Highlights from the first 3 hours of last night's City Council meeting...
BHALLA VETO OVERTURNED 7-2
No surprise there.
Of the 7 Council members who voted to overturn Bhalla's veto (putting the reinstatement of runoff elections on the ballot as a referendum), 3 affirmed that voter fraud was real (Giattino, Fisher, Cunningham), 1 avoided the issue (Falco) and.... ohh this is good: 2 denied that voter fraud existed (Ramos, Russo... bwaaa haw haw haw.)
The Ramos-Russo protestations were so (hilariously) effusive, GA might have to cut video.
There isn't much more to say on "reformers" who are playing Russian roulette with mid-December run-offs, except they've earned their expiration date.
POLITICAL SCHEMING BEHIND THE PAIR OF "INSTANT RUNOFFS" RESOLUTIONS
Part 1- GAMES
Councilwoman Jabbour was prepared to introduce her "instant runoffs" resolution at the January 17th meeting. Sources report that at that same meeting, Council VP Giattino had brought hard copies of her own version of the instant runoffs resolution with her to the meeting.
The Plan was that when Jabbour introduced her instant runoffs resolution, the Ramos-majority would vote it down, then Jen would introduce hers as a "live motion", which the Ramos-majority would approve.
Jabbour outsmarted the Ramos-majority when she withdrew her resolution. She announced that she would be revising and re-introducing her resolution after further discussion with her colleagues.
Part 2- TWO RESOLUTIONS ARE BETTER THAN ONE?
Sources report that Jen Giattino submitted her own "instant runoffs" resolution for the February 7 Council meeting without informing Emily Jabbour.
Jabbour, at Disneyland with her family, was unaware that Giattino had slipped in her instant runoffs" resolution. GA hears that she was contacted directly by Mike DeFusco, who was apparently working on the resolution with Giattino behind the scenes. Neither DeFusco nor Giattino told Emily that their own competing version had already been sent to the clerk to be included on the 2/7 agenda.
The tag-team effort to grind Emily "down to powder" didn't work.
Emily plugged along unphased, continued to work on her resolution. Without knowing that Giattino had put in "hers" (CL-2), Jabbour sent in her own (CL-3).
Part 3- COULDA, WOULDA, SHOULDA
Sources report that Jabbour had done a Wednesday afternoon re-write incorporating DeFusco and Giattino edits.
At the meeting, hard copies of Giattino's version of the "instant runoffs" resolution were distributed... a version that did not have Jabbour's consent. There was confusion at the table, some note passing and the agreed-upon language was not "could" or "would" but "should!"
TA DA.
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| Much ado over Jabbour's resolution |
Part 4- JABBOUR THE ONLY COUNCIL MEMBER TO LOBBY ASSEMBLY FOR INSTANT RUNOFFS
While DeFusco and Giattino were working to dilute the language of Jabbour's resolution, Emily was getting real work done to make instant runoffs happen in Hoboken.
On January 30, Emily met with Assemblywoman Annette Chapparo to discuss getting a vote on the Assembly's 'instant runoffs" Bill A4910. A4910 was introduced in 2015 by Bergen/Passaic Democratic Assemblyman Tim Eustace; the Bill "permits use of instant run-off voting in balloting for certain local elective public offices."
Assemblywoman Chaparro told Jabbour that she would add her name as a sponsor to A4910l ,which is currently sitting in the State and Local Government Committee. but...
The State and Local Government Committee is meeting on February 15 (next week). Chapparro strongly advised that Hoboken residents to contact the Chair, Vincent Mazzeo and ask him to put Bill A4910 on the agenda (to be voted on.)
MELLO CONFABULATIONS
Hoboken should benefit from Mello's brain power and interest in civic life after an 8 year Council run. He had moments of greatness on the council.
The problem as I see it now is that he's trying so hard to remain relevant politically; his speeches at the council sound like canned political operative rhetoric. I mean, Mello could always speak really well extemporaneously, last night he read off a piece of paper. Not that it matters, because people do that. But he never had to. It feels orchestrated. Maybe a team effort, who knows.
Last night Mello claimed that Mayor Bhalla has spent more on his campaign than any candidate in Hoboken ever did... well, that is just wrong. In this election cycle, DeFusco had undeclared help-- such as the lawsuits filed against Stick Romano to knock him out of the campaign-- "in kind" expenditures, and raised more loot than Bhalla.
