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County Democrats have a new leader

Al Sullivan, Senior Staff Writer
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County Democrats have a new leader

In a stunning reversal of political fortune, a female candidate beat out powerful state Sen. and Union City Mayor Brian Stack on June 12 to become chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Organization – the longtime political organization that helps choose candidates for local and regional office – in a committee vote held at Kearny High School.
The vote was contentious, as Stack and several other mayors in the county have been hoping to eventually unseat, in 2019, longtime County Executive Tom DeGise, whose job involves overseeing county agencies and facilities.
DeGise’s daughter Amy DeGise, a relatively newcomer to the political scene and a Jersey City school board member, beat Stack for the chairmanship by nearly 100 votes – a larger margin than predicted.
DeGise beat Stack by a vote 452 to 360, with members of local Democratic committees in all towns voting, including some who were bused in.
The war for control of the local party has pitted mayors Stack, Ravi Bhalla (of Hoboken), Steven Fulop (of Jersey City) and Felix Roque (of West New York) against allies of U.S. Rep Albio Sires, who hails from West New York, and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco.
“The 32nd District (which includes North Bergen, Guttenberg, and towns in West Hudson) came out big for Amy,” said Phil Swibinski of Vision Media, the political consultant firm that ran DeGise’s campaign.
Committee people from these towns overwhelmingly voted for DeGise by a margin of 251 to 10.
DeGise, who ran a progressive campaign on issues like women’s equality, becomes the first elected female chair of the HCDO in history. (The organization also saw an acting chair take over in the 1990s, Barbara Habermann.)
In February, Stack was seen as the county’s choice to replace outgoing chairman, Vincent Prieto.
But then, Stack and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop threw down the gauntlet at a meeting in the Coach House Diner and told Tom DeGise they would not support his reelection as county executive in 2019.

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“You win some and you lose some.” – Mayor Steven Fulop
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This led to a fight for control of the chair this year since the chair eventually gets to decide whom county Democrats will support in the Democratic primary in 2019 as well as candidates for many county, state and federal seats in the future.
DeGise’s victory as a significant blow to Stack, Fulop, Bhalla, and Roque.
This bodes ill for Roque’s reelection in 2019 since the majority of the West New York committee votes went to DeGise, despite heavy campaigning by Stack. Several of Roque’s allies in the West New York Democratic Committee have broken from him.
Sires, the former mayor of West New York, joined forces with Sal Vega, also a former West New York mayor, to campaign for DeGise.
Sires along with Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner are thought to have accounted for 70 votes in DeGise’s favor.
Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis is reportedly credited with bringing in 99 of Bayonne’s 102 votes to DeGise.
Fulop, who may well see a significant loss of political influence as a result of this vote, seemed philosophical about the outcome.
“You win some and you lose some,” he said. “That’s the way this works.”
He added, “Truth be told, we hit our numbers in every city including Jersey City (which supported Stack he said 230 to 67), but we underestimated the turnout from Bayonne by 40 votes and we never thought it possible they would get 100 percent turnout from all of their towns.”
He called the turnout in towns overseen by state Sen. and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, “strange.”
“But it is what it is, and we were allowed to check credentials,” Fulop said. “Like I said, you win some and you lose some, but both ways, life goes on.”
DeGise said she intends to rewrite the HCDO bylaws to better reflect the diversity of the party in Hudson County.
Reiterating some of the promises she made when campaigning for committee votes, she said she intends to bolster the party and bring more people into the process.
In an interview prior to the vote, she said she would restore power to people on a committee level, where many of the day to day interactions with the public take place.
One very serious concern will be the impact of the 2020 U.S. Census. In the past, urban and predominantly Democratic areas like Hudson County have seen an undercount. This affects funding and other services provided from the federal and state governments. It also affects how legislative districts are configured. As chair of the HCDO, she said she will use her position to make sure as many people are counted as possible.
In a tweet, Amy DeGise thanked those who supported her.
“I’m so excited to get to work moving our party in a progressive, new direction and to work with every other Hudson Democrat to re-elect our Senator Bob Menendez,” she wrote.
One of the underlying issues in this campaign was the need for Hudson County Democrats to support Menendez, whose reelection as U.S. Senator in November may be threatened by a well-funded GOP challenger.

Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com.

HOBOKEN BRIEFS

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HOBOKEN BRIEFS

Amy DeGise will seek HCDO chair

In a move that apparently hopes to capitalize on her hefty voter numbers in last year’s Board of Education election, Amy DeGise – daughter of County Executive Tom DeGise – announced on May 10 that she will seek the chairmanship of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO.)
An elected member of the Jersey City Board of Education, lifelong Jersey City resident and educator, DeGise hopes to gain the support of the majority of the county’s mayors as well as many other Democratic leaders. A full list of endorsements will be announced soon.
DeGise will challenge state Senator and Union City Mayor Brian Stack in a committee vote in June to replace outgoing HCDO Chair Vincent Prieto.
The move is part of a fight for control of the HCDO and is apparently designed to help rescue her father as county executive, who Stack hopes to defeat with a candidate of his own in 2019.
Stack, along with Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, West New York Mayor Felix Roque and Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, have said they would like to see a candidate other than Tom DeGise run for county executive in 2019.
The chair of HCDO would have a lot of influence in deciding which candidate will run on the official Democratic line on the primary ballot.
The campaign supporting Tom DeGise is promoting Amy DeGise as an example of Hudson County’s diversity.
“Hudson County is the most diverse, dynamic and exciting place in New Jersey and it’s time for our Democratic Party to reflect the energy and progressive values that our residents live every day,” said (Amy) DeGise. “I’m running to lead our county party into a unified, strong future that is open to everyone who cares about their community and wants to see progress in our county. I’m incredibly excited to begin this journey and look forward to working as hard as I can for each and every vote and for the future of our Hudson County Democratic Organization.”
But critics – even some supporters of Tom DeGise – are critical of the move, and believe Tom DeGise should run, not Amy.
The elected committee members of the Hudson County Democratic Organization will be voting on June 12.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers calls for more vetting of Union Dry Dock property

