In Hudson truce territory, Stack praises governor on budget, but calls for ‘better political thinking’

Stack and constituents on 49th Street on Friday.: Politicker photo

UNION CITY - They call him "24-7," and on a brutally hot summer Friday when several other Hudson County public buildings look like the fixtures of a ghost town, Union City’s Brian P. Stack bounds down the steps of City Hall and keeps on the move.

"Yo, BPS," a kid wearing a headband cries in greeting, and he gives the mayor a fist pump as he cruises up 49th Street leading a contingent of the under 15 crowd.

"Go, Brian!" the kid shouts over his shoulder.

As he does every Friday, Stack presided over wedding ceremonies in the morning. Now he oversees mobile constituent services ten blocks away from City Hall in the concrete center of this Hudson County city of 70,000 densely packed people - mostly Latinos - where City Hall sports dual busts of George Washington and Cuban hero Jose Marti.

Police barricades stand at either end of the street, at Hudson and Palisade. A hot dog vendor gives out free dogs and sodas, courtesy of Stack - and under a tent in the middle of the block, the mayor in a tie with his suit jacket slung over the back of his chair, calls out the next name on a long list of names.

He has a staccato voice that conjures up memories of Yankees radio announcers from the 1940s who did the play-by-play for GI’s in the jungles of the South Pacific.

"Jose...Carmen...Eziekiel..."

This is Stack in his natural habitat: the street-level Democratic Party boss of a Bergenline political empire. He started here, and that’s how he got here.

As a mayor/assemblyman gunning for the state Senate with the retirement last year of state Sen. Bernie Kenny, Stack went to war with the powerful Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO).

The machine put up West New York Mayor Sal Vega. With all of its turrets trained on the upstart Senate candidate out of Union City, the organization focused much of its attention on Stack’s status as a dual-office holder who allegedly steered cash toward the daycare center where his then-wife worked.

They also highlighted what they described as his strong-arming of county committee people in a Stack or bust political environmental in Union City.

The attacks fizzled.

A Bergenline remnant of Stack's 2007 state Senate race against Vega.: Politicker photo

"We’ve thrown everything but the kitchen sink at this guy," veteran opposition researcher Paul Swibinski said of Stack toward the end of the campaign. The laconic Union City native offered by way of counter argument from his constituent services entrenchments around the city, "They’re angry because I’m helping people."

Stack demolished Vega, and a little over a year later, he maintains the same routine.

"I want to be mayor," a little Latina tells her grandmother as they observe Stack on 49th Street.

"Anytime I can help, call me," Stack is saying to a woman. "I mean that sincerely."

"Why isn’t the mayor Latino?" asks the little girl, her leg twisted up underneath her as she squirms in the fold-out plastic chair among the crowd waiting to see Stack.

"You’re a Latino," the grandmother says, "but you have to know how to speak English. Mayor Stack is a reminder that you need to learn how to speak English."

The constituent services event has turned into a low-key festival. PeopleFriday afternoon street scene, Union City: Politicker photo walk up the street weighed down by hot dogs and sodas. A kid in cornrows and camo pants gets two dogs and two colas and makes his way to a nearby porch where other neighborhood characters are clustered with dogs and grandmothers and children on bicycles.

"He does this twice a year for two weeks," says Commissioner Lucio Fernandez. "He helps people with whatever problem they have - housing, jobs, bills. Sometimes it’s a matter of pointing them in the direction of the right organization, sometimes he makes a phone call to handle the situation."

In between meeting with residents, Stack consents to an impromptu interview with PolitickerNJ.com. The first question he takes is about the state budget, which Gov. Jon Corzine trimmed by $600 million this year.

"It’s hit us in the 33rd District, and it’s hit Union City, but it could have been worse," says the mayor. "I fought hard to keep funding for regionalized fire."

Significantly, Stack’s district received money for schools in this fiscal year. As part of a statewide $3.9 billion Schools Development Authority supplemental, the 33rd will be able to build new facilities to replace the Harry L. Bain Elementary School in West New York, and the Columbus Middle School in Union City.

On the political front, Stack remains satisfied by the terms of a truce he reached with the HCDO after the Vega blowout, in which the mayor/senator was allowed three county freeholders in exchange for agreeing not to beat up any more of the county’s stable of politicians.

He’s kept to it so far.

During the U.S. Senate Primary, whole sections of New Jersey’s political establishment waited for him to endorse a candidate: U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) or U.S. Rep. Rob Andrews (D-Haddon Heights). Most people took it as a given that Stack would endorse Andrews of South Jersey.

