| | | | |  | | By Matt Friedman | Good Tuesday morning! Mikie Sherrill and Josh Gottheimer were sworn into their respective fourth and fifth terms in the House yesterday, and neither hopes to finish. The two are running for governor this year, having launched their statewide campaigns shortly after winning reelection in November. Their opponents from both sides of the aisle have noticed. “I hereby pledge to do everything in my power to abandon the constituents who just reelected me and serve as little of this term as humanly possible while I run for higher office. So help me God,” reads a mock oath of office Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli tweeted Sunday. Ciattarelli’s criticism of Sherrill and Gottheimer echoes Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop, who just after Thanksgiving criticized those two Democratic primary opponents, tweeting they “misrepresented to their constituents over the last year their ENTIRE intentions. “It is CRAZY to declare for another office before even being sworn into the office you just told people that you were committed to,” Fulop wrote. Sherrill spokesperson Sean Higgins responded Ciattarelli and Fulop have both been all-but-running for governor for the last decade. “Fulop abandoned his day job a long time ago to campaign across the state on the Jersey City taxpayer's dime. After failing to gain traction and being rejected by voters, Ciattarelli and Fulop are desperate — so no wonder they now spend their days, like Trump, firing off angry tweets,” he said. Fulop suffered a bit of embarrassment from his latest Assembly running mate rollout after he announced Thursday that Christina Khalil, New Jersey’s Green Party 2024 Senate candidate, would run on his team in the 35th District. By Friday, Khalil tweeted she was out. New Jersey Globe reported the decision came “after a more thorough background check.” That’s vague, but I can’t help but feel it had something to do with her pro-Hamas tweets, and maybe the one in which she linked last year’s earthquake to climate change. Fulop declined to say why he withdrew support from Khalil but said this was a rare case in which his campaign announced a running mate before completing her background check, since she had already run for Senate and “we didn’t think there would be any major issues.” “We continued the background check which frankly raised a litany of other issues on things she has done and said — so we told her that night that unfortunately we would not be able to move forward with a shared slogan and resources.” Khalil told me in a phone interview the Fulop split was over “political differences” and that she still hopes he wins. She also said that Fulop’s campaign team was aware of her tweets. Fulop denied that. Side note: My user experience of Twitter, or X, or whatever you want to call it, has steeply declined since Elon Musk bought it. But as you can see from everything above, it’s still playing a big role in our political discourse. HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Amanda Gasperino De Palma, Jeff Hauser. WHERE’S MURPHY? In Toms River at 10:30 a.m. for the memorial Mass for State Police Major Jeffrey Burke. Edison at 5 p.m. for the Middlesex County reorganization meeting, and Princeton at 7 p.m. for its municipal reorganization. Quote: “I would rather have an hour not in the vehicle, in traffic … I can’t run my business off the subway, but maybe this whole congestion pricing thing is keeping people from driving.” — Matawan resident Maurice DiMaggio, an electrical contractor whose commute into Manhattan Monday took half as long as usual. DiMaggio, whose whereabouts are not in question, is the grandson of late Yankees great Joe DiMaggio. |  | WHAT TRENTON MADE | | |
FOR WHOM THE TOLLS BILL — What New Jersey turned down in losing fight to stop new tolls, by POLITICO’s Ry Rivard: After his lawsuit failed to stop congestion pricing, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy is facing criticism for turning down what New York’s governor called “very generous” settlement offers. But whether the offers were that generous may depend on which side of the Hudson River you’re on. In the weeks before a judge rejected New Jersey’s bid to stop tolling that began on Sunday, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul tried to start a pressure campaign on Murphy to settle the case. The offers included $500 million to help pay for the new Midtown bus terminal in Manhattan; toll credit for drivers coming across the George Washington Bridge; and a pledge to prioritize New Jersey Transit portions of Penn Station during a long-awaited redo, according to two sources familiar with New York’s offers granted anonymity to discuss confidential settlement talks.
