These photos come courtesy of Roman Brice blogger at MSV who attended the meeting last night and was able to get these very candid high quality shots. I know my commentary will come across as partisan but after last night's performance there is simply no way I can support the antics and destructive capacity of Beth Mason, Mike Russo and the rest of the "Council of No". Their contempt for the honest taxpayer was out in full force last night and the decorum of the meeting was an abomination. The rabble was not gavelled with sufficiency by the new council President and at one point the meeting was so disjointed due to Mike Russos back of the envelope "on the fly" budget machinations that comparisons to clowns came from some of my live bloggers. I set a record with 200 live viewers on my site and over 2,200 comments during the City Council meeting which went over 5 1/2 hours. So much for the new majority improving the efficiency of City Council meetings.
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| Beth Mason swears in as City Council President while her husband and bank roller/enabler Ricky Mason and daughter look on (the other daughter not in picture). By swearing in Beth Mason really swore to do anything in her power to obstruct the Zimmer Administration from doing anything positive. A sensible Council President would never have allowed Mike Russo's grandstanding and reckless approach to scribble-scrabble off the cuff financing. |
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| Lane Bajardi (top) claps and smirks during the coronation while one of Tim Occhipinti puppet master's Maurice Fitzgibbons (bottom) looks on as well in a less than celebratory and more solemn countenance. Lane once had a smirky grin when the reform turncoat's choice Peter Cammarano become Mayor and we all know that lasted less than a month. Remember this smirk of Lane's and compare it to his face in June of 2011 when he will likely realize he has been backing the wrong horse all along. With Beth Mason's likely electoral defeat, expect a "Big Bitter Beth face" from the dimmuntive minion. Watch for it! Beth Mason's power is fleeting with each and every wrong move she makes on the City Council. |
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| Mason/Russo Axis street worker and presdidigitator with a VBM ballot Matt Callichio gives a thumbs up during the meeting with his gang of good fellas. They were heard shouting constantly during the meeting when they didn't like what other speakers said. Beth Mason did a horrible job as City Council President in terms of controlling the crowd. Matt later extended a third digit in the direction of MSV blogger Roman Brice. Maybe a little charm school is in order for the political operative known as Matt Callichio. :) Some observers have said this is what the Russos have done in the past. They take over City Council chambers in an effort to intimidate other members of the public from speaking or even showing up when they have valid concerns. The rabble at times was out of control and Beth Mason did nothing to stop it since it apparently it was a fine level of decorum for her as it suited her agenda. This is a serious problem in terms of public access. Shame on Beth Mason for allowing the meeting to run amok. She has no class; no amount of money from Ricky can buy it. |
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| Holy botulistic buffoonery Batman! The bloviating bellicose belligerent and bombastic Perry Belfiore was in rare form last night. He called Roman Brice an asshole during his public comments and that seemed to incite the rabble further. The room was amped up for the meaningless discussion on the recreation fees that had already been decided before the topic came up. Perry Belfiore can say all he wants about "us" creating a division vs. "them" but his behavior is quite hypocritical given his track record of divisiveness. It was Perry who was the real sphincter here. I agree for once that there is a division in Hoboken between the patronage model of government which he espouses and the professional services model that the Zimmer supporters are in favor of. Sure, the Administration isn't perfect but the old model of doing things won't work any more; even a liberal like me can see that. Perry's attempt to make this about "us" vs. "them" along class lines is nothing but a ruse, a distraction. The core issue is how to best go about the business of government. You have to start with fiscal sanity first and that means a budget surplus. You then have to look at more efficient ways to go about conducting business. Paying as you go is a start when it comes to recreation fees. Perry should be ashamed of himself but he is shameless in his conduct at times. Roman should be commended for his graceful response to Perry's inappropriate words. In the words of Frank Raia, a veteran of vote by mail shenanigans "This means war". Perry was firing his rounds a mile a minute last night. Analogous to a bad 70's porn movie or a Hoboken 411 Lane Bajardi ghost written storyline, Perry Belfiore will blow his load again and again over the next months but you will see nothing more than the same old hairy man up to the same old dirty acts of politrickery. Nothing new here. Throw out the scruffed up VHS tape. Time to move on. |
