GA's legal department is very, very busy; I hate to bother him. (My legal department's a him)
But given the latest round of Beth Mason hoo-ha (a legal term); her slick video and its claims of shady deals, then today's release citing those legal think tanks, The Star Ledger and Hoboken411, claiming that the garage lease is illegal, GA had to run this by a real lawyer.
My legal department a.k.a. Not-Stempler.
So I forwarded the whole kit-n-kaboodle for Not-Stempler's review and comment.
If I haven't told you already, Not-Stempler has a 'white shoe' law firm; why he bothers with me, I haven't a clue. But who's complaining? Not me. Not-Stempler's like my Ricky Mason, except no sex. That's assuming... never mind.
So here's what Not-Stempler had to say about Mason's latest campaign:
And, oh yeah... did you like this line:
But given the latest round of Beth Mason hoo-ha (a legal term); her slick video and its claims of shady deals, then today's release citing those legal think tanks, The Star Ledger and Hoboken411, claiming that the garage lease is illegal, GA had to run this by a real lawyer.
My legal department a.k.a. Not-Stempler.
So I forwarded the whole kit-n-kaboodle for Not-Stempler's review and comment.
If I haven't told you already, Not-Stempler has a 'white shoe' law firm; why he bothers with me, I haven't a clue. But who's complaining? Not me. Not-Stempler's like my Ricky Mason, except no sex. That's assuming... never mind.
So here's what Not-Stempler had to say about Mason's latest campaign:
I have reviewed the commercial, the excerpts from the city council meeting and the flyer that you submitted to me for review and comment.Did you see that, folks? $850/ hour. I told you the guy's no slouch.
Generally, I am more than happy to assist you in trying to pierce the “green curtain” of legalese and present issues in laymen’s terms. I assume that the materials that you have submitted are authentic and the commercial and the flyer was actually released by Ms. Mason.
I say so, because frankly, they are replete with glaring mistakes of law, assumptions that have no legal basis and exhibit a profound misunderstanding of the complex legal issues that are involved with the bankruptcy of a hospital, let alone a municipal hospital. Coupled with her bizarre statements at the council meeting, a critique is frankly a waste of $850.00 an hour.
To detail and catalog all of the silliness that appears to have been scripted by political consultants, who themselves have no knowledge of the process, the relevant case and salutatory law or an appreciation of the underlying financial transactions would itself become tedious and boring.
The sale of the hospital, of which the parking agreement is a part, is a transaction that was approved by a respected and highly regarded bankruptcy court judge. The transaction will close, unless some creditor appeals that court approval, which is too remote a possibility to waste time on speculation. Instead of focusing on nit picking gotcha type of laymen’s misunderstood and mis-analyzed questions and inventing fake issues, the parties would be better off working to close the transaction and move forward. The train has left the station, in the vernacular.
As an aside, the epitome of nonsensical gibberish which you submitted for me to review was the petulantly inarticulate opposition to refinancing the existing bonds regarding the garage. It should be used as a text book example of why uneducated and politically motivated elected officials should have no input when making fundamental business decisions that effect many taxpayer pockets.
And, oh yeah... did you like this line:
It should be used as a text book example of why uneducated and politically motivated elected officials should have no input when making fundamental business decisions that effect many taxpayer pockets.Love you, Not-Stempler!
And Mason is a textbook example of Narcissistic Personality Disorder.
ReplyDeleteGiven the minority councilmens' complete abdication of their fiduciary responsibility, discussion for a recall is gaining traction. Up for discussion is: will the recall action include only Mason, all four council of NO members, or some combination thereof?
Of course, all this will be moot if the feds beat us to it.
Maybe it will be easier to recall just one. Take one out, the FBI continues at their pace, and Hoboken moves forward with a competent majority.
ReplyDeleteThe recall should just focus on Mason. She has the worst overall track record.
ReplyDelete-wheeling in Occhipinti (twice);
-buying her own seat;
-her attempts -which will eventually be documented- to sabotage the hospital sale and bring the city to financial ruin;
-her abuse of all media to spread lies and disinformation;
-her recent vote bringing about the loss of 100 or so jobs.
Worst of all she's a cancer. She has lowered all dialog in town to the level of vicious sneering, lying, character assassination, etc. No Beth, no Bajardi, must I remind you.
Tactically, the whole town will be able to get behind a Mason recall and come to the 2nd ward to help get signatures and promote a challenger. It will be a lot of work; spreading resources too thinly across multiple recalls will doom the effort. And in the end-game, the 2nd ward seat is winnable.
PS. Atty N-S nailed a key point that hasn't been mentioned much, ie, why there needed to be a hospital board: to keep political hacks out of a $90million deal. None of them can be trusted with the public's $$. They've proven that time and time again. And Beth can't even be trusted with the city's secrets as leaks on 411 (and 2 SUV's full of FBI agents) have proven time and time again. The board needed to be an independent body.
ReplyDeleteYes, Russo, Castellano, and Mason resented the hell out of it. (Occhipinti doesn't count.) Tough crap. Their every breath made you thankful we had a board to protect us from them. Look what they did with their 15 minutes of fame on the whole business - they did everything in their power to kill the deal and got 100 employees terminated. What would they do with a whole hour?
I agree completely with Info's last paragraph.
ReplyDeleteA very contemplative plan of action on this is needed to save our democracy.