Perez back in for debate after dropping out before >>
TRENTON » Accused “flipflopper” Paul Perez changed his mind again.
Days after he got called out for ducking a scheduled Trentonian debate, the 2014 runner-up recommitted to duking it out with Assemblyman Reed Gusciora on June 3 at Mercer County Community College.
“See you at the debate, baby,” he told The Trentonian on Monday.
Perez initially committed to debate Gusciora but backed out last week, claiming he had to take a business trip to Oklahoma.
The top-voter-getter in Round 1 of Trenton’s municipal election claimed in an interview at his Hiltonia home he had no choice.
“Unfortunately, I have a real job and sometimes I have to travel,” he explained. “I just got back from Oklahoma, where I’m still consulting, and whenever they call me, I have to go. Do I determine when I’m going to go and when I’m not going to go? I don’t. The client does.”
Perez’s camp called Trentonian editor John Berry on Monday to say the trip was “postponed” until after the election.
Admitting he felt the debate was more important than the consulting trip, Perez said The Trentonian “jumped the gun” in reporting his decommitment. The Trentonian repeatedly tried to persuade Perez to honor his commitment before publishing the story.
“This is the reason why I don’t talk to the press anymore,” Perez said. “You guys are anxious to write a story.”
Perez said his change of heart had nothing to do with Gusciora urging him to “come out of hiding.”
Gusciora was heartened to learn his opponent rejoined.
The talk, the assemblyman said, was Perez’s camp felt it wasn’t “prudent” for the frontrunner to clash with the longtime 15th district leader after establishing a more than 700-vote lead in Round 1.
“I think it’s because of all the outside pressure,” Gusciora said. “I don’t know what he’s afraid of being the ‘big executive with the Harvard degree.’”
Gusciora meant “proven executive,” one of the former Army criminal investigator’s favorite catchphrases about his credentials – some which have been called into question.
Though Perez and Gusciora live in the same Hiltonia neighborhood and have had a friendly relationship over the years, the battle has turned personal since it became official they’d face each other in the June runoff. The two are tangled in a historic race with Perez trying to become the city’s first Latino mayor and Gusciora the first openly gay mayor.
Responding to Perez being quoted in the New Jersey Globe as telling the assemblyman he has “no business standing in my way,” Gusciora called Perez a “bully” – a refrain he has repeated in several interviews.
The assemblyman doubled-down in dubbing Perez the John Kerry of Trenton’s runoff while noting Perez’s apparent short-term memory problems about positions and statements he’s made in public.
“He’s the consummate flip-flopper,” Gusciora said. “He’s flip-flopped on about every issue. Darren [Green] said he was going to be in the cabinet of the next administration and they then claim there was no deal made. It stretches the imagination.”
Gusciora was alluding to Green’s alleged strings attached endorsement of Perez and Perez’s comment ina Trentonian candidate profile that he “graduated” from a program at Harvard University, the prestigious Ivy League institution in Massachusetts.
Green made no secret in interviews he expected a gig in the next administration though the “dynamic duo” denied any deal was in place at the official endorsement presser.
Perez was also asked to explain his Harvard grad claim.
The Trentonian verified with school officials that Perez earned a certificate in 2010 after completing the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Senior Executive Fellows program. Officials made sure to point out the certificate is not a degree.
Someone created an anonymous website “The Real Paul Perez” ripping Perez for alleged distorted and disingenuous statements.
At first when confronted, Perez denied saying he “graduated” from Harvard but acknowledged it when The Trentonian replayed the tape. He said he should have been more careful about his words.
Speaking of words, Perez distanced himself from words that have allegedly come out of his mouth about Gusciora.
“The Globe wrote their own thing,” Perez claimed about a piece written by Bridgegate whistleblower and New Jersey Globe editor David Wildstein that had the “get out of my way” zinger. “I’m telling you 100 percent that I did not say that.”
Gusciora believes Perez is also behind online “vitriol” his supporters spewed at the assemblyman.
Perez didn’t respond to a follow-up call requesting comment on the puppetmaster charge.
“He doesn’t want to debate,” the assemblyman said. “He wants to attack under cover of his supporters. We shouldn’t have to pull teeth to get him to come out in the public.”