According to a press release from the city of Hoboken, the United States Army Corps of Engineers has determined that it will require NY Waterway to undergo a more vigorous and public vetting process prior to allowing work to commence at the former Union Dry Dock site.
NY Waterway purchased the property in uptown Hoboken last November to become its ferry home port for maintenance, refueling, and repairs.
Hoboken wants to acquire the property for public open space.
The Army Corps decision was determined after Mayor Ravi Bhalla sent a letter to them requesting heightened scrutiny of the proposed use, a process that will allow for more public input and force NY Waterway to document the impact of the facility more thoroughly.
The Army Corps issued a notice stating that the NYWW application will be subject to review as an “individual permit application” rather than a national permit application.
An individual permit application requires a heightened level of scrutiny, a more open, transparent and public process, and the opportunity for a public hearing at the discretion of the Army Corps of Engineers at a location in near the project site.
As part of this process, the Army Corps will also study more suitable alternative locations for the proposed use.
“This is great news for Hoboken,” said Bhalla. “We have been advocating for an open and transparent process, so the voices of residents are heard and taken into account. I am grateful that the Army Corps of Engineers will take into consideration public input, including the well documented public detriments of the proposed use. This is a great step towards a regional solution that considers all legitimate interests.”
As part of the review process, residents may submit comments and request a public hearing in Hoboken.
“I am calling upon the [Army Corps] to convene a public hearing to take place in the City of Hoboken at a convenient day and time for residents,” said Bhalla. “There should be no barrier for our residents to voice their opinions. This is the public process we were promised earlier this year. The Army Corp of Engineers is to be commended for undertaking an open and transparent approach to this matter.”
The individual permit application, as opposed to the less-thorough national permit application, also requires a study to determine the impact of the use on air, water, wildlife, recreation, public safety, and other relevant considerations.

City removes sunken boats in Weehawken Cove

Two of the six sunken boats in the cove between Weehawken and Hoboken were removed Monday, May 7.
A spokesperson for the city, Santiago Melli-Huber, said two of the six boats were being removed as “those two are the ones that pose an immediate public safety risk. We have to work with the DMV because the other four don’t pose an immediate safety risk, so it’s a different process for removal.”
According to Melli-Huber children were playing on the two boats in question due to their close proximity to the rocks. He noted there is also concern that they could become loose.
Many of the boats have lain for years in the bottom of Weehawken Cove.
People have anchored their boats for free in the cove, only to have them capsize when a big storm rolls through. Some of the boats have been submerged since Superstorm Sandy in 2012, and removal has proven difficult.
Hoboken Fire Chief Brian Crimmins said removal was “long overdue.”
He said the boats are not only an eyesore but a hazard.
“Its a hazard to navigation,” said Crimmins. “They could crash into a boat or ferry. We have two marinas within half a mile and two ferry terminals within half a mile of the cove.”
Crimmins noted that the cove is not a designated anchorage area.
He said the Army Corp of Engineers does not remove capsized boats unless they pose an imminent hazard such as drifting farther into the river and that the boat removal can be very expensive; a barge with a crane must be hired to have them pulled up from the cove’s floor.
Melli-Huber said the removal of the two boats costs $15,200 but that the owners have been identified, and they will be billed for the cost of removal.

Cake Boss joins NJ Hall of Fame

Hoboken’s “Cake Boss” Buddy Valastro was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame last weekend at a ceremony in Asbury Park.
“Truly blown away that I’m going to be inducted into the NJ Hall of Fame tonight. So honored and so happy my family will be here with me to celebrate the moment!” the Cake Boss star Valastro, who owns Carlos Bakery, said on May 6 on Instagram.
Seventeen other people were inducted during the 10th anniversary of the state’s hall of fame. Inductees included Steven Van Zandt, Meryl Streep, Harlan Coben, The Four Seasons, Gloria Gaynor, Debbie Harry, and more.
“Induction into the New Jersey Hall of Fame is the highest civilian honor that our state can bestow on someone,” said Gov. Phil Murphy in a January announcement of the inductees. “It’s a celebration of New Jersey that inspires the next generation of New Jersey leaders. Our inductees remind us how so many of our citizens have transformed the world and how proud we should be of that fact as New Jerseyans.”

