Does anyone get what the author of the Jersey Journal article in post #1 is trying to convey with "the Bradyless Healy bunch".Obviously a reference to the popular TV series,but I still don't get it.

Hey Elvis, relax, perhaps you need to grab a beer or two with Healy. I don't assume the citizens of Jersey City are stupid, however look at who we vote into office.

Just go away JRL. We get it. YOU just keep embarrassing the citizens of Jersey City by assuming we are stupid.

HEALY and BEER Perfect together!!!!

Is this really who we want running Jersey City. It will never become a great city with Healy, and his flunkies in charge. In addition they will just keep embarrassing the citizens of Jersey City.

Both mayoral candidate Manzo and Downtown councilman Fulop have come out against the use of the Jersey City Incinerator truck at the parade.

I am glad to see Councilman Fulop has made the distinction between a cultural event and a political campaign.

Manzo talks about a "in kind contribution".Is anyone familiar with that terminology?

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And about ten days before the parade a department director was involved in a DWI on the way home from a political fundraiser. This is troubling.

A polictical banner touting the Healy team alongside the image of a big pint of beer.Is'nt it possible this very association has been a factor in some problems experienced over the last few years by the current administration?Even if it could be argued that it was'nt a factor,there is at least a perception of a problem.

WHY would you associate your team next to that image.Whoever was hanging that banner on the Jersey City Incinerator Authority truck may have been thinking ...hmmm.Is this really a good idea?

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I prefer to have the entire article posted - with unmodified headline.

BTW, this isn't the first time and won't be the last that a sitting Mayor or other politician leverages their authority to indirectly divert taxpayer money to benefit their re-election campaign. But just because everyone else is doing it (or worse) doesn't make it right.

Thank you super_furry for listing the entire article because if someone were to read post #4 without referencing the
entire article they would only get one side of the story,which is the most beneficial to Mayor Healy.A reading of the entire story obviously shows what the conflict is about.

Editorial
Mayor's team rides above law
Thursday, March 19, 2009

Jersey City's St. Patrick's Day Parade is a cherished city tradition and the march held Sunday was well attended.

It means many parade-watchers got to see the controversial Jersey City Incinerator Authority (JCIA) flatbed truck hauling members of Mayor Jerramiah Healy's re-election ticket and backers. The truck was nearly covered with "Team Healy" banners that urged parade watchers to vote for the mayor and his candidates.

At least one city councilman issued a public statement about his outrage that city property was used by the Healy campaign organization, but then the statement was revised when he was informed that use of the JCIA truck had been common practice in the past. Healy's campaign even came up with a receipt proving the JCIA had been paid for use of the vehicle.

Councilman Steven Fulop argues that this "policy" should end and no public vehicles should be used by political candidates.

What policy? The explanations are full of half-truths justifying an illegal act.

While a mayor and other elected officials can use municipal vehicles in a parade or other events, they cannot use municipal vehicles to openly promote their election. There must be a clear separation between the office and the campaign.

St. Patrick's Parade officials told city candidates that they could not march with a political banner because those are supposedly banned under parade bylaws. Is this true? At this point, does it matter? How can the parade deny others use of political banners in the future after what was allowed on Sunday?

Also, if the JCIA does provide trucks for anyone who wants a vehicle for parades, where is the price list for the public? Who pays for insurance? Certainly no private insurer will provide a bond for a vehicle that is not used for its intended purpose.

As for the Healy campaign having a receipt, the betting here is that renting such a truck from a private firm would cost two, three or four times as much. This makes the difference an "in kind contribution" by the city to the mayor's campaign.

It appears it was taxpayers who were taken for a ride on Sunday.

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$178.64 seems like a pretty good deal to rent a heavy truck.
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The entire article:

Mayor Healy's opponents say Jersey City property shouldn't be used for campaigning
by Charles Hack/The Jersey Journal
Wednesday March 18, 2009, 9:29 PM
A Jerramiah Healy mayoral campaign banner featuring a pint of Guinness hanging on a Jersey City Incinerator Authority truck at Sunday's St. Patrick's Day parade.

It was big and green and unmistakably owned by Jersey City.

Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy's re-election campaign is getting slammed by opponents for using a Jersey City Incinerator Authority platform truck -- adorned with a "Team Healy" banner -- during Sunday's St. Patrick's Day Parade.

"It would be no different from the mayor taking money from city treasury and donating it into his political campaign," said former state Assemblyman Lou Manzo, one of the candidates gunning for Healy's seat in May. "Because he knows people in high places, he gets away with it."

