Zimmer SCORES! Council CAVES on ED Ordinance!



In the run-up to the November 7th election, the 3 political factions on the council that oppose Mayor Zimmer:  Team Giattino, Team DeFusco and Team Romano, are trying hard not to give her any legislative victories.  The reason is obvious: Team Bhalla is backed by the mayor.  

This anti-Zimmer bloc represents 7 votes on the council, and like a Doomsday machine, can kill any legislation that may help Team Bhalla.  

But killing is messy!

Much better not to let the legislation see daylight- or like Team Giattino did to the SUEZ contract, pull it off the table before a vote.

GA suspects that the Mayor's eminent domain ordinance for Union Dry Dock was not meant to be seen before the election.

Which explains why the ordinance got kicked back to the Mayor with the unusual demand that it needed council sponsors. Such a request could come from the Council President.  Hence, the ordinance was turned in after the Thursday 4 PM deadline, meaning it would not appear on the next meeting agenda.   Only because of email communications from the ED ordinance's sponsor, Ravi Bhalla to Council President Giattino on Friday, did she consent to put the ordinance on the agenda. 

But... a conspicuous 'unfriendly' PR campaign against the Mayor's ED ordinance has been publicly raging ever since she announced it was coming on September 28.

In an "admission against interest," DeFusco charged out with a statement opposing the Mayor's anticipate request to use eminent domain to resume negotiations with Union Dry Dock:
"My understanding is that the property owner is willing to begin a good faith negotiation, but not with this current administration and not before the upcoming election when our city’s leadership for the next four years will be decided."
Yikes! How could DeFusco possibly know that when all that Union Dry Dock told the city was:






GA is a layperson, so I do not know if a Hoboken City Councilman negotiating land deals for the City with private property owners is technically illegal, but if it's not illegal, it sure ain't kosher.  

Anyway, DeFusco and Team Giattino (represented by apoplectic screeds on the Horse site) gave  the public clear signals they were not supporting the ordinance.

So then why did it pass? 

The mayor outsmarted the Council members who've been ramping up the heated rhetoric through press releases, on social media and through online proxies...

She told the entire narrative in 10,600 Twitter feeds; how she'd been thwarted in her months-long efforts to negotiate with Union Dry Dock, and that UDD is "winding down" their operations.

A political masterstroke. 

If Giattino tabled the ordinance after that, it would have smelled  political.  Zimmer forced the Council's hand to vote. And...

The Council caved and voted 8-1 in favor of the Eminent Domain ordinance on First Reading.  

Oh yeah, the squabbling over when the 2nd reading should occur is all  a sideshow. 

Now that the City has passed the ordinance on First Reading they can go back to UDD to open up negotiations- which was the original political objective of introducing eminent domain in the first place. 

SCORE. 

Comments

  1. HOORAY!!! This surely is a case of Right versus Might!

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  2. I love how the faux reformers are freaking out about this. They are so full of political horse crap it is beyond belief. Glad the Mayor is trying to do what is right even though she is on her last few weeks in office.

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  3. Replies
    1. True. Most people's perception of you prompts quite a bit of laughter.

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  4. Right indie. For example Roman Brice's perception seems to be that the mayor didn't really want the authorization. She was cleverly trying to trick Jen Giattino into voting no and Jen brilliantly outsmarted the mayor by voting yes.

    That seems like a pretty wacky perception to me - I'm guessing the mayor is pretty happy with the way it turned out - 8-1 vote supporting her request.

    But Roman's wacky "perceptions" are fun. They keep me reading his site and that helps him retain his "perception" that he has traffic and by extension influence.

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    1. It's 1st reading - it's meaningless.

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    2. Indie, is that why Jen Giattino moved the second reading until after the Mayoral election, so she can avoid being judged by voters on a "meaningful" vote?

      If you want the big chair you can't dodge the tough issues and expect people to vote for you.

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    3. My God indie. You people are actually as stupid as you appear.

