Three members of the Hoboken City Council are standing with one of the colleagues after a labor ad attacked him for voting no on the Hilton Hotel project last week.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“The commercial was both troubling in its attack on Jim for his vote as it was in its messaging to all Hoboken elected officials – vote ‘yes’ or else. This type of bullying by a union, or any large contributor, will not be tolerated,” 5th Ward Councilman Peter Cunningham said in a statement.
As HCV reported, the 30-second TV ad, which has since been pulled, slammed Doyle for voting no on the project at the October 17th council meeting.
“Hoboken Hilton will be good for our city, but Doyle doesn’t get it. Councilman Doyle: voting no for our children, no to infrastructure and no to Hoboken’s future,” a voiceover in the ad paid for by International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE) Local 825 said.
The ad can still be viewed on our Facebook page.
The final hotel agreement, which passed 8-1 (Doyle was the sole no vote), was proposed by Mayor Ravi Bhalla and came with $4.85 million in community givebacks.
The plan is 20 percent larger than what was previously passed by the City Council in April 2017, where Doyle also voted against the project.
“Jim, along with then Councilman Bhalla before he was elected mayor, consistently voted for a more moderate hotel. Jim, however, held to his beliefs, voted accordingly and should not have to be subjected to such public threats,” added 6th Ward Councilwoman Jen Giattino.
2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher indicated that she was not impressed with Bhalla’s comments to HCV on Friday, where he said he disagreed with the content of the ad and union leaders apologized for it, before going on to say he still believes union labor is the best thing for development in Hoboken.
“The messages here are alarming on many levels – for Hoboken residents who should be concerned that our mayor’s alliance with the unions comes first, but also for Jim and other elected officials across the state where the message is clear – if you run afoul of the Local 825 Operating Engineers union, you will pay politically. Neither is acceptable,” she stated.
Local 825 endorsed Bhalla for mayor last year, where Doyle was one of his running mates. A spokesman for the union did not immediately return a request for comment.
“We support Jim and his vote and ask that all other Hoboken elected officials do the same and renounce the bullying tactics employed against him,” the three council members said in a closing joint statement.
In an email, Doyle said he was not impressed with the tone of his colleagues since they used this situation to again take aim at the mayor.
“I wish I could say it is heartwarming that my former council allies are sticking up for me in a time of need, but I cannot. I have not been thrown under any buses by anyone. A silly ad, poorly conceived, is hardly worthy of mention other than for a laugh,” he explained.
“As for their sticking up for me, my council colleagues are merely on a continuing mission to see in any event, any occurrence, any utterance a nefarious intent on the part of the Mayor. They are not blinded from reality but blinded by their flagrant lack of objectivity. While the Mayor and I may occasionally disagree, we respect one another, can each behave professionally, and are friends.”
Although the redevelopment agreement with KMS Development for the Hilton Hotel passed with ease on October 17th, the vote on the second (and final) reading of the redevelopment plan is on the agenda for the November 7th meeting.
What does DeFusco have to say ?
Usually you can’t shut him up.
Probably because North Bergan boys won’t continue to fund him if he opens his yap against their Union connections. That power plant for New York City is their golden goose.
Obsession with Defusco, but really we know what that’s about… on the anniversary of Matthew Shepard’s killing for being gay it’s pretty disgusting that the Cave Mistress and Bhalla paid political operative continue attacking with stalker like lies and bigoted innuendos against Defusco, Ramos and their supporters.
Yeah, but facing the truth is far harder. Ravi threw Jim Doyle under the bus for his construction union controllers. Doyle doesn’t care and prefers to sit in a corner and vote when it matters nada.
Some smart people sounded the alarm knowing this is exactly what Ravi Bhalla is all about. Those people are 100% proven correct. The Ravibot fanatics all have egg on their face and are trying to distract in any way possible.
They don’t want to talk about Ravi’s second job, ripping off an employee for thousands of dollars and this obvious attack coordinated by Ravi and his union pals. Anything but.
You have a Democracy in Action flyer on your site for runoffs and never even tried to follow the money. Who are they and why do they want runoffs? You don’t care.
Does it make any sense to buy a TV ad to attack a meaningless vote in an 8-1 majority? You don’t care.
You’re nothing but a two-bit attack dog for Tiffany. No integrity.
BH, labeling all criticism of Defusco as homophobia is a huge disservice to the LGBTQ community. Homophobia is real, not a political umbrella for your political friends. Every time you do this you tell everyone that homophobia isn’t a real problem, it’s just a way to avoid dealing with criticism. In other words, you CAUSE homophobia this way. STOP.
At the risk of beating a dead horse, if elected officials want to show they won’t be bullied, unanimously pass the resolution against the North Bergen PILOTed pollution/power plant that will send all the power to NYC while spewing air pollution all over Hudson and Bergen Counties.
