Bhalla hits Hoboken council foes after pay-to-play vote delayed due to lack of quorum

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Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla has taken aim at five of his adversaries on the city council after a special meeting to vote on a single resolution regarding pay-to-play laws was cancelled due to a lack of quorum.

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

“It’s troubling that five council members decided to not show up to tonight’s city council meeting. This deliberate action prevented an important vote to protect the integrity of our local elections as well as our redevelopment initiatives and city contracting process,” Bhalla said in a statement.

“Instead of taking a stand against special interest groups, agreeing to abide by our current pay to play laws, and setting a positive example, the council majority is choosing to ignore the law for their own benefit. We must continue to be vigilant to stamp out voter fraud and strengthen campaign finance regulations, and tonight the council failed to accept the very the laws they have been elected to uphold.”

3rd Ward Councilman Mike Russo was the only elected official who joined Councilman-at-Large James Doyle, the resolution sponsor, in person, while Councilwoman-at-Large Emily Jabbour – the other co-sponsor – and 1st Ward Councilman Mike DeFusco called into the meeting.

Since the nine-person council needs a majority to convene, the meeting was cancelled.

It would appear that Doyle and Jabbour sensed that the special meeting would not take place, given that they reiterated their request for the council to convene and vote on the matter yesterday after the measure was tabled on September 18th.

Hoboken’s pay-to-play laws were enacted in 2011, particularly notable since they limit political action committee’s contributions to individual candidates to just $500 – as opposed to the $2,600 allowable by state law.

Earlier this week, Council President Jen Giattino questioned the need to vote on the resolution since the pay-to-play regulations have remained unchanged since their inception, noting that she was the deciding vote on the measure in 2011.

The Mile Square City’s pay-to-play regulations have come under scrutiny after a September 3rd outside counsel opinion solicited by corporation counsel recommended that the current ordinance be repealed due to questions of enforcement and constitutionality.


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40 COMMENTS

  1. Ravi Bhalla’s political hit job failed. There’s nothing about election integrity here at all. Ravi Lies.
    Wah.

    There’s no delay. The City Council tabled the political resolution last week for legal review. Nothing to do with voter fraud. Fake Ravi lies.

    It’s unenforceable.
    It’s unenforceable.

    Brian Aloia said so.
    Thee end.

    Next!

  2. If the five council crybabies disagree with the resolution, they should have the backbone to do their jobs: show up and vote against it. Instead, they’re a bunch of cowards who shirked the responsibilities of the office they were elected to serve and didn’t even bother to show up.

    Why couldn’t they do their jobs? They are free to vote however they want. Why are they scared to even vote? If they believe so strongly about it, show up and take an official stand.

    Pathetic.

    • *******
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      The amount of damage control being done by Cunningham, DeFusco, Fisher, Giatinno and Ramos on this site reinforces that they very uncomfortable with their position to boycott a vote on pay to play legislation.

      This coordinate political stunt coming on the heals of the developer Frank Raia voter fraud convictions and his financial to Councilman Michael DeFusco’s campaign makes it understandable while they are so sensitive to try to not be viewed as corrupt in the eyes of Hoboken voters in November.

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  3. Listen to Ravi Bhalla insult the Hoboken public gaslighting them with ridiculous fabrications.
    Well, the Ravi Terror Flier worked didn’t it? He thinks this will too.

  4. This whole thing is a stunt (Is it enforceable? Depends who you ask and when you asked them, and what side of the split they were on at that time – what a joke) and it reeks. Everyone looks like a fool for one reason or another.

    Get rid of them all. Find some real leaders. We don’t have any right now.

  5. Fisher and Giatinno keep saying they are not part of the DeFusco, Ramos ticket even though they all are represented by the same campaign manager.
    This sort of coordinated boycott makes those claims appear to be fallacious.

    • The people on Ravi’s Team all claim to be independent of Ravi yet they stand idly by without a peep when Bhalla pulls a stunt like this. The facts are:

      The resolution appeared on last Wednesday’s city council agenda and was tabled for outside conflict review.

      The resolution references a law that is already on our books.

      We don’t twice on our laws, once to approve them and once to enforce them. When something becomes local law it is supposed to be enforced.

      There was no need to call a special meeting other than to use the bully pulpit to make sh*t up.

      I can’t vote for any candidate that would not take a public position against their endorser pulling a stunt like this and that’s too bad because I would like to consider Lisa and get rid of Ruben, but I can’t trust that she wouldn’t be a rubber stamp for Ravi’s shenanigans.

      • Mayor Bhall’s ticket has never even suggested that they were not one ticket.

        The Fisher and Giatinno have said and gone out of their way to distance themselves from DeFusco and Ramos.

        Tickets are chosen because they agree on basic ideas. If they vote along with others they agree with that can not be labeled as rubber stamping by non-biased observers.

    • Many candidates don’t have campaign managers, Fisher and Giattino run their own campaigns.
      There is no boycott. There was no emergency requiring a meeting over a non-binding resolution.
      Emily said so.

      It’s just Ravi doing politics. Maybe he should do more work in his second job and stop wasting taxpayer money on political stunts. Just saying.

  6. Rob and Ravi should be answering where their no – show city hall patronage puppet was last night.
    Also a question, does a tenant need permits to renovate her Marineview Apartment when she doesn’t own it?
    Most people need one.
    Unless you are a city hall insider I guess

    • She didn’t want to go to Mike’s Uncle Nick’s house. We have debates in Hoboken that aren’t hosted at Boss Nick’s place. She’ll go to those.

      • Funny that Nancy somehow ascribes Hudson Media Group, who is hosting/producing the debates and also produces shows for Hudson County View, Anthony Romano and Fernando Uribe, and others, with Nick Sacco purely because their studios are in that city. More stupid propaganda and lies from her. What will Nancy say when Ravi goes to Sacco’s prom next week? That woman wouldn’t know the truth if it was sitting right next to her as she writes her #fakenews

  7. Its very telling that they chose to not show up rather than actually vote against this ordinance. It should tell you all you need to know about these elected officials. They know that what they’re doing is wrong. Any they’re doing it anyway.

    • This isn’t an ordinance. it is a non-binding resolution. Has anyone asked the simple question – why does the mayor need a resolution from the city council to actually enforce his own laws? If he, Emily and Jim were really the brave leaders they purport themselves to be, instead of the political cowards that they are, they would just file a complaint against DeFusco again. But all they are trying to do is create some talking points for Team Bhalla candidates. That’s it. And thankfully the public is seeing right through it. “The lady [in this case mayor] doth protest too much, methinks…”

  8. How did Migdalia get a new top floor NYC view apartment at Marineview ?

    Please open up the list, we taxpayers grant the PILOT for the needy not the city hall puppets

    Migdalia is a typical Hoboken patronage political puppet

    • First Ward Councilman Michael DeFusco little internet goon squad appeared to worried.

      The filth and fabrications they spread in his name only makes people think he is unfit to remain in office.

  9. August 2013 the board issued a Notice of Violation, for not just sharing office space but for being partners in the lease for said office. Immediately, represented by the City of Hoboken’s Law Department, Ravi filed an appeal with the Administrative Law Division and on September 19, 2014 the decision was reversed and sent back to the Local Finance Board for final determination. Needless to say, on December 12, 2014, debunking point by point the Administrative Law Judge’s decision, the LFB affirmed its decision restating Ravi’s vote constituted a Conflict of Interest.”

  10. Ravi isn’t charming anyone with his tactics. The guy is a sleaze bag of the highest order. No flaunting of religion or sanctimonious statements will change that.

    Ravi does for Ravi
    Snake oil salesman

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