Armando Fontoura

IRVINGTON - They bellowed a lot of praise down on Gov. Jon Corzine from the pulpit of Christian Love Baptist Church on Wednesday night but the signature hymn, "Your struggle is over," sung with deep feeling and a full chorus on high volume, hardly projected a Biblical battle cry as the governor faces eight weeks more of hard-slog campaign season before Election Day.

When the big baskets appeared and it was collection time, Pastor Ron Christian made sure Corzine knew the drill.

"You never know when he might leave," joked the reverend, host for the governor, an altar filled with other emissaries of ecumenism, among them the Rev. Pastor Reginald Jackson of St. Matthew AME Church - and other public officials all gathered to salute law enforcement officers and firemen on the eighth anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001.

There was a lot of love for Corzine throughout the course of the ceremony, which Christian stoked even as he deflected any of the praise directed at himself and his thriving Irvington church by reminding the congegation - to growing applause - that he's just a simple sinner - a former corrections officer turned thief, in fact, turned repentant minister.

Updated: Gov. Jon Corzine's 77% of the vote in the Democratic primary on Tuesday was helped considerably by strong showings in Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union counties, where he won 89%, 87%, 85%, and 81%, respectively.  But against three challengers with no money, no base, no organization, and no name identification, the incumbent Governor seemed to have seriously underperformed outside of North Jersey.

In two Democratic strongholds important to his re-election campaign, Corzine won just 67% in Middlesex and 70% in Camden.  The incumbent was held to 62% in Monmouth and 65% in Ocean.

In South Jersey, Corzine received 75% in Atlantic, 71% in Burlington, 68% in Cape May, 64% in Gloucester, and 62% in Salem.  Northwestern New Jersey was even more problematic: the Governor won just 56% of the primary vote in Warren, 60% in Sussex, 61% in Hunterdon, and 76% in Morris.  He had some good news in Mercer, with 79%.

Corzine outpolled three popular county officials: Essex Sheriff Armando Fontoura (by 3,967 votes), Hudson County Surrogate Donald DiLeo (by 2,969 votes), Passaic County Freeholder Tahesha Way (by 693 votes), and Union County Surrogate James LaCorte (by 1,049 votes).   But he received less votes than other countywide candidates running in the Democratic primary:

Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo today in the Hall of Records.

NEWARK – A soundtrack of Chris Christie’s favorite Jersey songster wailing on a mouth harp flooded the room as Essex County politicians and staffers filled the first floor of the Essex County Hall of Records, but Phil Alagia clarified that there was a reason why he didn’t select Springsteen’s magnum opus.

 “We were going to play ‘Born to Run’ but we realized that would not be a good song for him (Christie) today,” said County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo’s chief of staff and hard-nosed Democratic Party operative.

With a light touch, Alagia made sure people understood that DiVincenzo and company’s celebration of Christie’s seven-year service as U.S. Attorney should not be misconstrued as a statement of support for Christie should the Republican decide to run for governor and rebrand a battered statewide party.

“I’m 100 percent with Corzine,” he said.

Ditto DiVincenzo, the County Executive explained when it was his turn to herald Christie, who went 130 and 0 in pursuing corruption cases against public officials. Theirs is a special relationship, he admitted – indeed, a friendship - and not just because the man affectionately termed “Joe D” and Christie are both Newark natives.

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and his Deputy Chief of Staff, State Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark)

An event in Essex County today honoring former U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie has several top Democrats seething as the soon-to-be Republican gubernatorial candidate makes his first public appearance since leaving office at 12:01 this morning at a tribute planned by Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and Sheriff Armando Fontoura, both Democrats.  The potential love fest could be viewed as a shot at Jon Corzine, the Democratic Governor who could face Christie in the 2009 election.

One Democratic Essex County mayor, who asked that his name be withheld, suggested that the event is payback for a huge favor Christie did for DiVincenzo during the final days of DiVincenzo’s rancorous 2002 Democratic County Executive primary against Thomas Giblin, which was occurring two months after a raid on the offices of the Republican incumbent, James Treffinger.  There had been rumors that DiVincenzo, then the Freeholder Board President, was the target of a federal probe.  Christie ended the speculation with a two-sentence letter confirming that DiVincenzo was “not a subject or target of the grand jury investigation."  

"Now it is indisputable that I am not the focus of any federal inquiry," DiVincenzo said in a written statement released by his campaign.  "The U.S. Attorney's letter should serve as notice to Tom Giblin to end his reckless and libelous campaign."

Gov. Jon Corzine and Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura prepare to head the parade. 

NEWARK - Gov. Jon Corzine reveled with members of the 29th Legislative District at the 29th annual Portugal Day Festival in the Ironbound on Sunday.

The massive, two-day event, which was founded and organized by businessman Bernardino Coutinho, father of Assemblyman Albert Coutinho, featured the parade on Sunday afternoon and the participation of Portugal’s secretary of state.