Manzo insisted that state law prohibits the use of any municipal vehicle for a political campaign, saying that unless it is rented at a commercial rate it is effectively an "in-kind contribution."

But JCIA chief Oren K. Dabney said his agency has been renting out the truck to "encourage cultural events" for years.

The autonomous authority has made trucks and sweepers available for festivals and parades for more than a decade on a first-come, first-serve basis to any organization that requests it, he said.

Once the trucks are rented it's up to the organizers to decide how they want to decorate them, he said.

Sunday's green-cabbed flatbed was rented to "Friends of Phil Kenny" for $178.64, he said. Phil Kenny is running on Healy's ticket in Ward B.

If the practice is legal, it needs to be discontinued -- immediately, said Downtown Councilman Steven Fulop.

"There is a big difference between cultural events and a political campaign," said Fulop, who is running for re-election in Ward E. "It (the truck) is owned by the taxpayers and not by an individual. It does not send the right message."
A campaign mailing from Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy featuring a city police patch.
Fulop also took Healy's campaign to task for using the Jersey City Police Department's insignia and images of cops on campaign literature.

"The Jersey City Police Department logo should not be used for a political campaign," Fulop said. "Government property should not be used for propaganda or for politics."

Bud Demellier, Healy's campaign manager, responded that the use of the badge and photos of police officers shows the mayor's commitment to public safety.

"There is nothing wrongful, inappropriate or illegal about the use of police insignia in campaign literature," he said in a statement.

Torres is really reaching for a scandal here.

You can get the actual story in the same paper:

"The autonomous authority has made trucks and sweepers available for festivals and parades for more than a decade on a first-come, first-serve basis to any organization that requests it, he said......Sunday's green-cabbed flatbed was rented to "Friends of Phil Kenny" for $178.64, he said."

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... ys_opponents_say_jer.html

Pretty obvious that the taxpayers are not footing the bill.

Hey Healy instead of using taxpayer money for your campaign, why not use to put more police on the street as you promised rather than cut them by 5%. Please let's not re-elect Healy he has no regard for the citizens of Jersey City.

Mayor Healy once sued and lost when Bret Schundler started mailing out Schundler propaganda with our tax bills. Now Healy has seemed to go Schundler one better. Not only does Healy use the same mailing of Healy propaganda with our tax bills but he uses city equipment in this case the Incinerator authority trucks for his own personal use. Remember the story about his re-election announcement where he surrounded himself using the fire apparatus and police cars. Dont forget his use of police personnel in his mailers etc.

I have a suggestion for you Mayor Healy. How's about using the newly installed emergency loudspeaker system to summon forth on behalf of the Jersey City Democratic Organization (Morlocks) the Jersey City voters (Eloi) to the polls where they can once again be fileted and barbecued to satisfy the endless tax appetite of their Morlock controllers.

Green plastic Healy beer pails - such a treasure
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
By Agustin Torres

A s the Jersey City municipal election approaches, it is obvious that it's good to be king, or in this case, mayor.

Mayor Jerramiah Healy is flexing his office's muscles to enlist the government Orcs as campaign workers and using taxpayers' resources to gain an edge he already has with a large organization and funding.

As an example of the mindset, let's look at this past Sunday and the local St. Patrick's Day Parade.

It was wonderful weather and about double the attendance of the previous year. It isn't Grafton Street, but the Boulevard was as lively as any Dublin gathering place. Instead of street performers, there were politicians glad-handing everyone and this day Guinness and not Bewely's Tea was the beverage of choice. Everyone seemed to have a good time and politicos marched along the route - well some of Healy's Team didn't have to walk.

Some were carried by a Jersey City Incinerator Authority platform truck that was covered by Team Healy banners and a "Councilwoman Willie Flood, 2009 honorary Irishwoman of the Year" standard hanging from the front bumper. With all that campaign money, it shouldn't have been too expensive for Healy to rent a truck rather than have taxpayers foot the bill.

While others were handing out plastic hats and Irish and American flags, the Bradyless Healy bunch was handing out green plastic pails with the words "Re-elect Jerramiah Healy'09" on them. These containers were not for beach sand, but, in tavern tradition, for beer.

Yet, antics like these are what get mayors elected in Jersey City. The old city electorate seems to feel a kinship with Healy, who is more Eugene O'Neal's Ted Hickman in "The Iceman Cometh" than James Joyce's Gabriel Conroy of "The Dead." For many, it is about embracing a dichotomy of a friendly personality and despair - until the tax bill is delivered.

http://www.nj.com/columns/jjournal/in ... 37357516272100.xml&coll=3