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Posted by Pepe Bonmot
on May 21, 2002 at 15:45:01:
COUNTY CANDIDATES SHOW SHARP CONTRAST By STEVEN GLAZER URBAN TIMES NEWS May 4 – May 11, 2002 (Jersey City) When County Executive Bernard Hartnett stepped in to fill the unexpired post of former County Executive, Bob Janiszewski, Hartnett had the full support of all 12 of the 12 County Mayors. “I was dropped into the middle of a mess. I was the unanimous choice, and in Hudson County politics that never happens. Today, only six months later I have lost 11 of the 12. What happened? I’ll tell you what happened,” Hartnett told a meet-the-candidates forum hosted by the Hamilton Park Association at Golden Gate Charter School. Each candidate, including incumbent Hartnett, Democratic challenger Tom DeGise and Republican newcomer Ira Jersey – and, yes, Jersey really is his name – introduced themselves to the group to speak about their qualifications for the job and how theywould handle it. Tom DeGise, 51, is a 25-year veteran teacher in the Jersey City School system and for the last 15, guidance and job placement counselor at Snyder High School. Hartnett, 72, is a labor lawyer by training and profession, was a Labor attorney for Western Electric and then for New Jersey Bell. He went on to put in 25 years as vice president, general counsel, and member of the Board of Directors of New Jersey Bell. New Jersey Bell, now part of Verizon, it should be noted has more employees by far than Hudson County and all of its municipalities combined, and an annual budge that also dwarfs that of Hudson County. Ira Jersey works for a New York City investment bank and has had political experience in student government. Jersey will presumably face the winner of the primary in the November election. Hartnett told the gathering that he almost immediately ran afoul of Congressman Robert Menendez’ agenda and Menendez’ well-known ties to attorney Donald Scarinci, in his efforts to do the best possible job for the taxpayers of the County. “Scarinci had been legal counsel to the County for years, averaging $500,000 a year in legal fees. Why shouldn’t I put out a request for proposals to see if we could not get the legal work done for less? Scarinci stormed into my office and demanded that his contract be renewed.” Hartnett cited another example of political interference when he recently called Mayor Joseph Doria of Bayonne. “He (Doria) is an old personal friend of mine and I asked for his support,” said Hartnett “He told me that he would really like to help me but he was afraid of and could not afford to offend or anger Menendez whose help in Congress he needs badly right now for Bayonne. Hartnett went on to describe some of the conditions he found when he took over the County post in October. “There was one financial consulting firm, NW Financial, advising the County on all financial transactions. The same consultant also turned up applying to the County to underwriting fees. Recently I vetoed the choice of consultant on one transaction involving a $16 million bond issue to finance the Waterfront Walkway. I am all for the walkway, but the consultant would be the underwriter for the bonds and that involves an underwriting fee of $300,000 to $400,000. That’s just too much of a conflict,’” said Hartnett. The Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders, dominated by the Hudson County Democratic Organization under Robert Menendez, overrode Hartnett’s Executive veto of the choice of bond underwriter for the walkway project.. Hartnett said that though the underwriter’s fee for this bond transaction is substantial, it is relatively small potatoes compared to the fee that would be paid in the coming $125 million bond transaction for Harrison’s coming development bond. In the past, the county entered into some ill-advised financial transactions such as the sale of two County-owned nursing homes, Pollock and Meadowview. According to Hartnett, “Janizewski would do anything to avoid raising taxes. What Janizewski did was like taking money out of one pocket and putting it in the other.” The County sold the Nursing Homes to the Hudson County Improvement Authority who in turn issued bonds to pay for the purchase. The Nursing Homes were later sold and the buyer went bankrupt leaving the county holding the bag as unsecured creditor in the bankruptcy with scant hope of recovering any of the money. “Not only did the County sell the Nursing Homes but also 1,010 Nursing Home Licenses which are themselves valuable and that can be sold,” said Hartnett. “The county handed it all over to the buyer keeping no security interest or lien on the assets, only the buyer’s promise to pay later.” Tom DeGise, who lost the recent Jersey City mayoral contest to Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham, is opposing Hartnett in the coming democratic primary preceding the November election. In the Mayoral Election last year, Congressman Menendez aggressively supported Glenn Cunningham and opposed DeGise who now has the endorsement of the Democratic Organization, led by Menendez. DeGise, a guidance, and job placement counselor at Jersey City’s Snyder High School described himself as a consensus candidate. “I was not their first choice, or even the second or third choice, but I was the only bowling pin left standing,” said DeGise of the Hudson County Democratic Organization, headed by Congressman Menendez. DeGise had been City Council President for eight years during the term of former Republican Mayor Brett Schundler. |
