If you haven't seen it, 1st Ward Councilman Mike DeFusco has email-blasted out a response to the heat he's gotten over his stand-alone zoning ordinance. His ordinance, co-sponsored by Tiffanie Fisher, increases lot coverage and reduces the 'donut hole'-- a cash bonanza for developers and in conflict with Hoboken's Master Plan. Fortunately, DeFusco's ordinance was vetoed by the mayor.
Well, thin-skinned DeFusco doesn't like the criticism he's getting. His email-- strident, defensive in tone-- is slathered in turd-frosting; an unsatisfying response buried under a litany of DeFusco's Greatest Shits. Condon! Censure! Perry Belfiore's right to bloviate wildly! Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Well, thin-skinned DeFusco doesn't like the criticism he's getting. His email-- strident, defensive in tone-- is slathered in turd-frosting; an unsatisfying response buried under a litany of DeFusco's Greatest Shits. Condon! Censure! Perry Belfiore's right to bloviate wildly! Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Look over there, not at me.
GA is going to take you through his 'response'-- you be the judge on whether or not he's being truthful. And if he's not being truthful then, what's he got to hide?
DEFUSCO: "The fact of the matter is that the donation was from a well-respected restaurateur in my district, not a developer or special interest as the mayor sensationalized and it had absolutely nothing to do with my decision to take up the zoning issue."
FACT: The owner of 318 Madison applied as a "property owner" and a "developer" on his Planning Board Application. It's a public document.
DEFUSCO: "On the date of the contribution, the donor didn’t even own the property that he would later bring to the Planning Board."
FACT: According to the City of Hoboken tax records, the current property owner/Applicant payed tax on 318 Madison on November 1, 2017. The $1,200 contribution to the DeFusco compaign was made on November 8, 2017.
DEFUSCO: "As soon as I became aware that this donor was submitting an application, I recused myself from that meeting to avoid any appearance of a conflict."
FACT: "That meeting" hasn't been held. The Applicant requested adjournment for 318 Madison, from the July 10, 2018 Planning Board Agenda. "That meeting" has not been rescheduled, therefore DeFusco could not have recused himself from it. Further, DeFusco was absent from the Planning Board on July 10th.
DEFUSCO: "There is absolutely no merit to the mayor’s lies against me and worse, his attempt to defame a Hoboken-based small business for petty political gain."
FACT: The Applicant's donation is perfectly legal. It is the Councilman's conduct at question. Did he legislate a zoning ordinance favorable to a donor and his donor pool?
DEFUSCO: "Perhaps most telling, after concocting the story, Mayor Bhalla sent out a fake version of a news article to his supporters that intentionally removed crucial facts, such as editing the headline to change the meaning and mislead residents. In a truly Trump-like move, he’s trying to manipulate the local media to fit his own twisted and false narrative."
FACT: The mayor noted "below is an excerpt from the Jersey Journal... or you can read the full article here (link).
Now ask yourself: why so many lies? What's Mike DeFusco trying to cover up? Why are his surrogates threatening a member of the public with a "dossier" of dirt? How many people has DeFusco got doing opposition research on members of the public who dare criticize him?
Lotta smoke here.
There is more to this story.
OUCH ! Fact checking. That has gotta sting.
ReplyDeleteToday I want to talk to you about my wonderful friend, Councilman. Make. DevelCo. Make C. DevelCo on his non-Kenyan birth certificate. When I asked him what the "C" stood for, he said, "ChecksPayableTo." So full name, Make ChecksPayableTo DevelCo.
ReplyDeleteNaturally I assumed he was an Indian, since it sounded like one of those names from F-Troop. And I was hopeful that he could could use his Indianhood or whatever you call it to get me tax status to open a casino in Hoboken. But so far, no dice so to speak. Sending another check tomorrow though. Knock on (Fox)wood!
The first thing I noticed about Councilman DevelCo was how, unlike me, he didn't hit on my daughter. I admired his self-control. But then I learned the secret of his restraint.
Councilman DevelCo is our first openly pay(to-play) elected official. Unlike closeted felon Pete Cammarano, Make ChecksPayableTo DevelCo doesn't sneak around having trysts in diners. He proudly wears his openly pay(to-play) identity like a barcode. When Make refers to "checks and balances" he means checks to his campaign warchest and the balances thereof. I found him shockingly mercenary and self-promoting. Naturally we got along great!
Now Councilman DevelCo finds himself, like me, the victim of a rigged witch hunt. Other than documented payments from developers and unions in violation of local ordinances, there is no evidence of Make ChecksPayableTo DevelCo taking payments from developers and unions in violation of local ordinances! And do we need to add that this has only been reported here on RiggedWitchHunt dot.com??? There's not one word about it on either Fox and Friends or Horse and Friends where we take the mantle of watchdog journalism very seriously indeed.
The mantle only though. Actually doing watchdog journalism is off the table. Sweaty business that, filing opras, reading reports, analyzing information, connecting dots, and all that.
On the other hand convicting Crooked Bhallary of the midnight flyer and claiming he has endless pay-to-play violations without producing a shred of evidence? Just takes a few minutes! Have we become lazy slobs? Yes! Are we phoning it in on a daily basis? Yes! Would we be be leading a recall of Crooked if he actually did 1/10 of what Make has done? Yes! Does that mean we have become nothing more than anti-ravibots? Yes!
What's your point?
....Let's get back to our wonderful openly pay(to-play) Councilman Make ChecksPayableTo DevelCo. I think Yappy the Alt-Right Real Estate Agent said it best: I hope you all die in a cave in Thailand. He's not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he does get to the point. We hate you all. We'll only hate you more if you keep picking on Councilman Make ChecksPayableTo DevelCo. Is that what you want? Of course not! So just stop. Not because you're wrong. Not because we aren't being amazingly cynical and hypocritical. Do it because this is a small town, and a fight to the death will be sooooo messy for all concerned, including innocent bystanders.
ReplyDeleteRemember that attorney at the Army/McCarthy hearings? "Have you no sense of decency? At long last have you left no sense of decency?" And McCarthy gets all sheepish and can't even look him in the eye? Yeah, that's not gonna happen. We are all-in on Councilman Make ChecksPayableTo DevelCo. We don't care if someone hands him a check while he's pontificating abount Crooked's conflicts of interest on live TV. Don't care, don't care, don't care.
Pop quiz: Do we care how dirty Councilman Make ChecksPayableTo DevelCo is? Pencils down. Correct answer: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! So get the F over it. This isn't about whatever you think it's about. It's about revenge. Combattere fino alla morte. Look it up. There will be blood.
Have a nice day!
#MAGA!!!
#MakeYappyRelevantAgain!!!
#MakePayForPlayNormalAgain!!!
#FoxwoodsHoboken!!!
I really appreciate the fact checking here GA. In some cases, what’s written in black and white and documented clearly directly contradicts Councilman DeFusco’s narrative. It’s one thing to accuse someone of lying, it’s another to prove it. DeFusco as you have shown is clearly full of it. Super work.
ReplyDeleteFACT: "There was absolutely no merit to DeFusco's lies against me and worse his attempt to defame my Hoboken-based small business for petty political gain."
ReplyDeleteRemember the Stevens college "Mayoral Debate" where Defusco claimed I had an illegal business! Huh?