The Hudson County Chronicles

10/08/2025

Bill O'Dea for Jersey City Summer Jam Energy, NAACP Poise and a Council “Batting Order” trying to mimic the Greatest ticket Since 1985.

By The Chronicler In Chief

I didn’t rush to write about Bill O’Dea’s Volunteer Summer Jam at Liberty Prime since he didnt bring out Kendrick Lamar or Megan Thee Stallion. So I held back on purpose I wanted to see his NAACP Mayoral Interview first. And I’m glad I did. Summer Jam showed the crowd and the Chilltown flavor, but the NAACP forum showed the candidate.

My ops were at Liberty Prime hit me up that night “You need to get down here now.” I couldn’t make it, so they FaceTimed me in. What I saw on screen wasn’t ribs, burgers, or a grill… but it was cooking in there and I was told possibly an article that had recently came out wasnt well received but noted with more cohesion. The room had that pure Jersey City vibe laughter, strategy in the corners. The kind of crowd you can’t buy, rent, or fake.

O’Dea has picked up the Bat-phone, he's directed long-time allies County Register Jeff Dublin and County Clerk Junior Maldonado — along with former Ward B Councilmen Chico Ramchal and Phil Kenny that the time is now.
Put this campaign full throttle in motion, and the team is set.

Political insiders believe this Council ticket is his strongest weapon. In baseball terms, this is O’Dea in his batting sweet spot and his lineup card has some thinking this could be the best council slate since 1985. Every batter they believe in this lineup can get on base, drive in runs, and keep the inning alive.

And if you didn’t watch the NAACP interview, you missed something important. Even people who aren’t O’Dea supporters had to admit it Bill knows the issues, and more importantly, he brought forth solutions. He didn’t just toss out talking points; he paused before overpromising.

In other words, he looked like a Mayor ready to go on Day 1.

Depending on the poll you look at, O’Dea is sitting in the Top 3 with James Solomon and Jim McGreevey. And here’s the thing he’s fine with 3rd. He’s been there before.

In 1985, Anthony Cucci was in third place heading into Election Day, and Cucci came from behind to win the mayor’s seat. That same night, a young Councilman named Bill O’Dea was elected too. Forty years later, he’s drawing from that same playbook.

Roughly 350 people came through in August — a solid summer turnout. And a few days later, the NAACP performance only reinforced the momentum. On development, he’s not guessing — he’s lived it.

And here’s what some say separates from the pack: O’Dea’s connection to communities of color isn’t new and it isn’t staged. It’s one thing to get invited to the Black cookout or the Latino cookout… Bill’s the guy trusted to cook the ribs and the roast pork. Some elders even say, “Bill can make the potato salad.” That’s trust you earn over decades.

"Our City, Our Choice" is the Slogan

But it's also the message of O’Dea’s political career he's not sprinting. He’s pacing himself for the long game. And in Jersey City politics, that just might be how you win.

10/08/2025

Leroy Truth thank you for the compliment...but one thing Trust their paying attention to myself as well as you....and all media...

Don't Kill The Messenger: Team McGreevey ’s Saturday Morning Breakfast Felt Like Election Night Celebration in August

I wasn’t planning it, but I decided to make a surprise pop-up at Jim McGreevey’s Saturday morning breakfast no calls, no heads-up, just me sliding in to see what kind of crowd the former governor could pull on a summer Saturday. And I’ll tell you this… I was floored.

This wasn’t some quiet meet-and-greet over cold eggs and polite applause. This was over 400 people on a shore day in August packed in, shoulder-to-shoulder, acting like November was one week away. You had the old-school McGreevey loyalists, a political middle, the curious first-timers, and here’s what really shocked me a wave of young volunteers, running the room like they’d been in the game for years. That’s when you know a campaign has life when the youth are not just showing up but owning the space.

Hate it or Love It to my readers but I can’t just call David Cruz a Heights leader anymore after Saturday, he’s officially a Jersey City GOTV leader. His organizing skills were on full display, and that kind of turnout doesn’t happen by luck. The room told the story: Former Mayor Jerramiah Healy, State Senator Raj Mukherji, Former Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, and Ward B Councilwoman Maureen Hullings political vets, neighborhood voices, and seasoned insiders, all under one roof, all moving in the same direction.

