Wally Edge's blog

The two-party system in Essex and Mercer county governments came to a close this week, with Democrats taking over the last GOP posts. Democrat Linda Lordi Cavanaugh was sworn in an Essex County Freeholder after defeating incumbent Muriel Shore in the November general election. Cavanaugh won a district Freeholder seat that had been under Republican control since Monroe Jay Lustbader ousted Renee Lane in 1981. The new Mercer County Clerk is Paula Sollami-Covello, who narrowly defeated two-term incumbent Catherine DiCostanzo.

In Essex, Democrats now have a 9-0 majority on the Freeholder Board (there has been two Republican Freeholders as recently as 2002), and control every constitutional office. Democrat Joseph DiVincenzo looks like a strong bet for re-election as County Executive in 2006; the GOP held this post from 1995 to 2003. With the retirement of Assemblyman Paul DiGaetano, Essex Republicans will have just one office above the municipal level: Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole.

In Mercer, Democrats have a 7-0 majority on the Freeholder Board and control every constitutional office. The County Clerk's job had been under GOP control for twenty years.

by David P. Rebovich

T''was the week after Christmas and all through the State House, not a creature was stirring. Well, not exactly. The Codey Administration was still at work, although winding down in anticipation of Jon Corzine and his new staff assuming office in a few weeks. The governor-elect's transition team was busy, but its activities were taking place behind some very tightly closed doors out of the view of the press and the public. While it would be a few weeks before the real excitement of a new Administration and legislature begins, the holiday season still provided ample fodder for the political junkie to feed and comment on.

By Steve Adubato, Ph.D.

What an interesting year in New Jersey politics. What better way to end 2005 than to honor the good, the bad and the pretty ugly on the political scene?

--The "Most Impressive Political Performance in 2005" award no doubt goes to Acting Governor and Senate President Dick Codey. Codey got the call that he would have to step up and stand in for disgraced outgoing Governor Jim McGreevey. Codey did it like a pro. He gave a budget address that was sobering and candid. He talked about the state being on the verge of bankruptcy. He made some tough fiscal decisions and raised the bar for others in Trenton. He also negotiated what seems like a good deal with the Jets and the Giants over at the Meadowlands. His advocacy of mental health issues together with his wife Mary Jo (who candidly spoke about her serious depression) was noteworthy. Simply put, Codey had the common touch that appealed to most voters.

--The "Dumbest Campaign Move" this past year was made by Republican candidate for governor, Doug Forrester. Forrester, down in the polls, late in the fourth quarter did something he publicly said he wouldn’t do. He used the brutally negative comments of Jon Corzine’s ex-wife Joanne Corzine who said Corzine had let his family down and would probably let New Jersey down as well. Forrester was probably going to lose anyway, because New Jersey rarely elects Republicans statewide, but with this move he turned off people on a much deeper level. Simply put, it’s in really bad taste to use the comments of ex- and often-spurned spouses in the political arena. Doug Forrester knew better but he did it anyway.

--The "Most Impressive Figure in a Political Ad" was Doug Forrester’s wife Andrea who did a heartfelt and sincere testimonial for her husband. Too bad they couldn’t have run that ad for the entire campaign. Doug might have had a fighting chance.

--The "Put Your Money Where Your Mouth is Award" goes to Governor-elect Jon Corzine. Some may not be thrilled that Corzine spent over $40 million in the governor’s race combined with the over $60 million getting elected to the U.S. Senate in 2000, but it is his right and apparently he believes in himself and his message. Corzine’s deep pockets also scared off everyone else and allowed him to focus on strategy and execution as opposed to fundraising. That’s a hell of an advantage and Corzine used it to the max.

--The "Most Talked About Woman in New Jersey Politics in 2005" was CWA president Carla Katz, who had a personal relationship with Corzine and was lucky enough to have him loan her almost a half million dollars to purchase a home and then forgive the debt. Everyone was talking about Carla Katz and her relationship with Corzine, but in the end it didn’t matter very much to voters.

--The "Clearing the Air" award goes to all those involved in the legislature and the governor’s office in supporting a law that would ban smoking in virtually all public places, excluding select areas in casinos. This legislation is long overdue and those who argue that they have a "right" to blow smoke in other people’s faced in public areas are simply dead wrong. New Jersey will be better off and healthier for cutting down on second hand smoke, particularly when people are eating in restaurants.

