Thursday, May 16, 2013
The city council failed to approve a temporary budget that included the costs to print the ballots for this June's primary elections.
Who will print the ballots for this June's primary elections? A proposed temporary budget failed on Wednesday night, after Hoboken's deadlocked city council voted 4-4 on the matter. The budget included $37,000 to print the ballots for the upcoming primary elections. It's the responsibility of the municipality to print its own ballots, Mayor Dawn Zimmer said on Thursday morning. "It's going to be a major problem," Zimmer said in response to the eight-hour meeting from the night before. "I don't even know what to do to get the ballots printed." Initially the cost for the ballots were estimated at $25,000. The actual cost, however, turned out to be $37,000. To change that line item in the temporary budget, a council vote was needed. The vote…
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
The councilman announced his withdrawal on Wednesday, following a Supreme Court ruling to leave Carmelo Garcia on the ballot.
Councilman Ravi Bhalla will not be running for State Assembly. The councilman-at-large announced his decision on Wednesday in a press release. "My decision is driven by yesterday's refusal by the New Jersey Supreme Court to consider a challenge to Hoboken Housing Authority (HHA) Director Carmelo Garcia's candidacy to serve in the State Assembly, while simultaneously serving as Executive Director of the HHA," Bhalla wrote. "As a result, it is not prudent to expend substantial resources in continuing my candidacy now." Garcia was sued last month by five Hobokenites challenging the legality of his candidacy. While Assignment Judge Peter Bariso ruled last month that — under the Hatch Act — Garcia was not eligible to run for public partisan …
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
An appellate court ruled that Garcia is eligible to run for assembly after all.
Carmelo Garcia, the executive director of the Hoboken Housing Authority, is back on the ballot this June. Assignment Judge Peter Bariso ruled earlier this month that — under the Hatch Act — Garcia was not eligible to run for public partisan office. An appellate court overturned that decision on Tuesday afternoon. The decision was first reported by PolitickerNJ. "I am gratified," said Garcia, in response to the decision. "I am just really really appreciative of all the prayers and love and energy that I’ve gotten." Garcia was picked by State Senator and Union City Mayor Brian Stack to run for the office of 33rd District Assemblyman on the Hudson County Democratic Organization line. Ruben Ramos Jr., the current assemblyman who will not seek …
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Vision for Hoboken — the mayoral and council slate challenging incumbent Mayor Dawn Zimmer in November — is criticizing the current administration's fiscal policy.
The political season has begun. Ruben Ramos Jr., who is challenging Mayor Dawn Zimmer in November's mayoral election, has blasted the current administration for its fiscal policies. On Thursday night, the city council was scheduled to meet for a special meeting to approve $700,000 in emergency appropriations to pay for 14 retired firefighters' terminal pay. Zimmer is urging the council to approve the appropriations so that the retirees can receive the money to which they're entitled. But, said Ramos on Thursday, this money should have been included in the budget already. Ramos is running with a council slate that is comprised of Laura Miani, Eduardo Gonzalez and Joe Mindak. On behalf of all four candidates, he sent out a press release …
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Councilman-at-Large Ravi Bhalla has decided to continue his run for the assembly, he announced on Wednesday.
Councilman-at-Large Ravi Bhalla, who was elected to the city council in 2009, is planning to continue his candidacy to become Assemblyman of the 33rd district, he announced on Wednesday in a press release. In doing so, he has won Mayor Dawn Zimmer's endorsement. Bhalla is the first candidate for state assembly officially endorsed by the mayor. Bhalla filed petitions on April 1 to be a candidate in the June primary, but at that point wasn't sure if he was going to stay in the race, he said then. Since the petitions were filed in April, Carmelo Garcia — the executive director of the Hoboken Housing Authority who was picked by State Senator Brian Stack to run with the support from the Hudson County Democratic Organization — was deemed …
Monday, April 22, 2013
Hudson County Assignment Judge Peter Bariso ruled on Friday afternoon that Carmelo Garcia, who serves as the executive director of the Hoboken Housing Authority, cannot run for state assembly.
