Joseph DiVincenzo

CWA Local 1081 wants to know how much money Essex County spent on their "Strut Your Mutt" event, an annual canine Halloween Costume Parade that will be held tomorrow at the South Mountain Reservation dog park.  David Weiner, the union president, has filed an Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request seeking "all documents delineating the cost, and source, of the prizes the administration will award dog owners who dress their canines in costumes."

"Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo has in many respects done a considerably commendable job within his nearly seven-year tenure," Weiner said.  "However, he has also spent millions of taxpayers' dollars on unnecessary capital projects that that have enhanced his political legacy at the expense of the lives of many of the residents of Essex County as well as the lives of the county employees providing those residents much needed services."

According to Weiner, DiVincenzo has spent "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to create three dog parks, and has spent more than $18 million building new parks, even though Essex County is strapped for cash.

Assembly Human Services Committee chair Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange) is mulling a bid for Assembly Speaker

Look for a fourth candidate in the race for Assembly Speaker: Sheila Oliver (D-East Orange) has spent the last two days testing the waters to seek the post.  Oliver is the Assistant Essex County Administrator, which means strong ties to County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and Newark Democratic leader Stephen Adubato.  Essex County has the state's largest Assembly delegation - nine votes.

Oliver would become the second African American woman to run for Speaker, joining Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing).  Watson Coleman said on Wednesday that she would run.  Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union), the Democratic State Chairman, and Assemblyman John Wisniewski (D-Sayreville) are also looking at the race.

Oliver's chances of becoming Speaker could be boosted by a leadership change in the upper house, where Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D-West Deptford) is considering a challenge to Senate President Richard Codey (D-Roseland).  It is unlikely that Essex Democrats would get both slots, and more likely that they would if the Senate Presidency goes to South Jersey.

The 57-year-old Oliver is seeking her fourth term in the State Assembly this year.  She represents District 34, which includes East Orange, Montclair and Clifton.  She is a former Essex County Freeholder and East Orange Board of Education President, and lost her bid for Mayor of East Orange in the 1997 Democratic primary by just 51 votes.  She is currently the Assembly Speaker Pro-Tempore and the Chair of the Assembly Human Services Committee.

Mark Warren, a New Jersey Democratic political consultant, is the new Director of Candidate Services at the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. Warren has worked for numerous New Jersey candidates and has close ties to South Jersey Democrats.  In 2002, he was the campaign manager for Joseph DiVincenzo in a hotly contested Democratic primary for Essex County Executive.  According to an e-mail from Warren, his department "provides support and guidance for the campaign programs of Democratic Congressional candidates, Red to Blue candidates, and Frontline Members" and works closely with campaigns "to ensure their finance teams are adequately staffed and fundraising goals are met."

"He's one of the best. Meticulous to detail.  Smart, loyal, and knows the drill," Democratic strategist Steve Ayscue told PolitickerNJ.com.  "I've always been a huge fan of his."

DiVINCENZO PRAISES CORZINE’S CHOICE OF WEINBERG AS RUNNING MATE

    (ENGLEWOOD) – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. today commended Governor Jon S. Corzine’s selection of Loretta Weinberg as the first Democratic Lieutenant Governor.  He issued the following statement:

If Jon Corzine picks Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo to run for Lt. Governor and they win, Essex County Democrats would hold a special election convention early next year to elect a new County Executive.  There is speculation that a deal to include DiVincenzo on the statewide ticket would include a commitment to replace him with an African American Democrat.

The problem for Corzine and DiVincenzo is that they don’t have the votes to guarantee the election of the first African American to serve as a County Executive in New Jersey.  There are plenty of factions within the Essex Democratic organization and it is hard to imagine a harmonious convention that would feature Tom Giblin, Steve Adubato, Dick Codey, Cory Booker and Donald Payne holding hands and belting out a couple of verses of “Cumbaya”.

