Murphy goes in for a Gordon – Politico
It’s an election year and Gov. Phil Murphy is sitting at the popular kids’ table.
The governor endorsed Gordon Johnson on Wednesday for state Senate in the 37th District Democratic primary over Valerie Huttle, who has the support of some progressive groups and unions.
The endorsement wasn’t really expected but it’s not entirely surprising. Johnson was an early Murphy backer back in 2016, two weeks before Murphy became the prohibitive favorite for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination. And once the Bergen County Democratic Committee voted to endorse Johnson and Murphy, they were going to be on the same ticket in the district anyway. (Retiring Senate Majority Leader Loretta Weinberg also endorsed Johnson, though she had already said she’d back the candidate chosen by the Bergen County Democratic Committee.)
But it’s another example of how the governor, who spent much of his term fighting with Democratic bosses — albeit typically from South Jersey — is now working hand-in-hand with the Democratic machine that helped elect him four years ago only after he out-maneuvered their preferred candidates.
Huttle is backed by some groups that have been Murphy’s closest allies, like the New Jersey Working Families Alliance and the Communications Workers of America. Murphy may be a thespian at heart. But as he’s up for reelection, he’s decided it’s more advantageous to be seen with the football team than with the drama club.
WHERE’S MURPHY? No public schedule
CORONAVIRUS TRACKER: 3,590 newly-reported positive tests for a total of 751,082. 38 more deaths for a total of 21,530 (and 2,515 probable deaths). 1,895 hospitlized, 407 in intensive care. 1,051,018 second doses administered, or about 11.8 percent of the population.
QUOTE OF THE DAY: “Hiring King Penna was hands down the worst decision. In my opinion and based on my experience he is an abysmal excuse for a campaign consultant and mean-spirited. In my eagerness to get my race moving, I signed a contract that entitled him to a win bonus that in hindsight, I should have tied … to his actual performance, which was lackluster at best. My win was despite his interference and not the result of any of his work.” — Assemblymember Brian Bergen (R-Morris) telling everyone how he really feels after a judge ordered him to pay Penna a $15,000 bonus
EMPHASIS ON THE ‘SHAKE’ — New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission could face shake-up, by POLITICO’s Sam Sutton and Matt Friedman: Gov. Phil Murphy is considering substituting at least one of the picks he previously announced for New Jersey’s Cannabis Regulatory Commission, the powerful new agency that will set the rules and dole out licenses to the state’s nascent cannabis marketplace, according to an administration source. The replacement would probably be a Black male who would likely satisfy a statutory requirement that says one of the commission’s five full-time members must represent a national civil rights organization, according to the source, who was not at liberty to discuss the matter publicly. Advocates have argued none of the five picks announced by Murphy, Senate President Steve Sweeney and Speaker Craig Coughlin met that standard.
— “Potential changes at NJ’s cannabis commission may pose new stumbling block to legalization”
EDUCATION — Murphy urges schools to reopen, prepare for possible standardized testing in the spring, by POLITICO’s Carly Sitrin: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday urged schools to move ahead with reopening for in-person learning and said his administration will direct districts to begin planning to administer standardized testing in the spring. “We have an obsession with getting our schools back in-person, in some form, as soon as possible, as soon as we can do that responsibly,” Murphy said during his regular briefing in Trenton, adopting his now-familiar tone of cautious optimism around reopening classrooms. Murphy‘s comments about schools have gotten slightly more optimistic this week as the state will be receiving more than $1.1 billion in federal relief funds that will go directly to school districts.
SOUTH JERSEY LAWMAKERS SEEK HOAGIEPOENA POWER — Lawmakers advance bill giving community boards subpoena power to investigate police, by POLITICO’s Daniel Han: The Assembly Community Development and Affairs Committee advanced legislation on Wednesday to create civilian complaint review boards in every municipality in New Jersey and give them broad powers to investigate police misconduct, a move championed by criminal justice reform advocates. The bill, NJ A4656 (20R), would allow municipalities and counties to establish boards that would be able to subpoena witnesses and records. Giving review boards those investigative tools is essential, otherwise they’d be nothing more than a “paper tiger” and “useless,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who spoke in support of the bill, said.
