 |
| https://essexnewsdaily.com/headlne-news/91717 |
Folks may recall, this blog's last U.S.A. v Carmelo Garcia, et. al. update was two weeks ago. At that time, there were 6 days left on the continuance granted by the Court "to permit defense council the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation in this matter and to allow parties to conduct plea negotiations and attempt to enter a plea agreement."
The answer was behind Door Number Three; the Court granted parties another continuance, putting legal proceeding on hold until March 12, 2021.
ORDER FOR A CONTINUANCE
IHA HAS NEW EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
It appears that Carmelo Garcia is out as Executive Director of the Irvington Housing Authority. According to the IHA website, the "Interim Executive Director" is Ramon Rivera.
When did this happen? Under what circumstance? Is it temporary? Permanent?
Normally, one could find this information on the Irvington Housing Authority website. That is also where members of the public should have access to the federal agency's meeting minutes, transcripts, agendas, etc. But... (hide the children) the IHA website is absolute shit; zero meeting minutes, transcripts, agendas other than the one posted for the next meeting. One at a time! What actually happens at these meetings? Who does business with the IHA? If a member of the public wants to know how their federal dollars are being managed, or how the IHA population is being managed, what the issues are for the residents of the IHA.... GOOD LUCK. The January agenda that was on the site last month is already gone.
Oh honey, that would never fly in Hoboken.
Really, the Irvington HA should look a the Hoboken Housing Authority's website as a model; the HHA online vastly improved after the departure of Executive Director Carmelo Garcia. Perhaps the same happy fate will come to the Irvington Housing Authority?
HOBOKEN HOUSING AUTHORITY ONLINE: https://www.myhhanj.com/
So, all I know is the on October 24, 2020 The NJ Globe wrote: "Garcia is currently the executive director of the Irvington Housing Authority. as Executive Director" by the IHA January meeting agenda he was gone. POOF! No announcement found on Google... maybe you'll find it.
All I can say is Carmelo Garcia is presumed innocent until tried by a jury of his peers.
It certainly looks to me like plea negotiations are ongoing. My guess is that CG will ultimately plead out rather than spend a ton of his hard allegedly stolen money on a trial. But his lawyer will probably have some work to do getting CG to understand and accept that going to trial would be a suicide mission. CG likely still clings to the belief that he could BS a jury the way he has successfully BS'd so many people over the years.
ReplyDeleteThe more they push this off, the closer to the election it will be, so will Ramos' association with Garcia hurt his chances of becoming Hoboken's next mayor? Probably not. As the next mayor, will Ramos get to collect a fourth State pension? What role will Garcia play in the new administration?
ReplyDeleteThe Mayor's job doesn't come with a pension - the retirement benefits are far worse than a private sector 401k.
DeleteI don't think Ramos has much chance of being the next Mayor, especially since he's said he's not running. But if he changes his money and and runs rather than let DeFusco take on the suicide mission of running penniless against a popular well funded Mayor Bhalla, then I don't think his association with felons like Campos and Garcia will be a factor at all.
Did Ramos change his mind when he found out there was no pension? It's doubtful that there will be no opposition, and Bhalla's not universally liked or popular outside his inner circle. He'd be better than the usual suspects, but that's not saying much.
DeleteNobody is universally liked but Bhalla is pretty popular with Hoboken voters generally many of whom have never or barely heard of his potential opponents I certainly agree that no matter how popular he is, someone will run against him, probably DeFusco. If Mike and Ruben both opt out my guess is Russo would throw his hat in the ring.
DeleteI also agree that even for many who have some issues with Bhalla, he's still far better than people like Ramos, DeFusco, Russo, Fisher or Giattino.
It's hard for many to get interested and excited about another Bhalla term, which is why his donations come from elsewhere. A lot of people will probably not even vote, which is how people like Russo, Ramos and Garcia, and all they represent, still hold sway in town.
Delete