McGreevey’s got that Kennedyesque pitch down to a science that lifts a crowd, mixed with Clinton like relatability that makes you feel like you’ve known him forever. People forget there was a time his name was whispered as a possible Vice Presidential pick. Watching him work that room, it all came rushing back the presence, the polish, the personal touch.

And you can feel it McGreevey’s beginning to act like a manager signaling for Mariano Rivera to come in during the 7th inning. That early move, that message to the rest of the league: “We’re locking this up before you even get a chance.”

I asked a McGreevey operative how they felt about where the campaign stands. They smiled and said, “We act like we down by 30, but we’re the Showtime Lakers.” Translation: they know the scoreboard, but they also know momentum can flip fast when you’ve got the right team running the floor. And they’re not about to get caught slipping like Wally Sheil in 1981 thought he was the winner, woke up the loser.

Here’s the bottom line: If you can pull 400-plus on a summer Saturday morning in August, with that kind of mix in the room, you’re not just in the mayoral race you’re trying to control the pace.

And to the other candidates? Either step up, step aside, or get ran over. Team McGreevey isn’t saying they’re a team.

They’re telling everybody they’re the team. LOUDLY.

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09/08/2025

Liberty State Park Master Plan Unveiled – But Don’t Be Fooled, We’re Still 98 Yards Away from a Touchdown

By The Chronicler In Chief

After years of meetings, debates, press releases, and “grand unveilings,” the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) has rolled out its Liberty State Park Master Plan at a public open house. It’s the kind of event that brings out the cameras, the glossy renderings, and the talk of “progress.” But let’s be honest this is more hype than hard reality.

We’ve seen this movie before. A state agency unveils an ambitious plan, touts it as the long-awaited solution, but the elephant in the room remains: no money, no progress.

The NJDEP can call it a plan all day long, but without funding in place, it’s just another exercise in political window dressing. The irony is glaring they’ve spent years ridiculing and dismissing private donors and foundations like the People’s Park Foundation & LibertyState Park for All, painting them as villains in the narrative. Yet now, when it’s time to turn renderings into concrete and steel, those same donors are suddenly mentiioned as the potential lifeline.

And let’s not forget this “new” plan doesn’t even address one of the glaring failures of the 1977 Master Plan: the lack of set-asides for minorities and small businesses. That’s not just a missed detail, it’s a missed opportunity to correct a decades-old exclusion that has kept local entrepreneurs and minority contractors on the sidelines of one of the state’s most iconic public spaces.

This is the kind of stall tactic governments have mastered: announce big, spend little, buy time. Meanwhile, administrations change. Let’s be real a Sherrill or Ciattarelli win in the Governor’s race will bring in a new DEP Commissioner, and with that, a new set of priorities. Translation: the clock gets reset yet again.

Right now, we’re not even close to scoring. We’re sitting at the two-yard line with 98 yards to go, and we’re supposed to cheer as if the game’s already won.

Liberty State Park deserves more than staged open house and photo ops. It deserves a clear, funded path forward one that doesn’t depend on who’s holding the Governor’s seat.

Until then, the Master Plan is just that a masterful piece of toilet paper that this exiting DEP administration is trying to lay it's legacy on.

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09/08/2025

The Hudson County Chronicles apologizes publicly to Ajamni for the mistake of not acknowledging your candidacy in the Hoboken Mayoral race. This oversight will be corrected in all subsequent reports. The Hudson County Chronicles

09/08/2025

Don't Kill The Messenger: Team McGreevey ’s Saturday Morning Breakfast Felt Like Election Night Celebration in August

I wasn’t planning it, but I decided to make a surprise pop-up at Jim McGreevey’s Saturday morning breakfast no calls, no heads-up, just me sliding in to see what kind of crowd the former governor could pull on a summer Saturday. And I’ll tell you this… I was floored.

This wasn’t some quiet meet-and-greet over cold eggs and polite applause. This was over 400 people on a shore day in August packed in, shoulder-to-shoulder, acting like November was one week away. You had the old-school McGreevey loyalists, a political middle, the curious first-timers, and here’s what really shocked me a wave of young volunteers, running the room like they’d been in the game for years. That’s when you know a campaign has life when the youth are not just showing up but owning the space.

