Garrett Smith

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State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, above, is unhappy with the way Attorney General Anne Milgram handled the prosecution of a Democratic Councilman from their district

ELIZABETH - Union County party allies of Gov. Jon Corzine are leveling hard charges at someone who's used to doing the charging herself: Attorney General Anne Milgram, whose pursuit of a voter fraud case against Roselle Council President Jamel Holley this month resulted in a virtual dead end.

"Disappointment is an understatement," state Sen. Ray Lesniak (D-Elizabeth) said of Milgram, the Corzine administration's attorney general, for bringing charges against Holley in the first place.

Already feeling antagonized by the presence of corruption buster former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie in the governor's race, Democratic Party operatives in at least two or three of their base voter-rich regions, including Unon, have for months felt dogged by Milgram, who indicted Holley by accusation on Aug. 27th with illegally filling out portions of fewer than 30 absentee ballots.

In a Thursday letter to the Union County Local Source, Lesniak and his legislative colleagues, Assemblyman Joe Cryan (D-Union Twp.) and Assemblywoman Annette Quijano (D-Elizabeth), ripped Milgram over what they see as her unjust targeting of Holley, which might have had ruinous consequences for a young man seen by his allies see as a comer in Union County Democratic Party politics.  

The state Attorney General's Office today "charged by accusation" Roselle Borough Council President Jamel Holley with illegally filling out a portion of the absentee ballots of voters in the 2006 Democratic primary for Borough Council, according to Attorney General Anne Milgram.

Holley, 29, of Roselle, allegedly violated the state’s absentee voting law, a third-degree crime, said Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni.

The council president, a political protege of former Assemblyman Neil Cohen and a foe of Roselle Mayor Garrett Smith, waived his right to be indicted by a grand jury and agreed to be charged by accusation. The accusation was entered before Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier in Mercer County, according to the AG's Office.

The accusation charges that Holley "tampered with absentee ballots by completing portions of the absentee ballots of at least 20 voters, contrary to the absentee voting law, which seeks to ensure the secrecy of balloting and prevent any improper influencing of voters. The charge is the result of an investigation by the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption Bureau."

The Union County prosecutor has filed criminal charges against Marc Baltimore, alleging that the voted twice in the June 2 Democratic primary.  Baltimore began the cycle as a candidate for Roselle Councilman (on a ticket with anti-organization Mayor Garrett Smith), but his campaign ended when he was removed from the ballot because of problems with his petitions.  Baltimore is a former police officer.

Apparently Baltimore voted by absentee ballot and again in person.  The double dipping was caught by the Union County Board of Elections.

Roselle Mayor Garrett Smith

Roselle Mayor Garrett Smith, an independent Democrat who's long warred with the Union County Democratic Committee, hailed Gov. Jon Corzine's selection of fellow reform Dem, state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck), as an inspired choice for lieutenant governor.

"I was on the fence regarding how much support I was going to give Gov. Corzine, but with the senator now on the ticket, I enthusiastically support his re-election," said Smith of Weinberg, a longtime foe of the Bergen County Democratic Organization. 

"I think she's a quality individual with a record of standing up for regular people," added Smith, now in the middle of his second term as mayor. "We need more leaders like Loretta Weinberg, whom I respect for her fight for quality and good government. I think it's an awesome pick, and it definitely energizes independent progressive Democrats."

Garrett Smith, the Democratic Mayor of Roselle, is open to endorsing Republican Christopher Christie or Independent Christopher Daggett in the fall gubernatorial race, sources say.  And Smith, who has been at odds with the Union County Democratic organization and Democratic County Chair Charlotte DeFilippo, has never met Daggett, but says he would be open to discussions regarding the selection of a Lt. Governor candidate.

Many insiders expect the new Mayor of Hillside, Joseph Menza (who is also a Democrat) to back Christie for Governor.  Menza won a runoff against DeFilippo's candidate last month by just six votes.  The Democratic Governors Association contributed more than $13,000 to Menza's opponent in the officially non-partisan election, and Christie sent volunteers to Hillside during the runoff to help turn out Republicans in support of Menza.

Roselle Mayor Garrett Smith

Roselle Mayor Garrett Smith needed this one, and so did the Union County Democratic Organization.
 
Those two mutually exclusive desires added up to one thing: a war.
 
