I'm thrilled to welcome Vanessa Falco as the final member of our team. As the mother of two public school students, I know Vanessa will represent our young families and push for expanded municipal activities, like summer camp and a broader range of cultural, tech and athletic programs for our children to supplement our school system.
-Mike DeFusco
Councilman and Mayoral candidate Mike DeFusco is calling for a full public disclosure of Councilman and fellow candidate Ravi Bhalla's business dealings with Suez Water, the city's water provider, with whom the Zimmer Administration has negotiated a new contract proposal that will have a major impact on residents for decades to come. Bhalla is a partner at the law firm of Florio, Perrucci, Steinhardt & Fader, which has received payments of at least $130,000 in lobbying fees from Suez as recently as 2015 according to publicly available records (Source: NJ Law Journal). Despite this publicly documented information, Bhalla denied at an August 2nd, 2017 City Council meeting that the firm has continued business dealings with Suez, and further claimed that the firm only negotiated the original agreement between the City and Suez in the 1990s.
Suez is listed as a client on the FPSF website as of the time of this release. This raises serious questions as to whether Bhalla is attempting to conceal his law firm's dealings with Suez at a time when the City of Hoboken is actively negotiating with the company.
Mike DeFusco is calling on Ravi Bhalla to disclose the full nature of his law firm's relationship with Suez, including how much the company paid Bhalla's firm in legal fees and lobbying fees since he has been a partner. Additionally, DeFusco is calling for Bhalla to recuse himself from all negotiations and any votes related to Suez as long as this conflict exists, and for an investigation into whether Bhalla was present or involved in the city's previous negotiations with Suez.
"Councilman Bhalla's failure to disclose that Suez Water was a client of his law firm while the City was negotiating with them on a decades-long agreement worth tens of millions of taxpayer dollars is the antithesis of transparent government. Ravi was asked directly at the 8/2/17 Council meeting whether his firm still represents Suez and he said "no", but the truth is, his firm received $130,000 in lobbying fees from the water provider as recently as 2015. Negotiations between Hoboken and Suez started in 2014, so we need to know the full extent of Ravi's business relationship with Suez and determine whether or not he was involved in the city's negotiations given this apparent conflict of interest. It's about time he decides if he wants to represent the taxpayers or his own private business interests."
Bhalla's law firm is one of the most prolific public contractors in the state, with $3.8 million in government contracts in 2016. Bhalla has faced numerous ethics complaints during his time on the Hoboken City Council, including failing to disclose mandatory public information on government contracts, and a case under active review by the Local Finance Board regarding his vote for a city contract for an attorney with whom he personally held shared business interests.
Reallocate city resources to fix potholes, repave streets and keep our sidewalks clean.
Create a quality of life department, a joint operation between environmental services and the Hoboken PD, to respond to noise violations, vagrancy, panhandling, dog waste and other daily nuisances.
Keep residential taxes stable while expanding the commercial tax base by encouraging innovative uses like urban wineries, coffee roasters, co-working spaces and culinary incubators.
Plan a new public high school complex north of 14th Street so that families can stay in Hoboken.
Return Observer Highway to four lanes of traffic, with three lanes out during the morning rush and three lanes inbound in the afternoon. Address traffic caused in and around Paterson Plank Road by the Light Rail, a promise made by the current administration a decade ago.
Stop quota-driven parking tickets used to plug deficiencies in the city budget. Focus on safety and traffic flow, instead of interfering with people going about their day-to-day lives. Invest all revenue from valid parking violations directly into improving parking and transportation.
Cut the prohibitive costs and red tape that are chasing businesses out of Hoboken. Encourage an even more vibrant restaurant scene and help mom and pop shops, makers and creative enterprises thrive.
Slash the current administration’s reliance on politically connected contracts, producing better services while eliminating cost overruns.
Continue the push towards a more resilient and green future by developing responsible public-private partnerships to build out park space and protect against flooding. Take a neighborhood approach to planning to ensure Hoboken stays charming and unique.
Stop the demolition of historic brownstones by expanding the historic district and fight against residential displacement caused by the current administration’s overbearing flood ordinance on streets that rarely flood, like Bloomfield, Garden, and Park.
Advance plans to encourage a regional tech hub developed in conjunction with Stevens Institute of Technology, adaptively repurpose parts of the train terminal into a world-class European market and rebuild the crumbling multi-service center.
