Nice little switcharoo the city pulled yesterday.The story is in todays J.J. Can someone post it here.I'm Tech challenged or i'd do it myself.What a City.

In a special election the Machine would win.By going on the Nov.
presidential ballot it has a real shot at passing.

Over 60,000 people will will vote in the pres.election.In a special maybe 4000 would vote and the City Hall votes would win.

He should have just gone for the special election.

Fulop adding signers to put petition over

Wednesday, July 30, 2008
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City Councilman Steven Fulop came up a few hundred petition signatures shy yesterday in qualifying two government reform initiatives for the November ballot. But he can easily cure the problem, city officials said yesterday.

"At 9:30 a.m. (today) we are dropping another 300 signatures at the Clerk's Office," a chipper Fulop said last night.

To qualify the two reform initiatives for the November ballot - one a pay-to-play ordinance and the other limiting council members to one government salary - Fulop was told he had to submit at least 1,506 signatures of registered Jersey City voters to the City Clerk's Office for each initiative.

But Fulop was told the submission of 2,259 or more signatures - representing 15 percent or more of the 15,055 people who voted in November 2006 - would trigger a special election, according to state statute, that would cost the city $250,000, according to City Clerk Robert Byrne.

So Fulop submitted just a little over 1,800 for each initiative, Byrne said.

But by the time duplicates, illegibles, and other unverifiable signatures were knocked out, Fulop came up 142 signatures shy on the one-salary ordinance and 153 shy on the pay-to-play ordinance.

One ordinance would prevent council members from collecting a salary and pension contribution for their council post if they are already on the public payroll. Six of the current nine council members hold other government jobs.

The other ordinance would prevent no-bid contracts from being awarded to vendors who give contributions to a council member within a year of the contract's start date.

my bad. well not really. not sure why told certified, but the petitions are short about 150 valid signatures each and additional petitions are being submitted. so much for my enthusiam.




Quote:

Petitions have been certified!

job well done - Councilman Fulop and volunteers from his "Partnership for a Better Jersey City" and Civic JC!

the city clerk has certified the petitions!

The ordinance will now be on the agenda of the August 6th City Council meeting as a 2nd reading vote. If not approved by the council, the ordinance will then be on the ballot November 4th as a referendum and public will have the opportunity to vote p2p reform into law.

In regard to Schundlers claim that he had campaigned on these same issues that Fulop has now put forth during his campaign for Governor, a few points:

1) I seem to recall a recent JJ article in which Brets wife is proposing that a $ 180,000.00 campaign debt be forgiven that had been amassed during Schundlers failed Gubernatorial run.

2) One of the points Mrs. Schundler raise is that these vendors and or persons who loaned money to Bret are not seeking the money back from him, so the debt should be forgiven:

This raises a couple of questions:

A) Why don't they want their money back?

B) Had Bret promised them something in return if he had won for Governor?

C) Would you want your money back if you had provided services (for pay) and you had not been paid?

D) If you loaned Bret money would you want your money back?

E) Is this the type of ethics Bret aims to bring to Jersey City as the "reformer" he claims to be?

Bret is the quintessential pay to player, but has the audacity to claim Fulops initiatives as his own. Shame on you Schundler!

Pay-to-Play Reform a Step Closer

Jersey City is another step closer to Pay-to-Play Reform now that Councilman Steven Fulop has successfully led the petition signature drive. The proposed Contractor Pay-to-Play Reform Ordinance will now be sent directly to the Jersey City Municipal Council which will vote whether or not to introduce it for a second reading. If the council does not introduce the ordinance, it will be placed on the November 4th ballot as a public referendum and the public will decide.

This proposed ?state of the art? ordinance was written by Civic JC with the assistance of Citizen?s Campaign, NJ Appleseed and the Hoboken-based citizens? group People for Open Government. We believe that this reform ordinance is a giant step forward in not only reducing conflicts of interest in awarding city contracts, but also in moving forward ethics reform in Jersey City and ultimately, reducing the costs passed on to taxpayers.

Back in June 2006, our first efforts at advancing pay-to-play reform fell on deaf ears. Now, a little over two years later, a reform ordinance has successfully moved forward thanks to a lone Council member?s steadfast advocacy, the thousands of Jersey City voters (who signed the petitions), and the ongoing (and growing) support from numerous candidates for Mayor and Council in next May?s municipal election.

Civic JC welcomes the endorsement of this initiative by both our elected officials and those candidates planning to run for office in the 2009 municipal election. We extend to all an invitation to meet and discuss the Contracting Pay-to-Play Reform Ordinance and other reform initiatives. Working together for meaningful reform will make Jersey City municipal government more accessible, responsive and accountable to the residents.

Valerio Luccio
President, Civic JC

Quote:+1, that post sounds like it's coming from a Hudson Democratic machine operative

...because even if Schundler's motivations are cynical, no-way, no-how would Healy *ever* get behind these initiatives....

Quote:

I find that hard to believe. What metric are you using to make such an assertion? How about citing a source. And take your love of the Democratic Party blinders off before you do so.

I like Fulop he's heading in the right direcction...

Is he gonna come outta the closet and run?

