News: POLITICO New Jersey Playbook: Redistricting proceeds, quietly

Thursday, February 17, 2022

POLITICO New Jersey Playbook: Redistricting proceeds, quietly

Feb 17, 2022

Good Thursday morning!

I expect the state legislative redistricting commission will meet again at a hotel in central Jersey today for more deliberations. It's the third day and so far it's been quiet.

This is a big departure from congressional redistricting, when tensions among the Democratic commissioners spilled over. So far, no reports of drama. And no drama means it's less clear what's going on in private.

Hudson County, of course, is a big consideration, especially for Democrats. Do they try to split Jersey City three ways? (And does Newark get split three ways, too, for that matter?) Hudson mayors are ornery about the last proposed map from Democrats but as the New Jersey Globe's Joey Fox recently pointed out, Hudson's population growth was so dramatic over the last decade that they really can't expect its district boundaries to only change a little.

When I checked yesterday afternoon, Republicans and Democrats hadn't seen each others' maps. Still, the general feeling in the commission is they expect to finish up by the end of the week (Does that mean they'll be working this weekend? I hope not.).

But while Philip Carchman seems to be running a smooth process so far, there is at least one troubling sign. The hotel where the commissioners are hold up — the "Princeton Marriott at Forrestal" — is not in Princeton. It's not even in Mercer County. It's in Plainsboro, Middlesex County. When the maps are being drawn at a hotel that's bad with borders, how can we trust the end result? (Yes, I know it's marketing. But I think Plainsboro has lots of caché.)

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "We see clearly, in the quick judgment of fault in this altercation, racial bias." — Assemblymember Benjie Wimberly on the way cops handled a fight between two teens at the mall in Bridgewater that's now making national news.

DAYS SINCE MURPHY REFUSED TO SAY WHETHER HIS WIFE'S NONPROFIT SHOULD DISCLOSE DONORS: 3

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Voorhees Mayor Mike Mignogna, former Newark Councilmember Ron C. Rice

WHERE'S MURPHY? At The Newark Museum of Art for at 4 p.m. for a live edition of News 12's "Ask Governor Murphy"

TIPS? FEEDBACK? HATE MAIL? Email me at mfriedman@politico.com

PROGRAMMING NOTE: New Jersey Playbook will not publish on Monday, in observance of President's Day. After the hiatus, we'll be back Tuesday.

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WHAT TRENTON MADE

PREDICTION: THERE WILL BE LOTS OF RELIGIOUS EXEMPTIONS — "More than 50% of N.J. corrections workers remain unvaccinated hours before mandate deadline," by NJ Monitor's Nikita Biryukov: "Less than half of New Jersey's state corrections workers are vaccinated hours before the deadline requiring they have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, but the extent of the mandate's impact on prison staffing likely won't come into sharp relief for weeks. About 43% of the roughly 7,280 civilian and uniformed staff at the Department of Corrections had received a COVID-19 vaccine, Liz Velez, the department's communications director, said Wednesday afternoon. Tonight is the deadline for prison staff to receive their first jabs after the state Supreme Court Monday declined to block Gov. Phil Murphy's vaccine mandate for workers at health care centers, nursing homes, correctional facilities, and other congregate settings."

SUPREME COURT — Rabner declines to elevate judge to temporarily fill Supreme Court vacancy, by POLITICO's Matt Friedman: New Jersey's Supreme Court will have one vacant seat for the time being after Chief Justice Stuart Rabner announced Wednesday that he will not elevate a temporary replacement to fill in for former Justice Faustino Fernandez-Vina. Fernandez-Vina retired Tuesday upon turning 70 — the mandatory retirement age for judges and justices. The retirement came not long after Justice Jaynee LaVecchia retired at the end of 2021. Rabner's reasoning: The seven-member court has traditionally kept a careful partisan balance. … "Since the adoption of the 1947 Constitution, Governors have abided by the tradition that no more than four members of the Supreme Court can be affiliated with a single political party," Rabner said in a statement. "In keeping with that valued tradition, I am not assigning an additional member of the Appellate Division to fill the vacancy created by Justice Fernandez-Vina's mandatory retirement. The Court will continue to operate with six members."

BY THE POWER OF GREYSTONE! — "Top Greystone psychiatrist alleges 'dangers' to patients amid height of hospital's troubles ," by The Daily Record's Lori Comstock: "The mass resignations were predicted and the shortage of psychiatrists imminent at Greystone Park Psychiatric Hospital in 2018, allowing a perfect storm to form that placed staff members in danger and led to the fatal stabbing of a patient, claims the facility's former chief of psychiatry in a recently filed lawsuit. The troubled hospital's medical director, Dr. Evaristo Akerele, brought down morale at the 450-bed facility by failing to comply with medical bylaws and retaliating against those who attempted to intervene, Dr. Margarita Gormus said in the complaint filed in Morris County Superior Court. Gormus stepped down as chief after she said she was told by the administration to take actions that were illegal and dangerous to patients. The lawsuit comes 15 months after the facility was placed under federal oversight following a court-approved settlement that called for improvements in medical and mental health care."

