- The Barclays wrapped up yesterday: The large Jersey City Police Department contingent at the tournament was not paid for by the city, but by the tournament itself. Meanwhile, a man who leased a Garfield Avenue property and opened a parking lot with shuttle bus service to and from the tournament says the PGA and local and state authorities have targeted him as a nuisance. The Insider reminds us that the city approved a nice tax abatement for Liberty National?s clubhouse in June (we?ve got specifics here), after the club?s chairman, his son, and their wives donated $50,000 to Mayor Healy and his running mates. And Barclays says the tournament will likely return to Jersey City sometime in the next five years.

http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/ ... -morning-news-roundup-37/

For $50,000, school children were robbed of much needed tax revenue out of selfishness and greed.

Follow the $$, on green and in election
by Political Insider/The Jersey Journal
Saturday August 29, 2009, 12:10 AM


Journal File Photo

Corporate skyboxes dot the Liberty National Golf Club course for The Barclays tournament but the place to be is in the clubhouse. Check out the video tour of the club that includes the 19th hole.
Jersey City is justifiably proud of the mentions it has received when golf fanatics around the world watch on TV The Barclays PGA tournament from the picturesque Liberty National Golf Club.

Most human beings have not seen the interior of what is described as the club's $30 million (must be more) clubhouse. Mayor Jerramiah Healy must have seen it. After all, Liberty National did receive a five-year tax abatement for the 19th hole hangout, designed to look like the Sydney Opera House, in June from the City Council.

Touring Liberty National golf course

It is also interesting to see that the founders of Liberty National are not just interested in good golf but also in "below" par government. Or is that "under" par?

Political InsiderBoston resident Paul Fireman, former Reebok CEO and chairman, and his son Daniel, a Manhattan resident, thought so highly of the Healy administration that they and their wives donated a total of $50,000 to the mayor and his running mates.

Paul and Phyllis Firemen handed over their $25,000 contribution on April 30 of this year. Daniel and his wife Penelope forked over their 25 grand on May 8 -- about a month before the tax
abatement vote.

Five years doesn't seem like much, but if you work it out, the abatement savings will definitely be at least more than $1 million -- more than what was spent on Belgian stones used for the golf cart paths.

How is that Lincoln High School golf team progressing? At least this year, the team got to step on Liberty National grass.

SOME INSIDER NOTES

-- Who is the Hudson County Democratic Organization backing in the November mayoral election in Hoboken? It looks like the county Dem leaders will not take sides and just sit back and watch what transpires. The HCDO doesn't have to play the lottery (hint for insiders) for a winner because they have a Mata Hari in place to keep an eye on the backrooms.

The concern is with the 2011 races, when Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise comes up for re-election. For DeGise, it is time to woo the "S" squad -- Mayors Nick Sacco of North Bergen, Mark Smith of Bayonne and Brian Stack of Union City. Mayors decide who sits as county executive.

The "S" squad should look for future invitations for breakfast and lunch with Tom.

-- At last Sunday's Puerto Rican parade in Jersey City, U.S. Rep. Albio Sires was walking with Gov. Jon Corzine and other Hudson area politicians when he made a reference to an election campaign TV ad. It was the one that has a black background and a shot of Republican gubernatorial candidate Chris Christie with one of former President Bush. The ad goes on to say: "Shared values. Same results."

Sires said: "I think that's a stupid ad. Why would Christie have himself shown with Bush?"
Corzine had to explain it to Sires. It's not Christie's ad.

-- Also at the parade, state Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham walked closely with Corzine, who really worked the crowd, moving from curb to curb and shaking hands to the point his Guayabera shirt was soaked through.

Reaching the end, everyone said good-bye, but Cunningham didn't leave. Christie, who was toward the back of the parade arrived and the state senator greeted him and took some photos with the GOP candidate. Party affiliation cannot divide the two old friends.

-- Stack held a $500-a-ticket fundraising event on Thursday evening at the Bicycle Club in Englewood Cliffs. The big surprise was when West New York Mayor Sal Vega walked into the place. Even Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner didn't show.

-- Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith's family is worried. The mayor is still singing and dancing with joy.

COMMENTS (2)Post a comment
Posted by 4getme2 on 08/29/09 at 10:07PM
HOW MUCH DOES JERSEY CITY RECEIVE FROM THIS EVENT?

HOW MUCH DOES JERSEY CITY EXPEND FOR THIS EVENT?

CAN SOMEONE FROM BARKLEY'S, THE PGA, JERSEY CITY OR FROM THE STATE OF NEW JERSEY ANSWER THIS QUESTION????????


Inappropriate? Alert us. Post a commentPosted by 4getme2 on 08/30/09 at 12:31PM
I'm not a fan of the Jersey Journal, but this is a great story. Congratulations Agustin!!!!!!!

http://www.nj.com/hudson/voices/index ... reen_and_in_ele.html#more

but. if it was in the jersey journal, it must be accurate, and up to the minute, and properly sourced. right?

i read the article in the daily news today but it doesn't seem to be available online. it actually read pretty fair and balanced and as i recall, fulop's comments were even-handed. "lambasted" doesn't come to mind, but i may have been distracted by the fabulous photo of fulop in front of city hall that ran with the story.

Fulop and Yun lambast Jersey City Mayor Healy in today's Daily News

[from "The Jersey Journal," September 01, 2009, 1:19 p.m.]

It's no surprise to see Jersey City Downtown Councilman Steven Fulop rip Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy in the media. The 32-year-old councilman toyed with running for mayor this year, but got cold feet in the face of Healy's $3 million war chest and popularity. (Healy won 53 percent of the vote in May in a five-way race).

But what was a little different today was to see Jersey City Heights businessman Michael Yun wailing away on Healy in tandem with Fulop in the Daily News. "It's hard to say if he can lead," president of the Central Avenue Improvement District, said about Healy in the wake of the FBI-sting arrests in July, which included nine officials and municipal employees of Jersey City.

"The city government should work hard to regain their credibility," Yun added. "They should understand that they should follow the rules and regulations before they tell the people what to do."

Fulop, who's pushed for pay-to-play reform measures in the city, called Jersey City the "belly of the beast" when it comes to corruption.

Among those arrested in the FBI sting were Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini and City Council President Mariano Vega Jr. They are accused of accepting bribes from an FBI stoolie who was seeking favors for a supposed development project on Garfield Avenue.

Healy has suspended the city employees who were arrested. He himself is not charged with any crimes although he met with the FBI informant twice and agreed to accept campaign donations from the informant, according to federal complaints.

Healy has since directed the city's law department to review campaign reform measures and to meet with local civic groups committed to pay-to-play reform. He has also ordered a review of projects in the pipeline in the redevelopment and planning departments.

Yun, who operates Garden State News on Central Avenue, is apparently not a fan of Democrats.

According to the state Elections Law Enforcement Commission, he contributed a total of $5,150 to the gubernatorial campaigns of Christine Todd Whitman and Bret Schundler.

______________

FYI: No byline accompanies the "Journal" article. Meanwhile, 15 minutes of poking around the "Daily News" website yielded no leads on the referenced (if un-named and un-linked) article.