*
Published by The Bergen Record, Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Other role touted for sales tax increase
By JOHN P. McALPIN
TRENTON BUREAU
A warning to New Jersey shoppers: Higher sales taxes may be in your future, even if state legislators reject the governor's pleas for a tax hike to balance his new budget.
Some lawmakers are holding that option open as a possible way to lower New Jersey's property tax bills when they meet to overhaul the system this summer, top Democratic sources told The Record on Tuesday.
Although those Assembly Democrats believe a sales tax increase could help reduce the nation's highest per-capita property taxes, they fear they would have a tough time making the case for it if the public is hit with an increase now to help balance Governor Corzine's $30.9 billion budget proposal.
Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts, D-Camden, who has told Corzine that the governor's plan to raise the tax from 6 percent to 7 percent lacks support in the lower house, said again Tuesday that cutting high property taxes is the priority.
"We need to safeguard any new available sources of revenue for property tax relief," Roberts said at a fund-raiser Tuesday near Trenton.
The New Jersey Constitution requires lawmakers to enact a budget by June 30. Democrats in the Assembly and Senate are negotiating with Corzine on several key areas, the biggest being the sales tax increase, which could cost the average family about $250 more a year.
The increase is crucial to Corzine's plans because it would raise an estimated $1.1 billion. Corzine says it would end years of fiscal gimmicks that have left New Jersey's finances on shaky ground. His administration has shown no signs of backing off the proposal despite opposition in the Assembly.
Beyond the deadline
Assembly Democrats are looking beyond next week's deadline to the summer, when both houses are expected to hold a rare summer session on property tax reform. Some believe those sessions could yield sweeping changes to New Jersey's tax structure and have already begun examining efforts in other states. Among these is Michigan, which raised its sales tax by 2 cents on the dollar and earmarked the revenue for public schools. The plan, adopted by voters in 1994, also limited property tax increases to the rate of inflation.
New Jersey property owners pay about $20 billion a year in local taxes, giving New Jersey the highest property taxes in the nation. Lawmakers for years have been under intense pressure to stem the increase, which averages 7 percent a year.
Driving local taxes and state budgets ever higher is the cost of public education. About one third -- $10.5 billion -- of Corzine's budget proposal goes to schools, including more than $4 billion to some of the poorest districts to comply with a state Supreme Court order. New Jersey also subsidizes operations at every other public school and municipal government.
To cut property taxes by 10 percent, some legislators estimate that it may cost nearly $2 billion a year. Some are eyeing the $1.1 billion brought in by raising the sales tax one percentage point as one source of revenue. Expanding the sales tax to services now exempt could also play a role in property tax relief, legislative sources said Tuesday.
Some analysts dispute the suggestion that raising the tax to balance the budget would rob them of the ability to include a sales tax increase as part of a comprehensive overhaul of property taxes.
"I don't think anything that's done to balance this budget means you can't do more of the same for tax reform," said Jon Shure, president of New Jersey Policy Perspective, a liberal think tank that has studied state tax issues.
In lieu of Corzine's sales tax proposal, some Assembly members are exploring the possibility of increasing the unemployment tax and delaying a planned $400 million cut in business taxes, sources familiar with the budget negotiations said. They also plan more cuts in state programs.
"We think the budget can provide the same progressive initiatives without the need for a sales tax increase," said Assemblywoman Bonnie Watson Coleman, D-Mercer.
Roberts declined to detail the Assembly plan. Legislative staff members and Treasury officials are reviewing the details.
Corzine's staff also is not talking details.
"We will not be commenting on the step-by-step proposals or lack thereof as we get closer to budget day," spokesman Anthony Coley said.
State Sen. Shirley Turner, D-Mercer, made her plan to tax Atlantic City casinos official Tuesday by drafting a bill that raises the rate from 8 percent to 10 percent and retains taxes on parking and rooms. Her plan would raise $140 million and not hurt the working poor the way the sales tax does, Turner said.
"The casinos continue to thrive. They can afford these taxes more than our working families can," she said in a statement.
Higher casino taxes face stiff bi-partisan opposition in the Legislature and from Corzine, who has refused to consider raising fees there.
"His position has not changed," Coley said. "Economic growth is our best solution over the long run."
If legislators miss the June 30 constitutional deadline, Corzine has asked his Cabinet to prepare for a government shutdown.
In a memo to officials, his staff has asked for lists of essential services that must be provided.
Officials were also asked to identify non-essential government employees and procedures to notify them and others of a shutdown.
Legislators have missed the deadline before, but no state services have been shut down.
E-mail: mcalpin@northjersey.com
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
Friday, July 07, 2006
State Budget - Courier - South Jersey Dems united against sales tax
*
Published by The Courier News, Thursday, July 6, 2006
South Jersey Dems united against sales tax hike
By SARAH GREENBLATT
Gannett New Jersey
The unabated state budget crisis has pitted Gov. Jon S. Corzine squarely against South Jersey Democrats.
Corzine's bid to increase the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent has divided Democratic lawmakers, who debated the matter behind closed Statehouse doors yet again Wednesday afternoon.
But allies of South Jersey power broker George Norcross have linked arms against Corzine's proposal and emerged as the new governor's most vocal critics.
State Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts Jr., D-Brooklawn, pronounced the proposed 1-cent sales tax increase "dead" Tuesday while state Sen. Stephen Sweeney, D-Woodbury, described Corzine's plan as "unconscionable" in one of two news releases he issued Wednesday.
"Shutting down parks, beaches, casinos, health services and road construction affects tens of thousands of people who are pawns in your campaign to hike the sales tax," Sweeney said in one of the news releases.
The contentiousness erupted less than six months after Corzine was sworn in, vowing to end the "toxic mix of politics, money and public business."
Some observers viewed those words as a rebuke to power brokers such as Norcross, who boasted of his influence over Democrats in tapes recorded as part of a criminal probe of allegations that Palmyra Mayor John Gural was -- as a councilman in 2001 -- pressured to fire the borough solicitor.
Sweeney said in an interview Wednesday that Norcross has played no role in the battle but that Corzine has sought to blame him for the conflict.
"The front office is trying to get a story that everything is being orchestrated by George," Sweeney said, contending he has advocated trimming state workers' benefits as a matter of principle. "No one can get you to take a position unless you really believe it. I'm taking a lot of hassles from state workers for it."
Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley denied Sweeney's claim.
"We're not pushing anything but the agenda of the people," Coley said. "And they want an end to fiscal gimmicks of the past that have created the current fiscal mess that we're in."
State Sen. Diane Allen, R-Edgewater Park, said some Democrats were working more diligently than others to resolve their differences.
"We have three people who are in control in the Democratic Party. Two of the three have already come to a compromise," Allen said, referring to Corzine, Roberts and Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-West Orange.
Corzine has endorsed a compromise proposed by Codey to increase the sales tax but direct half of the revenue toward property tax relief.
Political observers said opponents of the sales tax increase are chiefly worried about getting re-elected.
"Corzine's not up for re-election 'til 2009," Rider University political scientist David Rebovich said. "Legislators are running 16 months from now."
Ingrid Reed, director of the New Jersey Project for Rutgers' Eagleton Institute of Politics, said South Jersey Democrats may feel more vulnerable to voters' backlash than their peers to the north.
"Joe Roberts is very aware of the fact that some of the wins for the Democrats have been narrow ones," Reed said.
Rutgers political scientist Ross Baker agreed but said relations between Norcross and Corzine may be contributing to the impasse.
"There is a history of tension," Baker said. "Personal loyalty and things like that play a major role in the way things operate."
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
Published by The Courier News, Thursday, July 6, 2006
South Jersey Dems united against sales tax hike
By SARAH GREENBLATT
Gannett New Jersey
The unabated state budget crisis has pitted Gov. Jon S. Corzine squarely against South Jersey Democrats.
Corzine's bid to increase the sales tax from 6 percent to 7 percent has divided Democratic lawmakers, who debated the matter behind closed Statehouse doors yet again Wednesday afternoon.
But allies of South Jersey power broker George Norcross have linked arms against Corzine's proposal and emerged as the new governor's most vocal critics.
State Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts Jr., D-Brooklawn, pronounced the proposed 1-cent sales tax increase "dead" Tuesday while state Sen. Stephen Sweeney, D-Woodbury, described Corzine's plan as "unconscionable" in one of two news releases he issued Wednesday.
"Shutting down parks, beaches, casinos, health services and road construction affects tens of thousands of people who are pawns in your campaign to hike the sales tax," Sweeney said in one of the news releases.
The contentiousness erupted less than six months after Corzine was sworn in, vowing to end the "toxic mix of politics, money and public business."
Some observers viewed those words as a rebuke to power brokers such as Norcross, who boasted of his influence over Democrats in tapes recorded as part of a criminal probe of allegations that Palmyra Mayor John Gural was -- as a councilman in 2001 -- pressured to fire the borough solicitor.
Sweeney said in an interview Wednesday that Norcross has played no role in the battle but that Corzine has sought to blame him for the conflict.
"The front office is trying to get a story that everything is being orchestrated by George," Sweeney said, contending he has advocated trimming state workers' benefits as a matter of principle. "No one can get you to take a position unless you really believe it. I'm taking a lot of hassles from state workers for it."
Corzine spokesman Anthony Coley denied Sweeney's claim.
"We're not pushing anything but the agenda of the people," Coley said. "And they want an end to fiscal gimmicks of the past that have created the current fiscal mess that we're in."
State Sen. Diane Allen, R-Edgewater Park, said some Democrats were working more diligently than others to resolve their differences.
"We have three people who are in control in the Democratic Party. Two of the three have already come to a compromise," Allen said, referring to Corzine, Roberts and Senate President Richard J. Codey, D-West Orange.
Corzine has endorsed a compromise proposed by Codey to increase the sales tax but direct half of the revenue toward property tax relief.
Political observers said opponents of the sales tax increase are chiefly worried about getting re-elected.
"Corzine's not up for re-election 'til 2009," Rider University political scientist David Rebovich said. "Legislators are running 16 months from now."
Ingrid Reed, director of the New Jersey Project for Rutgers' Eagleton Institute of Politics, said South Jersey Democrats may feel more vulnerable to voters' backlash than their peers to the north.
"Joe Roberts is very aware of the fact that some of the wins for the Democrats have been narrow ones," Reed said.
Rutgers political scientist Ross Baker agreed but said relations between Norcross and Corzine may be contributing to the impasse.
"There is a history of tension," Baker said. "Personal loyalty and things like that play a major role in the way things operate."
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
State Budget - Ledger - Moran: Roberts tries to save face
*
Published by The Star-Ledger, Friday, July 7, 2006
COLUMN: Tom Moran
Smiling face is only thing Roberts can try to save
Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts stood at the governor's elbow and forced a smile.
A day earlier, he was still vowing to defeat the governor's plan to raise the sales tax. He even declared it dead.
Yesterday, he lost that fight decisively. But he came to a press conference in the governor's office to deny that rock-hard truth, and to save whatever shred of political mojo remained after this failed coup.
It was painful to watch.
The silver-haired speaker rocked back and forth on his toes. Big beads of sweat formed on his forehead. The fake smile kept disappearing as he drifted off, with bright TV lights bearing down on him. And then, on command, it reappeared.
You wanted to hand the man a handkerchief and offer him a chair.
Mark Joe Roberts down as the latest Democratic power broker to learn that Gov. Jon Corzine is not some Wall Street wimp after all.
"Joe's a leader, and he fought the best fight he could," said Sen. Stephen Sweeney, a South Jersey ally of Roberts. "But there is a strong governor today in New Jersey."
The sales tax will bring in about $1.1 billion a year, not much when measured against a state budget of $31 billion.
But this win for Corzine is huge. For one, even Republicans who oppose the sales tax hike are impressed that Corzine is serious about paying the state's bills. We've been living on credit for too long.
More important, it shows that Corzine is willing to knock heads to clean up the Democratic Party's act.
We saw the first sign of that when Corzine confronted Joe Ferriero, the Bergen County boss who has turned the county party into a money machine, raising huge sums from firms that are rewarded with government contracts. That's given him statewide power.
But when Ferriero tried to block the promotion of Loretta Weinberg from the Assembly to the Senate last year, Corzine fought him, calling local party delegates to encourage a revolt.
It shocked everyone. But Corzine won, helping Weinberg to crash the boys' club in the Senate.
Newark Mayor Sharpe James came next. When he tried to siphon $80 million from the city treasury into two nonprofit groups that he could control after leaving office, Corzine stopped him. And he stood firm, even after James' cronies made the profoundly silly charge that stopping such a brazen move showed racial insensitivity.
This week's win against Roberts was far and away the biggest.
"The governor was really very angry," said one political player who met with Corzine several times during the crisis. "He felt like he made major compromises to avoid this shutdown."
Roberts had insisted that all the revenue from a sales tax hike be preserved for property tax relief. Corzine agreed to give him half that, as suggested by Senate President Richard Codey.
But Roberts refused to budge, even when Corzine sweetened the deal on Sunday night by offering to devote 60 percent to property tax relief.
That's when Corzine started to fight hard. He was able to block Roberts, and to steadily deplete his band of mutineers. Yesterday, they came trudging into Corzine office one by one, seeking forgiveness and promising fealty to the new king.
Yesterday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the talks, Roberts came back and told Corzine he would accept the 60 percent offer after all.
This time, Corzine wouldn't give it to him.
He agreed to a few small concessions designed to let Roberts save face. But the real power had shifted from one man to the other.
And no matter how much Roberts smiled, all of Trenton could see that.
"Corzine doesn't like to push people around," says Harold Hodes, a Democratic lobbyist. "But he doesn't like to be pushed around himself either."
Tom Moran's column appears Wednesdays and Fridays.
He may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or (973) 392-1823.
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
Published by The Star-Ledger, Friday, July 7, 2006
COLUMN: Tom Moran
Smiling face is only thing Roberts can try to save
Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts stood at the governor's elbow and forced a smile.
A day earlier, he was still vowing to defeat the governor's plan to raise the sales tax. He even declared it dead.
