News: POLITICO New Jersey Playbook: Some rare space between Gottheimer and No Labels

Friday, May 20, 2022

POLITICO New Jersey Playbook: Some rare space between Gottheimer and No Labels

May 20, 2022

Presented by Anbaric Development Partners

Good Friday morning!

Rep. Josh Gottheimer has a long and close history with the group "No Labels," which is closely aligned with the "Problem Solvers Caucus" he co-chairs and is led by Nancy Jacobsen, the wife of Mark Penn, often referred to as Gottheimer's mentor. The group frequently promotes Gottheimer on Twitter.

So I had to ask Gottheimer about this tweet from No Labels : "Despite an early attempt at bipartisanship, the January 6 Committee's work has become a partisan exercise about which the public is skeptical."

"Absolutely not," Gottheimer spokesperson Zach Florman said when I asked if the congressman agrees with the tweet.

The tweet is an example of both-sidesism run amok. I understand the desire to promote bipartisanship, but the committee includes two Republicans who have become pariahs in their party, in part for agreeing to be on the panel. In the tweet, No Labels is simply placing itself in a position between the two parties, ignoring the context or any evaluation of the acts. This isn't some tit-for-tat political fight. It's about democracy and the peaceful transfer of power. It shouldn't be dismissed as a "partisan exercise" because most of one party chose not to participate in it. And No Labels' favorite Democratic congressman sees that.

In other Jan. 6 committee news that's related to New Jersey, the committee has questions for Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), saying its review of evidence preceding the riot contradicted claims by him and other GOP lawmakers that they gave no tours on Jan. 5 .Rep. Mikie Sheriill (D-N.J.) had taken heat for claiming last January that Republicans gave "reconaissance" tours of the Capitol complex without offering any evidence. Loudermilk filed an ethics complaint against her for it. Loudermilk said it was to a tour to a "constituent family" that didn't enter the Capitol grounds, but he didn't explain why he never disclosed it. Read more about it here.

DAYS SINCE MURPHY REFUSED TO SAY WHETHER HIS WIFE'S NON-PROFIT SHOULD DISCLOSE DONORS: 94

WHERE'S MURPHY? — Leaving this afternoon for "personal travel" out-of-state. Back Sunday.

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Do you think as vast as this universe is, are we so arrogant as to truly believe we as are the planet to host the only sentient beings?" — Assemblymember Raj Mukherji (D-Groom Lake) on his bill to create a scholarship program to study UFOs

HAPPY BIRTHDAY — State Sen. Nelly Pou, NJ Advance Media's Tom Martello, Bergen County Republican Paul Duggan, Laborers' Jim Sverapa. Saturday for Assemblymember Sean Kean, Murphy campaign manager Mollie Binotto, Montclair State's Brigid Callahan Harrison, White Horse Strategies' Joshua Henne, RP's Melissa Pollitt.

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

NEED MORE PLAYBOOK? — Sign up here for NJ Playbook PM and get more news in your inbox care of POLITICO's Jonathan Custodio, minus the snarky headlines

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WHAT TRENTON MADE

MURPHY IN 2025: 'I COULD'VE BEEN A CONTENDER!' — The mob, Marlon Brando and the new battle over the waterfront, by POLITICO's Ry Rivard: Forty days before the 2017 gubernatorial election, a confident Phil Murphy strode into a union hall full of dockworkers. A crowd of rank-and-file union members held "ILA ❤️ Phil Murphy" signs and union leaders in dress shirts and ties vowed to help Murphy turn his commanding lead in the polls into four years in Trenton. The former Goldman Sachs financier thanked the heads of the International Longshoremen's Association for being with his campaign since its "cold, dark and lonely" early days. Then he made some vows of his own. But only one got the room full of some 200 waterfront workers to their feet. "We're going to figure out the damn Waterfront Commission once and for all!" Murphy said, pounding his knuckles on a lectern as the workers went wild. They jumped up, whistling, cheering and pumping their fits in the air. Murphy knew getting rid of this fabled commission — the bistate police agency created to solve the crimes immortalized in the Marlon Brando movie "On The Waterfront" — was something the union had long wanted. But he couldn't know that he was putting himself on a collision course not only with the lurid mob history of the waterfront, but with his opposite number across the harbor: New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. Now the two Democratic governors are taking each other to the U.S. Supreme Court, with the New York side claiming that a generation of New Jersey politicians, including Murphy, have taken an ill-advised path to benefit a legendarily corrupt industry while the New Jersey side insists that its move is about modernizing the container port and attracting more ships.

