While it was an anticipated vote among Hoboken politicos closely watching the November 5th ward council races, the city council needed just over a minute to decide to postpone a vote on a resolution regarding pay-to-pay regulations facing recent scrutiny.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
The resolution was introduced by Council members-at-Large James Doyle and Emily Jabbour and sought to double down on the city’s campaign finance laws pertaining to contractors making contributions to political candidates and entities.
2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher briefly explained why she was making a motion to table, citing a September 3rd legal opinion from Ray Hamlin, of the law firm Hunt, Hamlin & Ridley, suggested the city repeal their pay-to-play regulations since they are unenforceable and also possibly unconstitutional.
“I had a back-and-forth with corporation counsel on this given the history around, at least a piece of this, where he actually has indicated that one of our pieces of pay-to-play are unenforceable.
“So now suddenly there’s an insistence that we race forward and enforce them, something that he has said is unenforceable. He actually received a legal opinion that said it was unenforceable as well.”
Fisher suggested that the governing body hire “conflict counsel” to review the matter in the near future before making a motion to table, which was seconded by 5th Ward Councilman Peter Cunningham.
The motion to table passed 6-3, with Doyle, Jabbour and 3rd Ward Councilman Mike Russo voting against it.
Nora Martinez-Debenedetto, Fisher’s opponent in the November 5th election, said she was “disappointed” that the incumbent delayed the vote on this measure.
“I was disappointed that Councilwoman Fisher voted against even taking a vote on this resolution designed to reaffirm the Council’s commitment to support and adhere to laws designed to protect the integrity of our elections and our city contracting process,” she said in a statement.
The challenger also pointed out that Fisher filed an ethics complaint against 1st Ward Councilman Mike DeFusco just before the 2017 mayoral race, a clear example of why pay-to-play needs to be taken seriously.
On Friday, Mayor Ravi Bhalla Ravi Bhalla released a statement calling for a special meeting on September 26th at 7 p.m. specifically for a vote on this agenda item.
“I was disappointed that the Council failed to act on this common sense measure intended to safeguard the integrity of our local elections,†he said.
“With municipal elections only weeks away, time is of the essence and it is vital that there be a level playing field for all candidates.â€
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with new information.
What ever happened with Councilwoman Fisher’s allegations of campaign financing improprieties by Councilman DeFusco ?
After developer Frank Raia’s recent conviction on voter fraud and his nearly $10,000.00 contribution to Councilman DeFusco’s failed mayoral campaign became such an embarssing issue that the Councilman re-gifted the money to charity.
If you listen to Ravi Bhalla’s Corporation Counsel, it’s unenforceable. But you knew that.
They set up a ruse with a lawyer getting an outside opinion to undo it all. You knew that too.
Nora is disappointed the ruse failed here even though it’s all about mindless campaign noise, nothing more.
Ravi called for a special meeting to give his guy in New England stuff to write about when he speaks for his council candidate mouthpieces.
That’s all this is. You knew that too.
What does any of that have do with MV2’s question about the status of Councilwoman Fisher’s allegations of campaign financing improprieties by Councilman DeFusco?
You are obviously very clued in to the political scene in Hoboken, do you know what happened? Councilwoman Fisher is really smart and fair-minded, and she zeroed in on that alleged violation. I assumed she’d be very thorough in her follow through to get to the bottom of Councilman DeFusco’s alleged campaign finance improprieties.
Can you please let us know what happened?
I heard one ethically conflicted/challenged ward councilperson was quite relieved…
When is the Live Debate?
Can’t wait to watch Red Lips versus Defusco
“Red lips� What is wrong with you people?
What what color are her lips?
We all know Ravi’s candidates have brown noses…. But honestly her lips do look Red here….https://hudsonreporter.com/2019/06/28/defusco-will-dump-raias-tainted-dollars/
What’s the problem? If a candidate wants to wear stage make up lipstick it’s their choice… Not body shaming in any way.
What what color are her lips?
We all know Ravi’s candidates have brown noses…. But honestly her lips do look Red here….https://hudsonreporter.com/2019/06/28/defusco-will-dump-raias-tainted-dollars/
What’s the problem? If a candidate wants to wear stage make up lipstick it’s their choice… Not body shaming in any way.
No adult addresses people by calling out body parts. You’re a scumbag. Deal with it.