L. Harvey Smith

Former Assemblyman Lou Manzo, a potential mayoral candidate in Jersey City next year, filed a petition with Monmouth County Superior Court to ask them to weigh whether Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s conduct during his 2006 Bradley Beach arrest should trigger him to forfeit his office.

No hearing date is set yet, and Manzo can’t release details until all parties have been served.

Healy was convicted of disorderly conduct in Bradley Beach last year, and has sought unsuccessfully to reverse the decision several times. He’s currently appealing it in the state Supreme Court.

But after an Essex County judge ruled that former Newark Councilwoman Dana Rone must forfeit her office earlier this summer, Manzo started digging and hired legal counsel to see whether the same standard should apply to Healy. Healy and Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said it shouldn’t, since Healy never invoked his office during his arrest.

DENVER -- Assemblywoman Joan Quigley (D-Jersey City) is candid about her feelings on the upcoming Jersey City mayoral race.

She’s with Mayor Jerramiah Healy. Not that it’s unusual, considering he’s chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO). She wasn’t in 2004, however, when he ran to replace the late Glen Cunningham.

“He was a dark horse at that point and I didn’t know him well,” she said. And while his status as the head of the powerful Democratic organization could certainly win him friends, Quigley said that’s not the reason.

“I learned to like him a lot better before that happened.”

The big race to watch in Jersey City next year is for mayor, but the politics of that contest are already spilling out into the legislature.

The recent buzz is that Jersey City Incinerator Authority CEO Oren Dabney is being positioned for an Assembly run in District 31 by State Sen. Sandra Cunningham, who herself is said to be considering a mayoral bid next year.

Reached for comment yesterday, Dabney wouldn’t commit one way or the other, but admitted that he’s mulling the possibility.

“I’ll do anything possible that’s going to benefit the city of Jersey City, period,” he said. “I haven’t made any decisions on anything at this point. So if anyone is giving information such as that I must be well-liked.”

COHEN/SCHAER/WATSON COLEMAN/SPENCER/SMITH 'SAVE NEW JERSEY HOMES ACT OF 2008' PASSES ASSEMBLY

Measure Would Provide Three-Year Reprieve from Foreclosures; Give Families More Options to Stay in Their Homes

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assembly members Neil M. Cohen, Gary S. Schaer, Bonnie Watson Coleman, L. Grace Spencer, and L. Harvey Smith sponsored to extend foreclosure protection to thousands of New Jersey families caught-up in the recent mortgage market upheaval today passed the General Assembly by a vote of 73 to 5 with 1 abstention.

COHEN/SCHAER/WATSON COLEMAN/SPENCER/SMITH 'SAVE NEW JERSEY HOMES ACT OF 2008' PASSES ASSEMBLY

Measure Would Provide Three-Year Reprieve from Foreclosures; Give Families More Options to Stay in Their Homes

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assembly members Neil M. Cohen, Gary S. Schaer, Bonnie Watson Coleman, L. Grace Spencer, and L. Harvey Smith sponsored to extend foreclosure protection to thousands of New Jersey families caught-up in the recent mortgage market upheaval today passed the General Assembly by a vote of 73 to 5 with 1 abstention.

COHEN/SCHAER/WATSON COLEMAN/SPENCER/SMITH 'SAVE NEW JERSEY HOMES ACT OF 2008' ADVANCES

Measure Would Provide Three-Year Reprieve from Foreclosures; Give Families More Options to Stay in Their Homes

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assembly members Neil M. Cohen, Gary S. Schaer, Bonnie Watson Coleman, L. Grace Spencer, and L. Harvey Smith sponsored to extend foreclosure protection to thousands of New Jersey families caught-up in the recent mortgage market upheaval was released today by an Assembly panel.

Hudson County is deep Frank Lautenberg territory, but Democratic Senate candidate Rob Andrews came to the heart of Jersey City’s downtown today to hold a town hall meeting.

“We will expand the campaign anywhere people will have us,” said Andrews before holding court at a gazebo in the city’s Hamilton Park. “There’s one rule in the Andrews campaign – you have to be young at heart, you have to be willing to support us.”

The meeting was organized by the local councilman, Seven Fulop – a likely mayoral candidate next year and frequent critic of Jersey City Mayor/HCDO Chairman Jerramiah Healy, who supports Lautenberg.

It was less than a year ago that Sandra B. Cunningham won the Democratic nomination for state Senate in the 33rd District, aided by Jersey City Mayor and newly christened Hudson County Democratic Organization Chairman Jerramiah Healy.

But less than six months after she assumed the office, Cunningham is considering joining the crowded quadrennial field of Jersey City mayoral candidates to run for the seat that her late husband, Glenn Cunningham, held just four years ago.

Cunningham did not respond to multiple requests for comment, but some of her recent actions have suggested that she's leaning towards making a run next year.

Assemblyman L. Harvey SmithThree newly-elected state representatives have endorsed the presidential campaign of Sen. Barack Obama, citing what they describe as his unique background and ability to create change.

Assemblywoman Cleopatra G. Tucker of the 28th district, Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith of the 31st district and Assemblywoman L. Grace Spencer of the 29th district all joined Team Obama this week.

"Senator Obama represents a new generation of leadership for the United States," said Tucker. "I am confident that he will end the war in Iraq and will help all communities in New Jersey and across the nation."

When L. Harvey Smith returns to Trenton in January, he will join a rather obscure and exclusive club: former State Senators who become Assemblymen. Smith served in the Senate for three months in 2003 and 2004, between Joseph Charles' resignation to become a Superior Court Judge and Glenn Cunningham taking office in January 2004.