Monday, November 14, 2011

Twas the night before the Frog March

Here is an epic poem on the topic of the recently reported arrest of former City of Hoboken IT employee Patrick Ricciardi and the possible extensive data theft ring the was involved with. It is possible that the FBI case will only expand and includes at least one current Hoboken official and one past Hoboken Official identified as individuals 1 and 2 respectively. Here is a poem perhaps wishfully thinking that the scope of this investigation will yield the ultimate prize, the downfall of Mrs. Richard Beth Mason. Just a projection and not a prediction at this point. One can only hope. :)

Twas the night before the Frog March

Twas the night before the Frog March, when all through the City’s big house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a Lane Bajardi that easel propping louse.
The Zimmer bloggers were clung to the MSV and GA websites with flair
with hopes that FBI with warrants would soon would be there.

The children/City Council Minority were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of Zimmer’s destruction danced in their heads.
And Mamma Russo in her no-show job, and boy Mikey with his political crap,
Had just settled their conniving kleptocratic brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on Hudson Street there arose such a clatter,
Taxpayers sprang from their beds to see what was the matter.
Away to the window they flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to their wondering eyes should show,
But a slew of FBI vehicles, all ready to process arrests on the word go.

With a real professional driver, so lively well dressed and quick,
I knew in a moment it couldn’t be “Stick”.
More ravenous than vultures his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

"Now Castellano! Now, Russo! Now, Klaussen und Lane!
On, Occhipinti! On, Riccardi! On, DeStefano and Beth Mason the insane!
To the top of Mason Mansion! To the abyss of Hoboken City Hall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"

As downed trees that before the wild winds of Hurricane Irene fly,
When Zimmer was met with obstructionism, piled to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the FBI sleigh full of charges, and hefty legal bills too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard Beth Mason exclaim
“It wasn’t me, I’m innocent, it was my boy Lame”.
As the taxpayers drew their heads, and were turning around,
Down the went all the charges like a bang with a very loud sound.

The FBI lead agent was dressed in all black, from his head to his foot,
And the Old Guards’ reputations were now all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle charges against them he had flung from his back,
But then uber rich Beth Mason came back with her counter-attack.

“These charges are false” Beth exclaimed, “made up and untrue”
“Its all because I oppose Christie and they want me politically through”.
Her droll bitter mouth was drawn up like a bile filled witch,
What she uttered next confirmed what we all knew, that she was a b*tch.

The success of the HUMC sale by Zimmer caused Mason to clench her teeth,
Beth would never be coronated Mayor and wear the grand Masonic wreath.
She had a wretched face that would angrily contort,
As she spouted venom and the truth she would distort.

Beth Mason was angry and bitter, and not quite right with herself,
She once again tried to put the blame on others and her minion, a uni-browed elf!
With a wink of her eye and a twist of her head,
She soon heard the list of charges that she just had to dread..

The FBI laid out all the charges, and went straight to work,
And continued reading and reading, then Beth tuned Mason turned with a jerk.
And laying her finger aside of her super long lying recall me nose,
She sneezed out of fear, as all of her lies had just been exposed!

Mason and cohorts were carted off to the big house, she gave a sneer,
And away they all flew to prison with loud Hoboken cheers.
But we heard her exclaim, ‘ere she was driven out of sight,
"F*ck you FBI, my husband Ricky has got loads of money and he’ll put up a fight!" ◦
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Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Mayor Zimmer on FBI Investigation of City Employee

From the desk of City Hall on the latest FBI arrest in Hoboken. This time it was a City of Hoboken IT employee.

STATEMENT FROM MAYOR ZIMMER ON FBI INVESTIGATION OF CITY EMPLOYEE

Mayor Dawn Zimmer issued the following statement today after the FBI announced the arrest of a City employee stemming from an investigation regarding a potential security breach in the City’s electronic communications.

“In May, my Administration suspected wrongdoing regarding electronic communications in City Hall. We hired a private security firm to evaluate the situation and discovered evidence of potential wrongdoing. As I have done whenever my Administration has uncovered such evidence since I became Mayor in 2009, my Administration immediately contacted the appropriate authorities -- in this case the Federal Bureau of Investigation. We provided them with all evidence and have been working with the FBI since. I thank the U.S. Attorney’s office and the special agents in the FBI Newark field office for their assistance and for taking this matter seriously.”

