Posted by By Jay Stevens, The Urban Times News on October 06, 2003 at 17:43:59:

The Urban Times News
By Jay Stevens, email:jstevens@urbantimesnews.com

NEW NAME-OLD FACE
You will never guess who is thinking about running for Mayor in ’05. You will never guess so we will just tell you that former Mayor and defeated gubernatorial candidate Bret Schundler is toying with the idea of taking another run at City Hall. Schundler missed his chance to be United States Senator. It was the wrong place and at the wrong time, but he decided to run for Governor as a right-wing conservative. Schundler went so far right to win the Republican primary that he could not get back to the center. It will be difficult for Schundler for several reasons to run effectively for Mayor. The first and biggest of those reasons is that he will not have former County Executive Bob Janizewski to help him like he did last time. It is highly doubtful that Schundler could have made much of a showing without Janizewski’s help. Janizewski sold out the Democratic candidate to make Schundler the Republican Mayor of Jersey City. Even though County Executive Tom Minitax DeGise endorsed Schundler over McGreevey in the gubernatorial contest, he can not openly endorse a Republican for Mayor. Remember, Janizewski put former State Senator Joe Charles in a special election against Willie Flood to insure that Flood could not win. Janizewski is now making deals, but not who would be the mayor of Jersey City. Apparently Schundler’s strategy is to win support of the White, Hispanic and Filipino voters to outweigh the African American voters. This time, though, he will not be able to camouflage his Republican affiliation as he did in the special election and his run for a full term.

Before he gets to try any of that he will have to explain a $54 Million Deficit he left for the Cunningham administration to cope with. It is also repeatedly rumored that he has been meeting and plotting with Congressman Robert Menendez in connection with an attempted comeback by Schundler in the Mayoral race, even though Menendez supported Tom DeGise for County Executive after campaigning against DeGise for Mayor. Look for strange bedfellows in the future. Congressman Menendez would take a page from the book of his good buddy Bobby J, helping a Republican, under the table.

You may remember Menendez on the steps of City Hall endorsing Bayonne Mayor Joe Doria for Assembly speaker. In true Menendez fashion, The Don had already made a deal with the governor for Albio Sires, Mayor of West New York to become the speaker. Ai, Papi.

UNCLE SENATOR, CONTINUED…
No edition of Urban Times is complete without at least one mention of our favorite Uncle, Harvey. Harvey just amuses us and saddens us. He also outrages us. This is the latest tid-bit in the Uncle Harvey saga, “Uncle Senator Goes to Trenton.” Word is that he will be getting a job as deputy sheriff. That is the job of George Wilson, the current deputy sheriff. Can you imagine, it was he who said that he would get a better job in Trenton before Mayor Glenn Cunningham was sworn in as Senator. Harvey, when are you going to let these guys stop using you?

MAYOR MAN LOCAL HERO-Lipski Leaps to the Defense
Not long ago, if you had told any follower of local politics that Ward C Council member Steve Lipski would publicly come to the defense of Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham you would have opened yourself up to scorn and ridicule. But, hey this is Hudson County, and just a few months after the primary, we live to see the unimaginable.

Lipski was a guest on the popular Jersey City ‘s Talking radio show when the host, Pat O’Melia started taking a few casual swipes at “Mayor Man.” “Mayor Man,” is a publication of Cunningham’s office in the format of a good old fashioned comic book designed in the format to reach kids with an anti-drug, anti-crime message. Cunningham and Jersey City’s first lady appear as superhero crime fighters, Mayor-Man and Lady One, keeping Jersey City safe from all threats.

It is, no doubt, a good way to reach younger school age children. It casts the Cunninghams, particularly Mayor Cunningham in the superhero role, though, inviting wisecracks good natured and otherwise, from critics. But it leaves Cunningham open to critics who are not so well-intentioned. Lipski’s guest spot on the talk show opened with the host taking a few jabs at “Mayor Man” Cunningham. But Lipski quickly leaped into the breach shutting up the normally garrulous host, known as a prodigious generator of chin music.

“We are in world of very negative and violent images, especially in an urban environment like the one we live in. I think that this is a great way to reach kids with a positive message and a role model of a guy from this environment.” Lipski said, “The hero came from here and rose threw the ranks, to police, to police captain, to US Marine, and to US Marshall. And now he has become the City’s first African American Mayor, and soon he will be not only Mayor, but also Senator. That makes him the ultimate local hero in my book, and yeah, it is a comic book.”