Ever since former Assemblyman Neil Cohen's (D-Roselle) career went belly up amid charges of keeping child porn on his computer, the battle lines for local party control intensified here in his town, which, depending on your perspective, is either a buffer for Westfield against the danger-zone of Elizabeth or a buffer for Elizabeth against the whitebread excesses of Cranford and Westfield.
 
A mild-mannered wonk in Trenton, Cohen could get tough in his hometown as head of the local party. He wasn't beyond delivering full-blown, profanity-laced public dress-downs to recalcitrant committee members as he dealt with the ongoing headache of Smith, a charismatic independent Democrat, originally from Jersey City, who built his name as head of a thriving local basketball league before seeking his first term as mayor in 2003.
 
Smith and Cohen could grudgingly come together to beat on Republicans in presidential or gubernatorial general elections, but mostly they embroiled themselves in a Roselle battle-royale with themselves as chief antagonists.

Menza addressses the crowd.

HILLSIDE - This little, oft-dispected town practically buried under a criss-cross of highways in the muscled-up arms of Newark on one side and Elizabeth on the other today showed little sign of breaking a four-year standoff between mayor and council as Joe Menza assumed the oath of office several hours before the council's reorganization meeting this evening.

Real estate developer Menza beat the local Democratic Party machine on May 12th when he defeated At-Large Councilman Jerome Jewell, a staunch ally of local party chair Charlotte DeFilippo, who also runs the county party.

DeFillipo allies still controls five seats on the seven-member governing body, but Menza kicked off his mayoralty by letting the crowd of 150 people here know that under the Faulkner Act, it is his responsibility to prepare and submit an annual operating budget and to sign all contracts, and he doesn't intend to abdicate those powers.

On the contrary, "The buck stops right here, you can expect that from me," announced the new mayor, moments after taking the oath at the prompting of substitute Township Judge Geoffrey Gechtman.

Roselle Mayor Garrett Smith

ROSELLE - Backing his own School Board candidates in what amounts to a larger ongoing war with the Union County Democratic Organization, Roselle Mayor Garrett Smith today challenged opposing School Board candidate Anthony Esposito to return $7,500 Smith’s old nemesis, disgraced former Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Roselle), contributed to the organization he once ran.

Now standing trial for keeping child porn images on his office computer, Cohen until last year headed the Roselle Democratic Party, an organization Esposito serves as treasurer.

“The integrity of the Democratic Party is called into question with this donation, especially with the treasurer running for the School Board,” said the mayor. “It’s hypocritical for him to deposit money from Cohen knowing the conditions behind it.”

Esposito objected to Smith’s characterization of his work as treasurer. 

U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-Newark), and Piscataway grassroots organizer Nadia Brown: Politicker photo 

ROSELLE - It’s Garrett Smith country on a Saturday.

Emptying a chair alongside the young Roselle mayor, U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-Newark) stood in front of a microphone and gave Gov. Jon Corzine props for playing a role in discovering Sen. Barack Obama (D-Il) when Corzine chaired the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Obama’s romping here in Roselle by every indication, but Payne and Obama aren’t eyeball to eyeball on everything, including last week’s Wall Street bailout.

While Obama and his Republican rival in the presidential race on Wednesday quietly supported the $700 billion measure that its critics say falls disproportionately across the shoulders of American taxpayers, Payne twice vociferously bucked the controversial bill in the House.

Today he laid out his views before a cheering crowd in Roselle’s Warinanco Park, where several hundred people gathered in support of Obama on the front-end of a Union County voter registration drive days before the Oct. 14th registration deadline.

Sources in Union County say Roselle Councilwoman Cecilia Dallas-Ricks did not muster enough support in Roselle to be a credible Democratic Party candidate and consequently will not be in nomination Tuesday night when the party votes for a successor to District 20 Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Roselle).

That sets up a showdown between Annette Quijano, assistant counsel to Gov. Jon Corzine; and Elizabeth Councilwoman Patricia Perkins-Auguste.

With Roselle out of contention, sources say Quijano is likely to summon more power-player support in a district where overall, registered Latino voters have a decided edge over African-Americans.

The governor’s assistant counsel has the backing of Union County Freeholder Director Angel Estrada and real estate agent and Hispanic party activist George Castro, both of whom retreated from their own pursuit of the vacated seat.