THE LEGACY OF HAGUESVILLE

About the Book

The Legacy of Haguesville is a satirical look at the rough and tumble world of local government, politics and the inner workings of campaigns as seen through a mythical election for a Congressional seat in New Jersey in 2002. It is laced with ‘historical fiction’ from the late 1960s and early 1970s taken from the exploits of the ‘Hudson County Political Machine’; an organization that in its heyday rivaled Cook County Chicago as the most ruthless and well oiled political operation in America. It is also the story of redemption for a fallen political figure trying to right the wrongs from his past by backing the efforts of Joe Davis, a 1,000 to a shot “Rocky” type candidate who finds the courage to take on the entrenched twelve term Congressman Benjamin Dover, who runs Hudson City with an iron fist. After stumbling upon an unaddressed environmental hazard (and with a bit of divine inspiration) the upstart candidate has a ‘puncher’s chance’ to pull off a political upset for the ages. His hopes though rest in the hands of a fourteen year old protégé, a Bible thumping African-American woman from the ‘Projects’, a radical left wing Councilwoman and an eighty year old mystery man.

About the Author

William O’Dea has served in appointed or elected office for almost his entire adult life. In 1985 he was first elected to the Jersey City Council at the age of twenty six. (The youngest in the City’s history). His first task upon being elected was finding the funds to remediate a burning toxic landfill in his district. In 1997 he was elected as a County Legislator by a single vote of the County Committee and has been re-elected to five consecutive terms: Running unopposed in the last three elections cycles. Viewed as an outspoken ‘Maverick’, he successfully took on and defeated the Hudson County Political Organization in 1998 and 2002. A graduate of Saint John’s University in New York City with degrees in Political Science and Criminal Justice, O’Dea brings an honest, humorous insider’s perspective to government and politics. His no holds barred style has ruffled many a feather in his three plus decades of public service. He has also co-authored two scripts which were produced as Independent Films.