| | | | |  | | By Matt Friedman | Good Wednesday morning! What can I really say to memorialize Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, who died yesterday of an undisclosed illness? In an obituary, Daniel Han and I tried to summarize at least some of her nearly-30 year political career. She was, of course, an important political figure in New Jersey as the first Black woman Assembly speaker and the first person of color ever elected to statewide office. Her legacy, like any important figure’s, was complicated. She was a major part of one of the biggest state government reforms of the last decade: the cutbacks to public workers benefits. She immediately had mixed feelings about it. Her elevation to the speakership in 2010 was engineered by political party bosses. But she would later successfully push back against those bosses, including when they pressured her to take up school voucher legislation. In 2013, her political career seemed over, or at least relegated to backbencher status when, when was about to be ousted as speaker and ran a U.S. Senate campaign that never gained traction. But four years later she became lieutenant governor. When I think back about my interactions with Oliver, I always found her to be a bit of an enigma. She was intensely private. I wouldn’t say she was a quiet person, but she certainly wasn’t bombastic — especially for a politician who got as far as she did. But she struck me overall as a kind and decent person who never forgot she was a public servant. And that’s saying something in the world of New Jersey politics. I think that humanity was perhaps best expressed when, following a respectful debate in 2021 with Republican lieutenant governor nominee Diane Allen, the two women trailblazers embraced in a big, genuine-looking hug. Gov. Phil Murphy has 45 days to appoint a new lieutenant governor to serve until January 2025, and there’s already speculation about who it could be. But I’m told the governor’s going to wait until after Oliver’s funeral, as yet unannounced, to really begin the selection process. If you worked with Sheila Oliver and wish to share a memory of her, please do so here. TIPS? FEEDBACK? Email me at mfriedman@politico.com QUOTE OF THE DAY: "They (Christie and Sweeney) may have started out just with this relationship with one another, with the governor maybe suspecting because the senator and I belong to the same political party that the senator would somehow just pull me along. But I think I have proven to both of them that it’s not going to quite work like that." — Sheila Oliver in 2010, shortly after becoming Assembly Speaker HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Bill Pascrell III, Bridget Palmer, Michael Dressler, Angel Fuentes, Janice Kovach. Kaylee McGuire. Missed yesterday: Michael Suleiman WHERE’S MURPHY? — Italy
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THE SUCCESSION — What happens next for New Jersey after Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver's death, by POLITICO’s Mia McCarthy: Murphy now has 45 days — or until Sept. 15 — to find someone to fill Oliver's position for the rest of the term that ends January 2026, according to the New Jersey Constitution. Senate President Nick Scutari will serve as acting lieutenant governor until Murphy picks the next second-in-command. New Jersey has a short history with lieutenant governors but a long history with Senate presidents taking over as acting governor. The lieutenant governor position was only created in 2006 but did not take effect until 2010 with Republican Kim Guadagno. … Whomever Murphy picks will fill the position immediately. The new lieutenant governor will not need Senate confirmation, according to the Constitution, even if also selected to lead a department as Oliver did with the Department of Community Affairs.
—Phil Murphy 'returning soon' from Italy following Sheila Oliver's death —New Jersey political leaders pay tribute to late Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver ‘ARRIVE TOGETHER’ EXPANSION FOLLOWS NJ TRANSIT ‘DELAY TOGETHER’ PROGRAM — “Cops will respond to 911 with mental health experts when people are in crisis in N.J.’s largest city,” by NJ Advance Media’s S.P. Sullivan: “Citing ‘extraordinary’ success of a pilot program pairing plainclothes cops with mental health experts, New Jersey officials on Tuesday announced an expansion of the program, dubbed ‘ARRIVE Together,’ into Newark. The pilot program pairs a plainclothes officer driving an unmarked car with a mental health professional for 911 calls involving people in crises. Launched in 2021, it is now operating in some capacity in more than 42 towns across nine counties in the state, according to data from the Attorney General’s Office. Typically, a 911 call for a person acting erratically and at risk of harming themselves or others will bring an officer in uniform, who may or may not have received training for dealing with a person in crisis. But since June, mental health screeners from Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Rutgers University Behavioral Health Care have been paired with Newark and NJ Transit cops three days a week to handle such calls. Over the last month, the team handled more than 80 cases. ‘We’ve essentially eliminated the use of force and we’ve had no injuries,’ [Attorney General Matt] Platkin said of the response.” —“Election spending light so far this year, but super PACs may change that soon”
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THE TRUMP INDICTMENT TRILOGY — Trump indicted for bid to overturn 2020 election, by POLITICO’s Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein: Federal prosecutors have charged Donald Trump with conspiring to seize a second term after losing the 2020 election, alleging a months-long campaign of deceit and abuses that ended with him sitting idly while a violent mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol. In a 45-page indictment unveiled Tuesday, special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump with four felony counts, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding. The indictment also accused Trump of trying to exploit the violent Jan. 6, 2021, assault on Congress to continue his effort to cling to power.
THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMM... “A Senator’s new wife and her old friends draw prosecutors’ attention,” by The New York Times’ Tracey Tully: “In 2014, after having trouble paying the $1,897 monthly mortgage on the home she now shares with Mr. Menendez, [Nadine Menendez] enrolled in a federal program that lowered her payments, court records show. By June 2019 she had failed to make even the lower payments for six months, and Freddie Mac had begun foreclosure proceedings. Just as the foreclosure began, Ms. Menendez founded her own consulting business with the help of one of her soon-to-be-husband’s close friends. It was the start of a drastic improvement in her finances. State records show that Ms. Menendez’s business, Strategic International Business Consultants, was incorporated on the night the mortgage company began foreclosure proceedings. The simple, one-page form creating the limited liability company was faxed to New Jersey’s Department of Treasury by a law firm run by Donald Scarinci … It appears on Mr. Menendez’s required financial disclosure reports because they are married, but little else about the nature of the firm is known. … The foreclosure was dismissed two months later after part of the debt was repaid and the mortgage was reinstated, according to a representative at the law firm that handled the foreclosure proceeding. Then, a year and a half after their marriage, Mr. Menendez amended a 2020 financial disclosure form to include a new asset belonging to his wife: bars of gold bullion worth as much as $250,000.” JASEY LIVES IN JC — Son of New Jersey lawmaker files to challenge Menendez in Democratic primary, by POLITICO’s Matt Friedman: Kyle Jasey, a 41-year-old Jersey City resident, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission in July to run for U.S. Senate as a Democrat. Jasey is the son of Assemblymember Mila Jasey (D-Essex), chair of the Higher Education Committee. He has launched a campaign website. “I believe that our current representative’s multiple scandals make him unfit to serve, and I will do everything in my power to give the people of NJ an alternative who they can believe in,” Jasey wrote. — “Jared Kushner's dad Charles, who Trump pardoned, gave $1 million to a Trump super PAC” —“What happened to the more than two dozen NJ residents charged after Jan. 6?” | | LOCAL | |
CHILDREN’S EDUCATION DEFINITELY TO BENEFIT — “Is this fall's Paterson school board election a proxy for another political battle?,” by The Paterson Press’ Joe Malinconico: “Two unexpected, high-profile candidates jumped into the city's upcoming school board race on Monday, last-minute entries that political operatives say will transform the dynamics of Paterson’s normally quiet education elections. Flavio Rivera and Joel Ramirez, both former Paterson Board of Education members with strong political connections and six-figure government jobs, join a field that already includes three incumbents — Jonathan Hodges, Dania Martinez and Ken Simmons — and two other former board members, Vincent Arrington and Corey Teague. Political insiders said the contest may become a proxy battle in the recent rift between Mayor Andre Sayegh and Assemblyman Benjie Wimberly, who has built a track record of backing winning school board candidates in Paterson over the past 10 years. … Hodges … said the possibility of a high-powered political battle was one of the reasons he had fought the decision to switch the city’s education elections from April to November. … ‘Are they putting money in because they care about Paterson children? No. It’s because they care about the contracts and the jobs.’”
