SamPratt.com

Aaron Enfield

There appears to be a whole lot more to the story (reported by The Gossips of Rivertown and The Register-Star) of former Mayor Rick Scalera spurning the nomination of the the Hudson Democratic Committee, which he once chaired. Two well-informed Democratic sources offer and confirm the following nuggets, though at this point readers may want to view the following as credible rumor:

(1) Faced with criticism from several aldermen for continuing to support Scalera for 5th Ward
Supervisor, even as he embarrassed the Democrats, newly-minted Hudson City Democratic Committee (HCDC) chair Aaron Enfield reportedly resigned yesterday morning.

(2) Enfield’s name was on the Committee to Fill Vacancies for the now-emptied Democratic petitions for 5th Ward Supervisor. But if he refuses to help choose a replacement candidate, that would mean the other two members—said to be Sarah Sterling and Debby Mayer—would have to agree on a substitute, otherwise the Dems will have no 5th Ward Supervisor candidate. NOTE: The Register article claims that the three have already “decided against nominating anyone,” despite Scalera’s repudiation of his party.

(3) Sterling reportedly sent an irate message to several fellow Democrats, denouncing any notion of finding another Democrat to run against Scalera. The 1st Ward Supervisor also is said to have threatened to file some sort of “ethics complaint” against certain aldermen for attempting to “intimidate” the Democratic Committee. (If true, Sterling may want to consider the maxim that politics ain’t beanbag—and that trying to criminalize political speech is not only difficult, but a perilously slippery slope.)

(4) While spurning his own party’s nomination, Scalera may not get the Republican line that he now intends to run on, due to a reported petitioning error. This could leave no candidates on either of the two major party lines for 5th Ward Super, unless someone files Opportunity to Ballot (OTB) petitions in the next few days. OTB petitions would create a write-in primary in either party (or both) in September. Scalera does, however, appear to have the Conservative and Independence party lines sewn up, so he would be on the ballot—just not as a Democrat or Republican.

(5) Democratic Alderman Nick Haddad has been trying to locate former Hudson police chief Ellis Richardson to encourage him to have his name written in for 5th Ward Supervisor. Note that when OTBs are filed, anyone could then have their name volunteered by voters.

(6) On the Mayoral front, Democratic candidate Victor Mendolia reportedly would not have secured the HCDC nomination if even one Committee member had changed his or her vote. Had Enfield stepped off the committee before that vote, the Dems might not have nominated anyone for Mayor.

(7) Several prominent local Democrats have reached out to 1st Ward resident Robert (Bob) Mechling to serve as acting HCDC chair, but he has declined the role, at least for the present... Getting someone to fill the role now may prove difficult, since even before this latest mess, any new chair is going to need a high tolerance for mopping up other people’s puddles.

Indeed, there is still time for anyone to file paperwork to force a write-in primary for any office in the City. 

If anyone has further information to add, or disputes the source’s reports, feel free to email this site at [email protected] ...