"The people have spoken"

Whack!
It's a fine day for Reform.

You know about the process of tempering, right?

Tempering is when extreme heat is applied to alloys like steel or iron, to make those metals stronger, tougher.   The same goes for glass.

The strength comes after the tempered matter cools down.

GA believes our voices, texts, emails, phone calls, on line comments to our elected reps on the Council in support of Reform, worked like heat on steel.    Public speakers Greg Bond and Cheryl Fallick were especially eloquent, and (I thought) effective.

Councilman Bhalla said it best:"The people have spoken."

GA cannot think of a healthier, better result for our Mile Square democracy.

Yes, it hurt.  But our Council, as a body  listened, showed our voices matter,  see that we hold them accountable to keep faith with us--and they did not disappoint.  Folks, that is how government is supposed to work.

Now it's time to cool down.  That means gratuitous attacks against our own. 

Reform is a family, and even the 'best' family has a dope, or somebody who makes a bad choice. Right?  You know it's true. My family has 3 or 4.  Maybe a dozen. Don't tell me YOU don't have a dope in the family, or worse, a Republican (just kiddin').  

Think about what NEEDS to get done for Hoboken.  There's hard work for the Council ahead.

Giattino, Bhalla, Cunningham, Mello and Doyle have done a helluva lot of GOOD for Hoboken. DeFusco and Fisher will.

So has Brian Assadourian, albeit quietly.  Brian is a  good soul . Before last nights meeting, he quietly asked the council not to nominate him because he believed that was in the best interest of Reform going forward.

So peeps, we will stay vigilant. Know that when we need to raise our voices again, we'll be heard.

We're a tempered Reform, stronger and wiser.

Comments

  1. Well said, GA. Hoboken owes much of the credit to you for providing a forum for free speech.

    I finally just watched the meeting video and was impressed by the statements from Cunningham, Bhalla and Mello regarding how they viewed the vote. I agree with the way two of the three of them voted, but I respect all of them. Anyone who watched that meeting and still bitches about them is being petty.

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  2. As someone who has been watching for years, I was very proud to see all of our representative on the City Council act with a level of civility, thoughtfulness and effectiveness last night that many times previously has not been the case.

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    1. Under Russo, city council meetings looked like WWF matches.

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  3. Congrats to Kurt and thanks GA and Horse for rallying those to help. More good stuff to come from this council. Thanks also to GA for this post. A good reminder too that Brian Assadourian is a solid citizen, and funny guy, and I thank him for his service so far and what will continue to be good service in the future.

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    1. Thank you. Brian is a real good guy, solid. In the heat of the moment (I am guilty of same) we can lash out and lose perspective. I know from talking to him he truly believed the 5 year slot would be advantageous to Hoboken, and that was before Kurt threw in. As I wrote, he quietly asked the council not to be nominated.

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    2. My pleasure. Nice to see Hoboken people win.

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  4. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    1. The Rabies Clinic scheduled for Saturday has been postponed.
      I thought that would be of particular interest to the poster above.

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    2. I haven't seen such a well reasoned argument since my youngest was teething.

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    3. Anon 10:44--
      (1) Outing and/or attempted outing of a screen name is a violation
      (2) Battling with MSV commenters over here is a violation- this is not MSV. Take it over there.
      (3) STOP.

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  5. I was just watching the weather report and I hope the sewers are up to a major snow storm with high winds and tides they are predicting on Saturday.



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  6. I personally don't understand why reform has to keep their opinions quiet when they believe that people they supported and campaigned for were screwing up. I think it's healthy to debate the merits of the folly that almost went down. I also believe that with out the internet debate that there would have been a different outcome. For me, I am personally disgusted that some reform council members went out of their way to praise Raia and to label him a good guy. That's not the Raia that many of us know.

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    1. Wait have you read this blog in the past few days ?

      What is being suggested that the more extreme and personal attacks on the individuals involved should be out of bounds.
      Some of what has been posted on here has been flat out disgusting and those people are doing nothing but hurting the image reform.

