Browsing this Thread:
1 Anonymous Users
Re: "Unclean" Elections & Nidia Lopez
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Just can't stay away
![]() ![]() ![]() |
here are a few thoughts on Councilwoman Colon's place at the parade, along with some other stuff about the oarade itself:
http://blogcityblog.com/2009/08/24/1137/ (have you taken our corruption poll?)
Posted on: 2009/8/24 18:30
|
|||
|
Re: "Unclean" Elections & Nidia Lopez
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Quote:
Chutzpah = "sin Verg?enza." Shamless, low, and unaware of that shame. Sounds like Mariano and Nidia. RESIGN NOW.
Posted on: 2009/8/24 14:58
|
|||
|
Re: "Unclean" Elections & Nidia Lopez
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Just can't stay away
![]() ![]() ![]() |
In "Jersey Journal" editorial, Lopez called "a legal headache,"
as posted on August 24, 2009, 12:01 a.m. EDITORIAL: Parade honor a smug affront to propriety Chutzpah is not a Spanish word, but apparently the Puerto Rican Parade Committee in Jersey City knows its meaning. It selected Councilwoman Nidia Lopez as yesterday's parade grand marshal. Lopez is enmeshed in a legal fight over her residency and her right to keep her elected office. Former Ward C candidate Norrice Raymaker is the plaintiff in the action first brought by another candidate, Jimmy King. King was among 44 people arrested last month by the FBI in a massive corruption probe. The parade committee has a right to select whomever it wants, but the president of the group is Armando Roman, the city fire director. Only the naive would say Roman is not politically influenced. Bestowing this "honor" is the kind of incident that makes the city a target of ridicule. Should Superior Court Judge Maurice Gallipoli rule that Lopez was a Florida resident when she ran for office, then the situation will become magnified. The councilwoman should have remained in the background of city activity until her case is resolved. Instead, she has been voting on measures that come before her on the City Council. She has been advised by this newspaper to abstain from voting, but ignores the potential of a legal headache for the city should she be forced off the local governing body. There is a silver lining. At the writing of this editorial, it does not appear that City Council President Mariano Vega would be honored by the parade committee. Vega was arrested along with King and others on July 23 on corruption complaints. While two mayors who were caught in the FBI net have stepped down from their offices, Vega stubbornly refuses to quit, although he cannot defend himself and properly serve this city. His power on the council has already been diminished when his fellow council members made Peter Brennan president pro tem, an excuse to allow Vega to concentrate on his legal problems. It is also convenient that he resist resigning past September, making it impossible to hold a special election to replace him in the November general election. He is all about buying time. In his defense, Vega obtained a 60-day continuance, a delay, in his case to allow him to determine the strength of the federal prosecutor's case against him. His filed papers also indicate he needs time for the possibility of considering a plea deal. Vega only reflects the arrogance and ego of this administration and its followers who exert influence over many parts of city life, even a parade. -- Agustin Torres
Posted on: 2009/8/24 14:35
|
|||
|
"Unclean" Elections & Nidia Lopez
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Just can't stay away
![]() ![]() ![]() |
as posted by "The Jersey Journal," Sunday, August 24, 5:08 p.m.
Despite Florida controversy, Councilwoman Nidia Lopez is Jersey City Puerto Rican Heritage Parade's grand marshal Florida officials have told Jersey City Councilwoman Niidia Lopez she owes the state $30,473 in back taxes for taking advantage of a tax rebate between 2002 and 2008 reserved for full-time residents. But Norrice Raymaker, the third-place finisher in the May 12th Ward C race, is still demanding in court that Lopez resign because she was a Florida resident when she assumed her council seat. In spite of the swirling controversy, committee members of the Puerto Rican Heritage Parade and Festival made Lopez the parade's grand marshal. "We selected her at the beginning of the year, way before the issue regarding her residency arose," said Armando Roman, the city's fire chief and president of the committee. "She wasn't tainted with anything criminal and we made a decision to honor or word in selecting her." But the committee wasn't as loyal to City Council President Mariano Vega, Jr., who was arrested last month for allegedly accepting bribes from an FBI informant, one of nearly two dozen employees and officials in Hudson County arrested in the sting. Each year, Vega coordinates the event's banquet, held this year on Friday at Casino In the Park. Vega wasn't involved this year. "He (Vega) had some issues, he's innocent until proven guilty," Roman said. "I took responsibility to run the banquet." -- Charles Hack
Posted on: 2009/8/23 22:34
|
|||
|
Re: Grand Marshal Nidia Lopez ???? of Jersey City or Orlando
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() |
I'd like to know if there is reciprocity.....As a Jersey City resident I think I might be interested in running for a position in Orlando city government. Maybe Ms Lopez and I could work out a job sharing arrangement. She could do my job in Orlando while I would do her job here in JC.
