HOBOKEN AND BEYOND -- There's more in the war of words among county Democrats.
Hoboken Councilman Ravinder Bhalla, who is running against the Hudson County Democratic Organization slate in the upcoming June Democratic primary Assembly race to represent the 33rd District, says Bayonne Mayor and HCDO Chairman Mark Smith "leaves out some important facts" in his statement reported earlier at www.hudsonreporter.com.
Smith had claimed that Bhalla was plotting against the HCDO.
"Smith fails to mention that the HCDO leadership itself asked [Hoboken] Mayor [Dawn] Zimmer and myself to collect petitions to run for state Assembly because they were concerned Senator Brian Stack would renege on the backroom deal they made that placed Senator Stack and Assemblyman Ramos on the HCDO line, along with the Russo family committee people," Bhalla said.
Confused yet?
Bhalla continued, "I collected petitions in good faith and with Mark Smith’s full knowledge, and if he states any different he is lying to the public."
The HCDO-backed slate for the upcoming race includes incumbent Assemblyman Ruben J. Ramos Jr. (D - Hoboken) and Sean Connors, a Jersey City detective and school board member.
Bhalla will challenge the slate independently with the support of Zimmer.
Smith, in an earlier statement, said that Bhalla "chose to mount a campaign for Assembly against the party." However, Bhalla said it was the HCDO leadership who asked him to begin gathering petitions, and said Smith knew about Bhalla gathering signatures. Once the slate was announced, Bhalla wasn’t endorsed by the HCDO.
Bhalla says that members of the HCDO refused to return phone calls, voice mails, and text messages over the weekend, and said there was a "backroom deal" to remove Zimmer's candidates.
Bhalla said Zimmer then asked him to file the petitions to run for Assembly.
PolitickerNJ reported that a letter provided to the HCDO by Michele Russo, the mother of Zimmer rival Councilman Michael Russo, was considered when creating the slate, while Zimmer's choices were not.
"As much as Chairman Smith tries to create a false narrative, the simple truth is that Mark Smith made a political decision to shut out reform-minded Democrats from the party in exchange for an alliance with Brian Stack and the Russo family," Bhalla said. "The way Hudson County’s Democratic party leaders have conducted themselves this week is quite amusing, and would make for a good reality show were it not so unfortunate.”
Stay tuned to HudsonReporter.com as the story continues to emerge. -- Ray Smith
Is anyone surprised that the new Hudson County political bosses would feel they are entitled to act like the old Hudson County political bosses.
They want people who they can control and Ramos and Rommano have always been men who can be counted on to do as they are told.
Are the afraid that Zimmer could topple their apple cart ?
This morning at 5:37am Hoboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer arrived at 2 Constitution Court for a photo op of her pretending to help load Councilman Ravi Bhalla into a Waaaaambulance to recieve treatment for a suspected overdose of green cool-aid.
"It's entirely appropriate for the Mayor to bring various department heads and a photographer to a non-emergency scene to have her picture taken next to real people as they do their jobs, just like the last time," said City Campaign Manager Juan Melli. "This, along with me sending out press releases about it, is a shining example of how this administration is dedicated to cutting wasteful spending and focusing on the real issues at hand. Out of respect for Councilman Bhalla, the Mayor has asked that you don't look past his building towards the gaping hole in the waterfront that she was warned was in danger of collapsing a year before it did. It's downright good government. It is our sincere hope that Hoboken University Medical Center has not been flipped in a real estate deal before Councilman Bhalla can receive treatment. Eric Kurta has not yet released the full details of that backroom negotiation that stands to place the taxpayers of Hoboken on the hook for $200 million dollars or more if the deal falls through, but it's cool, we trust him...I mean, they're exclusive, right? NIXLE!!!"
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