But the identity of the next County Executive is not as important to Democrats as the current gubernatorial campaign.  DiVincenzo has a strong relationship with South Jersey Democratic leaders.  And Corzine is counting on a huge plurality out of Essex – something DiVincenzo can help him with.

Republican Christopher Christie became the first candidate for Governor to announce his running mate, announcing his choice of Monmouth County Sheriff Kimberly Guadagno while Gov. Jon Corzine continues to search for a Lt. Governor candidate.

Some Democrats thought Corzine would make a pick before President Barack Obama's trip to New Jersey last Thursday, but Corzine has still not settled on a running mate.  For a time, sources say, the governor had made up his mind: Reality TV star Randal Pinkett, an African American entrepreneur and Rhodes Scholar.  But over the last few days, Pinkett's political stock has plummeted amidst criticism from several party leaders.  He went from being a front runner to a long shot and political joke in just a few days.

Now Christie, the former U.S. Attorney, gets to look decisive with his pick of Guadagno will Corzine is still vetting potential running mates and considering new names.

State Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) has been the front runner since last Thursday.  Corzine is reportedly taking a look at Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and Passaic County Freeholder Tahesha Way.

Phil Alagia, the Chief of Staff to Essex County Executive Joe DiVincenzo, will be the new Political Director of Gov. Jon Corzine's re-election campaign.

Phil Alagia, one of the state's top political operatives and the Chief of Staff to Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo, will be joining Gov. Jon Corzine's campaign staff as Political Director.  Alagia is considered a protégé of Newark political leader Stephen Adubato, Sr., and his appointment is likely to suspend speculation that Adubato will back Republican Christopher Christie for Governor.  Alagia's new position in Corzine's inner circle could also enhance DiVincenzo's consideration as a candidate for Lieutenant Governor.

Two weeks ago, Republican gubernatorial candidate Christopher Christie predicted that Governor Jon Corzine would blame New Jersey’s economic woes on the global economic crisis.  "The governor's going to say, 'It's not my fault, it's not my fault, it's the global economic crisis's fault,” the former U.S. Attorney said.

Christie was close.  Corzine never called the crisis global; in his budget address he mentioned the “national economic crisis.” 

But the “global economic crisis” catch phrase is already getting plenty of play.  One press release put out by the Assembly Democratic office last week used the words “global economic crisis “five times.  Assembly Majority Leader Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-Ewing), in a statement issued yesterday, said: “The Governor should be commended for proposing a bold plan to help stave off this global economic crisis.”  Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts (D-Camden), Assemblyman Jack Conners (D-Pennsauken), and State Treasurer David Rousseau all used the “global economic crisis” terminology.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker

Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo today honored Newark Mayor Cory Booker as Essex County's "Black Man of the Year” at the Essex County Hall of Records.

The ceremony featured a typically rousing acceptance speech by Booker, a local level punctuation mark on President Barack Obama’s oratorical efforts at the national level last night to uplift the country’s spirits in a flagging economy.

Longtime allies who find themselves on opposing sides of local wars at times, but more often in the same encampment, DiVincenzo and Booker both face crises in their respective domains, as the former battles local union reps in search of an agreement for county workers, while the latter fights a crime wave in the City of Newark.

Senate Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester)

Although they represent different parts of the state, County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and state Sen. Majority Leader Stephen Sweeney with a few exceptions – the sales tax fight two years ago comes to mind - usually end up on the same side.  

This time, however, it’s not looking as though the two men are going to get eyeball to eyeball on the state pension deferral, which Sweeney opposes and DiVincenzo supports.   

It’s one of those moments when two politicians whose careers have run along parallel lines suddenly veer into each other’s path and create an unmistakable flashpoint.   

DiVincenzo desperately wants the legislature to sign off on Gov. Jon Corzine’s brainchild bill enabling counties, municipalities, and school boards during an economic downturn to defer their state pension payments by 50 percent over a three-year period, which would total $1.3 billion.