Celebrated last year as "the next mayor of Paterson" at a Chris Christie bash in New Jersey's third largest city, former Police Chief Larry Spagnola today said he would not be running for mayor this year.

"I'm not going to take the shot," Spagnola told PolitickerNJ.com. "It's personal. There are a number of different reasons, but no, not at this time. Basically it has to do with family."

The unsuccessful candidate for mayor in 2006 said he has not yet determined if he would publicly endorse a mayoral candidate in a field that now includes his former conqueror and incumbent Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres, Council President Jeffrey Jones, and Ward 6 Councilman Andre Sayegh.

"Anything's possible, but I'm not going to be committed at this point," he said.

PERTH AMBOY - Local level jockeying is already underway in advance of next year's mayoral and muncipal contests. Included below are some of the more intriguing prospects: 

Paterson

Two-term Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres projects an understanding of politics as a pragmatic undertaking, and speaks of the coming campaign with no change of tone, teeth-grinding rancor or demagogic speechifying. For Torres, Council President Jeffrey Jones, Councilman Andre Sayegh and former Police Chief Larrry Spagnola are obstacles.

In the mayor's eyes, the councilmen may prove worthy one day of becoming mayor, but they're too young and inexperienced and lack the business acumen necessary to helm New Jersey's third biggest city.

A former Marine, Jones has a built-in base of African American support. Last week he told PolitickerNJ.com he recognizes his challenge in fighting the perception mostly stirred up by his political antagonists that he is simply the black candidate in the race.

If Torres suffers from headlines that depict him as a heartless pay-to-play machine intent on development to the exclusion of other city problems, Jones's critics say he's good in attack mode but sometimes does not follow up with alternatives.

As for Sayegh, the inspirational Booker-speak and snappy one-liners contribute to a charismatic presence - and citywide political reach the councilman built as head of a coalition of nonprofit organizations - but the Ward 6 wunderkind has reached that stage of his career where, like Jones, voters will be waiting to hear detailed blueprint contrasts to the Torres model.  

The big issues: crime and taxes.

PATERSON - The old campaign poster from 1980 hangs on an office wall at City Hall amid paraphernalia from political lives past and present and when Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres looks at this cherished relic, his eyes fasten on the slogan beneath the Tony Orlando face with the full head of hair photo.

"It's not the age of the man that counts but the service that he may render."  

For Torres - 22 then and 51 now - the same words apply as he heads into his quest for a third mayoral term next year, intent on renovating Hinchcliffe Stadium (a dilapidated ball park testimonial to the 'Negro Ball League'), and overseeing completion of 1,000 new units of housing, three new schools, and the city's light rail system. 

But in this case, says Paterson's first Puerto Rican mayor, his experience gives him an enormous advantage in rendering service as he watches the young turks jockey on the council in preparation of facing him, and in hopes of dethroning him.

"Obviously the times are a factor on this race, but look at what I've done despite the times," he said. 

If other incumbents tread with jittery steps at the edge of 2010, given the economic downturn, Torres, who learned his business acumen early in his father's bodega, said he's the only one among the bunch here who has the business and political savoir-faire to navigate Paterson into its next era.

***Updated 

PATERSON - The clerk opened the door this morning to those candidates in next year's municipal elections intent on picking up petitions.

So far, as of 11 a.m., Ward 6 Councilman Andre Sayegh is the only prospective mayoral candidate who has obtained petitions at City Hall.

Sayegh will formally launch his candidacy this evening at St. Anthony's Gym.

At-Large Councilman Ken Morris, Jr., has also picked up petitions in pursuit of another four years as an at-large councilman.

"No promises, just results," said Morris, the former council president, who wants a third term.

In addition to Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres, others expected to gather paperwork to run for the city's top position in 2010 include Council President Jeffrey Jones, former Police Chief Larry Spagnola and Minister Kathy Kuykendall.

Fourth Ward Councilwoman Vera Ames, who pursued the mayor's seat in 2006, told PolitickerNJ.com she won't run.

Forty years a Paterson cop, the last seven of which he spent as chief before the wars with Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres mounted and tolled, Larry Spagnola on the outside of City Hall and taking his daily constitutional walk, admitted he may want another crack at Torres in the political arena.

"I have not made up my mind yet, but I'll definitely pick up petitions before the deadline next Thursday," the former chief who ran against Torres and lost in 2006 told PolitickerNJ.com in a telephone interview. "I have to sit down and think about it. Every reaction is a reaction. I want to be involved and make a change. I've got a lot I want to give back. This has been a good city to me and my family. I was part of it for over 40 years."