— “Transit advocates say congestion pricing behind shorter commute times” — “PATH fares to increase next week amid congestion pricing start in NYC” STAFF DEFECTION — “Staffing challenges unlikely to ease at NJ nursing homes,’ by NJ Spotlight News’ Lilo Stainton: “A for-profit Bridgeton nursing home had roughly half the bedside staff required by New Jersey law on each of the 75 days regulators checked over two years, according to state investigators who claim its operators improperly diverted tens of millions of public dollars to their own pockets. ‘This was not a short-term, unintentional failure to meet staffing requirements but an intentional and repeated misuse of public funds with the goal of maximizing corporate and personal profits,’ the Office of the State Comptroller wrote in its mid-December report … The comptroller’s findings also highlight ongoing staffing challenges in an industry particularly hard-hit by COVID-19, in New Jersey and nationwide. Some 9,000 nursing home residents died during the pandemic, one in four of the state’s coronavirus-related deaths, according to an April 2024 report from the New Jersey Task Force for Long-Term Care Quality and Safety. COVID-19 also caused the death of 100 nursing home workers and the stress associated with bedside caregiving under those conditions prompted many others to retire, the report notes.” SHE KNOWS WHEN SOMETHING’S BREWING — “SCI hires Williams Brewer as CEO,” by New Jersey Globe’s Zach Blackburn: “The State Commission of Investigation hired Tiffany Williams Brewer as the commission’s CEO. Brewer served as the chair of the commission from 2022 through 2024, according to a release. She had been serving as the interim leader of day-to-day operations since the death of former Executive Director Chadd W. Lackey, who was killed in a July traffic incident … Brewer is a former New Jersey Administrative Law Judge and law professor, according to the release. Brewer has also served as chief counsel to the speaker of the General Assembly, deputy chief counsel to Gov. Jon Corzine, and deputy assistant secretary of state.” MUSK WE REALLY? — “NJ teachers no longer need to pass reading, writing, math skill test,” by TAPIntoNewark’s Tony Gallotto: “New Jersey teachers are no longer required to pass basic skills proficiency tests to stand in front of Garden State classrooms under a new law that took effect on Wednesday, Jan. 1. 2025. Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, signed the measure (A-1699) into law in June 2024. It lifts a requirement for New Jersey teachers to pass a basic skills test for reading, writing, and mathematics to acquire state certification. Lawmakers say such tests are ‘redundant, expensive, and over-burdensome,’ and eliminating them would help ease the state's teacher shortage. Some critics — including billionaire Elon Musk —criticized the measure on social media as a step to ‘dumb down education’ in New Jersey classrooms, urging lawmakers to reconsider the basic skills tests. Musk, in a Sunday post on X (formerly Twitter), sarcastically wrote: ‘So teachers don’t need to know how to read in New Jersey? Seems like that would make it challenging to teach kids how to read.’” FULOP: VOTE FOR STEVEN, NOT STEPHEN — Fulop's gov campaign explains the basics to begin 2025, by POLITICO’s Madison Fernandez: Democratic Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop’s opening salvo of 2025 is less about him and more about the elections process — the latest move to drum up grassroots support as he looks to claim the anti-machine lane in the race for governor. Fulop’s campaign is “investing heavily” to amplify an online video series, put out by the slate of state Assembly candidates running alongside him, with the aim of educating voters about the June primary election. The first videos, released on Monday by 6th Legislative District hopefuls Rebecca Holloway and Kevin Ryan, explain what a primary is and the downfall of the county line — a system that Fulop has been vocally critical of. — “N.J. GOP keeps making gains in voter registration” — “Sweeney names Pennsylvania operative as campaign manager” — “Op-Ed: Governing New Jersey means standing up for immigrants” | | BIDEN TIME | |
SURELY THE WINDMILL CRITICS WILL OPPOSE THIS — Trump promises to undo Biden lame-duck drilling ban, by POLITICO’s Robin Bravender: President-elect Donald Trump on Monday vowed to quickly reverse President Joe Biden’s lame-duck push to ban oil and gas drilling along most of the U.S. coast. Trump said in a radio interview that he plans to undo Biden’s policy “immediately” after he takes office later this month, although doing so would likely require help from Congress. The incoming president slammed Biden’s offshore drilling ban Monday in an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt. Biden announced earlier Monday — two weeks before Inauguration Day — that he was banning new offshore oil and gas drilling along most of the U.S. coastline. “It’s ridiculous. I’ll unban it immediately,” Trump said. “It’ll be changed on Day One. I can change it immediately.” Reversing Biden’s move would likely require an act of Congress, where Republicans hold majorities but where a reversal could face opposition from coastal lawmakers who oppose drilling off their home states’ shores.
