Breaking...
COUNCIL COUP D'ETAT: COUNCIL DENIES VOTE FOR MAYOR'S RENT LEVELING PICKS
Tonight's meeting is going into its 3rd hour...
Amazingly, a rumor that floated earlier this evening that the City Council majority will CHANGE THE RULES regarding the Mayor's authority to make appointments to the 9 member Rent Leveling Board appears to be materializing.
In the public portion, quite a few people spoke in favor of reappointing Cheryl Fallick and Mike Lenz to the rent leveling board. Two of them suggested that the mayor's two picks, Heath Urban and Warren Hall, be appointed to alternate seats- not full seats, and that Fallick and Lenz be reappointed.
After those public comments Council President Ruben Ramos announced he had pulled CL6 and CL9 from the agenda.
By pulling the two mayor's appointees, the Council has denied a quorum for the Rent Leveling Board.
Here is the rumor: the Council is going to change the rules of appointment to the Rent Leveling Board, taking 3 appointments away from the mayor- by resolution. Presumably, this rule change would be to put Michael Lenz and Cheryl Fallick back on the Rent Leveling board. If this does happen, it appears to be happening on the fly, without legal review.
Will we see this resolution tonight?
Yes, we WILL. Just announced...
GIATTINO TO INTRODUCE AN ORDINANCE TO STRIP RENT LEVELING APPOINTMENT POWERS FROM MAYOR
Council VP Giattino just announced her intention to introduce an ordinance in New Business to strip 3 appointments to the Rent Leveling Board away from the mayor and give them to the council.
Has anybody ever seen a Council rule change in order to get specific individuals on to a municipal board?
Ruben actually just said the mayor's pick's were pulled off to give him a chance to "rethink" the Lenz and Fallick appointments to the rent leveling board (or else he'll sleep with the fishes!) And if the mayor does not appoint Fallick and Lenz, Ruben said they will proceed with the Giatino ordinance to "umm... make sure that good people get on the board."
Does anyone "own" their board seat? Jim Doyle certainly did not. Nor did Brian Assadorian.
Does anyone "own" their board seat? Jim Doyle certainly did not. Nor did Brian Assadorian.
NEW COUNCIL RULES: when your friends don't get picked for a board seat, change the rules and pick them yourselves. That's how they do it in Banana Republics.
Tut-tut. Don't force us to print the names and addresses of everyone who opposes this measure. Koko gets Loco when she doesn't get her Board Po.
ReplyDeleteNot that we would ever do that. We're just saying we'd be less likely to do it if we get our way.
It should be again noted that both Cheryl Fallick and Michael Lenz were both very visible inner circle members of Councilwoman Giatttino's recent unsuccessful mayoral campaign.
ReplyDeleteGoing to the mat over those two?
ReplyDeletePlease start grooming replacement candidates. Start by asking if they understand the difference between governing and retribution.
It's telling that there isn't even any pretense of objecting to the people that the mayor appointed. Lenz and Fallick sure must be important people in the GiaFusco room.
ReplyDeleteThe people spinning the wildest, most imaginative conspiracy theories alleging Mayor Bhalla to be beholden to various outside forces at the state and national level seem uncannily bent on making sure a county employee whose livelihood is far more palpably traceable to his political alliances and activities gets to keep serving on a local rent board.
ReplyDeleteCurious. Very, very curious.
Sadly, I think the next two years will be defined by attempted power grab after attempted power grab from the GiaFusco team.
ReplyDeleteAt the end of the day no one really cares who appoints people to the rent control board. It might even make sense to have the Council make some or all of the appointments. But making the change for the purpose of delivering board positions to two of your cronies is the antithesis of good government - in fact it borders on corrupt.
The political game playing seems every bit as bad as in the Mason days. I think pretty much everyone in Hoboken outside of the various echo chamber, no matter who they voted for, wants the BS to stop.
Well said @numberscruncher, especially the last line. Not a good look, most people, the ones who decide elections, want the local edition of the Jerry Springer show to end.
ReplyDelete