When GA heard that 4th ward candidate Lisa Farrell-Sprengle was the daughter of an F.B.I. agent, I wanted to know more.
You know, Lisa has been a most understated candidate; self-deprecating and humble, but boy did she bring it to the QLC debate. Girlfriend was on-point, tough, had thoughtful detailed policy proposals and articulate answers. She challenged her opponent, Ruben Ramos, on his relationship with Academy Bus- as a recipient of campaign contributions while quietly shepherding their giant development proposal. Just watching her, it was clear that she stepped up to run for all the right reasons. Lisa's F.B.I. lineage makes perfect sense.
Lisa was kind enough to consent to this interview.
GA: Can you tell me a bit about your father's service?
LISA: So, my father was a Vietnam Vet. He served in the F.B.I. for over 20 years--I think 25 ,but I'd rather not guess.
GA: Did your dad's commitment to federal law enforcement have an impact on you as a child?
LISA: It of course had an impact on us as children and how we viewed laws and adherence to the law. As FBI you enforce the law and that was a lesson as a child that was ingrained in us. My father was always friendly to local police. I grew up with strong beliefs that you followed the law.
GA: Have your strong beliefs in obedience to the law affected any career or educational choices?
LISA: It was the reason I choose to go to law school, debating one day applying for the FBI myself. During law school I worked at the Cook County States attorney's office one summer. I didn't end up applying to the FBI, however, that reverence for the law has never diminished.
GA: Hoboken needs officials who revere the law. What are your thoughts on the current Pay-to-Play controversy, where your opponent, Ruben Ramos, supported tabling Pay-to-Play enforcement three times!
LISA: I hate all of the political games that have been playing out in this election, in particular. I feel strongly that while people may not like the pay to play law, it needs to be enforced- and should have been enforced, from the beginning.
GA: Your opponent and his council allies would not allow Pay-to-Play enforcement to be voted on because, they say that the law is "unenforceable." Your thoughts?
LISA: As a candidate, I would never disregard this law, under the context that it's not enforceable, that is not up to us to decide, that is a decision for the courts. Nor, am I willing to be the candidate to violate that law to challenge it, ethically, that's compromising.
Thank you, Lisa. If the best man/women wins in the 4th Ward, it will be YOU.
4th Ward people, please vote for Lisa Sprengle on Tuesday.
The 4th Ward has had a long and sordid history of voter fraud farming with the old guard handing out cash in the HHA for votes. One old guard even referred to it as a PLANTATION.
ReplyDeleteThen came Dawn Zimmer who showed that the 4th Ward is made up of more than the HHA and unseated the believed unbeatable Councilman Christopher Campos (now a convicted felon). The years since that election the 4th Ward has grown and prospered with the number of voters who do not reside in the HHA outnumbering those who do.
Like Councilman Campos, Councilman Ramos once thought to be unbeatable is still a strong very well funded and candidate but is much more vulnerable.
While a win for Lisa Springle on Tuesday would be another epic political paradigm shift in the 4th Ward, winning a substantial number of votes will send a loud and clear message that is bigger then the HHA and not to be ignored and or bought.
ReplyDeleteVotes will still be bought in the HHA on Tuesday
I'd like to think with the recent Raia conviction and light shone into the blatant Election fraud and criminal practices of Hoboken, there will be increased scrutiny and further investigation into not only those in Hoboken - currently and recent past, but also that of Hudson County's political machinery.
ReplyDeleteIt is utterly ridiculous that the practices have gone on this long. I'm encouraged by the Fed's efforts and I honestly hope Ramos and Russo piss themselves a little bit every time there's a knock on their doors.
I'd think just as people had come out to vote for Zimmer and old-Reform, people in the 4th should (and all of Hoboken for that matter) be coming out and voting out the freeloading, Pay to Play-flouting, political game playing, tax payer fund and time wasting, whining squatters on the Council. You're paid to do a job. Do it, or leave. We have no more patience for your incompetence.
Still some older reformers in the 4th would rather vote for Ramos instead of Lisa because they have hurt feelings due to some previous "personal" drama with Dawn, or Ravi......Yup, tank the town because your kid didn't get picked first....
DeleteIf you are voting for a person like Ramos, you were never really a reformer to begin with. He is the personification of everything the reform movement stands against. True reformers vote against candidates like that regardless of that other nonsense.
DeleteOh I think if Ravi picked Oprah to run down here - those peeps still wouldn't vote for her....(they would claim they didn't like "A Wrinkle In Time").
DeleteAny of the "older reformers" who have the Ramos stench on their noses or faces have left the aims of good government and servicing the community behind. We need councilmembers whose aims are loyalty to their communities and neighbors instead of either rubber stamping or voting on vindictiveness and pettiness. Ramos has voted against Bhalla and kept an alliance of those who are the "enemy of my enemy." He's the very definition of what is wrong with our City Council. Why any reformer would throw in their hat with Ramos' ilk is beyond me.
DeleteLisa is a do-gooder who has had enough, along with the rest of us, with the petty bickering on the City Council. Their job is to work with the Administration to find a solution which best suits the community and city at large. Where there is a conflict, they need to work with the Administration to find a solution. Period. From her debate and material, Lisa understands there is a job to be done and people who currently are either incapable, inept or unwilling to do their jobs. Someone who believes in Reform, would see the obvious choice here.
Easily the most underrated in this years field.
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