Intrigue on the Vine

Here's an intriguing morsel from this week's edition of 'Hangin' on the Vine':

The biggest surprise of this week’s Hoboken election is not going to come in the results, but in the aftermath of the election. 

If Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s ticket rules the day she will have control of the council. If not, but she carries two council candidates, she may still have control. The feud between the Ramos, Russo and Mason camps will not play out two years from now, it will play out immediately. How? Look for one of the anti-administration ward councilpersons to jump over to the Zimmer side and give her the fifth vote she needs. It’s the quickest way to get even with a former ally who you feel double crossed you. 

Interesting.... which anti-administration person do you think Mr./Ms.Vine is referring to?

Frank Raia came to mind. But as a reader pointed out, Mr./ Ms. Vine said "ward" councilperson, not At-Large.

But...might he consider swinging votes to Reform?

Word has it Raia was mighty displeased to learn Beth Mason's slippery salmon was double-dealing with Paul Swibinski to undermine One Hoboken.   Swibinski's Vision Media Marketing jumped in for Ruben Ramos at the time Frank and Tim formed their ticket.

Who has been 'with Ramos since Day One?

Mike Russo. 

Would Raia feel burned by the tedious trout plotting with Swibinksi to trash his campaign?   Absolutely.   And who signs the arduous anchovy's paychecks?  Beth Mason.

So, might Frank be inclined to say "Eff you!" to Russo and Mason?  Maybe...

Might Timmy be the ward Councilperson 'Flipper'?

left panel: Flipper  right panel: flipper (?)

Everyone loves the king of the sea, 
Ever so kind and gentle is he,
Tricks he will do when children appear,
And how they laugh when he's near!

GA has a very hard time imaging this scenario.

But of all the 'players', GA believes Timmy will emerge most damaged of all.  No job, no money,  forced to sell his condo, politically weakened; will his roommate still find him "amazing"? Talk about a double-cross:  GA wonders if he was encouraged to quit his job.   And he's got no political future now that Ruben is gunning for his seat,(if Ramos loses).

Who will Timmy blame?  Ramos and...

Mike Russo.

As a swing vote, Timmy will be powerful,  taken seriously, and have a chance to get even with the people who screwed his campaign.



GA hears Mason will have "no friends"once this is over; the Dark Side plans to "clean house". 

Neither will her traitorous tuna who has demonstrated he will double-cross anyone and has no loyalties; betraying Mason, Raia and One Hoboken by canoodling with Swibinski and Ruben Ramos.

GA hears the Russos are are still livid over the use of Anthony Russo in Finboy's flyer, where he was called  a "criminal".

No surprise.  Just last spring the tiresome tuna betrayed a close Jersey City ally during the Fulop race by trying to scandalize him in the press, with a personal document and old news clippings he delivered to various reporters on a thumb drive.   The press did not bite. It's true. This Benedict bass sought to scandalize his old friend prior to the election to hurt Fulop and benefit Mayor Healy.(Remember Beth and Ricky Mason gave Healy's committee at least $52,000)

No doubt this traitorous trout has more thumb drives ready to deliver so I do advise this old friend to watch his back.  As a former acquaintance said, "Anyone who trusts him is a fool."

Back to the Vine!  What do you think it means?

Comments

  1. Bottom line here folks is to get Zimmer, Bhalla, Doyle and Mello in and then after that the Russos et al can as my Italian grandfather used to say "go scratch."

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  2. it says "ward councilpeople" so Raia doesn't make sense.

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  3. Hangin on the vine's analysis is spot on. Yes, it could be an at-large. If Timmy loses and is without a job, he can easily switch over to Zimmer, ask her to get him a county job and make a deal to get her backing when he runs for reelection. For Zimmer, it's a small price to pay for a majority vote on the council over the next two years.

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  4. Dream on. I've heard the most Zimmer will pay for support is a slice of pizza so Tim's out of luck if he's hoping for anything more.

    The vine guy is pretty obviously referring to Russo who's is unlikely to be caucusing with Mason, Timmy or Raia anytime soon and who might think he and Ramos might be able to get Zimmer to agree to a temporary non-aggression pact to destroy their mutual enemies before turning back to fighting each other.

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  5. Well it would never be Terri Castellano. After Ruben Ramos who she hates, there's only a few people above on her list and Mayor Zimmer is one of them. Russo? Can't see it, Momma would sooner have him poison the mayor then see him join up with her. Beth? Well she's crazy but she's not that crazy. She hates Zimmer for making her crazier then ever.

    Tmmy is amazing as flipper. He practices flipping in bed all the time and you just have to see it because it's so AMAZING. Did I say how amazing? Really amazing. I snap my fingers and Timmy flips. Next time I snap my fingers though, I'm out the door.

    "Some girls they're so pure Some girls so corrupt" I got mine!

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  6. Timmy's got nothing to offer Reform but his vote. Russo makes more sense, he's more the seasoned "quid pro quo" negotiator and is pretty well wired in so he brings at least SOMETHING to the table. Without the Mason vault to wave around at others, Timmy is about as useful as a screen door in a submarine.

    Mason is in my opinion a control freak so she wouldn't go far trying to set up camp anywhere that money alone doesn't buy her power. That's in my opinion why she left Reform in the first place. Mason could sign a legally binding agreement to vote with Reform from now on and Reform wouldn't have her. She's a complete embarrassment now, and a laughingstock on top of it.

    Terry the sourpuss is going down with the old guard ship no matter what happens. In my opinion she's and old dog that has no interest in learning new tricks, and has no problem being the negative Nora at the meetings.

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    1. You sound like a Ramos person arguing for Russo. Russo is the leader of the dirty tricks and if Tim's campaign goes down, it's because of Russo. russo is also behind Finn Boy. None of these people have anything to offer but trouble

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    2. I didn't say any of that, but thank you for being rudely judgmental and highly adept in leaping to conclusions. I was only saying of the group, if someone was going to "flip" the only one that has a possible road is Russo. Of course Russo has to go. So tired of when someone says something that is not lockstep "you're an operative". Get past that. Take your conspiracy theories and...never mind.

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    3. the more you write, the more you sound like someone doing damage control. Russo is at the heart of the trouble and you -are doing your best to clean up his image. You sound just like Finn Boy

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    4. The russos are at the heart of the effort to hurt Tim. If it is a plot to destroy Tim and Raia, then it is only because Russo wants to do what Raia intends, to become the deciding vote so he can play both sides against each other and become the defacto mayor. All of the dirty tricks in this campaign came out of Russo camp -- via Finn Boy and others. So it makes sense that Russo would be the one to turn -- he turned on his own family, so he will turn on anybody else as well

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  7. With all the anti-administration best plans, the city may actually gain a council that will actually represent the more than themselves.

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  8. Maybe I'm being stupid, but what's wrong with Russo being called a criminal? He's a convicted felon, no? Is there some more PC term for that these days?

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    Replies
    1. You are correct, it's not untrue, but the Russos take it as an insult. They like to be the macho tough guys and this ad publicly rubs their noses it in.

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