L. Harvey Smith

NEW BILL TARGETS JOB OUTSOURCING TO TRY TO PROTECT AMERICAN WORKERS

Measure Would Prohibit State from Doing Business with Firms that Send Work Overseas

(TRENTON) – Assemblymen. L. Harvey Smith, Ruben J. Ramos Jr. and Nelson Albano today announced they’ve introduced legislation that would prohibit the state from doing business with and investing in companies that outsource jobs overseas.

Smith (D-Hudson) said the measure (A-3516) sends a strong message as New Jersey workers and businesses grapple with the global economic meltdown.

Over the course of the last month, the Hudson County rumor mill has been rife with talk that Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who’s facing a lawsuit that seeks to remove him from office, is preparing to resign.  

Last night, Healy sought to squelch that talk.   

“I’m not resigning.  Not only am I not resigning, but no way in hell am I resigning because Lou Manzo has brought an absurd application addressed to the Monmouth County prosecutor’s office to remove an elected Hudson county official,” said Healy in a phone interview with PolitickerNJ.  “I’m not only not resigning, I am running for mayor again in seven months.”

Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop just saw his own municipal pay-to-play ordinance signed into law by the city council on Tuesday.  The next day, Gov. Corzine outlined a sweeping ethics reform package that, if passed, Fulop thinks will strengthen the one that Jersey City just enacted. 

The Governor’s plan covers banning contributions to municipal officials from redevelopers.  That, Fulop said, was part of his original plan, but he was advised that it wouldn’t pass muster in a legal challenge because of state laws favoring redevelopers– so he dropped it. 

“For us in Jersey City, I think the Governor’s would certainly be stricter because it would affect redevelopment, which would give us more stringent pay-to-play laws,” said Fulop.

SCHAER/WATSON COLEMAN/SPENCER/SMITH ‘SAVE NEW JERSEY HOMES ACT OF 2008’ SIGNED BY GOVERNOR

(TRENTON) – Legislation Assembly members Gary S. Schaer, Bonnie Watson Coleman, L. Grace Spencer, and L. Harvey Smith sponsored to extend foreclosure protection to thousands of New Jersey families caught-up in the recent mortgage market upheaval was signed today by the governor.

Former Assemblyman Lou Manzo, a potential mayoral candidate in Jersey City next year, filed a petition with Monmouth County Superior Court to ask them to weigh whether Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s conduct during his 2006 Bradley Beach arrest should trigger him to forfeit his office.

No hearing date is set yet, and Manzo can’t release details until all parties have been served.

Healy was convicted of disorderly conduct in Bradley Beach last year, and has sought unsuccessfully to reverse the decision several times. He’s currently appealing it in the state Supreme Court.

But after an Essex County judge ruled that former Newark Councilwoman Dana Rone must forfeit her office earlier this summer, Manzo started digging and hired legal counsel to see whether the same standard should apply to Healy. Healy and Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said it shouldn’t, since Healy never invoked his office during his arrest.

DENVER -- Assemblywoman Joan Quigley (D-Jersey City) is candid about her feelings on the upcoming Jersey City mayoral race.

She’s with Mayor Jerramiah Healy. Not that it’s unusual, considering he’s chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO). She wasn’t in 2004, however, when he ran to replace the late Glen Cunningham.

“He was a dark horse at that point and I didn’t know him well,” she said. And while his status as the head of the powerful Democratic organization could certainly win him friends, Quigley said that’s not the reason.

“I learned to like him a lot better before that happened.”

The big race to watch in Jersey City next year is for mayor, but the politics of that contest are already spilling out into the legislature.

The recent buzz is that Jersey City Incinerator Authority CEO Oren Dabney is being positioned for an Assembly run in District 31 by State Sen. Sandra Cunningham, who herself is said to be considering a mayoral bid next year.

Reached for comment yesterday, Dabney wouldn’t commit one way or the other, but admitted that he’s mulling the possibility.

“I’ll do anything possible that’s going to benefit the city of Jersey City, period,” he said. “I haven’t made any decisions on anything at this point. So if anyone is giving information such as that I must be well-liked.”

COHEN/SCHAER/WATSON COLEMAN/SPENCER/SMITH 'SAVE NEW JERSEY HOMES ACT OF 2008' PASSES ASSEMBLY

Measure Would Provide Three-Year Reprieve from Foreclosures; Give Families More Options to Stay in Their Homes

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assembly members Neil M. Cohen, Gary S. Schaer, Bonnie Watson Coleman, L. Grace Spencer, and L. Harvey Smith sponsored to extend foreclosure protection to thousands of New Jersey families caught-up in the recent mortgage market upheaval today passed the General Assembly by a vote of 73 to 5 with 1 abstention.

COHEN/SCHAER/WATSON COLEMAN/SPENCER/SMITH 'SAVE NEW JERSEY HOMES ACT OF 2008' PASSES ASSEMBLY

Measure Would Provide Three-Year Reprieve from Foreclosures; Give Families More Options to Stay in Their Homes

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assembly members Neil M. Cohen, Gary S. Schaer, Bonnie Watson Coleman, L. Grace Spencer, and L. Harvey Smith sponsored to extend foreclosure protection to thousands of New Jersey families caught-up in the recent mortgage market upheaval today passed the General Assembly by a vote of 73 to 5 with 1 abstention.

COHEN/SCHAER/WATSON COLEMAN/SPENCER/SMITH 'SAVE NEW JERSEY HOMES ACT OF 2008' ADVANCES

Measure Would Provide Three-Year Reprieve from Foreclosures; Give Families More Options to Stay in Their Homes

(TRENTON) - Legislation Assembly members Neil M. Cohen, Gary S. Schaer, Bonnie Watson Coleman, L. Grace Spencer, and L. Harvey Smith sponsored to extend foreclosure protection to thousands of New Jersey families caught-up in the recent mortgage market upheaval was released today by an Assembly panel.