Hoboken to host Propelify Innovation Festival; residents get free tickets

The City of Hoboken will welcome back the Propelify Innovation Festival on the Hoboken waterfront on May 17. Last year, more than 10,000 attendees from around the tri-state area united for a day advancing innovation and technology with tech, talks, exhibitors, startups, investors, music, food, drinks, and more.
This year, speakers include Mayor Ravi Bhalla, Governor Phil Murphy, GE’s former Vice Chair Beth Comstock, as well as founders and execs from Google, Plated, Contently, AeroFarms, NEA, Snopes, X.ai, Samsung, iHeart Media, and many more.
“The City of Hoboken is a great home to innovative companies and individuals,” said Bhalla. “We’re excited to welcome back the Propelify community and bring this opportunity to our residents to learn more about technology and explore career opportunities.”
As a sponsor and host city, Hoboken is offering residents special access. Residents can use code hoboken07030 to get a FREE ticket, while supplies last, by going to http://propelify.com/gaticket-18.
“I’m proud to bring the tech ecosystem of the Northeast to Hoboken,” said resident Aaron Price, founder of Propelify and the NJ Tech Meetup. “Our beautiful and convenient city is a perfect place to unite the tech, startup, and corporate innovation community. We all know how hard it is to convince New Yorkers to cross the river in our direction! I’m thrilled that we welcomed thousands from NJ, NY, and even 43 other states and 10 countries to our hometown for the Innovation Festival last year. It’s an honor to collaborate with the mayor and the city to show off the mile square for Propelify again.”
Propelify will include over 50 speakers on two stages, onsite tech recruiting, investor speed dating, a startup competition with over $3,000 in prizes plus a spot on Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, a casting call for season three of Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch, Startup Humanity Heroes showcasing tech for social good, Voices of Progress by Audible, Drone Demos, Startup/Tech Exhibitors, Red Bull E-Sports Gaming Lounge, Food, music, and more
See the full program at: https://propelify.com/festival18/.

St. Francis Church to celebrate the Month of Mary with prayer ribbons

As the Roman Catholic Church celebrates May as the month to recognize the Blessed Mother, St. Francis Church, at 308 Jefferson St. is placing an outward expression of faith and devotion to the Holy Mother of Jesus with prayer ribbons for Mary.
After the Crowning of Mary which takes place on Sunday May 17, St. Francis will make blue prayer ribbons available to all who would like to write a prayer or intention and hang it on an ornamental wrought iron fence that surrounds the small church. The prayers are being included in the church’s weekly intentions.
“The month of May is a tribute to the Blessed Mother and we thought it would be a fitting, public expression of our faith and prayers for all of those in and outside our community to offer the Prayer Ribbons as we pray to Mary,” said Pastor Christopher Panlilio. “We hope to see the entire fence flowing in blue ribbons by the end of the month and will say prayers for all of those intentions written on the ribbons.”
The church is providing the ribbons and markers daily, along with a small card with the pastor’s favorite prayer, Hail Holy Queen.

Mile square Theatre presents 7th Inning Stretch

Mile Square Theatre will present its annual 10-minute play festival, 7th Inning Stretch: 7 10-minute plays about baseball during the weekend of May 18.
In celebration of Hoboken’s historical claim as the birthplace of baseball, since 2003 MST has commissioned some of America’s most celebrated playwrights to create short works on the theme of baseball.
This year’s lineup of writers has eagerly accepted the assignment and will be hitting it out of the park on May 18, 19, and 20 when this annual event at Mile Square Theatre at 1400 Clinton St.
This year’s writers include Bixby Elliot (If on a Winter’s Night), Bruce Graham (Moon Over the Brewery), Chris O’Connor (The Mascots), Tira Palmquist (The Way North), Guillermo Reyes (Men on the Verge of a His-Panic Breakdown), Nantida Shenoy (Washer/Dryer), and Anna Ziegler (Photograph 51).
“This is our 14 th year of premiering 10-minute baseball plays, and once again, we have an accomplished and diverse roster of playwrights for the Stretch,” said Chris O’Connor, MST’s artistic director and producer of the festival. “The plays are moving, funny, and so entertaining. It makes for a unique evening of theatre. The Stretch never fails to dazzle our audience, and they will not be disappointed. The entire event is a benefit for Mile Square Theatre.”
Shows will take place on Friday and Saturday May 18 and May 19 at 8 p.m. and Sunday May 20 at 3 p.m. Before the 8 p.m. show on May 19 attendees are welcome to arrive early at 6:30 for the Triple Play Party to join the actors and the board for food, drink, and an auction.
Tickets to the performance at $30 and $18 for seniors and students. The Triple Play Party is $75.
Tickets are available at www.milesquaretheatre.org, or by calling (201) 683-7014.
Discount parking is available at The Harlow on Fourteenth Street and Willow Avenue, and at Little Man Parking, 1300 Jefferson St.

Annual suicide prevention walk announced

On May 19, the inaugural Solace Sunrise Walk will include Hoboken with other locations in the U.S. and Canada to support Solace House, a suicide prevention center whose mission is to create a world where suicide, self-harm, and stigma have been replaced by hope, self-care and acceptance.
The Solace Sunrise Walk is a unique experience, which starts in each city at 5 a.m. with participants crossing the finish lines just as dawn breaks.
The event symbolizes the journey of many individuals who experience suicidal thoughts or engage in self-harm, who turn to Solace House for support and free therapeutic counseling. The walk is permission for individuals bereaved by suicide to openly grieve those they have lost as the walk itself is a healing process and a chance for people to come together in the fight against suicide.
Funds raised will help Solace House expand counseling services for those who are in suicidal crisis, and will also help the organization broaden its services through much-needed awareness workshops and training programs. Solace House provides services at no cost to those seeking help.
“I am overwhelmed by the response we have received since bringing Solace House to the U.S. and am thrilled to walk in solidarity with our supporters in our first inaugural Solace Sunrise Walk later this month,” said Senator Joan Freeman, founder and CEO of Solace House. “The Solace Sunrise Walk will bring us strides closer to our goal of preventing suicides in our communities.”
Online registration and further details for Solace Sunrise Walk are available at www.solacesunrisewalk.com.