Yesterday, he lost that fight decisively. But he came to a press conference in the governor's office to deny that rock-hard truth, and to save whatever shred of political mojo remained after this failed coup.
It was painful to watch.
The silver-haired speaker rocked back and forth on his toes. Big beads of sweat formed on his forehead. The fake smile kept disappearing as he drifted off, with bright TV lights bearing down on him. And then, on command, it reappeared.
You wanted to hand the man a handkerchief and offer him a chair.
Mark Joe Roberts down as the latest Democratic power broker to learn that Gov. Jon Corzine is not some Wall Street wimp after all.
"Joe's a leader, and he fought the best fight he could," said Sen. Stephen Sweeney, a South Jersey ally of Roberts. "But there is a strong governor today in New Jersey."
The sales tax will bring in about $1.1 billion a year, not much when measured against a state budget of $31 billion.
But this win for Corzine is huge. For one, even Republicans who oppose the sales tax hike are impressed that Corzine is serious about paying the state's bills. We've been living on credit for too long.
More important, it shows that Corzine is willing to knock heads to clean up the Democratic Party's act.
We saw the first sign of that when Corzine confronted Joe Ferriero, the Bergen County boss who has turned the county party into a money machine, raising huge sums from firms that are rewarded with government contracts. That's given him statewide power.
But when Ferriero tried to block the promotion of Loretta Weinberg from the Assembly to the Senate last year, Corzine fought him, calling local party delegates to encourage a revolt.
It shocked everyone. But Corzine won, helping Weinberg to crash the boys' club in the Senate.
Newark Mayor Sharpe James came next. When he tried to siphon $80 million from the city treasury into two nonprofit groups that he could control after leaving office, Corzine stopped him. And he stood firm, even after James' cronies made the profoundly silly charge that stopping such a brazen move showed racial insensitivity.
This week's win against Roberts was far and away the biggest.
"The governor was really very angry," said one political player who met with Corzine several times during the crisis. "He felt like he made major compromises to avoid this shutdown."
Roberts had insisted that all the revenue from a sales tax hike be preserved for property tax relief. Corzine agreed to give him half that, as suggested by Senate President Richard Codey.
But Roberts refused to budge, even when Corzine sweetened the deal on Sunday night by offering to devote 60 percent to property tax relief.
That's when Corzine started to fight hard. He was able to block Roberts, and to steadily deplete his band of mutineers. Yesterday, they came trudging into Corzine office one by one, seeking forgiveness and promising fealty to the new king.
Yesterday, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the talks, Roberts came back and told Corzine he would accept the 60 percent offer after all.
This time, Corzine wouldn't give it to him.
He agreed to a few small concessions designed to let Roberts save face. But the real power had shifted from one man to the other.
And no matter how much Roberts smiled, all of Trenton could see that.
"Corzine doesn't like to push people around," says Harold Hodes, a Democratic lobbyist. "But he doesn't like to be pushed around himself either."
Tom Moran's column appears Wednesdays and Fridays.
He may be reached at tmoran@starledger.com or (973) 392-1823.
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
State Budget - Ledger - Corzine clout routs Roberts
*
Published by The Star-Ledger, Friday, July 7, 2006
Corzine's clout routs Roberts' rebellion
BY JEFF WHELAN AND JOSH MARGOLIN
Star-Ledger Staff
Hundreds of angry, out-of-work casino employees -- some brandishing bullhorns -- railed against Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts outside the Statehouse.
Gov. Jon Corzine was signaling he was ready to dig into his personal fortune to air campaign-style television ads making the veteran South Jersey Democrat out to be the villain behind the first state government shutdown in New Jersey's history.
And a late night committee meeting convened for one last stand backfired and left Roberts standing virtually alone.
In less than 24 hours from Wednesday evening to yesterday afternoon, the Speaker's insurrection against the governor ended as a wall of political pressure came down on his shoulders. The kind of pressure only a governor can bring to bear.
"It just took a while for the governor's operation to be revved up, and once it did, they folded like a house of cards," Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex) said. "It's everything: the money, the power of the office, his own personal largesse, his own personal chits that are out there. There are so many components and it was like they all -- at one time -- were in sync."
By yesterday afternoon, less than two days after he defiantly declared Corzine's proposed sales tax increase was "dead in the General Assembly," Roberts found himself standing at a podium side by side with the governor. He was accepting a sales tax increase he had aggressively sought to kill.
"We do owe the people of this state an apology. We have disrupted their lives. We have caused hardship," Roberts said.
After days of heated rhetoric and political posturing, the unraveling of the Speaker's opposition began early Wednesday evening.
Roberts and Senate President Richard Codey, who was acting as a peace broker, met Corzine in the governor's office at about 7 p.m.
Corzine, seeking to jump-start talks with Roberts, offered a modified version of a compromise Codey had put forth weeks earlier. The issue was all about how the governor's proposed sales tax would be spent.
The Speaker had said any sales tax increase was unacceptable unless "every single, solitary penny" went towards property tax reform. Codey had suggested splitting it down the middle -- with half going towards balancing the budget and half towards property tax relief. Corzine was now willing to sweeten that deal a little by seeking a constitutional amendment to dedicate that money to property tax relief for 10 years.
By that time, word had spread around the Statehouse that earlier in the day, Corzine had met with his Washington, D.C.-based media consultant, Mike Donilon. The political adviser had written scripts for four television spots intended to put public pressure on Roberts to break the budget stalemate.
But when Roberts emerged from the meeting, he appeared more entrenched than ever. He announced that Assembly Democrats were pushing forward with their own alternative budget that would eliminate Corzine's sales tax increase. Codey appeared dispirited and said he believed they remained at a standstill and that the governor would veto the Speaker's plan.
Later that night, the Assembly Budget Committee held a hastily called meeting to consider a bill that would make casino regulators "essential employees," a law that would enable gaming halls to stay open in the event of a government shutdown. The powerful committee is chaired by Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden), a key Roberts ally.
The move was designed to take political heat off two Roberts allies: Assemblymen James Whelan and Jeff Van Drew, who both represent Atlantic County where thousands of casino workers live. If casino workers could go back to work, it would ease pressure on South Jersey Democrats and embolden them to keep fighting Corzine.
But Corzine's allies quickly hijacked the hearing.
One of them was Sen. William Gormley, a powerful and savvy Atlantic County Republican who helped rally the casino workers' union behind the Democratic governor.
During the hearing Gormley openly challenged Greenwald to pass a budget, and dismissed the chairman's invitation to join with the Assembly plan.
"I think I'll support the governor, because he's not in the tank. Okay?" Gormley said.
Then came a strategic parliamentary maneuver.
Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union), made a motion to amend the bill so that all state workers would be classified "essential employees." Greenwald sought to block it, but Corzine's team had stacked the audience with state workers, who began to shout that they were out of work, too, and that they were just as essential as casino workers.
The amendment passed. But the Cryan maneuver had essentially poisoned the bill. It stood no chance of passing the Assembly because of the constitutional issues it raised.
The state constitution prohibits the state from spending money without a budget in place, but it makes an exception for employees essential to preserving the health, safety and welfare of residents. Making all 80,000 state workers essential would render the term meaningless and would never pass muster with the courts.
"It was a critical turning point," one key Democrat and Corzine ally said.
But the political theater also demonstrated Greenwald did not have firm control of the 11-member Assembly Budget Committee -- which was critical to Roberts getting his alternative budget through.
Yesterday morning, Senate Majority Leader Bernard Kenny prowled the Assembly Chamber, twisting arms on the governor's behalf as Corzine prepared to deliver another speech. Word of the budget committee debacle had spread, and there was a sense that the battle had turned for the governor.
Corzine stepped up the pressure with a fiery speech that chastised the Assembly Budget Committee for its lack of action and exhorted lawmakers to get a deal by day's end. He also publicly laid out the plan he'd mentioned to Roberts the night before.
Moments later, Assembly Democrats gathered in their caucus room in the Statehouse basement. They were battle-fatigued and clamoring for Roberts to cut a deal.
By then, key allies from within the Speaker's own ranks began telling him it was over. It was time to compromise. Lawmakers in the caucus say Roberts delivered an impassioned speech, calling his team courageous. They say he also claimed he knew there were double agents in his midst, relaying information back to the Corzine camp.
"A few members betrayed the caucus, and I'm not sure they'll ever be forgiven," said one Assembly Democrat who requested anonymity.
Within hours, Corzine walked out of his office and up to the Speaker's second floor office, looking determined. He was silent, but his chief of staff, Tom Shea, was wearing a wide grin. Behind closed doors, Corzine also agreed to state publicly that he would make it a "goal" next year to dedicate 100 percent of the sales tax revenue to property tax relief. Aides to Corzine say the language was just that, a vague way to help Roberts save face after a grueling battle.
Reflecting on the experience and perhaps speaking for many others, the veteran Gormley said there are three basic rules for surviving the Statehouse: "Get along with the governor. Get along with the governor. Get along with the governor."
Staff writers Deborah Howlett, Joe Donohue and Dunstan McNichol contributed to this report.
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
Published by The Star-Ledger, Friday, July 7, 2006
Corzine's clout routs Roberts' rebellion
BY JEFF WHELAN AND JOSH MARGOLIN
Star-Ledger Staff
Hundreds of angry, out-of-work casino employees -- some brandishing bullhorns -- railed against Assembly Speaker Joe Roberts outside the Statehouse.
Gov. Jon Corzine was signaling he was ready to dig into his personal fortune to air campaign-style television ads making the veteran South Jersey Democrat out to be the villain behind the first state government shutdown in New Jersey's history.
And a late night committee meeting convened for one last stand backfired and left Roberts standing virtually alone.
In less than 24 hours from Wednesday evening to yesterday afternoon, the Speaker's insurrection against the governor ended as a wall of political pressure came down on his shoulders. The kind of pressure only a governor can bring to bear.
"It just took a while for the governor's operation to be revved up, and once it did, they folded like a house of cards," Assemblyman Kevin O'Toole (R-Essex) said. "It's everything: the money, the power of the office, his own personal largesse, his own personal chits that are out there. There are so many components and it was like they all -- at one time -- were in sync."
By yesterday afternoon, less than two days after he defiantly declared Corzine's proposed sales tax increase was "dead in the General Assembly," Roberts found himself standing at a podium side by side with the governor. He was accepting a sales tax increase he had aggressively sought to kill.
"We do owe the people of this state an apology. We have disrupted their lives. We have caused hardship," Roberts said.
After days of heated rhetoric and political posturing, the unraveling of the Speaker's opposition began early Wednesday evening.
Roberts and Senate President Richard Codey, who was acting as a peace broker, met Corzine in the governor's office at about 7 p.m.
Corzine, seeking to jump-start talks with Roberts, offered a modified version of a compromise Codey had put forth weeks earlier. The issue was all about how the governor's proposed sales tax would be spent.
The Speaker had said any sales tax increase was unacceptable unless "every single, solitary penny" went towards property tax reform. Codey had suggested splitting it down the middle -- with half going towards balancing the budget and half towards property tax relief. Corzine was now willing to sweeten that deal a little by seeking a constitutional amendment to dedicate that money to property tax relief for 10 years.
By that time, word had spread around the Statehouse that earlier in the day, Corzine had met with his Washington, D.C.-based media consultant, Mike Donilon. The political adviser had written scripts for four television spots intended to put public pressure on Roberts to break the budget stalemate.
But when Roberts emerged from the meeting, he appeared more entrenched than ever. He announced that Assembly Democrats were pushing forward with their own alternative budget that would eliminate Corzine's sales tax increase. Codey appeared dispirited and said he believed they remained at a standstill and that the governor would veto the Speaker's plan.
Later that night, the Assembly Budget Committee held a hastily called meeting to consider a bill that would make casino regulators "essential employees," a law that would enable gaming halls to stay open in the event of a government shutdown. The powerful committee is chaired by Assemblyman Louis Greenwald (D-Camden), a key Roberts ally.
The move was designed to take political heat off two Roberts allies: Assemblymen James Whelan and Jeff Van Drew, who both represent Atlantic County where thousands of casino workers live. If casino workers could go back to work, it would ease pressure on South Jersey Democrats and embolden them to keep fighting Corzine.
But Corzine's allies quickly hijacked the hearing.
One of them was Sen. William Gormley, a powerful and savvy Atlantic County Republican who helped rally the casino workers' union behind the Democratic governor.
During the hearing Gormley openly challenged Greenwald to pass a budget, and dismissed the chairman's invitation to join with the Assembly plan.
"I think I'll support the governor, because he's not in the tank. Okay?" Gormley said.
Then came a strategic parliamentary maneuver.
Assemblyman Joseph Cryan (D-Union), made a motion to amend the bill so that all state workers would be classified "essential employees." Greenwald sought to block it, but Corzine's team had stacked the audience with state workers, who began to shout that they were out of work, too, and that they were just as essential as casino workers.
The amendment passed. But the Cryan maneuver had essentially poisoned the bill. It stood no chance of passing the Assembly because of the constitutional issues it raised.
The state constitution prohibits the state from spending money without a budget in place, but it makes an exception for employees essential to preserving the health, safety and welfare of residents. Making all 80,000 state workers essential would render the term meaningless and would never pass muster with the courts.
"It was a critical turning point," one key Democrat and Corzine ally said.
But the political theater also demonstrated Greenwald did not have firm control of the 11-member Assembly Budget Committee -- which was critical to Roberts getting his alternative budget through.
Yesterday morning, Senate Majority Leader Bernard Kenny prowled the Assembly Chamber, twisting arms on the governor's behalf as Corzine prepared to deliver another speech. Word of the budget committee debacle had spread, and there was a sense that the battle had turned for the governor.
Corzine stepped up the pressure with a fiery speech that chastised the Assembly Budget Committee for its lack of action and exhorted lawmakers to get a deal by day's end. He also publicly laid out the plan he'd mentioned to Roberts the night before.
Moments later, Assembly Democrats gathered in their caucus room in the Statehouse basement. They were battle-fatigued and clamoring for Roberts to cut a deal.