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    4. They are as stupid as they appear and if after the election they blow up the attempt to acquire that land or do anything to change the path the city is currently on - there will be political hell to pay the next time any of those jackasses show up on a ballot again. A bunch of self-serving twits, the lot of them. Seriously, can we just hold a special election and get rid of Tif and her gang of weasels already?

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  6. On a slightly tangential note, I'd like to make an observation. There has been a steadily growing deluge of deeply mean-spirited comments about John Allen springing up, first on on the "other blog", the one administered by a self-described horse who once unsuccessfully solicited the mayor's husband for financial assistance and now viciously blogs about both him and the mayor while peddling propaganda for a mayoral candidate whose campaign manager just happens to have, in fact, solicited constituents for financial assistance for said horse. Far be it from me to fling that which in our litigious little world could be construed as allegations of criminality, but there are some who might describe such behavior -- with the qualifier of "editorial opinion," of course -- as shakedown artistry.

    But I digress. One commenter on this so-called horse blog employing the moniker "Propellergate" has been assailing Mr. Allen with a vigor teetering on obsession, including baseless allegations of some form of pay-to-play impropriety. Simultaneously, another commenter (or commenters, if we're to play along for the sake of indulging their little game) has been spamming Hudson County View relentlessly with similar potshots at Mr. Allen, including an unseemly invocation if his fiancee.

    Although I have no proof, it is my opinion that Propellergate and the various "burner" handles on HCV are all one person, and it is my opinion -- again, without concrete proof -- that this person is Tony Soares. In fact, I find it rather surprising that any of these handles attempt to deny being Mr. Soares, given how consistently indistinguishable the tone is from Mr. Soares' own constant, bottomless trip down the pit of personal venomous attacks and all-around nastiness. Again, although I lack concrete evidence, I find it barely believable that Mr. Soares sincerely doubts his own transparency in this behavior.

    I bring this up not because Mr. Soares doesn't have the right to attack Mr. Allen -- if we learned nothing from the events of the past several years, it's that the First Amendment is precious (though I'm not sure it protects the baseless P2P allegations, but that's Mr. Allen's battle to fight, should he so choose). I also don't bring it up out of any personal need to defend Mr. Allen, who is from what I can tell no novice to the political arena and surely understands full well that by putting himself out there, for better or for worse, he exposes himself to the worst among us to use as a punching bag for their own insecurities and personal failures.

    I bring it up simply to do what I have been attempting to do with a number of issues this election cycle, which is to place the facts in their full context.

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    1. FYI- I love your posts again. But, Horse has told me directly he never asked Stan for money nor did Dawn ever testify for him. I'm not trying to argue with you, just wanted you to check your sources on that information because I think all of your posts are outstanding and I would hate for the 99.5% of correct information to be discounted because of one line that may not be correct.

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    2. Snoopy - thank you for the comment, it is certainly important to me to disseminate only the most accurate information, so I have in fact re-checked the details of this statement.

      On the solicitation for money - to clarify this, it now appears there was not a direct ask but rather a conversation about the Horse's predicament that made the Mayor's husband feel compelled to state for the record that he could not offer financial assistance due to the appearance it would create. I suppose that leaves it pretty subjective to interpret whether the Horse intended for his comments to be interpreted as an ask, but if we agree the individual in question is a prudent and not overly paranoid man, it is my opinion that if he felt palpably enough that he needed to respond to an ask, whether implicit or explicit, he could not have been too far off the mark. For the sake of argument and veracity, I retract the statement since it was beside my point anyway.

      On the Mayor's testimony - it is now my understanding that she was in the courtroom, on the witness list, prepared to offer devastating testimony, but the case suddenly came to an abrupt conclusion before she was called. Again, I'm fine with retracting the statement for the sake of precision, though I think he's splitting hairs in a crass and particularly ungracious manner on this point.

      I thank you for bringing this to my attention.

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    3. Thank you. This matches my general understanding as well. Thanks for taking the time to clarify. I really do enjoy everything you post.

