For folks who were not in the room last night, watch the following short clip. GA started filming right after Councilman Mike DeFusco called Karen Nason's former event space, FUSE, "illegal". Yeah, BOOM.
As Hoboken mayoral debates go, this one rated 3 1/2 bags (of popcorn).
Moderator Bob Bowden was in tip-top form; sharp, funny. Questions from the audience were grouped by topic (re: taxes, SUEZ, Washington Street, etc.) and Bowden read several at once then allowed the panelists answer on the theme.
DEFUSCO GETS BOOED
Mike DeFusco started it off; his opening statement was a blur of words fired rat-a-tat-tat, hitting everyone on the dais- including poor Ron Bautista! DeFusco's angry staccato scolded for this, and that, and the other thing, while absolving himself of all blame on every issue- even for the projects he voted on (Washington Street). Finally, the audience had enough of his act, and booed him.
That's right. I've never heard a candidate booed at a Hoboken debate. Congratulations, Mike!
Yep, it was fun to watch that red-haired dash of cayenne, Karen Nason, mix it up with the obnoxious DeFusco in a series of rebuttals. BAM! POW! What the Lady lacks in political experience, she's got in life experience, and is not one to suffer a fool and his 'bull crap."
In fact, all of the candidates took occasional swings at opponents, except for Bautista and Ravi Bhalla.
Near the end of the debate, when Bhalla stated that he did not like to go negative, Giattino raised her hand to rebut. Yes, about The Mailer.
GIATTINO: "I STOOD UP FOR RAVI" (before she stood AGAINST Ravi)
So, a few hours before the debate, this hit the mailboxes of registered Democrats:
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| Ouch! |
In her rebuttal, Giattino spoke about how she had been attacked in 2015 (guess who defended her on this blog) but did not expect to be attacked (with The Mailer) by a "friend."
Friend? Really?
Do friends beat other friends like a pinata, alleging they are a "national candidate" that does not really care about Hoboken?
Do friends let surrogates spread rumors that their friend is "not-electable"?
I don't actually see this election as "friendly." For me, this Reform split stopped being friendly when I read this:
Ravi can't beat DeFusco or Romano? Hell yeah, he can. Without a spoiler.
NO skills to be in an executive role? NO management skills? NO math skills? NO real estate skills?
So let's keep it real, people, and drop the bullshit. There is no friendship - there is an election.
And, unlike unfriendly speculation about what Ravi might do if elected ("vacate his mayoral seat for higher office") party affiliation is an issue that some voters care about. If they didn't care about it, the Giattino campaign would never have sent a letter beseeching "Fellow Republicans.' to vote for her.
click to read
So then, why can't Ravi appeal to Democrats on an issue that some of us care about?
At the debate, Giattino played the victim, that her "friend" isn't being nice to her. When has her campaign been "nice" to Ravi?
But I digress...
I do recommend that you watch the debate when the video comes online.
I do recommend that you watch the debate when the video comes online.
I think more to the point is that Ravi did not simply call out Jen's affiliation, he called out her unwillingness to speak out on issues Hoboken residents care about.
ReplyDeleteThat is not an "attack.". That's a legitimate election issue highlighting a very real difference between the two candidates.
Jen's "problem" isn't that she's being treated unfairly. It's that she and her "people" know that most Hoboken voters don't agree with her on many issues and don't agree with her on the mayor's proper role in speaking out.
President Harry Truman who experienced some bruising political battles said, “If you want a friend in Washington, get a dog.”
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome!!! Well done!!
DeleteThank you, Red.
Deleteoh good lord, how much more republican can you get: "i was treated very unfairly" is EXACTLY what trump complains about every single day about some bullshit or another! and i say the same thing to "jen" that i say about trump: who cares if you think you've been treated unfairly? what is this, second grade? grow up.
ReplyDeleteHi everyone! I just wanted to let you know I'm over at the other blog crowing about how it was Judy Tripodi who cleaned up the city's finances. I know all about this because I worked on the transition team of Peter Cammarano -- the guy whose entire campaign was about bashing Dawn Zimmer for voting for the state takeover to bring in Judy Tripodi. Now I work for Mike DeFusco, the guy who's running for Cammarano's second "term" with the whole band back together. It's my chance to grind all you Zimmer Zombies into powder for real this time!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, just wanted to let you know I'm giving full credit for the financial cleanup to the decision to bring in a state monitor, and that I had a really good run at landing a job in the administration of the guy who beat Zimmer by attacking her for doing exactly that!
