Editor's Note:
Hudson County, alas, is peculiarly lacking in mineral resources. Scratch, mine, dig, drill or blast as much as you like, you’ll never find even a teaspoon of oil, a single diamond chip, or even a flake of precious metal. But facts and reality only fence in minds of modest mechanism, not the likes of J. V. Kenny, Hudson County’s political boss from 1949 to 1971. Observing that Hudson County was surrounded and veined by swamps, Kenny set to work turning all that mud into gold.
This task was too great even for the powerful J. V. K. to accomplish alone. C. Harry Callari, a Jersey City Ward leader in the early 1960s, served as apprentice to the master. As luck would have it, Callari’s original calling as a manufacturer of women’s clothing was no longer profitable; a new career suited him just fine. Through the sponsorship of John V. Kenny, C. Harry Callari assumed responsibility for the public’s health by becoming executive director of the Hudson County Mosquito Commission – one of Kenny’s many fiefdoms. The deal was that Callari was to be on the lookout for any and all possible income inducing opportunities. Fifty percent of the take reverted to his lord, Boss Kenny.
