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Let no one doubt this was a change election.

Team Fulop 8 for 10
Team Healy 0 for 10
Independents 2 for 3 (in runoff)

Fulop himself up more than 3,000 votes over Healy's highest total ever (which came in a November general election)

City Council demographics:
Not born in JC: 5
White/Euro: 3, Black: 2, Asian: 2, Latino: 1, West Indian: 1, Irish: 0
Total years of Council experience: 2

What's it mean? At a minimum, you can say that JC voters convincingly stated they are not interested in continually refighting the political battles of years past. Anyone trying to keep these going will probably find themselves on the political sidelines as well as the ash heap of history.

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Whatever you do, DON'T DO WHAT THE OTHER SIDE IS DOING. THEY'RE LOSING!

1. Leave the sign up the way it is so your neighbors can see who stands for what.

2. Volunteer: http://stevenfulop.com/volunteer

3. And make sure you and every person you know VOTES the Fulop ticket.

Signs will not win the election or win back the city. VOTERS WILL.

A priest from St. Patrick's cathedral is out enjoying the fine spring weather in Central Park, when he sees a robed, bearded man carrying a cross slowly walk out of the park and down 5th Avenue. The priest instantly recognizes him as Jesus Christ, come back to earth. People are flocking to the man, but he keeps slowly, purposefully striding down 5th Avenue.

The priest hurries ahead of him and rushes into the cathedral, goes straight to the Cardinal's office, bursts into a meeting and announces "It's HIM! Christ has returned, and he's coming here!" The Cardinal and his advisors are in a tizzy, and not knowing what to do the Cardinal picks up the hotline to the Vatican.

The pope answers and the Cardinal breathlessly explains that Christ has returned, "and he's coming HERE! What shall we do?!?"

There's a moment of silence on the line, and the Pope replies: "Look busy."

Community advocates, non-profit housing developers, the city's own experts have been pushing for YEARS for the city to DO SOMETHING about abandoned properties. The latest legal mechanism for enforcement has been in place for 18 months. We're sure it's just a coincidence that we see a flurry of activity in this fine spring season.

Let us celebrate the fine work by Mayor Healy and his administration to bring about this long-anticipated action.

Check out this new story from PolitickerNJ. Healy on campaigns: 'they're all ugly'
By Max Pizarro | April 23rd, 2013 - 4:05pm

JERSEY CITY ? The door in the back of his headquarters swung open and Mayor Jerry Healy galloped for the front door.

?It?s ugly but they?re all ugly,? Healy told PolitickerNJ.com in reference to the campaign. ?I run and they throw s-t at me. I?ve been inoculated, immunized, whatever you want to call it.?

He was in a bright mood. He grabbed a chair and sat.

?We outraised them... in the last quarter,? the mayor said of his rival?s fundraising.

Still, Fulop overall has double the cash on hand.

?We?ve got a fundraiser (hosted by Tonio Burgos) Thursday night and another one after that,? Healy said, buoyant by the race by appearances.

?He raised $40,000 since breakfast this morning, and that?s hard money ,? said Healy operative Craig Guy, looking up from his BlackBerry.

Former Gov. Dick Codey today endorsed Healy and plans to do a robocall on behalf of the mayor. Assemblyman Tom Giblin (D-34) and the Operating engineers Local 68 likewise backed the mayor.

On his way out to Oakland Avenue, Healy slammed his lead opponent, downtown Councilman Steve Fulop, for trying to stir questions about Healy?s opposition to school vouchers.

Healy claims he wrote a letter in support of the Opportunity Scholarship Act so the children in his city wouldn?t be excluded from the pilot program but called his support for vouchers a mischaracterization.

Read more at http://www.politickernj.com/64895/hea ... re-all-ugly#ixzz2ROG3dcWQ
or sign up for a free trial of State Street Wire at http://www.politickernj.com/freetrial

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You can tell just how on fire "Greenville" is by what?

The number of people who turned down the once-in-a-lifetime chance to run on Healy's ticket?

The number of people willing to put up a Healy sign?

The number of people willing to put their names on a piece of Healy lit so that they can be reminded of it for the next 4+ years?

The number of white union members that will blow into town the next few weeks to scatter Team Healy lit to the winds?

Sounds like the voice of someone who hasn't spent much time in "Greenville."

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I'm not a lawyer but I don't think the ad runs anywhere close.

1. Healy is a public figure and there is a different standard for what's allowable both in use of images and in political critique.

