GA tuned in to last night's City Council meeting for the showdown promised by mayoral candidate Mike DeFusco on his Facebook page.
Do you know that the Hoboken City Council only meets twice over the summer- once in July, once in August?
Clearly, the First Ward Councilman signaled his intention to be at the July 5th meeting to defend Hoboken residents against what he alleged was a "back door tax on residents."
Hence, a surprise; after DeFusco's Facebook demand for the Parking Director and Zimmer to appear at the July 5 meeting to discuss parking meter quotas and revenues, his own chair on the dais was EMPTY!
Activist Patty Waiters appeared to know that the Councilman was supposed to "call in" because that is what she said during the Public portion.
Oh, dear!
What kind of emergency kept the Councilman away from the ONLY public meeting in the month of July?
Apparently, a Cape Cod emergency.
DeFusco told at least one member of the Council that he was "stuck in traffic" on return from Cape Cod.
Really... "stuck in traffic"?
Then why didn't he CALL IN while "sitting in traffic"?
Oh, and a member of the Council who called him "around 10 o'clock" said DeFusco did not pick up the phone.
Let's give him the benefit of substantial doubt; at a minimum, he had a responsibility to his constituents leave Cape Cod with enough time to be present for the 7 o'clock meeting.
The only conclusion is that Mike DeFusco's emergency beach needs came before his City Council duties.
Too bad.
We all missed the comedy gold of watching the Councilman scold Hoboken's Director of Parking about the shocker that parking tickets generate revenue.
The best part?
DeFusco's Council allies and campaign backers, Mike Russo and Ruben Ramos, sat on the 2007-2008 council that covered up the the theft of 4 million quarters from Hoboken parking meters, via an arrangement between the then-Director of the Parking Utility, John Corea, and a company with alleged Jersey mob ties.
In 2012 Corea was sentenced to 7 years in federal prison for the $600K theft (his share).
This council cover-up was captured on video! It is a tale told in 3 clips, by Reform's Eric Kurta.
Viewing Tip: Watch DeFusco backer Mike Russo first discover the "million dollars missing" then, at the next meeting says it was a "mistake" (no, it wasn't- the money was really "missing").
Newbies to Hoboken's recent past of political corruption, watch this 2:43 video.
So you see, the DeFusco campaign is surrounded by shady characters, past and present.
And this my friends, is why Reform must unite and WIN in November, to keep these shady characters away from Hoboken's levers of power.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm guessing calls for reform to unite means, unite behind one candidate.
ReplyDeleteIf reform is to unite behind one candidate, that means one must drop out. Which one would that be? Both reform candidates are just gearing up right now, not contemplating dropping out
I've read some commenters that suggest that reform should unite around Ravi and a few, in reaction, have said reform should unite around Jen.
It's not going to happen. There are two candidates and they have their supporters who want them in the race. It's probably true that if one or the other dropped out, some number of voters would support the other - but, there are those of us that believe, just as strongly, that there are valid reasons to support the candidate that we do support and reasons to specifically not support the other one.
I think as we get further into the election cycle the differences between the two candidates will become more clear. Perhaps calls to unite should wait a bit because, right now, even if everyone started saying unite - there is an unspoken part of the call to unite where the name of the candidate that should 'get out of the way' gets filled in. - My view - it fuels a divide.
Both candidates have a record of governance and a record of how they serve their constituents and a record of their levels of collaboration, leadership, transparency, trust, forthrightness, etc.
Let's let these important things take center stage and hopefully there will be no more "going low" as election season progresses so that everyone, who may like both of them, can make a clear determination. We can all only cast one vote for Mayor.
That's valid. Personally, I like Ravi, feel he is better qualified and has a better chance of winning. However, if Ravi decided, for whatever reason, to drop out, I'd vote for Jen, without hesitation.
DeleteIt's too important an election to do otherwise. I can't imagine there would reform supporters who would vote for a non-reform candidate (or not vote at all) if their preferred candidate dropped out.
In the end, I certainly hope it comes down to one reform candidate in the race, otherwise we risk losing too much.
Appreciate your POV.
DeleteI've been exposing and/or documenting corruption and/or malfeasance of Reform's opponents since 2010. I see the writing on the wall. I'm an advocate for unity whenever it happens- I know its not now. Just ignore me!
Well said, Indy.