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  7. Here is what I know about John Allen. I know he became president of the Board of Education in Old Bridge while still an undergrad at Rutgers. To those not familiar with Old Bridge, it is one of the larger towns anchoring southern Middlesex County, home to the once-powerful political machine of former state Senate President John Lynch, a malevolent bastard with a Napoleon complex that makes Bajardi and Soares look like paragons of mental health. At his power peak in the mid-90s, Lynch ruled the county with an iron fist. Lynch eventually let his arrogance get the better of him and went to prison for tax evasion and mail fraud following a U.S. Attorney's Office probe of his notorious real estate schemes (he had been rumored for decades to be receiving a taste of various forms of kickbacks for each and every unit of construction approved anywhere in the county).

    Ironically, Lynch's downfall came in 2006, the very year Allen became Old Bridge BoE president. Allen is from the new school of Middlesex County politics - the Reform Movement of the region. From what I can tell, he knows little of the reign of mobbed-up terror that dominated much of that region in the decades preceding his arrival on the scene. Much like former Highland Park Mayor Meryl Frank or North Brunswick Mayor Mac Womack, both of whom also made their way in the political world despite the Lynch machinery rather than because of it.

    Again, I do not know the man and am not here to campaign for him. But I know a thing or two about Middlesex County, mostly bad. He is not part of the bad in any way that I can tell, and anyone who can get anywhere there without kissing Lynch's ring is pretty safe to presume to be "one of us" from a Reform perspective.

    Soares political career followed a different trajectory. First elected to the City Council in a 1999 run against then-football coach Ed Stinson, Soares quickly joined forces with Perry Belfiore, Ruben Ramos, Carmelo Garcia, Maurice Fitzgibbons and Michael Lenz in an HCDO power grab that eventually secured Soares a brief stint as Council President. The alliance quickly degenerated over both Lenz's and Soares' various shenanigans trying to improve their personal lots through sucking at the public teat. In their infamous feud over Soares declining to support Lenz for the Parking Authority Director's seat, Lenz was hilariously spotted campaigning for the Fourth Ward Council seat in Pier A Park (nowhere near the Fourth Ward), flailing his sign in Tony's direction bellowing "I'M RUNNING BECAUSE TONY SOARES IS A LIAR!"

    Outsted from office in 2005 -- a good dozen years ago -- Soares has been clamoring for relevance ever since. The various manners in which he's allegedly sought to trade on his political connections for personal enrichment are another story for another day. What's important to note right now, in this context, is the fact that as his political relevance has steadily declined, Tony's contempt and envy for those he's perceived to be supplanting him in his coveted "power behind the throne" status has seethed and simmered uncontrollably. Among the so-called "Junior Guard" who've been particular objects of Soares' hatred have been Forde Prigot, Keith Furman, Dan Bryan, Juan Melli, Vijay Chaudhry and, now, John Allen.

    Notice a theme? All of the above have all the things Tony used to have and desperately wants back -- youth, charm, prospects, respect and relevance.

    And yes, he absolutely hates them for it. Obsessively.

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    1. Cruelty and sadism- not a good look for Propeller McVictim.

      I told John yesterday that the vicious, personal attacks against him appeared like an orchestrated effort to pick him off, "I have to figure out why." I think you have, reformbaseball.

      From John's hair (grey in spots), to John's fiancée, to John's volunteer work as board member of Easterseals, nothing is sacred to the unhinged, malevolent Propeller McVictim.

      For the record, Propeller McVictim spewed several libelous posts to claiming that John is not on the Board of Easterseals. Proof Propeller is an unhinged, mean-spirited liar:

      /
      http://www.spsk.com/media-center/Allen_Named_to_Board_of_Easterseals/


      ALLEN NAMED TO BOARD OF EASTERSEALS
      Jun 15, 2017


      John Allen has been named a board member of Easterseals New Jersey, one of the state's oldest and largest charitable organizations. The New Jersey organization is one of the largest Easterseals affiliates in the country. Easterseals serves 1.4 million children and adults with disabilities and their families. The organization's mission is to "change the way the world defines and views disability by making profound, positive differences in people's lives every day, helping our clients build the skills and access the resources they need to live, learn, work and play."