OFF THE WATERFRONT — "Murphy says State Police will assume role of waterfront watchdog, amid war of words with N.Y." by NJ Advance Media's Ted Sherman: "Gov. Phil Murphy reiterated Wednesday that the state would unilaterally leave the bi-state Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, calling it 'a completely different world' from the days when the watchdog agency was created nearly 70 years ago. 'It made sense then. It does not now,' he said. 'We think there is a better way to deal with this.' The governor said the state was expecting to use the New Jersey State Police to help with "contracts, law enforcement and vetting hires," which have long been the responsibility of the Waterfront Commission."

— Murphy appoints 6 women to Edna Mahan board of trustees

— " Dismissed NJ trooper alleges he was harassed because of his ethnicity and Muslim faith"

— "State Senate passes a bill to reevaluate NJ's school funding formula"

— "Lawmakers meet with advocates for new solutions on human trafficking"

BIDEN TIME

KUSHNER KONFIDANT KEN KURSON — "Ken Kurson, Kushner ally pardoned by Trump, takes plea deal," by The New York Times' Jonah E. Bromwich: "Ken Kurson, a former editor of The New York Observer who was charged with unlawfully spying on his former wife, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to two misdemeanors, with the opportunity to have the charges further reduced after a year. Mr. Kurson, 53, had been charged in August by the Manhattan district attorney's office with eavesdropping and computer trespass, both felonies. …. On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to attempting both crimes. But under the terms of his plea deal, if he completes 100 hours of community service and is not arrested in connection with another crime, he will withdraw those pleas, and plead to the lesser offense of second degree harassment, a violation, in a year. …[T]he district attorney's office … accused him of having used a software program called WebWatcher to hack into his former wife's computer and monitor her online activities. The program gave him access to the passwords of her Gmail and Facebook accounts, prosecutors said."

— "'Ready to fight': Ukrainians in North Jersey are bracing for war"

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LOCAL

WINCE VAUGHN — "Vaughn asks Onofri to investigate Trenton union officials, employees for protesting," by The Trentonian's Isaac Avilucea: "The capital city governing body is quickly turning into a dictatorship, as council voted Tuesday to sue the city's employee union for protesting council's actions at a Mill Hill rally last week. …. New councilwoman Sonya Wilkins joined Vaughn, Kathy McBride and Santiago Rodriguez in voting 'yes' to initiate the suit while vice president Marge Caldwell-Wilson abstained. The move was the latest escalating salvo from West Ward Robin Vaughn, who fired off an email this week, demanding that Mercer County Prosecutor Angelo Onofri investigate ASCME Local 2286 union officials, city employees and elected leaders who attended a Feb. 9 rally. … The workers gathered to voice opposition to council's vote against establishing a cap bank that would allow the city to exceed this year's budget spending to pay for employees' pay bumps, negotiated under a new contract. Vaughn appeared to construe their attendance at the rally as time theft in her missive to the county's top cop."

HE'S GOT JIMMY DAVIS EYES (BECAUSE HE'S HIS NEPHEW) — "Firm of Davis' nephew, ex-Chiaravalloti COS, to manage Nadrowski's Bayonne mayoral campaign ," by Hudson County View's John Heinis: "The consulting firm owned by Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis' nephew and former Assemblyman Nick Chiaravalloti's chief of staff will manage Council President Sharon Ashe-Nadrowski's mayoral campaign. 'Over the past two years I've grown increasingly concerned about the tone of the Davis administration,' Andrew Casais, Davis' chief of staff between 2014 and 2017, said in a statement. 'During my time in City Hall I remember it being a place of open minds, open doors, and open communication – but now it seems to be closed-off from reality and moving backwards.' … Adding further intrigue to the situation is that Vincent Cuseglio, the chair of the Bayonne Republican Committee and Raine [Cuseglio's] father, is a big Davis supporter."

STUCK IN THE MIDDLETOWN WITH YOU — "NJ towns adopt anti-Murphy resolutions with identical wording opposing COVID powers," by The Asbury Park Press' Alex N. Gecan Jean Mikle: "The Township Council has voted unanimously to denounce Gov. Phil Murphy's extensions of COVID-19 precautions, and to support a bill curtailing governors' emergency powers. A bill co-sponsored by two Monmouth County-based senators, Republican Declan O'Scanlon and Democrat Vin Gopal, would limit the executive branch's power to extend or maintain states of emergency or public health emergencies. Howell's council adopted a resolution Tuesday in support of the bill, and criticizing Murphy's recent reinstatement of a public health emergency. The wording was very familiar. On Feb. 7, Murphy's hometown, Middletown, adopted a similar resolution. The language in the two towns was practically identical, with only the names of the towns and governing bodies changed. Both towns accused Murphy, a Democrat, of 'abusing his emergency powers without legislative oversigh' in their respective resolutions."