“This is a good example of our City working with the authorities and demonstrates the justice system at work.”

“As we have done in the past, my Administration is respectful of the presumption of innocence while taking the necessary actions to protect the interests of the City. Patrick Ricciardi, who has worked for the City of Hoboken since 1992, has been suspended without pay since May.”

View the announcement from the U.S. Attorney: http://www.justice.gov/usao/nj/Press/files/Ricciardi,%20Patrick%20Surrender%20News%20Release.html

View the criminal complaint: http://www.justice.gov/usao/nj/Press/files/pdffiles/2011/Ricciardi,%20Patrick%20Complaint.pdf ◦
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Former City of Hoboken IT Manager Charged with Intercepting and Distributing E-mail of Mayor and Top City Officials Emails

Here some breaking news coming from the Newark FBI office about email fraud allegedly committed by a former employee of Hoboken City Hall. This case also involves at least one current and one former City of Hoboken Official names as individual 1 and individual 2 in the complaint. Expect more to break from this case as the dust settles. Below is the press release from the FBI.

FORMER CITY OF HOBOKEN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY MANAGER CHARGED FOR ALLEGEDLY INTERCEPTING, DISCLOSING E-MAIL OF HOBOKEN MAYOR AND TOP CITY OFFICIALS



NEWARK, N.J. – A former management information systems specialist for the city of Hoboken, N.J., surrendered this morning to special agents of the FBI to face allegations that he intercepted communications meant for the current mayor of Hoboken and top city officials and passed them on to other current and former city officials, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Patrick Ricciardi, 45, of Hoboken, is charged in a federal criminal Complaint with one count each of accessing a computer without authorization, interception of wire and electronic communications, and disclosure of intercepted wire and electronic communications. Ricciardi is scheduled to appear this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Cathy L. Waldor in Newark federal court.

“According to the Complaint, Ricciardi spied on official e-mails to a sitting mayor and shared them with others, even setting up software to automate his intrusion,” said U.S. Attorney Fishman. “Entrusted with the city of Hoboken’s IT infrastructure, Ricciardi allegedly abused that access to divert communications about city business to those who had no business seeing them. Even by those on the inside, breaches of computer security not only violate privacy, they violate federal law.”

According to the criminal Complaint unsealed today:

Ricciardi was a longstanding employee of the city of Hoboken and worked as the chief information technology officer for the mayor’s office. As part of his job duties, Ricciardi was responsible for keeping the city’s network running, and had access to e-mail accounts within the city’s computer system and other aspects of the city’s computer network.

Beginning in April 2011, employees of the mayor’s office became suspicious that the subject matter of e-mails they were sending amongst themselves were being somehow “leaked” to outside parties. The city hired a private security consultant to perform a security audit on computers located within the mayor’s office. The audit revealed an e-mail archive file on the hard drive of Ricciardi’s work computer.

The FBI’s investigation revealed that the archive file had been set up to intercept and store all e-mails sent to the mayor and certain of the mayor’s employees. Neither the mayor nor any other city employee authorized the creation of the archive file or the storage of any e-mails in it.

The archive file was not a standard backup kept in the normal course of business, as it did not follow information technology best practices such as the use of tape backups or other electronic media that systematically save data. True backup systems are housed remotely on a server or other external location. Instead, the software had been configured so that all e-mails sent to the mayor would automatically download into the archive file as they were sent.

E-mails from the archive file, which were intended for the mayor and the mayor’s employees, had been forwarded to at least three current or former City municipal employees, who were not intended recipients. Specifically, Ricciardi forwarded email exchanges between the mayor and high-ranking city employees from his personal email account.

Each of the three counts of the Complaint carries a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Fishman praised special agents of the FBI’s Cyber Crimes Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, for the ongoing investigation leading to the charges.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zach Intrater of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Section in the Office’s Economic Crimes Unit in Newark.

