| | | | |  | | By Matt Friedman | Presented by OxyChem | Good Tuesday morning! Craig Guy, Hudson County’s Democratic nominee for county executive (i.e., the next county executive), was charged with DUI in 2019. But if you look at the municipal court records online, you’ll see that the case was resolved with a “not guilty.” Normally, “not guilty” is vindication. I can’t say that in this case. I don’t yet have the video or reports from the traffic stop, other than the sparse data available online. What I can impart is that on Halloween 2019, Guy was pulled over on the Turnpike northbound in Elizabeth at 10:19 p.m., after which he was charged with DUI and unsafe lane change. But I did go back and listen to Guy’s trial. Or rather, what was supposed to be his trial. Two years after the traffic stop, on Oct. 18 2021, Guy, who had pleaded not guilty, showed up to Elizabeth municipal court with his attorney. But the Trooper named on the court documents was nowhere to be found. The prosecutor tried to reach him numerous times, leaving messages and asking his barracks to have him contact him. But he was working nights, and he never responded. Since the Trooper didn’t show, Judge Richard Obuch found Guy not guilty. In a statement, Guy spokesperson Phil Swibinski said his client would have won the case if the trial actually happened. "Craig Guy was unequivocally cleared of any charges in this matter and he was fully prepared to present expert testimony that would have proven his innocence had the case advanced,” Swibinski said. “Craig believes strongly in safe driving practices and he would never put himself in a situation where he could potentially harm others. He looks forward to continuing his work to make Hudson County's streets safer for drivers, pedestrians, cyclists and everyone else as County Executive." Hopefully, there’s at least dash cam video of the traffic stop. I put in a public records request on Aug. 28. The State Police wants until Oct. 6 to fill it. I know this won’t affect Guy’s chances of becoming county executive. But even candidates who don’t have competitive elections coming up deserve scrutiny from the press. It’s arguably even more important, since they don’t have rivals with the resources to dig into them. But Guy isn’t the only person who needs scrutiny. Why wasn’t the Trooper in court? This was a DUI charge, not a careless driving ticket. It’s not the kind of thing that should be dismissed on this kind of technicality. There always could be an explanation that’s not apparent from what was said in court, so I asked and maybe soon I’ll have an update. TIPS? FEEDBACK? Email me at mfriedman@politico.com. QUOTE OF THE DAY: “We couldn’t tell them they couldn’t go … They were pre-approved.” — Paterson School Board President Nakima Redmon on why the school district paid $7,500 to send two lame duck members to a conference in Miami last year, just weeks before they were to leave office. The conference had been rescheduled from September to December. HAPPY BIRTHDAY — Ginger Gold Schnitzer, Chris Baxter WHERE’S MURPHY? In New Hampshire for a NGA event until this evening, leaving the acting governorship to Lt. Gov. Tahesha Way for the day.