Posted on: 2009/8/22 20:00
|
|||
|
Re: Grand Marshal Nidia Lopez ???? of Jersey City or Orlando
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Quote:
As someone of PR heritage, I couldn't agree with you more. If Ms. Lopez is indeed the Grand Marshall, then she is a "sin Verg?enza."
Posted on: 2009/8/22 16:50
|
|||
|
Grand Marshal Nidia Lopez ???? of Jersey City or Orlando
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Jersey City's Puerto Rican community will celebrate its heritage this weekend with a two-day festival and a parade.
The Puerto Rican Heritage Festival & Parade Inc. will recognize Grand Marshal Nidia Lopez, a city councilwoman I would love to ask my Puerto Rican friends a simple question.... of the many deserving citizens of JC such as Officer Michael Camacho JCPD, how she was selected? Did someone confuse her with the new Supreme Court Justice Sotomayor... I do not see similarities? But as long as you have her in a car... why not point it towards 95 South and send her "home" to Florida. ![]()
Posted on: 2009/8/22 16:07
|
|||
|
Re: "Unclean" Elections & Nidia Lopez
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Just can't stay away
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Judge Grants Raymaker?s Motion to Join Suit Against Lopez
by Shane Smith ? Aug 7th, 2009, "Jersey City Independent" Community activist Norrice Raymaker, who ran on the One Jersey City ticket against Ward C Councilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez in this year?s municipal election, recently filed a motion to join a lawsuit seeking that Lopez be disqualified from office based on allegations that her primary residence is in Florida. The suit was originally brought by the second-place finisher in the Ward C race, Jimmy King, who has indicated he will not pursue the case because of his arrest in connection with last month?s broad-ranging federal corruption bust. Reports in JCI and elsewhere have erroneously stated that King has already dropped the suit. Raymaker?s motion was granted today by Hudson County Superior Court Judge Maurice Gallipoli. During an emergency conference in his courtroom, he agreed with Raymaker?s claim that the motion to intervene carries ?no prejudice? against Lopez; in other words, Raymaker?s name on the suit does not make it any more or less difficult for Lopez to mount a legal defense, because the substance of the case is unchanged. ?If you were gonna win [the case] against Mr. King, you?re gonna win it against [Raymaker],? Gallipoli said to Lopez?s counsel as he granted the motion. He dismissed Lopez?s argument that Raymaker?s motion to intervene was untimely. Diana Jeffrey, who is representing Raymaker along with Howard Myerowitz, said she was ?pleased? with the judge?s decision. Speaking to JCI outside the courtroom just after the conference, she remarked that ?the citizens of Jersey City ? need to know [that] the people elected to serve them are eligible to hold office.? Lopez?s attorney William Northgrave did not wish to comment. Neither Raymaker nor Lopez was present in the courtroom this afternoon; they could not be reached immediately for comment. Had Raymaker?s motion been denied, anyone wishing to disqualify Lopez would have to submit a new filing, which would now face the likelihood of being disqualified on the grounds that more than 30 days have passed since Lopez assumed office. UPDATE: In a statement released by One Jersey City this afternoon, Raymaker said she is ?encouraged? by the court?s decision. ?Residents in Ward C need to know who Nidia Lopez really is and if she lives in Ward C,? she said.
Posted on: 2009/8/7 22:18
|
|||
|
Judge allows third candidate to join suit against Jersey City Councilwoman Nidia Lopez
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() |
by The Jersey Journal
Friday August 07, 2009, 2:06 PM Jersey Journal file photoA suit filed against Jersey City Councilwoman Nidia Lopez was dropped by one unsuccessful candidate, but a judge let another pick it up this afternoon. Hudson County Superior Court Judge Maurice Gallipoli ruled today that Norrice Raymaker could join a lawsuit against Nidia Lopez, a Jersey City councilwoman who is accused of living in Florida. The suit was originally brought against Lopez by unsuccessful Ward C candidate Jimmy King, but Raymaker, another of the candidates who lost to Lopez in May, fears that King will drop the suit after he was charged in the massive corruption sting last month. Yesterday, a Star-Ledger columnist wrote that King had already dropped the suit against Lopez. But he hasn't done so so far. Today,Raymaker asked Gallipoli if she could join the suit in case King dropped out, and the judge approved, despite Lopez's contention that the action was coming too late. "This is a real victory for the people of Jersey City,'' Raymaker's attorney, Diana Jeffrey said. "The voters deserve to know the truth about Mr.s Lopez's ability to represent Ward C." King had brought the suit hoping to unseat Lopez, who had been registered to vote in both Jersey City and Orlando and who had claimed her residency was in Florida to qualify for a tax break on her home there. After the suit was brought, the state of Florida decided she didn't deserve the tax break and sent her a bill for more than $30,000. Recently, protests against City Council President Mariano Vega, who was charged in the corruption sting but has said he won't resign, have also included calls for Lopez to step down. Check back with Hudson County Now for more on this developing story.
