In Passaic and Bayonne: the Scarinci factor

In at least two special elections for mayor on Nov. 4th – in Passaic and Bayonne - attroney and big money Democratic Party donor Donald Scarinci stands to lose money if the other side wins.

In Passaic, Scarinci’s powerful firm, Scarinci and Hollenbeck, has the lucrative city attorney contract, with a base salary as high as $600,000 annually, not including add-ons.

City supervisor Vincent Capuana says if elected mayor he would look at trimming the firm from the payroll.

Countering that claim on the day he endorsed former School Board President Alex Blanco, Acting Mayor Gary Schaer said Capuana’s designs on in-house legal work likely wouldn’t save the city money.

In Bayonne, Scarinci represents Fidelco-Roseland Property, a residential developer of the Bayonne peninsula, site of the former Military Ocean Terminal.

Long a proponent of scrapping the commercial/residential development plan in favor of a big ratable container port, underdog mayoral candidate Patrick Conaghan could play havoc with Scarinci’s influence if voters pick him over establishment choice, Acting Police Director Mark Smith.

Originally slated to build townhouses, Fidelco now wants to construct rental units in a tougher real estate market, which Conaghan says at the very least could violate an agreement with another developer and leave the city without the tax revenue it anticipated.

A retired municipal judge, the candidate wants the U.S. Attorney to inspect the transaction Bayonne enacted with Fidelco-Roseland.

Scarinci is a longtime political ally and fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-Hoboken), and a business partner of Bergen County Democratic Party Chairman Joseph Ferriero, who in an unrelated case currently faces corruption charges in federal court.