Over and over in the last election, we kept hearing this term bantered about. It was something in the realm of “Let’s see what the will of the people will be.” And on Election Night, Nov. 7, the will of the people was loud and clear.
The people rejected Machine Politics. The people rejected verbal bullying tactics. The people rejected the choice of the county committee, who finished third of three.
But some on that committee didn’t seem to learn too much from that massive whipping and the egregious mistakes of the summer of 2023. Instead, they came back for their first meeting afterward and pulled the exact same nonsense they did that got them to where they are in the first place.
The party chose a new chairwoman and rightfully placed her back into the county committee seat she was stripped of wrongfully and with ill-gotten logic.
But then, within minutes, they chose a slate of three potential candidates to become a new Third Ward Town Council representative with what could only be described as malice aforethought, and that is never a term to use lightly.
While the three chosen are certainly nice people, they are not — not one of them — material to represent the people of the Third Ward. One is the grandson of a former member of the council; another is the brother-in-law to the former mayor; and the third, no one seems to know anything about, at all.
And yet, with another extremely slim two-vote majority (sound familiar?) this gathering concluded these were the best of the three to serve the next year on the council. What?
Left behind were at least four possible choices — likely more — who are involved in countless town organizations. One is heavily involved in WHATCo. Another is a former building inspector. One even led the charge to get and keep the Keegan Landfill closed in December 2019. But they were all rejected, cast aside, despite what the electorate said in the election just a few weeks ago. They spoke loudly and clearly and rejected “The Machine.” And yet, that very same “Machine” is now at the forefront of a potential council seat.
Heck if they heard anyone who spoke by heading to the polls last month. And yes, by the time you read this, one of those three picks could even be the new council representative. But if there is any logic and justice in this world, none will get the required five votes to be seated by the rest of the council.
If one does, get ready, folks. Because it will be more of the same nonsense and the voters will be fired up again in 2024. And frankly, who could blame them?
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Kevin A. Canessa Jr. is the editor of and broadcaster at The Observer, a place where he has served on and off since 2006. He is responsible for the editorial content of the newspaper and website, the production of the e-Newspaper, writing several stories per week (including the weekly editorial), conducting live broadcasts on Facebook Live, including a weekly recap of the news — and much more behind the scenes. Between 2006 and 2008, he introduced the newspaper to its first-ever blog — which included podcasts, audio and video. Originally from Jersey City, Kevin lived in Kearny until 2004, lived in Port St. Lucie. Florida, for four years until February 2016 and in March of that year, he moved back to West Hudson to return to The Observer full time. Click Here to send Kevin an email.