Folks, you've got to come out next Monday night to meet our great candidates for the Hoboken BoE!
Whomever you support for mayor (Ravi, Jen, Stick Romano, Nason, Ron, Blechfusco) let's all agree how important it is to keep the same team, the same guiding principles, the same goals and objectives, as a controlling majority on the Hoboken Board of Education.
Can we agree to agree on that much?
Yes, the names have changed over the years: Kids First, Parents for Progress, Reach Higher, Forward Together... and now "Hoboken Proud." All of them own the progress that Hoboken district parents have witnessed within the last decade.
I am one of those district parents. I entrusted this Team with my child, a Hoboken district student from K-8. I have witnessed the change in our schools. I have also witnessed the struggle to hold corrupt forces at bay. Every election cycle.
The corrupt forces ("Dark Side") which I have written extensively about on this blog, literally used the Hoboken classroom monies as a piggy bank.
In 2012, GA found a buried KPMG audit for the Hoboken District covering years 2005-2006.
The KPMG audit was a treasure trove of theretofore unpublicized Dark Side malfeasance- the misappropriation of public monies, including but not limited to:
The KPMG audit was a treasure trove of theretofore unpublicized Dark Side malfeasance- the misappropriation of public monies, including but not limited to:
(1) unapproved expenses (invoices paid w/o approval),
(2) unsubstantiated expenses (no invoices),
(3) derelict expenses (like $48K on 157 cell phone accounts- an unauthorized use of $),
(4) personal expenses (steak dinners, extra hotel rooms in Atlantic City),
(5) bloated contracts to friends ($60K for "promotional material),
(6) phantom employees (1,050 employees on the payroll- missing names, addresses, Social Security #s, job titles, job locations)... and so on.
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| 2005-2006 BoE audit- page 133 |
In fact, GA would be hard-pressed to name the Dark Side's most egregious misappropriation of our District's education monies.
How about this: the 2005-2006 BoE writing checks to itself, to "replenish the petty cash fund" and allegedly "pay salaries of district employees" providing no invoices or back-up documentation. Check this out.
In 2005-2006 according to the audit, Hoboken BoE wrote purchase orders to itself, listing itself as the "vendor" totaling $568,965.91.
In 2005-2006 according to the audit, the "vendor" Hoboken BoE paid itself $63,700.22.
How about this: the 2005-2006 BoE writing checks to itself, to "replenish the petty cash fund" and allegedly "pay salaries of district employees" providing no invoices or back-up documentation. Check this out.
In 2005-2006 according to the audit, Hoboken BoE wrote purchase orders to itself, listing itself as the "vendor" totaling $568,965.91.
In 2005-2006 according to the audit, the "vendor" Hoboken BoE paid itself $63,700.22.
Now do you know why GA is so pissed at Jen Giattino, Tiffanie Fisher, Peter Cunningham and Dave Mello for teaming up with Dark Side Council members Mike Russo and Ruben Ramos to investigate our Miss Goody-Two Shoes, nerdy Mayor?
The residents of Hoboken owe Mayor Zimmer's Reform administration and the Reform School Board majority (starting with Kids First in 2009) a debt of gratitude for sweeping out the grifters, flim-flammers, and ethically-challenged from our institutions of government and learning.
It's the same battle, every election cycle. Remember this guy?
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Folks, we need to support good government.
We need to support our people who are loyal to principles of good government.
We need to support BoE candidates "Hoboken Proud".
Please come out Monday night to meet them! See for yourselves what they are all about. You won't be disappointed.
Coincidently, Team Bhalla is holding a Meet & Greet in the Hudson Tea Building on the same night; almost a dozen Bhalla supporters in the building sponsored the event which doesn't start until 7:30.
So expect to see the good government* Bhalla gang there!
*Ravi Bhalla and Jim Doyle are the only two Reform Council members who haven't played footsie with the Dark Side.
So expect to see the good government* Bhalla gang there!
*Ravi Bhalla and Jim Doyle are the only two Reform Council members who haven't played footsie with the Dark Side.
I don't follow the school board at all, so forgive this question please, but why did the name change from Kids First?
ReplyDeleteDunno, I couldn't tell ya. Maybe a name change is like a fresh coat of paint. Same house with a fresh coat of paint.
DeleteThe KF brand became too closely associated with a lawsuit against a charter school that was perceived by some to be an attack on charter-school families in general.
DeleteThis is not an attack on the group but an objectively factual statement on the reason for the name change. Others may offer a different perspective. I offer that the lawsuit and the way it was perceived by some critical segments of their voting base was the main reason. I think the group has done a very good job overall and will be supporting them.
