Political Insider: Foot-in-mouth outbreak does Jersey City mayor no good at all

By Agustin C. Torres/The Jersey Journal
on May 11, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Panic: A sudden overpowering fear, with or without cause, that produces hysterical behavior.

This is a definition of the Team Healy camp with the Jersey City election almost upon us. There isn't a soul in this city that is unaware that Mayor Jerramiah Healy pulled one of the biggest political gaffes in Hudson County history. Because this is Hudson County, only after the election will we know if the laws of la politique physics actually work in this dimension.

While being interviewed by Tom Moran of the Star-Ledger, the mayor is asked about the al fresco photo taken of him sitting on his front porch during a 2004 election campaign. Now we have heard every story of how Healy wound up on the Internet in his birthday suit, but his response to Moran opened an entirely new scenario, almost as if a repressed memory came to the surface.

The mayor blamed The Three Amigas. While wearing a towel -- now I would have understood if it was a toga -- Healy confronted three Hispanic girls to stop them from making a racket outside of his house. Not only did the mayor say that one of the Amigas snatched his Cannon -- I'm guessing it wasn't a Ralph Lauren or Jacyln Smith towel -- but they also did "dirty things," leaving this open to interpretation by what Sigmund Freud calls our id.

What was he thinking? Obviously the mayor didn't recall Moran's interview with state Sen. Sandra Cunningham a ways back when he wrote that the senator was clueless.
Healy's stock plummeted. Team Healy campaign leaders received numerous phone calls from panicky major donors. The energy went out of the Team Healy campaign workers all week. Their Internet commenters are working overtime to respond to criticism of the mayor's comments that some say is a slap in the face of all Hispanic girls and the Latino community.

What is interesting about all this is that while Fulop supporters are inclined to swing around their version of the Pittsburgh Steelers fans' "Terrible Towels" and the mayor's supporters may feel the campaign is on the rocks, Healy is still certain he will be victorious.

Today, Healy workers will gather at Casino in the Park in what is being described as a rally but is where the poll challengers will receive their credentials. It is expected that there will be some Hispanic demonstrators outside the catering hall in Lincoln Park shouting their displeasure at the mayor for his comments about the Three Amigas, who are no doubt figments of one man's imagination.

POLITICAL INSIDER

-- There was a call from one critic of The Jersey Journal endorsements of council candidates who backs Downtown council candidate Dan Levin. She said that a word caught her eye in the seal of approval for Ward E hopeful Candice Osborne. The word is "funny" and she did not think this would be considered a criteria for public office. Funny, many times I thought the City Council's actions were hilarious.

Actually, the word was used in describing Osborne's personality, as in "smart, funny and charming."

The caller added, "To me this is code word for 'pretty.' "

Uh-oh.

-- Here's what I'm thinking about Tuesday's election results -- and I've received similar numbers by email and phone calls from election groupies interested in this fun but important campaign.

Healy's hope is a big margin of victory in Ward F, the center of the city's black community. Ironic isn't it, considering they have received the least from local government. If he doesn't win big there, the administration is finished.

Fulop needs a record turnout from Downtown, more than the 5,500 votes from the last city election -- say closer to 6,500 to 7,000, then the councilman wins. By staying close or winning Ward F and just a good turnout in Ward E, then Fulop should win. Pressure.

I'm projecting that mayoral candidate Abdul Malik gets 350 to 450 votes. Jerry Walker receives anywhere between 1,000 and 2,000. Past Healy voters walk away and he gets a tally of between 13,400 and 14,000. Fulop has a shot at somewhere between 15,500 to 16,400 -- and possibly a 51 or 52 percent win to avoid a runoff.

Those council seats break down with plenty of runoffs.

Ward A: Epps avoids a runoff, although Gajewski is gaining this week. Chico Ramchal is top vote-getter in Ward B but in a runoff with Gerald Meyer, and the difference maker in this race could be candidate Esther Wintner. In Ward D, there's a runoff between Michael Yun and Sean Connors.

Fulop's old Ward E seat goes to Osborne, but Levin could just get enough support to force a runoff. Ward F, Diane Coleman is on top, but there's a possibility of a runoff with Healy's pick, Jermaine Robinson.

At large, I have to think name recognition is big, which gives the edge to incumbents Peter Brennan, Viola Richardson and Rolando Lavarro.

A landslide by either mayoral candidate means all bets are off.

-- Because of the recent rains, Team Healy - I mean the mayor's office - had to drop a trio of groundbreakings and announceents, including a blah-blah promise involving the long delayed 100 steps project that was to connect the Heights with a Hoboken light rail station. It will be tough to cram all these events into the day before the election.

-- Congratulations to Fulop for cramming enough political ads into the Urban Times. The black commuity newspaper that seems to only come out during election season mirrored state Sen. Sandra Cunningham's inaction and made no mayoral endorsement. Coincidence?

-- Hoboken Councilman Ravi Bhalla gave up his 33rd District Assembly seat quest after Housing Authority Director Carmelo Garcia successfully appealed getting booted from the primary ballot as the Hudson County Democratic Organization line candidate.

Union City Mayor and 33rd District sen. Brian Stack is still mad at Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer and her team member, Bhalla. The HCDeadO leadership is also not amused.

-- On Wednesday, Zimmer, Secaucus Mayor Michael Gonnelli and Weehawken Mayor Richard Turnerheld a press conference to moan about the big tax increases their municipalities will suffer as a result of the proposed Hudson County government budget.

The interesting part is not that they are complaining. These communities are always abused come county budget time. This is all Kabuki theater. The mayors always whine and the county says they can't help it - and nothing changes. Everyone plays a role.

Freeholder Chairman Anthony Romano of Hoboken attended the press conference and promised to run his comb through the budget. Do I sense Romano has hitched his wagon to the Zimmer express? Let me see, is there a public safety director in the Mile Square City. Just wondering?

It will be interesting to see how Romano votes on the budget, after his exploratory surgery

-- The Journal will bring you Tuesday's election all day with blog posts, photos and twitter. Those registered should vote for their hometown's future. The eyes of Doctor T. J. Eckleburg are watching.

http://www.nj.com/hudson/voices/index ... in-mout.html#incart_river