Royal wedding fundraiser next week

The Elysian Café, on the corner of Tenth and Washington streets, will host a real-time royal wedding viewing party to raise funds for the Jubilee Center’s Summer Programs.
The fundraiser will be held at 7 a.m. on May 19 (Britain is five hours ahead of the U.S.).
Residents will receive a proper English breakfast and champagne toast as they watch Prince Harry and Meghan Markle tie the knot.
Tickets cost $28 per person, with a portion of the proceeds going towards the Jubilee Center’s Summer Programs. For more information, call (201) 798-5898.

Free author reading May 20

On Sunday May 20 at 11 a.m. Little City Books at 100 Bloomfield St. will host a free author reading.
Minneapolis author and illustrator Cori Doerrfeld will read her new book The Rabbit Listened.
It is an adorable and thoughtful new picture book for children from ages one to eight.
For more information contact Little City Books at (201) 626-READ.

Did you miss these stories over the weekend?

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Did you miss these stories over the weekend?

In a stunning reversal of political fortune, powerful state Sen. and Union City Mayor Brian Stack lost his bid to become chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Organization – a longtime political organization that helps choose candidates for local and regional office – in a committee vote held at Kearny High School on Wednesday, June 12.

The vote was contentious, as Stack and several other mayors in the county have been hoping to eventually unseat, in 2019, longtime County Executive Tom DeGise, whose job involves overseeing county agencies and facilities.

DeGise’s daughter Amy DeGise, a relatively newcomer to the political scene and a Jersey City school board member, beat Stack by nearly 100 votes – a larger margin than anyone predicted.

DeGise beat Stack by a vote 452 to 360, with members of local Democratic committees in all towns voting, including some who were bused in. Click here for more.

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Thirty-five residents attended a hearing on Monday to determine how the city of Hoboken should be developed over the next decade or so, including zoning laws changes and capital improvements. Twelve of those people spoke at the meeting, held at the Multi Service Center on Grand Street, offering suggestions ranging from more one-bedroom units to more public bike racks.

The suggestions will help shape the city’s final Master Plan Reexamination report, on which the Planning Board will vote June 25. Click here for more.

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In a local bodega not far from City Hall in Jersey City, a store clerk puts a cup of coffee into a paper bag for the customer to take. The spilled liquid soaks through the bottom of the bag – forcing the clerk to put both bag and coffee into a cheap plastic bag.

Plastic bags of this kind replaced paper bags during the late 1970s and into the 1980s, partly because of scenes like this and partly because environmentalists saw plastic bags as a way to preserve woodlands devastated by harvesting to make paper products. Plastic bags are also more durable than their paper equivalent and for many are easier to transport.

But environmentalists now have different concerns. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency claims that 80 percent of the pollution in the world’s oceans comes from land-based trash and that by the year 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish. Click here for more.

Between the lines

Al Sullivan, Senior Staff Writer
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Between the lines

Roque needs a life preserver

Many political observers see Mayor Felix Roque’s re-election bid in the upcoming West New York election as akin to the maiden voyage of The Titanic – after it has already struck the iceberg.

The question is not whether the mayor’s ship will sink, but whether he is smart enough to bail out before it does

This has very little to do with his record as mayor.

Despite the political rhetoric coming at him in the runup to the May election, Roque has a fairly good record to run on – crime is down, the streets have been paved, taxes have been held steady.

While there are areas that need improvement, such as programs and facilities for after school, and the need to rebuild Miller Stadium where some baseball greats have played in the past, Roque’s potential demise would be purely political.

He has angered the big political bosses, he has refused to genuflect, and now he must pay the price.

Along with two other Hudson mayors, Roque was on the wrong side of last year’s failed political coup against the Hudson County Democratic Organization and County Executive Tom DeGise. Because he can’t generate 10,000 to 12,000 votes the way his ally Union City Mayor Brian Stack can, and he has failed to make statewide alliances the way Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla did, Roque is out in the middle of the political ocean without a life raft.

Some political observers, however, believe that Stack might have made a deal with the HCDO ahead of the critical committee vote last spring in West New York.

In last June’s primary, Roque was in a political fight to get 50 of his committee people elected in West New York ahead of a county committee vote that ultimately selected the executive’s daughter Amy DeGise as chairperson over Stack.

Stack was supposed to send in an army of political workers to help Roque. While Stack’s workers showed up, they did nothing to help the campaign.

This suggested Stack may have made some kind of deal with state Senator and North Bergen Nicholas Sacco, a supporter of Tom and Amy DeGise, to tank the Roque effort.

In early January, a state Senate Transportation Committee overseen by Sacco awarded a $9 million grant to Union City.

Had Stack backed Roque’s committee people as promised, Roque would have been in much better shape going into the May municipal election than he is now.

HCDO planned Roque overthrow for years

Still, most people believe Roque’s doom actually took place at the height of his success when his ticket won in 2015.  But it really wasn’t his ticket.  Rep. Albio Sires and Sacco inserted their own people into the West New York Board of Commissioners, leaving Roque a figurehead.

Roque’s first term that started in 2011 so scared the political establishment, the party bosses needed to take control over West New York government – and did – leaving Roque in power, but without real clout.

Now, some of these commissioners, that include Cosmos Cirillo, Margarita Guzman, Garbriel Rodriguez, Yoleisy Yanez and Victory Barrera, will run on a ticket opposing Roque.

While Roque has made some miraculous political recoveries in the past, this would take open intervention from the Heavenly Father, or perhaps a deal with a demon.

