| | | | |  | | By Matt Friedman | | | Good Wednesday morning and happy April 20, a day of no particular significance! I’m not sure if state Sen. Michael Testa got under Newark Mayor Ras Baraka’s skin, whether Baraka finds Testa to be a useful foil, or perhaps something else. But I was surprised that the Democratic Baraka began his State of the City address with a diatribe against Testa, a Republican who represents a district that’s as far from Newark as you can get within New Jersey’s borders. For context, Testa had capitalized on Newark’s embarrassing mistake in January of enacting a sister city agreement with the “United States of Kailsa,” which might be a worthy sibling but for its lack of existence. The Republican recently introduced a bill in response to the flap that would require the Secretary of State to vet sister city agreements. “[W]e live by the African proverb that says to stumble is just to move forward faster,” Baraka said. “And honestly, I’m bringing this up specifically to address a state legislator. Mr. Testa, I think his name is, who believes he can pile on us to hide his disdain for working people like those here in Newark of multiple nationalities.” Baraka then launched into an attack on Testa’s voting record, which you can watch here. “Take my advice, go pick a fight somewhere else; you’re not equipped for this one,” Baraka said. “Well, apparently I don’t need affordable housing in Newark because I already live rent free in Ras Baraka’s head,” Testa told POLITICO in a text message, referring to one of the bills Baraka criticized him for voting against. It’s probably unlikely, but certainly possible, that the 2025 gubernatorial election comes down to these two. Are you not entertained? TIPS? FEEDBACK? Email me at mfriedman@politico.com. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “He is such a headache … I am on a subcommittee with him, and I don’t know if an offshore wind turbine scared him as a kid or something but he hates offshore wind.” Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) on U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.). HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Bethanne McCarthy Patrick, Chris Donnelly, Colin Bell WHERE’S MURPHY? Michigan
| | A message from Alibaba: New Jersey businesses are thriving with Alibaba. Sales from U.S. brands on Alibaba added $1.2 billion to the state’s GDP and supported 10,000 jobs and $694 million in wages for local workers, according to a new study by NDP Analytics. Learn more about Alibaba’s impact on the U.S. economy. | | | |  | WHAT TRENTON MADE | |
N.J. STILL LIVING ON A PRAYER — Phil Murphy is halfway there — state credit is on the rebound after years of downgrades, by POLITICO’s Dustin Racioppi: In short order, New Jersey has reached a milestone in its long-haul recovery from a historic number of credit downgrades. The three major ratings agencies — Fitch Ratings, Moody's Investors Service and S&P Global Services — each upgraded the state's credit rating last week, a rare hat trick that puts the state a little more than halfway back from those downgrades over the past decade. Under former Gov. Chris Christie, the agencies lowered the state's rating a record 11 times in a row. The three upgrades last week, combined with three previous ones, put the total rating improvements at six in the last 13 months. … But even with the upgrades, New Jersey is far from financially sound compared to other states. It is tied with Kentucky for second-lowest credit in the country, behind Illinois [S&P Senior Director David] Hitchcock said.
MURPHY: ‘BEST I CAN DO FOR YOU IS PORK’ — As Statehouse renovations wind down, a call for one last upgrade — a park, by POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: As years of renovations to the New Jersey Statehouse wrap up, there is a movement to have workers do one more thing before they leave: create a capitol park. … Several environment and infrastructure groups want the Murphy administration and lawmakers to pay to spruce up land around the building. They are eyeing the lots near the parking garage, abutting Route 29, that have been used as a parking lot and staging area during construction. The nascent coalition led by New Jersey Future, the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters and the New Jersey Conservation Foundation is now circulating a petition asking lawmakers to make it so. They think it’d take about $15 million to redesign and build the park, which they are calling Capitol Park. —“Bergen County gets an F for air quality, leads NJ in smog days —“Whale-listening buoy at Jersey Shore part of $8.5M fund to study offshore wind impact” —“Bail reform is moving New Jersey towards a more equitable justice system. Dismantling it would be a disaster | Opinion” —State chooses two vendors for veterans homes management —“Rutgers' tentative accord with faculty includes protections against caste bias” —“Fulop announces leadership team for gubernatorial campaign” —“NJ looks to boost funding for nursing-home strike teams” —“Scammer targets state employees with phony attorney general emails”
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YOU CAN TAKE THE PROSECUTOR OUT OF NEW JERSEY… “DEA chief faces probe into ‘swampy’ hires, no-bid contracts,” by The AP’s Joshua Goodman and Jim Mustian: “A federal watchdog is investigating whether the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration under chief Anne Milgram improperly awarded millions of dollars in no-bid contracts to hire her past associates, people familiar with the probe told The Associated Press. Among the contract spending under scrutiny by the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General is $4.7 million for ‘strategic planning and communication’ that was used in part to hire people Milgram knew from her days as New Jersey’s attorney general and as a New York University law professor — at costs far exceeding pay for government officials. At least a dozen people have been hired under such contracts, including some in Milgram’s inner circle. … Anthony Coley, a former Justice Department spokesman who has known Milgram for 15 years, said the investigation may stem from employees who aren’t happy with such organizational change and are seeking ways to ‘push back or undermine it, even if the underlying allegations aren’t true.’ ‘But that’s what inspectors general are for,’ he said, ‘to call balls and strikes.’”