Hate it or Love It to my readers but I can’t just call David Cruz a Heights leader anymore after Saturday, he’s officially a Jersey City GOTV leader. His organizing skills were on full display, and that kind of turnout doesn’t happen by luck. The room told the story: Former Mayor Jerramiah Healy, State Senator Raj Mukherji, Former Assemblywoman Joan Quigley, and Ward B Councilwoman Maureen Hullings political vets, neighborhood voices, and seasoned insiders, all under one roof, all moving in the same direction.

McGreevey’s got that Kennedyesque pitch down to a science that lifts a crowd, mixed with Clinton like relatability that makes you feel like you’ve known him forever. People forget there was a time his name was whispered as a possible Vice Presidential pick. Watching him work that room, it all came rushing back the presence, the polish, the personal touch.

And you can feel it McGreevey’s beginning to act like a manager signaling for Mariano Rivera to come in during the 7th inning. That early move, that message to the rest of the league: “We’re locking this up before you even get a chance.”

I asked a McGreevey operative how they felt about where the campaign stands. They smiled and said, “We act like we down by 30, but we’re the Showtime Lakers.” Translation: they know the scoreboard, but they also know momentum can flip fast when you’ve got the right team running the floor. And they’re not about to get caught slipping like Wally Sheil in 1981 thought he was the winner, woke up the loser.

Here’s the bottom line: If you can pull 400-plus on a summer Saturday morning in August, with that kind of mix in the room, you’re not just in the mayoral race you’re trying to control the pace.

And to the other candidates? Either step up, step aside, or get ran over. Team McGreevey isn’t saying they’re a team.

They’re telling everybody they’re the team. LOUDLY.

-

08/08/2025

Is Gloria Walton the Next Willie Flood of Ward F?

By The Chronicler In Chief

Ward F politics, a new voice is stepping forward one that doesn’t demand attention with volume, but rather earns it with substance, grace, and quiet authority.

Gloria Walton, the current President of the Jersey City Chapter of the National Action Network, running for Ward F Councilwoman on Former Governor Jim McGreevey ticket.

And while her entry may not have caused the loudest political thunderclap, those paying attention recognize that this may be the return of a certain kind of leadership we haven’t seen in Ward F since the days of Willie Flood.

Willie Flood wasn’t the type to grandstand or shout into microphones. Yet when she spoke, rooms got silent and ears leaned in.

She knew her people, her community, and more importantly, she knew how to navigate the machinery of local government to get things done. Her respect was earned not just through political alliances but through personal investment in the people she served.

Some say Gloria Walton walks in that same spirit. When candidates from different teams can speak glowingly of you ..that's realness.

With over 25 years in social services and as Founder and Executive Director of the Most Excellent Way Life Center, Gloria’s life work has been embedded in community uplift particularly for men of color, returning citizens, and families underserved by the systems that claim to serve them.

Her tone may be soft. Her presence may not suck the oxygen out of a room. But her impact is already felt from trauma-informed counseling to re-entry programs that give men and women real second chances. She doesn't just talk about faith-based solutions she builds them.

In an election cycle that will be filled with louder voices, glossier campaigns, and plenty of political theater, Ward F residents may want to look at the candidate who reflects the quiet, determined dignity of our elders. The ones who didn't have to announce they were leaders.

They simply led.

Gloria Walton may just be the Willie Flood of a new generation...

And if Ward F is wise, it won’t overlook the power in that.

08/08/2025

Working on a new series of blogs, I’m calling “The Hidden Figures of Jersey City & Hudson County.”

It’s about the people men and women, past or present, young & old, living or gone who made or making a real difference in our neighborhoods but never got the spotlight they deserved.

It’s about legacy.
It’s about giving flowers while we still can… and honoring those who didn’t get theirs while they were here.

Got someone in mind?

Drop a name or a suggestion in the comments or hit my inbox. Even the Narcissistics can drop their own names 😂😂🤣..

Let’s tell it the right way..

08/08/2025

What I won't do is allow any newly created pages or pages with zero friends to comment on any posts. Reveal yourself if you want to comment. 🚫