2. Healy does not control the footage - it was paid for by the government and may be freely used.

3. Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. The ad consists mostly of Healy's own words.

4. The voiceovers are all statements of fact.

5. The closing statement "Mayor Healy got away with it" is also thoroughly defensible. The ad does not claim what "it" is. The viewer may think bribery, but the ad does not say so. The viewer may think an illegal campaign contribution - and that's true. The viewer may think that Healy got away with the federal sting money - also true, since Healy neither returned it to the government nor donated it to charity like he promised to.

It would be very interesting to hear Healy argue in court what exactly the defamation is.

It would also be hard for Healy to argue injury, since only two weeks ago Healy was claiming "I should have gotten a gold medal for effective, honest, open government" based on his claim that the tape exonerated him.

One would think Healy would be thanking Fulop for giving the public a chance to see this ethical high point of his career.

That must be his secret plan, since his threat of a lawsuit has guaranteed the video will get wider and continued play.

For your reference... let the viewer decide...

Fulop ad: Mayor Healy got away with it

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Al Capone was never convicted of bootlegging, numbers-running, promoting prostitution, racketeering or murder. Since the government investigated him for all these things and didn't convict him, he must also have been clean.

In Healy's case, the smart money is that they hurt him enough to keep down Hudson Democratic turnout in the November 2009 election, and the case against was weak enough not to prosecute, given Leona Beldini's and Jack Shaw's firewall.

Just speculation of course. I wouldn't want the Mayor to threaten to sue me for alleging there just might be more evidence than actually came out.

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Healy is 100% fear-based and 0% reality-based on this. How are teachers going to lose jobs if there is a shortage of substitutes? You're adding teachers, not subtracting them. Maybe Mr. Grecco isn't qualified in math.

Anybody who has a problem with getting more substitutes should talk to the kids who signed up for a specialized class, and then diverted to month-long study halls when the substitute pool can't give them a teacher qualified in chemistry, art, or whatever. This is important to their education and critical to college prep.

BTW, it was the JCEA "leadership" which endorsed Healy. They didn't interview Fulop, or ask their members to participate in a selection process. That might have revealed problems when you compare the candidates issue by issue, especially with Healy's support for vouchers (which Fulop opposes). Instead, Ron Grecco chose crony politics over issue politics - an especially bad choice if he picked the wrong candidate.

My own informal poll says that teachers who actually live in Jersey City are about evenly divided between the two candidates.

"Shouting match" is headline speak for Healy interrupting Fulop twice:

1. Fulop talking about education and pointing out that Healy chose a "failed superintendent" for his ticket

2. When Fulop was speaking about corruption, pointing out that large numbers of Healy's close associates went to jail for taking bribe money for Healy's campaign

Voices were raised, but neither Fulop nor Healy was shouting, at least not the way my family defines shouting.

(The only shouting this observer heard came from Jeff Dublin in the back trying to interrupt Fulop's closing statement, and from Jerry Walker's supporters curiously interrupting their own candidate's talking points.)

The debate was structured so that the moderator asked questions of one candidate at a time. If there were two candidates speaking at the same time, one was interrupting contrary to the rules.

Let the good times roll...

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I think the issue is a matter of vision. Healy's vision is near-sighted: to write the minimum check necessary to avoid blame for closing the Loews, but not engage with the bigger issue of how the Loews fits into a neighborhood and regional development strategy.

For those keeping track of appearances:

Fulop slate: 5/5
Healy slate: 1/5
Walker slate: 0/4

It is always a matter of some curiosity how candidates make the calculation that they can ignore opportunities to reach voters.

On the Healy side, it seems pretty straightforward that they would like as little comparison to other candidates as possible. They seem to be counting on low participation from voters, plus the proven but wheezing Healy/HCDeadO machine to deliver just enough votes to squeak into an even lower turnout runoff election. It's a strategy that worked four years ago, with Healy avoiding all but one candidate forum, and spending $3mil to just get over the first ballot bar.

Team Walker seems to have just missed the boat, something these last-minute, low-profile candidates can ill-afford to do.

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For those keeping score...

Fulop: move the Parking Authority back into the Police Department, reducing redundant personnel (mostly upper management) and allowing direct supervision of operations.

Healy: No comment. (Although at least the Director won't require any raises for the next 4 years

Walker: I'll appoint a commission to study that.

Malik: We have a Parking Authority?

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Most of the variation hovers in the range between poor and abysmal. Many residents have actually given up on expecting the city to take an active role in resolving quality of life or long-term safety issues.