PREDATORS IN OUR MIDST

Mastrangelo Calls for Essex Internet Child Safety Unit;
Fontoura's Website Remains Stuck in 1998

(Cedar Grove, NJ) -- U.S. Attorney Chris Christie announced yesterday the arrest of 14 child pornography offenders, including a man from Verona. In response, Essex Sheriff's candidate Rich Mastrangelo today reiterated his call for the creation of a detective's unit to catch online predators.

"Today's predators don't need to hang around school bus stops. They could be talking to our children in our own living rooms through the computer. Bergen, Passaic, and Westchester Counties all have units designed to set up stings to catch predators, just like you may have seen on Dateline. Essex County has nothing."

COUNTY POLICE FADE AWAY
UNDER SHERIFF'S WATCH

Audio Tape Confirms Fontoura Too Weak to
Fight Administration for Public Safety

(Cedar Grove, NJ) -- On Oct. 2, the 111-year-old Essex County Police, protectors of county parks and roads, will be disbanded. Its policemen will become regular officers of the Sheriff's Department. After he repeatedly broke contract rules because of lack of manpower, Armando Fontoura decided to bust up the County Police union rather than fight the administration for new hires. While Fontoura claims the disbanding is for efficiency, in reality it illustrates the weakness of a sheriff unable to stand up to friends in his own political party. When Jim Treffinger tried to snatch $4.8 million from the Sheriff's budget in 2000, Fontoura pulled out all the stops to oppose him with a public uproar. This year, however, Fontoura let $3.5 million slip out of his department without making a peep against Executive Joe DiVincenzo, his former campaign manager. In a recently released audio recording Fontoura admits he is helpless to stop public safety funds from draining away.

"If you don't have five votes on a freeholder board you can't fight the administration," said Fontoura in the audio tape, recorded during a meeting with County Police officers and sent out by a member of the force. "The administration is very good at going there, before I can get to there and get...the vote that they need. You know. So, they have more things to trade with than I do. I don't have anything to trade with other than PBA cards, which, you know, that's about it. Most of the--all the guys here are civil service so I can't even offer anybody a job for their son or their daughter, which I wouldn't do anyway. It's hard for me to bargain. Very frustrating."

MASTRANGELO CHALLENGES FONTOURA TO
FIRST DEBATE IN A DECADE

The Public Deserves an Informed Choice in
November's Sheriff Election

(Cedar Grove, NJ) -- The last time Sheriff Armando Fontoura had to defend his record and debate the issues, Bill Clinton was just starting his second term and 'Y2K' was the disaster that would end the world. The last time Fontoura faced an opponent, cell phones were a novelty and 'Seinfeld' was must-see-TV. Fontoura hasn't debated in an election since 1997, back when the biggest county threat that Emergency Management had to worry about was icy roads.

Washington, D.C. – Last week, Congressman Scott Garrett voted in favor of three important pieces of legislation designed to enhance security at our nation’s borders by providing law enforcement with the requisite tools and authority to enforce immigration laws.

“We must secure our borders first and foremost. Until we do, all talk about tinkering with other aspect of U.S. immigration policy is premature,� said Garrett. “The focus in the illegal immigration debate needs to be on the word illegal, not the word immigration. I supported these three bills today because of the immediate impact they would have on fixing this problem and making our country more secure.�

The three bills, all of which passed the House, include:

•The Community Protection Act of 2006 (H.R.6094), which provides for the deportation of alien criminals and the detainment of dangerous aliens who cannot be deported

•The Immigration Law Enforcement Act of 2006 (H.R. 6095), which provides for greater prosecution of those who smuggle illegal aliens and also affirms state and local law enforcement’s authority to enforce immigration laws

•The Border Tunnel Prevention Act of 2006 (H.R. 4830), which makes it a crime to build or finance border tunnels that pose serious breaches in security along our borders.

These votes follow Garrett’s support earlier this month of the Secure Fence Act (H.R. 6061), which authorizes the construction of a 700-mile reinforced fence along our nation’s southwest border. The bill also requires the Department of Homeland security to employ a “virtual fence,� consisting of cameras, ground sensors, and unmanned aerial vehicles, along the entire border.

“My top priority since coming to Congress has been ensuring the safety and security of our nation,� Garrett stated. “These important pieces of legislation will allow for great strides in enhancing the security of our borders.�

STATEMENT ON STAR-LEDGER PHOTO BLUNDER

(Cedar Grove, NJ) -- The Essex section of today's Star-Ledger featured a piece about the endorsement of Rich Mastrangelo for Sheriff by the entire County PBA. Unfortunately, the Ledger posted the wrong picture above Mastrangelo's name. Instead of Rich in a police uniform, there was a bald man in a suit. Campaign spokesman Jack Grimes responded with the following statement:

"Obviously they got the wrong guy. Rich isn't bald. After this week's press coverage, the corrections rally, and now the PBA coming out against him, Armando Fontoura is the one pulling his hair out."