Four people are currently in favor of allowing the warehouse to be built - Michael Sottolano, Mary Spinello, Viola Richardson, and Willie Flood, and four are against - Mariano Vega, Bill Gaughan, Peter Brennan, and Steven Fulop. Steve Lipski would have been the undecided vote.

DanL wrote:
Why would the mayor who appears to not care about and not put forth much effort about anything, now out of the blue work so hard for this?

from the Jersey Journal's Political Insider, July 22, 2006:
Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy favors the California-based AMB Corporation?s ?high-cube? warehouse proposed for the 41-acre site off Routes 1 & 9 (and the Hackensack River). Healy says that the $100 million project will provide $1.1 million a year in taxes, 165 construction jobs, and 300-plus permanent jobs
It does not hurt AMB that its attorney for this project is former Ward A Councilman Robert Cavanaugh, an unsuccessful mayoral candidate in 2001 and a political ally of Healy in 1997.

from the Jersey Journal's Political Insider:
It is hard to convince anyone that the county is ambivalent about the issue because those members of the City Council who are against the ?cube? are either employed or politically aligned with the county. They are William Gaughan, Peter Brennan, Steve Fulop, and Mary Spinello, whose ward would contain the facility, and Council President Mariano Vega.
Those backing Healy and the warehouse are council members Willie Flood, Viola Richardson and Michael Sottolano.

On Tuesday, the City Council agreed to bring the issue to a vote and Healy took advantage of the time before the vote. This columnist did not think the administration was capable of figuring out how to win the necessary votes, but Healy was able to pull out a surprise.

The most obvious targets to turn were Lipski and Fulop. The low common denominator here is developer Steve Hyman.

Lipski had a moment reminiscent of one of the ?Godfather? movies. Remember where the former mob guy took the stand against Michael Corleone only to see his brother sitting in the audience next to a couple of goons? Suddenly the witness could not speak.

The Journal Square councilman met with Healy, only to find his benefactor, Hyman, sitting there.

Hyman has an interest in a Grand Street property, and city sources say he would be willing to swap his ownership of the Sixth Street Embankment coveted by activists as a city park and open spaces. This is where Fulop comes in, because the embankment and activists are all in Fulop?s backyard. Of the embankment for Grand Avenue property swap, Fulop said, ?It was insinuated, but clear.? The councilman said he did have a one-on-one meeting with Healy, after he, Steve Lipski and Steve Hyman met with the mayor for 20 minutes.

When it came time for the vote, the supposed majority - as in county - members of the City Council tabled the issue until Aug. 16. The reason given by Spinello is that AMB had decided to ?sweeten? the deal on behalf of the city and Marion residents and time was needed to better inform the residents. This could be very true, but the real fear was that the county did not believe it had the votes.

"It gives them something to shoot for," said Rosie Coyote, 55, a process server from Phoenix. "It gives them motive. I think it's a good idea."

...seizing more than 9,000 bags of heroin - worth more than $100,000 on the street - in a raid Tuesday night.

A spokesman for Healy, Stan H. Eason, said the mayor would not comment.

JPhurst wrote:
One slot is to fill the vacancy of Menendez, but I believe that will only take effect in November.

One is for the regular two year term.

There is no distinction between the two on the ballot. However, Sires is running uncontested for the two month term. Whichever row has both Vas and Sires is the election for the full two year term.

Vas claims that he was somehow tricked by Corzine into thinking that there wasn't a special election. Frankly, if you are running for that seat, you make sure you have all your ducks and a row and get on the ballot in all spots.

It was an inexplicable blunder in what has otherwise been a pretty aggressive campaign by Vas.

Dear Dr. Hyndman,
I?m writing to you as a Rutgers University alumnus and longtime Jersey City resident about the revelations of a lavish 2004 business trip taken by Jersey City school superintendent and Assemblyman Dr. Charles Epps Jr. at taxpayer expense, as revealed in recent articles by the Star Ledger and Jersey Journal. I?m concerned that Dr. Epps has not shown the level of contrition needed to assure us that he understands the gravity of the situation. Jersey City?s schools desperately need an able and committed leader, and Dr. Epps?s behavior in this instance shows a disturbing lack of judgment and a wanton disregard for the wellbeing of the children in his school district. Should these allegations prove correct, I urge you to immediately terminate him from his position as school superintendent. Anything less sends the wrong message to those in public service and the citizenry.

Saturday, February 25, 2006
Two new light rail stations open
It was a reunion of sorts for the more than a dozen Hudson County officials who joined Gov. Jon S. Corzine at the brand-new Union City Light Rail station this morning to ceremonially open two additions to the $2.2 billion project.

"Nineteen years ago, a group of mayors met in Jersey City and we made initial plans for the light rail," North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, who is also a state senator, told the crowd. "Out of the 15 people in the room, there are only three left and I remember walking out, saying, 'We are never going to see this happen.'"

But NJ Transit's Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system did indeed become a reality and continues to grow. The line now stretches from 22nd Street in Bayonne to the new North Bergen station on Tonnelle Avenue between 49th and 51st streets.

This morning's ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Tonnelle Avenue station and the Bergenline Avenue, Union City, station -- which sits 160 feet below ground and is accessed by elevator -- also celebrated the start of full-week service to and from the Port Imperial, Weehawken, station, which has been open for weekend-only service since October.

The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail system opened in April 2000 with 12 stations in Jersey City, Bayonne and Hoboken. Today, the 15-mile line stretches through six municipalities and serves an average 24,000 riders a day.

Bonnie Friedman