Posted on: 2009/8/7 19:49
|
|||
|
Re: You misread the article
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() Joined:
2007/11/28 3:26 Last Login : 2014/10/27 13:13 From The fog.
Group:
Registered Users
Posts:
1013
![]() |
Quote:
See what I mean?
Posted on: 2009/8/7 2:25
|
|||
|
Re: You misread the article
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Just can't stay away
![]() ![]() ![]() |
It doesn't matter how much good he's done, he abused the power of his position and broke the law. In any other job in the world except politics, he'd be fired on the spot. Not resigning is pure hubris.
There's plenty of other good people that can do the job. Let his good deeds be told at his trial, but this isn't about that.
Posted on: 2009/8/7 0:11
|
|||
|
Re: You misread the article
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Quote:
It's too bad you're tired of reading about all the horrible things in Jersey City. If you are don't read them and pretend all is well in the kingdom. There are people who hold their elected officials accountable for what they do. Each one of us has the ability for good and evil. We make choices in life. When a person is elected to office and they take an oath to protect the people they serve it has to account for something. The nonsense of challenging anyones' roots in Jersey City is contemptuous. I'd be as offended by Vega's behavior if I just came here yesterday or was born here. No doubt he's done some good in his life but he sold his office and the publics' trust for a bag of shells. For that he has to go.
Posted on: 2009/8/6 23:42
|
|||
|
Re: You misread the article
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() Joined:
2008/10/19 1:18 Last Login : 2020/9/25 20:40 From somewhere else
Group:
Registered Users
Posts:
1609
![]() |
Sonjess - thanks for putting your thoughts out there. I'm not originally from here and I struggle mightily to understand the indifference so many people have toward what goes on here. The horrible things you've been reading about (at least this round) haven't even been in the news for two weeks yet. Already there seems to be fatigue with the issue and the malaise that consumes Jersey City is returning.
Having lived in several other parts of the country, I can tell you that Jersey City, Hudson County and Northern NJ are not like everywhere else. Sure corruption exists elsewhere. But it's not institutionalized, nor is it a multi-generational birthright. Just like we, the non-native JC residents, don't have the same intimate experience with the accused, I think the natives often lack the awareness of the better practices that exist elsewhere to know that it doesn't need to be this way. To cite one example for emphasis - the city budget. If an administration of another sizable city didn't bother to submit and get approval for its budget until the eleventh month of the year for which the budget covered, good governance groups would be out in force and people would be out of jobs. Why? Because the budget is the one instrument the people have to know, in advance, what their representatives are doing with THEIR money. To jam through a tax increase before giving people a budget to justify that increase is offensive and negligent. You may have many wonderful shared experiences and memories with these people, but in many cases they are either too incapable or indifferent to perform the duties for which they were elected. And because the whole system has self-perpetuated for so long, there is no accountability. I have heard about many of the great things Mariano Vega has done for the city, the community, and his neighbors. I think, at least in the beginning, he was well-intended and good-hearted. There may be some of that still in him. But the charges are very serious and go to the core of what is rotten about the city's government. Sure, Vega may win in court because there is a problem with the witness or some other technicality. But the evidence, on tape, regarding his actions is very damning. And that is why we, also citizens of Jersey City, no longer can trust him enough to allow him to represent us. Good family man or not. Quote:
Posted on: 2009/8/6 22:16
|
|||
|
Re: You misread the article
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Quote:
I'm tired of people speaking up for criminals because of "all the good they've done for the city." If a man brings his wife flowers and candy every night, but is banging her sister Wednesday afternoons, that doesn't make him a good husband? If I pat one dog on the head and turn around and kick another, that does not make me a friend to animals? He was caught on tape taking bribes. This crime isn't a barfight or peeing on someone - this directly has to do with his job. How do I know his next council vote isn't influenced by another bribe? Power corrupts. Yes there's corruption everywhere, but not every city has Brian Williams talking about it nationwide. Or let's say most politicians are corrupt. That means our politicians weren't smart enough not to get caught, which means they should go. No one here grew up with Lopez, I don't think. Disclaimer: my wife does not have a sister.