Carmelo Garcia, the executive director of the Hoboken Housing Authority, will not be able to run for state assembly, according to a ruling by a Hudson County Assignment Judge on Friday afternoon. Garcia was picked by State Senator and Union City Mayor Brian Stack to run for the office of 33rd District Assemblyman on the Hudson County Democratic Organization line. Ruben Ramos Jr., the current assemblyman who will not seek re-election because he's running for mayor of Hoboken, endorsed Garcia and the rest of the ticket. Shortly after the announcement, five Hobokenites challenged Garcia's candidacy. Previously, Garcia said he was eligible to run under an amendment to the Hatch Act. In a previous interview, he said that, because his salary …
Friday, April 12, 2013
Barbara Netchert, Hudson County Clerk, can't print Carmelo Garcia's name on the ballots for the June primary until a judge has ruled on it.
Following a law suit that challenges Carmelo Garcia's eligibility as a candidate for state assmebly, a Hudson County Superior Judge has ruled that ballots can't be printed until the case comes to court next week. Superior Court Judge Peter Bariso ruled that the parties will have to appear in court on April 17. Until then, he ruled, Hudson County Clerk Barbara Netchert is prevented from printing ballots that bear Garcia's name. Flavio Kumoves, the attorney representing the five Hoboken residents who are suing Garcia, wrote in an email that "the Court, in reaching its decision, determined that the legal issues warranted the entry of an Order to restrain the printing of the ballots, until the issue is decided at a hearing next Wednesday." …
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Carmelo Garcia, executive director of the Hoboken Housing Authority, has announced he will be running for Assembly.
Five Hoboken residents have filed a lawsuit with the goal of removing Carmelo Garcia's name from the June primary ballot. Garcia, the executive director of the Hoboken Housing Authority, is running for state Assembly and has said he will keep his current job on the HHA, should he win. The five residents, none of which are Hoboken Housing Authority residents, claim that Garcia is not eligible to run for office. Hobokenites Jerome Abernathy, James Castiglione, Avi Ohring, Sheilah Scully and Vasudev Trivedi released a statement on Thursday laying out their objections. "A regulatory prohibition under state law addressing people who work on federally-funded bodies like the HHA clearly bars Mr. Garcia’s candidacy," according to the statement…
Monday, April 8, 2013
New Jersey law allows contributors who donate less than $300 to remain anonymous.
A published report Sunday revealed New Jersey’s current campaign donation system needs to be revised after it was disclosed politicians can receive more money while still keeping the names of their donors secret — as long as the contributions are less than $300. The NJ.com report said most states allow campaigns to keep only those donors who give $100, $50 or less private, but Garden State politicians don’t have to report any information about people who contribute less than $300. The report said because of the state’s secretive laws, candidates were able to hide about $12 million out of the $100 million donated. The state’s rule allowing campaigns to keep these donors anonymous could undergo a re-evaluation after one of the state’s most …
Friday, April 5, 2013
Ruben Ramos Jr., the current assemblyman, will run for mayor in November.
Assemblyman Ruben Ramos Jr. has endorsed State Senator Brian Stack and his assembly slate. Earlier in the week, Ramos announced he will support Carmelo Garcia — executive director of the Hoboken Housing Authority and sitting school board member — and Raj Mukherji, Jersey City's deputy mayor. Garcia is one of three Hobokenites who filed petitions to run in the June primary. In a press release, Ramos said: “I am proud to announce my support of Senator Brian Stack for reelection to the New Jersey Senate, and for the election of Carmelo Garcia and Raj Mukherji to the Assembly to represent the 33rd District. These three individuals make up a diverse and capable slate of candidates that will represent the District with competence and enthusiasm…
Eric
1:46 pm on Wednesday, May 22, 2013
So now the people who have run this town for decades, pushing the budget higher and higher year after year by millions of dollars are now protecting us? HA! HAHAHAHA! HAAAAA!!! HAHAHAHA! AHAHA! Funny. I wonder what the budget was back when Russo started on the council... In that time, how much has he tried to cut? I'm betting you couldn't find a case of that if you tried. more ›