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Has Jerry Green set up his own demise as County chair? |
Are Jerry Green's days as chair of the Union County Democratic committee numbered?
That seems a likely outcome after Jerry Green's humiliating defeats in the Linden mayoral race and Plainfield's Ward 2/3 and Board of Ed races on Tuesday.
If there ever was hope on the part of Union County's backroom power elite that Jerry would manage to bring a sense of stability and less open revolt -- if not true peace -- among restive progressive Democrats, those prospects are now seen to be definitively smashed.
And pretty much by Jerry's own hand.
The first thing he did after Adrian Mapp was sworn in as Plainfield mayor was to go on the attack -- not only against Mapp, which could be expected, but against his former political boss Charlotte De Filippo. In Union County politics, one simply does not bite the hand that fed you. The attack on Charlotte gave the bigwigs pause.
The second knock on Jerry is that he isn't half the politician Charlotte was. Charlotte was tough as nails, and all about getting Charlotte's way. But she was far more nuanced than Jerry and had more than one tool in her toolbox -- she could wheedle and flatter as well as slash and stomp.
Jerry, on the other hand, has shown that he only understands one tool -- the hammer. And, as they say, to someone who only has a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Pound, pound, pound.
Jerry completely misses the point of Machiavelli's advice to the prince: Your subjects must both love and fear you. Not one or the other, but both.
Then there is the matter of Jerry's insecurity.
Like Richard Nixon, there is no there there. Jerry Green has no interest in life other than political domination. He has no friends, no hobbies, no intellectual pursuits, no charitable activities, no uplifting concerns such as youth or education or jobs training -- or even affordable housing, for which he has legislative oversight.
Sen. Lesniak is suave, charming and interested in a wide range of activities beside politics. Nick Scutari and Joe Cryan are fun to hang out with and can be bon vivants. Even Linda Stender used to have great beer parties at Fanwood's fabled Sun Tavern.
And Jerry? Fuhgeddaboudit.
Now that Sen. Lesniak and Mayor Chris Bollwege have brought the Elizabeth Board of Ed to heel with their victory on Tuesday, and now that Joe Cryan will have plenty of free time on his hands as Sheriff of Union County, how secure can Jerry's hold on the Union County chairmanship be?
The powers-that-be in Union County are no doubt drawing the conclusion that while things could be better, they probably couldn't be worse.
Union County Dems will elect new committee members countywide at next June's primary election, following which a chair for the next two years will be chosen.
Time for Jerry Green to watch his own back.
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4 comments:
Hi Dan,
Your lips to God's ears. Is there any possibility that any of the Union County Democratic bigwigs you wrote about would help purge Jerry from Plainfield? Especially after they enabled him to steal the Plainfield Mayoral election in 2005 from Al McWilliams.
Plainfield citizens have screwed long enough by Jerry Green's leadership style of running Plainfield for his own benefit and his political allies.
Tom Kaercher
I had a dream the other night that downtown was clean,and Front St had stores I could shop,and parking spaces were available,and Gerry Green was no longer in Plainfield . Then I woke up :-(
I clicked the heals of my red shoes,and said Green retire,Green retire,then things will better here in Plainfield. It is his time to retire.
Maybe he will have to get the State to take over Route 28 in Plainfield, like all the other towns have been granted.
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