This photo really made my morning. Thanks user111

Healy and his team spent many hours and a good chunk of money on removing Chico's name from the ballot, a nickname he's used for years.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... y_2013_election_chic.html

Let's face it, when you can't run on substance, integrity and past performance then attorney's fees start to pile up with this sort of rubbish.

Everyone needs to get out and vote for CHICO on June 11th!

Political Insider: Healy council candidates can run, but also can hide

By Agustin C. Torres/The Jersey Journal
on May 18, 2013 at 12:01 AM

The coup d'etat for the remnants of the administration of Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy comes on June 11 with the runoffs for council candidates. There is no longer a Team Healy -- workers or funding -- now that the mayor lost Tuesday to Downtown Councilman Steven Fulop.

There is no runoff in Ward E, where newcomer Candice Osborne won Fulop's old council seat.

Some administration candidates want to bail out. It is not that easy. Each candidate would have to petition a judge to remove themselves from the ballot. Should one get judicial permission to drop out, a third-place finisher has no chance of moving up into the runner-up's runoff slot.

Now who wants out? Better to ask who can come up with another $20,000 to $25,000 to fund another run?

Don't expect any activity from Ward B council hopeful Gerald Meyer. At-large council hopeful Omar Perez would have to dig into his own pockets to run, an unlikely scenario.

I can't see Councilman at large Peter Brennan continuing without buddies Healy or ex-councilman Bill Gaughan in local government. He must have some campaign funds should he want to take a shot. Brennan isn't answering his phones -- not a good sign.

If they intend to bow out, these folks were told by the administration to just abandon the election, leaving their names on the ballot.

Those Healy acolytes who I expect to go down fighting are at-large candidate Viola Richardson, an incumbent, and Ward A hopeful Charles Epps. Epps, the former superintendent of schools who does Jack Benny proud, will not spend a dime in the runoff campaign and hopes name recognition will carry him to victory. Ward F candidate Jermaine Robinson believes all those votes he received in Ward F will return for a second time.

I knew Richardson would not go quietly.

They should also realize that there is no President Obama endorsement available for them.

Yesterday, Mayor-elect Fulop said he will support all his running mates (even Heights candidate Sean Connors). He added that his campaign will probably blitz Ward A and Epps in support of his man, former police chief Frank Gajewski.

This means independent candidates and top vote-getters Michael Yun of Ward D and Richard Boggiano of Ward C will have to do it again to prove it wasn't a fluke the first time. I expect Yun to get even more campaign donations and Boggiano will walk door to door much faster.

'UNEASY LIES THE HEAD ...'

As mayor of the second largest city in the state and biggest in Hudson County, Fulop will have political responsibilities on top of running the city. After awhile, the politics will distract and at times annoy.

The day after Fulop was elected there were two stories written about him on the Internet. One was that he does not intend to endorse anyone in the gubernatorial race and the second is that Freeholder Bill O'Dea, because of his early support for the councilman, has a shot of replacing U.S. Rep. Albio Sires of West New York in Congress.

Even before taking office, Fulop says he has a transition to worry about and it would be "ludicrous" to get entangled in the race between the very popular Republican Gov. Chris Christie and the Democratic sacrificial lamb Sen. Barbara Buono.

Yet he is a Democrat in the Hudson County seat, a major Democratic Party stronghold. Even though Buono endorsed Healy, I say he does want to get involved in making changes in the Hudson County Democratic Organization, so in the end he'll back the Dem candidate.

BAYONNE CALLING, COLLECT

Do the changes include HCDeadO leadership? Let's just say that Fulop was very unhappy with the head of the HCDeadO, Bayonne Mark Smith, for getting involved in another city's election by wheeling thousands of HCDeadO dollars into Healy's campaign war chest. Everyone who called to congratulate Fulop got a call back, except Smith and Assemblyman Jason O'Donnell of Bayonne.