MURPHY’S NJ TRANSIT DEATH SENTENCE WAS… COMMUTED — NJ Transit’s multi-million dollar question: Where to find the elusive source of dedicated funding, by POLITICO’s Samantha Maldonado: Gov. Phil Murphy famously and repeatedly promised to fix NJ Transit “if it kills me.” He pledged to end capital funds raids, stabilize the agency’s budget and invest in long-term infrastructure goals, even commissioning a $1.3 million audit that proposed a path forward. He signed a law restructuring NJ Transit’s board of directors and set ambitious mileposts with the agency’s first 10-year strategic plan. But a central finding of the 2018 audit — that NJ Transit lacks a stable, dedicated source of funding — hasn‘t been addressed. And as the governor fights this year to secure a second term in office, the unsolved issues have taken on even more urgency. Covid-19 has simultaneously complicated and emphasized the need to solve that problem. The pandemic has decimated ridership, resulting in a major hit to a significant revenue source and possibly changing demand patterns of public transit for several years. But it‘s also resulted in billions of dollars flowing to the agency, thanks to multiple federal rescue packages. Transportation advocates, experts and some lawmakers have cautioned against using that windfall to further stall solving the funding problems that have long plagued the agency. They, along with several NJ Transit board members, are urging lawmakers and the Murphy administration to use the cushion to get to work now.
— POLITICO Pro Q&A: New Jersey DOT Commissioner Diane Gutierrez-Scaccetti
PAY DOWN THOSE MASTROS — Democratic lawmakers consider paying down New Jersey’s debt load as cash rolls in, by POLITICO’s Katherine Landergan: Some Democratic lawmakers are weighing whether the state should begin paying down its massive debt load this year as New Jersey’s fiscal situation has brightened and the state is suddenly flush with cash. Gov. Phil Murphy’s administration was bracing for dire revenue losses as a consequence of the pandemic. But revenues came in much better than expected, in part because middle- and high-income households are recovering fairly quickly. In addition, the state borrowed more than $4 billion in anticipation of revenue losses and, on top of that, President Joe Biden just signed a stimulus package that will fill the state’s coffers with more than $6 billion.
WAR OF WORDSMITH — “NJ unemployment: Rep. Chris Smith says Murphy restricts how many people he can help,” by The Asbury Park Press’ Joe Strupp: “U.S. Rep. Chris Smith and the state’s top Labor Department official are in a war of words over new limits on unemployment claims he can troubleshoot on behalf of residents having problems filing for benefits. Smith … said his office has received hundreds of requests since the pandemic began from those who were forced out of jobs and facing challenges applying for unemployment insurance. The congressman’s staff has been submitting claims on their behalf, stating that at least 900 have been filed with their help and hundreds more are pending. But on Feb. 25, Smith was told by state Labor Department officials that a new limit had been placed on the number of claims that third parties can file on behalf of residents — just 25 every two weeks.”
NJ PLAYBOOK OPERATIONS COULD RETURN TO NJ… FOR A PRICE — “NJ officials eye May application process for $1.1B corporate tax break program,” by NJBIZ’s Daniel J. Munoz: “State officials are aiming to fast-track a key economic incentive program and open up applications this May offering corporate tax breaks for businesses eyeing a move into New Jersey. The program is called NJ Emerge, which has a budget of $1.1 billion a year, and is part of the broader $14.5 billion economic incentive package Gov. Phil Murphy signed into law in January. Altogether, the economic package is meant to set the stage for the state’s economic recovery coming out of the COVID-19 recession, which many public officials and economists have described as the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression nearly a century ago. NJ Emerge is meant to replace a prior version of the program, known as Grow New Jersey – a controversial incentive program under which the state awarded more than $4 billion between 2013 and 2019 to hundreds of businesses that moved to the state, or expanded their existing footprint rather than leaving.”
BENCH PRESSED — “NJ has alarming shortage of judges as courtrooms remain closed,” by NJ 101.5’s David Mathau: “According to Kim Yonta, the president of the New Jersey State Bar Association, there are 74 judicial vacancies, representing 20% of the bench. Essex County has 16 vacancies, the most in the state. ‘It is indeed the highest number of judicial vacancies the state has ever faced,’ she said. While certain types of cases continue to take place remotely, a tsunami of more cases will be unleashed on the courts when pandemic restrictions are lifted, possibly by summer. ‘The backlog of landlord-tenant cases are expected to top 100,000 statewide once the eviction moratorium is lifted,’ she said.”
