hammered as well.  If she wins, I'll wish her well and hope she does a good job.  From her campaign, I'd say she has a lot more growing to do before she's ready to fill her husband's shoes.

NJ STONEWALL DEMOCRATS ENDORSE PRIMARY CANDIDATES

by: Babs NJSD

Sun Jun 03, 2007 at 01:59:36 AM EDT

NJ STONEWALL DEMOCRATS ENDORSE PRIMARY CANDIDATES

NJ Stonewall Democrats is pleased to make the following endorsements, based upon personal interviews, voting records, and collaboration with Garden State Equality and Hudson Diversity.

All candidates listed support LGBT rights which means:
  The candidates say they will vote for a marriage equality bill and a stronger and transgender inclusive Hate Crimes law. The candidate supports a comprehensive syringe exchange program, and if currently serving in the legislature must have voted "yes" to syringe exchange, transequality and civil unions laws passed in 2006.

District 28, Essex (Part of Newark, all of Belleville, Bloomfield and Irvington):
  Cleopatra Tucker for Assembly

District 29, Essex/Union (Part of Newark, all of Hillside):
  Teresa Ruiz for Senate
* Wilfredo Caraballo for Assembly
  L. Grace Spencer for Assembly

This is a split ticket and we give special emphasis for the reelection of Wilfredo Caraballo who has been a Champion of LGBT rights

District 31, Hudson (Part of Jersey City, all of Bayonne):
  Sandra Cunningham for Senate
* Nicholas Chiaravalloti for Assembly - Column B
  L. Harvey Smith for Assembly

This is also a split ticket as Nicholas Chiaravalloti is given special emphasis

District 32, Hudson (Part Jersey City, all Harrison, Secaucus, Kearny and North Bergen):
  Joan Quigley for Assembly - (Joan has been a consistent champion!)
  Vince Prieto for Assembly

District 33, Hudson (Part Jersey City, all Hoboken, Union City, West New York and Weehawken):
  Brian Stack for Senate
  Ruben Ramos for Assembly
  Carrie Rodriguez for Assembly

The New Jersey Stonewall Democrats (NJSD) is the state organization of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and intersex Democrats and their allies and friends. NJSD is committed to its mission of improving the responsiveness of the Democratic Party and Democratic officeholders to our communities' issues and to educating voters on the vast difference between the two major parties that exists on issues of importance to our communities. We are an affiliate of National Stonewall Democrats.

Experience, Conviction and Fresh Ideas for the 33rd District

by: Ruben Ramos Jr

Wed May 30, 2007 at 07:46:42 PM EDT

My name is Ruben Ramos, Jr., and I'm running for Assembly in the 33rd District.  My grandfather came to the New Jersey from Puerto Rico some 60 years ago in order to provide a better life for his family.  Today, I'm running for the State Legislature to provide a better life for my friends and neighbors.  At 33 years old, I might be a bit younger than a lot of the legislators currently serving under the gold dome.  But what I lack in grey hair, I think I more than make up for in experience, conviction and fresh ideas.

Debate Debacle

by: Hudson Observer

Mon May 28, 2007 at 09:22:48 PM EDT

Pray tell, Ms. Queen, what will you do in Trenton?

We already have enough spoiled-brat politicians who are bent on pursuing their own interest.  As we manage to shrug off the stain that was "Prince Charlie", the last thing we should do is trade that ill-fitting crown to a Queen Sandra.

My First Post

by: Hudson Observer

Fri May 25, 2007 at 12:52:40 PM EDT

I don't know what I hope to accomplish - maybe just vent a little for the little guy here in Hudson.  We're so "reliably Democratic" that we get nothing but a collective slap from our so-called leaders.

Brian Stack?  Come on.  Everyone in Union City knows that you either support him or you start getting parking tickets on your car and the inspectors discover your drive-way is, after thirty-five years, not up to code.

Sal Vega?  Please  He's been on his knees in front of Albio for so long he has callouses. 

Cunningham or Manzo?  One is a widow with no political experience other than personally reforming a child-molestor and the other picks a politico-criminal who has spent time in prison for bank fraud.

Who will lead us?  Drunken Jerry Healy?  The only thing he's good for is blocking billy-clubs with his face.  He makes his ancestors proud.  David Donna?  He fast-tracked the approval of bars for a human trafficking pimp.  Nick Sacco?  He's never met a government job he couldn't two-time.  David Roberts?  As my hero, Xpatriated Texan, has said, "It's like asking Charlie Manson about the sanctity of human life."

The HCDO is the single most corrupt and embarassing collection of political opportunists and self-serving backstabbers in the country.  Someone give this party and enema, please!

Hudson County Hearts Gun Control

by: Juan Melli

Mon May 21, 2007 at 10:59:46 PM EDT

While I expected strong support for gun control measures, the results surprised me a bit. Overall, 81% of respondents said that gun laws should be strengthened while only 9% said they shouldn't. Here's the breakdown based on the party affiliation respondents identified as:

            Yes   No
Democrat    85%   6%
Republican  77%   9%
Other/None  87%  10%

With 201 respondents, the poll has a margin of error of +/-4% at the 90% confidence level. With smaller samples for each political party, the margin of error within subgroups is larger, but the fact that about 80% of residents regardless of party support stronger gun control measures is telling. Those who live in areas most affected by gun violence are blind to the politics of the issue. The poll supervisors, professors Fran Moran and Bruce Chadwick concluded: "In overwhelming numbers, Hudson residents said tougher gun laws are needed. In all statistical categories the feeling was the same."

On A Woman's Role in Hudson County

by: HCDO

Tue Apr 24, 2007 at 09:36:21 PM EDT

Oftentimes, the women who gain access to New Jersey's behind-the-scenes political gatherings aren't wearing much in the way of clothes.

If the HCDO ticket is successful this June 5, four out of the nine Hudson County legislators will be women -- or a little more than 44%. That's nearly twice the 2007 national average for women serving in their state capitals.

The women on Hudson County's new Democratic team are strong, independent and professional. They all have a seat at the table and their voices are heard. It's the way it should be, and it's a shame that it hasn't been that way in the past.

Hudson County Has a Choice - Of Sorts

by: Thurman Hart

Fri Apr 06, 2007 at 05:55:48 PM EDT

Union City Mayor and Assemblyman Brian Stack has made no secret that he wants to be a State Senator.  Apparently, he wants it bad enough to jump ship from the legendary Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO). 

Stack calls his group "Democrats for Hudson County (DFHC) - which at least spares us the faux posturing of hearing people say they are "real Democrats".  The DFHC says it is about "inclusion" and not "of the machine, by the machine, and for the machine".  Of course, Stack himself had no problem with the "machine" of the HCDO until he couldn't get placed on the ballot for State Senator.

Campaign season strikes again, in Hoboken: My new job.

by: FogerRox

Tue Feb 20, 2007 at 11:11:00 PM EST