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    2. I did NOT ask anyone to "keep [their] opinions quiet"- I asked to to turn the thermostat down on the rhetoric. That's all. Some reading this site (and MSV) have an interest in splitting reform. How does Mayor Romano sound? At the end of the day, the Council did the right thing, and our voices made a difference.

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    3. Mayor Romano? Just got sick. For decades, rumors swirled around Romano, the Russo's, Raia, Garcia, the Ramos's, and if even half of them are remotely true, it's amazing how they continue to stay in the game.

      Reform must be vigilant about holding ground and continuing to get qualified, honest, ethical people elected and appointed.

      Your blog helps immeasurably. Thank you for all your efforts.

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  7. The seating arrangements were well thought out. As someone mentioned on MSV, keeping Russo, Ramos and Defusco apart was a smart move. Ramos taking over the dunce seat is hilarious!

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    1. The winners in the Wards replaced the losers and the new President and Vice President shifted to the center of the table.

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    2. Anon@8:39, why do you include Defusco in that group? Is this part of a stealth campaign to depict him as not to be trusted by reform? That sounds just like an Al Sullivan column.

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    3. The stupid and short sighted attempts to discredit DeFusco are pretty self-destructive for the folks doing it. The guy got 850 votes in a ward where reformers have always gotten their butts kicked. Is this really the guy you want to throw off the Island in a town where elections have been known to be decided by 10 votes or less?

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    4. DeFusco has proven in two meeting that he's a thoughtful independent thinker. I like his views on zoning as well as his choice for ZBA commissioner Owen McAnuff. McAnuff, Cohen and Grana like cool architecture, expanding the restaurant districts in town, allowing rock climbing gyms and slightly taller iconic buildings. The others like John Branciforte, Jim Aibel and Diane Murphy hate everything. They'd deny a tree growing if it went taller than their brownstones or John's luxury penthouse at Maxwell Place.

      If you aren't one of two favorite developers or a wealthy white family seeking to add a addition to your 3 million dollar brownstone you would be smarter to set your money on fire than waste it on an application.

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    5. "ZBAin't"- can you get through a single day without making a douche bag personal attack on someone? Criticizing ZBA officials is fair comment, snotty comments about their private homes is douchebaggery. Do you want folks to take pot shots at where you live? You are wearing out your welcome.

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    6. I agree with ZBAin't. DeFusco has shown nothing to rattle my confidence in him. He ran a campaign on the fact that he would be his own person and do what is right for his own ward. So far so good.

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    7. I'm grateful for John B, Jim Aibel and Diane Murphy's thoughtful intelligent discernment on the Board. They respect what Hoboken is and what it can accommodate rather than hand out variances just for the asking. This takes character and moxie when up against nasty attacks of ZBAin't. They are stellar examples of good government citizen involvement in contrast to the transparent self-serving agenda of Mr. ZBAint.

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    8. Cheaply made, non-organic, jarring "modernist" knock offs are rarely cool or "Iconic" particularly in environments like our small gem. Mr Z underestimates the sophistication of those he seeks to marginalize. Does he understand the differences between a Van der Rohe, Nouvel, S.O.M, etc and the stuff he's wants the board to push through?

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    9. Anon 3:16- Speaking of S.O.M., architect Dan Weaver who was just appointed as a ZBA Alternate, has worked there and is now at another prestigious firm, KPF.

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    10. Impressive.
      Hopefully when the Redevelopment Zones are built out they will use architects of that caliber.

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    11. Removing the layers of corruption that once permeated Hoboken and the subsequent increase of property values has also changed the quality of architecture. No longer can a developer expect to hand a envelope of cash, hire a family member, reserve an condo at a special pre-constuction price or a parking space or two in a new building they can resell once construction is done to someone who could get their inferior projects green lighted.

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  8. Time for reform to regroup.
    Everyone form a circle, hold hands and sing Kum-ba-ya.

