Lou Manzo

PolitickerNJ.com

Former Assemblyman Lou Manzo

Lou Manzo stepped on familiar ground today by announcing his candidacy for Jersey City mayor.

Manzo, 53, has done this four times before, starting in the wake of former Mayor Gerry McCann’s indictment on fraud charges in 1992 -- a crowded and brutal race that included his brother, which forced Manzo to air a cable advertisement of his mother calling him “the real Manzo.” He expects to hear references to his four previous losses repeated by his opponents throughout the campaign – especially by Mayor Jerramiah Healy.

Manzo said he doesn’t mind hearing about that. In fact, he believes it testifies to his dogged persistence as a public servant, even when he does not hold a public office. In other words, nobody can call Manzo a quitter.

“Those are the naysayers and those are the spinners. Those are the sound bytes they’ve been handed by the political architects of Healy’s organization,” he said. “Those are the same naysayers that can join the long list of people who criticized Lincoln, Edison and others who understand that you’re never beaten until you quit.”

Former Assemblyman Lou Manzo made his candidacy for mayor of the state’s second largest city official today, saying that the upcoming election will likely be the most important one in Jersey City’s storied history.

“This is going to be the most crucial election probably in the city’s history, not only because of the conditions in the city but because of the present national economic crisis and how it’s going to impact cities like Jersey City,” said Manzo. “I believe that the present leadership – not only the mayor but his apparatus – have demonstrated clearly that they have failed the leadership test and are ill-prepared to serve in what are probably going to be crisis times.”

Manzo plans to run on a platform that highlights economic development, job creation, reform in tax abatement policy and alleviating the city’s crime program through unorthodox methods.

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Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop’s announcement that he will not run for mayor breathes new life into a race that has been dormant for months.

Since summer, the field of prospective candidates has remained in stasis, with state Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham’s pending decision on whether or not to run holding up former Assemblyman Lou Manzo’s own candidacy. Former Mayor Bret Schundler has said that he’s going to run, but has yet to make a formal announcement, while Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith has yet to make a decision. Downtown community activist Dan Levin is running as well.

Fulop said that the lack of campaign activity only benefited incumbent Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who he frequently butts heads with.

“It’s to the benefit of the Jersey City residents that it’s going to start the campaign. It has kind of been not moving forward, which doesn’t benefit the dialogue – probably just Jerry Healy,” said Fulop.

If former Assemblyman Lou Manzo wants to throw Jerramiah Healy out of office, it looks like he might have to run against him next year.

Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Lawson today said that Manzo had no standing to challenge the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s decision not to seek Healy’s forfeiture from office following his 2006 conviction for disorderly conduct in Bradley Beach.

“I am pleased that Judge Lawson dismissed Lou Manzo's frivolous case, which was clearly filed for political purposes," said Healy in a statement.

A judge still hasn’t ruled on whether Lou Manzo’s lawsuit that seeks to throw Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy out of office will go forward.

“We’re still patiently and anxiously waiting,” said Manzo.

Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Lawrence Lawson heard arguments on Friday, with Manzo’s side arguing against both the assistant Monmouth County prosecutor and Mayor Healy’s counsel.  Healy and Prosecutor Luis Valentin contend that Manzo does not have standing to raise the complaint. 

U.S. Rep. Scott Garrett’s (R-Wantage) campaign today demanded that Democratic challenger Dennis Shulman return $167,000 in donations from a contributor they consider to be a “radical extremist.”

The donor, according to a tongue-in-cheek press release from Garrett : Dennis Shulman.

“Shulman has cashed in on his support for extremist policies, and recent fundraising data proves how out of touch Shulman is with the constituents he claims to want to represent,” read the release.”

Will former Assemblyman and possible Jersey City mayoral hopeful Lou Manzo’s lawsuit to throw Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy out of office proceed?

We’ll have to wait to see.

Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Lawson heard three parties’ arguments today about whether Manzo has standing to challenge the Monmouth County prosecutor’s decision not force Healy to forfeit his office in light of his 2006 Bradley Beach arrest, but said he will issue a ruling in writing at a later, undisclosed date, according to Manzo.

Over the course of the last month, the Hudson County rumor mill has been rife with talk that Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who’s facing a lawsuit that seeks to remove him from office, is preparing to resign.  

Last night, Healy sought to squelch that talk.   

“I’m not resigning.  Not only am I not resigning, but no way in hell am I resigning because Lou Manzo has brought an absurd application addressed to the Monmouth County prosecutor’s office to remove an elected Hudson county official,” said Healy in a phone interview with PolitickerNJ.  “I’m not only not resigning, I am running for mayor again in seven months.”

Bret Schundler is mulling another bid for Mayor of Jersey City, his job from 1992 to 2001.
Count former Jersey City Mayor Bret Schundler as one ally of former Assemblyman Lou Manzo in his quest to force Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy to forfeit his office.

“If what the officer said happened actually happened, then I think Healy should be removed,” he said.

After grand jury testimony surfaced from a police officer alleging that Healy tried to use his political status to “sweep” his 2006 disorderly conduct arrest in Bradley Beach “under the rug,” Manzo filed a lawsuit asking the Monmouth County Prosecutor to look into the matter.

Responding to Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s charge that he’s a lawsuit-mad political opportunist, former Assemblyman and potential mayoral candidate Lou Manzo today defended his decision to file a lawsuit seeking to oust Healy from public office.

Healy was convicted over a 2006 disorderly conduct charge stemming from an incident outside of his sister’s Bradley Beach restaurant, which he’s currently appealing in state Supreme Court.  After former Newark Councilwoman Dana Rone was ordered to forfeit her office after her own disorderly conduct conviction, Manzo sought to apply the same standard to Healy.

Healy claims that he never invoked his office to the arresting police officers, as Rone did while trying to get her nephew out of a parking ticket.  The Rone incident, however, was captured on videotape.  Healy’s incident was not, but in grand jury testimony, several police officers involved claimed that Healy mentioned his office several times, along with his friendship with the Bradley Beach chief of police in order to “sweep this under the rug.” 

Below is Manzo’s full statement.