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It’s not quite the glory days of SNL with Point-Counterpoint where they’d mix it up with a taste of politics skewering all points of view but today’s Bhalla vs. DeFusco or is it DeFusco vs. Bhalla holds all the entertainment value of your basic rock’em sock’em robots.

For those of you dated enough to recall games with mechanical physical flair before the digital age; this one was jam packed with action and fun.

The Hudson County View has all that action:
http://hudsoncountyview.com/in-hoboken-defusco-goes-after-bhalla-for-adding-political-establishment-attorney/ Read More...

Official release:

=&0=&     =&1=&Councilman Mike DeFusco, a candidate for Hoboken Mayor, is releasing the following statement regarding the proposed contract between the city and Suez Water announced today by Mayor Zimmer:
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Mayor Zimmer has had nine years in office to reach this agreement and announcing it now shortly before an election to succeed her as Mayor is troubling, especially given that if approved this contact would be in effect for decades. The proposed agreement deserves serious scrutiny from both the Council and the community to ensure that it’s the best possible deal for the city. It’s particularly concerning that the contract would include an annual rate increase of at least 2%, which would amount to yet another hidden tax on Hoboken residents that many will struggle to afford.”  Read More...

Official release:

=&0=& =&1=&  Hoboken, NJ – Councilman Mike DeFusco, a candidate for Hoboken Mayor, released the following statement in reaction to the announcement by fellow Councilman and mayoral candidate Ravi Bhalla of his Council slate:

“It was difficult to contain my shock at hearing that Ravi Bhalla, a politically connected insider lawyer at one of New Jersey’s most powerful law firms, made the stunning choice to select a fellow political establishment attorney in John P. Allen for his Council slate. Who could have ever guessed that a lawyer like Ravi, whose law firm was paid over $3.8 million in government contracts in 2016, would decide to run with a lawyer whose firm was also paid over $3.8 million in government contacts? A truly inspired, outside-the-box pick.” Read More...

Official release

=&0=& =&1=& Hoboken Mayoral candidate, Councilman Ravi Bhalla, today announced his slate of at-large Council candidates. Councilman Jim Doyle, Emily Ball Jabbour and John Allen are joining Bhalla in his fight to keep Hoboken moving forward. Councilman Bhalla said, “Together, Jim Doyle, Emily Ball Jabbour and John Allen combine proven experience with new ideas and energy. That’s the right combination to keep Hoboken moving forward.” Mayor of Hoboken Dawn Zimmer, who is backing Bhalla for Mayor, enthusiastically endorsed the Council slate.  “Jim Doyle has been an outstanding and invaluable member of the City Council with an impressive record of accomplishment.  Emily Jabbour and John Allen bring the skills, smarts and fresh approaches we need. They will be great additions to the Council.” Elected to the Council in 2013, Jim Doyle is a Council leader on securing park space and upgrading parks, actively supporting new park acquisitions such as the planned Northwest Resiliency Park.  He serves as Chair of the Masterplan/Zoning Ordinance Committee. He is an environmental attorney with more than 29 years of experience, working for both the US Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice. Emily Ball Jabbour is a Senior Social Science Research Analyst for the Administration for Children and Families, part of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Emily founded the Hudson County Chapter for the national grassroots organization Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.  In this capacity, Emily has worked with local law enforcement to distribute gun safety materials across Hudson County and provide 200 gun locks to the Hoboken Police Department for distribution. Among other civic commitments, Emily served as the HOPES Liaison for the Brandt Parent Consortium for the 2016-17 school year.  She is a graduate of Boston College and earned her Master’s of Science in Social Work at Columbia University.  John Allen is an attorney at the law firm of Schenck, Price, Smith & King, LLP, where he specializes in the representation of governmental bodies, including boards of education and municipalities.  He serves as a Hoboken Democratic Committeeman and is on the Board of Directors of Easterseals New Jersey, one of the state’s oldest and largest charitable organizations dedicated to empowering individuals with disabilities. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and earned his law degree at Rutgers School of Law, where as an Education Fellow he prepared curriculum for continuing education classes for school leaders and administrators in New Jersey and New York.    The candidates pledge an active grassroots campaign reaching out to voters in all corners of Hoboken.