FIXING NJ TRANSIT HASN'T KILLED MURPHY YET — "Have NJ Transit train cancellations improved? Here are the top issues in the last 5 years ," by The Record's Colleen Wilson: "Kevin Corbett once likened NJ Transit to a hemorrhaging patient, dying on the table from a lack of capital investment. Since then, the president and CEO of the largest statewide transportation system in the nation says he has stabilized that patient — particularly the train system, by refilling the engineer roster and installing positive train control braking systems, resolving issues that have caused thousands of train cancellations in recent years. But the agency isn't out of the woods. In 2021, 3,224 trains were canceled, a 2% decrease compared with 2017. NJ Transit also still lags behind its nearby commuter rail peers in train cancellations … The problem the agency now faces is aging trains … When Gov. Phil Murphy came into office in 2018, there were two major issues causing train cancellations: a shortage of locomotive engineers and the need to take trains off schedule to install positive train control. Four years later, those problems have all but disappeared after NJ Transit churned out record numbers of locomotive engineering classes and put significant resources into getting PTC finished before the federal deadline. But during that time, mechanical problems quietly worsened."

SO WHAT'S YOUR EXCUSE FOR KEEPING THE CARDS COPS GIVE TO FRIENDS AND FAMILY? — "Lawmakers eye eliminating county constables in N.J.," by New Jersey Monitor's Dana DiFilippo : "Lawmakers advanced a bill Thursday that would abolish county constables, five months after a state watchdog condemned constables as untrained, unsupervised — yet often armed — cop wannabes who are subject to no accountability. Sen. Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen) introduced the bill in March to implement the State Commission of Investigation's recommendation to eliminate the 'outdated' position of constables statewide 'before someone gets seriously injured or worse. The commission issued a report in December that says county constables often misrepresent themselves as sworn law enforcement officers, engage in policing activities beyond their authority, and use their position for personal profit … Constables originated in post-colonial times, and the position persists in just a few New Jersey counties as a largely ceremonial post in some communities but as a supplementary role in others, where constables may be tasked with crowd control and such duties, [SCI Executive Director Chadd] Lackey said."

—Kuhn poised for confirmation as corrections commissioner

—"Inflation fears circle NJ's ballooning budget"

—" What's in the new civics lessons coming to N.J. schools that has parents concerned"

—"NJ schools under pressure to add religious holidays. But some say it's gone too far "

—"Governor 2025: Underway in the GOP underground"

— Neuwirth seeks to compel depositions from Platkin, Helmy and Persichilli

—"Assembly panel moves forward with tax credit plan to offset unemployment tax hikes "

—New Jersey's unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent in April

— Assembly takes aim at Garden State's farmland preservation agency

DON'T MISS THE 2022 GREAT LAKES ECONOMIC FORUM: POLITICO is excited to be the exclusive media partner again at the Council of the Great Lakes Region's bi-national Great Lakes Economic Forum with co-hosts Gov. JB Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot. This premier, intimate networking event, taking place June 26-28 in Chicago, brings together international, national and regional leaders from business, government, academia and the nonprofit sector each year. "Powering Forward" is this year's theme, setting the stage to connect key decision-makers with thought leaders and agents of change to identify and advance solutions that will strengthen the region's competitiveness and sustainability in today's competitive climate of trade, innovation, investment, labor mobility and environmental performance. Register today.

BIDEN TIME

—"Orthodox Jews were kept off Lufthansa flight. N.J. congressman [Smith] wants to know why"

A message from Anbaric Development Partners:

LOCAL

STOP USING ADULTS AS ROLE MODELS — "Abortion-rights rally by students at N.J. school turns into clash of shoving, cursing," by NJ Advance Media's Kevin Shea: "An abortion-rights rally led by students at Hunterdon Central Regional High School on Monday ended with teens screaming at each other, tearing down signs and at times pushing and shoving, according to the district and a video of the incident. The event was planned by students over social media and not sanctioned by the school, the district said. Students who gathered near an athletic field during the school day to rally for abortion rights were met by students who oppose abortion and the clash turned physical at times. 'We are deeply distressed by the behavior between students who engaged in verbal and, in a very small number of instances, physical aggression during this gathering,' Hunterdon Central Regional officials said in a statement to NJ Advance Media … In a four-minute video posted on Facebook and viewed by NJ Advance Media, school officials with walkie-talkie radios on their belts can be seen among the students. Police are present during some of the footage, which appears to be different clips from different perspectives edited together. Some students held signs above their heads as others screamed and shouted. As students appeared to descend on a female student with an anti-abortion sign, they broke into an expletive-laden chant … The district statement asked parents and adults to reflect on their behaviors as well, saying, 'This demonstration brings us to serious reflection on the procedures we have for managing such events and, most especially, on the examples that we, as adults, are setting for our children. The actions that they see taken by adults impact the actions that they believe to be appropriate and acceptable.'"