Posted on: 2009/8/6 21:56
|
|||
|
Re: You misread the article
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Newbie
![]() ![]() ![]() |
I am so getting tired of reading about the horrible things that go on in Jersey City. There is corruption everywhere not just JC. And, the reason that long time residents do not rally is because we know these people before they became politicans. They were once righteous individuals wanting to correct and wipe out corruption in JC, the place where they were born, went to school and raised their children. They weren't here for the cheaper rent, or because they couldn't afford to live in NYC, they were here because this was and is home to them and us. We know these individuals as classmates, sons, daughters, fathers, husbands and friends. Some of these good people got caught doing unsavoring things; but they are still human beings that deserve their day in court. I am a home owner, paying massive taxes, and I don't like it anymore that anyone else. But enought already, everyone will get their due, if they are proven guilty then they will go to jail. For those that call for Vega resignation, you don't know him, not the real person. For years he sponsored ski clinics, soccer and baseball teams for City children. He supported the arts, the museusm, the JC reservoir teaching children to fish; he is a wonderful father and great husband. That is the Mariano that many people know, we feel hurt and disgusted by all this, he is not proud of this, his family isn't either-but if you compare the good with the bad -the good will win.
Posted on: 2009/8/6 21:40
|
|||
|
You misread the article
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Just can't stay away
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Quote:
When King learned of the news, he promptly filed a lawsuit demanding to have her disqualified on the grounds she's not a Jersey City resident. King now has more important matters on his hands, so he dropped the suit. But the third-place finisher in the race is picking the suit up. Norrice Raymaker filed yesterday to continue the suit to have Lopez's victory tossed out.
Posted on: 2009/8/6 20:40
|
|||
|
Re: "Unclean" Elections & Nidia Lopez
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Pretty stupid of this girl april to tell the press what they were planning before they even got to court.Judges don't like to get Sandbaged.
How did she know Jimmy King was trying to drop the case,are they working with him?
Posted on: 2009/8/6 20:34
|
|||
|
Re: "Unclean" Elections & Nidia Lopez
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() Joined:
2007/11/28 3:26 Last Login : 2014/10/27 13:13 From The fog.
Group:
Registered Users
Posts:
1013
![]() |
Lopez and Vega would still win a do-over election. I don't think most JC-ites know enough or care enough about the charges against them. In their wards they are simply known as "one of us", which is good enough.
Posted on: 2009/8/6 14:55
|
|||
|
"Unclean" Elections & Nidia Lopez
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Just can't stay away
![]() ![]() ![]() |
There's nothing like Hudson County politics
by Paul Mulshine/ The Star-Ledger August 06, 2009 5:38AM In 1927, the great physicist Werner Heisenberg described a set of interactions among subatomic particles that has come to be known as the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. The principle itself is quite complicated, but the popular interpretation is simple: The act of measuring an activity can cause a distortion in the activity being measured. This does not apply to all activities. But it certainly seems to apply to Jersey City politics. The effort by the FBI to gauge the extent of political corruption there may have had an effect on the election at issue. That was the theory I heard from Bruce Alston Tuesday evening after a lively demonstration outside city hall. The demonstrators were calling for the resignations of politicians caught up in the probe. That includes City Council President Mariano Vega, who was charged with taking $30,000 in bribes and Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who was not charged but who was mentioned prominently in the complaints for his attendance at some of the seances sponsored by the FBI. Alston is a community activist from a ward with a large African-American population that he says is underserved by the members of the Healy-led ticket that swept to victory in May. That election might have turned out differently if the victors hadn't had access to all of those bags of cash that were exchanged at those meetings with an FBI informant posing as a developer, Alston said. "The FBI funded their campaign with the sting money," said Alston. That certainly wasn't what the feds intended, but Alston and his fellow reformers have a point. There's no way of knowing how much of the money that went to a dozen suspects with Jersey City connections ended up in the victors' campaign fund. This being Jersey City, however, some of the losers are accused of cashing in as well. The most interesting case involves council candidate Jimmy King, who is alleged to have accepted $10,000. King has one of those resumes that defines him as the consummate Hudson County hack. The complaint describes him as the "former executive director of the Jersey City Parking Authority, the