Democratic Chairman Plans Chat with O′Leary About State Assembly Campaign
July 29, 2009
(SOUTH AMBOY) Democratic Organization Chairman Joseph Spicuzzo said Wednesday that he plans to call South Amboy Mayor John T. O′Leary on Thursday to discuss his bid for state office — but did not say if he would ask O′Leary to drop out of the Assembly race.
"I don′t know about that right now," Spicuzzo said in a telephone interview when asked if he intends to ask O′Leary to drop out. "I have not yet reached a decision on that."
Spicuzzo′s planned conversation with the South Amboy mayor will follow a telephone conversation Assemblyman John S. Wisniewski (D-Middlesex) had with O′Leary, his running mate in the 19th Legislative District, on Tuesday, asking O′Leary to "reconsider" his bid for the Assembly seat.
"I told him to reconsider the viability of his candidacy in light of the current state of affairs in the state," Wisniewski said. "I told Jack that he needs to really evaluate whether he can have a viable candidacy given everything that has happened..
By "current state of affairs," Wisniewski was referring to last week′s federal indictments of 44 people, including three mayors from Bergen and Hudson counties and two Assembly members from Hudson and Ocean counties.
O′Leary — who received the Democratic nomination after indicted Assemblyman and former Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas announced he would not seek reelection — said Wednesday that his conversation with Wisniewski lasted 30 seconds and that he is still in the race for the Assembly seat.
"Neither John Wisniewski nor anybody else in the Democratic Party at this point has asked me to do anything," O′Leary said. "When I make a decision on what to do, the press will be the first to know."
O′Leary said he met with Wisniewski over a week ago "to discuss various components of the campaign and the political climate around the state." Both men verbally agreed not to publicly discuss their campaign until they met again in the middle of August, O′Leary said.
However, Wisniewski broke that promise Tuesday, O′Leary claimed.
"Yesterday he (Wisniewski) advised me that he was being called by a reporter about the campaign," O′Leary said Wednesday. "I responded, "Well, John, we agreed not to speak to the press and I think that′s what we should do.′ But he told me that he had already released a statement to the press."
Wisniewski said O′Leary′s statement about their meeting "is not entirely accurate."
"I don′t want to get into a he-said, she-said with my running mate," Wisniewski said. "Let me just say that′s not an entirely accurate reflection of our entire conversation."
O′Leary was hit with an avalanche of allegations last month after an anonymous nine-page letter circulated around the city accusing him, his family and several members of his administration of wrongdoing.
Although the state Attorney General′s Office would neither confirm nor deny that an investigation was ongoing, O′Leary divulged last month that the city had received a subpoena from the state Attorney General′s Office regarding his insurance business FHRM LLC.
State authorities last month also delivered a subpoena to Perth Amboy officials as part of their investigation into a business relationship with the city and FHRM LLC.
O′Leary has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
Spicuzzo said he was not surprised by Wisniewski′s call to O′Leary Tuesday because "I know John (Wisniewski) has some very serious concerns about this, and I do, too."
"We are not accusing John O′Leary of anything, but because he said there have been inquires about his (insurance) business and about what may be going on in South Amboy, it has become a concern to me and to John Wisniewski," Spicuzzo said. "We don′t want any concerns about improbity in this climate."
Wisniewski said state residents and elected officials "are living in very unusual circumstances."
"I don′t know, in this state, if we have ever been in such a pivotal time in terms of the trust people have in their government," Wisniewski said. "Nobody can blame any constituent for looking at everybody in elected office and throwing their hands up and saying, "They′re all no good.′ You have to prove that you are not wrong. You have to prove that you are good."
By Leo D. Rommel - Staff Writer MyCentralJersey.com