NOT IN MY AIRSPACE — "Teterboro's fix for 'intolerable' jet noise is failing. One official says he's glad ," by The Record's Megan Burrow: "City officials are questioning why a new flight path into Teterboro Airport announced last year, after more than a decade of lobbying for change, is hardly used. The alternative flight pattern diverts air traffic away from Hackensack University Medical Center and high-rise buildings along Prospect Avenue. Instead, pilots, who were trained on the new route in July, were to fly along the Route 17 corridor in their approach to the airport. But data released this month revealed that the flight path was minimally used at night and almost never during the day. Pilots landing on Runway 19 — the busiest runway at the airport — used the new approach less than 1% of the time. Out of nearly 9,000 total flights in January, February and March, just 79 have used the flight path. At night, the usage was slightly higher, at nearly 10% … Residents who have lived with the noise for years say they are frustrated with the lack of change and are concerned about the possibility of an accident in the densely populated area … But not everyone is unhappy with the flight path's limited use. 'We're glad they haven't taken advantage of it, because would impact more Paramus residents,' said Richard LaBarbiera, the borough's mayor. 'The alternate route takes one problem and just moves it somewhere else. If anything, it is accommodating the few at the expense of many.'"

NJ WEEDMAN — "Wilson says cops acted 'appropriately' after NJ Weedman's ex says DV claims ignored," by The Trentonian's Isaac Avilucea: "The former girlfriend of NJ Weedman says city police botched the handling of her domestic-violence claims against the pot legalization advocate, claiming she was the 'aggressor' in the caught-on-tape attacks … She believes no charges were filed against NJ Weedman because members of the department still harbor animosity toward her for helping Forchion sue Trenton Police over a 2016 raid of his downtown business … 'They made me feel stupid. They made me feel like a victim,' Madaio said. 'It was like, 'b**ch, you're on your own.'' … Wilson, in an interview, questioned why The Trentonian had the footage and 'the police don't.' He said that after reviewing the police report he believed it would've been 'appropriate' for cops to file domestic-violence charges against Forchion. That didn't happen, he said, because Madaio 'didn't want to' pursue the case."

TURN OUT FOR WHAT? — "Low turnout across state in May 10 municipal elections," by New Jersey Globe's David Wildstein: "With the exception of Ocean City and Union City, voter turnout in the May 10 non-partisan municipal elections was dismal, with more than 80% of registered voters not participating in eight of the towns that had non-partisan elections, according to a turnout analysis by the New Jersey Globe. In New Jersey's largest city, Newark, just 11.1% of voters showed up in a contested, albeit uncompetitive, race for mayor and four ward council seats. Paterson, the state's third-largest city, drew a 19.6% turnout to elect a mayor and three at-large city council members. Turnout in Bayonne, where a two-term mayor avoided a runoff election by a mere 93 votes, just 23.7% of voters turned out."

UNTIL IT'S DECIDED WHICH POLITICIAN'S SON GETS TO RUN IT — "Ocean County Prosecutor's Office takes over Lavallette Police Department," by The Asbury Park Press' Kathleen Hopkins and Jean Mikle: "The Ocean County Prosecutor's Office [Thursday] took over the borough's police department to ensure the 'appropriate level of direction and supervision' for the 11-member force, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. Billhimer said the takeover was necessary as the retirement of Chief Colin Grant nears … The prosecutor's office takeover of the department comes in the midst of a controversy in the borough over who will replace Grant as chief, sources said. Two of the candidates vying for the position are sergeants Christian LaCicero, who is the son of Mayor Walter LaCicero, and Justin Lamb, son of Councilman Robert Lamb. Justin Lamb is also a councilman in Toms River, representing Ward 1."

—"Uddin wins Paterson City Council seat"

—" Franklin Lakes GOP has split primary, with incumbents on two slates"

—"Jersey City pushes forward with Sixth Street Embankment redevelopment plan "

—"Hoboken OKs 12-month wait for medical cannabis businesses to go recreational, to expand CRB"

STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.

EVERYTHING ELSE

ANTIFA'S SECRET SPANISH TEACHER CABAL — "Motorist sues N.J. state troopers for roadside beatdown," by New Jersey Monitor's Dana DiFilippo: "New Jersey state troopers who stopped a motorist they suspected of road rage beat the unarmed man so badly he needed surgery to recover, according to allegations in a new federal civil rights lawsuit … David Vitale, 39, a longtime Spanish teacher at schools in North Jersey, was driving home on Route 80 in May 2020 when troopers turned on their emergency lights and began following him, according to the complaint filed earlier this month. The troopers were responding to a report of someone in a white SUV firing a gun at another motorist, according to the complaint … A beating ensued that left Vitale with a concussion, eye hemorrhage, and nasal fracture that required reconstructive surgery, as well as post-traumatic stress disorder and cognitive limitations, according to the lawsuit … Woodruff said the officers removed their body cams before the encounter, which violates the Office of the Attorney General's body-worn camera policy. But at least one dash cam captured the incident, Woodruff said. That video caught troopers admitting Vitale's license plate didn't match what dispatchers reported, asking him if he was part of Antifa, making homophobic remarks, and accusing him of being drunk or on drugs and throwing a gun out of his window before the car stop, Woodruff said. Troopers found no firearm in Vitale's car or the roadside where they said he threw one, and Vitale had no drugs or alcohol in his system, according to the lawsuit. The dash cam video also showed troopers picking up their body cams that had 'fallen off' and reattaching them, Woodruff said."

—"When to expect delays at Penn Station N.Y. as Amtrak track work, tunnel repairs begin"

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