But the trophy for most loot ever spent on Hoboken political campaigns goes to...
DEFUSCO ATTACKS MAYOR'S FAMILY AT CITY COUNCIL!
Family members and children are off-limits in politics, NO EXCEPTIONS.Hoboken should benefit from Mello's brain power and interest in civic life after an 8 year Council run. He had moments of greatness on the council.
The problem as I see it now is that he's trying so hard to remain relevant politically; his speeches at the council sound like canned political operative rhetoric. I mean, Mello could always speak really well extemporaneously, last night he read off a piece of paper. Not that it matters, because people do that. But he never had to. It feels orchestrated. Maybe a team effort, who knows.
Last night Mello claimed that Mayor Bhalla has spent more on his campaign than any candidate in Hoboken ever did... well, that is just wrong. In this election cycle, DeFusco had undeclared help-- such as the lawsuits filed against Stick Romano to knock him out of the campaign-- "in kind" expenditures, and raised more loot than Bhalla.
But the trophy for most loot ever spent on Hoboken political campaigns goes to...
DEFUSCO ATTACKS MAYOR'S FAMILY AT CITY COUNCIL!
GA publicly defended Mike DeFusco's partner, Alejandro, when he was attacked by a Giattino surrogate. DeFusco was justifiably outraged.
So, why is it acceptable for Mike DeFusco to read the mayor's brother's personal text message at a City Council meeting? It is disgusting. Is Mike telling us that a politician's family is fair game? How about his own family?
Is anybody's family safe from Mike DeFusco?
Is anybody's family safe from Mike DeFusco?
Mike DeFusco owes Amar a PUBLIC apology. His reckless, immature actions have telegraphed that it is acceptable to attack the mayor's family.
It is not.
Oh, and guess who shared the personal text message? Giattino's running mate Jason Ellis.
Shame on you, Jason Ellis, for pimping a personal text message sent mistakenly to you by the mayor's brother, and violating the man's privacy.
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| But DeFusco thinks it okay to attack Mayor Bhalla's family member |
Amar's text was pretty innocuous but for some folks just the excitement of getting to read someone else's mail is almost orgasmic.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a pretty pathetic way to get off but to each his own.
And the message is spot on. If those fools want to go back to runoffs then they absolutely should take the blame for opening the door to letting elections be decided by whichever candidate buys the most votes during the runoff. That is exactly what those fools just voted for and I for one will never forgive them.
Deleteit's the local version of wisconsin senator ron johnson, who twice has hyped FBI text messages as "corruption at the highest levels of the department!!!", only to to be embarassed when the actual nothing burger is served up.
ReplyDeleteall politicians act according to their own best interests, but this council has some real assholes.
pardon my french.
Aucun problème. Ils sont pire que les connards. Ce sont des têtes de merde. En fait, ils sont méchants, diaboliques et menteurs. Nous devons les remplacer en 2019. Ils doivent partir!
DeletePardon my French.
Je ne pouvais pas être plus d'accord, le temps de chasser les petites têtes de merde. hoboken mérite mieux, vive la réforme actuelle!
DeleteFantastique! Je suis d'accord! Ce sont des têtes de merde! Nous les chasserons du gouvernement de Hoboken avec des torches et des fourches!
DeleteI've sent Chairman Vincent Mazzeo a message through the contact form at the link above. Hope others do the same. Here's what I wrote:
ReplyDelete"As you are the Chair of the State and Local Committee I request that you please place Bill A4910, regarding instant runoffs in local elections, on the agenda for the Committee's February 15th meeting to be voted on.
My assemblywoman Annette Chapparro is a sponsor of this bill. I believe that this is an important issue for many NJ localities, including my place of residence Hoboken.
Thank you."
Excellent! Thank you!
DeleteThank you GA for providing the link to contact Chairman Mazzeo. I just contacted him. If I have ideas on other advocacy that are shareable here, I will share them here. I also plan on contacting Councilwoman Jabbour to ask how I can help and Assemblyman Chapparro for the same reason since are clearly the only ones taking the bull by the horns on this issue. In fact it would help if we created a local coalition on this issue and coordinated advocacy on it with Chair Mazzeo’s office.
