Legal eagles gave conflicting opinions regarding a 4-3-1 city council vote in Hoboken this past Monday that forced Mayor Dawn Zimmer to cast the deciding vote on the person to fill the seat she vacated in the 4th Ward.

The result put longtime behind-the-scenes political guru Michael Lenz into a council seat for the first time, solidifying Zimmer’s 5-4 council support, even if the move splintered some of her longtime supporters such as former Councilman Tony Soares. Soares and Lenz were among four people considered to replace Zimmer.

An extremely upbeat Lenz said he will be making the rounds of the 4th Ward in order to introduce himself to the people there and to get input from them on their concerns.

“This is amazingly diverse ward,” he said. He noted that some issues such as flooding, traffic, and finding open space are issues that affect nearly all the residents.

“The fiscal nightmare in Hoboken affects different people in different ways,” he said.

Some of the biggest issues involve the municipal budget, the hospital, flooding, a revaluation, and a proposed NJ Transit development for the south side of the city.

A special election is slated for next November. But some potential candidates may wait for the regularly scheduled elections in May, 2011 to seek the seat.

“Some old Hoboken people are considering backing Soares against Lenz in November instead,” said one knowledgeable political observer.

The Lautenberg problem

An active discussion has been going on with the state’s Democrats for some time about what to do in the event that U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg should retire before his term ends in 2014, or God forbid – die in office. Lautenberg will turn 86 in early 2010.

With Republican Christopher Christie to be sworn in as governor on Jan. 19, 2010, New Jersey’s Democrats could lose one of their senators and shift the balance of power in the U.S. Senate, denying the Democrats a 60-vote majority against a filibuster.

With time running out, some prominent state Democrats have revived a scheme pondered before that would have Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine resign to be replaced by Senate President Richard Codey, at which point Lautenberg would resign, and Codey would name Corzine as his replacement.

The problem is: somebody forgot to tell Lautenberg, whose office said the Senator has not been approached to resign, nor does he have any plans to in the near future.

Prominent state and perhaps federal Democrats may have leaked these discussions to the press in order to pressure Lautenberg to retire.

“It is a discussion that has been on the table for some time,” said one North Hudson political observer. “But there are other options being considered. One of them would try to have the state legislature pass a law taking away the replacement duties from the governor. Christie, however, would probably take the issue to court.”

“I've heard various versions of that story, although this is the first time I’ve heard Corzine being the beneficiary,” said one Bayonne official. “If Corzine were to resign, Codey would be the acting governor. It’s not likely that Codey would appoint Corzine to anything. He would damage himself so badly that he just wouldn’t do it. It’s not likely that appointing Corzine would be warmly received, since he was so obviously rejected by the voters. Now, there is a mild concern on the part of some that Lautenberg won’t survive the next four years and Christie would obviously appoint a Republican, changing the face of the Senate and cutting the Democrats’ slim majority – this would be a real problem. I’ve heard that Frank was going to resign in favor of Frank Pallone. However, the last time I saw Lautenberg a few weeks ago, he was in better shape than me. He was quite spry and likely isn’t going anywhere.”

This official, as well as several other prominent Democrats, say the real fix for this problem would be for the legislature to amend the law to call for an election within 30 days if a senator dies in office, and have Corzine sign it as a lame duck. They do this in other states, a la Ted Kennedy in Massachusetts. How could Christie be opposed to letting people pick their senator sooner?”

Indeed, there appears to be a move in Trenton to fast-track such a bill and have Corzine sign it into law prior to Christie’s taking office.

Cunningham and Christie: perfect together

Most agree that State Sen. Sandra Cunningham was the perfect pick for Christie’s transition team.

“She is a perfect fit,” said one Hoboken political observer. “She has grown into her job as state Senator, and anybody who thinks they can unseat her is crazy.”

Steve Gallo, chief of staff for Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith, disputed reports that Smith sought a place on the transition team.

“That’s simply not the case,” Gallo said.

Meanwhile, Bayonne is gearing up for a May election in which the mayor and all five council seats are up. The Smith team may be considering backing someone other than incumbent 1st Ward Councilman Ted Connolly, who said he wouldn’t be surprised – since he is currently suing Hudson County over alleged political harassment.

The question is who will run against Smith for mayor and whom Smith will put up against incumbent Councilman Gary LaPelusa, if indeed LaPelusa decides to run for reelection. Also in question is whether or not councilmen John Halecky and Vincent Lo Re will run again.