| | | | A message from OxyChem: OxyChem opposes the EPA’s Passaic River Superfund settlement. Over 100 companies released 8 chemicals into the river, but EPA may settle with most of them for only $150 million total. That leaves handful of other companies and NJ taxpayers to cover the rest of the $1.82 billion clean-up cost. OxyChem is the sole company offering to do the clean-up work. Tell the EPA to make all companies pay their fair share. Learn more at PassaicRiverCleanup.com | | | |  | WHAT TRENTON MADE | | GET DRUNK ON POWER — “NJ breweries sending Gov. Murphy a message with 'Sign the Bill, Phil' IPA,” by The Record’s Megan Burrow: “As brewery owners continue to be frustrated by Gov. Phil Murphy’s delay in signing a bill that would free them of restrictions they say have harmed their business, they are pushing back the best way they know how: with beer. More than a dozen breweries across the state are selling cans and glasses of a limited-release IPA called ‘Sign the Bill, Phil.’ Since July 2022 conditions placed on brewery licenses by the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control have limited breweries to 25 on-site activities, like trivia and music nights, and 52 private parties annually … The state Senate and Assembly unanimously passed a bill that would have repealed the regulations, but Murphy has publicly said he doesn’t intend to sign the bill. Instead, he said, he plans to conditionally veto the legislation and include it in a more comprehensive reform of the state’s liquor license rules.” —“Owners of Lunacy brewing in Haddon Heights going out of business, blaming state regulations” THE ANSWERS ARE BLOWIN IN THE WIND — “As US East Coast ramps up offshore wind power projects, much remains unknown,” by The AP’s Wayne Parry: “As the U.S. races to build offshore wind power projects, transforming coastlines from Maine to South Carolina, much remains unknown about how the facilities could affect the environment. And that worries some people, particularly those who depend on the sea for their livelihoods. ‘We don’t have the science to know what the impact will be,’ said Jim Hutchinson, managing editor of The Fisherman magazine in New Jersey. ‘The attitude has been, ‘Build it and we’ll figure it out.’ The wind power industry disputes such claims, citing years of studies. … A joint study in March by two federal scientific agencies and the commercial fishing industry documents numerous impacts that offshore wind power projects could have on fish and marine mammals, including noise, vibration, electromagnetic fields and heat transfer that could alter the environment. Like numerous existing studies, the report pointed out the complexities of how the structures and cables might interact with marine life.” FEW KNOW MORE ABOUT SEA WIND THAN GUHLS — “Murphy picks Guhl-Sadovy as new BPU president,” by New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein: “A former top aide to Gov. Phil Murphy will join his cabinet as the new president of the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed. Gov. Phil Murphy has chosen Christine Guhl-Sadovy, who joined the BPU earlier this year, to succeed Joseph Fiordaliso. Fiordaliso, a commissioner since 2005 and the president since 2018, unexpectedly died last week at age 78. Stephanie Lagos, Murphy’s deputy chief of staff and the longtime chief of staff to First Lady Tammy Murphy, appears to be the leading candidate for Fiordaliso’s seat, according to sources familiar with the pending nomination.”
| | | | GO INSIDE THE WORLD’S BIGGEST DIPLOMATIC PLATFORM WITH UNGA PLAYBOOK: The 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly will jam some of the world's most influential leaders into four city blocks in Manhattan. POLITICO's special edition UNGA Playbook will take you inside this important gathering starting Sept. 17 — revealing newsy nuggets throughout the week and insights into the most pressing issues facing global decision-makers today. Sign up for UNGA Playbook. | | | | | PHILIP FLOP — “Phil Murphy balks at NJ hosting migrants as Democrats fret about the Legislature,” by The Record’s Charles Stile: “Suddenly, the governor who greenlighted drivers' licenses for undocumented drivers, in-state tuition rates for their children, and blocks of pandemic relief aid when the Legislature balked sounded as if he was putting up a verbal equivalent of concertina wire around the state's borders. His remarks sparked criticism from some immigrants rights advocates, who saw Murphy's sentiment as a troubling departure, and a bipartisan freakout, especially in South Jersey, where some Republicans trumpeted xenophobic tropes. … Still, it was the criticism that he flip-flopped on his sanctuary state vision that apparently irritated Murphy the most. He vehemently denied the suggestion to reporters in Long Branch last Wednesday, and ticked off a resume of pro-immigration steps, including New Jersey's role in the relocation of Afghan immigrants … ‘He's being a pragmatist,’ said Micah