--The “Catchiest Slogan in New Jersey Politics� was "pay to play." Every politician is against the practice of having fat cats contribute to campaigns and then get government contracts, but it has been going on in New Jersey since the beginning of time. Officially ending “pay to play� won’t guarantee that influence and money won’t continue to matter more than merit when it comes to future government contracts being doled out.

--The "He Still Doesn’t Get It Award" goes to Jim McGreevey. Word is, even though he got $500,000 to tell the dirty details of his shocking story, sources say McGreevey isn’t ready yet to spill his guts. He would rather talk about public policy and his ideas for how government should work. Hey, Jim, let’s be honest. Nobody really cares what you think about any of that stuff. Anyone who is going to buy your book is going to want to know how you managed to get married twice and have two children, all the while knowing you were gay. Why else would a publisher give you half a million bucks?

--The "Political Bloodline Award" goes to Tom Kean, Jr. You couldn’t have a better or more popular father than former Governor Tom Kean, Sr. He is golden. Untouchable. Particularly after his work chairing the 9/11 Commission. Everyone loves him, including Democrats. Simply put, the Kean name gives Tom Jr. a legitimate shot at getting elected to the U.S. Senate in the fall.

Congratulations to Assemblywoman Evelyn Williams, who may have set a new record: she lasted seven days from the time she took her oath as a legislator until the time of her arrest on shoplifting charges. Two days later, she was fired from her job with the Essex County Corrections Department for filing for and receiving illegal pension checks from the state Police and Firemen's Retirement System.

Daniel H. Jara, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Statewide Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of New Jersey, is asking Governor-elect Jon Corzine to appoint Zulima Farber as state Attorney General.

One of the most interesting footnotes to New Jersey gubernatorial politics is Garret Wall, who was elected Governor in 1829 but declined to serve. A War of 1812 veteran, Wall was elected to the State Assembly in 1827 (from Burlington County) and served a single one-year term. A leader in the 1828 campaign to elect Andrew Jackson as President, he was elected Governor when the Jacksonians won control of the Legislature, but said he was too busy to take the job and not interested in getting involved in state politics. Later that year, he accepted an appointment by Jackson as the United States Attorney. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 1834 but lost his bid for a second term in 1840. His son, James Wall, was elected Mayor of Burlington City in 1850, after initially declining the Democratic nomination for Congress. According to the Burlington website, "in 1861, he became aware that some of his letters to friends in the southern states, opposing the Civil War, were being censored by the postmaster general, and wrote a letter protesting this censorship. He was accused of treason and arrested at his home, though not without a fight -- he threw at least one constable across a room before being restrained." He was appointed to the United States Senate in 1863, but lost his bid to win the seat in his own right. Garrett Wall's daughter married Peter Vroom, who had become Governor in 1829 -- the legislature's second choice.

One of the most powerful New Jerseyans to ever serve in the U.S. House of Representatives was J. Parnell Thomas, a Bergen County Republican who was elected to Congress in 1936. When the GOP took control of the House after the 1946 elections, Thomas became the Chairman of the House Un-American Activities Committee -- where his investigation into the Hollywood motion picture industry made him well-known across the nation. Thomas was one of the architects of Hollywood's so-called "Black List."

Thomas was a World War I veteran and investment banker when he ran for Allendale Borough Council in 1924. He was Mayor from 1926 to 1930 and a State Assemblyman from 1935 to 1937. When eight-term Congressman Randolph Perkins died after the 1936 primary, Republicans picked Thomas to run for his Bergen County-based House seat.

The HUAC interviewed more than forty people from the movie industry and named nineteen as having "leftist" views. Ten others subpoenaed by Thomas' committee refused to answer questions. Known as the "Hollywood Ten," these individuals were eventually found to be in contempt of Congress and served time in a federal prison.

In 1948, syndicated columnist Drew Pearson accused Thomas of putting friends and family on his congressional payroll in no-show jobs and then having their checks deposited into his personal checking account. Thomas won re-election to his own seat in 1948, but lost his chairmanship when Democrats regained control of the House. He was convicted of fraud in 1950 and resigned his seat in Congress. After completing a nine-month sentence in a federal prison, Thomas returned to Bergen County where he became publisher of three weekly newspapers. He sought a return to Congress in 1954, but lost a primary to his successor, William Widnall. He eventually moved to Florida, where he died in 1970.

