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Jersey Journal editorial page editor (and “Political Insider”) Agustin Torres has made no bones about his distaste for Mayor Jerramiah Healy in recent years. And the feeling seems to be mutual, judging by Healy’s refusal to appear at several candidate forums that involved Torres during last year’s mayoral election.

With all that in mind, I was honestly surprised that the paper didn’t call for Healy’s head back in July, after his name first surfaced in connection to the federal corruption probe. But that day finally came yesterday, when the paper’s editorial page called for the mayor’s resignation in a prominent editorial teased on the front page.

“Videos viewed by a federal jury last week in the bribery trial of suspended deputy mayor Leona Beldini reveal that Healy is an embarrassment as mayor of this city,” the paper wrote. “He has provided a cinematic primer of what not to do as a chief executive of a municipality.”

That editorial has led Healy press secretary Jennifer Morrill — herself a former Journal staffer — to rip into the coverage in a letter sent to the paper yesterday.

“As a former journalist and someone who is reading the news articles that pertain to this trial, it does not surprise me that the fair and balanced coverage one expects from the Fourth Estate is lost on the Jersey Journal,” she writes. “They have never wanted to give this mayor a fair shake and it is really disheartening — you would hope the hometown newspaper would only want the best for its city.”

She continues: “When I read over and over again slanted articles, headlines and innuendos, I do not know why this coverage surprises me. And yesterday, the Jersey Journal took things one step further suggesting the mayor should resign.”

Morrill ends her letter by taking a quick shot at Journal favorite son Lou Manzo, who was arrested in July’s sweep and indicted in October on charges that he and his brother Ron accepted $27,500 in bribes from FBI informant Solomon Dwek.

“Had the candidate those same Jersey Journal editors endorsed for Mayor on May 9, 2009 — Louis Manzo — been elected, he would be under indictment at this time,” she writes. “So, I will find some comfort then, when I read the outrageous Jersey Journal editorials, seeing as their track record is pretty poor.”