By then, key allies from within the Speaker's own ranks began telling him it was over. It was time to compromise. Lawmakers in the caucus say Roberts delivered an impassioned speech, calling his team courageous. They say he also claimed he knew there were double agents in his midst, relaying information back to the Corzine camp.
"A few members betrayed the caucus, and I'm not sure they'll ever be forgiven," said one Assembly Democrat who requested anonymity.
Within hours, Corzine walked out of his office and up to the Speaker's second floor office, looking determined. He was silent, but his chief of staff, Tom Shea, was wearing a wide grin. Behind closed doors, Corzine also agreed to state publicly that he would make it a "goal" next year to dedicate 100 percent of the sales tax revenue to property tax relief. Aides to Corzine say the language was just that, a vague way to help Roberts save face after a grueling battle.
Reflecting on the experience and perhaps speaking for many others, the veteran Gormley said there are three basic rules for surviving the Statehouse: "Get along with the governor. Get along with the governor. Get along with the governor."
Staff writers Deborah Howlett, Joe Donohue and Dunstan McNichol contributed to this report.
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
State Budget - NY Times - Corzine vs. Roberts/Norcross
*
Published by The New York Times, Thursday, July 6, 2006
News Analysis
Behind Standoff, a Struggle for Party Control
By LAURA MANSNERUS
TRENTON, July 5 — Much of New Jersey's government has come to a shrieking halt because of a dispute over how to spend a half-cent in sales tax, over a payroll tax that most voters do not even know they pay, and over proposals that would ordinarily slip through the budget committees without discussion.
Yet while the spoken lines in this expensive political theater are about tax policy, conversations in the wings of the State House tell a different story: that this protracted inability on the part of the Democratic Assembly speaker and the Democratic governor to reach a budget agreement is much more about control of the party.
"This is less about policy than about people's personalities," State Senator Ellen Karcher, a Monmouth County Democrat, said of the standoff between Gov. Jon S. Corzine and Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr.
Mr. Corzine, who laid out his budget 106 days ago, has an unwavering message: The sales tax increase is crucial to the state's chronically underfinanced government, and anything less is an easy and empty gesture.
Mr. Roberts says that any sales tax increase must be dedicated to property tax relief, and that the 49 Assembly Democrats will not even accept a compromise that sets aside half a cent for that purpose. He has floated several alternatives, including an increase in a disability payroll tax that Mr. Corzine has rejected.
From the start of this standoff, the Senate, also controlled by Democrats, has stood with the governor, or at least with the half-cent compromise that Senate President Richard J. Codey proposed two weeks ago.
So have unions representing public employees and casino workers, who are losing money every day there is no budget. And so have a number of Assembly Democrats, who say privately that they would vote for Mr. Corzine's budget but are not ready to desert their speaker — yet.
But Mr. Roberts and the Assembly Budget Committee chairman, Louis D. Greenwald, have not budged. In fact, they say they have gained ground; more than 20 Assembly Democrats stood ready to support Mr. Corzine as of the deadline last Friday for a new budget, but in a show of hands on Tuesday, Mr. Roberts insisted the number was down to 15.
Mr. Roberts and Mr. Greenwald, both from Camden County, are leading a faction from South Jersey that for years has complained of slights by the statewide party. The current standoff reflects that estrangement — and perhaps, some legislators say, accounts for Mr. Roberts's resistance.
Many others say — although rarely for attribution — that the real chess match here is between Mr. Corzine and the Camden County organization, personified by Mr. Roberts and by George E. Norcross III, one of the party's most formidable power brokers.
Mr. Norcross, a former Camden County Democratic party chairman, is not only a political ally and former business partner of Mr. Roberts, but the patron of many other South Jersey Democrats. Nor does his influence end there, since the Camden County organization sends money to Democratic candidates all over the state.
At the same time, Mr. Corzine has tried to distance himself from the powerful Camden County organization.
As for Mr. Norcross, "The governor has not spoken to him for a while and has no reason to," said Anthony Coley, Mr. Corzine's press secretary.
The proxy theory is widespread among Republicans.
"This is a power struggle by South Jersey political boss George Norcross to display his power over the governor of New Jersey," Assemblyman Richard A. Merkt said, "and the governor is struggling to display his independence from the boss system of New Jersey."
Mr. Merkt added: "It's a battle that's long overdue. If I have to choose between an elected official and a hidden Cardinal Richelieu type, I'll take the elected official every time." But Mr. Merkt, like all Assembly Republicans, is opposed to all tax increases.
But Ross K. Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers, discounts the Norcross theory. "Joe Roberts is trying to protect South Jersey Democrats in marginal districts," Professor Baker said.
As he put it: "The idea that George Norcross uses Joe Roberts as a cudgel to beat up on the governor is ludicrous. But I do think the Democrats in the southern part of the state are feeling less secure, and the word 'tax' is a deal-breaker for many voters."
Mr. Roberts, who was in a daylong closed session with the Assembly Democrats, could not be reached for comment. But he said in a recent news conference that Mr. Norcross had no role in the standoff.
In a recent interview, he called Mr. Norcross his friend, but said that he would not last a day if "people thought that I was not independent."
Mr. Norcross was on vacation and could not be reached, an assistant said, and he did not respond to two e-mail messages over the last few days.
Many legislators say Mr. Roberts has simply backed himself into a corner — a situation that Republicans are enjoying as they watch the fireworks.
Assemblyman Guy Gregg, a Morris County Republican, said: "I don't mean this in a personal way, because I like Joe, but I think he's Dr. Frankenstein in a way because he's created this monster in his caucus" by casting its members as warriors against a tax increase.
"And now I think there's no going back," Mr. Gregg said. "The governor can change his mind tomorrow. Joe can't. He's leading 49 people."
Mr. Corzine, as the most visible figure in the budget battle, stands to bear the brunt of voter anger if the shutdown continues for long. But so far, he is receiving favorable reviews for his stubbornness from some legislators in both parties.
Senator Karcher, for example, said Mr. Corzine had shown admirable tenacity in the last few weeks — although she added, "Admiring his maneuver on this is not necessarily admiring what he's put on the table."
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
Published by The New York Times, Thursday, July 6, 2006
News Analysis
Behind Standoff, a Struggle for Party Control
By LAURA MANSNERUS
TRENTON, July 5 — Much of New Jersey's government has come to a shrieking halt because of a dispute over how to spend a half-cent in sales tax, over a payroll tax that most voters do not even know they pay, and over proposals that would ordinarily slip through the budget committees without discussion.
Yet while the spoken lines in this expensive political theater are about tax policy, conversations in the wings of the State House tell a different story: that this protracted inability on the part of the Democratic Assembly speaker and the Democratic governor to reach a budget agreement is much more about control of the party.
"This is less about policy than about people's personalities," State Senator Ellen Karcher, a Monmouth County Democrat, said of the standoff between Gov. Jon S. Corzine and Assembly Speaker Joseph J. Roberts Jr.
Mr. Corzine, who laid out his budget 106 days ago, has an unwavering message: The sales tax increase is crucial to the state's chronically underfinanced government, and anything less is an easy and empty gesture.
Mr. Roberts says that any sales tax increase must be dedicated to property tax relief, and that the 49 Assembly Democrats will not even accept a compromise that sets aside half a cent for that purpose. He has floated several alternatives, including an increase in a disability payroll tax that Mr. Corzine has rejected.
From the start of this standoff, the Senate, also controlled by Democrats, has stood with the governor, or at least with the half-cent compromise that Senate President Richard J. Codey proposed two weeks ago.
So have unions representing public employees and casino workers, who are losing money every day there is no budget. And so have a number of Assembly Democrats, who say privately that they would vote for Mr. Corzine's budget but are not ready to desert their speaker — yet.
But Mr. Roberts and the Assembly Budget Committee chairman, Louis D. Greenwald, have not budged. In fact, they say they have gained ground; more than 20 Assembly Democrats stood ready to support Mr. Corzine as of the deadline last Friday for a new budget, but in a show of hands on Tuesday, Mr. Roberts insisted the number was down to 15.
Mr. Roberts and Mr. Greenwald, both from Camden County, are leading a faction from South Jersey that for years has complained of slights by the statewide party. The current standoff reflects that estrangement — and perhaps, some legislators say, accounts for Mr. Roberts's resistance.
Many others say — although rarely for attribution — that the real chess match here is between Mr. Corzine and the Camden County organization, personified by Mr. Roberts and by George E. Norcross III, one of the party's most formidable power brokers.
Mr. Norcross, a former Camden County Democratic party chairman, is not only a political ally and former business partner of Mr. Roberts, but the patron of many other South Jersey Democrats. Nor does his influence end there, since the Camden County organization sends money to Democratic candidates all over the state.
At the same time, Mr. Corzine has tried to distance himself from the powerful Camden County organization.
As for Mr. Norcross, "The governor has not spoken to him for a while and has no reason to," said Anthony Coley, Mr. Corzine's press secretary.
The proxy theory is widespread among Republicans.
"This is a power struggle by South Jersey political boss George Norcross to display his power over the governor of New Jersey," Assemblyman Richard A. Merkt said, "and the governor is struggling to display his independence from the boss system of New Jersey."
Mr. Merkt added: "It's a battle that's long overdue. If I have to choose between an elected official and a hidden Cardinal Richelieu type, I'll take the elected official every time." But Mr. Merkt, like all Assembly Republicans, is opposed to all tax increases.
But Ross K. Baker, a political scientist at Rutgers, discounts the Norcross theory. "Joe Roberts is trying to protect South Jersey Democrats in marginal districts," Professor Baker said.
As he put it: "The idea that George Norcross uses Joe Roberts as a cudgel to beat up on the governor is ludicrous. But I do think the Democrats in the southern part of the state are feeling less secure, and the word 'tax' is a deal-breaker for many voters."
Mr. Roberts, who was in a daylong closed session with the Assembly Democrats, could not be reached for comment. But he said in a recent news conference that Mr. Norcross had no role in the standoff.
In a recent interview, he called Mr. Norcross his friend, but said that he would not last a day if "people thought that I was not independent."
Mr. Norcross was on vacation and could not be reached, an assistant said, and he did not respond to two e-mail messages over the last few days.
Many legislators say Mr. Roberts has simply backed himself into a corner — a situation that Republicans are enjoying as they watch the fireworks.
Assemblyman Guy Gregg, a Morris County Republican, said: "I don't mean this in a personal way, because I like Joe, but I think he's Dr. Frankenstein in a way because he's created this monster in his caucus" by casting its members as warriors against a tax increase.
"And now I think there's no going back," Mr. Gregg said. "The governor can change his mind tomorrow. Joe can't. He's leading 49 people."
Mr. Corzine, as the most visible figure in the budget battle, stands to bear the brunt of voter anger if the shutdown continues for long. But so far, he is receiving favorable reviews for his stubbornness from some legislators in both parties.
Senator Karcher, for example, said Mr. Corzine had shown admirable tenacity in the last few weeks — although she added, "Admiring his maneuver on this is not necessarily admiring what he's put on the table."
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
State Budget - Herald News - Roberts left all wet
*
Published by The Herald News, Friday, July 7, 2006
Six days of rain ends, Roberts left all wet
By ALFRED DOBLIN, COLUMNIST
And on the sixth day, they came to agreement. The budget logjam is over and Gov. Jon S. Corzine is standing on high ground. Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts is clutching a log heading down the Delaware River.
During the state shutdown, it was clear this was a test of wills between Corzine and Roberts. Yet in true Trenton fashion, it was not always clear which legislators were aligned with Corzine or Roberts. For example on Wednesday, Assemblyman Alfred Steele, D-Paterson, said he was loyal to the speaker but he would support Corzine's plan if it came to the floor of the Assembly. The plan could not come to the floor unless the budget committee supported it. Guess who is on the budget committee? Steele. So how could it get to the floor if he didn't vote for it in committee? It boggles the mind.
In the future, Corzine supporters should wear blue sweater vests as a sign of allegiance to the governor. Supporters of Roberts should don life preservers.
In the U.S. Senate, Corzine was a consistent liberal voice, but he lacked seniority and rarely made national deadlines. That changed when he became governor. New Jerseyans finally have the opportunity to see the kind of man they elected. They also can understand why Corzine was frustrated by the U.S. Senate structure. In the Capitol, he was a cog. In Trenton, he's moving the machinery.
If casinos had been open, perhaps bets would have been placed on who would win: Corzine or Roberts? A few days ago, the betting money would have been on Roberts, the seemingly more seasoned Jersey politician. But tastes change. New Jerseyans want less seasoning and more meat.
The budget deal retains a 1 percent increase in the sales tax. Half goes to plug the budget gap and half toward property tax relief. Voters will decide in November if they want to amend the state Constitution to ensure this money remains dedicated for property tax relief. If the fiscal picture brightens, the entire 1 percent could be applied to relieve property taxes.
Roberts had balked at the sales tax increase. Corzine held firm to the tax but accepted a compromise offered by Senate President Richard J. Codey. The only way to stabilize state financing is to increase recurring revenues. A sales tax increase is not a gimmick; it is a dependable source of income.
Codey and Corzine are winners. Roberts is not. The most interesting collateral damage affecting Passaic County voters is Assemblywoman Nellie Pou. Earlier this year, she became chairwoman of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. She probably had no choice but to support Roberts -- a bad move for Pou; a good move for Patersonians. Last year, the state legislator inserted herself in the personnel decisions of the Paterson school district. Pou had issues with state-appointed Schools Superintendent Michael Glascoe. He didn't promote one of Pou's friends, who it turned out had never applied for the position. With Pou's star on the rise, it was anyone's guess how much meddling she could do in the Paterson district. However, it's one thing to be Dick Cheney to George W. Bush, it's quite another to be Spiro Agnew to Richard Nixon. Pou's days in the sun may be numbered. She backed the wrong horse.
Members of the Assembly do not face re-election until November 2007. They should face voters today. They should be held accountable for their lack of action before the clock ran out at midnight July 1. The state of New Jersey shut down because of egos run amok, because voters have allowed mediocrities -- of both political parties -- to waltz into office.