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It's really hard to understand why Jersey City government has not taken a more active role. Movie palaces have anchored redevelopment in many other cities.

The current [Healy] administration's record at Journal Square ranges from false promises, to neglect, to policies which have discouraged development. Any fair assessment would say they are an impediment to progress in the area.

Fulop could not do worse, but you would think he might do better in Ward C with a plan to move the area forward - including the Loews.

The political complication is that Rich Boggiano has staked out an anti-development approach (despite having a developer run his campaign and donate office space). The neighborhood has seen so many failed plans (most recently Healy's) and the disaster which is PATH Plaza, that residents are understandably skeptical of any development plans.

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Augie nailed the one stone cold certainty in this election. Voter apathy is Jerry Healy's best friend.

Political Insider: JC pols battle each other, but voter apathy is the enemy

By Agustin C. Torres/The Jersey Journal
on April 06, 2013 at 6:01 AM, updated April 06, 2013 at 6:06 AM

Looking at a new map of Jersey City, post-Census and broken down into redrawn wards, I try to think about what will happen in the May municipal election.

There are a few certainties and more legitimate mysteries. Rather than write in the name of projected winners on the chart, it is better to follow the example of ancient cartographers and inscribe a warning label: "Here Be Dragons!"

This is because there are dangers for voters. Even more frightening is the city could once again be metaphorically swallowed by the flying serpent of indifference that has made its nest long ago in the county seat. Jersey City is a flat world of apathy where choice is abandoned and organized public employees, with an oath of fealty not to the city-state but its rulers, prefer the status quo.

This campaign season is just a cookie-cutter repeat of strategy for incumbents -- attack and convince everyone that life is not so bad if you manage to get up each morning. Those who want to storm City Hall have to convince voters they live in a fixed matrix of mediocrity and new leadership can make life better. In simpler terms, those who are in want to stay there, and outsiders want to replace them -- and each side demonizes the other. You make the call.

The administration knows this battle is tougher than usual. Although, over the years, this population has become mostly transient, a new breed has sprung up along the waterfront and is slowly spreading to other parts of the city. Something more was needed to beat back the nonbelievers.

Mayor Healy's people convinced someone in the National Democratic Committee to have President Barack Obama endorse the sitting mayor in a nonpartisan election of mostly members of the Democratic Party. The endorsement was based mostly on gun control issues and economic growth, readily available stock urban information in both written and audio form.

The truth is that it was payback for Healy's early support for the then presidential candidate. In 2007, other than the Liberty House in Liberty State Park, a view of some Downtown tall buildings and, in 2008, the inside of St. Peter's University's gym, our nation's president hasn't seen the rest of this city.

The Healy administration didn't need it at the time, but what a memorable historic visit it could have been if Obama reenacted the JFK visit with a carpet of people covering Journal Square. It didn't happen.

Still, even with no new images this year of Obama, it was a thumbs-up endorsement that opened the PAC bank vaults of some labor unions for a candidate desperate for funding. These political life and death times will eventually call for the stiffing of Election Day workers, if necessary. Because of past experiences, these seasonal workers will ask to be paid up front.

Here Be Dragons, May 2013?

Let's discount the voting during the heyday of Jersey City politics, right up to when John V. Kenny took office in 1949 when his winning margin was, I believe, about 20,000 or more thanks to a more than 90 percent voter turnout -- dead or alive.

In 2009, there were a paltry 32,000 votes cast, which unfortunately has been the norm, and this is when victorious Mayor Jerramiah Healy spent more than $3 million to avoid a runoff. He spent some 28 to 30 times more than the other candidates spent, combined. How times have changed.

Only where there was a major transition, a historic change in leadership, was there slightly bigger voter numbers. Within memory, we are talking about the mayoral elections of Republican Bret Schundler and the city's first black mayor, Glenn Cunningham, where totals for each race were in the vicinity of 38,000 votes.

Fulop will need more than 32,000. Healy's base has always been 15,000 to 16,000. Is this a transitional year or on Election Day will people be just happy to wake up in the morning?

Will underdog mayoral candidates Jerry Walker and Abdul Malik make a difference? At this point, if they are more than a blip on the Election Day citywide radar, I'll consider playing the Pick 6 Lotto more often.

Whichever way it goes, I don't believe there will be a runoff for mayor. A re-run will happen only in a ward or two, including the Heights, where Michael Yun could dent both major tickets. We have about five weeks to go to find out what's mapped out for us.

