State Senator (D-32)/North Bergen Mayor Nick Sacco said that “horrendously bad advice” to his Union City counterpart Brian Stack is what led to the civil war among Hudson County Democrats during a short interview at a fundraiser last night.Â
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“Horrendously bad advice to Brian Stack: whoever gave it to him, gave him the worst advice,” Sacco exclaimed outside The Waterside Restaurant when asked about any theories regarding the latest snafu among Hudson Dems.
“He had the chairmanship, He could’ve taken the chairmanship he could’ve then did what he did next year and everyone would’ve been caught flat.”
Stack, the state Senator of the 33rd Legislative District and the Union City Mayor, along with Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, announced out of the blue in March that they would not be supporting Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise for re-election.
In response, Sacco and U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-8) began forming a faction that is in support of another term for DeGise.
Up to that point, Stack appeared to coasting his way onto becoming the next Hudson County Democratic Organization chair, but is instead now facing a spirited challenge from Jersey City Board of Education Trustee Amy DeGise – Tom’s daughter.
“The one thing that I’m thinking about is that none of this had to happen,” Sacco exclaimed before going on to say that he liked Amy DeGise’s chances.
Back in North Hudson, West New York Mayor Felix Roque raised some eyebrows when he endorsed Larry Wainstein to be next mayor of North Bergen about two weeks ago.
Needless to say, Sacco wasn’t impressed.
“I think the chance[s] of Felix Roque being the mayor next year are very, very slim. He’s taken on everybody around him: we have no idea why. He was running unopposed. He had a ticket, he was the leader of the town,” Sacco explained.
“And he does this, he turned on the county executive, loses control of West New York: when you [can’t] count to three in a commissioner form of government, you no longer have control of the government.”
The often politically unpredictable Roque has also now taken aim at Sires, telling InsiderNJ yesterday that “he needs to retire in peace. I heard he’s a great golfer.â€
Sacco said he expects Sires, a former West New York mayor, to use that quote as fuel heading into a pivotal Democratic committee race on Tuesday.
“I can’t imagine how he feels. I made sure the article was sent to him so he could read it. I’m sure his back is up now more than it was before.”
Roque spokesman Pablo Fonseca took the high road when addressing Sacco’s remarks.
“Mayor Roque will continue to focus on the Town of West New York, continuing to drive crime statistics down, stabilize taxes and focus on the needs of the residents of West New York,” he said over the phone.
A spokesman for Stack did not return an email seeking comment.
Dignitaries in attendance at the event included Assemblywoman Angelica Jimenez, Assemblyman Pedro Mejia (both D-32), Bayonne Mayor Jimmy Davis, Guttenberg Mayor Wayne Zitt, Guttenberg Council members Monica Fundora, John Habermann, Donna Florio and Richard Delafuente, West New York Commissioners Margarita Guzman and Gabriel Rodriguez, Freeholders Anthony Vainieri (D-8) and Anthony Romano (D-5), former West New York Mayor Sal Vega, ex-Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, among many others.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with a comment from the Roque campaign.
Maybe he’s listening to Christie and Bhalla the Republican law firm employee ?
Sacco seems like a man who sees the end of his power and coming.
After his epic public fail in backing and losing his bid to install DeFusco as his puppet mayor in Hoboken he is now fighting a ground war to to put DeGise’s daughter int a job is totally unqualified.
The petty move by Sacco to have his crony Prieto hide the election in an almost unaccessible back room in West Hudson High School reinforcing the already high sleaze factor that they bring to every election they are in.