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It’s a wondrous surprise being a mayoral candidate and then vying to put together a council slate on a body you’ve served for eight years.

So without further adieu, MSV gives you the Ravi Bhalla council slate.

One odd twist, all of the candidates are third ward residents.

Councilman Ravi Bhalla (r) is set with his council at-large slate. This photo was at a summer event last year. Things were quieter then.

The three council at-large candidates are: Jim Doyle, Emily Jabbour and John Allen. The selection of Jim Doyle guarantees that at least one of Councilman Bhalla’s council colleagues will also be endorsing him for mayor. One can say at least one of eight colleagues isn’t bad. City Council President Jen Giattino has council members Peter Cunningham and Tiffanie Fisher in her corner. That’s not likely to change. =&1=&

Official release

Hi everyone –  I was at the Hoboken Terminal this morning from about 7:45 to about 9:00 just to see how things were going and to see if I could glean any information that may benefit Hoboken commuters.  I think the single biggest take away is that there is a tidal wave of NJ Transit commuters that begin right at 8:00 and the wave continues until 8:45.  Literally, at around 7:50 I was speaking with Hoboken’s Lt. Petrosino and several NJ Transit and PATH officials, and we had the shared observation that traffic seemed light.  And then a train came in at 8:00 am and the change was palpable.   And it stayed until 8:45 when it started to dissipate. Today may not be fully representative of what to expect for the next 45 days, as Monday mornings in the summer are often lighter due to people being away for long weekends.  But… if you can get to the station either before 8:00 or after 8:45 I think your commute disruption will be less.  Also, I would encourage you to buy your tickets/ refill your cards at a time other than the morning rush.  The lines were long, and with larger crowds overall, seemed more stressful. That being said, I was encouraged by the significant numbers of NJ Transit and PATH employees and police offers around helping all commuters navigate through the changes.  Also I spoke to a number of officials including State Senator Bob Gordon, who is the Vice Chair of the Transportation committee, John Leon, Head of Government and Community Relations for NJ Transit, Michael Marino, General Manager of the PATH and a Customer Relations representative (my apologies for not remembering her name) for NY Waterway who were all there for the entire morning observing and trying to gage what changes, if any, need to be made.  Assemblywoman Annette Chaparro was also onsite is monitoring as well.  But for now, the extra capacity provided by NJ Transit (about 48 buses), PATH Trains (leaving every 5 minutes) and the NY Waterway (extra Ferry’s to Midtown) seem to be absorbing much of the extra traffic.   Please let me know what your experiences are.  Good or bad.  In particular what the impact, if any, has been on the 126 bus and the 14th Street Ferry.  I will be out tomorrow morning around the north end to check in. 43 and a half more days to go… Tiffanie Fisher Hoboken 2nd Ward City Councilwoman Engage. Inform. Advocate. “More Voices are Better”

Perry Belfiore, a known administration critic and long time nemesis of Councilman Ravi Bhalla unloaded on the mayoral candidate after word of his $51,000 First Amendment settlement with the City of Hoboken became public last week.

Late Friday, Grafix Avenger published Belfiore had cashed in with a $51,000 settlement after filing a First Amendment civil lawsuit for being thrown out of a City Council meeting during his remarks prior to the 2015 council ward elections.

Video of the incident from the October 22nd, 2015 was not in dispute when then Council President Ravi Bhalla first ejected Belfiore. Later at the same meeting, David Liebler would be ejected for similar remarks about the mayor’s husband. His civil lawsuit is pending. Read More...

Official release

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Well, things are really cooking on Hoboken’s election front with reports of a telephone poll underway.

A MSV reader offered their edition of the phone poll they received. Here’s some of the questions they captured and relayed.

Asking for responses, favorable or unfavorable for the following (MSV has added the titles of elected officials in brackets):

(Councilman) Dave Mello
(Mayor) Dawn Zimmer
Karen Nason
Phil Murphy
(City Council President) Jen Giattino
(Councilman) Michael Russo
(Councilman) Ravi Bhalla
(State Senator) Brian Stack
(Councilman) Mike DeFusco
(BoE trustee) Peter Biancamano
(Freeholder) Anthony Romano Read More...