Roque claims he intends to run anyway, and has the money to run a significant campaign. But it is such a losing cause, he may well resemble a boy with a bucket trying to bail out the water from the sinking Titanic – a noble, but pointless effort, when there may still be room in one of the lifeboats for him to escape unscathed.

The last scene of `The Godfather?’

Not well known to the general public, the Jersey City Council was apparently poised to hold a vote of no-confidence against City Council President Rolando Lavarro in early January. This would have forced a vote to select someone else as council president.

Lavarro, however, somehow managed to convince a majority of the council members not to hold the vote.

But this raises questions about a massive power struggle ongoing inside the Fulop Administration.

While Fulop – like Michael Corleone at the end of “The Godfather” – appears to be taking the high road, hosting a number of positive events, his henchmen appear to be removing political enemies such as Schools Superintendent Dr. Marcia Lyles and former Gov. Jim McGreevey.

The removal of Lavarro would have been one more in the series.

Political observers claim all of these moves are largely about patronage. Fulop’s support of the failed plot to remove County Executive Tom DeGise may have created a problem for Fulop – who needs to get key supporters jobs.

The county takeover would have given Fulop access to hundreds of county jobs. Now he appears to have to find these jobs elsewhere. One place he is looking appears to be the Jersey City school district.

But Fulop critics claim the mayor must operate as if he is not the orchestrator of these moves, and so these critics claim, Fulop may be operating through surrogates.

While critics are also concerned about the city’s recent move to become its own master developer over a 95 acre site called Bayfront, Fulop may not be free to handpick developers.

“JC Together is a very effective watchdog,” said one Fulop critic. “The organization is keeping a very close eye on Bayfront and how developers are being picked there.”

Bayfront – along Route 440 on the west side of the city – would become the largest development since Newport on the eastern side of the city.

A master stroke

In the wake of the shooting at Newport Mall earlier this month, city officials are scrambling to portray the mall in a positive light. In a brilliant move, Jersey City and the owners of Newport managed to offset negative press by holding a press conference that announced that New York Road Runner club will take over the Newport 5K run in the spring.

To comment on this story on-line, go to our website, www.hudsonreporter.com. Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com

 

 

 

Lawless bicyclists must be stopped

Reader Submitted
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Lawless bicyclists must be stopped

Dear Editor:

We have a problem in Jersey City. Amy DeGise was wrong in not stopping for the accident she was involved in, but the actions of the cyclist were typical of what everyone in our city is experiencing.

We experience every day of the week, cyclists running red lights, making illegal turns, riding the wrong way on one-way streets, in the wrong lane on two-way streets, and on the sidewalk. The laws are not being enforced. There will be more injuries and deaths on our streets if the current situation continues to exist. Bike lanes seemed like a good idea until the lanes were taken over by electric and gas-powered motorcycles, scooters, dirt bikes, mini-bikes, and other powered vehicles. Many of these vehicles exceed the automobile speed limit.

I was hit last summer by an electric bike riding on the sidewalk and suffered a hip injury. My hip still is feeling the effects of that collision. There was no way to identify the culprit; he continued to drive along the sidewalk in Journal Square in the vicinity of “Pep Boys” auto store.

Most recently my car was struck on Newark Avenue while I was waiting in line behind other cars for a red light. An unlicensed motorcycle hit my car while it was proceeding through the narrow space between the two lanes. He hit my car and just kept going through the red light and then making an illegal right turn at the next intersection. There was no way I could catch him nor identify the motorcycle, no license plate.

I am a motorcycle owner. in order to drive my bike, I had to take an exam and a special road test to be licensed. My bike had to be registered, have insurance and a license plate. Today there is no driver training, no licensing, no license plates, no insurance, and no enforcement of traffic laws.

I read in the newspaper some months ago that some of the towns in North Hudson wanted to address the problems I have enumerated. All of Hudson County needs to adopt new regulations and enforce existing traffic regulations. Some years ago, Jersey City had a problem with mopeds similar to the problems of today. The situation was rectified when the police confiscated those bikes, problem solved.

If Jersey City does not want to affect this situation, then I implore County Executive Thomas DeGise to bring to the County Commissioners, legislation regarding this problem. Until then I implore the County Executive to direct the County Sheriffs’ Officers to issue tickets on the county roads for violations. At least it will be a start. If the laws were enforced, we could immediately solve a growing problem.

Walter McDermott, PhD

Lifelong Jersey City resident

 

Fernandez resignation an ominous sign for JC school board

Reader Submitted
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Fernandez resignation an ominous sign for JC school board

Dear Editor:

Pastor Luis Felipe Fernandez, Jr. resigned from the Jersey City Board of Education (JCBOE) last week with characteristic dignity and surety. We have grown to be close friends, and I will miss his calming presence and indispensable wisdom at board meetings. Fortunately I know he will continue confronting the challenges of our students, families, and community with the same focus he always has.

For the elected JCBOE, there is less confidence. Two smart, dedicated board members have resigned in the last six weeks, Amy DeGise and Pastor Fernandez. There is no question that the chaotic conditions at the JCBOE played a role in both resignations.

As a reminder, board members (or trustees, as we are officially called) are volunteers. Like everyday people, we have full-time occupations or other obligations that demand the majority of our time. We volunteer a portion of our free time to the Board of Education because we would like to make a positive difference for the students, families, and residents of the community. Over the past year, however, the time and energy of well-meaning board members has been abused.

