Well! This week, the Hudson Reporter put Hoboken's City Council dysfunction on the front page of their print edition: Payroll in mayor's office under fire by council, issue sparks smouldering resentments. "Smouldering resentments" for sure.
What really got my attention was the part captioned, "Accusations Fly." It began,
Fisher said she believes Allen “orchestrated” attacks on council members through two residents, Michael Donnelly and Anthony DeLeonardo. Both residents came before the council on various occasions since June and discussed alleged ethics violations of council members during the public portion of the meetings.STOP. When an elected official publicly attacks a member of the public, it's called punching-down, or bullying. Elected officials are not on the same strata as the people whom they serve.
Members of the public have a constitutional right to spoken and written criticism of their government and its elected officials without fear of retaliation.
Politicians who are publicly accused of ethical misconduct by a member(s) of the public have options. They can ignore the allegations or refute them.
Fisher, et. al took Option #3: attack, attack, attack.
Here's how it works. Scour the citizen's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, property tax records, public records. Find out his/her voting record, where they live, how old they are, their political affiliation, their employment, their looks (fat or thin or bald), who they supported for mayor, where they went to High School, where they grew up, who their friends are, who they have dinner with.
Next, traffic the opposition research to the media- or to a smear blog- or in a whiny email to constituents. Get the person's name, age and personal information out there. Launder personal information through anonymous comments on the smear blog. Then, POOF! Watch the ethics allegations disappear in a haze of conspiracy theories and bombast.
What Fisher, et. al have done to these two Hoboken residents is unconscionable.
Now, the councilwoman is entitled to an opinion and belief in what motivates council critics and sycophants, alike. But as an elected official she has a duty to stay quiet and listen, not argue, not hit back. It is stunningly inappropriate for an elected official to weave conspiracies about critics. Here is what Hoboken resident Mike Donnelly told the Hoboken Reporter:
“It’s extremely offensive that Tiffanie Fisher tried to silence me with her email publishing private information about me that I believe constitutes harassment and political bullying,” Michael Donnelly said in an unsolicited email. “It’s clear that by providing my age in a mass email, she does not believe young people should be involved in the political process, which is shameful. She owes the public an apology.”
Agreed. Donnelly is being punished for daring to speak truth to power. This bullying sends a message to members of the public that they will be similarly harassed if they speak out. Yes, Fisher is trying to silence Donnelly and any others out there like him. It's positively Trumpian...
...moreover, a smokescreen to distract the public from scrutinizing the merits of the complaint.
Why doesn't Fisher want to address its merits? She found ethical problems with Mike DeFusco during the campaign when she filed a pay-to-Play complaint letter to the Hoboken City Clerk. What about now?
This is the complaint filed by Mr. Donnelly. No one has examined it's merits. Not yet.
Let the public decide if there is any "there" there.
...moreover, a smokescreen to distract the public from scrutinizing the merits of the complaint.
Why doesn't Fisher want to address its merits? She found ethical problems with Mike DeFusco during the campaign when she filed a pay-to-Play complaint letter to the Hoboken City Clerk. What about now?
This is the complaint filed by Mr. Donnelly. No one has examined it's merits. Not yet.
Let the public decide if there is any "there" there.
EXHIBITS
EXHIBITS: August 1, 2018 Et... by on Scribd
She really is a piece of work. Has it ever crossed her mind that she is the problem and people don't need direction from city hall to essentially tell her that they are fed up w/ her antics? Or is she just too delusional to understand that?
ReplyDeleteHobokenHorse.com pulverized the mayor's operatives letter, re: fake Donnelly letter. Epic.
DeleteWhy do you speak of yourself in the third person? Pretending you are someone else doesn't mean your audience of 1 has grown any larger. BTW, you are the one who has been pulverized. You have pulverized your reputation. I believe the more accurate way of describing where you are now politically is folks have essentially told you to "pound sand".
DeleteShamrockFit (-80) / KievDynamo2 (-87) on Reddit, seems intent on flagrantly doubling down on his own stupidity. He will continue to rant about deranged conspiracy theories in cheesy tabloid diction while trying to sensationally hype his crap blog to anyone within ear shot. The funny / pathetic thing is, it doesn't seem like anyone really cares. That is, no one but himself and a handful of misfits who see it convenient to use his voice / spectacle for their own gain - to admonish their enemy.
DeleteIt's obvious to everyone but himself that he's created a spectactle. An ugly episode of an all too predictable plot. While it does invoke pity and some level of sympathy, I also think his antics have pushed him beyond redemption. Truly truly sad.
Mr. Donnelly should sue for libel. He should also run for council.
ReplyDeleteDonnelly is a young guy who wants to get more involved in Hoboken public life. The accusation that he's a proxy doing the mayor's bidding is a huge insult, absolutely false. Donnelly has own opinions and beliefs and tremendous integrity; he arrived at his disgust with the Council ethics on his own, not as per nutty council conspiracy theories. Tiffanie is a libel lawsuit waiting to happen. She needs to stop disparaging members of the public based on winces, and half-assed conclusions. A couple of months back Donnelly told me he was thinking of running for 2nd ward council. Dunno his thoughts now, but imagine he's pretty pissed off.