Being a Democrat in Paterson is not a good enough reason to be elected to the Assembly, anymore than it is in Camden. Voters get back what they put into the electoral process. On Thursday, before the agreement was reached, Corzine told lawmakers that his father had a saying: "If you're trying to get out of a hole, why don't you just stop digging?"
The digging has stopped, and there is a whopper of a hole. It's a good thing. Roberts, Pou and their allies have some place to hide until November 2007.
Alfred P. Doblin is the editorial page editor of the Herald News. Reach him at doblin@northjersey.com
Link to original story
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
Published by The Herald News, Friday, July 7, 2006
Six days of rain ends, Roberts left all wet
By ALFRED DOBLIN, COLUMNIST
And on the sixth day, they came to agreement. The budget logjam is over and Gov. Jon S. Corzine is standing on high ground. Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts is clutching a log heading down the Delaware River.
During the state shutdown, it was clear this was a test of wills between Corzine and Roberts. Yet in true Trenton fashion, it was not always clear which legislators were aligned with Corzine or Roberts. For example on Wednesday, Assemblyman Alfred Steele, D-Paterson, said he was loyal to the speaker but he would support Corzine's plan if it came to the floor of the Assembly. The plan could not come to the floor unless the budget committee supported it. Guess who is on the budget committee? Steele. So how could it get to the floor if he didn't vote for it in committee? It boggles the mind.
In the future, Corzine supporters should wear blue sweater vests as a sign of allegiance to the governor. Supporters of Roberts should don life preservers.
In the U.S. Senate, Corzine was a consistent liberal voice, but he lacked seniority and rarely made national deadlines. That changed when he became governor. New Jerseyans finally have the opportunity to see the kind of man they elected. They also can understand why Corzine was frustrated by the U.S. Senate structure. In the Capitol, he was a cog. In Trenton, he's moving the machinery.
If casinos had been open, perhaps bets would have been placed on who would win: Corzine or Roberts? A few days ago, the betting money would have been on Roberts, the seemingly more seasoned Jersey politician. But tastes change. New Jerseyans want less seasoning and more meat.
The budget deal retains a 1 percent increase in the sales tax. Half goes to plug the budget gap and half toward property tax relief. Voters will decide in November if they want to amend the state Constitution to ensure this money remains dedicated for property tax relief. If the fiscal picture brightens, the entire 1 percent could be applied to relieve property taxes.
Roberts had balked at the sales tax increase. Corzine held firm to the tax but accepted a compromise offered by Senate President Richard J. Codey. The only way to stabilize state financing is to increase recurring revenues. A sales tax increase is not a gimmick; it is a dependable source of income.
Codey and Corzine are winners. Roberts is not. The most interesting collateral damage affecting Passaic County voters is Assemblywoman Nellie Pou. Earlier this year, she became chairwoman of the Assembly Appropriations Committee. She probably had no choice but to support Roberts -- a bad move for Pou; a good move for Patersonians. Last year, the state legislator inserted herself in the personnel decisions of the Paterson school district. Pou had issues with state-appointed Schools Superintendent Michael Glascoe. He didn't promote one of Pou's friends, who it turned out had never applied for the position. With Pou's star on the rise, it was anyone's guess how much meddling she could do in the Paterson district. However, it's one thing to be Dick Cheney to George W. Bush, it's quite another to be Spiro Agnew to Richard Nixon. Pou's days in the sun may be numbered. She backed the wrong horse.
Members of the Assembly do not face re-election until November 2007. They should face voters today. They should be held accountable for their lack of action before the clock ran out at midnight July 1. The state of New Jersey shut down because of egos run amok, because voters have allowed mediocrities -- of both political parties -- to waltz into office.
Being a Democrat in Paterson is not a good enough reason to be elected to the Assembly, anymore than it is in Camden. Voters get back what they put into the electoral process. On Thursday, before the agreement was reached, Corzine told lawmakers that his father had a saying: "If you're trying to get out of a hole, why don't you just stop digging?"
The digging has stopped, and there is a whopper of a hole. It's a good thing. Roberts, Pou and their allies have some place to hide until November 2007.
Alfred P. Doblin is the editorial page editor of the Herald News. Reach him at doblin@northjersey.com
Link to original story
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
State Budget - Wally Edge - A pass for Stender?
*
Published by Wally Edge on PoliticsNJ, Friday, July 7, 2006
Lining up for a budget pass
The budget deal between Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts and Governor Jon Corzine could potentially exempt eight Democratic legislators in the lower house who are anxious to avoid a vote supporting a sales tax increase. Jefferson Van Drew and Nelson Albano in the first district, James Whelan in the second, Michael Panter in the twelfth, and Linda Greenstein in the fourteenth -- all Democrats with potentially competitive races for re-election next year -- appear to be the leading contenders for the first five slots. The sixth pass will probably go to Linda Stender, a Union County Democrat who is running for Congress this year against Republican Michael Ferguson. Democratic sources say that John Burzichelli and Douglas Fisher in the third, Paul Moriarty and David Mayer in the fourth, and Frederick Scalera and Gary Schaer in the 36th will likely compete for the last two slots.
Editor's Note: Schaer says that he and Scalera plan to vote for the budget and have "never asked" for a pass.
Posted by Wally Edge on July 7, 2006 07:44 AM |
http://politics.nexcess.net/insideedge/2006/07/lining_up_for_a_budget_pass.html
COMMENTS
"If they are anxious about supporting a tax hike they should vote NO. There are no passes in government. If they don't vote there will be fallout.
Posted by: Marion Morrison [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 08:27 AM
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don't forget Bob Gordon and Joan Voss in the 38th with all that retail in Paramus and Edgewater.
By the way if Corzine wants to look like a conservative he can just point to the absurd tax increase in Passaic County, where a freeholder candidate per day keeps the electorate astray.
Posted by: PaulieWalnuts [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 08:37 AM
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I agree with Wally on the top five slots. However, I'm not sure about Stender. For some reason I think the party establishment is aware that all 13 incumbents (I'll count congressman-elect Sires as one) are pretty much unbeatable and Dems will not forfeit a needed vote to help someone with a long-shot congressional bid.
Posted by: ShoreGuy [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 09:54 AM
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Van Drew may get a pass on the budget but many in his neck fo the woods will not soon forget he was party to allowing the Casinos to shut down for Roberts' political and personal gain and then failed to stop his Democrat collegues from killing his bill to "essentalize" casino control enforcment employees and allow them back to work. Ouch! Doctor. That has to feel like drilling without novocain.
Posted by: gVinnie [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 11:17 AM
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Schaer & Scalera are too politically ignorant to realize the consequences of voting for the sales tax hike.
Both of them seem to ignore the fact they represent a district that is nearly 60% Bergen County.
Does Scalera think he's going to get another free pass in 2007? Does he think the tax weary citizens of Nutley already getting clobbered with a revaluation will be sympathetic to Freddy's political dilemma?
The Republicans run two Bergen candidates of stature and we have a race. Add opposition to Xanadu and this becomes a horse race. Neither Scalera or Schaer have any presence in Bergen. They have no relationship with the locals in any of those towns.
Wake up and take the pass gentlemen....
Posted by: NJDem [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 02:11 PM
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you can insist all you want that this was a personal agenda for norcross or roberts, but you are really missing the point. south jersey is just a different place. it's more fiscally conservative. taxes are a bigger deal. that's why you still see sweeney saying he's against the agreement, even though he respects it. that's why van drew has beat the daylights out of the republicans every time by running (and governing) to the right of them on taxes. the agenda is fighting tax increases, and it's the agenda of the people he represents, not the power brokers. he will not be punished for fighting that good fight.
a doctor doesn't need the novacaine until others sell out that philosophy for their own personal or political agenda.
Posted by: MoreCommonSense [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 03:24 PM
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South Jersey Democrats represent far more rural and suburban residents. You can't control the legislature with the delegations of Hudson, Essex, Union and Middlesex.
Roberts didn't lose anything. He tried to protect Corzine from this politically assisted suicide.
Corzine looks ridiculous in this whole mess with his out-of-state yuppie advisors driving his administration off a cliff.
Corzine benefits by having less Democrats in the legislature. He wants to make the Republicans relevant so he isn't beholden legislatively to Norcross, Menendez, et al...
If Kean wins, it will be this shutdown that puts him over the top. Even T2 isn't dumb enough to screw the pooch. All he has to do is vote no on the sales tax and budget and remind people how Menendez praised this budget as responsible.
Posted by: NJDem [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 04:44 PM
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
Published by Wally Edge on PoliticsNJ, Friday, July 7, 2006
Lining up for a budget pass
The budget deal between Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts and Governor Jon Corzine could potentially exempt eight Democratic legislators in the lower house who are anxious to avoid a vote supporting a sales tax increase. Jefferson Van Drew and Nelson Albano in the first district, James Whelan in the second, Michael Panter in the twelfth, and Linda Greenstein in the fourteenth -- all Democrats with potentially competitive races for re-election next year -- appear to be the leading contenders for the first five slots. The sixth pass will probably go to Linda Stender, a Union County Democrat who is running for Congress this year against Republican Michael Ferguson. Democratic sources say that John Burzichelli and Douglas Fisher in the third, Paul Moriarty and David Mayer in the fourth, and Frederick Scalera and Gary Schaer in the 36th will likely compete for the last two slots.
Editor's Note: Schaer says that he and Scalera plan to vote for the budget and have "never asked" for a pass.
Posted by Wally Edge on July 7, 2006 07:44 AM |
http://politics.nexcess.net/insideedge/2006/07/lining_up_for_a_budget_pass.html
COMMENTS
"If they are anxious about supporting a tax hike they should vote NO. There are no passes in government. If they don't vote there will be fallout.
Posted by: Marion Morrison [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 08:27 AM
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don't forget Bob Gordon and Joan Voss in the 38th with all that retail in Paramus and Edgewater.
By the way if Corzine wants to look like a conservative he can just point to the absurd tax increase in Passaic County, where a freeholder candidate per day keeps the electorate astray.
Posted by: PaulieWalnuts [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 08:37 AM
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I agree with Wally on the top five slots. However, I'm not sure about Stender. For some reason I think the party establishment is aware that all 13 incumbents (I'll count congressman-elect Sires as one) are pretty much unbeatable and Dems will not forfeit a needed vote to help someone with a long-shot congressional bid.
Posted by: ShoreGuy [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 09:54 AM
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Van Drew may get a pass on the budget but many in his neck fo the woods will not soon forget he was party to allowing the Casinos to shut down for Roberts' political and personal gain and then failed to stop his Democrat collegues from killing his bill to "essentalize" casino control enforcment employees and allow them back to work. Ouch! Doctor. That has to feel like drilling without novocain.
Posted by: gVinnie [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 11:17 AM
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Schaer & Scalera are too politically ignorant to realize the consequences of voting for the sales tax hike.
Both of them seem to ignore the fact they represent a district that is nearly 60% Bergen County.
Does Scalera think he's going to get another free pass in 2007? Does he think the tax weary citizens of Nutley already getting clobbered with a revaluation will be sympathetic to Freddy's political dilemma?
The Republicans run two Bergen candidates of stature and we have a race. Add opposition to Xanadu and this becomes a horse race. Neither Scalera or Schaer have any presence in Bergen. They have no relationship with the locals in any of those towns.
Wake up and take the pass gentlemen....
Posted by: NJDem [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 02:11 PM
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you can insist all you want that this was a personal agenda for norcross or roberts, but you are really missing the point. south jersey is just a different place. it's more fiscally conservative. taxes are a bigger deal. that's why you still see sweeney saying he's against the agreement, even though he respects it. that's why van drew has beat the daylights out of the republicans every time by running (and governing) to the right of them on taxes. the agenda is fighting tax increases, and it's the agenda of the people he represents, not the power brokers. he will not be punished for fighting that good fight.
a doctor doesn't need the novacaine until others sell out that philosophy for their own personal or political agenda.
Posted by: MoreCommonSense [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 03:24 PM
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South Jersey Democrats represent far more rural and suburban residents. You can't control the legislature with the delegations of Hudson, Essex, Union and Middlesex.
Roberts didn't lose anything. He tried to protect Corzine from this politically assisted suicide.
Corzine looks ridiculous in this whole mess with his out-of-state yuppie advisors driving his administration off a cliff.
Corzine benefits by having less Democrats in the legislature. He wants to make the Republicans relevant so he isn't beholden legislatively to Norcross, Menendez, et al...
If Kean wins, it will be this shutdown that puts him over the top. Even T2 isn't dumb enough to screw the pooch. All he has to do is vote no on the sales tax and budget and remind people how Menendez praised this budget as responsible.
Posted by: NJDem [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 7, 2006 04:44 PM
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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State Budget - Wally Edge - A primary for Caraballo
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Published by Wally Edge on PoliticsNJ, Wednesday, July 5, 2006
A primary for Caraballo
There are reports from Essex County that Democrats will withdraw party support for Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo's 2007 re-election campaign because the veteran Newark legislator is siding with Speaker Joseph Roberts. The rest of the Essex delegation has chosen to ally themselves with Governor Jon Corzine, as have Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and Newark political powerhouse Stephen Adubato, Sr. Sources say that Caraballo, a close Adubato ally, has been told he might be dropped from the Essex Democratic line if he continues his alliance with Roberts. The source also said that Caraballo's political relationship with Adubato has become deeply strained over the last week.
Caraballo represents the 29th district, where a contested Democratic primary for State Senator is likely if the incumbent, Sharpe James, seeks re-election next year. James, whose twenty-year tenure as Mayor of Newark ended on July 1, has not yet declared his intentions. There is considerable speculation that City Councilman Luis Quintana, an ally of Mayor Cory Booker who challenged James in the 2003 primary, wants the Senate seat. Last week, Mildred Crump was elected Council President -- a spot Quintana had been seeking -- increasing talk that Quintana was headed for the Senate instead.
The other Assemblyman from that district is William Payne, the brother of Congressman Donald Payne. Payne and Caraballo have had a distant relationship since late last year, when Payne announced that he would back Bonnie Watson Coleman against Caraballo in the race for Assembly Majority Leader.
