Politics

The Soliloquy of the Slain Lou Manzo

By John R. Bohrer • Mar 16th, 2010 • Category: Featured, News, Politics

It’s the Ides of March — the hour of Caesar’s reckoning. The perfect day to believe there are knives under the togas, to allege plots of political assassination. Some eight months after his arrest in a bribery sting, this is the date that former Assemblyman/political journeyman Lou Manzo has chosen to confront his assailants.



PHOTOS: City Council Outtakes

By Steve Gold • Mar 12th, 2010 • Category: Blog, News, Politics

Steve Gold takes a lot of great pictures at City Council meetings that often don’t make our Council Report stories because there just isn’t the space. So we will sometimes bring them to you in a slide show of outtakes. Enjoy.



Council Report: Budget Brouhaha Continues, Elections Move Denied and More

By Shane Smith • Mar 12th, 2010 • Category: Featured, News, Politics

Although this Wednesday’s council meeting was not as packed as the last two were, a relatively large crowd of about 200 were present in council chambers for at least part of the five-hour proceeding as the council considered nine first-read ordinances, 13 second reads and 27 resolutions.



School-Choice Advocates Will Gather to ‘Kick Off a Movement’

By Shane Smith • Mar 12th, 2010 • Category: Blog, News, Politics

This evening, local and statewide school-choice advocacy groups as well as local pols are inviting the public to “raise awareness [and a glass] on the state of schools in Jersey City.”
Jersey City Families for Better Schools (JCFBS), Ward E councilman Steven Fulop and Newark-based advocacy group Excellent Education for Everyone (E3) will be joined [...]



Report: Transportation Trust Fund in ‘Massive Spiral of Debt’

By Jon Whiten • Mar 11th, 2010 • Category: Blog, News, Politics

A new report from the Regional Plan Association (RPA) says that New Jersey lawmakers need to confront head-on the problem with the Transportation Trust Fund, which is expected to be insolvent by mid-2011. At that point, it is projected that 100 percent of the $883 million collected each year in tolls, taxes and other fees [...]



Jersey City’s UEZ Programs Dealt a Blow as Christie Freezes State Funds

By Chris Neidenberg • Mar 9th, 2010 • Category: Featured, News, Politics

Advocates of the Urban Enterprise Zone program are warning of dire consequences to urban business areas already struggling with the nation’s severe recession if Jersey City loses the $10.6 million that Gov. Christie has frozen.



NJ Transit Looking to Raise Fares by 25 Percent, Cut Service

By Jon Whiten • Mar 5th, 2010 • Category: Blog, News, Politics

This afternoon, NJ Transit officials finally confirmed what everyone has known was coming: a proposal for a huge fare hike and widespread service cuts.
The agency’s plan entails raising fares by 25 percent systemwide. The Hudson-Bergen Light Rail fare, for example, would rise from $1.90 to $2.40 per trip.
“We recognize that any increase is [...]



Local Pols Line Up Against Gas Pipeline as Public Meetings Get Underway

By Shane Smith • Mar 4th, 2010 • Category: Blog, News, Politics

Mayor Healy has recently been joined by other local elected officials in opposing a natural gas pipleline extension being proposed by Spectra Energy. The path of the pipeline, which would add about 16 miles of new pipeline to two of Spectra’s existing lines in the region, would bring up to 800 million cubic feet of [...]



State Dems Launch Website Tracking Christie’s ‘Hidden Taxes’

By Jon Whiten • Mar 3rd, 2010 • Category: Blog, News, Politics

Last week the state Democratic Committee launched a new website, NJTaxWatch.com, which it says is aimed at “keeping taxpayers throughout the state informed of the hidden consequences (taxes) of government actions that are supposedly cutting costs.”
The site allows you to pull up your municipality and see how some of Gov. Christie’s proposed cuts will affect [...]



National Journal Rankings: Payne is Most Liberal of Jersey City’s U.S. Reps.

By Jon Whiten • Mar 3rd, 2010 • Category: Blog, Politics

According to the National Journal’s annual tally of select House votes, in 2009, Donald Payne was the most liberal Rep. that represents Jersey City. Parts of Jersey City are covered by three different Congressional districts: Payne represents the 10th, which covers a sliver of the city’s south and west sides. Steve Rothman represents the 9th, [...]