Last night's Council meeting was humming along when without warning, it turned into a Fellini movie.
Right before the vote on appointing Cheryl Fallick to the Rent Leveling Board... Councilpersons were no longer Hoboken legislators but people, with feelings. The Council Chambers became a therapist's office.
One by one, Peter Cunningham, Tiffanie Fisher, Mike DeFusco and Ruben Ramos emoted about the current mayor, compared him with the past mayor, and how much or how little attention he/she gave them, whether or not he or she answered the phone, whether or not he or she made them feel special.
The therapist was Mike Russo who gently guided each through their pain, and validated their feelings, but like any good therapist, Russo reminded them, 'Yes, you are right, but it's a two-way street..." and that how you feel is a matter of "perspective."
Russo gently guided his patients to the realization that not a one said "Thank you" to the mayor for appointing Fallick to the Rent Leveling Board, because they themselves were so mired in political animus toward him.
It was very real... GA put Rachel Maddow on hold.
Emily Jabbour and Vanessa Falco did not participate in group therapy, preferring to remain legislators. Giattino was absent.
Jim Doyle, however, took a turn. He was last to speak and said, "I never met the mayor".
Stay tuned for video...
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GROUP THERAPY SESSION
Maddow was on fire last night, more than usual. Too bad you missed out.
ReplyDeleteI think the Mayor tried to set the tone when he immediately invited all of them to participate in the his transition committee, and ask the Democratic Committee to not remove Fisher. I think they set the tone when they completely looped out him, Jim, and Emily from all the Council appointments on the first day of this Council's tenure, created a referendum to have runnoffs in December without addressing the challenges of voter fraud, and tried to remove rent level board appointments unlawfully. It is indeed a 2 way street. As they say, watch what I do not way they say.
I haven't spoke to Cheryl Fallick in a year; I didn't want to interrupt her.
ReplyDeletezing!
DeleteI think the the problem is that council members equate the Mayor showing "respect" with the Mayor recognizing their greater authority and intellect and doing as he's told.
ReplyDeleteRespect is earned and the CC has lost mine.
DeleteThe bogus "respect" issue started with the folks who thought Mayor Zimmer should be a figurehead and defer to a committee of reform elders led by Michael Lenz and Carol Marsh who in their minds were the rightful leaders.
ReplyDeleteMayor Zimmer treated them with respect by any normal standard but she declined to abdicate her leadership role and defer to them. This failure to defer was then spun as disrespect and the inability to wield power they had not earned was spun as victimhood.
And the beat goes on with Fisher assuming the Michael Lenz role of the great mind who should be mayor.
As for Ramos and DeFusco, they're just taking advantage of the moment.
perfectly stated.
DeleteA real reformer doesn't defer to some committee of shadowy figures.
DeleteWell said. I'm not sure why certain people don't get that people elect a Mayor to make final decisions and be Chief Executive not a Committee. Running a city by Committee is a terrible idea. It's ridiculous that they took and continue to take umbrage that everyone is correctly acting as if we have elections for Mayors not for Committees.
DeleteThey're trying out a narrative. We're with Dawn but against Ravi. It anticipates the fact that Zimmer will remain popular. So they can seem to be on the right side of the issues in 2019 by walking back some of the loathing that's been spilling everywhere since last summer.
ReplyDeleteBut once again, they didn't think it through. Zimmer will be at the ferry with Bhalla, not with the butt-hurts. Standing metaphorically with Zimmer and against Bhalla while Zimmer is physically standing next to Bhalla is pretty freaking stupid.
Math whizzes strike again.
Actually it seems to me that everyone is experimenting with a different narrative. Cunningham is definitely trying it the "I could work with Dawn but there's something wrong with Ravi" narrative.
ReplyDeleteFisher continues with her "Ravi is better than Dawn who set a really low bar" narrative since she genuinely believes as an article of faith that Dawn is really unpopular.
After all how can anybody who dimb enough not to understand that Tiffanie is the smartest person in every room possibly be popular!
Kurt is inventing a rift between Bhalla and Murphy. I suppose the thinking there is that when Murphy is able to help Hoboken it will always be treated as "in spite of Bhalla." Sad little lives.
DeleteMy understanding was that Peter, Tiffanie and Jen were privately fed up with Zimmer because they felt she excluded them in decsion-making, with Ravi as a liason to the council. When Zimmer chose Ravi without discussion or input from them, they splintered off. Everything ever since seems to be aimed at proving Zimmer made the wrong pick, and its obvious to me that they still suffer from Bhalla-derangement syndrome. They've made a bunch of foolish choices and are reaping what they've sown. That said, it was fascinating to hear Peter's sentimental waxing about the Zimmer days of yore, which is on its face revisionist history. If Peter feels like Ravi is not embracing him like the good old Zimmer days, I dont recall Peter sending press releases containing Zimmer's private text messages to a family member. Do you? That was a scumbag move. Peter needs to own up to his conduct which may have alienated Bhalla. Same with Tiffanie and Giattino. Russo makes an excellent therapist.
DeleteI am done with all three of them and I cannot see who Ravi picks to run on his slate. We need the petulant children removed from the CC ASAP.
DeleteThe idea that Jen, Tiffanie and Peter are reacting immaturely to real slights - essentially that they have a point but should grow up - is BS.
ReplyDeleteThey began scheming to undermine and push aside Zimmer and have Giattino run for mayor in 2017 immediately after the 2015 election.
Their frustration was not with Zimmer's failure to "communicate"with them. They were frustrated that the failure of their efforts to push Zimmer aside and promote "council president Giattino" as the new and true leader of "reform."
To clarify just a bit - the plan was for one of the three to run for mayor. Keeping the candidate theoretically open made the alliance easier to sustain.
DeleteHmmm. Interesting. That might explain the disproportionate anger /animus/disappointment- a.k.a. Bhalla Derangement Syndrome- that I have had trouble understanding.
DeleteThe reason they insist that Zimmer and Bhalla must have been plotting their nefarious backroom deal for years is because they have been plotting unsuccessfully in their backroom since November 2015.
ReplyDelete"I come from the private sector, and if I didn't work with somebody because I disagreed with them, I would be fired." - Mike DeFusco.
ReplyDeleteAnd that's exactly what we intend to do, Mike.
DeFusco's refrain about working in the private sector assumes the rest of us are bumpkins that hoe vegetables in our backyards for a living! If I'm not mistaken, DeFusco sprang up from suburban NJ- well, speaking as an NYC BnR who worked for years in the private sector in Manhattan, I wouldn't dare rub his suburban NJ pedigree in his face! What a hoot. And when he talks down to Emily... "well, as a new council member you probably don't understand..." that's another source of mirth. Emily is miles above him, intellectually speaking. And she's got his number.
DeleteFor emphasis, he waves that pencil like he's conducting a tiny orchestra in his little brain, which remains disengaged from his mouth.
Delete