|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 Days of Boricua Pride3 Days of Boricua Pride
By Charles Hack / The Jersey Journal
Starting with a banquet Friday night and ending with a festival of music, dancing and good food last night, the 49th Annual Puerto Rican Heritage Parade and Festival was punctuated yesterday by a parade of 30 floats from Lincoln Park to City Hall. Thousands converged in Jersey City over the three days to celebrate Boricua pride. "It gives us a chance to see friends," said Ivette Ruiz, 35, who marched with the Jersey City-based Metropolitan Family Health Care network. "It is a sense of pride I feel about Puerto Rico and it makes me feel happy." Yesterday’s parade attracted a gaggle of politicians, including the two leading contenders in this year’s governor’s race, Gov. Jon Corzine and his Republican rival, former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie. Before he boarded his float with his lieutenant governor running mate, Mommouth County Sheriff Kim Guadagno, Christie reflected on being in Hudson County, ground zero for last month’s corruption arrests. "I am proud of the work that my office did and it all began under me," Christie said. "But it was executed by professionals in the U.S. Attorney’s office, the FBI and IRS and those folks deserve the credit." Corzine arrived after the parade departed Lincoln Park at 1:15 p.m. and ran a few blocks with his security guards to catch up with the Democratic headliners, which included Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, U.S. Rep. Albio Sires, state Sen. and Union City mayor Brian Stack, state Sen. Sandra B. Cunningham, Jersey City Councilman Steven Fulop and Freeholder Jeff Dublin. "I think everyone wants to celebrate the Puerto Rican community in our great state," Corzine said as he marched along Kennedy Boulevard. Sires, who is a Cuban native, took particular pride in a Puerto Rican Latina being placed on the highest court of the land. "It’s a great day. Everybody today is Puerto Rican," said Sires. "Especially now that Justice Sonia Sotomayor was appointed to the Supreme Court." The weather held out with the first few drops of a downpour coming just after the last group passed the reviewing stand.
Who did not take Dwek’s bait?Who did not take Dwek’s bait?
By Ricardo Kaulessar / Hudson Reporter
Jersey City Council President Mariano Vega won a council-at-large seat in the May 12 municipal election, running with seven other candidates on Mayor Jerremiah Healy’s election slate. But that victory seems fleeting in light of his arrest on July 23 as one of the 44 religious and political leaders in New Jersey and New York who’ve been tagged with public corruption or money laundering charges. Vega has not resigned his council post, although Councilman Steven Fulop and some members of the public have called for him to step down. But Vega’s arrest has raised suspicions that other council members either met with the federal government’s “cooperating witness” Solomon Dwek, or were approached indirectly, even though they were not accused of crime. Dwek (employing the first name David with varying last names) allegedly went to various local officials with FBI-provided bribe money, saying he wanted approval for a purported condo project on Garfield Avenue. At least two City Council members told the Jersey City Reporter in recent weeks that they had contact with Dwek, directly or indirectly, but did not take the bait. Three other council members said they did not meet Dwek, while another three were not available for comment.
‘Testing people’s greed’ Councilman Bill Gaughan is the city’s longest serving council member, first elected in 1993 to serve Ward D, which covers most of the Jersey City Heights. Gaughan is also chief of staff for Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise, making him a powerful figure in local politics and a potentially big fish for the FBI’s corruption bait. Gaughan said after the Aug. 12 council meeting that he had been approached by Dwek about the purported development project on Garfield Avenue that would call for a condo tower. Gaughan was not named in any of the complaints pertaining to the 44 arrested. Gaughan did not reveal the date of the meeting, although it is believed they met during the election season. He remembered that Dwek offered no paperwork or details about his project, which made Gaughan suspicious. “It was very obvious,” he said. “I asked for plans; I asked for site control; [Dwek] had nothing,” Gaughan said. “All he had was a good line of [expletive].” Gaughan also blasted Dwek as a “con man entrapping people into a situation” who was “testing people’s greed.” Viola Richardson was recently reelected to a third term to represent Ward D, encompassing most of the city’s Bergen-Lafayette section. Richardson last week said Dwek allegedly approached an “intermediary” (whom she did not name) before and after the May 12 election to set up a meeting with her, although no name was given other than a “rich Jewish developer.” [...] Read more at HudsonReporter.com
Plan to Fix Animal Control Raises QuestionsPlan to Fix Animal Control Raises Questions
By Shane Smith / The Jersey City Independent