NO TALK SHOW HOST LEFT BEHIND
Not to be outdone, and equally unexpected, Pat O’Melia in the same show, like the cavalry to the rescue comes to the aid of the Urban Times News. Go figure. Not that the Urban Times News needs rescuing, mind you. We can take care of ourselves, thank you very much. But recently we have been savagely attacked by in the Press by a deranged Senator Bernard Kenny Jr.

Relations have always been cordial with O’Melia, but we frequently find ourselves on different sides of the war. This was a war of words waged entirely by Bernard Kenny Jr. against an unseen enemy known as the truth. Kenny ranted and raved nearly every day for a full week against the Scurrilous attacks on his family and himself that he says have appeared in the Urban Times News. It is all true. We said all those things about Kenny, the late Kenny, and Kenny Jr. the current generation. The way things are going we expect to grow old writing about Kenny Jr., Jr.

Point is, O’Melia used his show to jump into the fray on the side of the Urban Times News. The things that were printed in Urban Times News that caused Kenny to go off like a roman candle were all true and we stand by them. Kenny was upset because all the things we said were true. O’Melia added a key point that we would like to repeat.

On taking office, County Executive Tom DeGise, cut relations between the office of the County Executive and this publication. We are accustomed to getting no response, no comment and no return call, from any and all County offices. We expect no comment from the offices of Senator Kenny and no return call. We do call and, no, he does not call back. We remember the first time we sent our then-new reporter to cover an event attended by Congressman Bob Menendez. That reporter has become much older in a scant year since that day. He came back incensed, telling us how Menendez reacted.

“I walked over and put my hand out and introduced myself. When I told him whom I worked for, The UrbanTimesNews, his whole expression changed and he said, ‘I don’t want to talk to you.’ Just like that.” The reporter said, “I told him ‘You don’t know me.’ And he said, “It doesn’t matter. I know who you work for and I don’t want to talk to you.”

The senior editorial staff just laughed knowingly on hearing this story of all-too-familiar arrogance. The same reporter got the same exact treatment from Jersey City Council member Bill Gaughan, Jersey City Democratic Chairman. Ditto Jonathan Metsch, the CEO of Liberty Health Care Systems, the operator of the Jersey City Medical Center. We do not mind that you do not talk to us or to our reporters. But O’Melia is correct in pointing out that when you do that, when you “stonewall” the press, human nature is to assume the worst. You are giving us carte blanche and you have nobody to blame but yourself.

The only member of Organized Crime who will talk to our reporters is The Donald, attorney Donald Scarinci. Scarinci understands that even the appearance of furtiveness and secretiveness, aloofness will earn you more ill will than any expose. And besides, Bernie, there is no such thing as bad publicity, so get over it. Bernie Jr. just does not get it. We should give him a prize, some kind of award, a proclamation. Nobody could have promoted our publication more effectively and for that we are deeply grateful.

ATTILA THE SURGEON-SERIAL KILLER LURKS AT JCMC
We read with no small interest the recent excellent article in the Star-Ledger about medical mistakes claiming 98,000 lives per year nationwide. In the three years from 2000 to 2003 in New York State alone, 33,000 died due to medical errors. In the same period of time in the entire state of New Jersey, exactly three persons lost their lives to medical mistakes, or sentinel events, as they are sometimes known by medical personnel.

The article was well received by the Medical staff at the JCMC, except the statistical information. Instead that part of the article was greeted with uproarious laughter. “That’s an average month here, not even a good month,” one doctor told us. “We have one surgeon on staff who can knock that off in a week. The guy is a serial killer. We call him Attila the Surgeon. If you kill enough patients, you will wind up getting a promotion to a staff administrative job at the head of some department, or if you are truly gifted like that guy Host who “did” Metsch’s driver you could wind up CEO of your own healthcare system of hospitals.”

Otherwise, it is business as usual over on Montgomery Street as the hospital prepares to move to new quarters closer to the upscale waterfront where it can cater to a more affluent clientele. Perhaps they will be more careful.