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  9. yeah, i always thought seating was assigned in order by ward, with pres/vice press in center with at-large council people. all i know is i'm thrilled not to have to look at castellation and mason on the meeting videos.

    i also love this new game of commenters desperately trying to plant the seed about defusco's loyalties, insinuating he "can't be trusted" and has to be separated from russo and ramos because, you know, he's going to betray reform, blah blah blah. sounds just like an al sullivan column.

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    1. love autocorrect: castellano becomes constellation!

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    2. Michael DeFusco is being celebrated here in the fourth ward. We're holding parties and that doesn't even include the Ruben Ramos party coming up! Peops tired of the Pupie BS. Long past tired. Lot of discussion that DeFusco's vote moved the tide for the Giant Commissioner.

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  10. It is not too early to find a replacement for Tony Soares.

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    1. Do you have a criticism of Tony's service on the NHSA or just don't like him personally?

      After watching for years as people who didn't like the owner of this blog tried to get her removed from the ZBA despite citing no issues with her service there....

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    2. He has not bothered to show up for many NHSA meetings.

      If it is fair to criticize Carmelo Garcia on the School Board and Beth Mason on the City Council for not showing up to do their jobs then it is also fair for Tony Soares.

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    3. Is attendance your only issue with Soares's service to the NHSA?

      How would you characterize the attendance records of Assadourian and the outgoing Raia?

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    4. Assadourian has never missed a meeting.

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    5. So, since you have no other objection to Soares's service to the NHSA, this is strictly about his attendance?

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    6. It's a known fact that Soares had serious and complicated Back Surgery in Oct and was in Kessler Rehab for many weeks. It's not like he could have hired a baby sitter, came back early from his vacation. He was at the November and December meeting walking with a cane -according to NHSA minutes he only missing October.

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    7. Looks like Brian has his trolls on here, trying to spin his lack of participation. The guy is questioning others attendance. Sitting in a seat does not equate with performance, just ask a certain councilman who is having child care issues. He calls in and works throughout the week. If a councilperson at 24,500 a year can miss , call-in or walk out early why is it such a big deal if a Commissioner is recovering in bed.
      At least there's tangible evidence that they are out- 6 years the guy was a commissioner and you want to point to three absences? Word is Brian never misses the after dinner parties with Pupie, so maybe he has an incentive to show up....

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    8. Anon 8:28- why wasnt comissioner Soares at last Thursday's NHSA meeting? Word is a conflict with a brokers open house. People in GLASS HOUSES shouldn't throw stones. Soares has missed about 7 meetings. Minutes are online so see for yourself.

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    9. 7 meetings in over 5 years? Considering Assadourian is only 2.5 years into his term, we still cant judge him.


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    10. I see and find troubling the excuses being made for Tony Soares and attacks being made on others that appear to me based on hearsay of inside information.

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    11. Troubling? Try as you might, researching a 6 year tenure of attendance of supposedly "7" absences is what's troubling.
      They guy had major health issues, give it a rest!

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    12. Can't you two get a room? In case you haven't noticed, you're the only ones who care about your private pissing match. :)

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    13. Meeting minutes are only up for 2015, and it appears your number of "seven meetings " is inflated by 4.

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    14. Based only on the minutes listed for 2015, Tony Soares was absent for the following monthly meetings;

      2/19 Absent
      3/19 Absent
      9/17 Absent
      11/12 Absent

      10 Meetings listed in 2015, 4 absences recorded.

      It appears that Mr. Soares has a 40% absenteeism rate.

      Absenteeism is a habitual pattern from a duty or obligation. Traditionally, absenteeism has been viewed as an indicator of poor individual performance, as well as a breach of an implicit contract between employee and employer.

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    15. I'm sure excited to keep reading about Tony in a thread about Kurt.

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  11. It is not too early to find a replacement for Tony Soares.

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    1. The "Rain Man" if you remember in the movie was always correct.

      BTW the correct phrase is "Hear, Hear."

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