DeleteAs a one issue political partisan IndyCom will continue to try to stir the political pot to find a way to further her own self interest. If chaos helps her one issue then increasing that chaos and trying to justify it seems to be the objective. Any candidate in Hoboken I would think would be wise to wary of her intentions or fleeting support.
DeleteHoboken Guy,
DeleteSo, you mean, Indy having one primary issue makes him/her a Bad Person? Does that extend to those who dismiss a candidate purely for being a Republican, or support one purely due to getting the Mayor's support?
Clearly this election is not going to be a Reform vs. OG affair, at least not in the early stages. Maybe we could spend this time looking at the actual opinions and records of the candidates. Or, you know, we could keep on slinging that mud. It worked for Trump.
Political partisan? What is that supposed to mean HobokenGuy? I for one was disappointed that partisanship entered into the Hoboken mayoral election...particularly since it did so in such a n ugly way.
DeleteI totally agree. Saying we should unite without saying who should drop out is completely unproductive.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm confused about your own position. You were an avid DeFusco supporter, going so far as to discuss with him the idea of running on his ticket and allowing rumors to that effect swirl around for months. Now you're apparently a strong Jen supporter (against Mike) despite not supporting her in her first council run against Giacci in 2011 when reform control of the council was at stake - a pretty big deal for anybody with a sincere desire for good government reform.
Neither Mike nor Jen took any public position whatsoever on the developers anti-rent protection referendums, while Ravi and Mayor Zimmer both came out strongly and publicly against scaling back the protections.
I'm sure you have your reasons for supporting Mike and now Jen despite their lack of support (publicly at least) for rent protections.
I don't give a rat's ass if it is "unproductive"- I'll keep saying it until it changes to "I told you so." My expression for unity does not exclude the understanding that there are two competing Reform campaigns running two candidates. I'm waiting to see their platforms, and issues, and how they conduct themselves. So far so good, but no one's gotten going yet.
DeleteIMO, there is a disconnect for some in Reform how much corruption there was in City Hall and the BoE prior to 2009. That is the driver of my unity mantra.
Gee Stan - thanks for letting everyone in on who fuels so many rumors on the blogs, Very eye-opening. Personally, I prefer to deal with facts and not innuendo - but that's just me.
DeleteI'm not sure, Stan, how you go from my having a series of conversations with Michael Dofasco to my being his “avid supporter.” The only one of the two of us who ever advocated support for Michael DeFusco publicly or privately is you.
What is true is that for months I had cordial conversations with Michael DeFusco seeing if I could become comfortable enough with his positions on important issues in Hoboken especially the housing displacement crisis in order to lend him my support and potential candidacy. Ultimately, I could not. This followed years of my support for Dawn and a host of reform candidates - and years of disappointment - on any follow-through on promises that they made to address the housing displacement crisis in Hoboken.
I wonder it was you & your cheering section who actively fueled such rumors. Was it to raise expectation and subsequently damage Michael DeFusco's candidacy were I to turn him down? Or, was it to damage me and my support of a candidate were I to actively support a candidate other than Dawn's designated candidate (Ravi) - a little fact that no one but you, Dawn and Ravi knew was going to happen for some time prior to the announcement that Dawn wasn't running.
You are right, Stan – that it took me a long time to get my support behind Jen Giattino who is now my council person. Though I did ultimately come to support her. I’m not proud of it, but I couldn’t get past the fact that she was a Republican and realize that she has been the strongest advocate to stopping displacement that the city council has seen in a decade.
Indie-
DeleteIn fairness, everyone from Max Pizarro to Al Sullivan published that you were on DeFusco's ticket. Which means someone was leaking that to the press and you never publicly denied the speculation, so that created a public perception which some repeated on the cyber-echo chamber a.k.a. blogs. You can't say it was all Stan. The rumor was put in the public domain, probably by the DeFusco campaign.
I recall when I PMed you on Facebook, you didn't confirm nor deny you were on Mike's ticket. I just left it alone. Hey, you were under no obligation to address rumors about you put out by others. But they were put out by others, including DeFusco himself. He told "someone" on the Reform team that you were on his ticket.
@Indie...maybe I'm just jaded about blog commenting at this point but what makes you think the above comment is actually from the mayor's husband and not some "Stan" imposter looking to needle you a bit? I mean, sure, it very well could be Stan (maybe GA has a way to verify) but I'm just kind of surprised you assume it's the real guy.
