If you're Hosam Mansour of Jersey City, you run for mayor.
Mansour is one of a handful of long-shots in the Nov. 2 Jersey City mayoral election, fringe candidates who would be lucky if they got 1 percent of the vote.
Underdogs have come from behind in the past. In 1993, political unknown Bret Schundler took advantage of a wide candidate field to win election as a Republican.
Currently, the frontrunners in the Jersey City mayoral race include Acting Mayor L. Harvey Smith, who is also the City Council president; Assemblyman Louis Manzo, Councilman-at-Large Jerramiah Healy, former Police Chief Ron Buonocore, former Human Services Director Willie Flood, and Ward C Councilman Steve Lipski. Police Officer James Carroll has dropped out (see sidebar).
Besides Mansour, the underdog candidates include Dwayne Baskervillle, Isaiah Gadsden, Hilario Nunez Jr., Alfred Marc Pine, and Thomas Short.
Mansour, Nunez Jr., Pine, and Short outlined their platforms in recent interviews with the Jersey City Reporter.
Baskervillle declined an interview, saying he "needed an answer from God" first. Gadsden provided a press release outlining his biography and reasons for running for mayor.Mansour - 'Your average citizen'
"I am trying to fight the perception that if you are dressed in a suit, if you are a businessman or a professional politician," said Hosam Mansour last week, "they are the only ones who should be taken seriously if they are running for office." Mansour was dressed casually while being interviewed at Amin's Chinese Restaurant in Jersey City.
Mansour, whose parents emigrated from Egypt, is a graduate of Public School 27 and McNair Academic High School. He also graduated from Rutgers University-Newark with a degree in history.
He looked to a historical precedent when deciding to put his name into the election mix.
"In ancient Athens, leaders were chosen by lottery," Mansour said. "And those people felt that it was their civic duty to serve in a leadership role once they were chosen."
Mansour admitted that a small coterie of "broke college students" are helping him in his campaign.
"I don't have all the right answers," he said, "but I am going to ask all the right questions."
His questions include: Why is Jersey City in so much debt? Why aren't there more alternative schools in Jersey City? And why aren't the city's leaders promoting a more moral atmosphere?
Mansour is, however, running on a definite platform of stopping tax abatements from being given to developers and pushing for electoral reform that would limit donations to political candidates to $50.
He is planning to do intensive campaigning in the final three weeks of October and is organizing a fundraising dinner that will cost $25 per person.
Mansour also hopes that his candidacy will encourage others to take the chance to run for political office, as he plans to not run for another office after this election.
"In a city of 240,000 people, how can there be only 13 candidates?" he asked. "I am all for having as many people as possible running."
Nunez Jr. - 'Expanding the Gold Coast'
Hilario Nunez Jr. was doing repairs on the house he had bought recently in the Greenville section of Jersey City when he spoke to the Jersey City Reporter.
Nunez, 32, is a first-year teacher at Snyder High School who previously taught at P.S. 39 and lives with his wife and two young sons.
Nunez was born and raised in Jersey City and is a graduate of P.S. 39 and Dickinson High School. He earned his degree in education and in English at William Paterson College and served two years with the U.S. Marines.
Nunez said that he was repairing his home to get it ready for upcoming meetings he will have with people who will help him on his campaign.
"I have a core group of supporters from their twenties into their mid-forties who will be helping me during my run," said Nunez.
Nunez said he talked to various residents over the summer when he was contemplating the option of running.
"I met a lot of unhappy people who were fed up with all the infighting that had gone on during the previous administration," said Nunez. "They are also upset because they hear about the Gold Coast, but they see the gold stay mostly downtown."
Over a three to four week period before the Sept. 15 filing deadline, Nunez walked through Jersey City gathering more than 370 signatures for his nominating petition.
Nunez's platform includes discontinuing abatements for developers, pursuing faith-based initiatives, pushing for more AIDS education in the schools, and putting more police on Jersey City streets. He also said he would attempt to put more money into the Department of Recreation to fund athletic programs, especially on the public school level.
"I remember when there were basketball tournaments amongst the public schools," he said. "Kids who hardly paid attention to their work realized that if they didn't keep their grades up, they wouldn't be able to play. There should be more money to have more of these tournaments to get children involved and active."
