As the new administration looks to reorganize the embattled Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority (PVSA), watch for at least two part-time $53,420-a-year lawyers to be on the termination short list: James Piro, a former Essex County GOP Chairman and Freeholder, and Eric Pennington, the Chief Judge of the Orange Municipal Court. Piro has a problem because State Sen. Kevin O’Toole (R-Cedar Grove), the current Essex GOP Chairman, can’t stand him. Piro won’t be helped by his close ties to former Assembly Majority Leader Paul DiGaetano (R-Nutley), another O’Toole foe, and a backer of Steve Lonegan’s 2009 gubernatorial bid. Watch Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore to object to Piro, whose law firm hired a public relations firm to announce a sexual harassment lawsuit against the Republican Mayor of Long Beach just days before the 2009 election.
While it’s nothing personal, Gov. Christopher Christie probably won’t like Pennington because he holds three jobs: in addition to the PVSA and his judgeship, he serves as a Trustee of another embattled public agency, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ).

The brother of U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone has announced his candidacy for the Long Branch City Council. John Pallone, who served as a Councilman from 1990 to 1994, said today that he would run with David Brown, the former Roselle Business Administrator and now the Plainfield Public Works Director.
Frank Pallone began his political career as a Long Branch City Councilman in 1982 and then scored a surprise victory when he ousted Republican State Sen. Brian Kennedy in 1983. Pallone held the seat against Gerri Popkin in 1987, and then beat Joseph Azzolina in a 1988 congressional race after twelve-term incumbent James Howard died. John Pallone gave up his council seat to challenge Mayor Adam Schneider in 1994.

A handwritten note left behind during a Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee meeting indicates that Senate Majority Leader Barbara Buono (D-Metuchen) would support a plan to require all current public employees to contribute at least 1.5% of their salaries to pay for their health care benefits. The note, written on the back of a cover page of news clips circulated by the Senate Democratic office, was found on the rostrum where Senators sat during the committee meeting.
As New Jersey braces for another snowstorm, noteworthy is Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo’s website, where residents can use “Snow Plow Sal” to monitor the movements of snow plows to determine when their street will be plowed. Hamilton also has "Pothole Pete."
Just before leaving the Senate Presidency, Richard Codey (D-Roseland) appointed Orange Mayor Eldridge Hawkins to the Congressional Redistricting Commission. Now his successor, Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford) is considering making his own appointments to the panel and voiding Codey’s pick. The Senate President gets two seats on that commission; Codey took one and left the other for Sweeney.
Joseph Cryan (D-Union) did the same thing before he left his post as Democratic State Chairman. Cryan appointed State Sen. Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) and himself to the Legislative Redistricting Commission, leaving the other three seats for the new state party chairman, John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville). He named former Corzine Deputy Chief of Staff Maggie Moran to the Congressional Redistricting Commission, leaving one seat for Wisniewski.
If Sweeney is able to displace Codey’s pick, it might open the door to Wisniewski taking away Cryan’s picks for the congressional mapmaking panel – something that South Jersey Democrats might do to block Moran from serving.
Mark Anton, the Chairman of the Suburban Propane Gas Corporation, was a half-term Republican from Essex County who was elected in a 1953 special election after Alfred Clapp, who had mounted an unsuccessful campaign for the GOP gubernatorial election, resigned to become a Superior Court Judge. An Essex County Freeholder, he was never a strong vote-getter: he defeated Democrat Charles Stanziale, a former Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney, by a narrow 50.4%-49.6% margin.
When Anton sought a full term in 1955, he found himself in a feud with former U.S. Attorney William Tompkins, a former Assemblyman from Essex County who was at the time serving as the Assistant U.S. Attorney General. Anton and Tompkins were both interested in seeking the Republican nomination for Governor in 1957.
Tompkins, who considered challenging Anton himself (he ran for the Senate ten years later but lost to a Democratic slate headed by John Giblin), instead recruited Assembly Majority Leader William Barnes to run. Barnes, who had run a strong race against U.S. Rep. Hugh Addonizio in 1952, attacked Anton for his support of night harness racing and his membership on a citizens committee formed to end a high profile strike on the New York pier, but lost the primary to Anton, 53%-47%.
Unable to unite the Essex GOP in the general election, Anton lost to Democrat Donal Fox. Fox, a former Assistant Essex County Prosecutor who had managed the nearly successful U.S. Senate campaign of Charles Howell in 1954 (Howell, a Democratic Congressman from Mercer County, lost the open Senate seat to Republican Clifford Case by an excruciatingly close 48.7%-48.5% margin), became the first Democrat to win the Essex Senate seat since 1908. Fox beat Anton 53%-48% and took office on the day Lance described as his first memory of visiting the Senate chamber.
Seeking re-election to as second term in 1959, Fox found himself in the middle of a battle between Governor Robert Meyner and Dennis Carey, the legendary Essex County Democratic Chairman over the new Essex County Prosecutor. The post was vacant because Charles Webb had resigned to launch his own State Senate campaign against Fox.
Assemblyman Herbert Conaway (D-Delanco) has dropped his bid for Burlington County Democratic Chairman, notifying party leaders by letter this weekend. That leaves Gary Haman as the leading candidate to replace Alice Furia, who took over last year when Democrats demanded the resignation of Rick Perr.
New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority President Dennis Robinson may be the new Bryan Christiansen, the embattled Passaic Valley Sewerage Authority (PVSC) Executive Director. Robinson is using public funds to pay a politically connected law firm to fight the Star-Ledger’s lawsuit seeking the release of public documents. With a new governor committed to complete transparency, there’s a good chance guys like Robinson and Christiansen, who use public funds to fight their battles and then refuse to release them publicly, will be on defense for a while – at least until they get fired.
The 2012 New Jersey presidential primary is scheduled for two years from today, and so far there has been no serious talk of changing the 2007 law that moved the 2008 primary from June to February in an effort to make the state more relevant in the selection of major party presidential nominees. Democrats, who control both houses of the Legislature, are unlikely to care, assuming that Barack Obama has no formidable opponent for the Democratic nomination. Republican Gov. Christopher Christie will need to keep GOP leaders out of the presidential game until he decides if or when he picks a horse. Christie must also determine if he wants to continue New Jersey’s winner-take-all system of picking delegates, something he’s likely to want if he endorses a candidate.
Camden Mayor Dana Redd wants to raise the salary cap for members of her staff from $71,187 to $150,000, but she says he reasons are pure: she has an opportunity to hire five former members of ex-Gov. Jon Corzine’s administration and she needs to pay them something close to what they were making in their old jobs.
Garden State Equality fires new broadside at Dems Smarting over the state Senate's refusal to pass marriage equality and disillusioned at the moment with the Democratic Party majority, Garden State Equality’s 85-member Board of Directors unanimously decided against giving financial contributions to political parties and their affiliated committees. ...
“We will work harder and smarter to protect consumers, to preserve civil rights, to effectively regulate the alcoholic beverage industry, to ensure that the integrity of New Jersey’s casino gaming industry continues, to keep drives, passengers and pedestrians safe on our streets, to assist victims of crimes, and to remember always the importance of juvenile justice on issues affecting the state." -- Attorney General-designate Paula Dow, at her Senate confirmation hearing.
- PolitickerNJ.com, 02/08/10Press releases are submitted by PolitickerNJ users, not by staff. They do not represent the viewpoint of PolitickerNJ.com.