Two test results led to a month-and-a-half long Newark water panic – Politico

Good Tuesday morning!

It just took a sample size of three tests — two of which showed filters not adequately removing lead from tap water in Newark — to create a political crisis.

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I know we’re dealing with peoples’ lives and not just a local election, but what kind of sample size is that?

Yesterday, the state announced the results of a larger sample of 300 tests that showed 97 percent of filters are working as they’re supposed to.

That takes some of the immediacy out of the crisis, but lead in the water in Newark is still a problem. Levels are elevated beyond what they should be. But it’s a problem we have long known about. The summer saga was politically inconvenient for Cory Booker, Ras Baraka and Phil Murphy, but at least Newarkers will get something out of it. Their service pipe replacements will be expedited thanks to the $120 million bond, as well as Sen. Booker’s legislation allowing Newark to transfer federal funds between two pots.

And others could benefit, too, since this could set the precedent for other cities’ water systems. You know they’re out there.

But this whole thing makes me realize how insane it is that two tests set off a panic.

WHERE’S MURPHY?: At Rider University for an 11:30 a.m. “Conversation with Gov. Phil Murphy,” followed by a 2 p.m. climate speech at the InterContinental New York Barclay.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Missed yesterday: Local musician Bruce Springsteen, Congressman Tom Malinowski

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Some may ask whether a vegan is qualified to pass judgment on this question. But it doesn’t take decades of meat-eating experience to know this truth: A hot dog is not a sandwich.” — Cory Booker’s response to The Takeout’s “most pressing question of our age.”

CAMPAIGN CASH — Gov. Phil Murphy, who’s vice-chairman of the Democratic Governors Association and will become chairman in December, is hosting a fundraiser at his modest Middletown home today, I’m told. It’s estimated to raise $3 million, which someone tells me is a record for a sitting governor, but I’m writing this too late to verify that. Last year, before he was named designated 2020 DGA chairman, Murphy held a similar fundraiser that raised $2.5 million. There are gubernatorial elections this year in Kentucky, Louisiana and Mississippi and 11 contests next year.

PRIVATE CITIZEN DANA REDD (PUBLIC SALARY: $275,000) SPEAKS — CEOs, Camden officials say tax incentives have helped drive city’s rebirth, by POLITICO’s Katherine Landergan: Corporate executives and Camden officials gave a full-throated defense of the state’s now-expired tax incentive programs during a Statehouse hearing Monday, crediting the programs for bringing in jobs and improving the quality of life in the impoverished South Jersey city. The programs have been mired in scandal in recent months over allegations tax breaks were awarded to politically connected corporations — specifically, those with ties to South Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross.

—“Liberal groups call for reform of state tax incentives now, not later”

NEWARK LEAD —“Newark lead water crisis puts Murphy’s problem solving to the test,” by The Record’s Charles Stile: “As a candidate and shortly after sweeping into power, Murphy raised hopes of being the first governor in a long time who would confront [the] long-festering problem of lead poisoning. He even raised the issue in his inaugural address. But in reality, the lead water crisis … has proved to be another one of those messy, chronic issues that Murphy has come to realize are easy to champion as a candidate but difficult to resolve as governor. … [Essex County Executive Joseph] DiVincenzo’s action effectively took both Murphy and Baraka off the hook. It relieves Murphy of some of the burden of state responsibility, at least for now, to resolve the crisis. The fact is that Murphy lacks the resources and the political clout in Trenton to push through a similar bailout through a fractured Legislature. And he is already bogged down by other thorny issues that offer little glimpse of resolution in the near future.”

OH BILLY BOY, THE HORNS THE HORNS ARE BLOWING. FROM SPAN TO SPAN, AND DOWN THE ACCESS LANES — “Bridgegate defendant out of jail on bail asks judge for permission to travel to Ireland,” by NJ Advance Media’s Ted Sherman: “In a filing late Friday, attorneys for [Bill] Baroni asked the trial judge in the long-running criminal case to allow him to apply for a new U.S. passport and to travel to Ireland for a ten-day trip in November. The Supreme Court is not expected to hear the case before then, according to filings on the court’s docket. ‘Mr. Baroni has travelled to Ireland, with your honor’s permission, on eight previous occasions. On each occasion, he travelled without incident and promptly returned his passport to Pretrial Services,’ wrote attorney Stephen M. Orlofsky of BlankRome to U.S. District Judge Susan Wigenton in Newark. ‘As your honor recently recognized, Mr. Baroni is not a flight risk and is not a danger to the community.’”

