Jerramiah Healy

Prospective mayoral candidate Bret Schundler’s conservative record was raised last night in one of the first attacks of the developing Jersey City mayoral race.

At a rally touting the establishment of a task force to fight crime against Jersey City’s LGBT community last night, Walt Boraczek, founder of the Hudson Diversity Action Council and an ally of Mayor Jerramiah Healy, ripped into Schundler’s record on gay rights, both as mayor and as a gubernatorial candidate, calling him “homophobic.”

Schundler, who was mayor from 1992 until 2001, is considering running for mayor again. The city holds non-partisan elections, and Schundler was initially narrowly elected in a crowded field of candidates. He went on to form alliances with key Democrats on the council to hold the seat. Last night’s rally was a clear indication that Schundler’s rivals will use his conservative record against him in this Democrat dominated city, should he choose to run again.

Former Jersey City mayor and two-time gubernatorial candidate Bret Schundler, who’s mulling a return to City Hall, said today that he supports the ballot initiatives championed by Steve Fulop, another prospective mayoral candidate, and would go as far to hold a press conference supporting it.  

“They very much follow in the footprints of the ethics reforms I proposed during my gubernatorial campaign in 2001,” wrote Schundler in an email to PolitickerNJ.

The initiatives, which are likely to be in the November general election ballot, ban city officials from accepting campaign contributions from vendors with business before the city within a year of the contract’s start date and force City Council members to accept only one taxpayer funded salary. 

It’s a rough day on Grove Street.

The Jersey Journal reports that Jersey City Deputy Mayor Kabili Tayari was arrested yesterday for driving a rental car that was reported stolen.

Tayari, who was charged under his original name, Randy Brown, had reportedly failed to return a car he had rented from an agency at Newark Airport.

“This is purely a civil matter where clearly there was no intent to take the rented vehicle beyond the contracted time limit. We believe this issue will be resolved amicably between both parties,” read a statement by Healy spokesman Stan H. Eason.

The Associated Press reports that Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy lost his latest appeal today on his conviction for resisting arrest and obstruction of justice.

Healy was arrested in Bradley Beach two years ago after he tried to play peacemaker in a lovers’ quarrel outside of a bar owned by his sister.  Today’s decision marks Healy’s second appeal loss.

Healy chief-of-staff Dominick Pandolfo said that while Healy is aware of the decision, he has not yet received it in full.  It’s unclear whether Healy will once again appeal the appeal. 

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, backing up Senate President Richard Codey's endorsement of Obama.

Obama Campaign State Director Mark Alexander knew it would be hard to pry Sen. Hillary Clinton’s supporters loose in New Jersey after her victory in New Hampshire.

This was a fight now, and Clinton’s people were solid.

"We have an opportunity here in Hudson - Hudson, Hispanics, Hillary and history," Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) cried to a North Bergen audience of mostly Latinos with Clinton on stage.

The response was near to deafening with Clinton standing on stage with Menendez, U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-13) and state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex).

But that didn’t mean there weren’t other opportunities for Obama; in fact, one big opportunity, in the form of Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex), who was at the moment glumly serving as state director for the foundering campaign of John Edwards.

Alexander knew Codey. He also knew Codey was close to former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley (D-NJ), who had come onto the Obama campaign as an advisor.

Obama Campaign State Director Mark Alexander. 

The campaign was about to change.

On Oct, 9, 2007, an announcement came down from Chicago regarding New Jersey operations. 

Mark Alexander, a Seton Hall University law professor and Obama’s senior policy advisor, would be the campaign’s official state director.

"I am grateful that he is going to carry the fight forward to and through the Feb. 5 contests," Obama said of Alexander. "He is a valued and trusted advisor, and at the same time has deep ties in his home of New Jersey that will be invaluable to our efforts. 

"I am proud of the policy work we have done on this campaign and through Mark’s leadership we have built a team of key advisors from the ground up that will continue to offer new and innovative approaches to the challenges this country faces," added the presidential candidate.

A personal friend of Barack and Michelle Obama’s going back a dozen years, Alexander as a child worked on the 1974 Washington, D.C. mayoral campaign of his father, Clifford Alexander, former chairman of the Equal Opportunity Commission. Later, he ran Sen. Bill Bradley’s 2000 presidential campaign and served as counsel to Cory Booker.

NJ for Obama organizers Julie Diaz and Keith Hovey.

The Obama campaign started small here, with handfuls of coffee house organizers lining up behind a grassroots operation called NJ for Obama in the face of a big party machine backing Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY), and an unpopular war in Iraq.

Founded in an Edison coffee shop in December of 2006, the group’s leader was Damian Bednarz, 25, a Master’s student in international relations with Seton Hall University’s Whitehead School of Diplomacy.

"Obama has something that Hillary Clinton can’t buy or reproduce, and that’s a sense of inspiration," Bednarz said at the time. "If anything, I’m encouraged by Clinton’s frontrunner status because I know our work is so special."

In the months following, some elected offiicials endorsed the Illinois senator, among them Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Union), who came out in favor of Obama in April of 2007, followed by state Sen. John Adler (D-Camden) a couple of weeks later.

"At this time we need someone special... someone who is going to build a bridge brick by brick to peace through negotiation," said Cohen, a graduate of Howard University who arrived at politics through the Civil Rights era.

Jersey City Heights businessman Michael Yun, a long time friend political ally of Bret Schundler, said that the former mayor and gubernatorial candidate will seek to reclaim the city's top office in 2009.

“He’s definitely going to run, yes, and we’re organizing,” Yun told PolitickerNJ in a phone interview this morning.

Schundler has spent the last couple weeks attending neighborhood meetings and asking local politicians for support, aided by Yun. He recently announced his mayoral intentions to a gathering of Hudson County Republicans at their reorganization meeting, though in less definite language.

U.S. Rep. Steve RothmanWhen most of his Democratic colleagues endorsed backyard darling Hillary Clinton for president over a year ago, U.S. Rep. Steve Rothman (D-9) cut from the pack and picked Illinoisan underdog Barack Obama.

The Obama campaign rewarded Rothman with a position as northeast regional co-chair and through a long-slog primary he played a leading and aggressive role on behalf of his presidential candidate.

Now that Obama has beaten Clinton, Rothman enjoys a point position in the general election campaign here in New Jersey as former Clinton travelers realign behind Obama and acknowledge Rothman’s win.

"To the victor go the spoils," a congressional staffer said with a shrug in his voice.

In that vein, the Bergen lawmaker told Obama’s people in Chicago that he wants his chief of staff, Bob Decheine, running the New Jersey-based campaign headquarters in advance of the Nov. 4th showdown with presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain.

Bret Schundler has been tightlipped with the press about whether he's made a decision to run for mayor of Jersey City, but some Hudson County Republicans are under the impression that the former mayor has just about made up his mind to run again for the big office on Grove Street.

Schundler, who was mayor between 1992 and 2001 before running two unsuccessful gubernatorial bids, attended the party's reorganization meeting earlier this month in his role as a committeeman and, according to one person present, unofficially announced his intention to run.

"He basically said that he was interested in running, and that he will announce it at a later date," said Hudson County Republican Chairman Jose Arango. "He said that maybe in the future he'll announce that he'll run for mayor. I know he's meeting with people."