 |
| Ruben Ramos' Financial Disclosure Form signed on April 3, 2009 |
Oh, no!
Hoboken City Council President Ruben Ramos never misses an opportunity to harangue the mayor for taking an "of-counsel" gig with a South Jersey law firm. (The gig keeps Bhalla's law license active including paying registration fees, while Bhalla serves as mayor. A NJ licensed attorney told GA: " 7 or more consecutive years of ineligibility can cause license to be administratively revoked by order of Supreme Court." )
Nevertheless, the craven harping of Ramos at every public meeting about Bhalla's passive income, which requires no absence from his duties to Hoboken nor does it doesn't cost taxpayers a dime, is incredible given Ramos' record of suckling off the taxpayers' teat.... even holding 3 public jobs concurrently in 2008 and 2009!
Sip sip sip sip... Bring that taxpayer teat a little closer... Oooh la-la!
One of my reader's reminded me about it today. He/she wrote:
"Ramos should talk. He's a triple dipping hypocrite. Ruben’s profited hundreds of thousands in salary from elected office and what's he ever done for Hoboken? Paterson schools had to hire a substitute teacher every day Rueben was in Trenton costing Paterson taxpayers even more money! Here's what triple dipper Rueben cost all of us:
City Council 1999 to 2009. That’s $240K.
Assembly 2008 to 2012. That’s $196K."
Holy cow! What a tax-guzzler! Sip sip sip...OUCH! Get off our teats, Ruben!
Meanwhile, now that Tiffanie Fisher got the boot off of the Hoboken Democratic Committee, the gloves are off again. After her interview with John Heinis on Hudson County View, she sent out an email and Facebook message, which included:
"The only topic surprisingly not discussed given the controversy is our Mayor's 2nd job that like most of you who feel similarly, I strongly oppose. Please feel free to PM, email or call me if you have any questions, comments or want to discuss any of this."
Maybe that's because the only ones continuing to harp on the "controversy" are butt-hurt elected officials thrown off his ticket, their Dark Side council allies and unstable political operatives. If Heinis thought it was an active issue, he would have asked a question.
They are in a bubble. Fisher, Ramos, Giattino, DeFusco, and Cunningham appear to be drifting further and further away from what mainstream Hoboken residents care about: a council that can work collaboratively with the mayor.
All eyes on 2019, I guess.
 |
| Bhalla's secret weapon |
Ruben is definitely a hypocrite, but let's not pretend that the second job that the mayor has isn't an issue. We'd all be furious if Cammarano had taken a job as a lawyer with a firm while he was mayor. We should be able to expect a reform mayor or reform candidate to be above the fray.
ReplyDeleteRuben can never disappoint me because I hold him in such low regard. However, I hold Ravi in high regard and therefore he can (and has in this instance) disappoint me.
Its a political issue, not pretending otherwise. My point is, public meetings are to do the people's business- they're not for political grandstanding about Ravi's gig, or group therapy for everyone to emote about how they "feel" about the mayor, like at the last meeting. Who cares how they feel? Just shut up and WORK. If all the BS were cut out of the meeting s (which would require a few councilpersons to be gagged) they would go faster and most likely accomplish more of the people's business, instead of veering off on ridiculous tangents.
DeleteROFL - you're right. The Group Therapy Session is ridiculous. Emotions should be left at home.
Delete100% agreed that the alt-right blog is Ravi's secret weapon. Roman has tanked the credibility of anyone associated with him. Re: Ravi's passive income, I think once it starts impacting his record of accomplishment, it's an issue. What I've seen though is a super active Mayor who is over performing.
ReplyDeleteThis scenario has made clear to me that if we want to attract accomplished professionals to City Hall who are not independently uber wealthy, whether they own a profitable business or in Ravi's case are a professional, asking them to give up their business and reduce their income significantly to come to City Hall is a high barrier to attracting high caliber people. The alternatives seem to the Jen Giattinos, Tiffanie Fishers, Beth Masons, Ruben Ramos' of the world who are not employed or under employed. The choice in that scenario is clear. I want the high caliber professional who gets the job done, not the person who gets an enormous bump in salary to lead an over $100 million operation,
I agree, I don't want idiots in charge either. I'd suggest the mayor's salary stay as is + pay whatever the mortgage payment or rent payment is at the time of election. That should solve the problem to a degree. Second jobs are a bad idea.