—“Alito extends reprieve for abortion pill access, maintaining status quo for 2 more days” —“Payne smacks Star-Ledger for Washington Bureau closure in House floor speech” —Snowflack: “Jeff Van Ahab harpoons a MAGA-friendly whale” —“Whales keep dying: We asked NJ offshore wind companies to explain what they’re doing”
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TARDY BARAKY — “Baraka well behind on filing campaign finance reports from ’22 re-election campaign,” by New Jersey Globe’s Joey Fox: “When Newark Mayor Ras Baraka won re-election in a landslide in May 2022, he presumably raised and spent plenty of money to boost his campaign — but it’s impossible to say for sure, since Baraka is more than a year late on filing his campaign finance reports. According to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC)’s database, Baraka has not filed any campaign finance reports from all of 2022. Neither has his affiliated joint candidate committee, which includes himself and the nine city council candidates he initially backed in last year’s election. Baraka’s most recent available report is from the fourth quarter of 2021, and even that was quite a bit late. … This isn’t the first time Baraka has run afoul of ELEC rules. In 2021, ELEC fined Baraka more than $30,000 for a huge assortment of campaign finance violations his 2014 campaign committed”
MOENCH MADNESS — Bridgewater mayor begins filing ELEC reports almost two years late, by POLITICO's Matt Friedman: Bridgewater Mayor Matthew Moench, an ally of embattled Somerset County GOP Chair Tim Howes, has been almost two years late in filing disclosure reports for his own campaign. Reached by phone, Moench noted that he has hired new campaign compliance staff who began filing the remainder of his 2021 reports over the weekend. “Whatever reports we have to get filed will get promptly filed,” Moench said, adding that he recently hired campaign veterans Ron Gravino and Amberle Gilroy to work on his campaign finance reports going forward. He declined further comment. Moench’s reports for the last three quarters of 2021 showed up on the Election Law Enforcement’s website on Tuesday. —“Baraka touts Newark's safety, economic progress in State of the City” LET FREDON RING — “Judge: Dodd can run for mayor,” by InsiderNJ’s Fred Snowflack: “James Dodd can run for mayor of Dover. A state superior court judge on Wednesday approved Dodd’s nominating petition overturning the ruling of the acting town clerk who said Dodd was not a town resident. Judge Stuart Minkowitz ruled that the evidence that Dodd lived elsewhere was not persuasive. At a hearing on Tuesday, it was alleged that Dodd truly lived in Fredon, Sussex County. In general, residency rules are liberally construed and that seemed to be the case here. At the Tuesday hearing, Minkowitz tipped his hand by noting it’s not uncommon for people to have more than one home. No problem — as long as they vote only once.”
| | A message from Alibaba: Three months was all it took for New Jersey-based Nuria Beauty to open an online storefront on Alibaba and outpace their domestic retail sales. With access to over one billion Chinese consumers on Alibaba, Nuria has achieved great success and brand awareness in China. “We’re very excited about the results we’re seeing on Alibaba. There is no ceiling in China,” said Josh Ghaim, CEO of Nuria.
