Political Insider: Ful' of it? Mayor versus tyrant P.A. good for his city?

By Agustin C. Torres/The Jersey Journal
November 17, 2013 at 7:48 PM

This has been a big week for Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop. Fulop wants to go after the ?big bully,? which he also labeled the modern-day version of King George III, an entity that the rest of us call the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. His City Council majority also approved a 30-year tax abatement and $10 million in infrastructure bonding for a proposed $666 million three-tower residential complex in Journal Square.

Naturally, there are possible political ramifications to all this.

If you know what the Port Authority story is all about, then in the Chutes and Ladders tradition, slide down to the fourth paragraph. Otherwise, the background is that the city cannot get the bi-state agency to enter into tax agreements on 30-plus properties the Port Authority owns. The idea is to collect about another $1.3 million. Luckily, the city knows how to spend extra tax monies. Unfortunately, city officials have learned what journalists always knew, it would be easier to have an open heartfelt conversation with the Kremlin than any top official in the Port Authority.

Fulop announced this week that the city plans to sue the multi-billion-dollar agency for $315 million, representing the amount the city would have collected by traditional taxing methods. Also, the city would like to pummel the Port Authority with millions in penalties, interest and damages. Too bad it couldn?t put a lien on the Holland Tunnel ? they can keep the problem-plagued and ignored PATH. Shockingly a phone call seeking comment from the Port Authority was not returned to The Jersey Journal.

The mayor of Jersey City is treading on thin ice here because even though the governors of both states share equal responsibilities in dealing with the bi-state agency, much of the news media has been calling the Port Authority Garden State Gov. Chris Christie?s patronage mill, although New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is not a bystander.

When Christie was seeking re-election it was no secret that campaign followers and those who, after receiving thumbs up from Harrison Mayor Ray McDonough and Union City Mayor and Sen. Brian Stack, both Democrats, were waiting for additional Democratic endorsements from Hudson County pols like Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Fulop. It never came.

In attacking the Port Authority, Fulop is throwing some collateral dirt on Christie. This is the governor Fulop needs to have a good relationship with if Jersey City is going to realize any decent state financial aid over the next four years. In going after the Port Authority, Fulop people believes their guy will earn a take-charge reputation needed when seeking higher office ? plus they believe there?s a good chance Jersey City will collect a retroactive payment of $30 million as part of the settlement in this case.

To do battle with the Port Authority, the City Council hired the law firm of Weiner Lesniak, as in Democratic state Sen. Ray Lesniak, at a cost not to exceed $50,000 ? until the firm asks for more money. The Journal referred to the hire as awarding a ?no-bid contract,? to which Lesniak objected noting that his firm is the only one that can handle this legal gunfight. And I suppose because no one apparently had any phone numbers for law firms on the other side of the Hudson River.

As for the tax abatement for a development project by the KRE Group, also known as Murray Kushner, area residents have criticized it as way too generous. To be fair, this project started under the previous administration and Fulop said there would be a sliding scale rate of tax abatements with the higher rates applying to ignored parts of the city like Journal Square and Greenville. The only problem is that while creating it by executive order, the administration has yet to make it law.

If Fulop wants to successfully sue the Port Authority or draw the agency into a settlement, he?ll have to drag Newark into the legal wrangling. In 1998, Newark sued the Port Authority for more bucks. A 2002 settlement has the Port Authority agreeing to hand over $100 million in tax relief to Newark, plus $12.5 million annually for capital improvement projects and $3 million in additional rent payments.

There has to be equal protection under the law for Jersey City when dealing with a governmental entity. What Newark gets for its airport, Jersey City should get for the Holland Tunnel and PATH. Plus, Newark is making noise about going back to court to improve its settlement.

INSIDER NOTES

? Besides talking to Bayonne Mark Smith (see Peninsula at Bayonne Harbor) about how to properly deal with the Port Authority, the Jersey City mayor may want to consider an old Gov. Jon Corzine idea for raising money so as not to rely on unreliable outside sources. Corzine wanted to monetize the highway toll, so why not do the same with those Jersey City tax abatements and collect some money now by issuing a fiduciary bond backed by those abatements and eventual payouts at the end of those 20-year and 30-year terms. It?s just a thought for discussion.

? Fulop wanted so much to let the entire state know how much he cares about obtaining more taxes from the Port Authority that he wrote an editorial and placed it in the Star-Ledger, continuing his practice of writing to the largest possible audiences who are attracted to national or statewide media. He has written for Huffington Post and Philadelphia Inquirer and provided news for the New York Times, Pittsburgh media and wire services. It?s almost like he?s running for governor. Did I say this before?

? Hudson County Freeholder Jose Munoz placed an ad in The Jersey Journal to inform West New York residents yesterday that the local Board of Education failed to approve a referendum mandating the selection of school trustees from an appointed to elected method. He used terms like ?puppets? of Mayor Dr. Felix Roque, ?tyrannical government,? future of our children,? ?dark shadow,? and ?dirty laundry.? He also asks that residents call a myriad of prosecutors and investigators that ?can help our children.?

Obviously Munoz feels very strong about this and he has the support of Mayor Emeritus Sal Vega. We'll look for the airplane banner ad during Super Bowl tailgaiting: "Sack Roque."

Look for the school board to schedule a special meeting to implement the change in selecting trustees.

? If you happen to be around The Foundation Room of the Showboat Hotel in Atlantic City on Wednesday, check out Assemblyman Vincent Prieto?s cocktail party from 1 to 3 p.m. It?s the future Assembly speaker?s way of thanking those who supported his re-election. I?m tempted to go, but I'm still waiting for Mayor Fulop's people to call me and schedule that coffee session with the mayor that was promised.

You could go down the day before and attend Republican Assemblyman leader John Bramnick?s stand-up comedy routine at The Comedy Stop at the Topicana Casino and Resort, starting at 5 p.m. Bramnick is doing it to support Superstorm Sandy Relief. Prieto should make it a bi-partisan event.

? Hudson County Freeholder Chairman Anthony Romano was a bit upset with me when I said political forces plan to dump him next year. His backers say Romano will be fine as long as he has the support of Zimmer and North Bergen Mayor and state Sen. Nick Sacco.

I didn?t have the heart to mention that Romano is in Sen. Brian Stack?s 33rd District and that they have yet to redistrict the freeholder seats. The last time Romano ran, he didn?t do that well in Hoboken and was carried by the Heights section of Jersey City. Look for Romano?s district to get gerrymandered more along Downtown Jersey City. Oh, and look for Fulop and Zimmer to come closer together in the coming year, perhaps not a good thing for the freeholder. And yet Anthony has been a survivor, so far.

-- I'm hearing from sources that Bill Weaver, vice president of the local AFSCME, has been appointed a supervisor of parks in Bayonne by Mayor Mark Smith. I only ask if the vociferous Weaver has been assigned a city vehicle, and who is driving it?

-- Not happy with the lack of caption information in the photo gallery above? All you have to know is that Tomasz Adamek, former light heavyweight champ, heavy weight contender and fighting out of Jersey City, is seen sparring with Mayor Fulop who promised to go easy on Adamek. Fulop's gloves were never inspected before the exhibition, although the J. Crew tag was seen on the left glove.

-- Where were you when Kennedy was shot? when I hear people talk about it, it seems they were all in school and heard an announcement. Of course, many others reading this weren't born.

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