Speaking of Thanksgiving leftovers....Auggie give us something
new!

Political Insider: A State of the City speech may help tell us more about future of Jersey City and mayor

By Agustin C. Torres/The Jersey Journal
November 30, 2013 at 11:22 PM

It?s appropriate that we deal with political leftovers on a Saturday where people are still shopping, traveling and generally more interested in football than whether the Obamacare website will function properly tomorrow.

Let?s pontificate about the state?s favorite subject of late: Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop. Fulop is in that phase were pundits and observers are trying to determine his place in the state?s political firmament. Celebrity pol Cory Booker has gone to the U.S. senate and Steve is the shiny new toy. From Day One, Fulop has had the office of governor on his mind. He dare not utter the words ? ?That?s for you to say,? he would respond when asked. He could kill speculation, but prefers coyness. Fulop has several years to raise campaign money and tell everyone who he is. His inner circle knows it means nothing if the mayor cannot make meaningful changes for the better.

Previous administrations believed in the Walter Mitty ?pocketta, pocketta? method of governing. When Fulop?s administration took office, it hit the ground running, and this new bunch believes the best way to make changes is having nearly full control of res publica. Well, the administration of former Mayor Jerramiah Heally wanted the same thing, but more for political reasons rather than decent urban planning.

This new administration?s autocracy has been boosted by having majority control of the City Council. A key move was transforming the Mayor?s Action Bureau into the Resident (or People?s) Response Center, centralizing machinery that has devoured the cultural, seniors, veterans, and immigration offices and now has jurisdiction over real estate development.

There are several ways to look at this consolidation. One is that it is a good thing. You are streamlining government by eliminating competing interests and reducing bureaucratic bloat. By doing so, you?re declaring yourself a realist who is willing to make practical decisions that moves the city forward rather than an idealist who freezes the governmental process in a bid to become all inclusive. It sounds like I?m promoting a dictator but those City Council critics and neighborhood associations will keep officials on their toes.

Where this city and the mayor is headed may become a bit clearer once Fulop gives his first State of the City speech about a month into the new year.

INSIDER NOTES

-- Yesterday, the West New York school board scheduled a special election for two school trustees to one-year terms on Jan. 28. This will expand the number of school board members to nine. The town will select three members of the panel in April to three-year terms. There will be three seats up for grabs every year, thanks to the approval earlier this month of a referendum calling for school elections, rather than appointing them. Usually, this is the first step in trying to take Town Hall. Ultimately, we'll have to ask the question, other than Freeholder Jose Munoz, who wants to control local government?

-- I would be remiss by not mentioning that town Commissioner and mayoral hopeful Count Wiley handed out 500 turkeys, mostly to senior citizens. One local political wag said it was not certain whether some of the seniors knew Wiley and that one of the elderly told the commissioner to thank Union City Mayor and Sen. Brian Stack for the bird.

Hey, handing out these frozen dinners is how you get people to pick you out o fthe flock.

-- Bayonne Police Capt and mayoral hopeful James Davis held a meet and greet yesterday evening at the Victoria Tavern. So how did it go? I hear there's also a fund-raiser planned for next week at the Villa Maria. Tell me if the Victoria Tavern gets cited for anything.We are in Hudson County, right.

-- Happy leftovers. See you at the Pearl Harbor anniversary.

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