UPDATE: Hoboken citizens BLAST Council ETHICS (Video)

 JOHN Q. PUBLIC NO. 1

FISHER RESPONDS  

JOHN Q. PUBLIC NO. 2

UPDATE: 

So you thought that Fisher filed a complaint against Mike DeFusco? 

Um, no.  Fisher's election-time "complaint" against Mike DeFusco for Pay-to-Play violations was a letter to Hoboken Corporation Council. That's it. A letter. To Hoboken's Law Department. She could have gotten the answer whether or not Hoboken had an enforcement  mechanism for its local P2P with a phone call. 

Fisher's 'letter' was nothing more than a toothless campaign stunt.    

She never reported the DeFusco campaign's P2P violations  to the only law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over Hoboken on state campaign contribution limits. Fisher's complaint is like GA writing a letter to City Hall because New Jersey shorted my tax refund. The joke was on us, people. There is no active inquiry or investigation into DeFusco campaign finances. Zip. This is why Hoboken needs an ETHICS BOARD-- badly.

Anyone who wants to do the work and can file a complaint with NJ-ELEC:

https://www.elec.state.nj.us/legalresources/resourceinvest.htm

See below NJ-ELEC Contribution Limits Chart. State P2P limits are higher than Hoboken's. According to the DeFusco campaign ELEC reports, it appears (to me)  that violations of state campaign contribution limits  affect "Team DeFusco" only.  

Ruthless! Cagey! Nasty! DeFusco threw his entire team under the ELEC Enforcement bus!  Yes, Candidate DeFusco had his own separate Treasurer and kept his name off his "Team" filing; he literally put a wall between the campaign finances of himself and his Team:  Vanessa Falco, Michael Flett and Andrew Impastato.

Pay attention to that knife in your back, Vanessa.

 CONTRIBUTIONS WHICH APPEAR TO VIOLATE NJ-ELEC CONTRIBUTION LIMITS
(UNDERLINED IN RED)

___________

"Who spoke during the public portion last night and ripped tiffanie Defusco ruben and jen to shreds about the ethics board?"

GA got that text last week, but didn't watch the video until last night. Wow, talk about speaking truth to power.

Here's the story.

During the public portion of the July 11th Council meeting, Councilpersons Ramos, Fisher, Giattino, DeFusco and Cunningham were blasted by two members of the public, with charges including ethics violations, hypocrisy and public dishonesty.   In short, the speakers accused them of betraying the public trust.

Loved it. Let the sun shine. 

THANK YOU people-- whoever you are. The good citizens of Hoboken stand with you.  May you inspire others to stand up to this rogue council that breaks P2P law or turns a blind eye to it.  Thank you for demanding that our elected officials comply fully with campaign finance and ethics rules. Please, keep it up.

As you watch the videos, take note of the Council's response to their scathing critiques.

How did they handle it?

Ruben gets a B+.  Ruben handled the first salvo impressively well; he was polite, even thanking a guy who scorched him. He would have gotten an A, except for losing his temper once (when accurately called a "triple dipper") interrupting and engaging the speaker.  No, Ruben. Councilpersons are there to listen to the public, not argue with them. By all means, respond on your own time during "New Business."  (Just watch an old Lane Bajardi council performance and you'll see what I mean. Talk about Council members eating shit from the public! Carol Marsh and Peter Cunningham always sat silently through the worst of it.) 

Tiffanie gets an F-.  Councilwoman Fisher attacked the first speaker:  "I don't know who'd behind this..." Then dissembles a Pinocchio-esque response to the speaker's allegation that she's done nothing to follow up on her P2P complaint against Mike DeFusco. Her response: Fisher claims she checked with Corporation Council "weeks ago" about enforcing Hoboken's P2P law, but was told that the City can't enforce its P2P law.   True- because she never filed an enforceable complaint (see "Update")

Team DeFusco appears to have has PAC and Union donations in excess of state NJ-ELEC campaign contribution limits. 

AND WHILE YOU WEREN'T LOOKING... 

Folks, GA enjoys the public speaking truth to power as much as the next gal. However, the hair-on-fire issue now is Mike DeFusco's attack on privately owned open space-- his zoning law change permitting developers to build  inside the "donut hole."  

Not for nuthin' I served on our City's Zoning Board for 4 years, took my position seriously, always worked in good faith to serve the public good. Hence, I am mortified by our legislators' casual degradation of open space protections outlined (repeatedly) in our Master Plan- for a developers benefit.   

• This is a law change with ZERO public benefit. 

• This is a law change in defiance of the 2018 Master Plan Re-Examination Report  &  2018 Land Use Element and the Planning Board's Compliance Review.  

• Open space is NOT a partisan issue. We all live (own/rent) in homes or buildings. Most of us have private open space (a patio, a deck, a yard).  We are all affected by DeFusco's change in zoning law that lets construction creep inside the open space behind and adjacent to your patio, deck or yard.  

• Lawmakers must defend City's Master Plan, not dismantle it. The preservation of privately owned open space ("the donut hole") in residential block interiors, so residents may enjoy light, air, openness, privacy, is a keystone of our City's Master Plan.   Every rear deck,  patio and yard is negatively impacted by eroding the "donut hole." 

Unfortunately for the City of  Hoboken, Jen Giattino, Tiffanie Fisher, Peter Cunningham chose  political alliances over public benefit, and voted for this developer-bonanza with zero public benefit. 

Some might think this law change (with zero public benefit) is Planning Board Commissioner DeFusco's way of saying, "Thank you!"  Not me, of course.