TRY TUMBLING IT— “Does the Glen Rock rock need a cleaning? Viral video sparks debate,” by The Record’s Emma Ferschweller: “The Glen Rock boulder has gone through it all, from helping give the borough its name in 1894 to enduring a minivan crash two years ago. The original stone still stands but has taken upon a darker appearance, with years of dirt caking its surface. A TikTok video brought this to the attention of locals and went viral, with over 500,000 views. The video captured different angles of the boulder with the caption: ‘Imagine naming your town after a rock then not washing it.’ After a follow-up video asking for public opinion, the idea of washing the rock got mixed reviews.” PITMAN — “The dangers of a Pitman senior scavenger hunt were raised with the superintendent a day before a student drowned,” by The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Melanie Burney: “For years, the Pitman High School senior scavenger hunt was treated as a rite of passage, …. But teacher Sean Cunningham grew concerned in June when the list compiled by the class of 2023 seemed to take a dark turn, with activities that included swimming across Alcyon Lake, having an orgy among team members, or performing other sexual acts with fellow students, according to the list obtained by The Inquirer. … ‘I felt obligated to pass this along to you,’ Cunningham wrote in a June 10 email to interim Superintendent Steven Crispin. … Crispin responded to Cunningham a short time later that day, saying in an email: ‘Thanks for the heads up. I was not aware of this activity and I am hopeful that nothing goes wrong. Any additional information would be appreciated.’ The scavenger hunt was held that Sunday, a day later, when senior Victor Rodriguez, 18, of Deptford, drowned while trying to swim across Alcyon Lake. His body was pulled from the lake about 17 hours later, after an intensive search. According to police, Crispin did not alert the department about the list that was forwarded to him, and, according to records provided to The Inquirer under the state’s open records law, did not email anyone else about the scavenger hunt after Cunningham’s note.” HAVING SUCCESSFULLY TROLLED BARAKA, TESTA MOVES ON TO FULOP — “Jersey City slams South Jersey pol who questioned Pompidou museum spending,” by The Jersey Journal’s Spencer Sussman: “One South Jersey state senator [Michael Testa] has slammed Jersey City and state legislators for spending $58 million on a world-class museum – and in true Hudson County fashion, city officials are hitting back even harder. … He’s calling for an audit and state oversight in a letter to Governor Murphy Monday for he described as “probably the largest and most prime example of unnecessary pork that I’ve seen in my three and a half years in the Legislature.” Jersey City spokeswoman Kimberly Wallace-Scalcione didn’t mince words, saying Testa’s letter ‘demonstrates for certain is that he is either ignorant or a liar, and there isn’t much middle ground.’ … The poke at Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Fulop could be seen as way dim the star of a candidate racking up endorsements, including a handful from South Jersey.” —“Facing loss of West Side bus routes, Jersey City mayor calls on NJ Transit to come up with solutions” —“Amid building boom, Newark plans downtown firehouse geared toward high-rises” — “Mr. Softee truck disappears from South Jersey neighborhood after complaint about music” —“Middlesex wants answers on flood control a half century after fatal flood” | | EVERYTHING ELSE | |
HEALTH CARE — First week of RWJ strike will cost New Brunswick hospital nearly $18 million, executive says, by POLITICO’s Daniel Han: The first week to replace striking nurses at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick will cost the hospital approximately $17.8 million, according to a hospital executive. The remarks from RWJBarnabas Health Chief Operating Officer John Doll come as nurses at the New Brunswick Level One Trauma Center are set to go on strike starting Friday morning. The hospital has retained U.S. Nursing — an agency which also provided workers during a work stoppage at the hospital in 2006 — to assist in patient care. “The costs that we're incurring for the strike workforce, it's really just for the benefit of our patients,” Doll said in an interview with POLITICO on Monday afternoon.
THE GLUE THAT KEEPS ELMER TOGETHER — “The last of its kind This N.J. family business should be dead. Inside a rural treasure’s fight to survive,” by NJ Advance Media’s Adam Clark: “Meet possibly the last reporter at the last newspaper in arguably the last place in New Jersey that can afford to lose local news. Tucked in the state’s southwestern corner, 113 miles and a cultural galaxy away from New York City, the tiny Elmer Times is Salem County’s sole survivor of the print apocalypse. But the newspaper is more than a relic. It’s a lifeline. A treasure. A timeless force connecting people in a divisive world that fractures communities just like this. “You’re just not going to find that information anywhere else,” says Gary Peterson, 66, a devoted reader from Pittsgrove with an annual subscription. The family-owned weekly costs 60 cents a copy. It doesn’t bother with a website. And its approach to news has barely changed since its debut in 1885. … ‘It’s going to be impossible to keep going,’ says Stefanie Murray, director of the Center for Cooperative Media at Montclair State University. ‘No matter how old people get, they’re not going to suddenly switch and change and start picking up print.’ Or will they? The unlikely trio that powers The Elmer Times — Foster, McCeig and editor Bonny Beth Elwell — refuses to concede that the paper won’t find a new generation of readers.” GIANT SPEAKERS BLASTING DEAN MARTIN INCLUDED — “Tony Soprano’s boat, The Stugots, is for sale,” by NJ Advance Media’s Brianna Kudisch: “For $299,900, you could own a piece of television history. The boat Tony Soprano owned, called ‘The Stugots,’ from the first season of the iconic series “The Sopranos,” was listed on the market Friday afternoon, for a price just shy of $300,000.” —First week of RWJ strike will cost New Brunswick hospital nearly $18 million, executive says —“Rutgers’ deans: Our medical schools must merge | Opinion” —“Egg Harbor Township killings not connected to Gilgo Beach murders, Atlantic County prosecutor says” —“Stem cell transplant program coming to MD Anderson Cancer Center at Cooper” —“Abandoned as a newborn in a Teaneck apartment building, a man seeks answers 77 years later”
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