Right now, Nunez is hoping to raise $10,000 to $12,000 to put a commercial on Comcast for his campaign, and in the next couple of weeks he will go out and start campaigning.
Pine - 'Wake up, Jersey'
A 50-year-old native of Brooklyn and a resident of Jersey City for the past 24 years, Pine is a general practice lawyer with an office in Brooklyn. But he said that he is a "political virgin."
Pine has said in letters to local newspapers that he is getting tired of what he sees of Jersey City and Hudson County government as "a cesspool of incompetence and corruption."
"I don't understand why the people don't say 'I'm mad as hell and I won't take it anymore,' " he said. "It's time to take the city from the professional politicians."
Pine, whose only political experience was on the city's Rent Leveling Board from 1992 to 1994, said that he spent 17 days collecting what he estimated were 375 signatures.
During the time spent walking through most of the city, Pine met many people who told him they were signing his petitions because, he claimed, they aren't happy with the current leadership.
"I found that the two most unpopular politicians in Jersey City were George W. Bush and L. Harvey Smith," said Pine.
Pine said that he was a supporter of Assemblyman Louis Manzo when he ran for mayor in 2001, but said that he could not support him if he is "joined at the hip with Gerald McCann." McCann is one of Manzo's legislative aides and political organizers during this campaign.
Pine hopes to run a campaign as a solo effort on very little money. But he believes that he will surprise many people with his effort. Pine said he would work to eliminate at-large seats on the City Council to bring in more area representation.
Short - 'a new beginning'
"I believe people should vote for me since I've never lost a campaign - of course, this is my first one," said Short.
A Jersey City native who gives his age as "fortyish," Short says he wants to address the issue of nursing home negligence.
"My mother was in a nursing home where she was treated just horribly," he said. "I had to get her out of there."
Short wants legislation for better inspections of nursing homes.
Short is a graduate of St. Peter's Prep and St. Peter's College, and put in 13 years of medical school in Italy before he had to discontinue his studies due to a lack of funds.
He currently works part-time at the A&P supermarket in Jersey City near the Hoboken border, and also as a substitute teacher.
If elected, Short will hold to the common political stance of no abatements for developers, set up a food bank, and create forums where the police and the citizens can meet to ensure more harmony between them, as well as promoting harmony among all residents.
"I want peace in the streets between all races, since we need it especially during these times," said Short.
Short said that his campaign is pretty much a solo effort.
He managed to get 160 signatures during the three to four weeks that he went out and collected them by himself, and he plans to go alone to meet and greet people at locations in the Heights section of the city.
Isaiah J. Gadsden - 'Change Is Near'
Isaiah J. Gadsden is a 27-year-old native of Jersey City who attended P.S. 24. He moved and attended high school in South Carolina before returning to Jersey City, where he enrolled at Hudson County Community College. He is currently a student at Jersey City University when he is a criminal justice major.
He also works in management for the vending company ARAMARK, which is based at Giants Stadium, Continental Arena, and the Meadowlands Racetrack.
Gadsden said in his press release that "I have a dream to reform Jersey City into an environment where it truly represents the heart of the community, 'The People.' I will change the concept of Politics As Usual into Community First As Usual, and represent individuals - not Institutions! It's time for a change in Jersey City." Ricardo Kaulessar can be reached at rkaulessar@hudsonreporter.com Sidebar Carroll drops out of race
Mayoral candidate James Carroll announced on Friday that he was dropping of the race because he was "complying with a municipal ordinance that requires police officers to receive permission of the police director prior to raising campaign funds."
Carroll in a press release cited the example of former Jersey City Police Chief and current mayoral candidate Ronald Buonocore, who had to step down from his post based on the ordinance.
Also in the press release, Carroll said that he was backing Councilman-At-Large Jerramiah Healy for mayor.
"After several meetings with Jerramiah, I was not only confident that we shared a common vision, but also realized that he was the right candidate to unify and lead Jersey City," he said.
It has been rumored for the past two weeks that Carroll would throw his support to Healy, but nothing had been confirmed.
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