Read how American businesses are succeeding with Alibaba. | | | R.I.P. — “Former Cedar Grove mayor and 'passionate' community activist Robert O'Toole dies,” by The Record’s Liam Quinn: “Former Cedar Grove mayor and councilmember Robert O'Toole has died, the township said Wednesday. He was 89 years old. A public servant for much of his life, O'Toole was on the township council in Cedar Grove for 12 years and was a volunteer firefighter for over 40 years. He was the father of former state senator and current Port Authority of New York and New Jersey board Chairman Kevin O'Toole. O'Toole was a Korean War veteran, having twice enlisted in the U.S. Army. In recognition of his service to the community, flags in Cedar Grove will be lowered to half-staff for the next week, the township said in a Facebook post.” FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER, THERE WILL BE DRUGS IN ATLANTIC CITY — “Atlantic City’s first adult use marijuana shop to open on 4/20,” by The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Amy S. Rosenberg: “Cannabis retail culture will at last arrive in the seaside casino resort on Thursday, a year after New Jersey legalized adult use marijuana. Mayor Marty Small Sr. signed what he called a “historic business license” granting MPX NJ the right to sell recreational marijuana from their storefront on New York Avenue, just next to the city’s equally pioneering independent coffee shop, Hay Day Coffee, in the historic and newly renovated Bywater Building. ‘This is the first dispensary to open in Atlantic City, and what better way than to open it on the marijuana holiday,’ Small said, referring to 4/20.” WHAT IS THE WAY THE COOKIE FACTORY WILL CRUMBLE? — “Why was Nabisco implosion delayed? Who gave the order? Local officials can’t agree,” by The Record’s Stephanie Noda: “The saga of the tower along Route 208 and its impending implosion was left in a state of confusion Wednesday, a day after the mayor of nearby Hawthorne told constituents that the plan had been postponed due to concerns about asbestos. The state Department of Environmental Protection had ordered the implosion ‘canceled’ until further inspections, Mayor John Lane said in his letter to the community Tuesday. As his source, he cited the mayor of Glen Rock, whose town abuts the Nabisco property and whose neighbors have expressed worries about contaminants being released from the building. By Wednesday, however, both Glen Rock Mayor Kristine Morieko and the state DEP were disputing Lane's letter. Fair Lawn Mayor Kurt Peluso, however, said the state had held up the implosion. The necessary permits were unavailable because of the presence of ‘hazardous materials,’ he explained. The only certainty was that the Nabisco tower was still standing and that local officials could not seem to get on the same page about its demise.a” —“Jersey City’s eviction proposal will help lawyers but not solve the real problem | Opinion” —“Jersey Shore students demand menstrual products in schools: 'It Is not a luxury'” —“[Deptford] cop wounded last month remains hospitalized, is ‘fighting like a warrior,’ police say” —“BLM Paterson opens harm reduction center”
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THE AIRBORNE TOXIC EVENT — “Vinyl chloride in East Palestine train derailment was bound for South Jersey facility,” by The Courier-Post’s Jim Walsh: “Five tank cars that spewed flames and a toxic chemical at a derailment site in Ohio in February were bound for South Jersey, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The cars were carrying almost 900,000 pounds of vinyl chloride, a human carcinogen, from Texas to Salem County, said the EPA. They were among 61 cars that went off the tracks in East Palestine on Feb. 3, prompting evacuations and health concerns in that area. The five cars were traveling to an OxyVinyls facility in Pedricktown, the EPA noted in an administrative order for ‘removal actions’ at the Ohio derailment. … Had the cars reached South Jersey, they would have followed the same route as a train that derailed in Paulsboro in November 2012, releasing clouds of vinyl chloride that rolled across communities in Gloucester and Salem counties.a”
PRETTY SURE IT’S WINDMILLS — “New Jersey wildfires: What's driving the eruption of forest fires?” by The Asbury Park Press’ Amanda Oglesby: “Across New Jersey, the cinders of three large wildfires continue to smolder under ash and debris. In the past week, fires burned 3,859 acres across Manchester, 972 acres in West Milford, and 1,607 acres Little Egg Harbor. April is the peak of New Jersey's forest fire season, and already firefighters have fought more this year than they have in each of the two prior seasons. Firefighters say it's no fluke — fire season has been expanding … The spring's particularly dry weather, in addition to the fact that deciduous trees have not yet fully "leafed out" to shade the forest floor, makes brush and potential kindling hot and parched in the sun, according Greg McLaughlin, Chief of the New Jersey Forest Fire Service.” MURPHY TO SHIFT FOCUS FROM GUN CONTROL TO COFFEE CONTROL — “2 N.J. men burned by ‘dangerously’ hot coffee at Dunkin drive-thru windows, lawsuits say,” by NJ Advance Media’s Anthony G. Attrino: “Two more New Jersey residents have filed lawsuits against the Dunkin’ retail chain, claiming they were severely burned when trays of hot coffee spilled on them at drive-thru windows. … Court records show similar suits over hot coffee spills have been filed over the past year or so against Dunkin’ stores in Bergen, Burlington, Camden, Morris and Passaic counties” HOCKEY ASSAULT — “Hockey dad from N.J. charged in hotel attack that left another dad critically injured,” by NJ Advance Media’s Jeff Goldman: “A 46-year-old New Jersey man was arrested and charged after critically injuring a fellow hockey dad in a beating outside a Pittsburgh-area hotel last weekend. Vincent M. Serzan, of the Marlton section of Evesham, attacked the other man outside the DoubleTree by Hilton in Monroeville, Pennsylvania, shortly before 11:30 p.m. Friday as a result of a dispute involving the two families, authorities said.” —“Eating ‘everything’ bagels led to false positive drug tests at 2 N.J. hospitals, new moms say” —“Why is it so hard to find a male therapist in NJ? Counselors say gender gap is hurting men” —“American Dream had other hanging decorations inspected at water park after helicopter fell”
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