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    2. "Propeller McVictim," indeed. A twist on the handle believed by many to be Tony Soares that spotlights Mr. Soares' core contradiction -- his penchant for feigning shock, outrage and righteously indignant offense at any retort volleyed back at him in response to his relentless deluge of below-the-belt, vicious personal attacks against anyone and everyone who happens to find themselves on the opposite side of an election, or in the common position of not being willing or able to give him something he wants.

      I thought it worth unpacking this phenomenon in light of another onslaught that's been brought to my attention involving an array of "burner" handles on Hudson County View. A series of posts yesterday, which I cannot prove to be the handiwork of Mr. Soares but certainly find to fit his model of making the political personal and going straight for the jugular, follow the pattern I've outlined here in which he overflows with jealousy at a litany of so-called "Junior Guard" Reform people, along with a particularly bile-filled swipe at the mayor's husband, whom he evidently believes to be yours truly. No disrespect to the often-insightful Mr. Grossbard, but I've generally found his perspective beyond Hoboken to be decidedly New York-centric. I can assure you all that I bleed Jersey, through and through.

      I'm going to give Mr. Soares the benefit of the doubt and suggest if he is, in fact, the perpetrator of these posts, they are the result of a persecution complex that he comes by honestly. From his very first run for council in 1999, Mr. Soares has faced the daunting challenge of putting himself out there for public scrutiny with the obvious issue to overcome regarding unfair perceptions and potshots stemming from his disability. And the political community certainly lived down to expectations. From subtle slips of the tongue to explicit taunts to horrifically mean-spirited online comments to an exceedingly offensive caricature (more on that in a minute), Mr. Soares has endured more than his fair share of nastiness and hardship inflicted by a cutthroat political scene willing to exploit any opening available to take someone down. And to his credit, Mr. Soares has handled the issue deftly, often with humor and grace, performing an admirably clever political jujistu on his bullies. That he has suffered in such a relentlessly personal and hurtful way throughout the decades for the crime of caring about the community and wanting to do his part is enough to make even the best of us deeply bitter, and willing to adopt the same vicious tactics employed against us for so long. Similarly, where in Mr. Soares' early years in politics, he could be seen more often than not to be on the right side of the issues and advocating passionately for constituents, his years in the trough with the pigs appears to have evoked an "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" mindset in which his pattern of public service has veered with increasing obviousness toward self-service. Again, a perfectly human foible in this environment that can be easily explained, if not condoned.

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    3. Where I fail to comprehend Mr. Soares current political behavior is in his decision to throw in with the most memorably egregious offenders of the singularly worst-ever attack against him for his disability. In the history of his "McVictimhood," there is no event more epically horrendous than the above-mentioned caricature, disseminated in the form of a comic book in the 2005 election.

      Just about a week before the 2005 election, in which Soares ran on the Carol Marsh ticket against the Dave Roberts team, he had run with four years prior, a comic-strip leaflet was found to be circulating, mainly in the Fourth Ward's downtown Housing Authority buildings and surrounding area, depicting then-Fourth Ward Councilman Chris Campos as an emissary of sorts to Roberts, described in the bizarre and offensively pandering manner as "Mayor Man." It focused on controversial former Housing Authority Exec Director Troy Washington, who had been at the center of years of unrest, left under a cloud and was later investigated by the FBI for possible financial malfeasance at the HHA. The attack centered on the Marsh ticket having allegedly enabled and supported Washington - an unfair but not entirely baseless charge. In reality, Lenz and his HHA-board surrogate Lynda Walker had run hot-and-cold with Washington but had supported him at critical junctures at which he could have been removed earlier than he was. Soares, to his credit, was a consistently outspoken critic, making the allegation against him in the lit piece a bald-faced lie.