DeleteI agree with most of what you said above, except the characterization of Ravi's law firm gig as "passive income".
DeleteSorry GA, but your article is incorrect. Law licenses in NJ don't "expire" or get revoked after 7 years of not practicing law. They do get administratively revoked if you haven't paid your attorney registration fees for 7 years, but there is nothing to prevent you from paying your attorney registration fees annually even though you are not practicing law. It isn't like a securities license whereby you need to be employed by a registered broker dealer to keep your license.
ReplyDeleteThat's what I had remembered an attorney telling me- but I just checked notes from our conversation, so it seems you are correct except you neglected to mention the mandatory legal education classes. I'll update tomorrow.
DeleteThe lawyer told me:
"Just a note re NJ attorney practice. I have admission to NJ bar and NY bar. I only practice in NY. Nevertheless every year I need to certify and pay a fee. Every other year I need to report having completed mandatory CLE - continuing legal education classes. As a little anecdote re repercussions of not paying my annual fee (which my firm pays even though I only practice in NY) – last year I missed the deadline to file my annual attorney registration, I then was listed on ineligible to practice list, paid a ton of penalties to get off the list and then was audited for my CLE. It took months to fix the mess. If you are on ineligible list for x number of years, you can lose your license to practice in NJ permanently. even if I never intend to practice in NJ, why would I want to jeopardize my ability down the road to practice in nJ. Clearly ravi needs to maintain his law admission wants that. Anyway just a little tidbit. It’s gross they are making an issue of the of counsel position paying his annual registration and CLE... it’s 7 or more consecutive years of ineligibility can cause license to be administratively revoked by order of Supreme Court... NJ Rule 1:28-2 of Rules Governing the Courts of the State of NJ"
Can't he just pay for his registration and CLE himself? How much does it cost? I googled NJ CLE and found this:
DeleteAttorney Registration and Payment - FAQ - NJ Judiciary
https://www.judiciary.state.nj.us/attorneys/attregfaq.html
Jump to What happens if I neither pay the required fee nor receive either of the ... - ... 1:28-2 and 1:20-1(d), you would be required to pay a $50 fee to be removed from one year's ineligible list or a $100 fee for removal from two or more years' ineligible lists, in addition to the regular and late fees required for each year.
"All 12 NJ CLE for $69"
https://www.lexvid.com/new-jersey-cle?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=NewJersey&utm_campaign=1_3&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_ODWBRCTARIsAE2_EvXyqmg8UGQUKnoZJHLEIriLR0Jyg8TiQiD6sCBRHNlIS5WSnn6Q_vQaAqMQEALw_wcB
I'm not a math whiz, but this is not $60,000.
Annual NJ bar dues are currently $212/year. I neglected to mention CLE because it is such a non-issue for most attorneys. CLE can be gotten for cheap, as stated by snoopy, or for free as many law firms run free CLE seminars as a marketing tool for potential clients. Any attorney that doesn't pay their annual bar registration dues on time and take their CLE is neglecting the requirements of their license. These are minor burdens to keep your law license, and most people don't think it is a big deal.
DeleteThanks, Unknown. I am a layperson and don't know firsthand how legal licensing works. At the end of the day, I've already stated that taking this job creates a political issue for him. But, what matters is what he accomplishes as mayor, and that no ethical conflicts are created. Ruben Ramos grandstands at EVERY meeting (didn't see last night's yet), wastes time, and is no one to lecture a public official about a 2nd revenue stream when he held 3 PUBLIC JOBS concurrently. Ruben has cost the Hoboken taxpayer a lot of dough.
DeleteI just can't seem to care what completely dishonest and disingenuous people complain about. They usually are just making a stink to make a stink. When they speak, I tune them out.
ReplyDelete