As for the other story -- O'Dea could probably fill many positions, if offered, but it would be difficult for the freeholder to replace Sires in the 8th Congressional District unless he moved from his present address in U.S. Rep. Donald Payne Jr.'s 10th District.

If we're going to speculate about the freeholder, let's talk about his interest in County Executive Tom DeGise's job, a post Bayonne's Smith may also covet. As for the Fulop administration, I doubt O'Dea would say no if offered the business administrator's post. At least he'd think about it real hard. I wonder if that is why present Business Administrator Jack Kelly showed up late to Fulop's election victory party at Zeppelin Hall Tuesday night -- much to the chagrin of Healy's inner circle.

Now, after the June primary, would all those committee people from Jersey (Fulop) City remove Smith as HCDeadO leaders? There's a consensus that former state Sen. Bernard Kenny of Hoboken would be voted in as the new county Dem head.

Why?

Smith's county political post is a thankless position. Why take over an organization that is headed for a humiliating defeat in November? Better to take over the following year. Then Smith can be blamed for backing Montclair Sen. Nia Gil over U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez's choice of Payne Jr., getting involved in a losing effort in the Jersey City election, and leading a party that gets crushed by Gov. Christie.

What about the Jersey City Democratic Organization reorganization after the June primary? Freeholder Jeff Dublin is gone as chairman. Dublin was heavily invested in the Healy re-election bid. At almost every mayoral debate, Dublin led the booing of Fulop and cheering of Healy. He and Eliu Rivera will eventually be replaced by Fulop on the county Board of Freeholders.

One name I keep hearing as JCDO leader is the mayor-elect's Heights campaign guy Sean "Sully" Sullivan. A woman nominee could also make Fulop look good, but right now that's pure speculation.

POLITICAL INSIDER

-- Thinking back on the Healy campaign: his people put their hearts out in this campaign. Then he opens his mouth and the long campaign and the Obama free-pass is gone. On election night, when it dawned on the mostly city employees that they lost, they are already thinking about how they're going to pay the mortgage and other bills. So what does the lame duck mayor do? He starts singing "Folsom Prison Blues." Sorry, but Healy was never a leader.

Yesterday, Fulop told The Jersey Journal editorial board that he's "not looking to be a butcher, vindictive." He said he needs people to run the city government and doesn't intend to be the only employee sitting in City Hall. The inference is that if people do their jobs well, they'll probably continue working. Some who obviously work at the pleasure of the mayor will be looking elsewhere.

-- I suspect they've already fired some county school teacher to make room for the return of city Housing, Economic Development and Commerce Director Carl Czaplicki, who has been on leave from his educator duties for some time now.

-- One day, the Fulop camp, specifically O'Dea and company, needed good campaign workers who could quickly place political literature on doorknobs of homes. The call went out for Alex and Greg Stamato. "Can you come down to headquarters at 4?" Alex was asked.

"Yeah, right after school," said the 16-year-old boy, a McNair student. His 13-year-old brother Greg would help.

"No Alex, that's 4 in the morning."

Their mom, Barbara, somewhat reluctantly, drove them to their destination.

Some of the best workers in the mayor-elect's campaign were young people, but there were no harder volunteers than the very young Stamato brothers and Robert Zielinski, 14.

It's a tradition in this county where the likes of an O'Dea or Brian Stack, future Union City mayor and state senator, become heavily involved in local politics in their early teens.

"I could see Alex catch the bug," said his mom.

The 16-year-old is more interested in landing a military academy appointment than running for office.

-- My sources tell me thaty not only did the Healy campaign get President Obama's endorsement, payback for Healy's early backing, but they were working with the Democratic National Committee for a date when Michele Obama would visit Jersey City just prior to the city election.

Fulop's camp complained to the DNC about its involvement in a Democrat versus Democrat race and the First Lady visit was never mentioned again. Would she really have popped in for a hello, if asked? Well, we are close to Broadway, etc.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/voices/index ... _counci.html#incart_river