Can't make this shit up, my friends.
At this point I find it hard to care about what is said on a blog that gets about 4 comments a day, there's no community there. And despite the claims to magical secret sources that only one person can hear and no one can verify; the comment population is probably reflective of the readership population.
DeleteMight as well tell me what's going on at 411 these days.
Not just ANY four comments a day, four comments a day from ME! That's comment gold right there. Don't you know I'm the most important person in Hoboken? I was a councilman just TWELVE years ago! I served ONE AND A HALF TERMS! I have so many screen names I can barely keep track, but I always make sure to drop COMMENT GOLD where it counts.
DeleteSo stop discriminating me by suggesting my role in the community is "small." That's victimhood right there! MY victimhood!
@SG, is it still appropriate to refer to you as "reform icon"? just want to make sure i'm up on the current acceptable nomenclature (and on your good side so as to someday benefit from all the power you wield in town).
DeleteI'm a reform icon for sure, and the beauty is, by associating with me and giving me what I want, anyone can be a reform icon too!
DeleteThat includes but is not limited to the following reform icons who earned their iconic status by catering to me:
Mike DeFusco
Peter Cammarano
Ruben Ramos
Frank Raia
Joe Branco
Perry Belfiore
Mike Lenz
Angel Alicea
Maurice Fitzgibbons
Carmelo Garcia
Anthony Romano
Mike Russo
Terry Castellano
The list goes on and on! Anyone can be a reformer. Heck, I even considered Dawn Zimmer and Ravi Bhalla reform icons until they didn't vote for me to fill Dawn's council seat and then voted against me holding two board seats to get taxpayer-funded health benefits.
Reform icons are everywhere - all you have to do is kowtow and cater to me and I'll make you the biggest star in Hoboken!
For a little while, at least...
You know who else are reform icons? Roman Brice and Kurt Gardiner. They used to be bad - when I got the second board appointment and the health benefits thanks to the deal my friends on the council cut with the Russos, Kurt and Roman were not reform icons. They were on the wrong side of history, blogging about how I shouldn't have two board seats and "The Silence of the Soares" and all this un-reformy stuff.
DeleteBut now that we all have a healthy co-dependent relationship, that's all changed. I post on Roman's blog to keep it from looking like the dead zone, and he treats me with the proper respect and importance, because in fact I AM important to him! And Kurt was my trainee on the Sewerage Authority and shows me the deference I deserve. I taught him everything he knows about sewerage. When I was on that board, I was known as a real expert on the issues. All the delegates from other cities recognized my expertise by the way I spent the entire meeting talking about seweragey topics like:
1) I hate Dawn Zimmer
2) How much I hate Dawn Zimmer
3) Did I mention I really hate Dawn Zimmer?
4) Dawn Zimmer sucks
5) This is all pertinent, because Dawn Zimmer is in fact a piece of sewerage
The other board members really respected my expertise and showed it by chattering all around the county about how uncomfortable it made them to sit there and listen to me spew venom for hours on end like an obsessed stalker. That's why I was such an asset to the board - and why I had to give about a half-dozen farewell speeches in honor of my service. My board colleagues really respected that too -- the reason so many people know how much of a production I made out of my exit is because my colleagues were so impressed and sorry to see me go that they told everyone exactly what they thought of my self-celebration.
That's reform iconism at its finest!
Maybe SkylineGate can help me out here - i've notice a lot of empty rental units that have Mike DeFusco signs in them - do you know of anyone who is a real estate agent who is supporting Mike DeFusco who could get those posters hung up in units where no-one lives? Just curious.....
DeleteI have influence over everyone in every building, everywhere! If you want to be anyone in Hoboken, you need to have a sit-down with me first and kiss the ring!
DeleteDon’t invoke the name of the building I live in unless I approve. Every resident here listens to me. Especially my next-door neighbor who I love to brag always does whatever I say! That’s why he wrote a letter supporting Ravi! Wait, OOOPS!
By the way my favorite story about my neighbor is the time he called Sara S a “cunt.” And then he said “I didn’t call the cunt a cunt, I called her a piece of shit!” I love to tell this story over and over because it’s so funny and people love to hear me tell stories. At the time, Sara was saying nasty things about Dawn and Stan and I didn’t like it because they were Reform icons who were catering to me.
Now, Sara S is supporting... DeFusco? Wait, OOOOPS!!!