Board members are being asked for more and more of our time with less and less notice. There were more meetings in 2018 than during any previous year recorded at JCBOE. In March of 2019, we are already on track to exceed that number. Most of these extra meetings have been called to serve the political agenda of board leadership. None of them have been in service to the type of vision-planning and policy-making beneficial to our students.

Far more troubling is the constant lurch from self-inflicted crisis to self-inflicted crisis which began in January of last year and continues to this day. The effects of this are now being felt by our students whose parents are reporting shortages of the basic supplies and staffing needed in our schools. Finally we are being pushed by board leadership into ever grayer areas of ethical conduct causing lawsuits which will certainly take money out of future classrooms.

I did not sign up for this. And neither, I assume, did Pastor Fernandez or Ms. DeGise. Pastor Fernandez is a man of deep faith and devotion who maintains the respect of every board member. Pastor Fernandez and I agreed on many votes and disagreed on many others, and that is exactly as it should be. Same goes for Ms. DeGise.

If the JCBOE can not conduct itself well enough to retain the volunteer service of true public servants like them, I fear we will lose more than a few resigning board members. We will lose sight of our mission and the children of our city will suffer for it.

Matt Schapiro

(Matt Schapiro is a trustee of the Jersey City Board of Education. He is writing on his own behalf and not on behalf of the Board, nor have these comments been authorized by the Board. This is a required disclaimer for elected school board members penning editorial comment.)

Rodriguez at the helm in West New York

Mike Montemarano
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Rodriguez at the helm in West New York

In case the canvassers and mobile billboard trucks motoring down the streets didn’t give it away, West New York held a municipal election on May 14.

The “New Beginnings West New York” slate, which included Commissioners Gabriel Rodriguez, Cosmo Cirillo, Margarita Guzman, as well as political newcomers Yoleisy Yanez and Victor Barrera, pulled off a decisive clean sweep, which was made apparent shortly after polls closed. The team secured 50 percent of the votes, out of a pool of 16 candidates.

West New York is indeed poised for a new beginning as Rodriguez was scheduled to be named the next mayor of West New York at a reorganization meeting on May 21.

Here are the final results for each candidate:

Gabriel Rodriguez: 3,602
Cosmo A. Cirillo: 3,616
Margarita A. Guzman: 3,502
Victor M. Barrera: 3,424
Yoleisy Yanez: 3,373
Felix E. Roque: 2,717
Susan Colacurcio: 2,606
Maite Fernandez: 2,510
Ana D. Luna: 2,496
Richard Acosta: 2,502
Adil S. Ahmed: 631
Anthony Valdes: 247
Manuel Andujar Jr.: 206
Claudia Calderon: 204
Armando Galis-Menendez: 167
Ronald Scheurle: 207

Ahmed, Valdes, Andujar, Calderon, and Galis-Menendez, all political newcomers, couldn’t muster more than 2,000 votes among the six of them, demonstrating that all eyes were on a fight between West New York incumbents.

The winning team announced victory alongside Hudson County politicos who were on its side since the beginning of the year. County Executive Tom DeGise, Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) Chairwoman Amy DeGise, and Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner were among the elected officials celebrating with the team.

Two former mayors, Rep. Albio Sires and Sal Vega, also celebrated with Rodriguez’s team. Hundreds took to town hall for a brief after-party, where the newly elected officials symbolically passed a broom around.

Despite losing by a large margin, Roque went out beaming with confidence. During the rainy afternoon on election day, he told The Hudson Reporter that he anticipated winning by a bold margin of 3-1 in a clean sweep. Rodriguez didn’t make such confident predictions that afternoon, but said he was feeling good a few hours before the polls closed.

What lit the fuse?

All five incumbents this year were running mates in the 2015 election.

The tensions that divided the governing body were mostly kept under the radar until mid-2018, when a brief insurrection rocked the Democratic Party in Hudson County. Roque endorsed Union City Mayor Brian Stack to chair the HCDO, while most establishment Democrats in the county voted successfully for Chairwoman Amy DeGise.

While Roque couldn’t shed the cold shoulder from the HCDO as other Stack supporters had, it was one small part of what fueled the efforts to oust him.

In this year’s campaign season, town meetings became electoral sparring grounds early on. Elected officials locked horns until government functions devolved into political blood sport. Many felt that the feud brought town hall into a state of dysfunction.

Conflict truly kicked off in November, when Roque’s opponents used their 3-2 majority to adopt a series of add-on resolutions over a few months which reassigned Roque and Colacurcio to different departments, awarding their positions to their opponents.

Roque alleged in a lawsuit that all three of his opponents carried this out in an act of political retaliation, to reduce Roque’s jurisdiction, as well as that of  Susan Colacurcio.

Rodriguez dubbed the suit “frivolous,” and said it was “a long time coming” after Roque stopped cooperating with him and his allies. Further, Rodriguez and his allies claimed that Roque was relatively absent in his role, and did not make himself available to residents to address their needs.

Roque countered that his track record displayed the ability to keep property taxes relatively stable, reduce the crime rate, and create a stronger police department than what his predecessor, Sal Vega, left the town with eight years ago.

Pandemonium

Hundreds of residents and dozens of municipal employees began packing town hall at the monthly meetings, with a wide array of axes to grind, not only with Roque, but with other sitting officials as well.

Meanwhile, officials on both sides of the power struggle frequently introduced add-on resolutions at the last minute, which often called for major decisions to be voted on.