DeleteI hear ya', GA, but that was some pretty heavy-handed and inaccurate "snark" that I wanted to address. Speculation is one thing - stating things and attaching subjectivity as if they are facts is another.
DeleteI think the parking issue is a tempest in a teapot. People do illegal things with their cars and get ticketed. What's the issue?
ReplyDeletePerhaps one of the people DeFusco wants as part of his slate has a parking app he would like to promote in Hoboken ?
DeleteI have no idea who that is. But anything is possible!
Delete@Snoopy: http://hudsoncountyview.com/hoboken-mayoral-hopeful-defusco-names-impastato-as-2nd-council-candidate/
DeleteYes, Impastato did respond to the City's RFP for a parking app- he put in a bid, and lost.
DeleteThanks @ 2:24 and GA. I didn't know that.
DeleteSounds very familiar to the zoning meetings he could not attend when he was pushing for his council position, can't change a thing about this one. It seems to me that on very important matters like the rule for bars and the Academy Bus Domain issue and MANY others he just can't be bothered. By the way I cannot tell you how disturbing the word REFORM is constantly being used and a bit much as well as Diversity!! Time will tell folks...let the PEOPLE decide. It's going to get interesting now. Service over Ambition!! I am Karen Nason!!! Not hiding
ReplyDeleteWelcome back to the looney bin, sistah! I'll tell you what words disturb me: vibrant, vibrancy, vibrance, vibrate, vibrator, vibration(s), and vibracious, which I made up. You're not in Maine anymore!
DeleteMelo forgot to tell GA that a friend passed away from Cancer and he was supporting his husband .. but let's make this a joke out of it and place him in the beach with Christie .. there are priorities in this life that we only get to live once .. I hope you have a great day and better start doing some work .. K. Humanity before ambition .. good luck
DeleteIt got interesting a while ago .. you are just late ..
DeleteOh, is that so? Last night- before this post, his story was "I'm stuck in traffic on the way back from Cape Cod".
DeleteToday, after he got busted here the story changed: he missed the July meeting because he was "comforting the husband of a dead friend."
Which is it? And is that an appropriate excuse to miss a government meeting? All councilpersons have personal matters that they put aside for a few hours. One Councilman showed up at a meeting the day after his Dad's funeral.
But, sounds to ME like a compelling excuse was needed to replace the narrative of blowing off the meeting because of poor time management.
Why would we elect a mayor who blows off his public obligations?
Recently another Councilman felt it was important for him to fulfill his obligation as and elected official to attend a City Council meeting when his mother was hospitalized and literally on her death bed.
DeleteI respect his decision .. as that's a personal one ... what I don't agree is to make a joke out of it .. that's the tactics the "union " is coming to ? In humane jokes ? Yeah that's a leader to make us all proud .. didn't Jen say "our town .. our time "???
DeleteI question if the delayed additional explanation of his absence by a third party is true. Given what was publicly said at the time of the meeting, I think making a jest of his absence after a long holiday weekend was perfectly reasonable. I have little doubt if the positions were reversed that DeFusco would have launched into one of his long personal pointed digs at the offended we have all come to expect of him.
DeleteHoboken Guy, how does one claim to be stuck in traffic from Cape Cod to explain a meeting absence, then change that to be comforting the spouse of a deceased friend the next day after he gets called out here? In fact, you made an excellent point. I do recall that Councilman attending council meetings when his mom was on her deathbed. That's a mature professional. Put personal business aside for a couple of hours to do the business your constituents elected you to do.
DeleteI agree with Oracle. DeFusco did not want to go on the record voting to amend the 500 foot rule.
Hobokened Out, the "joke" was made before DeFusco’s second excuse came in. C'mon, I know you laughed.
I think the joke was that the meeting was pushed by Republican council president trying to benefit her bar owner friend in regard of alcohol licenses and adjustments on the planning board against every other business owner with a liquor license ..
DeleteHobokened Out, you're not making a lot of sense. The resoluton to amend the 500 ft rule was sponsored by Doyle and Russo, not Giattino.
DeleteThe 500 ft Rule was not amended in her/my ward. You really are spouting gibberish tonight.
Gotta ask, what's the obsession with Jen? You can't stop babbling about her! Seems to me that you DeFusco peeps are worried.
LOL Hold on now one in there!!! Going to a great Party now!!!
ReplyDeleteMDF missed Wednesday's council meeting for one reason only, he was told to.
ReplyDelete