On Willie, Stevie, Stevie, Rudy and more

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Say, did anyone take a look at the video posted on this site of Hudson County Register Willie Flood fleeing Fox 5’s Arnold Diaz, when he tried to interview her as to how she could hire her son to two paid positions in her two elected offices? Flood ignored Diaz’s questions, covered her face with her fur coat and swiftly jumped into her car without answering a single question the night Diaz came to a Jersey City council meeting to question her.

As background, Flood hired her son to be an aide in her position as a Jersey City Councilwoman and as a data-processing clerk in the Hudson County Register’s Office. He’s since resigned as her aide. Of note, the son has a record, and was recently arrested and charged with selling marijuana out of a car in Jersey City. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge. Only in Hudson County.

For many reasons, I find what Flood did not so much to be shocking, but to be typical of Hudson County politics. We’ve heard, over and over, that these kinds of days in Hudson went away when disgraced Hudson County Executive Robert C. Janiszewski went to prison. And yet, they continue to this day in Hudson — and they’re serious black eyes on a county government that has seen its share of disgrace over the last decade. This can’t be pleasing to Hudson County Executive Thomas DeGise. What’s worse, though, is that we understand, from several inside sources, that there are plans in the works for a few more nepotism-based hires in the county — this time in a much higher profile area than the register’s office.

We’ll keep you posted.

• The rumor mill is heating up in Essex County, as it appears one of the most noted contributors to The Observer is mulling a run for the Nutley Board of Education. Steven L. Rogers, a lieutenant in the Nutley Police Department, is believed to be considering seeking one of three available seats in the April election. Based on his well-known status in Nutley and across the country, just his name alone makes him more than a viable candidate. There is barely a person in Nutley who doesn’t know Rogers — and those who do know him generally just like the guy.

Rogers’ candidacy, albeit for a part-time, volunteer position, could be on the most profiled in recent memory not just for Nutley, but for our entire readership area. His appearances on Fox News, CNN, MSNBC and CN8 already raise his profile considerably. And, his background, including working as the current commander of the Nutley Police Department’s Juvenile Aid Bureau, gives him the experience seriously needed in a school board member.

Too often, people run for ed boards for power reasons. In many instances, they do so for the prestige and the ability to push through friends and family into teaching and administrative positions. Yet in this case, Rogers knows what it’s like to deal with all kinds of kids. He knows what’s important for success in the world of academia. And, he clearly has no hidden agendas that often overtake school board members.

It should be interesting to see whether Rogers submits a petition. If he does, it will make for an extremely interesting race — one this writer has no doubt he’d win convincingly. We’ll keep you posted.

• North Arlington Council President Steve Tanelli and Councilman James Ferriero are both up for re-election this year. While it seems likely Tanelli will seek another term, Ferriero’s candidacy is still uncertain. Ferriero, who is up in years, says he hasn’t been formally offered the endorsement of the North Arlington Democratic Party. He says he’s not sure if the party will back him. He also says he hears former Councilman Phil Spanola is mulling a run, having lost in November’s general election.

While it’s early, it ought to be interesting to see who the Dems put up for the seat. Ferriero initially supported EnCap fervently, but reversed course a year ago when Mayor Peter Massa took office. Could the Dems be looking for someone younger, and for someone who had been anti-EnCap from the beginning? We’ll see.

• Quick, did you hear former New York City Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani is running for President of the United States? Based on his campaign strategy of holding out on all states until the Florida Primary, you’d barely know the guy was still in the race.

• There was another Democratic Debate on CNN tonight. Is there anything we don’t know about Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and John Edwards already? These debates seem to be nothing but shout fests, with the three candidates taking verbal jabs at each other. Tonight’s was of the worst of them all. Can Super Tuesday, Feb. 5, get here soon enough?

• Coming in the Jan. 23 edition of The Observer, Jose Cespedes, a Kearny High School senior, writes a “Bridging the Gap” column on race relations in America and on the impact the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had on such relations. For now, let’s just say we could all learn a lot from this high school senior. It’s one you’ll definitely want to read.

• Finally, just a few months after her beloved Sacred Heart School of Kearny closed, Mary Ellen Tarnacki, the last and former principal and long-time teacher, died. She was just 60. She was a well-respected and well-loved member of the Sacred Heart community — and we’ve had literally hundreds of visitors to this site, looking for information on her death. Clearly, she’ll be missed. Mrs. Tarnacki and her entire family are in our thoughts and prayers.

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