Months after revelations surfaced in late February that at least two Animal Control officers were dumping cats they’d collected into wild areas of Lincoln Park rather than taking them to the appropriate shelter or animal hospital, the city’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has submitted its plan detailing ways it hopes to improve the service of the Animal Control division, which DHHS oversees. The plan is a long time coming, and the result of much wrangling between animal advocates, the City Council, city attorneys and the Healy administration. In March, Ward E councilman Steven Fulop called for a 19-member independent commission “to develop and track measurable objectives to ensure a competent Animal Control program,” as well as the creation of an Animal Control Ombudsman. The Healy administration and the City Council were resistant to Fulop’s proposal and challenged it at every turn, preferring to allow Animal Control correct its problems on its own. Over the course of the next few months, Fulop’s plan was amended to provide for a nine-member commission, blocked by the Law Department, saw a downgrade to a 13-member committee, and was finally abandoned by the council in June. Instead of voting on Fulop’s whittled-down ordinance, the council sent a “directive memo” to DHHS director Harry Melendez, requesting he submit a corrective action plan by Aug. 1. In response, Melendez submitted a memo to the city council on Aug. 5. In it, Melendez lays out 11 initiatives that Animal Control has already implemented or plans to, including increased staffing, additional documentation requirements, new software and the creation of an Animal Welfare & Population Control Committee to provide advice and recommendations for best practices to Animal Control. No council member commented on the plan as it was received by the council at their meeting on Wednesday. Speaking after the meeting, Fulop told JCI that he had asked Melendez to provide additional specifics regarding the plan, including a timeline for the implementation of the initiatives it describes. As of Wednesday afternoon he hadn’t heard back. Our calls to Melendez were not returned this week. In an email to JCI, city spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill says the initiatives described in the plan are those already “generally in place,” with the exception of establishing a second shift “to respond to calls received after regular working hours.” She adds that Animal Control already operates around the clock, but the creation of a second shift, which is slated to happen “within the next few weeks,” will help the division reduce overtime costs. [...] Read more at The Jersey City Independent
Jersey City re-development pay-to-play ban passes on introduction 7-0Jersey City re-development pay-to-play ban passes on introduction 7-0
by Amy Sara Clark / The Jersey Journal
The Jersey City City Council passed a redeveloper pay-to-play ordinance, sponsored by Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop, that would bar campaign donations from a developer to municipal officials while the developer is negotiating to be named the "designated" builder for a project. Although the ordinance passed on introduction, it still has to get through the final vote — by no means a certainty — which is slated for the next council meeting on Sept. 9. There’s a good chance it the measure won’t pass a final vote, or will be severely weakened, because at Monday’s City Council caucus, several councilmembers expressed reservations that "the average Joe" wouldn’t be able to run for office if they couldn’t get redeveloper money. "There has to be a way for ‘Joe average citizen’ to raise money," said Councilman Bill Gaughan, who said that even if all politicians were banned from taking money, it would still be hard for the average candidate to compete against those with personal wealth. The council decided to create a committee — composed of Councilmen Bill Gaughan, Fulop, Jersey City’s head attorney Bill Matsikoudis and a representative from Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s office — to revise the ordinance between now and September. If the ordinance is substantially changed, it will have to be re-introduced. Gaughan said he wasn’t sure what kind of changes he hoped to make. Council President Mariano Vega, who was arrested July 23 in the FBI corruption sweep, was absent, as was Councilman Peter Brennan, who is recovering from surgery for prostate cancer. During the public portion of the meeting, Dan Levin, who ran for mayor in May and founded Civicjc, a good government group, praised the vote, saying the ordinance is one of the strictest pay-to-play bans in the state. "This ordinance will eliminate not just conflicts of interests but also the appearance of conflicts of interest," he said. Fulop’s ‘pay -to-play’ ban on Jersey City Council agenda todayFulop’s ‘pay -to-play’ ban on Jersey City Council agenda today
by The Jersey Journal The Jersey City Council will consider at its meeting this morning a "pay-to-play" ordinance that would bar campaign donations from a developer to municipal officials while the developer is negotiating to be named the "designated" builder for a project. The ordinance is sponsored by Ward E Councilman Steve Fulop. Fulop said in a news release last week that the July 23 arrests of City Council President Mariano Vega and eight other Jersey City officials and employees on charges that they accepted bribe money from FBI-informant Solomon Dwek, who was posing as a developer, make the ordinance more relevant. "It’s a hard argument for anybody to say that it’s not necessary," Fulop said yesterday. Read more of Fulop’s ‘pay-to-play’ ban on agenda today in today’s Jersey Journal. Another developer wants to revise his tax dealAnother developer wants to revise his tax deal
You might expect Jersey City to think twice about granting another revised tax abatement for a condo building on the downtown waterfront, especially after a similar deal recently approved by the City Council for the Crystal Pointe project on Second Street prompted public outrage. But the city is considering revising a previously granted abatement for the $250 million 77 Hudson St. project. 77 Hudson is a 901-unit two-building project (420 condos, 481 rentals) on Hudson Street in Jersey City, overlooking the Hudson River, and construction is nearing completion. Units are selling from $300,000-plus for one-bedroom to $1 million for three-bedrooms. An abatement is an agreement with the city to exempt a developer from paying regular, fluctuating property taxes. Developers often negotiate a deal to pay a stable, separate fee to the city in lieu of taxes, a payment which may sometimes be equal or nearly equal to current taxes. Those payments benefit the city because they go straight to city coffers, and do not include paying school and county taxes. Recently, several developers have asked to revise their original agreement with the city because of the tough economy. According to Councilman Steven Fulop, the city’s Tax Abatement Committee, with a push from Mayor Jerramiah Healy, is considering revising the deal for 77 Hudson that would change the terms of the 20-year abatement approved for the project in March 2006.[...] Read more at HudsonReporter.com FBI sting sheds negative light on NJ development