‘PAY TO FLAY’ A GROWING TREND IN THE BOLTON HOUSEHOLD — ‘Pay to play’ fees a growing trend as school districts face cuts in state aid, by POLITICO’s Carly Sitrin: Dozens of school districts in New Jersey have been charging students to play sports or participate in extracurricular clubs and activities as a way to make up for continued cuts in state aid without losing programs that benefit kids in and out of school. Many of these districts — usually wealthy and suburban — began levying what are sometimes called “pay to play” fees about a decade ago during the Great Recession and because of deep cuts in state school aid under then-Republican Gov. Chris Christie. Now, after the state Legislature’s changes to the school funding formula last year under NJ S2 (18R), some districts are again looking to student fees to make up the difference. “It’s almost criminal in some ways,” David Healy, superintendent of the Toms River Regional Schools, said of the funding cuts. “I refer to it as legislative malpractice.”

SURELY IT’S NOT THAT BAAAAAAD — NJ Transit CEO won’t rule out fare increases, by POLITICO’s Ryan Hutchins: NJ Transit CEO Kevin Corbett sidestepped a question about potential fare hikes in an interview with NJTV News, telling the station the agency needed to show improvements before asking riders to pay more. “There’s a political element in that, obviously, when you do fare increases or not,” Corbett said during the interview over the weekend. “Some of the advocates believe … an index fare increase regularly is better than going for a number of years without it and then getting hit with a big increase.” The agency has managed to avoid any fare hikes since Gov. Phil Murphy took office in 2018, promising to turn around the commuter rail and bus service, but officials there said in March that they were facing a $138 million funding gap after July 2020.

—“Top NJ Transit exec discusses agency’s problems and prospects”

BUCCO — “Both parties await Bucco’s decision,” by New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstien: “One week has now passed since State Sen. Anthony R. Bucco (R-Boonton) died unexpectedly of a massive heart attack at age 81, and many Republicans — and Democrats — have transitioned beyond the mourning phase and into a demand for clarity in the 25th district race. Voting has already begin in hotly contested race for two Assembly seats, where the late senator’s son, Anthony M. Bucco (R-Boonton), is seeking re-election to a sixth term. Vote-by-mail ballots were sent out on Saturday. Bucco has a bunch of political options and he’ll need to pick one of them in the next few days before the choices are no longer his to make.”

—“Republican Caliguire sees Assembly vote as referendum on Murphy”

—“Murphy aide Derrick Greene offered buses to Democratic conference”

—“A light at the end for the Gateway tunnel”

BOOKER ON THE CUSP — DNC announces new polling, fundraising threshold for November debate, by POLITICO’s Zach Montellaro: “The Democratic National Committee announced the qualification criteria for the fifth presidential primary debate in November, a modest increase unlikely to lead to a significant reduction in the number of participating candidates. … To qualify for the debate, candidates must receive 3 percent in four DNC-approved polls, a step up from the 2 percent needed to qualify for the third and fourth debates. There is also an additional early-state path: 5 percent in two approved polls conducted Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada or South Carolina. Candidates can meet either of the two polling thresholds in order to satisfy that requirement. Polls must be released between Sept. 13 and seven days before the November debate — the timing or location of which has not yet been announced — to count toward qualification.”

—Booker’s already at 3-4% in three national polls released after September 13, according to RealClearPolitics. They’re all reputable but I’m not certain all of them are accepted by the DNC.

GOOD LUCK WITH THAT — Attorney Stuart Meissner says he’ll challenge Booker for Senate, by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: Stuart Meissner, a securities lawyer who has never held elected office, announced Monday that he will challenge Democratic U.S. Sen. Cory Booker next year — if Booker’s on the ballot for Senate. Meissner, who has already formed an exploratory committee, is the fourth Republican seeking to challenge Booker, who has struggled to gain traction for his 2020 presidential campaign. None of the Republicans who hope to challenge Booker next year has held elected office in New Jersey. Three of them, including Meissner, have run for Senate before as third-party candidates.

SMOKE A GOOD OLD FASHIONED BLUNT — “Gottheimer announces plan to blunt youth vaping,” by New Jersey Globe’s Nikita Biryukov: “Rep. Josh Gottheimer announced a six-point plan to stem underage vaping Monday. The plan includes a call to raise the minimum legal age to purchase tobacco products to 21 nationally, ban all tobacco products from being sold online, bar the sale of non-tobacco electronic cigarettes and ban flavored nicotine vapor cartridges.”