The oddly deleted comment makes clear that the bullying is all about the power plant. Words are cheap – if Council members want to show the Union they won’t be bullied pass the resolution 9-0.
As an aside, am I the only one wondering why the Union rep called HCV to ask that his reference to the power plant resolution be deleted. Or how the union guy even knew about a future resolution that has yet to appear on the council Agenda or be publicly reported?
Wonder how Schneider-Electric would feel about this public bashing of a public utility?
Seems unseemly, unless LindaLou has a job a lobbyist against electric power?
Why are you attacking a persons employment?
Oh please, Political jobs are political jobs..Just because it’s a white collar role and not a job city hall doesn’t mean patronage over experience didn’t play a part.
What expertise does Zimmer have? Maybe Sacco helped her get it….
You’re right. Zimmer should be selling real estate like other washed up ex-politicos with no skills or qualifications.
Some people have sick obsessions with real estate agents…
And some real estate agents have sick obsessions. Or at least one does. I don’t want to malign an entire profession because of one troubled soul.
Some bloggers a one way mirror and spew bigotry and piss on others but when the victim fights back the bloggers cry and whine.
Interesting the false guessing on this site, just like LB falsely guessed and accused… cost him a quarter million thinking he would own someone’s condo and not one shred of anything turned up.
Linda, Why did SPONSORS Jim Doyle and Emily Jabbour pull the resolution?
The Council president did not!
Two meetings ago…
Michael Russo: “Why is this being Pulled?”
Councilman Doyle ” It has language hat needs corrections/ clean up”
So Linda tell your gal Sybil and your real identity to go watch the video tape
Jim Doyle pulled the feckless resolution because Ravi Bhalla told him to as Ravi was going to a HudCo party.
Too much explaining to do over a meaningless gesture. If they really thought this power plant in North Bergen was so horrible they’d actually do something other than push a piece of paper through the council.
What a joke these politicians are. They think the public will be impressed and applaud them for being paper pushers and doing nothing. Is Ravi actually doing anything against this power plant “threat?”
Nope and neither is Jim Doyle. Stupid political tricks, get dumb political prizes.
Don’t think the distraction attempt on North Bergen’s power plant is working. But keep those desperate distractions going with meaningless resolutions. Like it matters; it doesn’t.
Ravi threw Jim Doyle under the bus. Jim can’t even find his nuts to stand up for himself. Pathetic. His council colleagues stood up for him and stated the obvious.
Poor Hoboken is doomed.
Linda, how about Ravi Bhalla get all the Mayors he’s recently re-united with and denounce this plant?
Lead from top down. Not bottom up or Shadow forward…
Someone must be tired of watching Soap Operas while the wifey is working.
Doyle’s is Ravi’s lap dog, plain and simple.
That union is laughing at Hoboken and Doyle plotting its big development schemes for our town and Jim Doyle can only complain that someone mentioned Ravi in defending his vote. What a joke!
Consider reading the article and understanding what actually occurred.
Give Jim Doyle credit he knows what he signed up for in Ravi Bhalla. Now with Reform killed, he’ll stick with Ravi to Hoboken’s bitter end. Good job Jim. Sellout!
Kudos to Councilman Doyle for calling out the transparent, feeble, passive aggressive attempt by Fisher, Giattino and Cunningham to turn the Union’s strange attack on Councilman Doyle into a political attack on Mayor Bhalla.
The NB PILOTed patronage power plant boondogle may be a distraction from the attempt by those Councilpeople and their online spokespeople to twist this incident into an attack on Mayor Bhalla, but in the union representative’s own words it was an important part of the message the union was trying to deliver.
The intended recipient of that message was not simply Councilman Doyle, who by himself poses no threat to their agenda. It was all of New Jersey’s elected officials from the governor on down.
In his recent decision on Rebuild by Design, Governor Murphy, despite enormous pressure from development interests and their shills (including the very same union) prioritized public safety over development.
The union is sending a message that this sort of responsible decision making is unacceptable to them and will be met by them with all out political war.
I expect Governor Murphy, like Councilman Doyle, will not be intimidated and will once again tune out the static, objectively evaluate the issues, and do the right thing for the state of NJ. Included in that evaluation will be concerns raised by the negatively affected communities including Hoboken.
Fisher, Giattino and Cunningham could play their small constructive part in this saga by supporting Councilman Doyle’s resolution. That would make clear to the union that in Hoboken at least, attempts at intimidation will backfire. It’s also the right vote for the people they represent, whose air quality will be damaged by this project.
Hopefully, they will tune out the idiots whose “advice” led to their public statement and will do the right thing when Jim’s resolution comes before the Council.
Those same idiots “advised” Councilwoman Giattino into a 4th place finish in the Mayoral race and the quality of their advice has not improved.
