This stuff makes me queasy. It's all a game, and heads they win, tails we lose.

It's suspected that the reason North Bergen got a sweetheart 1/3 price deal on access to our sewer system is to suck up to Sacco, who's got the big stick. This is why we have floods, that the MUA is always being leveraged for political purposes.

What Steve does is up to him, but I wouldn't trust these guys in the HCDO snakepit.

Political Column

Fulop for Congress?

By Al Sullivan -- Hudson Reporter -- 07/25

After hearing initial reports that Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop might run for the House of Representatives next year against incumbent Rep. Albio Sires, some people said, "Oh no, not again."

These critics believed Fulop was being led down the same garden path on which recently defeated state senatorial candidate Sal Vega was led.

"He's a lamb going to slaughter," one political observer said.

Some even believed this was a scheme arranged by Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy to get rid of yet one more potential mayoral challenger for 2009.

Despite Healy's embarrassing performance at the shore, where he was found guilty of an altercation outside a tavern, the mayor of Jersey City has proven to be a very crafty political force, especially when it comes to pitting one potential rival against another.

Yet recently, some political observers are beginning to take Fulop seriously in regards to a possible

Congressional run, and his latest coup in brining Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton to Jersey City has become the buzz of Hudson County political circles.

Whether he will challenge Sires remains a question. This possibility must cause a lot of angst in the Sires camp, partly because a recent check of his political war chest shows that Sires has about $57,000 on hand, about half of what Fulop could easily draw out of his own wallet for a campaign challenge.

The Fulop-for-Congress rumor, of course, may simply be the Hudson County Democratic Organization's way of encouraging Sires ("luring" may be a better word) to come back into the family. Recently, Sires was allied with Brian Stack against the HCDO-backed Vega for the state Senate seat.

The Sacco connection

Sires will be running in the 2008 Democratic Primary on a ticket that includes candidates for the Hudson County Board of Freeholders. State Assemblyman (and likely the next state Senator) and Union City Mayor Stack appears to be making a move to wrest control of the freeholders out of the hands of state Sen. and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, continuing the war among Hudson County Democrats that was unresolved by the Stack victory in the 2007 primary.

Sacco and Stack are currently the two big honchos on the political scene, each holding gripes against the other. While Healy is the tentative head of the HCDO, much of the financial support runs out of Sacco's wallet.

At stake is the lucrative patronage mill that the Hudson County Schools of Technology has become over the years, and much of Sacco's influence comes from his ability to milk the schools for jobs.

In the 2007 primary, Sires and Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner broke away from the HCDO to support Stack, believing apparently that Stack represents the future of the Democratic Party in Hudson County.

The wheeling and dealing by the HCDO - by Healy - and the ability of Sandra Cunningham to get out the African-American vote in Jersey City, denied Stack the countywide victory he needed to take over the HCDO.

The freeholder war of 2008, however, could give Stack the decisive victory, provided, of course, Sires remains loyal to him.

If Fulop or someone like Fulop should run against Sires, the 2008 primary might be a political nail-biter. Perth Amboy Mayor Joe Vas, who ran unsuccessfully against Sires in the 2006 Democratic Primary, will likely throw his support and thus the Middlesex County portion of the district to the Sires' opponent.

State Sen. Ray Lesniak (the leader of the Democratic Party in Union County) would likely also support anybody but Sires for that section of the district. Cunningham's alliance with Newark Mayor Cory Booker could swing the small slice of Essex County to a Sires' opponent.

While Northern Hudson County - especially Union City, West New York and Weehawken - would come out in force for Sires, a portion of North Bergen and Bayonne, as well as all of Hoboken and Jersey City, could decide the election.

The Fulop rumors may be a message from the HCDO to Sires saying, "Come back to our side or else."

Smith apparently moves to Stack

Healy's political maneuvering apparently worked to some extent in that L. Harvey Smith, who ran on the ticket with Cunningham, has moved closer to the Stack camp. This is not surprising. Smith and Cunningham are not the best of friends. But reports suggest that the political marriage between Smith and Cunningham lasted up until but not including the primary night festivities. Smith didn't even join Cunningham on stage for the cheering, but left the hall almost immediately after the results declaring him the official Democratic candidate for state Assembly in the 31st District.

Smith desputed some of these issues, saying he the celebration early to see other supporters and he and Cunningham are not at odds.

Smith was seen in Bayonne Mayor Joseph Doria's office last week, suggesting that he is negotiating support for a mayoral bid against Healy in May 2009. Smith, despite several people who claim to have seen him in Doria's office, said he has not met with Doria since April.

But Healy may have more to worry about than Smith. Reports suggest that former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler is considering a run for mayor as well.

Political tidbits

One rumor of the upcoming freeholder wars has former Jersey City Parking Authority Director Jimmy King being asked to replace Eliot Rivera in Jersey City. But another rumor suggests that Bayonne Freeholder Doreen DiDomenico will bow out in favor of former Bayonne Councilwoman Mary Jane Desmond. Sources say DiDomenico won't go without a fight. Desmond, who ran for and lost the position of county clerk, is suddenly out of a job. She had served as assistant county clerk.

In Hoboken, the fallout from the Democratic civil war is still being felt.

State Sen. Bernard Kenny, who has a law office in Hoboken, is expected to lose his contracts with the city, as the council - even with some of his former allies - turns its back on him now that he is no longer a political force to be reckoned with.

Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons, who ironically sided with the winning-Stack ticket, is likely to lose his public relations contract with the Hoboken Board of Education.

Lipski is not on the road with the band

One rumor that can be dispelled, however, suggested that Jersey City Councilman Steve Lipski had gone on the road with The Grateful Dead for the summer.

A known fan of the classic 1960s band, Lipski said he was last at a "Dead" show for the inauguration of Nancy Pelosi - the speaker of the House of Representatives - last January. But he did go to a Gratefulfest in Cleveland recently, and follows a popular Dead-cover band, Dark Star, when they appear locally.

In fact, he is trying to get Dark Star to perform at the Loew's Theater in Jersey City, if the details can be worked out.

Lipski, who remained loyal to the HCDO during the Democratic civil war, said Ward C in Jersey City was among the key battlegrounds.

"We held our own," he said, describing the opposition to Assemblyman Louis Manzo and Sheriff Joe Cassidy as significant.

Manzo headed the Stack ticket in the 31st District, and Cassidy ran for re-election as sheriff on the Stack ticket. Both lost.