      Most significant, however, was the caricature depictions in the strip - Lenz as something resembling the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from Ghostbusters, and Soares as a munchkin, in full Wizard of Oz garb. It was despicable and shameful. And Soares was rightfully furious. It was something he never forgot, and has brought up regularly over the years as a very clear genesis point for his sense of suffering. Of Victimhood. And his justification for his own often beyond-the-pale political rhetoric.

      Which is what makes it all the more inexplicable that he now aligns himself with the very perpetrators of the munchkin comic. I cannot prove who specifically published and distributed the comic in 2005, but it's fair to say that Ruben Ramos and Carmelo Garcia were very much in the loop. And Campos, who surely consented to being characterized as the narrator of the story -- well, he may be otherwise indisposed this election cycle, but is there really any doubt where his sympathies lie if Carmelo and Ruben are with DeFusco?

      Such is the duality of Tony Soares. On the one hand, his anger, resentment and sense of victimhood are understandable, almost justifiable. And yet, one would expect such a sense of outrage and injustice to be rooted in core principles, with a line that simply cannot be crossed. But here we are. Scratching our heads. Faced with the question of who among us thought we would ever see the day when Soares would serve as an apologist for those who wronged him so egregiously - the day when it would be Soares himself declaring he'd like to welcome you to Munchkinland.

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    4. Self-serving opportunist desperate for relevance?

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  8. A college professor of mine once described The Prince as Machiavelli's job application to the Medicis. "If you do for me, here's what I will do for you," in the local vernacular. For his troubles he was arrested, tortured and banished, but nevertheless dedicated his small volume to Lorenzo de Medici, whose uncle Giovanni is better known to history as Pope Leo X. Tortured and banished or not, where the hell else was he gonna go?

    In Hoboken too, all political defeats are seen as temporary, all humiliation as the bitter state the fruit must pass through on its way to the vino dolce of final victory. Perhaps because the summit of our little city-state is not so high and there for anyone to climb, we have a legacy of endlessly recycled shills, paper hangers, mechanics, all eager for the next host to give their lives meaning and purpose and carry them to the top while they imagine it is they who are doing the carrying.

    It's not surprising that they gravitate toward the tabulae rasae - Defusco, Giattino, Occhipinti. ("Look, he's picking on Italians!" the ever-shrinking imaginations will say....) The last thing they want is an already filled canvas that doesn't need an artistic director. I place the resentment of John Allen there. His unforgivable sin is that he doesn't need them and never will. Better the rudderless blob of ambition that is Michael Defusco. He'll show the proper deference to his elders and never make them feel like the fine lot of vampires and ghouls that they have become.

    Like the Prince before him, Propeller, and Hatfield, and WaxOnWaxOff, and ChadPark, and the 5 "different" Allen bashers who appeared in a span of less than 20 minutes at 7AM yesterday and never once considered how stunningly OCD that looked, and whichever 5 more show up today -- they are all presenting their curriculum vitae at every opportunity. It can be summed up as follows: I know some secrets, I have a lot of energy, I am not afraid to get dirty.

    Not bad as political operative CV's go. Every campaign needs all of the above, whether it wants to admit it or not. The problem is that 3 traits comprise the same lethal threat to the one who accepts them as it does to the one who turns them down. In fact, this year's "beneficiary" has more to fear, for his secrets and the willingness to use them will be in the package of goods and services offered to the next new face that comes along next year.

    "You want some dirt on Defusco? Call me." Rinse and repeat.

    But I suspect this will be the last campaign for a lot of Hoboken's senior operatives who, like so many baby boomers, refuse to leave the stage gracefully. The reason can be found in the daily spinnings of the propeller. More than anything what he is selling is the past. The validity of the past (FBW). The sins of the past (Mason, Cammarano, Bajardi). The secrets of the past (you name it). Someone has to place value on all that. The John Allens never will. But the Mike Defuscos....

    But soon enough no one cares. You are telling war stories and the war is soooo long ago. It's more interesting than important to your listener. And it's barely interesting. Like the painfully overworked scratch-off ticket meme. You picture yourselves leading a rapt young audience through your presentation in a multi-media conference room, but you are really just the sad old men at the sad old man bar telling your sad old stories and badmouthing anyone too young to care. Let it go.

