Earwitness News Special Report: VBM Crop Failure

Folks, today's Earwitness News is so hot it will sizzle your cochlea.  That is why it is a "Special Report."

Here is what GA's Ear-witnessed from the Dark Side.

GA asked a Dark Side Q-Tipster: "Do you know why Poopie pooped out on the VBM harvest this year?"

Here was his/her answer:

I understand that Romano and Russo wanted to handle this election by themselves so they could be the reason for the victory if their slate won. They didn't want [Poopie] involved because in their minds he would take credit away from them. 

WOW.   Looks like somebody ran outta juice!

For people new to this blog, here's the context:

BACKGROUND
As longtime residents know, one of Hoboken's agricultural traditions is its seasonal VBM harvest.

Tradition has it that selected farm hands sow the 4th Ward with VBM ballot applications, which if planted correctly, will reap a crop of VBMs.  Come harvest time, farm hands make sure each VBM is fertilized with cash before they are picked up, then mailed or brought directly to the Board of Elections.

Generally, one Farmer oversees the whole farming operation and is ultimately responsible for the harvest.

The size of the harvest varies, according to the season and the amount of fertilizer.

But, danger lurks for VBM farmers.

If the VBM crop is too big, it attracts attention, like it did in 2010.  In fact, BlueJersey.com wrote an article called "Red Flags: How much does it cost to buy an election in Hoboken’s 4th ward?"

credit: BlueJersey's: "Red Flags: How much does it cost to buy an election in Hoboken’s 4th ward?"  

If the VBM crop is too small, the Farmer only gets one Harvest Queen, like what happened in 2014.

2014 Hoboken BoE election results

In the 2014 BoE race, Peter Biancamano was bumped into first place by a bumper crop of 466 VBMs.  However. his running mate 'Bubbles' did so poorly on the machines, her harvest of 452 VBMs was inadequate to make her a Harvest Queen.

In 2015, all three Reach Higher candidates won on the machines- until the harvest was counted.

This year, Forward Together assumed our margins of victory would have to surmount the usual harvest of 500-700 VBMs.

Then a strange thing happened...  

 Crop failure.

2016- VBM count 

Now we know why.

Thank you, Q-Tipster.