From Drew Pearson's nationally syndicated "Washington Merry-Go-Round," August 4, 1948

One Congressman who has sadly ignored the old adage that those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones is bouncing Rep. J. Parnell Thomas of New Jersey, Chairman of the UnAmerican Activities Committee.

If some of his own personal operations were scrutinized on the witness stand as carefully as he cross-examines witnesses, they would make headlines of a kind the Congressman doesn't like.

It is not, for instance, considered good "Americanism" to hire a stenographer and have her pay a "kickback." This kind of operation is also likely to get an ordinary American in income tax trouble. However, this hasn't seemed to worry the Chairman of the UnAmerican Activities Committee.

On Jan. 1, 1940, Rep. Thomas placed on his payroll Myra Midkiff as a clerk at $1,200 a year with the arrangement that she would then kick back all her salary to the Congressman. This gave Mr. Thomas a neat annual addition to his own $10,000 salary, and presumably he did not have to worry about paying income taxes in this higher bracket, because he paid Miss Midkiff's taxes for her in the much lower bracket.

The arrangement was quite simple and lasted for four years. Miss Midkiff's salary was merely deposited in the First National Bank of Allendale, N.J., to the Congressman's account. Meanwhile she never came anywhere near his office and did not work for him except addressing envelopes at home for which she got paid $2 per hundred.

This kickback plan worked so well that four years later. Miss Midkiff having got married and left his phantom employ, the Congressman decided to extend it. On Nov. 16, 1944, the House Disbursing Officer was notified to place on Thomas's payroll the name of Arnette Minor at $1,800 a year.

Actually Miss Minor was a day worker who made beds and cleaned the room of Thomas's secretary, Miss Helen Campbell. Miss Minor's salary was remitted to the Congressman. She never got it.

This arrangement lasted only a month and a half, for on Jan. 1, 1945, the name of Grace Wilson appeared on the Congressman's payroll for $2,900.

Miss Wilson turned out to be Mrs. Thomas's aged aunt, and during the year 1945 she drew checks totaling $3,467.45, though she did not come near the office, in fact remained quietly in Allendale, N.J., where she was supported by Mrs. Thomas and her sisters, Mrs. Lawrence Wellington and Mrs. William Quaintance.

In the summer of 1946, however, the Congressman decided to let the county support his wife's aunt, since his son had recently married and he wanted to put his daughter-in-law on the payroll. Thereafter, his daughter-in-law, Lillian, drew Miss Wilson's salary, and the Congressman demanded that his wife's aunt be put on relief.

The leader of the committee was J. Parnell Thomas. In appearance, he was improbable either as hero or villain. He was old - I thought sixty-three was old then and fat, with a bald head and a round face that glowed perpetually in a pink flush. But as it turned out, his flat idiom and disarming corpulence concealed an unsuspected capacity to cultivate unreality, or rather, to parody reality. This was to be his passport to power and fame.

Thomas was moved principally by caricatures. Confronting a world that abounded in real Communist threats, he was obsessed with phantom, even ludicrous slapstick ones. One was his notion that the saccharine movies of that day, produced and monitored as they were by the most conformist capitalists, represented a New Deal conspiracy to Communize the free world.

The motion picture industry was almost totally intimidated by the rising power of J. Parnell Thomas, and to appease him, instituted the blacklist that would spread to broadcasting and degrade the entertainment world for a decade to come. Under the pressure of the Thomas committee's probe into disloyalty among government employees, President Harry Truman issued a far-reaching Loyalty Order designed to circumvent legal forms in rooting out those suspected of disloyalty.

Democratic sources say that Lisa Jackson, now the Assistant Commissioner of Compliance and Enforcement, has emerged as a top candidate for Commissioner of Environmental Protection in Jon Corzine's administration. Jackson worked for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency from 1987 to 2001, serving as Acting Director of Enforcement in the New York regional office run by state Board of Public Utilities Chairman Jeanne Fox. Jackson has an influential backer: former U.S. Senator Bob Torricelli. This could help Torricelli, who is seeking DEP permits for his client, Matrix Developments. The current Commissioner, Bradley Campbell, may want to stay on -- although it won't necessarily be his choice.