    I am. This is my last round-up. I have few virtues, but one is that I know when to be embarrassed and when to sit down and shut up. Hopefully a few will join me. Don't wait until you're racking your brain to come up with a 6th fake name while everyone else is still sleeping.

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  9. PS. MSV is now declaring victory because Bhalla and Doyle supported ED, meaning he was "proven 100% correct!"

    He leaves out th 8-1 rout in favor when he said the measure would find scant support.

    Yes, I have looked up unhinged-er.. It's not a word - yet. But probably will be by necessity by thanksgiving.

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  10. very insightful comments, thank you RB and dang.

    to FAP's point: why is "jen" so afraid to take a meaningful position on...anything? i watched a recent video she posted on Facebook and...get ready folks: she wants clean streets! and clean parks! omg, stop the presses!! what next? does she also want peace on earth and a white christmas??!!

    "jen" has had months now to establish political positions but has yet to demonstrate she's up to the task of being the city's CEO. i don't see leadership material here.

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    1. She's going to make hard to run on a pro-dirty streets and pro-dirty parks platform.

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    2. As mentioned above, Jen was very clear on her reasons for the scheduling of the 2nd reading when it was scheduled, but I understand - you have a (false) narrative that you want to promote. So it goes...

      By the way, constituent services are pretty important to people. We actually have, just about, no constituent services currently. Perhaps you don't want a city hall that runs effectively, but I'm glad to see a candidate that is actually interested in ensuring that the citizens have a responsive government.

      By the way, just because you haven't read Jen's platform/policy positions, doesn't mean they don't exist. Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, but your consistent posting of this (false) narrative doesn't make it so.

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    3. Jen is full of shit. Important votes do not get deferred until after an election unless the person scheduling the vote wants to avoid being held accountable for their vote.

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    4. I think "white christmas" might be too specific. It could offend a group or groups of people. :)

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    5. "We actually have, just about, no constituent services currently."

      comments like this are why you've lost so much credibility in this town. i know you're not dumb, so "dishonest" is the only explanation i can think of.

      I've had streetlights out on my block a few times in the past six months, each time I fill out the online form and the lights get fixed within a week (mostly to do with pse&g availability, nothing to do with the city). i walk the streets every day and visit parks often and they look as good as they ever have. the trash receptacle at the corner (which can quickly over flow) is emptied twice a day. washington st is finally getting the work it needs.

      are things perfect? no, of course not. and they never will be. but things are pretty damn good, certainly better than in past administrations.




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    6. Yes! As indie says she has almost NO constituent services.

      Yet our candidate and her councilperson is running on... CONSTITUENT SERVICES.

      This is very important for our broader flock to understand. We believe that by becoming mayor, our candidate will begin delivering to indie the constituent services that she has thus far failed to deliver as councilperson. She'll have more tools at her disposal, like all those municipal trucks re-stenciled to say... Team GiaFusco: Change That's Changey.

      Isn't that a good reason to give her your vote, little lambs? So indie can get the services she isn't getting now? Well, it'll have to do. That's all we got. Plus that sign at Church Towers. So those two things......

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    7. Sorry that you don't understand that constituent services means more than emptying a trash can.

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    8. being sanctimonious is unbecoming, indie. i don't have the time or interest in spelling out a comprehensive laundry list to dispute your ridiculous comment. why don't you take the time to back up your own statement with examples of how constituent services have failed us all.

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  11. Roman is also using the time worn H411 tactic of updating old stories instead of writing new ones to keep the old comment flow going to create the appearance of new traffic he doesn't have.

    Roman isn't the first political figure in Hoboken to turn themselves into a laughing stock and he probably won't be the last.

    But it's still hard to watch. On a personal level I always liked the guy, something I can't say about the other laughing stocks around town.

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    1. Well he has burnt a lot of bridges in town and I suspect he will be out to pasture soon enough. That tends to happen to laughing stocks when they have outlived their usefulness - which happens the day after election day.

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