NOTHING AS CONSEQUENTIAL AS HIS 2008 SONG ‘(OBAMA WAS) BORN IN THE USA’ “Why Bruce Springsteen is the soundtrack of the 2020 primary,” by Jonathan D. Cohen for The Washington Post: “Democratic candidates ranging from Michael F. Bennet (“The Rising”), to Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden (“We Take Care of Our Own”) to Springsteen’s fellow New Jerseyan Cory Booker (“Waitin’ on a Sunny Day” and “The Ties that Bind”) play Springsteen songs at rallies. Democrats could choose from a plethora of liberal artists to pump up their crowds, including musicians with larger and younger fan bases than Springsteen who might excite key, hard-to-engage constituencies. So why do they keep cranking up the Boss? Because Springsteen embodies white working-class Rust Belt voters who, until recently, constituted a core Democratic voting bloc. In Springsteen, Democrats see an archetype of the white working class, one who can help them woo the voters in the Rust Belt and farm states who have turned various shades of Republican red over the past half-century.”

—“Joe Biden and Cory Booker fund-raising in Philly Monday, with trouble out on the trail for both”

— “NJ Students voted in 2018 midterm elections well above national average”

—Snowflack: “Booker’s fundraising Spartacus moment”

—“Trump’s gravest danger: A Q&A with Congressman Malinowski”

ENGLEWOOD. JUMP ON IT! — “When art becomes ‘a conflict’: Man says Englewood is stalling on Sugarhill Gang mural,” by The Record’s Katie Sobko: “Two years ago, Omar Lopez decided that he wanted to do something to bring art to the community as a means of inspiration and light. He founded Englewood Art Walls as a way to do that. … Fast-forward to today, and Lopez is still waiting for city approval to move forward with a mural of the Sugarhill Gang, Englewood’s pioneering rap artists. … Lopez is concerned that city officials have been attempting to stall his mural ‘indefinitely’ because the fact that his projects aren’t being discussed seems ‘intentional,’ he said. … The Sugarhill Gang holds a special place in Englewood’s history, and in music history. Forty years ago, the song ‘Rapper’s Delight’ broke into the Billboard 100 as the first bona fide rap hit, and it changed the course of popular music.”

TURNS OUT HE LIVES IN CAPULET — “Montague BOE member not stepping down,” by The New Jersey Herald’s Eric Obernauer: “A school board member here will apparently be allowed to keep his seat on the Board of Education despite lingering questions about his eligibility to serve based on his voter registration and residency. Billy Underwood became the focus of those questions after it was revealed he was not a registered voter in the Montague School District when he took the oath of office last month. Before that, in February, he had registered to vote with an address in Vernon. By law, school board members in New Jersey must be registered to vote in the school district on whose board they serve and must also have lived in that district for at least one year immediately prior to taking office. The residency and voter registration requirements are spelled out in the Montague board’s own policy and in a New Jersey statute, 18A:12-1. Underwood, who was notified of these requirements by the board secretary when he applied for the vacant board seat in July, said at the time that he had children attending school in Montague but did not say for how long. He later stated under oath that he met the requirements to serve on the school board when he was sworn in on Aug. 20.”

—“Bordentown police dog handler says ex-chief Frank Nucera slammed teen’s head ‘like a basketball’”

—“Sentences delayed in Paterson MUA corruption case”

—“New Jersey, Paterson oppose settlement for pending opioid lawsuit”

HO HEY HERB JACKSON — “What in the ho, hey is Roll Call doing talking to The Lumineers?” by Roll Call’s Herb Jackson: “There’s no good reason for the politics editor of CQ Roll Call to write about the new album by The Lumineers, let alone interview founding member Jeremiah Fraites about President Donald Trump, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, or the death of Fraites’ older brother from a heroin overdose. But growing up in the North Jersey town of Ramsey, Fraites and his brother had a thing for sharing what they thought were amusing names they saw on TV or in newspapers. And my name became one of them when it was printed under an admittedly goofy photo in 2005 in the Bergen Record, along with an announcement the paper was reopening its Washington bureau and sending me, its statehouse columnist, to staff it. ‘You know, something about your name, I just really loved it,’ Fraites said in a phone interview earlier this month. ‘I guess it started out as a joke; I just taped it on my keyboard and I shared it with my bandmates, including Wes [Schutlz], the singer now with the band. … Honestly, I see your face every day, still on the keyboard. It’s my favorite keyboard, I still use it all the time.’”