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| Jersey City's Ward E is densely populated with hi-rise development in the Pavonia-Newport neighborhood. |
This is interesting, folks.
I see that Jersey City Councilman James Solomon (Ward E) had endorsed Hoboken's challenger to Freeholder Anthony Romano, Ron Bautista. And not a reluctant endorsement but one with gusto to thousands of followers on social media platforms: Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
TWITTER
FACEBOOK
INSTAGRAM
Apparently Solomon and Bautista go way back together.
Ron told me, "Councilman Solomon and I were both fellows of progressive training program New Leaders Council 5 years ago."
In fact, it was Bautista who set up the meeting together with Solomon and 'off-the-line' candidates (ballot Line A) Congressional challenger Hector Oseguera and Freeholder candidate Eleana Little, whom Solomon then endorsed.
Go left, young man.
AND ANOTHER THING...
As a point of interest about Jersey City Councilman Solomon, he also has a longstanding political alliance with Hoboken Councilman Mike DeFusco.
"Jersey City Ward E Councilman James Solomon joined Hoboken 1st Ward Councilman Mike DeFusco in calling for the Mile Square City to bring back runoff elections at a fundraiser for the latter elected official last night.
The campaign to bring back runoff elections in Hoboken looks like it will be an aggressive one, given that a new political non-profit, New Jersey Democracy in Action was distributing flyers at the event.
“New Jersey Democracy in Action is a coalition of citizens advocating for fair and open elections in the state to promote the values of equality, justice, reform, transparency and opportunity,” their mission statement says."
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| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r97z7iakdo8 |
The Solomon-DeFusco political alliance continues to the present; this March they collaborated on a letter writing campaign to quarantined seniors.
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| https://www.newsbreak.com/new-jersey/jersey-city/news/0ObsIYtk/due-to-covid-19-solomon-starts-letter-writing-campaign-for-seniors-defusco-follows-suit |
All I can say is: when it comes to Freeholder candidates, Jersey City Councilman Solomon shows excellent taste!
Too bad for Ron Bautista. I like him and voted for him, but a DeFusco association is like the kiss of death at this point. He has zero credibility.
ReplyDeleteIt's no secret that Romano and most of old guard Hoboken, except for a few old ladies, loathes DeFusco, which is one reason to like Romano.
I know Councilman Solomon since way before DeFusco. Solomon and I were both fellows of progressive training program New Leaders Council 5 years ago. DeFusco had no connection in my conversations with Councilman Solomon. I was the one who set up the meeting together with Congressional challenger Hector Oseguera and Freeholder candidate Eleana Little.
DeleteThis is Ron Bautista by the way.
DeleteHa ha! I was just about to update... stay tuned, Ron!
DeleteRomano will have his old VBM Crew out there ...💵💲💸
ReplyDeleteAnyone who has the very poor judgement to support the likes of DeFusco has zero credibility when he recommends any other candidate for office.
ReplyDeleteSolomon is one of the most "progressive" councilpeople in the county. I don't know why he is aligned with defusco. Wasn't Defusco bankrolled by Pupy Raia? In any case this association doesn't diminish Column A. Romano has to go so Hoboken gets a freeholder that doesn't take marching orders from the HCDO machine.
ReplyDeleteDeFusco was indeed real estate developer Raia's preferred candidate and he dumped close to $10K into his coffers and worked the senior buildings and old Hoboken for him before he was charged, convicted of organizing massive voter fraud. Like it or not the HCDO is the dominate political power group in Hudson County. It is in many ways in Hoboken residents best interest to have someone who can work within that structure rather then elect someone who just rails against it from the fringes.
DeleteDeFusco received Raia's formal endorsement and got a check from Raia in 2017, but it was Romano who got the lions share of the VBM's usually associated with Raia's illegal harvesting operation. Romano has also depended on Raia's support complete with harvested paid forofor VBM's in many a prior election.
DeleteI don't think it's coherent to cite Raia's support as evidence DeFusco is a scumbag without reaching the same conclusion about Romano.
I do agree that Hoboken would benefit from being represented on the freeholder board by someone committed to working within the system to advance Hoboken's (not their own) interests. IMHO no honest objective observer could possibly believe that is what Romano has done or will do.
Replacing Romano with someone who will truly represent Hoboken's interests with honesty and integrity is probably not possible given the composition of the primary electorate but let's not pretend that Romano is actually an honest effective freeholder worthy of re-election.
Raia's support is not the only "evidence DeFusco is a scumbag" just one of many.
DeleteRaia's support is also far from the only data point in Romano's long and storied history. Just one of many.
DeleteStick is what he is and I can understand why it's not worth expending any political capital on trying unsuccessfully again to replace him with an actual public servant. But I seriously doubt anon 11:57 genuinely believes that Hoboken is well served by Stick's "working within" the HCDO "structure."
Romano whether he meant to or not, made Bhalla's run to become Mayor a bit easier by siphoning off some of the old Hoboken votes DeFusco thought Raia could deliver for him.
DeleteI hope you're not implying stick earned Brownie points leading Bhalla to owe Romano something for running in 2017. That just plays into the conspiracy theories spun by the tin foil hat crowd.
DeleteI was not implying anything about motivations. Just stating facts. Romano being in the race split off some of the anti-Bhalla old Hoboken the vote DeFusco had expected. Much in the same way Giattino being in the race split off some new Hoboken votes Bhalla had expected.
DeleteOK - I'm glad you don't think Romano running in 2017 was some kind of good deed that offsets his actual record and justifies supporting him over Ron. The comment was just an out of context non sequitor then?
DeleteAgain just pointing out the facts. I will leave conspiracy theories to others.
DeleteDid Councilman Michael DeFusco's relationship with Jersey City Councilman James Solomon precipitate his attending a Jersey City Zoning Board hearing to advocate for a high rise residential building on Harrison Street in what is now the Hoboken Business Center ? The fact that Councilman Defusco had difficulty attending the Hoboken board meetings he was supposed to attend makes his appearance in Jersey City even more unusual.
ReplyDelete