INSIDER NOTES:

-- During the mayoral candidates debate at the Landmark Loew's Jersey Theatre, Mayor Healy made a point of saying he will not spend another dollar on the movie palace. There was a mention that the city pays $100,000 annually to the theater -- well, yes, but not the way you may think. By law, those funds went directly to utility companies to prevent pipes for bursting and to help keep the lights on. Should I say who helped push that measure through the City Council?
The city has never paid a dime for renovations, operations or most everything else. In fact, Urban Enterprise Zone monies were used to pay for required building code repairs. All other costs were by donations or what the volunteers can make by leasing the space or putting on movies and concerts. For years, city government's role in the Loew's has been disgraceful.

Of course the administration could always use another empty lot on Journal Square that could one day become parking.

More at Political Insider: JC pols battle each other, but voter apathy is the enemy

I'm pulling something from the Loew's debate, but hoping it deserves a separate, more expansive thread.

Operation Bid Rig sent three of Healy's running mates, his Deputy Mayor/Campaign Treasurer, and several other members of his administration to jail, and provoked the suicide of his political consultant. Yet according to the Jersey Journal, Healy claims that this vindicated him and is some kind of bizarre proof of his integrity.

?I was clean,? he said. ?No charges were ever filed against me....? Healy urged viewers to watch the entire video of his meeting with Dwek. ?I should have gotten a gold medal for effective, honest, open government for that,? he said.

This stinks so much one hardly knows where to begin.

But let's try to look at the big picture. At the beginning of Healy's last term, we saw proof that corruption and influence peddling was endemic in Hudson county politics. Look across the river to NYC, and yesterday's arrests show a similar process at work in neighboring government.

Given that this IS A REALITY, and there will always be a temptation to cross legal and ethical lines in pursuit of money and power...

What have each of the mayoral candidates already done to combat this? And what WILL THEY DO if elected on May 14?

Mr. Mukerji's getting the nod for the Assembly seat is a reward for him bringing money to the formerly cashless Healy campaign.

As someone who makes his primary income from lobbying, Mr. Mukerji can be expected to abstain from a lot of votes. (Sound of loud laughter echoes through the Statehouse hallways.)

PolitickerNJ's Winners and Losers: Week of Chico and the Man

Khemraj Ramchal

Better known as ?Chico,? the Jersey City Ward B Council candidate (and ally of Mayoral candidate Steve Fulop) had a victory this week when a judge ruled that he can use his nickname on the ballot. Less successful was Mayor Jerry Healy, as Clerk Robert Byrne shot down the incumbent?s attempt to land his own moniker on the ballot: ?The Man.?

Judge rules Jersey City council candidate can keep 'Chico' nickname on ballot

By Ana M. Ferrer/The Jersey Journal
on March 28, 2013 at 1:49 PM, updated March 28, 2013 at 2:01 PM

Hudson County Judge Peter Bariso ruled this morning that Ward B Jersey City council candidate Khemraj Ramchal can have his nickname "Chico" placed on the ballot.
Ramchal is running on a slate headed up by Ward E Councilman Steven Fulop who is running for mayor. The campaign of Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy had sued City Clerk Robert Byrne for allowing Ramchal to has nickname "Chico" on the ballot between his first and last names.

Healy's campaign said Byrne did not have the discretion to allow the Ward B candidate's nickname on the ballot when it filed the complaint.

On behalf of the Healy campaign, attorney William Northgrave argued this morning that Ramchal's name should appear on the ballot as it does on his voter profile, stating that "Chico" does not appear anywhere on his birth certificate, passport, or driver's license.

Bariso asked attorney Vincent Signorile, who represented Byrne, "Hypothetically, if the statute said nicknames aren't allowed, what discretion would the clerk have?" Signorile replied, "There would be no discretion."

Attorney Edward Florio, representing Ramchal, argued that municipal clerks have made decisions in favor of using nicknames on the ballot before and cited, Raul "Rudy" Garcia, a former Union City mayor, and Silverio "Sal" Vega, a former West New York mayor.

Florio argued the law always sides in favor of assisting a voter in finding their candidate on the ballot. Ramchal has said that "everyone" in his neighborhood knows him as "Chico."

Florio added that if a voter cannot find their candidate easily they'll spend more time in the voting booth causing lines to back up and frustrate other voters causing them to leave which becomes voter suppression.