Posted by Wally Edge on July 5, 2006 11:47 AM |
http://politics.nexcess.net/insideedge/2006/07/a_primary_for_caraballo.html
COMMENTS
"If my man Cory wants real power, he should get Quintana to run as a Republican (since I've heard he really is), and then make a coalition with Republicans in Bloomfield and Belleville to win a seat in the 28th, especially since his nemesis Ronald Rice has that seat. Newark is being destroyed by Corzineism and even they might vote Republican in 2007. Hopefully Irvington stays home, Newark, Bloomfield and Belleville vote Republican, and then Oadline the Idiot can go back to her library!
Posted by: PaulieWalnuts [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 5, 2006 02:07 PM
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Paulie
One thing is certain, Cory will have a say in the soon to be former Rice and James Senate seats.
Posted by: mojo [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 6, 2006 04:31 PM
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
Published by Wally Edge on PoliticsNJ, Wednesday, July 5, 2006
A primary for Caraballo
There are reports from Essex County that Democrats will withdraw party support for Assemblyman Wilfredo Caraballo's 2007 re-election campaign because the veteran Newark legislator is siding with Speaker Joseph Roberts. The rest of the Essex delegation has chosen to ally themselves with Governor Jon Corzine, as have Essex County Executive Joseph DiVincenzo and Newark political powerhouse Stephen Adubato, Sr. Sources say that Caraballo, a close Adubato ally, has been told he might be dropped from the Essex Democratic line if he continues his alliance with Roberts. The source also said that Caraballo's political relationship with Adubato has become deeply strained over the last week.
Caraballo represents the 29th district, where a contested Democratic primary for State Senator is likely if the incumbent, Sharpe James, seeks re-election next year. James, whose twenty-year tenure as Mayor of Newark ended on July 1, has not yet declared his intentions. There is considerable speculation that City Councilman Luis Quintana, an ally of Mayor Cory Booker who challenged James in the 2003 primary, wants the Senate seat. Last week, Mildred Crump was elected Council President -- a spot Quintana had been seeking -- increasing talk that Quintana was headed for the Senate instead.
The other Assemblyman from that district is William Payne, the brother of Congressman Donald Payne. Payne and Caraballo have had a distant relationship since late last year, when Payne announced that he would back Bonnie Watson Coleman against Caraballo in the race for Assembly Majority Leader.
Posted by Wally Edge on July 5, 2006 11:47 AM |
http://politics.nexcess.net/insideedge/2006/07/a_primary_for_caraballo.html
COMMENTS
"If my man Cory wants real power, he should get Quintana to run as a Republican (since I've heard he really is), and then make a coalition with Republicans in Bloomfield and Belleville to win a seat in the 28th, especially since his nemesis Ronald Rice has that seat. Newark is being destroyed by Corzineism and even they might vote Republican in 2007. Hopefully Irvington stays home, Newark, Bloomfield and Belleville vote Republican, and then Oadline the Idiot can go back to her library!
Posted by: PaulieWalnuts [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 5, 2006 02:07 PM
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Paulie
One thing is certain, Cory will have a say in the soon to be former Rice and James Senate seats.
Posted by: mojo [TypeKey Profile Page] | July 6, 2006 04:31 PM
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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State Budget - Wally Edge - Team Corzine threatens Roberts
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Published by Wally Edge on PoliticsNJ, Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Team Corzine threatens Roberts' speakership
A high ranking Democratic leader says there has been discussions among Governor Jon Corzine's staff about removing Joseph Roberts as the Assembly Speaker, although the front office strongly denies that they are focused on anythig but the budget. James E. McGreevey, as the Governor-elect in 2001, engineered a deal to elect Albio Sires as Speaker instead of then-Minority Leader Joseph Doria.
Any group of ten Democrats could effectively organize the Assembly, if they can develop an alliance with the 31 Republicans. Similarly, a group of four Democratic State Senators could remove Richard Codey as Senate President with the help of the eighteen GOP Senators. In 1971, after Democrats won control of the State Assembly, Republican Thomas Kean cut a deal with four Democrats from Hudson County to become the Speaker.
Codey and Roberts, of course, are perpetual targets of leadership change rumors.
Posted by Wally Edge on June 28, 2006 03:18 PM | Permalink
http://politics.nexcess.net/insideedge/2006/06/team_corzine_threatens_roberts.html
COMMENTS
While this rumor is not especially surprising, it begs two questions. One is, whom would replace Roberts (Watson-Coleman, McKeon)? And, what would the Corzine-friendly Democratic assmeblymen get out of this except the "thanks and respect of a grateful governor?" The constituents back home probably want a little more than that.
Posted by: hummingbird [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 03:41 PM
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Could have been a great opportunity for Joe Vas to replace Albio Sires !
Posted by: MVJ [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 03:48 PM
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Should be interesting. Lets all keep our fingers crossed. If Roberts loses this budget battle that will be twice in two years he went up against the Governor's office and lost (and with two different Governors). His caucus should be questioning his leadership right now. They are obviously in a state of disarray.
Posted by: fed up in NJ [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 03:55 PM
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Corzine will be lucky if Team Roberts doesn't decide to remove him.
All the money in the world won't help him if he continues on the route he is presently.
Posted by: whateverNJ [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 04:21 PM
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It's better than Corzine just bending to the will of the Roberts' regime. Obviously, Mr. Roberts didn't learn anything from his smack down from last year. And make no mistake, it was a smackdown.
Posted by: fed up in NJ [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 04:28 PM
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Nobody is removing Corzine and he doesn't need all the money in the world for another 3 years. Roberts needs it in 07. If Corzine wins this battle, expect a political jihad in the lower 8. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a whole lot of paper shredding going on in SJ tonight.
Posted by: resurrectingreagan [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 04:34 PM
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This sounds like there are too many bored people in trenton sitting around waiting for the budget, hatching conspiracy theories. Nobody is going anywhere--the Corzine, Codey, Roberts love triangle will be on display at least through 2007.
Posted by: McGovernDem [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 04:57 PM
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As if DeCroce could deliver 31 votes. This clown is so inept he couldn't deliver a pizza. The only reason why no one takes him out as leader is becuase there is nothing to look forward to as a GOPer in the Assembly
Posted by: YNOTRockefeller? [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 05:53 PM
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If Roberts is removed for killing the sales tax, he will be a martyr.
Posted by: NorthJerseyPopulist [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 06:16 PM
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Yes, Alex DeCroce is the inept, perhaps the most inept person in Trenton. More inept than Corzine, Codey, and especially more inept than Joe Roberts. That's why this whole budget process has been so easy and efficient under absolute Democrat control. Last year, too, Codey and Roberts did a hell of a job. Other states should watch and take notes on how not to be inept.
And Christie Whitman is to blame for all of our present problems.
And by the way, YNotRockefeller, I GUARANTEE that the Assembly Republicans will have their pizzas before the Assembly Democrats or either side of the Senate on Friday night.
Posted by: Aetius [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 08:27 PM
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What is interesting is that Nellie Pou seems to be siding with South Jersey Democrats when in fact Essex and Hudson seem to be on board with Corzine. To read more on the history of that, take a look at the link below.
Posted by: CollegeDem [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 10:18 PM
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Well, I have to admit it.....I'm really enjoying the fun taking place at the statehouse (obviously, I would rather have control, but being in the minority does have a few benefits).
Still, I'm amazed that I'm on the Roberts/Norcross side of things! Politically, I wouldn't mind seeing Cozine slam through the tax increase, since it will definitely help us out in 2007. Oh well, this is a win-win for me.....Roberts wins, no sales tax increase, Cozine wins, help for 2007.
Posted by: SomersetRepublican [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 01:05 PM
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Fascinating. Priority #1: POWER.
Priority # 2,743,974 the taxpayers of NJ
Posted by: MarkOtto [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 01:12 PM
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Well Aetius, ur right. This is George N's state. Roberts will win this fight. Everyone knows that except Corzine. The Guv of NJ maybe the strongest executive in the nation becuase of our state constitution, but he is still no match for Norcross if Norcross decides to take him out.
Posted by: YNOTRockefeller? [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 01:17 PM
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I think I'm with Roberts too. The education cuts just don't make sense, the pensions are bloated too.
Posted by: CollegeDem [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 01:20 PM
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Corzine better watch out. Tom Kean and Frank Holman tried to block Chuck Hardwick from becoming speaker in 1985 and Hardwick won. They then tried to take out Hordiwk's guy as executive director.
Kean and Hiolman lost on both counts...and regretted it for the entire second term!
Posted by: walt hollenbeck [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 01:24 PM
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Corzine is making a big mistake by taking a run at Roberts/Norcross. No one plays hardball better than George, and Corzine is learning this first hand. The average citizen doesn't know which budget proposal is better for him, but they will blame Corzine when the casinos and parks are closed on 4th of July weekend.
Corzine needs to paint the looming shutdown as a result of Roberts not willing to support a painful but fiscally necessary budget. He needs to enlist Codey, currently the most beloved NJ pol, to call on Roberts to backdown. But I dont see Codey wanting to do any favors for the man who pushed him out of the governors seat.
Unless Corzine learns how the game is played in Trenton it is going to be a long four years for him.
Posted by: machiavelli [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 02:02 PM
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I wonder if the Governor will have the nerve to say that Joe Roberts is one the guys responsible for the fiscal mess the state is in...and his budget will simply perpetuate that mess for another year. I suspect Roberts will respond that all will be fixed in the special session of the legislature this summer, and the state should try to cobble together a compromise budget to get through another year. That's not the worst political argument that can be made, and I'm suprised we haven't heard Roberts make it.
Posted by: hummingbird [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 02:12 PM
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The problem for Corzine is that you can't blame a shutdown on a person that 99% of NJ doesn't know.....aka, Roberts. This is not a Newt/Clinton shutdown the government issue, since Cozine doesn't have a well-known person (with an increasing negative image in the public - I believe this was around the time that Newt started to really put his foot into his mouth) to blame things on.
I don't understand what Corzine is doing.....he's going to get blamed at the end of the day if the government is shutdown.
Posted by: SomersetRepublican [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 03:06 PM
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Roberts is looking for a politically safe stop gap, which is what Corzine has been trying to stop since he got in office. Yes, he may have a tough time politically, but at least he has the guts to try and get things on the right track. Yes, pensions are bloated, but that wasn't Corzine's fault. It is the fault of years of political spinelessness from both parties who cater to special interests so that they won't lose their jobs. And brilliant ideas like then pension bonding of Whitman. And now the bill is due. How do you suggest the State pay for it?
Posted by: fed up in NJ [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 04:29 PM
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Is Corzine intentionally picking a fight?
Why does Corzine believe the only way to balance a budget is to raise taxes?
Isn't this the same guy who said raising taxes was a "last resort?"
Corzine and Tim Kaine, the Democratic governor of Virginia seem to be playing from the same national playbook by forcing the legislature to pass tax increeases nobody wants nor supports.
Seems to me Corzine is practically begging for a voter backlash so that the number of Democrats decreases in both houses so he increases his own leverage.
Suburban Democrats beware!
You follow Corzine and his yuppy liberal advisors off the plank and you will drown when having to face the voters in 07!
Posted by: NJDem [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 07:29 PM
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
Published by Wally Edge on PoliticsNJ, Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Team Corzine threatens Roberts' speakership
A high ranking Democratic leader says there has been discussions among Governor Jon Corzine's staff about removing Joseph Roberts as the Assembly Speaker, although the front office strongly denies that they are focused on anythig but the budget. James E. McGreevey, as the Governor-elect in 2001, engineered a deal to elect Albio Sires as Speaker instead of then-Minority Leader Joseph Doria.
Any group of ten Democrats could effectively organize the Assembly, if they can develop an alliance with the 31 Republicans. Similarly, a group of four Democratic State Senators could remove Richard Codey as Senate President with the help of the eighteen GOP Senators. In 1971, after Democrats won control of the State Assembly, Republican Thomas Kean cut a deal with four Democrats from Hudson County to become the Speaker.
Codey and Roberts, of course, are perpetual targets of leadership change rumors.
Posted by Wally Edge on June 28, 2006 03:18 PM | Permalink
http://politics.nexcess.net/insideedge/2006/06/team_corzine_threatens_roberts.html
COMMENTS
While this rumor is not especially surprising, it begs two questions. One is, whom would replace Roberts (Watson-Coleman, McKeon)? And, what would the Corzine-friendly Democratic assmeblymen get out of this except the "thanks and respect of a grateful governor?" The constituents back home probably want a little more than that.
Posted by: hummingbird [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 03:41 PM
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Could have been a great opportunity for Joe Vas to replace Albio Sires !
Posted by: MVJ [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 03:48 PM
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Should be interesting. Lets all keep our fingers crossed. If Roberts loses this budget battle that will be twice in two years he went up against the Governor's office and lost (and with two different Governors). His caucus should be questioning his leadership right now. They are obviously in a state of disarray.
Posted by: fed up in NJ [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 03:55 PM
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Corzine will be lucky if Team Roberts doesn't decide to remove him.
All the money in the world won't help him if he continues on the route he is presently.
Posted by: whateverNJ [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 04:21 PM
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It's better than Corzine just bending to the will of the Roberts' regime. Obviously, Mr. Roberts didn't learn anything from his smack down from last year. And make no mistake, it was a smackdown.
Posted by: fed up in NJ [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 04:28 PM
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Nobody is removing Corzine and he doesn't need all the money in the world for another 3 years. Roberts needs it in 07. If Corzine wins this battle, expect a political jihad in the lower 8. I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a whole lot of paper shredding going on in SJ tonight.
Posted by: resurrectingreagan [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 04:34 PM
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This sounds like there are too many bored people in trenton sitting around waiting for the budget, hatching conspiracy theories. Nobody is going anywhere--the Corzine, Codey, Roberts love triangle will be on display at least through 2007.
Posted by: McGovernDem [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 04:57 PM
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As if DeCroce could deliver 31 votes. This clown is so inept he couldn't deliver a pizza. The only reason why no one takes him out as leader is becuase there is nothing to look forward to as a GOPer in the Assembly
Posted by: YNOTRockefeller? [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 05:53 PM
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If Roberts is removed for killing the sales tax, he will be a martyr.
