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| Hoboken is in Legislative District 33--Look how puny we are ! But you know, size doesn't matter... |
Geographically speaking, Hudson County is the teeny-weeniest county in the state of New Jersey; it's also the most densely populated. Politically, we pack a punch: U.S. Senator Bob Menendez grew up in Union City, U.S. Senator Cory Booker grew up in neighboring Bergen County. NJ's Democratic Party's center of gravity is here. If North Jersey ever goes red, there goes the state.
So, in bluest-blue Hudson County, we take our politics seriously. The next mayor may be the next governor or senator or even president. President Harris! (Oh, wait...)
So, the Dem Party machine is the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO). Interestingly, the new leader is a woman, Amy DeGise, who may never have sought the position but not for an effort to unseat the County Executive, her Dad, Tom. A sort of accidental leader, DeGise is a young progressive and serious enough about her new role that last month she announced that she'll step down from her position on the Jersey City Board of Education to focus on building the local party.
I've met her, like her, think she's the real deal.
The combo of this accidental Dem Party leader and her task to energize and unify local Dems to not just win local elections, but deliver votes to unseat The Orange Caligula in 2020, is a tall order. But GA is hopeful that DeGise may be able to steer this machine in a more progressive direction, and learn from her first stumble: failure to articulate a public position on the renewal of the County's contract with ICE.
Better to explain a controversial position than take no position at all. Dem leadership needs to be clear on where we stand on issues like continuing to hold ICE detainees at Hudson County Correctional Facility. Silence can be interpreted many ways.
Anyhow, see below an excerpt from the HCDO's press release with endorsements for next June's primary election:
"The slate of endorsed candidates has the support of HCDO Chairwoman Amy DeGise, Mayor Nicholas Sacco, Mayor Brian Stack, Mayor Jimmy Davis, Mayor Steve Fulop, Mayor Ravi Bhalla, Mayor Richard Turner, Mayor Wayne Zitt, Mayor Al Santos, Mayor Michael Gonnelli, Mayor James Fife and Mayor Joseph Smith.
“As we continue to see our country divided by hate and intolerance coming from the White House, now more than ever it is critical that we as a Democratic Party work together to rebuild a stronger nation,” said Hudson County Democratic Organization Chairwoman Amy DeGise. “This is why it is crucial for us to have dedicated public servants representing us not just in Washington, but right here in Hudson County and down in Trenton. By working together with this diverse and experienced slate of candidates, I am certain that we will continue to fight for our values as Democrats and Hudson County residents.”
The Hudson County Democratic Organization is endorsing:
- Assemblywoman Angela McKnight and Assemblyman Nicholas Chiaravalloti for the 31st District Assembly
- Assemblywoman Angelica Jimenez and Assemblyman Pedro Mejia for the 32nd District Assembly District
- Assemblyman Raj Mukherji and Assemblywoman Annette Chaparro for the 33rd District Assembly
- Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise
- Hudson County Sheriff Frank X. Schillari
- Freeholder Tilo Rivas for Hudson County Surrogate
“Joe Ryglicki has been an outstanding public servant for many years, not only as Surrogate but as an attorney who has helped government agencies effectively deliver services to residents,” said Mayor Sacco. “I want to thank Joe Ryglicki for his service to the people of Hudson County and wish him well going forward.”
Note, Joseph Ryglicki is believed to be the father of Jason Ryglicki, the guy who performed an in-kind legal service for Councilwoman Jen Giattino.
Last March, Sacco's ally Ryglicki provided a free legal opinion to support the Council majority's effort to remove appointment powers for Hoboken's Rent Leveling Board from Mayor Bhalla.
RYGLICKI OPINION
Council VP Giattino proffer... by on Scribd
Duh, if you were keeping up with the latest dispatches from Butthurtlandia, you’d know that according to insanely reliable sources, Unelectable will be FORCEFULLY TAKING Annette’s seat in Trenton!
ReplyDeleteThat’s why she DETESTS him — according to bizarrely accurate insiders!
Tiffy-Tiffy Bang-Bang knows all!!!
yes shocking, all of it (actually not really)
DeleteCertain of Ravi's opponents like to "expose" things they think will be damaging to Ravi before they actually happen.
DeleteUnfortunately for them, the things they "expose" in advance rarely actually happen.
You'd think given their almost perfect track record of being wrong, that they would wait to see what actually happens, but learning from their own mistakes doesn't seem to be part of their skill set.
