Steve Lipski

If Jersey City Councilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez (D-Orlando) resigns or is forced out before early September, Ward C voters would elect a replacement in a November 2009 special election to fill the remaining 44 months of her term.  If Lopez holds off until mid-September, the special election will not be held until May 2010.  Either way, the City Council would appoint someone to fill the vacancy until a special election is held.

Update: Lopez, who attended a Council meeting last night, is in Orlando today. 

What’s bad for Jersey City Councilwoman Nidia Lopez could be good for her predecessor, Steve Lipski.  

If former council candidate Jimmy King’s challenge to the validity of Lopez’s May election is successful in forcing her to step down, Lipski might be willing to replace her.

“That option – this is the first I’m hearing about it.  I’m somewhat dismayed that the election would be questioned.  I think the world of Nidia Lopez and if in the end the seat becomes vacant, I would have to consider whether I would want to step back in and take it,” said Lipski, who declined to seek another term after being arrested for urinating from a balcony onto a group of concertgoers in Washington, DC – an incident that made international headlines and became fodder for late night television jokes.  

Lipski said he barely caught wind of the controversy surrounding Lopez and her Florida house, for which she received a tax exemption meant only for permanent residents.  He had been vacationing in Maine, where he stayed in a cabin without electricity or running water.  He talked to PolitickerNJ.com on the phone from a hospital, where he was at the bedside of his wife, who broke her leg on the trip.   

U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken) will endorse Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy for re-election a rally today in Journal Square, and will announce his support for Healy's entire slate of City Council candidates.  Nidia Lopez will introduce Menendez, offering some valuable exposure to the Ward C Council candidate.  Lopez faces former Jersey City Park Authority Director Jimmy King, who is running on Louis Manzo's ticket.  The two are seeking the seat of Steven Lipski, who decided to retire after being charged with public urination.

Jersey City Councilman Steve Lipski, facing charges of public urination, won't seek re-election in May.

Jersey City Ward C Councilman Steve Lipski, who in November made international headlines for allegedly urinating on Washington, DC concertgoers from a balcony, this week formally announced in a letter to the Jersey Journal that he will not seek reelection to his council seat. 

"I need to step back because I did not manage my life well. I let alcohol, at times, become a fix for the stress I was experiencing, and my poor judgment resulted in numerous problems and indescribable embarrassment to the position I hold and to me personally,” he wrote to the paper.  “I am stepping back to deal with these issues.” 

Former Assemblyman Louis Manzo, a candidate for Mayor of Jersey City, today announced three City Council candidates who will run on his slate in the May municipal election: former Jersey City Housing Authority Chair Lori Serrano will run At-Large, retired Jersey City Police Sergeant Jim Carroll will seek the Ward D seat against incumbent William Gaughan, and former Hudson County Undersheriff Jimmy King will challenge incumbent Steve Lipski in Ward C.

Manzo is making his sixth bid for Mayor.  He lost races in 1992, 1993, 2001, 2004, and 2005.

Urinator Steve Lipski won't get a slot on Mayor Jerramiah Healy's ticket if he seeks re-election to the Jersey City Council this spring.

Jersey City Councilman Steve Lipski, who faces charges of urinating on a crowd of people during a concert in Washington, D.C. in November, will not get a slot of Mayor Jerramiah Healy's ticket in the May municipal election.  Sources say that businesswoman Nydia Rivera, the wife of former Jersey City Councilman Ben Lopez, will run on the Healy slate and challenge Lipski for the Ward C Council seat.  Ward C has one of the largest Hispanic populations in Jersey City.

To view a larger version of this cartoon, click here.

To view a larger version of this cartoon, click here.

Jersey City, that often ignored sliver of land in New York City’s shadow, got a flood of national media attention this week. All it took was Councilman Steve Lipski allegedly urinating on a crowd of Washington, DC concertgoers.

That would be political suicide in some places, though not necessarily here. Lipski yesterday performed his mea culpa at a city council meeting, revealing that he was a recovering alcoholic who fell off the wagon that night for the first time in two years. And, at least for now, Mayor Jerramiah Healy is not disowning the councilman, his political ally.

“This is a legal issue that will be resolved in the courts. Mayor Healy is focused on moving forward and continuing to make Jersey City a greater place to live and work,” said a statement issued by Healy's office yesterday.