Wasn’t their statement more about attacking the union for what it did rather than defending Jim? The trio states that the attack was on all elected officials like you say. How can you possibly think this is not tied to Bhalla’s deal with the union? Isnt that really what the issue is? Hoboken’s mayor brought the unions to town and has given them carte blanche on anything they want in Hoboken. Had the mayor not done this, there would not have been an attack. The bigger message is the Hoboken mayor’s involvement in all of this. This never happened under Mayor Zimmer (right Linda Lou?). And do you really think the power plant resolution wont pass 9-0? The bigger question will be do Jabbour and Doyle have the guts to put it up for a vote given the resistance from Bhalla? LindaLou – where is your demand that Bhalla, who is the only person who calls Jim his friend, apologize publicly to Jim and where is your demand that Bhalla come out and support, if not sponsor, the resolution?
C’mon you think Ravibots are going to be honest with the public? They’re playing for cheap headlines with meaningless symbolic gestures in the hopes to distract the public as Hoboken is sold down the river to Ravi’s construction union puppet master. Utter morons.
Oh Jim, put down the keyboard Jim…
Lindastan thinks if he talks more and more and writes longer and longer, Ravi Bhalla will get some cheap victory among the low information masses for pushing a non-binding piece of paper through Hoboken’s council.
Well, the exposure for selling out Hoboken is what’s seen the light of day.
Enjoy that Lindastan! Your political operation is exposed and so are the bullying construction unions controlling your guy Ravi!
I think Jim Doyle means former friends, not former colleagues. Boohoo WaaWaa
I used to think Jim was a stand-up guy, now he’s just Ravi’s washed-out toady and I realize it was all an illusion.
Yeah Jim, ELEC 825 was just pullin’ a “funny” on you. Meant nothing. Guess you missed that sinister note in Ravi’s laugh when you two chuckled together about it.
Talk about lack of objectivity. I’m still waiting for Ravi to disavow this ad and to publicly denounce the union’s behavior. Obviously it ain’t gonna happen. Jim drowned his objectivity, moral center and good guy image a long time ago.
Jim Doyle is not beholden to unions — not the IUOE, not the Teamsters, not the Lollipop Guild and not the Developer Crony Sellouts.
He took their support last year!
The Lollipop Guild…. you guys are such bigots.
Bhallatrumpsters
Everyone understands what being a sellout means to Hoboken. So Ravi and his union thug pals can go shove off!
As if you needed any proof that this “we support you Jim” stunt was really all about finding another way to attack Bhalla, check out all the hate for Jim here for not taking the bait. Go back to your site and write more comments to yourself.
You know Lindalou, you are right to take pride in your better half’s intervention into Rebuild by Design, but if you really think about it, it’s the least you could have done given that Ravi was anointed by you two. It was a really bad move on your part to not just let Hoboken figure itself out and will have ramifications on our city for generations. But keep trying to change and erase your evil acts from the past in between walking the dog through the Southwest Plaza (that your boy Ravi will never, ever expand).
Remember, even though Darth Vader throws the Emperor to his death in Return of the Jedi, it didn’t excuse the fact that he killed younglings! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl6vrQ3EivE
Who else but you would think it was cool to reference disgraced sex predator Bill O’Reilly who was even too disgusting for Fox.
Then again you are the only one dumb enough to think the anti-Doyle ad was because the hotel passed 8-1 instead of 9-0. Yeah, unions and developers always freak out when they only win 8-1.
Guessing screen names did not cost LB $276k. Calling that defamation in a lawsuit did. Guessing screen names or other unverifiable statements is not actionable defamation. Only a fool with a hack attorney would have taken it to court. It would behoove the angry realtor to stop bullying anonymous commenters with litigation threats. No onr is afraid of you. Its only a matter of time until you cross the line with your threats and bullying.
You should stop trying to guess
Put up proof or be compelled to
The attacks on that realtor here are beyond
You attack his disability non stop
I can’t believe this comes from the scabs of Ravi Bhalla who promises to protect people from Trump like attacks
The doofuses who post threats and personal information here don’t even rise to the level of bullies. They are wannabee bullies who have successfully turned themselves into laughing stocks.
As other posters have said, you have to be a complete idiot to think the Doyle ad was really about the hotel. But they don’t call the three doofuses of Hoboken doofuses for nothing.
Fortunately, I do think Jim’s resolution will now pass 9-0. It likely would not have otherwise been permitted by Ramos to come to ever come to a vote. If it passes 9-0 with the support of developer/union/Sacco shills like Ramos and DeFusco their intimidation strategy will have backfired and they will understand the message.
Let’s hope the Council bites the bullet and does what’s right rather than continuing to try to deflect this into an attack on the Mayor. He has been honest about his friendly relationship with LCOR and the laborers unions, and the public can weigh his choices and make an informed judgment about whether it’s a problem. Not so for Ramos, DeFusco and Fisher.