What do the constant references to Face Punchers and Face Punching on that other site mean? It seems to be gratuitous and some kind of sick and twisted inside joke. Is he implying that the Mayor and his aides punch people in the face? If so, on what basis does he make that assertion? It would seem to me that accusing people of physical violence (a crime) is a very reckless statement to be making, regardless of any First Amendment defense and the fact that the Mayor and his aides would be considered public figures and therefor subject to the malice standard. Does Councilwoman Fisher endorse this kind of violence baiting and rhetoric? Has anyone punched her in the face that I don't know about? Does anyone know what's going on with him or what may be wrong? The whole reference to face punching seems to be off the wall to me and makes me want to take a shower after I visit the site (which I rarely do as I am a clean freak).
DeleteI think you're making too much of it by implying it's a legal issue. That's a serious stretch. It's more a maturity issue.
DeleteSadly, our President's juvenile name calling seems to have been oddly effective in 2016, so it's not surprising that his doofus Hoboken follower thinks it's an effective ploy in Hoboken.
I doubt the tactic will work again for Trump in 2020, and here in Hoboken it just reminds people of the doofusness of the person obsessively calling City employees face punchers.
Numberscruncher. I did not mean to imply that I thought that there was a viable legal claim; I merely think that, regardless of any legal consequence, it is a stupid and dumb thing to keep repeating. As to the lack of a legal basis, I was thinking about the baseless Bajardi mess and how that cost a lot of time and money for many folks (including the Bajardis) and the appeal in that hot mess has not been decided over six years after the lawsuit was first filed. I would think that he would have learned something from that experience and would not be so reckless.
DeleteIt's more like he's flailing in anger and deflected responsibility for getting his face SLAPPed.
Delete"Face punching" ostensibly comes from John Heinis at HCV in his 2018 year-end reviews.
ReplyDeleteHe referred to Bhalla as "trading punches" with the with the council majority. And John Allen and Vijay Chaudhuri having "a passion for political face punching."
Heinis also listed Stan Grossbard as a mover and shaker as an anonymous blogger. Which, no offense to Stan, made no sense at all. Does Heinis surf around looking for Stan-sounding commentary and then gauge how influential it is with elected officials? Pretty dumb, and ultimately revealing - about Heinis. Someone whispered in his ear and he went with it. Just like good ole Sully.
I couldn't help but feel that most of it was spin. You won't find a single article in HCV that presages his low year-end opinion of Allen and Chaudhuri. It's received opinion. From whom?
I lost a lot of respect for him at that point. My opinion has fallen a bit lower since. Not that it matters. And yes, he's doing an overall bang-up job county-wide. But like Al Sullivan, and damn near everyone in media, he doesn't quite "get" Hoboken and trusts certain poorly vetted people to explain it to him.
He's probably noticed that over 90% of the comments on his site come from Hoboken. He seems indifferent to how vile and/or pointless the content becomes. It's clear that statements that would be considered too nasty elsewhere are welcome on HCV. It's become an outlet the way Patch used to be (though nothing will ever rival Patch's glory days).
Anyway, thats where "face punching" comes from. It's repeated constantly so as to borrow Heinis's perceived credibility for a site that desperately needs to borrow it from somewhere. But for me, "face punching" blew a gaping hole in Heinis's credibilty. Which has only widened since. One catfish's opinion.
If he keeps getting his talking points from a blogger who has alienated his entire audience, that website is just going to wither away and die. We have seen this move play out before.
DeleteThanks for the background and the explanation. It makes the use of the phrase even more dumb and senseless. I still have to wonder if Ms. Fisher condones this type of rhetoric. Or is she the one who is whispering in JH's ear?
DeleteJohn seems nice, but this is so, so, so on point:
Delete"But like Al Sullivan, and damn near everyone in media, he doesn't quite 'get' Hoboken and trusts certain poorly vetted people to explain it to him."
I'd underline, underscore, highlight the words "poorly vetted" and "trusts." John is getting what he's paid for in terms of his own time and journalistic labor, which is zero, since I'm assuming these poorly vetted people who influence his writing are coming to him. John needs to do the work of a journalist. Some of the best people he could talk to truly understand what's happening in town don't come to him, and some of the most disconnected do, I assume. That's telling. But hey, sometimes you don't even know what you don't know. I think that is what's happening with HCV and John.
Fisher and DeFusco are both FACE PUNCHERS. Fisher uses a more passive aggressive tone and DeFusco is out and out full attack mode. They often omit the truth or edit it to advance their own agendas.
ReplyDelete