MAYOR MAN MEETS ATILLA THE SURGEON
This could happen for true, in real life, that Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham could confront the evildoers looting and pillaging public funds at the Jersey City Medical Center. The JCMC is ceded to Liberty Health Care under a tri-party agreement that is conditioned on Liberty maintaining certain levels of service to the community and other legal and financial requirements. Liberty is not keeping its end of the bargain with the city and is therefore cheating residents of million of dollars it gets from the City every year.

Not only is Liberty’s management cheating the people it is chartered to serve, and taking their money, it is taking their lives. Liberty is looking the other way as patients are killed by negligence and carelessness and then covering it up. UTN has documentation of not less than seven cases of deaths covered up by top management, with advice of counsel, Zulima Farber. Farber was recently Congressman Bob Menendez’ choice for Supreme Court Justice. If ever there was a job for a super-hero like Mayor Man, this just has to be it. Shazam!

THE GERBIL THAT ROARED
A friend of ours had an idea that we first dismissed as just one more of his lunatic notions. But then we thought about it some more and slowly, it began to make some sense. The idea began to grow on us. You may remember a 1960s movie with English comedian Peter Sellers called “The Mouse that Roared.” Sellers played head of state of tiny country with financial problems and no resources. The solution was that the tiny country declared war on the United States so it could be rapidly and bloodlessly conquered and then qualify for foreign aid from the U.S.

There has been some talk recently of Jersey City withdrawing from Hudson County to resolve some of the political problems we seem to be having lately. Now we just had the blinding flash of an idea to put these two notions together. Jersey City should declare war on the United States, and Great Britain for good measure, and immediately attack and lay siege to the County Administration building and the building where the Freeholders meet. We would do it on the weekend when the buildings were empty. That way nobody would have to get hurt. We would not want this to get ugly. It could work.

FEDWATCH CONTINUES
We have watched and waited nearly two years now with little to show for all the suspense surrounding the federal corruption investigation featuring former County Executive Robert Janizewski. All we got out of it so far was former Freeholder Nidia Colon convicted and facing prison. Her sentencing has been put off until an as yet unnamed future date. Freeholder Bill Braker, the “Cash and Viagra” Kid was said to be scheduled to go on trial during October and here we are and no word on a trial date yet. Hoboken accountant Gerard Lisa pleaded guilty and has also been cooperating with federal investigators, so there will be no trial in his case any time soon. That time does not seem to be of the essence in any of these cases seems unusual but it also makes us think that all of these folks are also cooperating, each in their turn.

But so far, there is nothing really good on the horizon. These were all relatively small potatoes. Here in Hudson we are a “raw meat” crowd and demand bread and circuses. We want to see public officials torn limb from limb in the public arena. They must be big dogs. There is little value in the humbling of someone who was never really very high and mighty. The best is surely yet to come. But gee, we wish the show would start already.

Follow Ups:

Post a Followup

Name    : 
E-Mail  : 
Subject : 

Comments:
: jstevens@urbantimesnews.com


Optional Link URL:  
Link Title:         
Optional Image URL: 

 

Hoboken Guide

Jersey City and Hoboken Real Estate Waterfront Apartments and Condominiums

Featured Link Featured Listing Advertising Program Business name, Web Site Link and a brief description or motto – runs for one month in the Page (or Pages) of your choice. Sales Associates Wanted! GET NJ seeks sales associates to market ads on a commission basis. For more information, e-mail your resume and contact information to sales@getnj.com – Be sure to mention the area of New Jersey and/or the market segment that you plan to serve. GRAVE ROBBER Jersey City Computer Repair 297 Griffith Street, Jersey City, NJ - 201-798-2292 - In the Heights just off of Kennedy Blvd. - Very close to Journal Square and Union City, just five minutes away from Hoboken, Downtown Jersey City, Newport, the Waterfront, Secaucus, North Bergen and Weehawken - Tech support for The Jersey City Mayor's Office during the administration of Bret Schundler - PC repair - Tivos, too!, upgrade, hardware install, software install, data recovery, spyware removal, virus removal, replace hard drive, replace motherboard, copy files from notebooks, backup information from dead laptops Wanted! Used Computers! Used computers bought and sold. Located in Jersey City, NJ - convenient to the Hoboken 2nd Street Light Rail stations and the Journal Square PATH subway station. E-mail graverobber@verizon.net with an itemized list (description) of what you have for sale and the price. Pickup in the New York City Metro area -- minimum 10 units. Secure, guaranteed data removal is available.

For All Sorts of Unique New York City Information, Visit GET NY!