Holtzman hanging party on Weds - "Fisher leading prosecution"

There are different kinds of political corruption.  

There's the kind that gets prosecuted in criminal court.  The other kind is technically not a crime.  It's moral corruption; the bad faith use of political power for nefarious purposes-- such as clearing vacancies on boards to install unsuitable cronies, or using political power for revenge on an adversary, or wrecking a guy's reputation without due process simply because you can. 

That second kind of corruption will take place this Wednesday, in public.  That's when the Hoboken City Council Kangaroo Court will boot longtime public servant, Gary Holtzman off the Planning Board. It promises to be an ugly spectacle of scorched-earth character assassination with Holtzman as a stand-in for Hoboken Mayor Bhalla. 

Sources report that Torquemada Fisher, will be the Lead Kangaroo, and Mike DeFusco, with his horrible record of Planning Board service (absences, arguments/rudeness to board professionals) will lay low.   

GA hears that Council Kangaroos are trying to execute a (pathetic) strategy to force Emily Jabbour and Jim Doyle from participating in Holtzman's execution.  (Is that because support for the hanging is waning?  It should.)  

This Holtzman Hanging Party is a foul, nasty, partisan pile of excrement.

Check out Fisher's "evidence:" cringes from no-name attorneys.  

Kangaroo Court Council letter disseminated to media 

Facebook 

Here's an actual statement the 2nd Ward Councilwoman put in writing:

"I spoke with a few attorneys including a couple the city has contracted with- all on a no names basis and the responses were all akin to an audible wince and confirmed what I already knew." 

Now, if you want to talk about material proof of an ethical breach... Fisher admits to soliciting legal opinions from attorneys who have contracted with the City of Hoboken. (She will not name these attorneys, either.) As the legal authority that awards contracts to attorneys like the ones who gave her the freebie opinions and audible winces, Councilwoman  Fisher appears to have committed a serious ethical breach.    

Why isn't Fisher's solicitation a quid pro quo? Legal opinions have value. Who are these "no-name" attorneys? Do they have contacts pending before the City Council? Fisher must name these attorneys from whom she procured winces and cringes, immediately. 

Having committed a real ethical breach, Fisher and her Kangaroos are trying to pin a fake one on Gary.

Holtzman's email-- an alphabetized list of 16 land use attorneys recommended by current and former board professionals as replacement for the retiring Robert Matule, Esq. does not show that he was steering business to any of them. These recommendations were by others.

Furthermore, as a former ZBA Commissioner myself,  I know Fisher is lying when she says  that  recommending professionals to any individual or entity who may submit an application for a variance "is not allowed." There is no such prohibition. But, IMO, it's not wise. Because the Board member would likely be obliged (or directed by the Board Attorney) to recuse himself/herself on Applications where one of the parties to the recommendation appears with one of the 16 professionals recommended. 

Which is why I wouldn't have done what Holtzman did, because it could create conflicts on hearing some applications.  But the cure for that is recusal.  Not a big deal, it happens all the time.  I did it, other Commissioners did it whenever a conflict arose. DeFusco has had to recuse himself on at least 3 recent Planning Board applications because of donor conflicts. Is the Council going to remove him for cause? 

Call Holtzman "stupid" if you want, but if "stupid" were cause for removal, the City Council would have 5 empty chairs.

FISHER PUTS CITY AT LEGAL RISK 

Frankly, Fisher and her Kangaroos are the ones who have put the City of Hoboken at legal risk.  The cure for conflict on Planning Board applications is recusal. What's the cure for a damaged reputation?  

Fisher has been a one-woman defamation machine on Holtzman, gratuitously smearing him in the media. She told the Jersey Journal: "This isn't politics, it is Land Use 101 with consensus from professionals that Mr. Holtzman's conduct was a material, ethical breach."  In fact, her "professionals" are no-name attorneys who wince loudly. 

Fisher (and the Council Kangaroos) have in my opinion, done long term damage to Holzman. Her shotgun blasts at Holtzman, without due process, live on in cyberspace. And it appears to me that Fisher's corrupt intent was really to hurt the mayor. She erroneously told Hudson County View, “This is disappointing conduct that has created undue risk for our City. I hope that the mayor acts swiftly and makes the right decision for Hoboken.”   

Fisher's no-name professionals didn't tell her that removing Holzman was the Council's job- not the mayor's?

So, we all get treated to a disgusting display of morally corrupt, abuse of power on Wednesday. A good, honest man- a longtime unpaid volunteer public servant- is going to tried by a Kangaroo Court of vicious partisan political hacks. His reputation has already been dragged through the mud, and it will only get worse at Wednesday's spectacle.  Good folks who support the mayor will certainly be discouraged from volunteer service to Hoboken after they see what happens to Holtzman.

I have watched all of this, amazed at the Council reincarnation of Beth Mason scorched-earth politics. Today Holtzman, who will be their target tomorrow? 

As a Hoboken taxpayer, I hate to see the City of Hoboken wind up in litigation. 

In this case, I will make an exception. Go, Gary.