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| Identity revealed! |
Wow! Talk about a surprise!
According to a published report in PolitickerNJ last night, State Senator Brian Stack has made his choice for the Hoboken Assembly slot:
Petitions are circulating in North Hudson for Jersey City Deputy Mayor Raj Mukherji and Hoboken Housing Authority Director Carmelo Garcia.
Sources say the pair will run on the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) line with state Sen. Brian P. Stack (D-33).
The names emerged after days of intense negotiations among the chief players.
The outcome surprised most insiders.
As Hudson Democrats for weeks keyed in on the Bhalla/Mason rivalry in Hoboken, insiders assumed Stack's Latina would emerged out of the Jersey City Heights portion of the district.
But ultimately, Hoboken 4th Ward brand name Garcia prevailed.
As for recent law school graduate Mukherji, co-founder of Impact NJ Government Affairs with
Despite Stack's firm allegiance to Christie, there is no expectation of Garcia and Mukherji having to offer their support to Christie as a condition for going to the assembly, sources said.
This is clearly a mistake. Al will be writing how Beth Mason is the Hispanic choice for the 33rd Assembly District. As a Latina, Beth is beloved among the vote-by-mail paid voters of the fourth ward.
ReplyDeleteThey can't imagine voting for anyone else for $40 a pop.
We're just completely outraged here at Mason Civic. That seat was ours and we had the best (re: highest) bid put in for it. We're not sure how this is even possible. We definitely wrote the biggest check and we're ready to prove it in court. Assemble the NY lawyers!
So if this story is correct... and Carmelo wins the seat in Nov., which is very likely, does he resign his post as HHA Exec Director or does he continue the great NJ tradition of double (or triple if he can swing another gig) dipping into the government pay/pension/benefits pool.
ReplyDeleteAs a state assemblyman he certainly will help his friends associated with the HHA get the 20/20 Plan to reconstruct the projects in Hoboken approved and the old guard payday becomes closer to reality.
It's likely that Garcia keeps his job. Didn't Ramos keep his Paterson teacher's position when he became an assemblyman, earning himself a third pension?
ReplyDeleteWith the potential of a scandal brewing, the fact that Stack still chose Garcia is all we need to know about what he probably thinks he can get down the road from the 20/20 project and the bloc of votes that Hoboken's old guard uses like an ATM for vote-getting.
I said a month ago that CG was up at the County begging for help and a bail out. The Assdembluy nod is all that this is. An Assemby person cant do all that much for the 20 Plan if the Board is not in support of it. This is, to me, CG's esacpe from the near certainty that he is a goner from the HHA. It also lets Stack off the hook in chossing between Bhalla and Mason. Neat trick. Kudos to whoever pulled this rabbit out of their ass.
ReplyDeleteOnce you are selected by Stack, running is pro forma. That was the election. Hope you enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not very sanguine about Garcia being dropped from HHA ED. I don't think the board has the stomach for it. There's a lot of back stories now. It's not like the council majority where you know what to expect each week on a given subject. Unless HUD itself acts on the ED and his counsel, I fear we face the spectacle of Garcia making over $200k a year to do 3 jobs poorly.