Ultimately, Bariso ruled in favor of keeping Ramchal's nickname on the ballot.

"The judge ruled fairly," Ramchal said after the judge gave his ruling. "It's just nitpicking and it's just going to make me work harder."

Ramchal said that his father, who was there in the courtroom with him, had given him the nickname as a child and that he never knew he would run for office.

"Had I'd known I was going to run for office, I would have changed my name," Ramchal said.

The election is May 14.

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Are you trying to imply that Jerry "I am not a Hypocrite" Healy sued to get Chico's name thrown off the ballot, when one of his candidates submitted her nominating petitions without using her legal name?

Now that's funny!

Detective Mainor is not yet on the ballot. The primary is not until June.

But out of gratitude for his support, you can put in your sign order through Big Bootie Freaks and You_Got_Knocked_the_F_Out_Man.com.

The West side is once again safe for Chicos. The judge tossed out Healy's nonsense lawsuit.

Healy suing City Clerk over candidate's nickname

By Terrence T. McDonald/The Jersey Journal
on March 26, 2013 at 6:35 PM, updated March 26, 2013 at 10:07 PM

re-election campaign of Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy is suing his own City Clerk, saying the clerk shouldn?t have allowed a City Council candidate on an opposing slate to use a nickname on the May 14 city ballot.

Healy?s campaign says Clerk Robert Byrne overstepped his bounds when he permitted Ward B council candidate Khemraj Ramchal to use his nickname ?Chico? on the ballot alongside his given name.

?Although Mr. Byrne is well intentioned, the law simply does not give him that discretion,? reads a March 22 letter from Healy campaign attorney William W. Northgrave to Judge Peter F. Bariso.

Ramchal is on the council slate of longtime Healy rival Councilman Steve Fulop, who is making his first bid for mayor.

The Healy campaign first complained to Byrne last week about the matter. Byrne asked the court on May 20 to make a decision, but Bariso said Byrne would have to be sued in order for the judge to intervene.

This week, the Healy campaign filed suit, and the first hearing is scheduled for Thursday....

More in Healy suing City Clerk over candidate's nickname

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This has always been the case. JC is - or should be - the hub of the county's politics and it is the incompetent, dysfunctional, profoundly broken Healy wing of the HCDeadO which allows Jersey City to be weak in its influence in both the county and state.

In the non-partisan municipal election on Tuesday May 14, candidates run without party affiliation or a party line.

For Mayor and the Ward Council candidates, a majority is required to win. If no candidate receives more than 50% of the votes cast, the top two vote-getters go into a runoff election. (For the at-large candidates, it's simply the top 3 who win.)

Healy's main goal on 5/14 is to keep turnout as low as possible and hope Jerry Walker can attract enough votes to keep Fulop under 50%. Then Healy counts on a still lower turnout in the runoff to put him over the top.

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@81905, the question people ask of Dan is not whether political maneuvering is normal, but whether this is a maneuver that is smart, and demonstrates fidelity to the causes Dan has championed.

One of Dan's problems is that he is known for speaking to his "friends and supporters." Dan would be a better candidate and a better representative if he spent more time speaking to those who are not already on board the Good Ship Dan. These are the same friends and supporters that helped him run his last two campaigns? Improving your position is about reaching out, not reaching in.

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BS alert. First you claim that Dan joined up with Healy so that his voice could be heard. Then, when questioned about the post-Healy Dan's lack of voice, you now want us to believe that through the political magic of the Healy touch Dan does not need to say anything.

It's brilliant analysis like that that led Dan to embrace Healy. If you want to know that quality of decision-making you'll get from a Councilman, you should start by looking at the quality of decision-making from the candidate.

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Just in case you didn't know it, "Mayor Healy definitely cares about Jersey City."

People might be in doubt on that issue. But now that you've heard it from his commercial, I'm sure your mind will be at rest.

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There are a couple of problems with this idea. First, Dan's didn't seem to have any problem speaking before he was aligned with Healy. Is Jerry now Dan's muse?

How's that Healy megaphone working for him? Dan has seemed more silent, cryptic, and isolated since joining Team Healy than before. He's sat out issues the "old Dan" would have spoke on. As nearly as I can tell, his campaign doesn't have much of a coherent message.

Where Dan has always been weak is in being able to take an idea and fill in the gap between idea and implementation. Look at the policy papers he occasionally drops off in this forum. There's a lot of "We should do this," and precious little "Here's how we can do this."

Healy sure doesn't help him with that issue.