The charges and allegations contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Link to release: http://www.justice.gov/usao/nj/Press/files/Ricciardi,%20Patrick%20Surrender%20News%20Release.html ◦
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Thanks to Everyone For Your Support! Gardiner For Freeholder

Thank you for your support for my first run in Hoboken/ Hudson County politics as Freeholder of District 5 in Hudson County. . As a first time candidate running as an independent I was realistic and did not expect to win. However, I am very happy with the turnout from this election in that I got over 1500 votes. I ran my campaign to raise awareness on the issues of Hoboken getting the short of the "Stick" with respect to services we get back from Hudson County and I believe my message resonated with the Hoboken and Jersey City Heights voters.

This campaign was limited by design. I look at many of my undertakings with an eye on return on investment and not just from a financial standpoint. Sure, I could have spent $30,000 and the margin may have been closer but the result would have very likely been the same. I am grounded in that reality. This run is just a beginning and I intend to get Hoboken involved more in watching the County. Hoboken deserves its fair share and my turnout has sent a message to the County that there is a large enough block of voters that feel they are being robbed. I intend to grow that base of voters over the next 3 years and give it another shot.

I extend congratulations to Anthony Romano for winning his re-election and hope to work with him to be a better Freeholder for Hoboken and JC Heights. I hope next time he will be willing to debate the issues instead of cowering in a corner and hiding behind the HCDO banner. Several debates will give the voters more information next time to make their decision on who to vote for. There are opportunities coming up for the County to finally deliver services for Hoboken that we have been denied of for years. Look for me to continue to advocate for our public schools, a better municipal government and more accountability from Hudson County with our taxpayer dollars.

This first campaign of mine was less of a campaign and more of a social media experiment in enabling a grass-roots political movement . Imagine the possibilities when I run a campaign for real. Thanks again voters. You sent a message to Hudson County Bosses for sure. In words of despised destruct-a-con Hoboken 2nd Ward City Council Woman Beth Mason and Anthony Romano political ally "We did it!" :) ◦
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Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Celebrate Gardiner For Freeholder Post Election Party at Turtle Club Tonight at 8:15pm!

Celebrate Kurt Gardiner For Freeholder Post Election Party at Turtle Club in Hoboken tonight at 8:15pm! Win or lose at the polls we will gather to await results and celebrate choice in democracy and good governance for Hoboken and Jersey City Heights residents. The Turtle Club is located at 936 Park Avenue Hoboken, NJ. Their phone number is (201) 710-5960. RSVP to me at kurt.gardiner@gmail.com and tell your friends who support fair taxation and services for Hoboken/Jersey City Heights residents.


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VBM Vote Harvesting over 1,000 in Hoboken!

Here is a breakdown of the vote by mail totals for Freeholder District 2 which includes all of Hoboken and Jersey City Heights. The total count for Hoboken is 1,065 VBMs. That porbably is a new record in Hoboken. The Fourth Ward has a whopping 574 as of today and all the vote by mails have yet to be counted. Jersey City Heights has 155 VBMs. It would appear Mayor Zimmer opponent Frank Raia has been very busy harvesting votes in the 4th Ward in particular. That man is a hell of a vote harvester. Hats off to Frank Raia for getting out the vote. Looking forward to the forensic analysis on the money trail behind this herculean effort.


For reference, here is the link to the full VBM report: http://thebokenonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Hoboken-JCHeights-5th-Freeholder-vote-by-mail-report-11-7-2011.pdf ◦
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Dave Mello Endorses Kurt Gardiner for Freeholder

Hoboken Councilman At -Large Dave Mello gets into the latest rush to endorse Kurt Gardiner's (my)candidacy for Freeholder. His statement and video are below:

In a video release, Hoboken City Councilman David Mello has endorsed Kurt Gardiner for election as Hoboken's representative on the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders. "I've been fighting for the creation of a southwest park in Hoboken for years now," said Mello. "With seventeen percent of Hudson County's tax dollars coming from Hoboken residents, despite Hoboken making up less than eight percent of the County's population, isn't it time that the County fully partnered with Hoboken in efforts to create this park? A southwest park in Hoboken could provide vital flood remediation and greatly improve the quality of life in Hoboken." Mello further said, "Many large residential buildings have gone up just over the southwest borders of Hoboken in recent years. At this moment, cement is being poured for yet another residential building just south of Hoboken's train trestle in Jersey City; the Cast Iron Lofts. It's only logical to see that residents of other Hudson County municipalities will use a southwest park if one is ever created. Hudson County's Fifth District needs a freeholder who will fight for a Hoboken and County partnership in the creation of this park." The Cast Iron Lofts will bring 155 new rental units to the Jersey City neighborhood just over the border from Hoboken's Fourth Ward.