THE JEFFERSON — “Van Drew to head congressional subcommittee overseeing Dept. of Justice, FBI,” by The Press of Atlantic City’s Michelle Brunetti Post: “U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd, who refused to vote to impeach President Donald Trump and switched parties from Democratic to Republican in 2019, will lead a congressional subcommittee with oversight of the Department of Justice, FBI and more … In an interview Monday afternoon, Van Drew, who has been on the House Judiciary Committee for two years, said the subcommittee will focus on oversight over agencies such as the DOJ; FBI; Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Office of the Inspector General, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons.” — “J6 suspects from N.J. already trying to use Trump’s pardon promises to their advantage” | | LOCAL | |
VIRTUAL INANITY — “Data shows reduced public participation under virtual-only Lakewood Township meetings,” by The Asbury Park Press’ Joe Strupp: “As the Township Committee refuses to return to in-person meetings, claiming they are not needed for citizen involvement, data shows meetings now are noticeably shorter and public participation is sharply reduced under the virtual format. An Asbury Park Press analysis of township committee meeting minutes found that in the four years prior to the Covid-19 shutdown of 2020, meetings averaged 55 minutes and included public comments and questions from an average of six people per meeting. In the four years since Covid-19 restricted the township committee to virtual-only gatherings after 2020, the meetings have averaged 20 minutes and less than one public comment per meeting … But all five Township Committee members, including Mayor Ray Coles, dismissed the data, saying residents are content to reach them in other ways, such as email, phone calls and chance in-person meetings. ‘The feeling of the committee is that it is much easier for people to participate this way,’ Coles said … But nearly 300 residents have made their opposition clear in a pair of petitions launched in the past year.”
LIKE A LE CARRÈ NOVEL BUT BORING — “Readington eavesdroppers get 30 months PTI for bugging private dinner,” by New Jersey Globe’s David Wildstein: “Christina Albrecht and Jacqueline Hindle will avoid prison for planting a recording device at a local restaurant and recording a private meeting of two elected officials from a rival GOP faction after a judge accepted their admittance into the state’s Pre-Trial Intervention program. If the two Readington women successfully complete the PTI program, which includes mental health screening and 30 months without legal troubles, they will avoid a criminal record. Superior Court Judge Christopher Garrenger also issued a no-contact order barring Albrecht and Hindle from communicating with the victims: Mayor Adam Mueller, Deputy Mayor Vinny Panico, and J.J. Cahill, the executive director of the Hunterdon County GOP. But the order won’t extend to official capacities. Hindle can remain on the Readington Planning Board and the Readington Republican County Committee until her term is up.” PIPE DREAMS — “The sport is for everyone. Just ask this 48-year-old skateboarding N.J. mayor,” by Bill Duhart for NJ.com: “Marco DiBattista said when he was a 12-year-old skateboarder, anyone out there over 22 was considered old. Times have changed. Now 48, DiBattista, the mayor of Pennsauken, is still trying to bust moves at the neighborhood skate park. And he’s not alone. Ronnie Gordon, 48, a carpentry teacher for students with learning impairments, was one of the first riding down a rail at the $900,000 skate park Camden County opened last month at Cooper River Park … DiBattista and Gordon are now part of the growing culture of skateboarding, along with the teens and 20-year-olds. And governments, at least in Camden County, are literally buying into it. Pennsauken renovated an existing skate park two years ago with a $640,000 upgrade and professional design. It was paid for largely with local funding, DiBattista said.” R.I.P. — “Former Atlantic County commissioner John Carman dies after short illness” — “Mayor: Bridgewater will fight affordable housing mandate 'every step of the way'” — “Op-Ed: Congestion pricing is ‘a tax on working people disguised as progress’” — “Amended wage suit claims ex-Bayonne worker ‘is mentally dysfunctional,’ epileptic” — “CCPD: Number of crimes in Camden continued to plunge in 2024” | | EVERYTHING ELSE | |
CENTRE PIKADU — “Pokémon Go Fest 2025 coming to Jersey City,” by The Jersey Journal’s Ron Zeitlinger: “A festival celebrating an interactive game played by an estimated 90 million people across the world annually is coming to Jersey City for the first time. The Pokémon Go Fest 2025 will be held in the city June 6-8, as well as Osaka, Japan May 29-June 1 and Paris, France June 13-15, company officials announced on the social medial platform X Monday morning.”
HOW DO WE KNOW THEY’RE NOT DRONES? — “Bald eagles and ospreys are officially off N.J.’s endangered species list,” by NJ Advance Media’s AJ McDougall: “The bald eagle and the osprey were removed from New Jersey’s list of endangered species on Monday, an action reflecting more than four decades of conservation work by biologists and volunteers, according to state officials. Both birds were moved from the endangered species list to the state’s more generalized nongame species list. The bald eagle’s status on the latter list remains of 'special concern,' while the osprey has gone from threatened to 'secure-stable,' the Department of Environmental Protection said in a news release.” — “Friend raises money for N.J. man who was seriously injured in New Orleans truck attack” — “Delaware River watershed drought: Good for the birds, the trout — not so much”
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