Here is the Jersey Journal's Politicial Insider Column

Some candidates taking things very personal

Saturday, May 19, 2007

Pull up the drawbridges, place garlic on your doors, grab your torches and pitchforks, and hide the women and children. Assemblymen Brian P. Stack of Union City and Lou Manzo of Jersey City are terrorizing Hudson County with their corruption, strong-arm tactics, and big boss behavior.

At least this is the campaign approach being taken by the ruling Hudson County Democratic Organization against Stack and Manzo, Senate candidates in the 33rd and 31st districts, respectively.

It is a classic mud-slinging campaign that not only hopes to have some of the mud stick, but, according to several professional political consultants, is usually designed to turn the average voter off. Fewer voters is usually an advantage for the incumbent.

Earlier this week, U.S. Rep. Albio Sires of West New York headed a contingent of Democrats for Hudson County that held a press conference on the steps of Weehawken Township Hall. The congressman admonished "my former Councilman Sal Vega" for engaging in the nasty attacks. Vega is in contention with Stack for the Senate seat nomination on behalf of the HCDO.

The next day in the Journal, HCDO campaign ad guru Paul Swibinski pointed out that Sires was mayor during a time when the West New York Police Department was awash in a corruption scandal. It was noted that Paul forgot that Vega was the town's Public Safety director when the federal indictments were handed up.

At the press conference, Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner lauded Stack's devotion to his constituents and said the entire issue is about politics.

Turner announced that Stack and the other DFHC candidates will no longer personally respond to "negative charges" and instead concentrate on issues - which is really not as much fun.

It didn't stop Stack from attacking Vega without ever naming him.

"He's not even a real candidate," said the assemblyman, who is also mayor of Union City. "He's just the face of the HCDO - the real candidate."

Stack was fuming over a recent piece of HCDO literature calling him the most corrupt mayor in Hudson County.

It brings up a question. If one is the most corrupt - who are the least corrupt?

Naturally, on Thursday, Vega held a press conference with more proof of Stack's bossism, producing several former Union City employees who claimed to have been fired after refusing to support Stack's campaign.

Then the Cuban thing happened.

Cuba Day Parade President Emilio Del Valle, a Union City employee, and others showed up at the press conference demanding to know why Vega had refused to grant a permit for the annual Cuba Day Parade. Vega refused to answer and escaped into his RV while Spanish-language cursing and shoving erupted among supporters. In other words, a typical North Hudson political argument.

Apparently, Vega, a Cuban-American, took a big chance. Rather than watch Stack parade through his town on Bergenline Avenue as the virtual grand marshal, Vega declined a permit for the June 3 parade. Vega has a different reason.

He criticized the parade for crass commercialism and for not mentioning "the desperate needs of the Cuban people." His moral concern came after having marched in the parade every year while in elected office.

For several decades, the parade, in one form or another, has had a line of march on Bergenline Avenue from North Bergen to Union City.

West New York Commissioner Gerald Lange Jr. did not show at the town's Tuesday reorganization meeting. It may have had something to do with a discussion held by Lange and some other commissioners about a possible power grab on the commission. Unfortunately, one of the conspirators squealed to Vega, who then confronted Lange - thus the shouting match heard by quite a few town workers.

In the last column, it was mentioned that the Sicilian Citizens Club of Bayonne would endorse Manzo for Senate and local son Nick Chiaravalotti for Assembly in the 31st, but not incumbent Joe Cassidy for Hudson County sheriff. Well, we're a bit chagrined to learn that Sheriff Joe was endorsed by the club on Monday. Don't shoot, sheriff.

POLITICAL INSIDER Agustin Torres can be reached at atorres@jjournal.com