FBI sting sheds negative light on NJ development
NEWARK, N.J. — Federal authorities couldn’t have picked a more fertile target than New Jersey’s Manhattan-facing waterfront towns for a fake cash-for-development undercover sting, longtime observers say. The majority of those arrested in a sweeping FBI bust that netted 44 people on corruption and money laundering charges had ties — real or feigned — to development along the Hudson River. The criminal complaints paint a picture of building and zoning departments where influence, connections and payoffs determine who gets a prompt hearing and a smooth approval process on their applications and who is left at the mercy of a process so seemingly dysfunctional that developers sometimes budget for bribes. Jersey City, where more than a dozen of those arrested in the corruption probe either lived, worked or had connections, has been at the epicenter of a development boom that has transformed former polluted industrial rail yards and warehouses into gleaming waterfront high-rises with unparalleled views of the Manhattan skyline. Certain developers have made fortunes off the city and received tax abatements that continue today, even though there’s little open space left along the waterfront, where luxury housing and office buildings housing large Manhattan firms have earned it the nickname "Wall Street West." "Everybody knows developers run New Jersey," said Joe Morris of the Interfaith Community Organization, which has been pushing for environmental remediation of contaminated land in Jersey City. "The developers run local government in every place in the state."[...] Read more at AP.org Jersey City residents protest at City HallJersey City residents protest at City Hall
August 05, 2009 Hundreds of Jersey City residents crowded the steps of City Hall calling for elected officials arrested in the FBI’s massive corruption sweep to step down. The protest coincided with the National Night Out, a rare occasion when law enforcement and local communities mingle in an effort to raise awareness about crime prevention. Jersey City Mayor Jeremiah Healy, who attended an event honoring three policemen injured in a fatal police shootout, said the protesters were hijacking the annual event with their political agenda. But Ward E Councilman Steven Fulop, who organized the rally, said that crime in City Hall is as important as crime on the streets. Fulop demanded council president Mariano Vega, who was indicted in the corruption sting, to resign. (Video by Nyier Abdou/The Star-Ledger Watch more videos at NJ.com Jimmy Breslin is on the storyJimmy Breslin is on the story
By Amy Sara Clark / The Jersey Journal
Celebrated journalist and novelist Jimmy Breslin observed the crowd last night at Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop’s rally against corruption at Jersey City City Hall. The author of more than 20 books, including one on former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and several on the Mafia, said he’s going to write a book about the New Jersey corruption scandal in which 30 New Jersey officials and political operatives were arrested July 23 in an FBI corruption probe. Rally Rips Vega (Healy Too)Rally Rips Vega (Healy Too)
By Amy Sara Clark / The Jersey Journal Shouting slogans such as "1, 2, 3, 4 – sweep Vega out the door" and waving brooms, about 300 people rallied in front of City Hall last night to protest corruption in Jersey City. The rally was organized by Ward E Councilman Steven Fulop, one of several people to address the cheering crowd. "Every single time that we hire somebody’s brother, somebody’s cousin based on political patronage. Every single time that a contract doesn’t go to the lowest bidder. Every single time that an envelope is taken it is a tax that you pay for at the end of the day," Fulop said with emotion. The rally officially called for the resignation of Jersey City Council President Mariano Vega Jr. – who was among 44 people arrested July 23 in an FBI corruption sweep. But the crowd also chanted that Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy should step down. Healy, who has not been charged criminality, has acknowledged meeting with the government informant at the center of the government sting and his campaign profited from alleged bribes paid to others, according to federal complaints. Fulop is not calling on Healy to resign. At a "National Night Out" event six blocks away, Healy responded to Fulop’s rally with scorn. "Tonight is a great opportunity to get the community involved with the Police Department. Attempts to make political hay out of it by some folks with his own political agenda and ambitions, trying to usurp this event . I don’t have a lot of respect for," Healy said referring to Fulop. Besides Vega, eight other Jersey City officials and employees were arrested and charged with extortion on July 23, including Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini. Healy has suspended without pay the six city employees arrested. Vega, who didn’t return phone calls for comment, has refused to resign. Rally-goers held signs that read, "Restore Integrity, Resign Now," "Vega must go" and "JC Is Not For Sale. Children held signs reading "Don’t Lie. Don’t cheat. Don’t steal" in reference to a Healy campaign motto. "I’m just thoroughly displeased," said Peter O’Reilly, who brought his children Kaitlin, 5, and Liam, 2, to the rally. "I’ve been going to City Council meetings for years and you could see the writing on the wall." Former Jersey City mayor Bret Schundler also attended the event and said like everyone else there, he is "disgusted and outraged." Journal staff writer Paul Takahashi contributed to this report. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