Rasmussen, director of the Rebovich Institute for New Jersey Politics at Rider University. ‘You can’t drop something like this on the entire Legislature eight weeks before elections and not have things blow up.’” NJ PORK: A TAYLOR SHAM — “How did Trenton lawmakers carve up pork spending for 2024?” by The Record’s Katie Sobko: “As part of the annual effort to craft a new state budget, legislators like to add items that benefit their specific communities as well as larger projects that tend to grab attention as the process heats up in June — this year the oft-discussed StayNJ rebate program, for example. There’s typically little in the way of public input or even discussion, though it falls to taxpayers to foot the bill for these projects. Because Democrats control both the Assembly and the state Senate, it’s no surprise that the majority of the 494 resolutions added were sponsored by Democrats. A few Republican-backed items did manage to make the final cut … State lawmakers typically ignore their own rules, which require resolutions that add new spending for these pet projects to be published 14 days before the state Senate begins deliberating its final spending bill. … Republican Budget Officer Sen. Declan O’Scanlon and Senate Minority Leader Anthony Bucco allege that the explanatory information on the resolutions sponsored by their members, as well as the sponsoring members themselves, have been modified. ‘They’re not the budget resolutions that our members actually submitted; rather they are versions of our members' resolutions that were prepared by someone else,’ Bucco said. ‘Who we don't know, because we weren't consulted on it. So the resolutions are now being crafted by somebody that don't necessarily reflect a complete resolution.’” TONIGHT I’M GONNA PARTY LIKE IT’S 1909 —“13 years later, construction to restart on Hudson River rail tunnel,” by The New York Times’ Patrick McGeehan: “After a 13-year detour, work is about to begin again in New Jersey on a rail tunnel that would run all the way to Midtown Manhattan and end the region’s reliance on a pair of crumbling tubes built more than a century ago. As soon as next month, construction could start on a highway bridge that would clear a path for massive boring machines to cut through the rocky palisade and under the Hudson River. The $16.1 billion two-track tunnel they would create is the centerpiece of the largest public works project underway in the nation, known as Gateway. On Monday, the tunnel’s developer, the Gateway Development Commission, awarded the first contracts for construction work on the New Jersey side.” —“Critics want criminal charges for failures at veterans homes” —“Sam Parker will be lt. governor’s chief of staff” —Snowflack: “Veterans’ homes: Some points need to be made” —Murray: “New Jersey Democrats’ failure to communicate” —Murphy-backed telehealth study is late and may come just before pay parity expires
| | | | A message from OxyChem:   | | | | | BIDEN TIME | |
‘MY BUDDY AND ME!’ — “Christie vows to 'follow' Trump if he skips the next GOP debates: 'Wherever he goes, I’ll go',” by USA Today’s Marina Pitofsky: “Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vowed that if former President Donald Trump does not participate in future Republican debates, he’ll change his campaign schedule in an effort to set up his own faceoff with the former president. … ‘Did Trump diffuse your strategy of going toe-to-toe with him by staying off the debate stage?” Fox News’ ‘MediaBuzz’ host Howard Kurtz asked Christie in an interview that aired Sunday. “I’m sure he’s not coming to the Reagan debate. We’ll give him another chance in Alabama,” Christie said, referencing the yet-to-be scheduled third GOP debate expected later this year. ‘But if he doesn’t come there, then I’m going to follow him around the country,’ Christie said. ‘Wherever he goes, I’ll go. And we’ll wind up talking to each other one way or another.’”
—“Top Never Trump-er says Christie's gotta go” —“Who's giving to Menendez's legal expense fund? One donor is revealed”
| | | | A message from OxyChem: Since the 1890s, the tremendous industrial and economic growth on the Passaic River has come at a great environmental cost. For decades, companies regularly used disposal practices on the Passaic’s shoreline that are no longer acceptable. The EPA declared a 17-mile stretch of the Passaic part of a federal Superfund site, selected a remedy, and identified more than 100 companies as potentially responsible for the clean-up. OxyChem, which EPA acknowledges did not pollute the river, is leading the clean-up.
The EPA identified eight chemicals of concern in the river – Lead, DDT, Dioxin, Mercury, PCBs, Copper, Dieldrin, and PAHs – six of which are not associated with OxyChem or its predecessors. Nevertheless, OxyChem is dedicated to cleaning up the Passaic. But if the other responsible companies don’t step up, New Jersey taxpayers could end up footing the bill. Tell the EPA to hold all 100+ polluting companies accountable.
