UPDATE:
It appears this post revived a not-so-old memory for a trusted source:
Tiffanie and Jen were lobbying Mayor Zimmer hard not to include Dave Mello as her 3rd choice for running mate (with Jim and Ravi). I know for a fact that Tiffianie called Vijay personally to make sure that Dave was not to be included on Dawn's ticket and asked him to convey it to the mayor.I didn't know that.
UPDATE:
Last night, a friend notified me that Dave Mello had posted on Facebook to refute GA's assertion that Ruben Ramos was "lazy" for not assigning himself to a single committee.
Dave Facebooked:
"City Council Presidents in Hoboken have historically NOT assigned themselves to ANY committees. Most committees, however, only include three members, so that the Council President can choose to attend any meetings they wish to attend, without creating a quorum problem. I write this because I heard rumblings that someone doesn't understand this tradition, and their ignorance is causing them to spread misinformation."
Mello, an 8-year Councilman is completely disingenuous on the "I heard rumblings..." (Mello read it on this blog) ....that someone doesn't understand this tradition" (GA never heard of that "tradition" which negates any "lack of understanding").
So, fair enough.
If Council President non-assignment is allegedly a "tradition" then GA cannot fairly call Ruben "lazy" for following "tradition."
I'll call him "lazy" for relying on absentee ballot-farming to win 4th Ward elections. Can we agree on that, Dave?
I'll call him "lazy" for relying on absentee ballot-farming to win 4th Ward elections. Can we agree on that, Dave?
One hopes Dave gives equal time to fact-checking a certain malevolent hate blog, and speaking out against BIGOTRY. I haven't heard a peep out of Dave about that, have you? In fact, my replies to his Facebook post seems to have vanished. POOF!
Lucky thing I saved them.
Did you know...
"Bhalla" is a Indian (Panjab): Hindu (Khatri) and Sikh name based on the name of a clan in the Khatri community. It is derived from Sanskrit bhalla meaning (among other things) ‘auspicious’, ‘missile’, and ‘bear’."
Real funny to put a Sikh man's head on a stick and make fun of his ethnic Indian name, isn't it Dave?
Oh, and speaking of lazy... word is that you barely lifted a finger to help Anthony 'Stick' Romano's campaign, especially in the final weeks.
______________
Here it is, folks...
EXHIBIT A: Sell-Outs' Backroom Deal with Ramos on Sub-Committee Assignments
Before we begin, GA would like to address an obnoxious rumor being spread on two dead blogs. The rumor is: "Reform is Dead."
Umm, no it's not. One Crazy Horse, one Giant Fool, and 3 Sell-Outs may be looking for a pass on their exodus to the Dark Side, but they won't get it. They've betrayed every reform principle they've stood for in their public life by merging with the people who opposed those principles and still do. Perhaps "Reform is dead" is how they rationalize their own journey downhill.
Reform may be dead to them, but not to the rest of us.
Like Trump who can't stop blabbering about 2016 and Hillary, this cabal can't stop blabbering about 2017 and Bhalla, while whitewashing the sins of their new Dark Side friends. Not happening here. This is a Reform blog.
So, let's look at the Council Subcommittee assignments.
How it's done: Council members put their requests in to the Council President, the Council President assigns the subcommittees and Chairs. So when Sell-Outs make a backroom deal with the Council President (whom they selected over the Reform winner of his own election), the assignments look like this:
How it's done: Council members put their requests in to the Council President, the Council President assigns the subcommittees and Chairs. So when Sell-Outs make a backroom deal with the Council President (whom they selected over the Reform winner of his own election), the assignments look like this:
RAMOS: Assigned to 0 subcommittees, Chairs 0
GIATTINO: 6 subcommittee, Chairs 2
DEFUSCO: 3 subcommittees, Chairs 3
FISHER: 5 subcommittees, Chairs 2
CUNNINGHAM: 3 subcommittees, Chairs 1
RUSSO: 4 subcommittees, Chairs 0
FALCO: 4 subcommittees, Chairs 1
DOYLE: 3 subcommittees, Chairs 1
JABBOUR: 3 subcommittees, Chairs 1
Hmmm, so...
Giattino is assigned more subcommittees than any Council member (6!) She is only on subcommittees with Fisher and/or Cunningham, and none with Doyle.
Cunningham is only assigned subcommittees with Fisher and/or Giattino, none with Doyle.