I don't disagree with you, RB. But remember that Kids First was the target of a fairly sophisticated disinformation/ smear campaign by HoLa Trustees and their affiliated charter lobbyists.
DeleteSo, whatever was being blown into Hoboken discourse was overwhelmingly one-sided- HoLa parent(s) even filed a frivolous ethics complaint against School Board members who donated to the lawsuit. Their complaint was just thrown out.
So, you have a very affluent HoLa population mounting a public relations war and beating the hell out of the HOboken District- not exactly a fair fight. I admire the Reform BoE for maintaining their dignity under assault throughout their fight for the Hoboken District kids.
Hence, if reform thought a rebranding would help keep the Schools in good hands, that's fine with me. Like Shakespeare and GA say: "What's in a name?"
Agreed GA. There is no way we should let the Jen-Tiffanie-Peter shenanigans (she's running in 4th, CONSISTENTLY, she can only be spoiler at this point and knows or should know it) allow us to be divided at the school board level.
ReplyDeleteGiantomassi is fundraising for Councilman Bhalla? Of Chiesa's firm? The father or the son? If the father, good times -- we now have Joe D's people and Sacco's people here.
ReplyDeleteThe Hudson Tea Building bylaws require event sponsors, who are building residents, to rent their event space. The guy you're talking about, Frank, is one of 10 sponsors who lives in Hudson Tea Building. I think he's a young guy.
DeleteThat's hardly the same thing as North Bergen out-of-towners stuffing off-the-radar money into Mike DeFusco so they get "treated nice" if he's elected.
That's why I asked the question father or son or related. The older Giantomassi I was referencing was the counsel for the Essex Freeholders for about 8 years, then
Deletecounsel for Essex County, then went to Genova Burns, and finally to Gov. Christie's preferred firm of Wolf Sampson (now Chiesa). The elder is one of the most powerful redevelopment attorneys in the state and for a time, along with Angelo Genova, one of Joe D.'s biggest legal backers. Very smart, very well connected politically and North Ward money would probably flow through. Hence, the antennas went up. If the son or not related, no worries. Thank you for the clarification.
Fair enough. Never heard of either father or son. Who is Joe D.?
DeleteJoseph DiVincenzo. Essex County chief executive since 2002. http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/09/court_reopens_case_against_divincenzo_over_campaig.html
DeleteI can't imagine that Jen, Peter and Tiffanie would do anything but support Hoboken Proud. Heck, Jen's the only mayoral candidate that has supported the various reform school board tickets since the beginning of Kid's First.
ReplyDeleteDefusco supported them last year, but that's the only time I remember him connected to any ticket
Romano never supported them
Bhalla didn't support them 3 years ago - which was the first time Sharon was running. It was really unfortunate to see that, but I'm glad he's stepping up for the right side this time.
Which ticket did Giacchi support?
DeleteThat's a lie, Cheryl. I just spoke to Ravi because I read the same thing on the horse-manure site. Ravi met with Sharon, Antonio and Monica, and supported the ticket. He's always given generously to our tickets, and he supports HPEF.
DeleteHoboken Pride is staying neutral, so no matter how much Jen tries to suck up, they are not favoring any one candidate. SMART MOVE.
No GA, it was a rumor. There are no lies on that site. Just rumors.
DeleteIt's worse than you think. The deviousness of Unelectable knows no bounds!
DeleteYou know all your many, many letters to the editor endorsing Kids First and education reform generally? Suddenly disappeared!
And all your comments on BOE issues on this site? Gone!
Oh, it gets worse. Unelectable has left only the most perfunctory BOE articles on the Team GiaFusco Corporate Website. BOE ticket lists, election results, stuff about Beth - yeah that's there.
But OUR analysis of the BOE audit, the rape of the B&G Club by HOLA, dirty dealings by HOLA board members, deconstructing the obsessive KF-hating rantings of HOLA official Anthony Petrosino, the real stakes in the BOE lawsuit, the deep dive on the use of VBMs by KF opponents.... Sadly, Unelectable deleted every bit of it from the Team GiaFusco Corporate Website . And with them, your many, many earnest comments........
So now it will appear to the low-information voter that those stories were only covered on this website - where all of your comments have inexplicably vanished!
Their intention is clear. They want to make it look like our Team GiaFusco Corporate Website and our Team GiaFusco Corporate Surrogates are guilty of the rankest sort of election year opportunism with our "sudden" interest in all things BOE which we couldn't be bothered with before.
Not to worry - we got it covered. We got the idea when you said maybe Jen did nothing in support of the Rent Control Referendum because she was helping seniors with their housing issues.
We're gonna say you were silent during the previous BOE races because you were helping seniors with their homework. It's got a nice tie-in to education.
Team GiaFusco: Change that's Changey