The buzz is...people will vote for him he's gotta good chance!

Fulop on Schundler offer of support: no thanks

By Matt Friedman
July 14, 2008

Things appear to be getting a little prickly between Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop and former Mayor Bret Schundler ? two prospective candidates in next year?s mayoral election who share the same base of voters downtown.

At issue are the two ballot initiatives Fulop plans to put on the ballot in November ? one which enacts a pay-to-play ban and another that bars city council members from accepting more than one public salary.

The initiatives also work as an organizing tool for Fulop, who?s used dozens of volunteers in the effort and hopes that it will increase his name recognition outside of his own Ward E.

After Fulop turned in enough signatures to get the initiatives on the ballot, Schundler came out wholeheartedly in support of them, and mentioned that he?d be willing to hold a joint press conference with Fulop in support of them.

Fulop, however, shot down that idea.

?I told Bret that I think that, while I welcome his support, I think he and I doing that together would send the wrong message to the volunteers. A lot of people put a lot of time in the last six months gathering signatures, and for him to come in at the 11th hour and ride peoples? coattails, it?s not really my decision to say ?Hey, jump on board.??

Schundler said that was odd, since a joint press conference was Fulop?s idea to begin with.

?Steve has decided he doesn't want to do a joint press conference (strange, he originally proposed it), but I still plan to reach out to the other prospective mayoral candidates to support it, and if they do, to do a joint press conference about it,? he wrote in an email to PolitickerNJ.

Fulop disputed that account, saying that he offered to do an event together on legislative issues where they could find common ground, but ?not with this issue by any means.? When he discussed the reforms with Schundler before turning in the signatures, Fulop said his support was ?lukewarm.?

Moreover, Fulop said that Schundler was giving people the impression that he had formed an alliance between himself, Fulop and prospective council candidate Jimmy Carroll.

?In order to solicit extra support he?s telling people that Jimmy Carroll and I are on his ticket, which is not true,? he said. ?I think he recognized this thing was a train leaving the station, but rather than getting run over, he should attach himself,? said Fulop.

http://www.politickernj.com/matt-frie ... r-offer-support-no-thanks

Ex-mayor sees Fulop as following in his footsteps

Jersey Journal
Political Insider
Saturday, July 12, 2008

Downtown Jersey City Councilman Steve Fulop turned in his petitions, loaded with signatures, hoping they will be enough to force a municipal referendum in November that will create a pay-to-play ordinance and ban dual office-holding for City Council members.

Assuming everyone is honest - Fulop doesn't want city officials to get political donations in return for municipal contracts. Then, Fulop wants to prevent City Council members from forgetting where their loyalties are, and who elected them, by collecting a county pay check.

In the real world, Fulop wants to cripple the City Hall Democratic Party machine by making it harder for them to raise money for future campaigns and cutting off the influence of county government in local politics.

Next thing he'll want is for officials to vote their conscience.

Don't get me wrong - even with this writer's usual cynicism, seeking ethics reform is an interesting, needed debate and the rules Fulop is proposing would solve some concerns.

What this effort means to Fulop is what has been always said here - that his "grassroots" effort provides a ready-to-go organization that can easily help run a political campaign for the May municipal race.

Should voters approve the referendums, what will be achieved?

From this vantage point, I don't see it hurting Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who is already sitting on a more than $1 million campaign war chest, while it would become harder for others to raise funds.

Yet, Fulop has an unusual ally - former Mayor Bret Schundler. Should Fulop run for mayor, Schundler and he would be drawing from the same well of Downtown voters.

Schundler says he supports Fulop's initiatives and that the councilman has done a good job of getting them on the ballot.

"They very much follow in the footprints of the ethics reforms I proposed during my gubernatorial campaign in 2001," Schundler was nice enough to say without speaking in the third person.

The former Republican mayor said Common Cause had approached him after he left office to "champion an 'anti-pay-to-play' proposal (the phrase had not yet entered the public lexicon) that Common Cause had developed. I agreed to do so and the proposal became an important part of my gubernatorial agenda.

" . I have told him that I would be willing to do a press conference endorsing it, and that I would also be willing to round up other prospective mayoral candidates to support it."

Fulop's slow-burn reaction was a bit like Ralph Kramden's when Alice or Norton has done something to annoy him.

"Any resident of Jersey City who wants to endorse these measures is welcome to do so," he said.

Quote:





No jumping mouse,did you see the IF

As in if he is with the guy who sold our water supply to
united water so we now have to pay to drink our own water.

As in If he is with the guy who created the JCMUA that charges me every time i flush the bowl but can't stop the flooding.

As in if he is with the guy who privatized the library,buried the JC mueseum blocks from the path and in debt,Funded his gubenatorial runs with JC vendor money and is an Elmer Gantry snake oil salesman.Need More....

Bret Schundler is a cunning politican. He will say anything to be elected. I attended council meetings when he was mayor. There was more corruption under Schundler than Cunningham or Healy.
Yvonne

The non-partisan nature of municipal elections makes for interesting alliances. I was not yet here when Schundler ran and won his second full term. However, as I understand it, his council ticket included Mariano Vega, Bill Gaughan, and Tom DeGise, who are all Democratic party stalwarts (correct me if I'm wrong that they ran on his ticket). Jaime Vasquez, a former three term councilman for Ward E and one of the most liberal politicians in the city, endorsed Schundler's bid.