Fisher is assigned (5) subcommittees, 4 with Giattino and/or Cunningham, one (Zoning) with Doyle.
DeFusco is not assigned any subcommittee which he does not Chair.
Ramos... shhhh, don't wake him up.
 |
| Work interferes with Ruben's nap time. |
Doyle's only Chair assigned is a subcommittee GA heard was the "turkey farm" where Beth Mason was once legally parked. Jim Doyle may have a special kind of leprosy that's contagious to Reform Sell-Outs.
The Others:
Jabbour is chairing Education, she will do a great job.
Falco chairing Affordable Housing makes a lot of sense. Good luck, Vanessa!
Russo was assigned to 4 subcommittees, but isn't chairing any.
SUMMARY: the Sell-Outs dealt themselves primo subcommittees, Ruben got what he wanted (which was nothing), DeFusco got what he wanted (3 Chairs) and Jim Doyle got put on the Turkey Farm.
So much for "reconciliation".
What a joke. Clearly the mayor is going to have to use the bully pulpit to embarrass the heck out of the CC for doing stupid stuff for the next 2 years.
ReplyDeleteRamos can't even be on the "community development south" board? #4thwardstoned for sure....Is it true that the other horsey blog might be shutting down as a position has opened up at Breitbart!
ReplyDeleteCouncilman DeFusco previously hosted a event for the developers of the proposed hotel tower on the Post Office parking lot site. I think it is reasonable to question if he is still an advocate for the developer or the residents of Hoboken as C0-Chair of a City Council committee especially created for overseeing that development project. At very least the relationship has the appearance of impropriety.
ReplyDeleteThe already highly congested NJT/PATH area will be further gridlocked by adding a hotel to the mix. Building a hotel the size of the one the developers he hosted a public relations party for would a monumental mistake for Hoboken. I am also not confident that the Co-Chair Councilwoman Fisher of that committee has previously and publicly stated that she is not familiar with conditions in that area of Hoboken to fairly determining what should or should not be built.
BTW the massive block long event space/restaurant on Newark Street with all it's additional parking and congestion problems that Councilman DeFusco missed the Planning Board meeting discussion for is diagonally across River Street from the Post Office.
Hmmm. It sounds like DeFusco is conflicted out of serving on that committee, and perhaps any votes on the proposed hotel tower. That's a question for Corporation Counsel Brian Aloia.
DeleteMayor Bhalla made it clear during the campaign that he dies not support the post office project in it's current form. The project is dead in the water without his support no matter who chairs or serves on this committee. I'm guessing that fundamental fact has escaped the leaders of the resistance who for some reason consider this hotel to be their most important priority.
ReplyDeleteA compromise can probably be reached if the "resistance" is realistic about their leverage, but I seriously doubt trying to steamroll Mayor Bhalla to approve this, with DeFusco flailing his pencil at meetings, will be a productive path forward.
It’s a sort of coup. They aren’t interested in productive. They’re interested in consolidating power under a new coalition of the butt hurt and the “kinder, gentler” old guard. Ruben, Defusco, their ilk, and of course ethical chameleons like Mello who can do 2 terms with Zimmer and jump to Romano without missing a beat.
DeleteFunny how the people who complain about backroom deals keep engaging in backroom deals. Next they will be endorsing Beth Mason for some sort of elected position. They are going to need her money next election cycle.
DeleteKurt and Roman have developed a nasty and disturbing obsession with you and this site. I think they are using it as fuel for the furnace that drives the sense of self-righteousness rage. After all, something/someone needs to be pointed at when the actions of Fisher and Giattino are questioned.
ReplyDeleteThe alignment with the old guard (Ramos, Defusco); the obviously punitive committee configuration; the disinterest in Defusco's P2P violations; the complete failure to explain the removal of Doyle and Assadourian, leaving only political payback as an explanation; the relevance of Mello after throwing in with Romano.
Ravi is just not going to give them much, no matter how hard they nitpick and spin. He's going to do his job and be a politician; they'll focus on the politician stuff and ignore the job.
But he leaves little to sink your teeth into if you want to live off of outrage and need to continually change the subject from the 900lb gorilla in the room - Giattino's and Fisher's realignment with the old guard.
In fact the Ravi/NJ Transit narrative has already fallen apart, though both blogs lack the class and honesty to admit it, having flogged it relentlessly for the last two months and guaranteed a massive sellout to them in January.
