More than the environment on their minds, 'Greens' say

Party has 4 on ballot for legislative offices

Thursday, October 30, 2003

By Agustin C. Torres
Journal staff writer

They call themselves the alternative candidates for disenchanted Hudson County voters who are tired of casting their ballots for the same old Democrats and Republicans. Their campaign pitch is that they are citizen candidates with a grassroots agenda, not career politicians.

They are members of the Green Party running for state legislative offices.

The Greens have four candidates in two Hudson districts: In the 31st District, Eric and Pamela Olsen, a married couple from Jersey City, are vying for the state Senate and Assembly seats, respectively, while Jonathan Oriole of Bayonne is running for the second Assembly seat. In the 33rd District, Maria Rios of Hoboken is running for the Assembly.

While the Green Party realizes its chances of winning seats in Hudson County are extremely slim, the election campaign is a chance to extol the organization's more liberal-minded agenda which goes beyond environmental issues, according to Guttenberg's Jim Mohn, a party spokesman.

Mohn says, among many positions, Greens oppose the use of public money for "corporate welfare" instead of public welfare; support equal marriage and family rights for gays, lesbians, bi-sexual and transgender couples; opposed the invasion of Iraq and want to bring the troops back home; demand cleanup of Superfund sites; and support taking big money out of politics with campaign reform.

Oriole and Rios are the two Green candidates who recently attended a Jersey Journal editorial board session to discuss their candidacy.

A native of Bayonne, the 20-year-old Oriole makes a living at desktop publishing at a Manhattan law firm. He first became involved in politics as a member of the Young Republicans club while living in Warren, Pa. But after moving back to Bayonne, Oriole switched from the GOP to the Greens when he found that there was "too much greed and a lack of concern" in both major political parties.

The assembly candidate said he lived in Jerusalem for a few years and he has been active in the gay/lesbian community. Oriole said he wants voters to know that they can have a choice and not a recycling of professional candidates.

"Get off your couch and help us make a change," he said.

Maria Rios, 70, is a Hoboken resident by way of Spanish Harlem and Puerto Rico. Rios has the formidable challenge of trying to defeat the two Democratic candidates, Assembly Speaker and West New York Mayor Albio Sires and Union City Mayor Brian P. Stack, who is vying for Assemblyman Rafael Fraguela's seat. The Republican candidates for Assembly are Jose Muñoz and Elise DiNardo of Weehawken.

"I've been involved in politics most of my life," said Rios. Most of it involves Hispanic struggles, including the effort to get the United States to stop using Vieques Island for bombing practice. She has also been active in trying to stop the nuclear arms race, preventing U.S. intervention in El Salvador and elsewhere, and supporting United Farm Workers. In Hoboken, she's worked for tenants' rights and to aid the homeless.

"I believe in protecting the environment - clean air and water," said Rios, who credits her mother for encouraging her activism at an early age.

The Olsens, the other Green Party candidates seeking office in the 31st District, did not attend the editorial board meeting. Eric Olsen is a union musician seeking a state Senate seat and who is championing instant runoff voting, an alternative method of selecting candidates that eliminates a separate election should a runoff be necessary. Pamela Olsen is seeking an Assembly seat and interested in cleaning contaminated Superfund sites and making the polluters pay and putting a stop to pre-emptive wars.