JOEY TORRES

Paterson Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres: Politicker file photo

PATERSON - Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres this afternoon released a brief statement concerning five subpoenas issued yesterday by the U.S. Attorney's Office to the Paterson Police Department.

The subpoenas, said Torres, request records, bills, disclosure forms, credit card usage and the department’s vehicle policy during former director Michael Walker's tenure, "along with all documents pertaining to RDE Systems, Lockheed Martin, Shot Spotter, Proxim Wireless and Lawman Supply Companies."

"The Police Department has every intention of fully cooperating with this investigation and will readily make available any and all records of concern to the U.S. Attorney and his assistants," said Torres. 

Paterson Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres: Politicker file photo 

DENVER - If he felt any angst about his first choice not landing a place on the Democrats’ presidential ticket, Paterson Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres didn’t show it as he landed in the lobby of the Inverness Hotel on Monday, and turned his attention on the Republicans.

"We are fighting a war in our cities, but we are not putting the resources in to fight those wars internally," said Torres, who noted the fall-off in federal Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding during the Bush years.

Failing in a 2005 fight to terminate the program that administers urban aid, the Bush administration sought unprecedented cuts - up to 20%, the highest percentage proposed cuts since the program’s inception in 1982.

PATERSON - As recently as last month, Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres wasMayor Jose "Joey" Torres coy about whether he would publicly get into the Elizabeth Rosadorace against his adversary, Ward Two Councilman Aslon Goow.

"I don't know if a mayor should endorse," the mayor mused, later threatening to get into the contest  if Goow continued his public assault against his record as mayor. 

Today, Torres officially got in the game, lending his voice in a robocall to the cause of Goow challenger Elizabeth Rosado, wife of longtime Torres ally, former Councilman Jerry Luis Rosado. 

Goow, a two-term incumbent, is trying to fend off challenges from both Rosado and mason contractor John Larko. 

Challenger Julio Tavarez greets supporters after his debate performance on Friday night. 

PATERSON: City politics enthusiasts jamming the tables in the cafeteria in Passaic Valley Community College called this Fifth Ward square-off between Councilman Juan Torres and challenger Julio Tavarez the “can’t hold nothing back” contest.

Tavarez and Torres first butted heads four years ago when Torres’s pointed criticism of a political opponent unleashed a torrent of dismissive words from Tavarez.

Their younger-man versus older-man rivalry didn’t end then.

Having vanquished his other challenger in 2004, Torres now must deal directly with the feisty Tavarez, who thinks he’s built enough of a machine in the years since their public meeting showdown to unseat Torres - an ally but not an immediate relative - of Mayor Joey “Jose” Torres.

After battling all evening, Ward Two challengers John Larko and Elizabeth Rosado came together for a photo. 

PATERSON - While his opponents sought to depict him as a cowboy, Ward Two Councilman Aslon Goow in a debate at Passaic County Community College tonight argued that he puts his combativeness to work for the city.

"They all talk about professionalism, decorum," said Goow. "WeCouncilman Aslon Goow after the debate. shut down the mayor’s brother’s liquor store, and kicked gangs off of Union Avenue and Jackson Avenue. The Second Ward has the lowest crime rate in the city, and has an aggressive representative.

"Don’t let them con you," he added.

Challengers Elizabeth Rosado, wife of seven months of former Councilman Jerry Luis Rosado; and mason contractor John Larko fought each other as much as they tag-teamed in an effort to weaken the two-term incumbent.

Larko argued that Goow and Mayor Jose "Joey" Torres have engaged in "childish feuds," while seniors cry when they receive their tax bills and Paterson crime continues to be reminiscent, in Larko’s words, of the Bronx in the 1980s.

Goow, according to Larko, bickered with Torres over the color of 19 police cars, resulting in a costly repainting job. The challenger also charged the councilman with failing to repair the city’s shooting range as chair of the public safety committee, and indulging in City Hall meals at taxpayers’ expense.