So, as is painfully obvious now, they'll make you the focus of their anger. You'll be the excuse for not asking why so much trust is being lavished on someone with over $90k in P2P violations. You are the subject to discuss in lieu of discussing when exactly it was that Ramos became better for Hoboken than Jim Doyle.
And what's there to talk about instead of considering the ramifications of Ramos and Defusco being dead wrong about what's best for Hoboken's children? Especially since BOE politics have never been about education policy and have always about keeping the Old Guard from lining their pockets at the expense of the kids? Well, they'll just have to talk about you even more.
Get it now? The more outrageous the actions of the new coalition, the more terrible decisions that need to be swept under the rug and given some rationalization... The more they will come after YOU. It's absolutely disgusting. But pretty easy to see.
My question is this. What does the next level think. Not Tiff, Jen, bloggers, etc. What do the long-term supporters of Kids First think? A lot of them supported Jen. So be it. Are they really on board with what Tiff and Jen are doing now and who they are doing it with? Are they not seeing this? If so, then it is only a matter of time for Hoboken.
I can't comment re: Kurt Gardiner and Roman Brice's women issues. Oh, they've got them in spades, IMO.
DeleteThe two are immature misogynists who are IMO not successful with women, so anger toward a woman (me) is how they deal with it. In fact, I never saw Roman with a woman, nor Kurt. Ever. Is that relevant? Well, it may be. It's called projection. The intensity of their anger toward a female blogger writing political commentary- body shaming, attacking my family, falsely alleging that I have an "enemies list" ,falsely smearing me as the author of the "terrorism" mailer... is way, way over the top. They are TOO angry. So what, if I have a different POV? So what if I support Ravi? I am not a public official, nor an elected official. Why do they care what I write here? Obsessive, strange.
Two aging, lonely, bitter men harassing a woman for doing the same thing they do, only I am still successful at it and they're not. I just got off the phone with a gal who saw Kurt's site and is furious-- she got my number from a mutual friend. The body-shaming and bullying is backfiring. I will ignore them. Success is the best revenge.
i think you hit the nail squarely on the head, GA.
Deletepart of it, i'm sure, is also a power and status thing: roman perceived himself as a forthright truth teller during the mason years and a martyr during the SLAPP suit. but then all that perceived power, influence and respect vanished when, fueled by the base nature of the trump campaign, his good government editorial focus was overcome by his deep seated (or perhaps not) alt-right and misogynists beliefs.
once he fell off that cliff, it was only natural for him to embrace fake news and savagely oppose the candidate who hoboken wasn't "ready for", thus driving away his readership and all of that perceived power. the guy who perceived of himself as a steve bannon mini-me (maybe he was right, considering their mutual downfalls) now has to post a half-dozen or more articles before he gets even one comment, yet he comes here and sees dozens of comments on each of your posts.
people do dumb things when on a downward spiral and feel slighted. unfortunately, GA is the outlet for all that misogynists frustration. hang in there, we're with you.
Thank you, me.
Deleteand please don't forget all the women that support women and the stand that Tiff, Jen, and a few others have made against Roman and Kurt and stood by Nancy against all of the bullying and hate! Oh that didn't happen.....I see how they are acting and who they are supporting, it is awful - and plenty of others see it as well.
DeleteBingo: "But he leaves little to sink your teeth into if you want to live off of outrage and need to continually change the subject from the 900lb gorilla in the room - Giattino's and Fisher's realignment with the old guard."
ReplyDeleteRe: Dave, forget about him. He's irrelevant. I think everyone knows now that he's not a hard worker and does not add enough value otherwise to justify not working hard or being disruptive. It was time to make space for new voices with sincere thanks for his past service.
More than not putting in the time though, Dave's lack of self-awareness was really his fatal flaw. Why look in the mirror when it's so much easier to project his explosive anger outward as he's always done? What's hilarious about his new mode, born of anger and confusion, of sucking up to Jen and Tiffanie is that they were biggest advocates of his ouster. It was not a mistake that we was never on the radar to be Jen's running mate. Oh Dave, look in the mirror, please. Your temper and hurt have you doing this all wrong, playing the bull in a china shop.
Now that they've jumped in the sack with Defusco and Ramos (and by extension Carmelo Garcia, Perry Belfiore, all of the old Beth hangers-on that jumped to Defusco), I'm sure Dave doesn't look so bad to them anymore.
Delete