The Pupster having been denied his quarter century continuance on the North Hudson Sewerage Authority is having second thoughts about his “retirement.”
According to one well placed source, Frank “Pupie” Raia isn’t enjoying life after his “retirement” party recently thrown for him by a NHSA vendor at the Chart House.
With the door slamming shut for re-entry in West New York, Pupie is looking to get back on the Sewerage Authority and rekindle his grandfathered health insurance bennies in Hoboken.
Hoboken is about to enter its annual budget season. Not a bad time to further view where the Mile Square sits in the tax framework among other Hudson County municipalities.
The following chart shows each Hudson County towns with municipal tax averages and changes over a one, five and fifteen year period. The chart originally appeared on NJ.com.
While Mayor Zimmer has been effectively reducing and keeping taxes relatively flat since 2009, the pressures with costs to rising health insurance in the millions, retirees and operations forces annual innovation and a serious effort in keeping spending overall down.
Anthony David’s hosted the first Coffee with a Cop community meeting earlier this morning with Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Police Chief Ken Ferrante.
Among the dozens of attendees in an informal Q&A was City Council President Jen Giattino, several officers of the HPD and video media Channel 11 WPIX and Verizon Fios. Expect upcoming opportunities for more of these community discussion to be announced in the near future.| After a Q&A with the public, Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer interviews with Verizon Fios as Police Chief Ken Ferrante is interviewed by WPIX Ch. 11. |
Related: The Verizon Fios story is available at the link:
http://www.fios1news.com/newjersey/hoboken-coffee-with-a-cop#.Vs8r2GfHxyg
In his third victory in a row, New York City’s Donald Trump continues to roll, this time with an overwhelming win in Nevada.
The Establishment Republicans received a dose of reality from a western state and it isn’t heartwarming for the status quo as Trump took 46% of the vote in a five candidate field.
The Democratic Establishment can’t be feeling any better and may be reaching for the antacid medicine. Trump took a similar percentage of Hispanic votes and did so against two Cuban-American candidates who distantly dueled for second and third place.
Some might find it odd a Hoboken board position sees a change of membership with the predecessor feted at a ‘retirement’ party by a long time vendor.
Others might find it strange that the same board position requiring regular City Council approval sees the change with an announcement of a “retirement” versus a public action inclusive of a vote. After a quarter century, perhaps the City Council vote was the true norm, a mere formality.Hoboken is after all part of Hudson County.
A recent Frank “Pupie” Raia ‘retirement’ party was missing one current North Hudson Sewerage Authority member who did not get an invite from the dinner honoree or the vendor: Kurt Gardiner. Before the unofficial retirement dinner, one more desperate foray into West New York tried to salvage a NHSA commissioner seat for the Pupster. According to reliable sources, it came with incessant begging and offers to West New York Mayor Felix Roque of future political support and an open checkbook if the seat could be routed keeping the status quo. Roque, already fending off a second indictment from the Feds related to his pain management biz opted to leave the door closed to a deal likely to generate more scrutiny from the FBI. How did the right to a lifetime North Hudson Sewerage seat with a $5,000 stipend and grandfathered health care benefits go so wrong? One could blame City Council members and Hoboken reform voices screaming at same or how a usual deal had gone horribly wrong. All would be fitting but if the Pupster wants to point fingers and place any blame, well, okay. Blame this horse.| The Pupster. |
At the request of the court, the Beth Mason criminal trial against MSV set for today in Jersey City Municipal Court is postponed to next week, March 1st.
The trial’s completion set for next Tuesday is dependent on the confirmed availability of defense witnesses. The short postponement comes at the request of the court. Confirmation of the Tuesday, March 1st date in the Jersey City trial will follow. =&0=&: Last month, Grafix Avenger published a feature piece on New Jersey law and penalties for perjury. That story is available at the link: Perjury Penalties in the State of New Jersey =&1=&: Hoboken’s Dana Wefer is featured as a guest writer in the prestigious New Jersey Law Journal with an authored article on SLAPP-suits. The article: =&2=& highlights where NJ sits nationally in the legislative process of protecting speech against frivolous lawsuits. 26 states have passed anti-SLAPP laws and proposed NJ legislation moved from the NJ Assembly but is stalled in the State Senate. Featured in the article is the infamous Hoboken SLAPP-suit of Lane Bajardi and Kimberly Cardinal Bajardi publicly supported by Beth Mason. From the article: This past year, in a sordid tale of political intrigue that could only come out of Hudson County, A judge awarded two bloggers and a number of individuals $276,000 in attorney fees pursuant to the frivolous litigation statute. In that case, Bajardi v. Pincus, the plaintiffs, a husband and wife, sued the bloggers and various commenters for defamation. The case proceeded through several years of discovery that included an impressive (some may say abusive) 68 motions. After several rounds of dispositive motions, the wife’s claims were all disposed of, and the husband proceeded to trial as a limited public figure on his remaining claims. After the plaintiff rested, the judge granted a directed verdict for the defendants. Upon application by counsel under the frivolous litigation statute, the judge awarded the defendants $276,000 in attorney fees.
The article also highlights where NJ currently sits in the climate nationally to stop SLAPP-suits:
New Jersey does not have a SLAPP-back statute, although a bill which would allow an early motion to dismiss has been in legislative committees since 2014. Instead, SLAPP victims in New Jersey have two potential ways to be made whole: 1) they may win attorney fees pursuant to the frivolous litigation statute; or 2) after prevailing in the underlying litigation, they may bring a malicious use of process claim.
Wefer currently serves as the Chair on the Hoboken Housing Authority and ran on the reform ticket last fall as a council candidate in the three way race with Tim Occhipinti in the fourth ward won by Ruben Ramos.