Posted by: NorthJerseyPopulist [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 06:16 PM
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Yes, Alex DeCroce is the inept, perhaps the most inept person in Trenton. More inept than Corzine, Codey, and especially more inept than Joe Roberts. That's why this whole budget process has been so easy and efficient under absolute Democrat control. Last year, too, Codey and Roberts did a hell of a job. Other states should watch and take notes on how not to be inept.
And Christie Whitman is to blame for all of our present problems.
And by the way, YNotRockefeller, I GUARANTEE that the Assembly Republicans will have their pizzas before the Assembly Democrats or either side of the Senate on Friday night.
Posted by: Aetius [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 08:27 PM
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What is interesting is that Nellie Pou seems to be siding with South Jersey Democrats when in fact Essex and Hudson seem to be on board with Corzine. To read more on the history of that, take a look at the link below.
Posted by: CollegeDem [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 28, 2006 10:18 PM
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Well, I have to admit it.....I'm really enjoying the fun taking place at the statehouse (obviously, I would rather have control, but being in the minority does have a few benefits).
Still, I'm amazed that I'm on the Roberts/Norcross side of things! Politically, I wouldn't mind seeing Cozine slam through the tax increase, since it will definitely help us out in 2007. Oh well, this is a win-win for me.....Roberts wins, no sales tax increase, Cozine wins, help for 2007.
Posted by: SomersetRepublican [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 01:05 PM
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Fascinating. Priority #1: POWER.
Priority # 2,743,974 the taxpayers of NJ
Posted by: MarkOtto [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 01:12 PM
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Well Aetius, ur right. This is George N's state. Roberts will win this fight. Everyone knows that except Corzine. The Guv of NJ maybe the strongest executive in the nation becuase of our state constitution, but he is still no match for Norcross if Norcross decides to take him out.
Posted by: YNOTRockefeller? [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 01:17 PM
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I think I'm with Roberts too. The education cuts just don't make sense, the pensions are bloated too.
Posted by: CollegeDem [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 01:20 PM
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Corzine better watch out. Tom Kean and Frank Holman tried to block Chuck Hardwick from becoming speaker in 1985 and Hardwick won. They then tried to take out Hordiwk's guy as executive director.
Kean and Hiolman lost on both counts...and regretted it for the entire second term!
Posted by: walt hollenbeck [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 01:24 PM
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Corzine is making a big mistake by taking a run at Roberts/Norcross. No one plays hardball better than George, and Corzine is learning this first hand. The average citizen doesn't know which budget proposal is better for him, but they will blame Corzine when the casinos and parks are closed on 4th of July weekend.
Corzine needs to paint the looming shutdown as a result of Roberts not willing to support a painful but fiscally necessary budget. He needs to enlist Codey, currently the most beloved NJ pol, to call on Roberts to backdown. But I dont see Codey wanting to do any favors for the man who pushed him out of the governors seat.
Unless Corzine learns how the game is played in Trenton it is going to be a long four years for him.
Posted by: machiavelli [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 02:02 PM
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I wonder if the Governor will have the nerve to say that Joe Roberts is one the guys responsible for the fiscal mess the state is in...and his budget will simply perpetuate that mess for another year. I suspect Roberts will respond that all will be fixed in the special session of the legislature this summer, and the state should try to cobble together a compromise budget to get through another year. That's not the worst political argument that can be made, and I'm suprised we haven't heard Roberts make it.
Posted by: hummingbird [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 02:12 PM
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The problem for Corzine is that you can't blame a shutdown on a person that 99% of NJ doesn't know.....aka, Roberts. This is not a Newt/Clinton shutdown the government issue, since Cozine doesn't have a well-known person (with an increasing negative image in the public - I believe this was around the time that Newt started to really put his foot into his mouth) to blame things on.
I don't understand what Corzine is doing.....he's going to get blamed at the end of the day if the government is shutdown.
Posted by: SomersetRepublican [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 03:06 PM
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Roberts is looking for a politically safe stop gap, which is what Corzine has been trying to stop since he got in office. Yes, he may have a tough time politically, but at least he has the guts to try and get things on the right track. Yes, pensions are bloated, but that wasn't Corzine's fault. It is the fault of years of political spinelessness from both parties who cater to special interests so that they won't lose their jobs. And brilliant ideas like then pension bonding of Whitman. And now the bill is due. How do you suggest the State pay for it?
Posted by: fed up in NJ [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 04:29 PM
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Is Corzine intentionally picking a fight?
Why does Corzine believe the only way to balance a budget is to raise taxes?
Isn't this the same guy who said raising taxes was a "last resort?"
Corzine and Tim Kaine, the Democratic governor of Virginia seem to be playing from the same national playbook by forcing the legislature to pass tax increeases nobody wants nor supports.
Seems to me Corzine is practically begging for a voter backlash so that the number of Democrats decreases in both houses so he increases his own leverage.
Suburban Democrats beware!
You follow Corzine and his yuppy liberal advisors off the plank and you will drown when having to face the voters in 07!
Posted by: NJDem [TypeKey Profile Page] | June 29, 2006 07:29 PM
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(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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State Budget - Philly Inquirer - How Dems folded to Corzine
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Published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Friday, July 7, 2006
Democrats knew they had to end their feud
One lawmaker said the tax compromise was "the best... in a given set of circumstances."
By Kaitlin Gurney, Jennifer Moroz and Elisa Ung
Inquirer Trenton Bureau
TRENTON - Defiant Assembly Democrats still say New Jersey didn't need a sales-tax increase.
But what the state did need six days into an increasingly embarrassing government shutdown, they said, was a deal.
Democrats arrived at the Statehouse yesterday morning resigned to putting an end to their weeks-long showdown with Gov. Corzine over his proposed one-point increase in the state's 6 percent sales tax.
And so when he offered a compromise - albeit one a shade different than a plan he had embraced 10 days ago - they jumped at it.
Like the 10-day-old compromise brokered by Senate President Richard J. Codey (D., Essex), the agreement a tired and weary Corzine offered yesterday would reserve half of the revenue from a sales-tax hike in a special fund for property-tax relief. This plan, however, would place a referendum on the November ballot asking voters to constitutionally dedicate that money solely as a salve for property taxes.
In an emotional Assembly caucus meeting after the freshman governor's 9 a.m. speech [Thursday, July 6] to the Legislature, Democrats who had stood behind Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr.'s stalwart opposition to the sales tax folded to Corzine's side.
The meeting represented a momentous change from Tuesday, when Roberts had told Corzine that only 15 of his 49 members would support a sales-tax increase of any kind. Roberts himself maintained he would not support a bump in the tax unless all of it went to property-tax relief, but yesterday he told his war-weary caucus that the impasse had to end.
Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew (D., Cape May), who opposed a sales-tax increase, said he changed his mind because the Corzine plan seemed to be "the best that we could do in a given set of circumstances."
"Our constituents had a gun to their heads - so did the Legislature," Van Drew said. "We've got to get people working. South Jersey, particularly, was being paralyzed."
With the influential Essex, Hudson and Union County Democrats shifting to Corzine's side, former Assembly Speaker Albio Sires (D., Hudson) was one of several lawmakers advising Roberts that it was time for the stalemate to end.
It was a familiar role for Sires - last year, in a similarly bitter budget standoff among majority-party Democrats, he counseled Roberts that it was time to stop insisting on the same generous property-tax rebates the state had offered the year before.
By noon, Corzine, Codey and Roberts were huddled in frenzied closed-door meetings, emerging often to offer the first words of optimism in a months-long budget dispute. The final agreement was announced triumphantly at 4:30.
Republicans yesterday were quick to paint Corzine as the winner in the budget battle and Roberts the loser. They said any increase in the sales tax, for property-tax relief or not, meant the Camden County Democrat had lost the war.
But the Assembly speaker succeeded in making property-tax relief the focus of the battle, Corzine and Codey noted.
Sen. Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) said he thought Roberts showed real leadership by listening to his caucus.
"A true leader doesn't inflict his will on his members," said Sweeney, who has opposed the sales-tax hike and declared he still would not vote for it. "Joe Roberts fought a fight as long as he could fight it."
Because it was rooted in ego and principle, the budget standoff bruised everyone involved, Democrats say.
Corzine was convinced he had to win the sales-tax fight for Democratic lawmakers to respect his independence for the three years of his term.
Assembly leaders put together an increase in payroll taxes and the corporate business tax that they believed balanced the budget as well or better than an increase in the sales tax.
And with the history of Gov. Jim Florio's 1990 never-forgiven sales-tax hike on his side, Roberts told members that raising that tax could lose them their majority in the Statehouse.
"Any time there is a family feud, there are going to be hurt feelings," said Sen. Paul Sarlo (D., Bergen). "We're going to put our personal differences aside."
Contact staff writer Kaitlin Gurney at 609-989-7373 or kgurney@phillynews.com.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jersey/14982667.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
*
Published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Friday, July 7, 2006
Democrats knew they had to end their feud
One lawmaker said the tax compromise was "the best... in a given set of circumstances."
By Kaitlin Gurney, Jennifer Moroz and Elisa Ung
Inquirer Trenton Bureau
TRENTON - Defiant Assembly Democrats still say New Jersey didn't need a sales-tax increase.
But what the state did need six days into an increasingly embarrassing government shutdown, they said, was a deal.
Democrats arrived at the Statehouse yesterday morning resigned to putting an end to their weeks-long showdown with Gov. Corzine over his proposed one-point increase in the state's 6 percent sales tax.
And so when he offered a compromise - albeit one a shade different than a plan he had embraced 10 days ago - they jumped at it.
Like the 10-day-old compromise brokered by Senate President Richard J. Codey (D., Essex), the agreement a tired and weary Corzine offered yesterday would reserve half of the revenue from a sales-tax hike in a special fund for property-tax relief. This plan, however, would place a referendum on the November ballot asking voters to constitutionally dedicate that money solely as a salve for property taxes.
In an emotional Assembly caucus meeting after the freshman governor's 9 a.m. speech [Thursday, July 6] to the Legislature, Democrats who had stood behind Assembly Speaker Joseph Roberts Jr.'s stalwart opposition to the sales tax folded to Corzine's side.
The meeting represented a momentous change from Tuesday, when Roberts had told Corzine that only 15 of his 49 members would support a sales-tax increase of any kind. Roberts himself maintained he would not support a bump in the tax unless all of it went to property-tax relief, but yesterday he told his war-weary caucus that the impasse had to end.
Assemblyman Jeff Van Drew (D., Cape May), who opposed a sales-tax increase, said he changed his mind because the Corzine plan seemed to be "the best that we could do in a given set of circumstances."
"Our constituents had a gun to their heads - so did the Legislature," Van Drew said. "We've got to get people working. South Jersey, particularly, was being paralyzed."
With the influential Essex, Hudson and Union County Democrats shifting to Corzine's side, former Assembly Speaker Albio Sires (D., Hudson) was one of several lawmakers advising Roberts that it was time for the stalemate to end.
It was a familiar role for Sires - last year, in a similarly bitter budget standoff among majority-party Democrats, he counseled Roberts that it was time to stop insisting on the same generous property-tax rebates the state had offered the year before.
By noon, Corzine, Codey and Roberts were huddled in frenzied closed-door meetings, emerging often to offer the first words of optimism in a months-long budget dispute. The final agreement was announced triumphantly at 4:30.
Republicans yesterday were quick to paint Corzine as the winner in the budget battle and Roberts the loser. They said any increase in the sales tax, for property-tax relief or not, meant the Camden County Democrat had lost the war.
But the Assembly speaker succeeded in making property-tax relief the focus of the battle, Corzine and Codey noted.
Sen. Stephen Sweeney (D., Gloucester) said he thought Roberts showed real leadership by listening to his caucus.
"A true leader doesn't inflict his will on his members," said Sweeney, who has opposed the sales-tax hike and declared he still would not vote for it. "Joe Roberts fought a fight as long as he could fight it."
Because it was rooted in ego and principle, the budget standoff bruised everyone involved, Democrats say.
Corzine was convinced he had to win the sales-tax fight for Democratic lawmakers to respect his independence for the three years of his term.
Assembly leaders put together an increase in payroll taxes and the corporate business tax that they believed balanced the budget as well or better than an increase in the sales tax.
And with the history of Gov. Jim Florio's 1990 never-forgiven sales-tax hike on his side, Roberts told members that raising that tax could lose them their majority in the Statehouse.
"Any time there is a family feud, there are going to be hurt feelings," said Sen. Paul Sarlo (D., Bergen). "We're going to put our personal differences aside."
Contact staff writer Kaitlin Gurney at 609-989-7373 or kgurney@phillynews.com.
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/local/states/new_jersey/14982667.htm?template=contentModules/printstory.jsp
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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Thursday, July 06, 2006
Development - Courier - Maxim proposal for South Avenue aired
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Published in the Courier News, Thursday, July 6, 2006
Plainfield mulls East End apartment complex plan
By CHAD WEIHRAUCH
Staff Writer
PLAINFIELD -- The city Board of Adjustment will hold a special meeting in three weeks to discuss construction of a new, 64-unit apartment complex on South Avenue in the city's East End.
Sally Hughes, chairwoman of the board, announced the board would begin to hear testimony on the proposal late at Wednesday night's meeting, but would hold the special meeting July 26 to give residents a chance to speak and ask questions.
If built, Maxim Development Group's four-story apartment building would be one of the largest new residential housing projects in the city in many years. It would be built mainly on the site of Carfaro's Collision Center at 803 South Ave.
Sal Carfaro, managing member of Maxim Development, said he hopes to win a variance to demolish his auto body shop and construct the building in what is currently an area zoned for industrial use.
"It's a new start, new site, new concept. We hope to have it blossom new construction in the future," he said Wednesday.
Carfaro also has applied to construct another 40-unit complex on an adjacent parcel but is waiting to see how the first application proceeds before filing formal requests for that plan.