Familiar with his reputation as a guerilla and outcast in his own backyard, the South Jersey Democratic Organization (SJDO) courted him and hoped to count on him as a northern ally. Had he backed Andrews, it wouldn’t have been the first time he stood with the South Jersey voting bloc. One of the first votes he cast when he went to the upper chamber for his first Democratic caucus meeting last year was to make South Jersey Sen. Stephen Sweeney (D-Gloucester) the Senate Majority Leader.

But Stack never endorsed Andrews, choosing instead to guard local territory first and stand by that truce he struck with the party in his home county.

The HCDO was backing Lautenberg, and his old running mate, U.S. Rep. Albio Sires (D-West New York) - who during Stack’s 2007 renegade Senate campaign bucked the party to stand with Stack - was on the line with the incumbent senator.

Stack didn’t feel like tampering with the terms of his agreement.

He’s still paying off the debt from his campaign from last year, and he was satisfied with his local commitment from the HCDO of three freeholders.

"I wanted to stay out of that one," Stack says of the Senate primary. "I didn’t know how much impact I would have had anyway."

He adds with a laugh, "I’m not exactly the HCDO’s favorite person in the world, and if they say that I’m interesting or unpredictable those are probably the nicest things they’ve said about me in years."

He also makes it clear that he intends to continue to support Senate President Richard Codey (D-Essex). If South Jersey has a bead on Codey, they will have to take him down without Stack.

"Absolutely," the mayor says when asked if he backs the Senate President, and if he would vote for Codey to serve again as leader of the Senate.

Although he didn’t endorse a candidate in the primary, when it comes to presidential politics, Stack expresses excitement about Obama.

"I’ve seen 60 people here already this afternoon," he says, referring to his constituent services.

Stack says he wants to focus on housing issues when he returns to the state Senate in the fall.: Politicker photo

"These are people who need jobs and housing," he says. "Help for them has been nonexistent with the Bush administration in power. I’m supporting Obama because he has convinced me that he is committed to investing in people, in giving them money for decent jobs and housing."

Stack says he is concerned about new Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) rules - which require a 2.5% tax on commercial development and prevent the transfer into his city of affordable housing stock from affluent towns - but he voted for the measure after Department of Community Affairs Director Joseph Doria convinced him that the policy will benefit Union City.

"It’s hard," says Stack, when asked about the performance of Gov. Jon Corzine, specifically regarding the budget.

"He should have made the cuts over the last couple of years, but I give the governor credit for taking on a lot of the big issues," says Stack. "In a sense, he’s not a politician, and I would like to see better political thinking in his administration. They’ve got good people - Brad Abelow and Joe Doria."

He’s asked to elaborate on what he means by "better political thinking," and he says he fears Democrats frequently allow the other party to control the debate. Republicans have driven some key issues in the name of suburban and meanwhile, Stack says, people in his district lack jobs, health care and housing.

"I just want to be sure we are always sensitive to the needs of urban residents," he says. "That’s one thing we need to get back to as a party. We’ve got to remember the urban areas. When our urban areas fail, we all fail. I think Democrats need to unapologetically reinvest in the urban areas."

Union City Hall: Politicker photoBut what about the double dipper factor, and the fear of many suburban voters that their investment in the cities too often gets diverted away from people into the coffers of politicians and crash and burn operations such as the Schools Construction Corporation?

"If I wasn’t a mayor I wouldn’t know what it takes to run a municipality," says Stack. "I’m going to fight that much harder for my district. My polling showed that 80% of the people thought it was a good idea for me to run for senator. I dedicate 17-18 hours a day to this job."

In the meantime, there’s always 33rd District politics.

A 2009 election looms in an important town in Stack’s district: Hoboken, where Mayor Dave Roberts still has not publicly declared his intentions concerning a third term run and a crowd of would-be successors jockeys for position on the waterfront.

"I know there’s going to be a couple of candidates, and obviously I have a vested interest there as it is in my district," says Stack. "Hoboken faces difficult issues (including a state-takeover of the municipal budget), and how they get up and running again will be vital for the future."

Most of the emerging contenders have called him, "but I haven’t picked a candidate yet," he says, as it’s early, and there’s a lot of fighting for them to do among themselves before Stack takes a side, which he will in some form and when he does, maybe the machine will be on the other side again and the truce forgotten, and a new war begun.