Roque kicked this off with a resolution to allocate $500,000 to be spent on surveillance system upgrades, which was voted down by his opponents. He also hastily introduced a resolution to establish a municipal ID card program, and another to announce support for an assembly bill that supports driver’s licenses for undocumented immigrants.

Rodriguez also caught everyone off-guard at the last meeting prior to the election, when he introduced a vote that would have dissolved the town’s parking authority, which is currently run by a private contractor rather than through the town. That vote was tabled.

Caught in the crosshairs

Unlike in 2011, Roque was unable to win in a battle with the county’s Democratic establishment.

Sires, a former West New York mayor, vowed to oust Roque very early in the race. The HCDO also gave the “New Beginnings” team an early endorsement, along with many of the local officials who are favored by the HCDO.

Roque was routinely targeted by the Communication Workers of America (CWA), a union which represents hundreds of municipal employees in all of West New York’s departments. CWA representatives made broad, public accusations that Roque engaged in alleged corruption and political retaliation against numerous union members.

Rodriguez corroborated those claims and more, and called Roque’s conduct “dictatorial,” an adjective that rankles Roque, who is one of many West New Yorkers who emigrated to the United States from Cuba at a young age to escape the Fidel Castro regime.

Though “New Beginnings” was endorsed by national CWA representatives from Trenton, municipal employees claimed that the local post voted against endorsing any political candidates in the election.

School spillover

Infighting wasn’t confined to town hall premises.

Widespread accusations were made that teachers were being pressured to take part in the town’s electioneering process, or to vote for particular political candidates. Roque made headlines when, based on these allegations, he wrote a letter to New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal requesting officers from Grewal’s office monitor the polls on Election Day.

State law protects teachers from becoming subject to political intimidation or retaliation based on how or if they participate in elections. At the Board of Education meeting slated for Teacher of the Year awards, trustees passed a resolution to affirm the board’s reinforcement of those laws.

For updates on this and mores stories check hudsonreporter.com or follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Mike Montemarano can be reached at mikem@hudsonreporter.com.

BAYONNE BRIEFS

Daniel Israel, Staff Writer
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BAYONNE BRIEFS

Black in Bayonne co-founder honored by county

In honor of Black History Month, Hudson County celebrated Black community leaders who are making great strides in their community. Camille High, a co-founder of Black in Bayonne, received the Rhudell Snelling, Sr. Community Service Award for her dedication and commitment to the Black and Brown residents of Bayonne.

COVID-19 update

According to the Bayonne Office of Emergency Management, as of Feb. 24 the PCR positivity rate from the Bayonne Community Museum testing site at 229 Broadway for the third week of February was 11.1 percent or 1 out of 9 testing positive.

This is consistent with rates from the second week of February as of the 17th, with 10.5 percent or 2 out of 19 testing positive, and from the first week of February as of the 10th, with 12 percent or 4 out of 32 testing positive. There are three hospitalizations at Bayonne Medical Center.

Special Needs Sports Program to go bowling

The Bayonne Division of Recreation Special Needs Sports Program will go bowling on Saturday, March 19 at 4 p.m. at Hudson Lanes. The program is open to Bayonne residents, ages three to adult. There is no fee to participate in the program and bowling. Register online at register.capturepoint.com/CityofBayonne. For more information, contact Pete Amadeo at 201-858-6129 or email bayonnerec@aol.com.

Former Davis and Chiaravalloti chiefs of staff to run Ashe-Nadrowski’s campaign

Crossing Aisles Consulting owners Andrew Casais and Raine Cuseglio have announced they are the campaign management team of City Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski’s candidacy for mayor of Bayonne in the upcoming May 10 municipal election. The former allies of Mayor James Davis are now working to unseat the incumbent mayor in his bid for a third term.

Casais served as Davis’ inaugural Chief of Staff from 2014 to 2017, and Cuseglio previously served as Special Advisor to Hudson County Democratic Organization Chairwoman Amy DeGise and Chief of Staff to former Assemblyman and Majory Whip Nicholas Chiaravalloti. Adding an ironic punch of the announcement, Casais, a Republican, is Davis’ nephew. Additionally, Cuseglio is the daughter of Vincent Cuseglio, the chair of the Bayonne Republican Committee and a Davis supporter.

Between the Lines

Al Sullivan, Senior Staff Writer
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Between the Lines

That’s not Santa outside on Christmas Eve!

A war of words spilled over from a marathon City Council meeting on Dec. 19, when Council President Rolando Lavarro slammed community activist Bruce Alston, who was raising questions at the podium.

Lavarro went nuclear in his verbal attack on Alston, questioning some land deals that got Alston in legal difficulties over the last few years.

While the questions Lavarro raised had merit, it was like trying to squash a mosquito with an atom bomb.

And for Alston, this became the provocation for a Christmas Eve protest in front of Lavarro’s home.

Lavarro’s patience with gadflies has grown very thin lately, especially when they are critical of him and the administration the way Alston routinely has been.

Perhaps Lavarro has other things on his mind, such as recent moves by Mayor Steven Fulop, who is organizing a campaign for reelection in 2021.

Fulop just held an extremely successful fundraiser. More than 70 people showed up for an event that cost $500 per head. A recent internal poll said Fulop still has high favorability in Jersey City, despite his lack of popularity among the rest of the county’s political elite.

To quote one prominent public official: “There isn’t a mayor in Hudson County that Steve hasn’t offended.”