If built, two buildings would eclipse in size the apartment complex built in the former Tepper's department store downtown, now known as Horizons at Plainfield. Completed in 2003-04, it contains 75 affordable-housing units.
The South Avenue neighborhood where the apartment complex would be located is a mix of mostly auto-related businesses and homes just blocks from the Netherwood train station.
About five years ago, the nearby South Avenue business district underwent a sidewalk and streetscape improvement program that officials held up as a model for revitalization in other parts of Plainfield.
Today, city officials -- including Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs and Director of Public Works and Urban Development Jennifer Wenson-Maier -- are talking about redevelopment that would create so-called "transit hubs."
The hub plan essentially would involve locating higher-density housing and more concentrated business activity closer to the two existing train stations. Officials also have discussed reopening two NJ Transit rail stations on the west side of the city -- at Clinton and Grant avenues -- that were closed years ago.
Carfaro pointed to the hub concept as something that led him to think about converting his business into an apartment building.
Several curious residents came out to hear details of the plan.
Among them were Jo-Ann Bandomer and her husband, Ken, who have lived on Hillside Avenue in Plainfield for more than three decades.
"I just kind of think at this point in time we don't need more apartment buildings," Jo-Ann Bandomer said, though both she and her husband indicated they wanted to hear details of the project before passing judgment.
http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060706/NEWS01/607060348/1006
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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Published in the Courier News, Thursday, July 6, 2006
Plainfield mulls East End apartment complex plan
By CHAD WEIHRAUCH
Staff Writer
PLAINFIELD -- The city Board of Adjustment will hold a special meeting in three weeks to discuss construction of a new, 64-unit apartment complex on South Avenue in the city's East End.
Sally Hughes, chairwoman of the board, announced the board would begin to hear testimony on the proposal late at Wednesday night's meeting, but would hold the special meeting July 26 to give residents a chance to speak and ask questions.
If built, Maxim Development Group's four-story apartment building would be one of the largest new residential housing projects in the city in many years. It would be built mainly on the site of Carfaro's Collision Center at 803 South Ave.
Sal Carfaro, managing member of Maxim Development, said he hopes to win a variance to demolish his auto body shop and construct the building in what is currently an area zoned for industrial use.
"It's a new start, new site, new concept. We hope to have it blossom new construction in the future," he said Wednesday.
Carfaro also has applied to construct another 40-unit complex on an adjacent parcel but is waiting to see how the first application proceeds before filing formal requests for that plan.
If built, two buildings would eclipse in size the apartment complex built in the former Tepper's department store downtown, now known as Horizons at Plainfield. Completed in 2003-04, it contains 75 affordable-housing units.
The South Avenue neighborhood where the apartment complex would be located is a mix of mostly auto-related businesses and homes just blocks from the Netherwood train station.
About five years ago, the nearby South Avenue business district underwent a sidewalk and streetscape improvement program that officials held up as a model for revitalization in other parts of Plainfield.
Today, city officials -- including Mayor Sharon Robinson-Briggs and Director of Public Works and Urban Development Jennifer Wenson-Maier -- are talking about redevelopment that would create so-called "transit hubs."
The hub plan essentially would involve locating higher-density housing and more concentrated business activity closer to the two existing train stations. Officials also have discussed reopening two NJ Transit rail stations on the west side of the city -- at Clinton and Grant avenues -- that were closed years ago.
Carfaro pointed to the hub concept as something that led him to think about converting his business into an apartment building.
Several curious residents came out to hear details of the plan.
Among them were Jo-Ann Bandomer and her husband, Ken, who have lived on Hillside Avenue in Plainfield for more than three decades.
"I just kind of think at this point in time we don't need more apartment buildings," Jo-Ann Bandomer said, though both she and her husband indicated they wanted to hear details of the project before passing judgment.
http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060706/NEWS01/607060348/1006
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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Crime - Courier - Murder No. 6 in 2006
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Published in the Courier News, Thursday, July 6, 2006
Plainfield beating victim dies
Cops seeking information in North Plainfield man's death.
By CHAD WEIHRAUCH
Staff Writer
PLAINFIELD -- The victim of a vicious beating who was found lying unresponsive on his back in the middle of a city street last weekend has died -- and authorities have appealed for help finding those responsible for the attack.
The man had no identification when he was found, but police later identified him as a former North Plainfield resident, 41-year-old Frank J. Puri of Sterling, Pa.
Police found Puri about 10 p.m. Sunday, lying in the 300 block of Liberty Street. He had sustained serious injuries, including cuts and bruises to his face and chest, police said.
Puri was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he was placed on life support. He died at 9 a.m. Tuesday, police said.
"Anybody who saw what happened -- there's a tip line, it's confidential," police Chief Edward Santiago said Wednesday. "Please do the right thing and call in with the information. This person lost his life, and we're trying to find the people who did it."
Santiago said he was the second officer to arrive on the scene Sunday night after a passing driver called authorities and said a man was being assaulted on Liberty Street. It is unclear whether Puri was being beaten by several people or by just one person whose attack had drawn a crowd.
Whatever the case, police know several people witnessed the fatal beating. Santiago said police suspect Puri was robbed, but since he was found without a wallet or identification, it is unclear what was taken.
Puri's death was the sixth homicide in the city in 2006 after a record 15 homicides in 2005.
http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060706/NEWS/607060321
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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Published in the Courier News, Thursday, July 6, 2006
Plainfield beating victim dies
Cops seeking information in North Plainfield man's death.
By CHAD WEIHRAUCH
Staff Writer
PLAINFIELD -- The victim of a vicious beating who was found lying unresponsive on his back in the middle of a city street last weekend has died -- and authorities have appealed for help finding those responsible for the attack.
The man had no identification when he was found, but police later identified him as a former North Plainfield resident, 41-year-old Frank J. Puri of Sterling, Pa.
Police found Puri about 10 p.m. Sunday, lying in the 300 block of Liberty Street. He had sustained serious injuries, including cuts and bruises to his face and chest, police said.
Puri was taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, where he was placed on life support. He died at 9 a.m. Tuesday, police said.
"Anybody who saw what happened -- there's a tip line, it's confidential," police Chief Edward Santiago said Wednesday. "Please do the right thing and call in with the information. This person lost his life, and we're trying to find the people who did it."
Santiago said he was the second officer to arrive on the scene Sunday night after a passing driver called authorities and said a man was being assaulted on Liberty Street. It is unclear whether Puri was being beaten by several people or by just one person whose attack had drawn a crowd.
Whatever the case, police know several people witnessed the fatal beating. Santiago said police suspect Puri was robbed, but since he was found without a wallet or identification, it is unclear what was taken.
Puri's death was the sixth homicide in the city in 2006 after a record 15 homicides in 2005.
http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060706/NEWS/607060321
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Blanco - Courier - Plainfield editorial amateurish
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Published in the Courier News, Sunday, July 2, 2006
[Speaking Out]
Plainfield editorial was amateur reporting
The recent editorial titled "Development plan for city approved too hastily" (June 23) shows the Courier News' lack of comprehension of the issues involved in the agreement between the city of Plainfield and the Union County Improvement Authority .
The city of Plainfield has been doing business with the authority for many years. Among the capital projects completed in cooperation with the authority was the development of Park Madison, a tract of land that had sat dormant for more than 25 years. The $30 million development has been the only major development in this city in nearly 40 years.
All of Plainfield's experiences with the authority have been positive, and it has saved taxpayers money. The current agreement simply provides a framework for future development in the city. Last Wednesday night, I voted for the best interests of Plainfield. I voted to finally move forward with re-development in our city.
Your comment that this action was taken hastily implies that it was taken without council members having enough information. This action was taken with more discussion than most items before us. The purpose of the agenda-fixing meeting is to discuss the issues to be voted on at Wednesday's council meeting. That is the first time the public sees the agenda but not the first time for council members.
Members receive an information packet every Friday evening and can spend the next few days getting answers to questions. That's why the questioning sometimes seems superficial at Monday night agenda-fixing meetings. As council president, I was satisfied that every member of the council had sufficient information to move ahead with the vote.
Your lack of knowledge on this agreement is evident when you state the agreement "puts the authority in the driver's seat." That is far from the truth. The city of Plainfield can terminate the agreement for many reasons that are spelled out in the contract. The bottom line is that our city does not have the luxury of time when it comes to development.
Your statement that the council was "apparently powerless to do anything but vote 'yes' " is, frankly, demeaning to every council member. Perhaps you are suggesting that Plainfield council members do not have the capacity to comprehend a simple six-page agreement. Other municipalities in Union County have entered into agreements with the authority with only a two-page document and with far fewer safeguards for local control.
Or is the real reason for your objection the conspiracy you see between the council and Charlotte DeFilippo, the head of the Union County Improvement Authority as well as the county Democratic Party chairman? The chairman is both a skilled political strategist and an excellent business developer. She also is the same person who fought for the funding for the city's only major development in the past 40 years.
Perhaps what's most troubling about the reaction of the Courier News is that the editorial appeared to have been written without any firsthand knowledge of the facts. No reporter was at Monday night's meeting. Your editor did not call me to verify your information.
The editorial relies upon "news accounts of Wednesday's meeting in the Courier News and elsewhere." Which other news sources? If we have other newspaper or broadcast entities, I want to know. Perhaps then we can shift Plainfield's expenditure for public notices to said entities. Or perhaps you are referring to a certain politically motivated blog that thrives on half-truths. If taking any opinion or secondhand account as fact represents your new journalistic standard, the Courier News I remember has ceased to exist.
Your publication seems to thrive on pointing fingers, but you fail in doing your own job as the newspaper of record for our city. You are the first to blast the challenges we face with crime on your front page, but you do not devote the necessary resources to cover our city properly. The days when reporters such as Jack Gill and Bernice Paglia covered the City Council, the Planning Board and every major entity on a regular basis are gone.
I would respectfully suggest that next time you wish to pass judgment on Plainfield's City Council, you do your homework without listening to self-serving and misinformed sources. Better still, how about assigning a dedicated reporter to regularly cover the issues in Plainfield instead of a prom in Hunterdon County? Your editorial was a miss for the Courier News.
RAY BLANCO
City councilman-at-large, Plainfield
http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060702/OPINION02/607020354/1010/NEWS06
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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Published in the Courier News, Sunday, July 2, 2006
[Speaking Out]
Plainfield editorial was amateur reporting
The recent editorial titled "Development plan for city approved too hastily" (June 23) shows the Courier News' lack of comprehension of the issues involved in the agreement between the city of Plainfield and the Union County Improvement Authority .
The city of Plainfield has been doing business with the authority for many years. Among the capital projects completed in cooperation with the authority was the development of Park Madison, a tract of land that had sat dormant for more than 25 years. The $30 million development has been the only major development in this city in nearly 40 years.
All of Plainfield's experiences with the authority have been positive, and it has saved taxpayers money. The current agreement simply provides a framework for future development in the city. Last Wednesday night, I voted for the best interests of Plainfield. I voted to finally move forward with re-development in our city.
Your comment that this action was taken hastily implies that it was taken without council members having enough information. This action was taken with more discussion than most items before us. The purpose of the agenda-fixing meeting is to discuss the issues to be voted on at Wednesday's council meeting. That is the first time the public sees the agenda but not the first time for council members.
Members receive an information packet every Friday evening and can spend the next few days getting answers to questions. That's why the questioning sometimes seems superficial at Monday night agenda-fixing meetings. As council president, I was satisfied that every member of the council had sufficient information to move ahead with the vote.
Your lack of knowledge on this agreement is evident when you state the agreement "puts the authority in the driver's seat." That is far from the truth. The city of Plainfield can terminate the agreement for many reasons that are spelled out in the contract. The bottom line is that our city does not have the luxury of time when it comes to development.
Your statement that the council was "apparently powerless to do anything but vote 'yes' " is, frankly, demeaning to every council member. Perhaps you are suggesting that Plainfield council members do not have the capacity to comprehend a simple six-page agreement. Other municipalities in Union County have entered into agreements with the authority with only a two-page document and with far fewer safeguards for local control.
Or is the real reason for your objection the conspiracy you see between the council and Charlotte DeFilippo, the head of the Union County Improvement Authority as well as the county Democratic Party chairman? The chairman is both a skilled political strategist and an excellent business developer. She also is the same person who fought for the funding for the city's only major development in the past 40 years.
Perhaps what's most troubling about the reaction of the Courier News is that the editorial appeared to have been written without any firsthand knowledge of the facts. No reporter was at Monday night's meeting. Your editor did not call me to verify your information.
The editorial relies upon "news accounts of Wednesday's meeting in the Courier News and elsewhere." Which other news sources? If we have other newspaper or broadcast entities, I want to know. Perhaps then we can shift Plainfield's expenditure for public notices to said entities. Or perhaps you are referring to a certain politically motivated blog that thrives on half-truths. If taking any opinion or secondhand account as fact represents your new journalistic standard, the Courier News I remember has ceased to exist.
Your publication seems to thrive on pointing fingers, but you fail in doing your own job as the newspaper of record for our city. You are the first to blast the challenges we face with crime on your front page, but you do not devote the necessary resources to cover our city properly. The days when reporters such as Jack Gill and Bernice Paglia covered the City Council, the Planning Board and every major entity on a regular basis are gone.
I would respectfully suggest that next time you wish to pass judgment on Plainfield's City Council, you do your homework without listening to self-serving and misinformed sources. Better still, how about assigning a dedicated reporter to regularly cover the issues in Plainfield instead of a prom in Hunterdon County? Your editorial was a miss for the Courier News.
RAY BLANCO
City councilman-at-large, Plainfield
http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060702/OPINION02/607020354/1010/NEWS06
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Illegal Immigrants - AP- Grower's Dilemma in Hiring
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Published in Newsday/AP, Tuesday, July 4, 2006, 7:20PM
Hiring Only Legal Workers Grower's Dilemma
By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press Writer
July 4, 2006, 7:20 PM EDT
OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Mexican ranchero music drifts across Michael Mellano's flower fields as his employees load eucalyptus branches onto trucks.
Mellano knows some of his men are illegal immigrants -- he estimates 60 percent of all workers on U.S. farms are illegal and figures the same percentage applies to his 250 employees.
