GayPASG Note:  While I was over at Asm. Doherty’s Public Forum on Same-Sex Marriage in the 23rd District last night, my spouse was in Edison enjoying Mayor Choi’s $1,000-a-plate fundraiser.  I’ll let you figure out who had the best time.  John Crowell Campbell

Only crime in Edison is call for a recall vote

EDITORIAL, thnt.com Online, December 6, 2006

Threats by one prominent Edison resident to mount a recall campaign against Mayor Jun Choi can be filed under the heading of pure nonsense.  Michael Lombardi, a well-known area lawyer and real-estate developer, also claims he is the only one pursuing a possible effort to oust the mayor.  Right.  The deal is, Choi made a lot of enemies when he challenged the established leadership of the local Democratic Party and won election to office a little more than a year ago, first by taking down long-time incumbent George Spadoro in the Democratic Party primary, then by defeating popular Democrat-turned-Independent Bill Stephens in the general election.  It is a sure bet now that a few of the more prominent members of the former status quo — those who backed either Spadoro or Stephens, or simply resent Choi's upstart administration — are working hard from behind the scenes to make life more miserable for the freshman mayor.  The get-Choi talk is pay-back, sour grapes, a fly in the ointment, whatever one wants to call it, but that's all it is — talk.

The bottom line is that Choi hasn't done anything wrong — contrary to what Lombardi would like Edison residents to believe — and the idea of a recall election is simply laughable.  Lombardi's complaints center on the notion that Choi is somehow acting underhandedly by retaining a trio of political advisers and by pursuing large campaign donors, insinuating that Choi's real political ambitions go above and beyond the next mayoral election and the people of Edison, perhaps to some loftier statewide office.  That might be true, and if so, what of it?  Plenty of mayors seek higher office.  It's not a crime.  Meantime, none of the sins that Choi supposedly has committed are substantiated by even the tiniest shred of evidence.

Choi, as any successful politician must, is forever on the hunt for campaign cash.  The fact that he has hired three consultants to advise him or that he held a $1,000-a-plate fundraiser last night is all part of the game — and perfectly legal, too.  Smart as well.  Even the most casual observer of elections understands that money is a key ingredient for any run at office, more so in a place like Edison, home to nearly 50,000 registered voters.  It takes resources — a pile of them — to reach all of those people.

Which leaves this:  All of the blather about a recall election is a diversion, a stunt.  Edison has real problems to deal with. This isn't one of them.

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