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— “Chiaravalloti says the campaign for Bayonne’s assembly seat is still a two-man race — for now”
— “Advocates call on NJ lawmakers to pass Reproductive Freedom Act”
— “Almost two months into rollout, New Jersey is now targeting seniors for COVID vaccines”
— “Gov. Phil Murphy allows outdoor interstate youth sports competition to resume”
— Snowflack: “On principle, DiMaso breaches the Golden rule”
CD7: THE TOM TOM CLUB — “With filing day more than a year out, Republicans look to ding Malinowski,” by New Jersey Globe’s Nikita Biryukov: “Just two months into his second term, the campaign for Rep. Tom Malinowski’s (D-Ringoes) House seat already swinging. Republicans have launched repeated attacks at the congressman over his failure to properly disclose at least $671,000 over 100 different stock trades, a failure Malinowski has said was the result of an oversight. The trades, he said, were made by a financial advisor, and he told NJ Advance Media there was ‘no good reason’ for the absent filings ‘other than putting off difficult paperwork in the crunch of my responsibilities.’ Republicans don’t buy that explanation and have seized on the issue in an attempt to ding the Democrat, who won a second term over State Senate Minority Leader Thomas Kean. Jr. (R-Westfield) by a little more than a point in a race where votes took weeks to tally.”
PATERSON IS SPEZIALE — “Paterson police excessive force claims surpass Newark and Jersey City,” by the Paterson Press’ Joe Malinconico: “The number of excessive force complaints filed against Paterson police officers in recent years was about 27% higher than those for Newark and Jersey City — cities with far more residents, far more cops and more crime. Paterson police received 156 excessive force complaints from 2015 through 2019, while Jersey City had 123 and Newark had 122, Paterson Press found in analyzing five years’ of Internal Affairs reports for the state’s three most populous cities. Paterson also had the lowest rate of excessive force complaints that were sustained during that period — about 1%, compared with about 3% for Jersey City and 19% for Newark, the annual reports showed. For all three cities, the vast majority of the excessive force complaints were filed by residents … Meanwhile, Paterson Public Safety Director Jerry Speziale noted the subjectivity involved in people’s decisions whether to file excessive force complaints. ‘It really depends on what somebody thinks is excessive,’ Speziale said. ‘A narcotics detective might have to tackle someone who’s trying to get away, and the person might say that was excessive force.’”
HURLEYING ACCUSATIONS — “Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small files slander suit against Craig Callaway,” by The Press of Atlantic City’s Michelle Brunetti Post: “Mayor Marty Small Sr. has filed a legal complaint against Atlantic City political organizer Craig Callaway, accusing him of making untrue statements claiming Small and his wife allowed children to be raped in their home. In a Wednesday morning news conference at his legal firm in Atlantic City, Ed Jacobs, Small’s attorney, said Callaway slandered the Small family by making statements in South Jersey radio interviews that he “knew or should have known” were lies. The interviews included one on Oct. 19 with Harry Hurley on WPG-FM 95.5 and one on Oct. 26 on the program “AC 411.’ … Callaway also said he will file his own lawsuit against Small and the city, alleging slander over statements Small made on the radio, accusing Callaway of voter fraud in his get-out-the-vote efforts.
THE THOMAS TOWN AFFAIR — “A master lesson in the ‘art’ of arrogance?” by Belleville Watch: “A nearly 200-year old painting, appraised at $125,000 and belonging to the Belleville Historical Society, was removed from the Belleville Public Library and now hangs on the wall in Michael Melham’s office at Town Hall. The Belleville Historical Society and the man whose family donated the painting are outraged, and want the painting returned to the library for public display.”