DeleteShe is reaching the BOIL THE RABBIT stage of crazy
ReplyDeleteFATAL DISTRACTION coming to a Hoboken polling booth in November
DeleteHa! Looks like my stalker's got more IPs than screen names. I'm sending him here: https://www.getroman.com/.
DeleteHis spam goes straight into oblivion unread. *POOF!*
Allen is really the only one with any chance of a complaint if Fisher is lying given she states repeatedly he organized the hit. But why isn’t he saying anything or filing a suit? I think we all know why, because she isn’t lying. And how did Donnelly even know to send in an “unsolicited email” to the HR for this story? Someone must have tipped him off about it and I think we all know who that must have been too.
ReplyDeleteHere is the problem w/ your theory. She has no credibility. Nobody takes her seriously and quite honestly, we are just plain fed up w/ her bitching and moaning, second guessing and complaints. And many of us don't believe her or we just don't frigging care what she says. So if everyone has that mentality, what damage has he suffered? The answer is none. The only person that looks bad is her, not him.
DeleteSo you finally going to pick a name and stick with it or keep acting like a spineless weasel and post either anonymously from random fake IP addresses or a different name every other day?
So your logic is that if you repeatedly accuse someone of something and they don't sue you, your otherwise unsubstantiated accusations are not merely vindicated but proved true?
DeleteAn certain anon spent the day here yesterday, among other things, demanding that I and the proprietor confess our knowledge of the "ravi terror flyer." In between restating his commitment to the Seth Rich hoax and Jon Podesta's pedophilia - to which he has brought precisely as much thought as to his defamatory assertions about the flyer. You two should get together. You've got a certain ethos in common.
John Allen is a lawyer. By all accounts a fairly smart one. Certainly smart enough to understand that when someone is looking to make a scene by making outrageous claims to promote themselves it is the smart thing to do is not give it to them the attention the so desperately crave.
DeleteThe analogies to individual-1 are endless.
DeleteI-1 insists that all negative reports are fake news; even contrary statements made by his intelligence chiefs are not what his intelligence chiefs actually said regardless of whether the statements were received first-hand and recorded. And so on.
With the council majority led by Fisher, all criticism of them must have originated in city hall; a perspective that is also tirelessly dry-humped by their blogger. They admit no possibility that members of the public have reached negative opinions on their own; they must all be members of a Bhalla/Allen directed and illicitly funded cabal, unwitting brainwashed dupes, or both. Oh, and paid off for their services. Because there are no educated, employed, government-savvy reform-minded people in Hoboken capable of independent thought and not needing a handout to express their opinions.
Which just leaves conspiracies to explain the world around them. You wouldn't have guessed the ostensibly democratic Fisher and her uber-alt right noise-box would find common cause so easily. But the penchant for paranoid explanations of ordinary phenomena is apparently a powerful... cocktail.
coolcomputer,
DeleteWrong. John Allen is a public figure, the others are not. The "chance of a complaint" lies with private persons who have been attacked by a public figure in the media, etc. and not Allen. The standard of proof for libel/slander are much lower for private persons. Whether or not Fisher believed what she said (or "lying") is less relevant than her effort to investigate her allegations, which are verifiable. Did she contact either man prior to going public? An example, seeing an adult man talking to a child in the playground is not license to libel/slander him as a pedophile. Seeing an adult man socializing with a city employee in a restaurant is not license to libel/slander him as an actor in a political conspiracy. That is what Fisher did.
Moreover, what was the purpose of publishing personal information like their age, and other personal observations about either? That satisfies the malice prong. Did Fisher consider that her public accusations against these men ("political operatives") might cause harm with their employers or in obtaining future employment? I'm no lawyer but from my perspective, both men have actionable claims against the Councilwoman. As for whether its worth pursuing, that's another story.
By CCNC's logic, the fact that Fisher hasn't sued anybody for accusing her of ethics violations proves she's guilty of them.
DeleteI dont know if Fisher's team's actions have violated state ethics laws - the DCA will decide that but Fisher is surely guilty of being a whiny narcissist who has difficulty separating the needs of her fragile ego from the needs the community she was elected to serve. She is tempermentally and intellectuallly I'll suited for public service.
I guess if she doesn't sue me that will prove I'm correct.
Wanktastic!!!!!!
DeleteI wish they all would stop with the petty bickering and whining and get stuff done.
ReplyDeleteIf they can not get beyond it and put Hoboken residents interests ahead of their own, it is time to find new people in place who can.
I'm absolutely shocked that the Hudson Reporter published Donnelly's letter, which by the way is awesome (and should be shared widely).
ReplyDeleteHer toxic attitude is so bad not even they can ignore it forever.
Delete