It may now be a bit more difficult for anyone with higher elected office ambitions to now attach themselves to Schundler, because since his Gubernatorial bid, he has become so deeply identified not just as a Republican, but as a very conservative one on social issues. And that could spell doom if one wanted to run for partisan offices in the not so distant future in Hudson County.

But people may be very surprised to see who will be running on Schundler's ticket (if Schundler decides to go through with a run).

The glass is half full.

We have one elected official, Steve Fulop out in front of advancing pay to play reform.

We have one elected official, Viola Richardson open to discussion (she voted to introduce the Redevelopment P2P ordinance, Jan 07).

We have a "viable" mayoral candidate, Bret Schundler backing not only the referendum, but who has also stated that if elected, he will work to pass the Redevelopment Pay to Play Reform ordinance which cannot be done via Initiative and Referendum.

and one of the petitioners for the Pay to Play Reform Referendum, Shelley Skinner is an announced council candidate.

A little over two years ago, there was zero support for Pay to Play Reform, now hopefully this will be an integral issue in the 2009 municipal elections.


Quote:

Schundler champions Fulop's initiatives

By Matt Friedman
http://www.politickernj.com/matt-frie ... mpions-fulops-initiatives

Former Jersey City mayor and two-time gubernatorial candidate Bret Schundler, who?s mulling a return to City Hall, said today that he supports the ballot initiatives championed by Steve Fulop, another prospective mayoral candidate, and would go as far to hold a press conference supporting it.

?They very much follow in the footprints of the ethics reforms I proposed during my gubernatorial campaign in 2001,? wrote Schundler in an email to PolitickerNJ.

The initiatives, which are likely to be in the November general election ballot, ban city officials from accepting campaign contributions from vendors with business before the city within a year of the contract?s start date and force City Council members to accept only one taxpayer funded salary.

Schundler said that the advocacy group Common Cause first proposed a similar anti pay-to-play platform to him seven years ago, which became a big part of his own campaign and influenced future reform efforts.

?If these reforms don't pass (though I think they will), I and any council slate I prospectively put together will commit to passing them should we be elected,? he said.

Schundler has approached Fulop about a potential alliance in 2009, as well as a number of other officials. Fulop, however, recently downplayed the possibility.

Mr. Rogers:

Let me get this straight: Bret thinks an anti-corruption ballot initiative is a good idea, so you immediately jump to the conclusion that Bret and Fulop are working together?

You deep thinker (never fail to impress me).

-M

I just read on the politickernj web site that Bret Shundler has come out strong for Fulops Ballot drive.

If this means that Steve Fulop and that Right Wing nut job Shundler are working together than he just lost my vote.
Bret Shundler sold this City down the river with a smile on his face the whole time.I'll take the drunken naked nitwit over Bret any day.

Double dipping and a double shot on the rocks for Healy!

Quote:

It just wouldn't be Jersey City unless there was double dipping politicitans and corruption now would it??

I saw our gin-sprouted mayor yesterday at a street dedication. He's Gotta lay off the sauce.

Quote:
yeah, they would tend to get in the way of the graft....


I understand there are like 3200 signatures on that petition, so it should survive the verification process, but it'll probably go down in November unless there's a serious voter turnout - because (for example) Kabili Tayari isn't paid $104K to march in a few parades, he's there to deliver votes on command - and the unions and the vendors and the contractors for whom pay-to-play is standard Jersey City operating procedure will deliver their share of bought-and-paid-for votes too.


Corruption is like a cancer, kind of hard to get rid of it. But let's try anyway.....


! ....register and vote.... !

it's easy to register - just print out this form, fill it out, and send it in....

Councilman gets ethics questions on the ballot

by Paul Koepp
Wednesday July 09, 2008, 9:29 PM

Steve Fulop's ethics reform initiatives will be on the ballot this November.

The Downtown Jersey City councilman turned in petitions today with more than the required 1,550 signatures for both a pay-to-play ordinance and a measure to ban dual office-holding for City Council members.

"People were skeptical that a good government reform movement would ever gain traction in Jersey City," Fulop said in a press release. "This time, for the first time, the voters of Jersey City will have a say about how they want their city to be governed."

The first initiative would prohibit the city from awarding a no-bid contract to any vendor who made a campaign contribution to a local elected official within a year of the contract's start date.

If awarded a contract, a vendor -- and any business partners and family members -- would be limited to contributing $300 per calendar year to candidates or candidate committees for mayor or the governing body, or $500 per calendar year to any joint candidates committee for mayor or governing body.

State law permits contributions up to $2,600 per election -- with primary and general contests as two different elections -- and $7,200 to county committees.

The other ballot initiative would restrict anyone sitting on the City Council from holding another public job -- and collecting a second pension -- while in office.

Other City Council members and Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy have said the measures would be impractical.

City Clerk Robert Byrne has 20 days to certify that the petitions are valid, and the council then has 20 days to enact the initiatives or let them proceed to the November election.