EXCUSE ME, BUT THIS AGRICULTURAL TAX BREAK IS RESERVED FOR RICH PEOPLE WHO PRETEND TO BE FARMERS — “Maple syrup producer fights to keep NJ farmland tax assessment,” by The New Jersey Herald’s Bruce A. Scruton: “Making maple syrup is not a simple process. It requires tapping trees, boiling water, lots of buckets, tubing, freezing, ‘sheeting pans and sometimes even outsmarting squirrels. It’s about to get even more difficult as some local tax assessors are declaring maple syrup does not fall under the classification of ‘an agricultural product’ and producers do not qualify for property tax breaks under the state’s farmland assessment laws.”
ALL OVER THE MAPP — “Plainfield mayoral challenger looks to debate Mapp,” by MyCentralJersey’s Suzanne Russell: “Native son Richard Wyatt Jr., a two term Board of Education member, is looking to challenge Mayor Adrian Mapp in the June Democratic mayoral primary … While once Plainfield, which is nicknamed the Queen City, was known as a community of prestige, he said now people associate the city with crime, lack of services and the inability to offer opportunities. Richard Wyatt ‘I want to change that,’ said Wyatt, who works as the city’s assistant tax assessor.”
R.I.P. — “Morris County’s ‘gentle giant’ Deputy Clerk John Wojtaszek dies at 71”
— “Ex-Jersey City BOE Pres. Thomas pleads not guilty in AG case as state offers plea deal”
— “Swastikas and anti-Semitism: Ex-inmate sues Ocean County Jail for $1M over bias claims”
— “Tempers flare again at Paterson Council meeting, continuing pattern of chaotic sessions”
— “Paterson sewer repeal hurts city finances and could result in budget cuts, report says”
— “Tempers flare again at Paterson Council meeting, continuing pattern of chaotic sessions”
— “Will FEMA funds help towns fix battered beaches?”
— “NJ gets earful about Altice Optimum cable TV, internet: ‘Price goes up, service goes down’”
— “Hampton man admits to spray-painting ‘BLM’ on sign near Sussex sheriff’s home”
ANTI-ASIAN VIOLENCE — “‘You always have this fear’: Asian communities in NJ seek answers after Atlanta shootings,” by The Record’s Mary Chao: “Along a busy commercial corridor across from the Fort Lee Community Center, Grace Kim reflected on how vulnerable she felt after the attacks that killed six Asian American women in Georgia on Tuesday. Eight people in all died in three shootings at Atlanta-area spas, before police arrested a 21-year-old man accused of being the lone gunman. Although the suspect reportedly told police that race was not a motive, the deaths came after a spate of high-profile assaults on Asian Americans and after months of rhetoric blaming the community for the spread of the coronavirus. ‘Since our salon is Asian, it is definitely concerning,’ said Kim, 25, a family owner of New Splendid Nail and Spa in Fort Lee. ‘We have a fear we can be targeted.’ Across North Jersey, home to one of the country’s biggest concentrations of Asian Americans, conversations in the communities Wednesday centered on a growing sense of being under attack — and a search for solutions.”
HEALTH CARE — “Union targets community-based health providers over low pay for staff,” by NJ Spotlight’s Lilo Stainton: “Large behavioral health providers in New Jersey have gained new financial stability in recent years, but frontline caregivers continue to struggle with low pay and poor working conditions, according to a labor organization seeking to unionize staff at these facilities. In a few cases, executive compensation at the nonprofit, community-based operators grew significantly over a five-year period, while the salaries and benefits for counselors, social workers and other direct-care staff barely kept pace with inflation, the union alleges. The result, it says, is high workforce turnover and staffers who feel undervalued — a situation that diminishes the quality of care for individuals with mental-health and substance-use disorders. In a white paper scheduled for public release soon, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees calls for greater government oversight and public transparency around how these operations spend money”
GREWAL: MCINTOSH IS A BAD APPLE — “South Jersey police officer is charged with aggravated assault for firing a Taser at an ATV operator,” by The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Julie Shaw: “A South Jersey police officer has been charged with aggravated assault for firing a Taser at an ATV operator, causing him to flip and crash the vehicle and suffer serious injuries, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said Tuesday. Officer Tyquan McIntosh, 28, of the Chesilhurst Police Department in Camden County, was charged Monday with the third-degree offense, state prosecutors said, alleging that the officer used excessive force during an arrest.”
— “Man charged in N.J. riot faces new accusation he threw explosive device at state troopers”
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