Mason 'HudsonCountyRecovers' Ruse- UPDATED

Donation to the advertised 'Hudson County Recovers Fund' is a donation to the Mason Civic League

(Updated, 11/23/12, 11:00 am)
A source with contacts in the administration of Hoboken's Jubilee Center reports the Jubilee Center was not contacted by the Mason Civic League, Inc about participating in Beth Mason's HudsonCountyRecover.org.  Nor have they received a penny from the Mason Civic League, Inc.

Non-profits are accountable to report all donations to the IRS with a line item entry for the source of the contribution. Participating in a 'county-wide' fundraising drive would have to be reported.   The Mason Civic League, Inc is soliciting donations directly from donors, so the are the funding source.

The Mason Civic League, Inc, which filed an E-Postcard federal tax return in 2010 and 2011 (for non-profits with $50K or less in annual gross receipts), even though they employ at least 2 full-time  political operatives (Matt Calicchio, Tanya Garcia), sponsor Gallery 1200 (rent estimated $36-48K/ annually) is now funding county-wide charities!

Or are they?  We know they are funding Weehawken Mayor Turner's '527' PAC, "Weehawken and You Civic Association"  with donations solicited for use by "charities". 

If the Jubilee Center wasn't notified about the partnership with Mason, was Mayor Turner?

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(Original post)

Yesterday we discovered that Beth Mason's operative Barry Brendel (formerly known as 'Not-Perry') was the former spokesman for convicted crook Joe Vas, now serving 14 1/2 years in federal prison for corruption.

Vas pleaded guilty on Nov. 18 to two counts of official misconduct and one count each of theft by unlawful taking and money laundering. Vas admitted that he engaged in a series of corrupt schemes charged in two indictments obtained by the state Division of Criminal Justice in early 2009, including one scheme in which he and Ramos solicited an illicit payment of $58,000 from a city vendor, and a second in which they illegally funneled money into Vas’ congressional campaign via straw donors to evade campaign funding and reporting rules.

Time after time, former mayor Vas demonstrated his propensity to engage in corrupt schemes,” Attorney General Paula T. Dow said. “He took an oath to serve the public, but instead he unlawfully exploited the power entrusted to him.” 

Mason and Brendel are thisclose.  His son Tim is Mason's personal videographer;  Brendel Jr. shot and produced that notorious Nazi Tuck video.  Proud Poppa Brendel  dropped by my Zoning Board meeting last night, stayed a few minutes, then left.

Now that we all know the Mason-Vas connection the following should come as no surprise.

On November 14, Mason, who aspires to County Executive (or U.S. Congress) announced the creation of a non-profit' called "Hudson County Recovers".  As told to the Jersey Journal:

 Hoboken Councilwoman Beth Mason's civic association has created a county-wide non-profit organization dedicated to raising donations for local charities providing assistance for Hurricane Sandy victims.

County-wide non-profit?  Or  fund?

Out of Hudson County's 12 municipalities, Mason's  ad in this week's Hoboken Reporter reads "The Hudson County Recovers fund is dedicated to assisting diverse charities in Hoboken, Jersey City, Union City, Weehawken and Bayonne".  Those municipalities are all in Ruben Ramos' District 33,   except for Bayonne;  Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith is the HCDO Chairman.  A FEMA survey of Hudson County shows Hoboken  sustained 97% of the the county's flood damages, next was North Bergen at 1.3%.  The other municipalities each sustained less than 1% of the total damage to the county (Jersey City had 0.4%, Bayonne had 0.008%).

Now why would a Hoboken Councilwoman trumpet a county-wide non-profit which is actually just for her District- plus the HCDO Chairman's city, when her own city suffered 97% of the damage?

Well, GA discovered your donations do not go to a 'fund' or a dedicated non-profit, they go directly to The Mason Civic League, Inc.

Folks, that's just not kosher.  Opening up a non-profit is not rocket science.  Nor is setting up a dedicated PayPal account linked to a dedicated bank account (the 'fund').  It took more time to write that press release to Charles Hack.

It gets worse.  On the list of  Mason's 'Hudson County Charities' is 'Weehawken And You Civic Association.'

Guess what?

The "Weehawken and You Civic Association" is a '527' Political Organization.  

Back in January, Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner received an ELEC complaint for past excess contributions to his PAC.

Mayor Richard Turner and members of the Township Council recently received a complaint from the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission for allegedly making $32,000 in excess contributions to a continuing political committee in 2006.

The complaint which cites council members Robert Zucconi, Rosemary Lavagnino, Carmela Silvestri-Ehret, Robert Sosa and township/campaign manager James Marchetti, Jr. states that three different political committees were utilized to create excess funds.

The “Weehawken and You 2006 Re-Election Fund” made an $8,000 contribution to the “Weehawken & You Civic Association” in September 2006 and then a $60,000 donation to the “Weehawken & You Action Committee” in November 2006, according to ELEC reports.

 The complaint also indicates that each candidate can face penalties of up to $150,000 for knowingly making the excess contributions.

Now, once again.... under the guise of humanitarian need, Mason is soliciting donations (as a non profit) for a PAC in Weehawken- a city with a fraction of the damages sustained in Hoboken, her city.  Or look at it this way, every dollar donated to this PAC in Weehawken, could be contributed directly to a Hoboken-based Charity.

And did you know the Nazi-Truck Guy, Mason operative James Barracato, used to work for Mayor Turner?

Folks, by all means donate directly to any legitimate charity to help our recovery effort. 

Shame on Mason for using our disaster to advance her political career.