Embattled Assistant Commissioner of Community Affairs DeAnna Minus-Vincent is out of a job when Jon Corzine takes office in January, Democratic sources confirmed. Minus-Vincent is in hot water for taking free tickets to Sesame Street Live at the Continental Arena earmarked for needy children for her daughter and members of her family. Minus-Vincent apparently used four special backstage passes. Codes of ethical standards used by the state prohibit the acceptance of gifts from firms or organizations their department does business with. Last year, Minus-Vincent got in trouble for approving a $10,000 grant for her father's organization and for $55,000 in grants to her sister's organization. The stories on Minus-Vincent's problems was broken by Gannett's Sandy McClure.

By Steve Adubato, Ph.D.

"If we scrub this budget and we can't close the budget holes and get the dollars for the Transportation Trust Fund, then we'll review that ... I vowed not to do it (raise the gas tax) at $3.00 a gallon, that's for sure. When it's down at the levels we're in right now, I said I hadn't taken it off the table."

Those were the words of Governor-elect Jon Corzine, spoken this past week at a conference hosted by the New Jersey Business and Industry Association. Some will point to the fact that on October 11 in the heat of a gubernatorial campaign, Corzine stated, "There will be no gas tax hike in a Corzine administration."

Conventional wisdom says that the governor-to-be is flirting with the possibility of not keeping a campaign pledge. I say, "good." At what point are we going to realize that all kinds of things are said in a campaign that have absolutely nothing to do with the reality and hard work of governing and everything to do with the crazy world of trying to get elected.

Gas prices are lower than where they were in the second week of October. The much bigger fact is that the Transportation Trust Fund is in dire straits and running out of money fast. The Fund is critical to paying for essential highway construction and mass transit projects that keep our state safe and thriving economically. The Transportation Trust Fund has to be renewed by July 1. If not, the state stands to lose over $1 billion from the federal government in matching grants. What we are talking about are roads, bridges and critical mass transit improvements not moving forward.

None of this stuff is sexy, but all of it is vitally important. The governor-elect knows this and is smart enough to realize that since the campaign is over, he has to be the state's chief executive -- the guy who has to make the really hard decisions, who can’t be trying to make everyone happy. (That was my biggest criticism of Jim McGreevey.)

I'm thrilled that Jon Corzine may be rethinking his position on the gas tax. It's not that I want us to be taxed anymore; it's just that our current 10.5 cents per gallon gas tax is one of the lowest in the nation. Yet, our transportation needs are great. Jon Corzine understands that if he ducks this issue by not working with the legislature to provide a stable source of revenue to go directly into the Transportation Trust Fund, he is playing with fire. He also seems prepared to take the criticism leveled at him for his most recent comments on the gas tax.

But that's the absurdity of talking about campaign "promises" and the even greater absurdity of some candidates who sign "no tax increase pledges." Things change. They evolve. And any public official that doesn’t evolve in the decision making process doesn’t deserve the opportunity to lead. We’re not talking about changing your position on abortion or the death penalty based on public opinion polls. Those questions are ones of morality than anything else. What we are talking about with the gas tax is a nuts and bolts hard core policy and operational issue involving transportation and economic development. Corzine is not saying he supports a gas tax, but only that he is open to it as a last resort. Any other position would be irresponsible.

And speaking of economics, let’s stop kidding ourselves about the budget situation. This deficit in state government is massive, and the things that will have to be done to balance this budget in a responsible way won’t make many people happy. Again, as Corzine stated at this week’s business conference, "We’ve got some serious financial challenges ahead ... and there are not the kinds of gimmicks and alternatives to turn to that have been done, unfortunately, for a very long period of time ... we have just come to the end of the line."

Jon Corzine is not being an alarmist. He is just talking about the bottom line in a sobering fashion. The bottom line on the gas tax is that it is going to have to be raised, whether we like it or not. But the alternative of letting roads, bridges and transit systems decay and fall apart is simply unacceptable.

I am encouraged by the governor-elect’s comments this week and I am hoping they reflect his sense that more and more he is going to have to tell a variety of audiences not what they want to hear, but what they need to hear. It’s the job he ran for and the job he won. Anyone who tries to make a big deal about Corzine’s evolving position on the gas tax is engaging in partisan political gamesmanship that New Jersey can no longer afford to play. And that’s the bottom line.