Yet in Jersey City, Fulop appears to have dodged a lot of bullets. Even though he got stuck with the property revaluation, he managed to shift blame to then Gov. Christopher Christie, whose administration ordered the city to conduct it. By cancelling the revaluation that former Mayor Jerramiah Healy started, Fulop apparently forced Christie’s hand – a bit of political retribution by Christie that actually benefited Fulop in the long run.

Taxes went down for many in those areas of the city where Fulop might have been weak, and many of those who saw an increase were mostly out of town landlords or property owners.

While there are plenty of people in Jersey City who dislike Fulop for a variety of reasons, these do not seem to be the majority of voters.

Lavarro apparently had been hoping for a political backlash against Fulop over the recent efforts to unseat Tom DeGise as county executive.

Fulop enraged DeGise, resulting in an upset victory for DeGise’s daughter Amy DeGise, who became chair of the Hudson County Democratic Organization instead of Fulop’s ally, state Senator and Union City Mayor Brian Stack.

While Stack and fellow conspirator Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla, mended fences with the HDCO, Fulop, along with West New York Mayor Felix Roque appeared to make their situation worse. Fulop would not get off his hands to help U.S. Senator Robert Menendez get reelected. And Roque got into a turf war in West New York with former mayor and current Rep. Albio Sires.

The HCDO has vowed to unseat both Roque and Fulop. While Roque’s days appear to be numbered going into the May election, Fulop appears fully entrenched in Jersey City – and with more than two years before he needs to worry about reelection, he may well be unbeatable.

Fulop won reelection in 2017 with 78 percent of the total vote cast.

Bad news for Bhalla

The vote that named Jen Giattino as City Council president in Hoboken on Dec. 2, however, may spell bad news for Bhalla going into an important election year.

Giattino replaces Rubin Ramos as president, and suggests that there could be an alliance of two anti-Bhalla factions on the council.

While Councilman Michael Russo has been siding with Bhalla, a majority of the council clearly is trying to limit the mayor’s power. This was evident with the vote to restrict the number of aides the mayor can hire without civil service designation. Although Bhalla vetoed the legislation, the move indicates that the mayor may be finding himself stranded on a political island.

The sandwich caper in West New York

Mayor Roque complained last week that holiday sandwiches given out by his fellow commissioners to senior citizens may have been taken from his political camp, which had planned to distribute these through the Board of Education.

This resembles strongly accusations Roque made prior to last year’s primary when he accused his opposition of making off with committee petition signatures that ultimately led to the defeat of candidates he supported, and possibly to the victory of Amy DeGise over Brian Stack for chair of the HCDO.

Roque has yet to learn the fine art of politics. Instead of accusing his enemies of stealing his ideas, he should have taken credit for them anyway.

With his reelection only five months away, Roque may have bigger problems, such as finding a slate of candidates to run with, since all those he ran with four years ago are currently working against him.

Bayonne mysterious telephone poll

Some people in Bayonne have been polled. While it is natural that someone should poll to see who people in the First Ward might want to support in the November special election, this poll also included questions about who they would support for mayor – an election still two years away.

The caller asked which of these the person might consider for mayor:  Mayor Jimmy Davis, Councilman Gary La Pelusa, Mike Embrich, Council President Sharon Nadrowski or former Mayor Mark Smith.

Then the polling company asked which of the following the person is likely to vote for in the First Ward race: Councilman Neil Carroll, Neil Reynolds, Peter Franco, Jason O’Donnell or no one at all.

To comment on this story on-line, go to our website, www.hudsonreporter.com. Al Sullivan may be reached at asullivan@hudsonreporter.com

 

Did you miss these stories over the weekend?

Submitted Content
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Did you miss these stories over the weekend?

Hoboken is several months into an 18-month long reconstruction of its main shopping district, Washington Street. Vehicles lurch and rattle over patched and re-patched pavement, channeled by police into narrow gauntlets lined with cones to avoid the work crews and construction equipment as they tear up pavement, reconfigure intersections, and lay new water pipe. The $17.5 million project, approved by an 8-1 council vote in 2016, will replace old water mains, add safety features like bump outs, timed pedestrian crossing signals, ADA compliant ramps, and repave the patched and pothole covered road. Some residents have raised concerns over the project in letters to the editor to the Hudson Reporter and at City Council meetings, citing traffic woes during construction and questioning the feasibility of bump outs, though other residents praise the upgrade. Click here for more.

In a race that promises to be hotly contested, nine people have filed to run in the November election for four Jersey City Board of Education seats. Three incumbents will defend their seats, while a fourth seat is also up because Board President Joel Torres is seeking a seat as a freeholder instead. Board members Amy DeGise, Lorenzo Richardson and Gerald Lyons are running on a slate together, campaigning jointly for three year terms. In a pre-filing press release, the candidates collectively cited the effort to complete the process of transitioning Jersey City schools back to full, local control. The candidates also pointed to the population growth in the city, the need to oversee the redistricting of city schools, and most importantly, to ensure financial stability in the wake of state of New Jersey cuts to the district’s adjustment aid. Click here for more.

A medical marijuana dispensary is set to begin operations in Secaucus, after the state recently issued a permit for it to begin growing the plants. Harmony Foundation is on track to become New Jersey’s sixth Alternative Treatment Center, and the first in Hudson County. Once a state laboratory tests Harmony’s marijuana strain and the state Medicinal Marijuana Program inspects the dispensary, the facility will receive a second permit to become an ATC. Should all go well, Harmony, located at 600 Meadowlands Parkway, hopes to open in late 2017. They will grow the marijuana inside their location, under intense security measures including cameras, alarms, and mechanical sensors. Click here for more.

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