In a letter to the editor, Jersey City Democratic Committeeman Ravi Parikh gives his take why the challenger in the District 4 Hudson County commissioner race shouldn’t be elected.
Dear Editor,
This past Mother’s Day residents informed me Mamta Singh was going through our building knocking on doors campaigning even though this is not permitted.
Our security only permits guests to enter when they are announced to and received by a resident. A couple of days later I received a mailer from her that reads “Mamta Singh Hudson County Commissioner.”
I thought to myself, in addition to sneaking into our building and bothering residents on Mother’s Day, this is deceptive because she’s not our county commissioner. Her literature should say “Mamta Singh for Hudson County Commissioner.”
The banker in me (I studied and practiced banking in India before coming to the U.S.) decided to follow the money and look up her NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) reports.
Interestingly, I opened the first of her reports dated August 24, 2022 and found she filed to run for the state Assembly this year, but just four months later (December 16, 2022) she filed to run for County Commissioner. What made her change her mind so quickly?
Can we believe that she really wants to be a commissioner? Does she really want to improve our community? Or is she just seeking a title? This sudden change struck me as odd.
Ms. Singh’s ELEC report dated December 14, 2022 shows Urban Families, LLC, a for profit company incorporated by Mamta Singh in 2017 for the purpose of serving “Local Families” not her political aspirations, contributed $500 to her campaign.
Also, her ELEC report dated May 8, 2023 shows Ms. Singh contributed $1,265.53 to her campaign, listing JCFAMILIES, INC., a nonprofit corporation formed by Ms. Singh, as her current employer.
Since financials for JC FAMILIES, LLC are not publicly accessible, it is tough to know whether compensation paid to Ms. Singh was more than actual hours worked, or in consideration of work not performed, and that would be considered a political contribution from JC FAMILIES, LLC, which is illegal.
It’s ironic that Ms. Singh’s platform calls for the County to make the county budget transparent, but the JC FAMILIES, LLC budget isn’t publicly accessible even though, as its website states, “JCFamilies is a charitable organization …, we need your help and donations.”
I wonder if her donors knew she was spending their money on her political campaign whether they would continue to contribute to JC FAMILIES, LLC. Probably not.
Lastly, Ms. Singh’s ELEC report dated May 8, 2023 shows that the president of her JC FAMILIES, INC board contributed $2,260 to her campaign and her board’s vice president contributed $400.
A board serves as impartial members, ensuring they represent the interest of the corporation, not its CEO.
If JC FAMILIES, INC board members are cozy enough with Ms. Singh to contribute such large sums of money to her political campaign, can they really be trusted to objectively manage her and JC FAMILIES, LLC, a nonprofit corporation, especially given it solicits public monies?
At its best, it’s a conflict of interest. At its worst, it’s highly unethical.
I am writing this letter to let people know about my findings, so they can evaluate Ms. Singh to determine whether she is the best candidate for county commissioner.
Sincerely,
Ravi Parikh
Democratic Committeeman Ward C, District 23
Board Member 201 St. Paul’s Condo Association
Ravi, please read up on the Constitution. Your condo cannot restrict political free speech, it is not considered soliciting. You are allowed to limit access and not have people trying to sell a PRODUCT such as cosmetics, energy, etc. But if a religious group or candidate wants to walk through the building knocking on doors, it is protected under the 1st amendment and has been enforced by the NJ Supreme Court and US Supreme Court.
Hudson Democrats trying to limit people’s constitutional rights, nothing to see here. Ravi probably thinks he is being a good solider by shilling for the establishment Hudco.
Talking about conflict of interest? Ravi should know. Isn’t he on the board that Yraida’s husband sat on? Dirty dirty what you are doing Ravi. Very dirty.
Ravi does sit on the board of the 201 St Paul’s Association where Yraida and Steve Lipski reside. It’s ok to support your neighbor but to besmirch somebody else’s character in the process is deplorable. The HCDO drastically is trying to limit the voice of Jersey City to only a select group of individuals in the political base when in actuality they should be seeking to expand their base and truly represent the people of Jersey City.
This “letter” is a political hit-piece from the Hudson County Democrat Machine. Ms. Singh is seeking to be an independent voice, not controlled by the monetary interests of the Machine: and she doesn’t have a super-PAC backing her (as Craig Guy and the Column B candidates do), so she needs to go door to door to meet with voters and get her message out.
The last thing we need is Ravi the HOA Karen silencing those who don’t pay patronage to the machine politics. Very sad!