BERGER CAN'T HAVE IT HER WAY IN PISCATAWAY, GETS FLAME BROILED — "A local look at redistricting's early impact in Piscataway," by InsiderNJ's Fred Snowflack : "Staci Berger stands in front of her house on Ellis Parkway and scans other homes in the neighborhood. Many are in Ward 2, according to the township's revised map after the 2020 Census. Berger's house is in Ward 3, just like it was before. This may be inconsequential trivia to many, but not if you're politically active. Berger ran for township council in 2018, losing in the Democratic primary by about 150 votes. She's running again this year, but here's the problem. She remains a resident of Ward 3, but many of her neighbors – and she presumes supporters – now live in Ward 2, meaning they can't vote for her. Berger doesn't think any of this is coincidental."

SPORTS BETTING — "CRDA approves Atlantic City Convention Center addition for sports betting infrastructure firm," by The Press of Atlantic City's Bill Barlow: "With a single dissenting vote, the board of directors of the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority gave the OK on Tuesday for an addition to be built at the Atlantic City Convention Center, driven by the skyrocketing sports betting industry. Continent 8 LLC had asked for approval to build a 5,330-square-foot modular addition to the outside of the Convention Center. The approved resolution authorizes the CRDA executive director to negotiate a lease agreement for the project. The company does not host online gaming but rather provides the infrastructure for gaming companies. … But longtime CRDA board member Edward Gant raised concerns about whether the project would pay prevailing wages. Since the expansion was modular, he argued, most of the work would be completed outside Atlantic City, likely outside New Jersey."

MAYWOOD TO CANCEL MAY DAY CELEBRATION — "GOP picks up council seat in Maywood, a Democratic town," by New Jersey Globe's David Wildstein: "Republicans appear headed for a win in Maywood, where two candidates for borough council faced-off in a do-over election of a November 2021 race that ended in a tie. Former school board member Danyel Cicarelli leads Democrat Katherine Bennin by [51 votes, 585 to 534]. … Maywood has a Democratic mayor; Democrats were defending a 6-0 council majority going into the 2021 election. Democrats will now have a 4-2 majority on the council if Cicarelli is certified as the winner, making 2022 a control election in a suburban Bergen County municipality that tilts blue. Democrats make up 39% of the registered voters in Maywood; Republicans are 20% of the local electorate."

REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED COMPLICATED AND WITH PLAUSIBLE DENIABILITY — "Jersey City community group leaders says JCRA canceled deal for 47-unit development as payback," by The Jersey Journal's Joshua Rosario: "The leader of a Jersey City community group is claiming the city terminated its deal to develop land on Communipaw Avenue because she ran against the administration in November and fought to stop a nearby project. City officials contend that the Morris Canal Community Development Corp. (MCCDC) has failed to deliver on the development of 408-420 Communipaw Avenue into a 47-unit building with four ground-floor retail spaces nearly 20 years after it was designated as the developer. Those are just two of the accusations between the MCCDC and the city, which pulled the plug on project at Tuesday's city Redevelopment Agency meeting. MCCDC Executive Director June Jones told The Jersey Journal that her group was not notified of the meeting, and she only found out Tuesday morning after checking the agenda."

— "Trenton councilman reports clerk's alleged harassment to police"

— " Paterson council demands more information on fire chief investigation"

— "Cops who cuffed only Black teen in N.J. mall fight should be removed from duty, NAACP says"

— "Some N.J. schools are offering parent surveys on whether to keep or ditch masks"

— " Atlantic County jail won't expand to take Cumberland inmates"

— " Randolph BOE divided over Rosh Hashanah days off, keeps changes to school calendar"

— "After 2020 'beach party,' Paterson is still waiting for $40M redevelopment project"

— "The continuing calendar chasm in Randolph"

— "Speech-delayed boy, 3, does not qualify for emergency relief, must wear mask to school, ruled judge"

— "Newark City Council urges support for a state task force on reparations"

— "Keyport vs. Union Beach schools in war of words (and money) over where students go "

EVERYTHING ELSE

WOODY AREA — "Owners of N.Y. Jets donate their mother's 800-acre farm near Princeton for conservation," by The Philadelphia Inquirer's Frank Kummer: "Scions of New Jersey's prominent Johnson family — also owners of the New York Jets — have donated their late mother's 800-acre Mercer County farm, with its sweeping valley view outside Princeton, for preservation. The land was given to the nonprofit D&R Greenway Land Trust, which announced the deal Wednesday. It will connect to 3,600 other protected acres of the Sourlands regions, with the possibility of adding miles of new public trails. Robert Wood Johnson IV, a former U.S. ambassador and owner of the Jets football team, and his brother, Christopher Wold Johnson, a businessman and also a co-owner of the team, made the gift in honor of their mother, Betty Wold Johnson, a philanthropist. Her father-in-law was a son of Robert Wood Johnson, a cofounder of Johnson & Johnson."

— "North Jersey to share in $40M fund aimed at attracting grocers to underserved areas"

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