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It’s that time of year when we reflect with gratitude and give thanks but this year there will be no annual Hoboken Housing Authority Thanksgiving Dinner.
Why?
The annual (privately sponsored) dinner, the creation of HHA commissioner Jake Stuiver back in 2009 ran into some political problems. Currently, the former HHA Chairman is embroiled in a bizarre civil lawsuit claiming “ethnic cleansing” by HHA Executive Director Carmelo Garcia. As a result, the dinner has been unceremoniously cancelled.
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Election Day was nearing its finale and the Firehouse polling station at 13th and Washington winding down. From late afternoon to near closing at 8:00, most municipal voters could be distinguished from one another. The late rush and demeanor of working professionals arriving contrasted sharply with the earlier Hispanic voters who fill Applied Housing buildings uptown.
The professionals arriving some in suit and tie would pace quickly, most not taking any literature from anyone. Among the campaigners working the block, two gracious candidates from the Ramos slate: Joe Mindak and Eduardo Gonzalez along one with one local activist in favor of the rent control ballot question. Later Timmy Occhipinti would make an appearance on the 14th St side of Washington St. looking unhappy with a pro Reform horse arriving on the scene as a small group from the Raia-Mason campaign stood around unclear what to do. His unhappiness before the polls closed would contrast later with the despair to come when the full results came in. (According to recent stories on Grafix Avenger, Mr. 7 otherwise known as Frank “Pupie” Raia, is “livid” he’s been had by some double dealing moles on his campaign dime.)
| Former NY Knick Charles Oakley greeting Hobokenite Joe Giattino at the Teddy Dinner last night at the Staten Island Hilton. Giattino’s wife is sixth ward councilwoman Jen Giattino. |
HFHA announces:
Thank you one and all for contributing to this very hard-fought win. Thank you for volunteering, for making calls, for distributing & posting flyers, for participating in our fundraisers, for tabling and knocking on doors, for designing our posters, flyers and buttons, for sending out emails, for wearing our t-shirts, for writing letters, for commenting on blogs, for sharing our posts and tweets, for telling your friends and neighbors about the ramifications should this initiative pass, for donating what you could, for making others aware of this critical vote, for holding a sign and passing out palm cards or grabbing a megaphone (a la Tom Vezzetti) and asking everyone to vote no on election day and, perhaps most important, for casting your own NO vote on Hoboken Public Question #1.
Beth Mason is in Atlantic City and hostess to a Gov. Christie ally’s event with statewide pull. The dessert affair hosted by Mason at the League of Municipalities featured a photo with the influential state senator, Steve Sweeney, the event’s featured politco.
The Mason family has donated tens of thousands of dollars to NJ Democratic pols, mostly in northern NJ but has not been able to gain traction purchasing anything beyond a council ward seat in Hoboken. All told, it’s estimated the Mason family has spent $2,000,000 on her “political career.”
By the time you read this, Beth Mason is heading south to Atlantic City on her way to hosting a dessert party for a State Senator allied with Governor Christie and the work toward unseating sixth ward councilwoman Jen Giattino another in the latest political operation undone.
Timmy Occhipinti has “his” condo for sale. That revelation comes courtesy of a follow-up to MSV’s weekend exclusive on Grafix Avenger where the dessert is dishy and the girls are not talking among themselves on Saturday Night Live.
(Note: Meeting runs approximately two hours.)
The Hoboken council follies get a rare Monday night showing but the audience will be threadbare and it should end in rapid order as the previous council meeting on the back of a citywide Reform sweep that left the Hoboken Sopranos reeling the day after.
The ordinance on flood mitigation aiding residents in extending lower rates to the wider group of residents who need to take out flood insurance is back on the agenda for a second reading. The Old Guard council voted it down before the election but what purpose will it do now if Michael Russo, Beth Mason Terri Castellano and Timmy Occhipinti do that again?