Jersey City already is home to Lincoln Park, a 273.4 acre Hudson County park. Hoboken's only county park is Columbus Park on Clinton Street, a 3.2 acre, mostly passive park space.

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Monday, November 7, 2011

Political Cartoon - Brian Stack Eats Hoboken's Money!

A friend of mine who is a Union City artist that used to live in Hoboken sent this political cartoon in. The cartoon is not so much a reflection of the artist's political beliefs but his understanding of where I stand with respect to Brian Stack on how he eats up Hoboken's money at the county level.

Of course Union City Mayor and NJ State Assemblyman Brian Stack enjoys a large plurality in Union City, Hoboken is paying for it. Tomorrow the polls are open from 6am-8pm. Make sure you vote Kurt Gardiner for Freeholder Column C Row 6. Send Hudson County bosses like Brian Stack a message that Hoboken deserves its fair share too. Its Hoboken's tax money too! Shame on you Brian Stack! Arnold Diaz is watching you!


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Councilwoman Jen Giattino endorses Kurt Gardiner for Freeholder

Hoboken Councilwoman Jen Giattino of the 6th Ward endorses Kurt Gardiner for Freeholder. Read below for another example of additional support that is out there for Kurt Gardiner for Freeholder. The momentum is picking up for my candidacy. It seems my ideas are resonating with voters and my fellow City Councilmen and woman....


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Hoboken City Councilman Ravi Bhalla Endorses Kurt Gardiner For Freeholder

Ravi Bhalla, Hoboken City Council President has endorsed Kurt Gardiner for Freeholder for Hudson County District 5:


Dear Editor-

I write to offer support and an endorsement of my good friend, Kurt Gardiner, for county Freeholder for the 5th District, which includes Hoboken and portions of Jersey City Heights.

When Mayor Dawn Zimmer and I first ran for elective office, we were not politicians, but rather citizens sincerely concerned about the direction of Hoboken, and wanted to serve to make positive change for our community. Last Friday’s sale of the Hoboken University Medical Center is just one example of how regular people focused solely on Hoboken’s best interests, can bring their respective talents to the table and achieve historic change for the City of Hoboken. It is also an example of how an ordinary person with extraordinary determination – Mayor Zimmer – brought together like-minded residents to successfully work for the greater good of Hoboken.

We must also remember that Hoboken is not an island unto itself. A large portion of our tax levy is County taxes that are impacted by the decisions of our county legislators, also known as Freeholders. It is important for us to understand the impact that policies at the county and state level have on Hoboken, and for well intentioned and talented residents in Hoboken to step up and run for elective office not just at the local level, but at the county and state level as well.

Kurt Gardiner is one of those persons and I humbly request you cast your ballot for Kurt tomorrow. For as long as I have known Kurt, he has been an honest, thoughtful, and humorous straight-shooter. Kurt does not pull any punches, even with me. There have been times where Kurt has disagreed with a position I have taken, and he never hesitates to call me and express his disagreement. Kurt is a courageous man who I believe has the intelligence, energy and ability to stand up to business as usual at the county level and advocate for the best interests of Hoboken and Jersey City residents.

My endorsement of Kurt is not a reflection of my views of our current Freeholder, Anthony Romano. For as long as I have known him, Freeholder Romano has been a professional and true gentlemen in all of our interactions. Freeholder Romano works very hard and I sincerely believe also has the best intentions of the residents of the 5th District. So you have two good candidates to choose from.

At this time in Hoboken’s history, however, our interests would be better served through the election of a qualified candidate emerging from outside the confines of traditional Democratic county politics. That person is Kurt Gardiner and I sincerely hope you will cast your vote for him tomorrow.

Sincerely,

Ravi S. Bhalla
Democrats for Honest Government

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