Learn more at PassaicRiverCleanup.com | | | | | LOCAL | |
PAULSBORO MAY HAVE TO RESORT TO ROBBING PETERSBORO — “Rising costs are threatening offshore wind project — and this N.J. town’s future, mayor says,” by NJ Advance Media’s Bill Duhart: “For Paulsboro Mayor Gary Stevenson, wind energy isn’t just about the environment or the future of natural resources — it’s about jobs. And amid reports that the planned wind turbine project off the New Jersey coast has hit rocky finances, he’s nervous. “We’re going to live or die with this port,” he said during a phone call Thursday about his hometown industry’s reboot from petroleum refining to wind. A sprawling plant in Paulsboro manufactures parts for offshore wind projects. “We have nothing to fall back on.” Last week, the main client for the plant said it may ditch plans to buy hundreds of 400-foot long, 3-million-pound monopile poles to mount offshore wind turbines because project costs were soaring beyond expectations. The state spent $225 million upgrading the Port of Paulsboro to handle the massive equipment.”
PATERSON FAILS — “Why has Paterson failed to collect more than $1M in sewer connection fees from developers?” by The Paterson Press’ Joe Malinconico: “The city has failed to collect more than $1 million in sewer connection fees from developers for dozens of construction projects during the past couple of years, municipal officials confirmed. Among the projects with uncollected fees is one of the city’s most high-profile initiatives: developer Charles Florio’s construction of 138 luxury apartments at the site of the former Paterson Armory. City records indicate Florio was supposed to pay a sewer connection fee of $298,730 for the Armory site housing, a job that is in its final stages. Emails sent among municipal officials about the unpaid fees said developers in some instances completed construction and opened their new buildings without providing the city with fees that were supposed to be paid before the work even started.” ELIOT SPITZER — “Worker seriously injured at Jersey City construction site where numerous complaints have been lodged,” by The Jersey Journal’s Ron Zeitlinger: “A worker at a high-rise construction site in Jersey City where multiple complaints have been registered was seriously injured Monday morning, police said in radio transmissions. The incident occurred at approximately 8:20 a.m. at 425 Summit Ave., a 26-story residential building near Sip Avenue in Journal Square. The victim, who is employed by L&W Supply, was taken to the Jersey City Medical Center in critical condition after suffering a head injury, police said in the transmissions. The $150 million, 390-unit building being developed by Spitzer Enterprises and Arden Group topped out in June and is expected to be completed next year. Spitzer Enterprises is headed by former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who resigned amid a prostitution scandal. … OSHA is investigating five complaints at the site related to fall hazards, but none against L&W Supply.” —“Ex-teacher in [Ridgefield Park] claims district unfairly fired him as retaliation” —“South Brunswick residents facing steep tax increase after blown budget” —“South Amboy ferry to Manhattan could begin in 30-60 days: mayor” —“'Adamantly clear': Township doubles down on Bridgewater Commons mall redevelopment terms” —“Hudson County Schools of Technology to rename middle school complex in honor of county executive” —They named a band shell in Teaneck after Loretta Weinberg
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EDUCATON — “After student suicides, N.J. schools try new ways to stop bullying,” by NJ Advance Media’s Jackie Roman: “Red Bank Regional High School is implementing a new cell phone ban this year. Freshmen must store their mobile devices in special cell phone towers during class. The new policy in the 1,200-student Monmouth County school is designed keep students focused — and to help stop kids from using their phones to bully classmates. It is one of several initiatives and programs New Jersey schools are implementing this year amid calls for more efforts to prevent bullying and improve the mental health of students nationwide … New Jersey drew headlines last school year after two teen suicides and several bullying incidents in schools. Many school districts are enacting new policies this year to try to combat bullying and focus on student mental health.”
—”9/11 and cancer: NJ patients struggle with myeloma years after exposure to Ground Zero” —“Former activist investor says Republic First and George Norcross need to cut a deal” —"Researcher with N.J. ties has been rescued from deep Turkish cave"
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