Back at the beginning of his career, Spagnola stepped out of his Marine Corp uniform and three months later donned the cap and dress blues of a police officer for a swearing-in ceremony on Valentine's Day, 1968.

"As a police officer and police chief, I've already represented everybody in this great city and I represented everybody equally," Spagnola said. "Everybody got a fair shake. Nobody's going to come forward and say that's not true. Equality is my whole life. That's what I've done for 40 years, and if I run I'll get that out to people who don't know me - but hopefully their parents know me.

Paterson Sixth Ward Councilman Andre Sayegh has scheduled a "big announcement" next Thursday, Dec. 17th, at St. Anthony's Church.

Sources say he's getting in the 2010 mayor's race.

Right now, there are two men in the May contest: two-term incumbent Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres and Council President Jeffrey Jones.

The 35-year old Sayegh, a Lebanese Catholic born in Paterson, is a former School Board president and a political insider who has worked in the offices of both U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson) and state Sen. John Girgenti (D-Hawthorne).

"It's time to unite Paterson for a new quality of life," Sayegh recently told PolitickerNJ.com. "Paterson's new day deserves a new way - a new day with Andre."

Paterson - New Jersey's third largest city and now on the brink of a mayoral election next year - delivered the same voter turnout for Gov. Jon Corzine that he received four years ago in his first bid for governor.

These results are unofficial and don't include provisionals: Corzine received 16,038 votes in the Silk City, to Republican candidate (now Gov.-elect) Chris Christie's 2,040.

Those numbers almost mirror Corzine's 2005 performance against Mercer buisnessman Doug Forrester: 17,000 to 1,600 votes.

PATERSON - Barack Obama first sprang the "cousin Pookie" line in New Jersey back in 2006, when he was campaigning for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-Hoboken) in Paterson.

"He said to me, 'Vera, we know about cousin Pookie, don't we?' and I told him, 'We sure do," recalled the 4th Ward councilwoman, who's served on the governing body for 24 years in this Passaic County anchor city where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans, 25,882 to 2802. 

Now incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine is hoping the campaign efforts of President Barack Obama will amp up his numbers in urban areas like Paterson.

"In a strictly Democratic community like this, many folks will be voting the Democratic line, and they know they have to get out and vote," said Ames. "There is a connection between Corzine and (Mayor Jose "Joey") Torres with the $30 million we get every year from this administration to keep the taxes down. There's a lot of work going on for Corzine. There's very good coordination between the Corzine people and local elected officials. We've been working with them for months. I can't speak for the rest of New Jersey, but I know he's going to take Paterson."

Paterson Council President Jeff Jones didn't like the idea of being buffaloed into an endorsement of incumbent Gov. Jon Corzine, particularly since he was no great fan of the governor's, and since the man prodding him to sign on the dotted line was longtime nemesis Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres.

Jones wants Torres' job, and their 2010 mayoral contest will no doubt intensify on the other side of Nov. 3rd, once the gubernatorial race is decided between Corzine and GOP challenger Chris Christie.

Jones knows he wants Torres gone.

But after mulling over the possibility of signaling that he wants Corzine to receive the ejector button by backing Christie, in part as a juxtaposition to Torres, who nurses a close relationship with the governor, the council president of New Jersey's third biggest city last Friday finally decided to back Corzine's reelection.

"I had to do an assessment," he told PolitickerNJ.com, "and I believe Torres was trying to take from me my Constitutional right to choose by forcing me to declare on his timetable, instead of mine. Well, now I've talked to Christie and some of his people, and I've talked to Gov. Corzine, man to man, Marine to Marine."

NEWARK - In building up Gov. Jon Corzine, Paterson Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres simultaneously got in a dig on his challenger in next year's mayoral contest, Council President Jeffrey Jones.

"Out of the nine council members in Paterson, eight of them have endorsed Gov. Jon Corzine," said Torres, who's running for a third term in 2010.

Couched as a public display of affection for Corzine, the shout-out to eight council members supporting the incumbent governor left the audience wondering about the one who is not, and that happens to be none other than Torres nemesis Jones.

The first Latino elected mayor of Paterson, Torres, a former supporter of U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-New York) for president, reverted to 2008 Democratic Primary mode in pitching Corzine over former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.