"How can you hide it?" he asks. "Who are you trying to kid?"
Without them, Mellano's cut-flower business, founded by 80 years ago by his immigrant father, probably wouldn't survive.
It's already part of a vanishing breed in the United States. Foreign competition, spurred by relaxed trade barriers and improved shipping methods, has driven many U.S. flower growers out of business.
But the latest threat is coming from Mellano's own country. Congress is considering the most sweeping overhaul to immigration laws in decades. A public hearing by the U.S. House International Relations Committee is scheduled for Wednesday in San Diego, about 60 miles south of his fields.
Mellano knows anything that makes it harder for him to find or keep workers could shut him down for good.
"If all of a sudden we didn't have 60 percent of our guys, we couldn't operate," he said.
Mellano, an affable man who moves easily between English and Spanish, follows the law: He requires job applicants show proof they are allowed to work in the United States and says he rejects obvious forgeries. But a 1986 law doesn't require that he verify the authenticity of work documents.
"I'm assuming that a good number of our people are lying," said Mellano, 67, who grows lilies, irises and sunflowers on 375 acres of rolling hills. "We are required by law to hire people that have documents, which is what we do, but we know a significant number are forgeries. Everyone knows that."
Agriculture is one of the top employers of illegal immigrants, and Mellano, like the vast majority of his colleagues in the business, has declined to participate in a voluntary program to verify employees' Social Security numbers and check them against other federal databases. Bills passed by the House and Senate would require it.
The federal government is under pressure to step up enforcement in the workplace. Only 46 people were convicted in 2004 for hiring illegal immigrants, a number that has changed little over the last decade.
Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which enforces immigration laws at workplaces, said a new strategy involves prosecuting employers for other violations that may be easier to prove, such as tax evasion or money laundering.
The immigration debate comes at a time of swift change in the flower business, a $9 billion-a-year industry in the United States.
The number of U.S. cut flower growers was 498 last year, down from 829 in 1997, according to the Department of Agriculture. Imports accounted for 65.6 percent of cut flowers sold in the U.S. last year, up from 42.7 percent in 1990.
With its ideal growing climate, Colombia emerged as a flower power in the 1970s and flourished as the U.S. government encouraged farmers there to wean themselves from cocoa plants, which are used to make cocaine.
The competitive disadvantage Mellano faces is evident from the wage scale: His workers start at $6.75 an hour, or roughly $1,100 per month. A worker in Colombia makes $150 to $200 a month.
John Keeley, spokesman for the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., has no sympathy for Mellano's plight. Illegal immigrants have been an "unending labor subsidy" for farmers, stifling innovation and mechanization, he said. If Mellano can't attract enough legal workers, then he should close his business, Keeley said.
"If Colombia gets a bigger piece of the pie, all the power to them," said Keeley, whose organization advocates tighter immigration controls. "We're not turning our backs on globalization."
A visit to the Mellano farm illustrates the extent to which flower growers depend on manual labor.
One crew swats eucalyptus branches and loads them onto trucks, while others pick bulbs and pull weeds.
A loading dock houses a crude machine for chopping off iris stems, one of the few machines on the farm, which is sandwiched between homes and a golf course on one end and hills of avocado and macadamia trees on the other.
Mellano also grows unusual flowers like Asiatic lilies, reflecting a trend among domestic growers to ward off foreign competition. But he began importing his carnations from Colombia about 15 years ago -- it's rare to find a U.S. grower now who harvests roses, carnations or chrysanthemums.
Migrant advocacy groups, accustomed to hearing about employers refusing to pay workers, say Mellano & Co. doesn't generate complaints.
His employees earn vacation time after six months, and the company charges workers only $130 a month to live in a 50-person dorm that has a big television and a large kitchen.
Mellano has some understanding of the lives they are living. His Italian mother was an illegal immigrant when she cleaned homes in France before moving to the United States in the 1930s. The family bought land in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, and moved to the San Diego area in the 1960s.
As Congress discusses immigration overhaul, Mellano has watched with a mix of hope and dismay. A self-proclaimed conservative Republican, he said the GOP risks alienating Hispanic voters with its hard stance against illegal immigration.
He doesn't offer answers himself, though he speaks fondly of the temporary farmworker program between the United States and Mexico that lasted from 1942 to 1964. He is emphatic on one point: The status quo doesn't work.
"For an ethical person, it's a real dilemma because the system is crazy," he said. "I want to be above board."
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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Published in Newsday/AP, Tuesday, July 4, 2006, 7:20PM
Hiring Only Legal Workers Grower's Dilemma
By ELLIOT SPAGAT
Associated Press Writer
July 4, 2006, 7:20 PM EDT
OCEANSIDE, Calif. -- Mexican ranchero music drifts across Michael Mellano's flower fields as his employees load eucalyptus branches onto trucks.
Mellano knows some of his men are illegal immigrants -- he estimates 60 percent of all workers on U.S. farms are illegal and figures the same percentage applies to his 250 employees.
"How can you hide it?" he asks. "Who are you trying to kid?"
Without them, Mellano's cut-flower business, founded by 80 years ago by his immigrant father, probably wouldn't survive.
It's already part of a vanishing breed in the United States. Foreign competition, spurred by relaxed trade barriers and improved shipping methods, has driven many U.S. flower growers out of business.
But the latest threat is coming from Mellano's own country. Congress is considering the most sweeping overhaul to immigration laws in decades. A public hearing by the U.S. House International Relations Committee is scheduled for Wednesday in San Diego, about 60 miles south of his fields.
Mellano knows anything that makes it harder for him to find or keep workers could shut him down for good.
"If all of a sudden we didn't have 60 percent of our guys, we couldn't operate," he said.
Mellano, an affable man who moves easily between English and Spanish, follows the law: He requires job applicants show proof they are allowed to work in the United States and says he rejects obvious forgeries. But a 1986 law doesn't require that he verify the authenticity of work documents.
"I'm assuming that a good number of our people are lying," said Mellano, 67, who grows lilies, irises and sunflowers on 375 acres of rolling hills. "We are required by law to hire people that have documents, which is what we do, but we know a significant number are forgeries. Everyone knows that."
Agriculture is one of the top employers of illegal immigrants, and Mellano, like the vast majority of his colleagues in the business, has declined to participate in a voluntary program to verify employees' Social Security numbers and check them against other federal databases. Bills passed by the House and Senate would require it.
The federal government is under pressure to step up enforcement in the workplace. Only 46 people were convicted in 2004 for hiring illegal immigrants, a number that has changed little over the last decade.
Lauren Mack, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which enforces immigration laws at workplaces, said a new strategy involves prosecuting employers for other violations that may be easier to prove, such as tax evasion or money laundering.
The immigration debate comes at a time of swift change in the flower business, a $9 billion-a-year industry in the United States.
The number of U.S. cut flower growers was 498 last year, down from 829 in 1997, according to the Department of Agriculture. Imports accounted for 65.6 percent of cut flowers sold in the U.S. last year, up from 42.7 percent in 1990.
With its ideal growing climate, Colombia emerged as a flower power in the 1970s and flourished as the U.S. government encouraged farmers there to wean themselves from cocoa plants, which are used to make cocaine.
The competitive disadvantage Mellano faces is evident from the wage scale: His workers start at $6.75 an hour, or roughly $1,100 per month. A worker in Colombia makes $150 to $200 a month.
John Keeley, spokesman for the Center for Immigration Studies in Washington, D.C., has no sympathy for Mellano's plight. Illegal immigrants have been an "unending labor subsidy" for farmers, stifling innovation and mechanization, he said. If Mellano can't attract enough legal workers, then he should close his business, Keeley said.
"If Colombia gets a bigger piece of the pie, all the power to them," said Keeley, whose organization advocates tighter immigration controls. "We're not turning our backs on globalization."
A visit to the Mellano farm illustrates the extent to which flower growers depend on manual labor.
One crew swats eucalyptus branches and loads them onto trucks, while others pick bulbs and pull weeds.
A loading dock houses a crude machine for chopping off iris stems, one of the few machines on the farm, which is sandwiched between homes and a golf course on one end and hills of avocado and macadamia trees on the other.
Mellano also grows unusual flowers like Asiatic lilies, reflecting a trend among domestic growers to ward off foreign competition. But he began importing his carnations from Colombia about 15 years ago -- it's rare to find a U.S. grower now who harvests roses, carnations or chrysanthemums.
Migrant advocacy groups, accustomed to hearing about employers refusing to pay workers, say Mellano & Co. doesn't generate complaints.
His employees earn vacation time after six months, and the company charges workers only $130 a month to live in a 50-person dorm that has a big television and a large kitchen.
Mellano has some understanding of the lives they are living. His Italian mother was an illegal immigrant when she cleaned homes in France before moving to the United States in the 1930s. The family bought land in Orange County, south of Los Angeles, and moved to the San Diego area in the 1960s.
As Congress discusses immigration overhaul, Mellano has watched with a mix of hope and dismay. A self-proclaimed conservative Republican, he said the GOP risks alienating Hispanic voters with its hard stance against illegal immigration.
He doesn't offer answers himself, though he speaks fondly of the temporary farmworker program between the United States and Mexico that lasted from 1942 to 1964. He is emphatic on one point: The status quo doesn't work.
"For an ethical person, it's a real dilemma because the system is crazy," he said. "I want to be above board."
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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State Budget - Courier - Mapp: Green needs to lay off union rhetoric
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Published in the Courier News, Tuesday, July 4, 2006
[Letter to Editor]
Green needs to lay off union rhetoric
Recently, Assemblyman Jerry Green and others in the state Legislature thought it would be a good idea to take a page from the "how to" guide of late President Ronald Reagan on targeting union employees for the sake of political expediency.
In these very tough budget times, Green and company are advocating concessions from state workers' unions and are asking the governor to consider what would be tantamount to breaking collective bargaining agreements hammered out, in good faith, over the years. All of this in an effort to plug a gaping hole in the state's budget. What would drive this group of state legislators to conceive of this very bad idea is baffling at best and, at worst, is a betrayal of the labor movement.
The idea was a poorly conceived knee-jerk reaction to the governor's call to increase the state's sales tax from 6 to 7 percent in an effort to balance the budget. Assemblyman Green's idea ignores the need for a more long-term fix to the state's budget problems. It also ignores the harsh economic realities faced by all working-class people who are feeling an economic squeeze brought on by the policies of the Bush administration and the greed of the oil industry.
What must poor working class people do when misguided legislators seek to cut their pay at a time when inflation is on the rise? I guess we'll have to wait until next year for the answer.
Any proposal that would seek to have the governor balance the budget on the backs of state employees, in violation of collective bargaining agreements, should be rejected on its face. I am appalled that the assemblyman from the 22nd District would even allow himself to be used as an instrument by New Jersey's southern Democrats to turn the screws on a governor who is willing to make the hard choices today in order to steady the state's floundering fiscal ship. Like a true corporate leader, Gov. Corzine has his eyes on solutions that will lead to sustainable, long-term fiscal growth.
Fortunately for state workers and their unions, Assemblyman Joe Cryan, chair of the state Democratic Party and a member of the Assembly's finance committee, and Gov. Corzine have wisely rejected the trio's misguided salvo aimed at state workers' unions.
I call on the trio of Green, Sweeney and Moriarty to abandon their Band-Aid solution to the budget crisis and to seek solutions that will lead to greater revenue generation. Furthermore, I challenge them to come up with ideas or to support ideas that will lead to the consolidation of government for the purpose of lessening the property tax burden while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government. Assemblyman Green, hands off organized labor, please.
ADRIAN O. MAPP
Freeholder, Union County
http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060704/OPINION02/607040335/1010
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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Published in the Courier News, Tuesday, July 4, 2006
[Letter to Editor]
Green needs to lay off union rhetoric
Recently, Assemblyman Jerry Green and others in the state Legislature thought it would be a good idea to take a page from the "how to" guide of late President Ronald Reagan on targeting union employees for the sake of political expediency.
In these very tough budget times, Green and company are advocating concessions from state workers' unions and are asking the governor to consider what would be tantamount to breaking collective bargaining agreements hammered out, in good faith, over the years. All of this in an effort to plug a gaping hole in the state's budget. What would drive this group of state legislators to conceive of this very bad idea is baffling at best and, at worst, is a betrayal of the labor movement.
The idea was a poorly conceived knee-jerk reaction to the governor's call to increase the state's sales tax from 6 to 7 percent in an effort to balance the budget. Assemblyman Green's idea ignores the need for a more long-term fix to the state's budget problems. It also ignores the harsh economic realities faced by all working-class people who are feeling an economic squeeze brought on by the policies of the Bush administration and the greed of the oil industry.
What must poor working class people do when misguided legislators seek to cut their pay at a time when inflation is on the rise? I guess we'll have to wait until next year for the answer.
Any proposal that would seek to have the governor balance the budget on the backs of state employees, in violation of collective bargaining agreements, should be rejected on its face. I am appalled that the assemblyman from the 22nd District would even allow himself to be used as an instrument by New Jersey's southern Democrats to turn the screws on a governor who is willing to make the hard choices today in order to steady the state's floundering fiscal ship. Like a true corporate leader, Gov. Corzine has his eyes on solutions that will lead to sustainable, long-term fiscal growth.
Fortunately for state workers and their unions, Assemblyman Joe Cryan, chair of the state Democratic Party and a member of the Assembly's finance committee, and Gov. Corzine have wisely rejected the trio's misguided salvo aimed at state workers' unions.
I call on the trio of Green, Sweeney and Moriarty to abandon their Band-Aid solution to the budget crisis and to seek solutions that will lead to greater revenue generation. Furthermore, I challenge them to come up with ideas or to support ideas that will lead to the consolidation of government for the purpose of lessening the property tax burden while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of government. Assemblyman Green, hands off organized labor, please.
ADRIAN O. MAPP
Freeholder, Union County
http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060704/OPINION02/607040335/1010
(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff and Clippings have no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of these articles nor are Plainfield Today, Plainfield Stuff or Clippings endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
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