ReplyDeleteIt’s clear to me that while Peter-Tiff-Jen acknowledged voter fraud exists they will do nothing about it because their Council allies benefit from it. Over the coming months perhaps we could launch an awareness campaign for our elected officials on what they can do to combat voter fraud. In other words, we should shame them into doing their job by telling them how they could do it.
Brainstorming here. We have another election now in 2018 but I am feeling optimistic. We’re on the right side of the issue and can legitimately claim the reform mantle. They have cast their lot with DeFusco/Ramos who rely on paid for votes and illegal campaign contributions. It’s just a matter of educating voters and organizing them. I think we will win.
Yep, agree.
DeleteShort term action deadline: February 15. Swamp Mazzeo with emails, phonecalls to ask him to put the instant-runoffs Bill on the next meeting agenda for a VOTE. On Feb 15 Annette Chaparro will speak to the committee in support of the bill.
(Meeting Date to be determined): If we succeed to get the Bill on the Agenda, hopefully we get as many residents as possible, Councilwoman Jabbour, Assemblywoman Chaparro and (hopefully) Mayor Bhalla to attend the meeting ask the committee to pass the Bill!
Then its onto the Senate... If we get it through the Senate, Gov. Murphy will sign...
We can, we will, watch us vote!
I just sent a message of support as well. Good work by our new councilwoman. I'm sure I voted to eliminate runoffs but seeing how it has played out, any mayor, even one I support, can be elected with 1/3 of the voting population, made me rethink. Instant runoffs seem like a good solution to ensure candidates are elected with a majority.
ReplyDeletemad props for councilwoman Jabbour. the others, not so much.
ReplyDeleteWould like to see some social media out of Chapparro and Jabbour about this on Facebook and Twitter encouraging people to write, call, and share the posts to get the message out.
ReplyDeleteYep, its coming. Councilwoman Jabbour spoke with Mazzeo's office yesterday and is sending them our council resolution. Press release coming today-- stay tuned.
DeleteNot for nothing, but if we had instant runoffs, the entire quasi-adult population of Butthurtia would have made their 2nd votes the for nouveau old guard, ie, Defusco. It's only a question of how many people they can bring with them. I expect the Bhalla seconds would have been for Giattino. By the time of the next election, the Buthurtians will be all but indistinguishable from their old guard friends, so I don't know who vote #2 would go to. Yes, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. But you can see that bridge already.
ReplyDeleteOne other thing. If you want to know if someone as fallen to hating you rather than merely sharply disagreeing with you on matters of principle, just see how he treats your privacy. The glee of this spite-dependent lot with their stolen communication is truly grotesque. No doubt at some point there was sufficient trust between Amar and Jason to warrant the exchange of numbers. This is what has come of that trust. But they're all too far gone to know to be ashamed.
Agree re: Chapparro and Jabbour making noise on social media and leading the way.
ReplyDeleteRe: who the second vote in an instance runoff would go to as raised by @dangcatfish, while I appreciate him/her thinking about who in an instant runoff would benefit more, I have perhaps naive faith that if you pursue good government objectives, you’ll get the most 1st and 2nd votes. This is a good reform. It’s the right thing to do for Hoboken. It’s the Dawn formula for choosing what to do. It should be pursued vigorously.
Does anyone believe that in 3 years that the Old ButtHurt Guard will rally around one candidate? They will eat each other alive.
ReplyDeleteMarriages of convenience last only as long as it's convenient. This one will be considerably less convenient as the 2019 ward races approach and the field of candidates emerges.
ReplyDeletethis was a dumb move in actuality but also, perhaps more importantly, in principle. the people have spoken about this issue. the people of hoboken were given the opportunity to decide just a few years ago, and they did. any councilperson who voted to push this thing through has essentially gone against the will of the people. voters don't forget things like that.
ReplyDeletewhen all previous spin fails, try a new angle...like this one from al sullivan this week:
ReplyDelete"The original ballot question was passed by voters in November 2012 in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy. Because of power outages and flooding, some voters were allowed to vote via internet, and this raised concerns that vote was skewed towards supporters of the referendum since many of those who might have been opposed could not get to the polls or did not have the same level of internet access."
ah yes, the "sandy" spin! brilliant!
What a load of horse crap.
Delete