former chairman of the Jersey City Incinerator Authority," who "also served as a Hudson County undersheriff." Despite those impressive credentials, King finished second in the race for a Ward C council seat to Nidia Lopez. Lopez was heralded as the first Hispanic woman elected to the Jersey City Council. Unfortunately, she seems to have also been the first Florida resident elected to the Jersey City Council. After the election results were announced, it was revealed that Lopez has been claiming Florida residency for the past 10 years to get a tax break on her home in Orlando. When King learned of the news, he promptly filed a lawsuit demanding to have her disqualified on the grounds she's not a Jersey City resident. King now has more important matters on his hands, so he dropped the suit. But the third-place finisher in the race is picking the suit up. Norrice Raymaker filed yesterday to continue the suit to have Lopez's victory tossed out. Raymaker is with the One Jersey City coalition, a reform group that ran five unsuccessful candidates in the elections. The campaign manager for that group, April Kuzas, told me that they were at a severe disadvantage in the May elections because they don't take money from developers -- either real developers or FBI informants posing as developers. "Our entire campaign fund was only about $17,000," Kuzas said. "Imagine what we could do if we had twice the money." That still wouldn't amount to much by Hudson County standards. Even worse for reformers, Jersey City has a nonpartisan system with elections in the spring instead of the fall. Turnout is low, so those who either have city jobs or want them can have a disproportionate impact at the polls. The result, say the reformers, is that the city is run for the benefit of the political machine rather than the public. The big developers continue to get tax abatements while the people pay high taxes yet fail to get such essential services as police protection. And now their city has been made a national laughingstock thanks to what looks to be the most corrupt campaign in recent American political history. So the reformers are right to demand a do-over. Unfortunately there's no provision for that in the law. The best they can hope for at the moment is a special election or two, depending on how the case against Vega and the suit against Lopez proceed. If those elections occur, they will no doubt be cleaner than the last round. But regardless of who wins, he or she will have to face the Hudson County Certainty Principle: You can predict with certainty that the machine will just keep humming along, fueled by our tax dollars.
Posted on: 2009/8/6 14:37
|
|||
|
Re: Councilwoman Elect Lopez a Florida Resident?
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Just can't stay away
![]() ![]() ![]() |
It's a criminal case, not a civil case. The plantiff will be the State (of Florida and New Jersey, respectively), so what ever happens with JK it will have no bearing on the Lopez cases (plural, I hope).
Posted on: 2009/7/25 21:44
|
|||
|
Re: Councilwoman Elect Lopez a Florida Resident?
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() Joined:
2009/5/15 4:26 Last Login : 2017/12/25 1:59 From here to eternity
Group:
Registered Users
Posts:
512
![]() |
yvonne,
i recall having seen in the flurry of news that jk is intending to continue with the lawsuit against nl. what effect his indictment would have on the depositions starting august and the hearings starting october is too early to tell. certainly, she could cross-file to claim that jk's indictment is prejudicial to the case. jk's perception in the public's opinion has deteriorated, which may in fact work for her and give her fewer reasons to resign - voluntarily - to avoid potentially negative information recorded during the deposition, which can be used against her in a later election. of course, nl's side will try to rake as much muck on jk as possible during his deposition. if she hires a lawyer with half a brain, he'd go for as many questions where jk would have to take the fifth as possible. no doubt, we will witness two political (self) implosions. o-
Posted on: 2009/7/25 19:25
|
|||
|
Re: Councilwoman Elect Lopez a Florida Resident?
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Just can't stay away
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Is there any more news on her? From Florida? Or New Jersey?
Posted on: 2009/7/25 13:08
|
|||
|
Re: Councilwoman Elect Lopez a Florida Resident?
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Jimmy King brought this suit, but he was caught in the sting. How will this affect this lawsuit?
Posted on: 2009/7/24 2:05
|
|||
|
Re: Councilwoman Elect Lopez a Florida Resident?
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() |
We'll get her out of there.
Posted on: 2009/7/23 22:34
|
|||
|
Re: Councilwoman Elect Lopez a Florida Resident?
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() Joined:
2008/10/19 1:18 Last Login : 2020/9/25 20:40 From somewhere else
Group:
Registered Users
Posts:
1609
![]() |
Lets not let this get lost in the euphoria of today's events. She is as guilty as anyone of those arrested today.
Posted on: 2009/7/23 22:18
|
|||
|
Re: Councilwoman Elect Lopez a Florida Resident?
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() Joined:
2008/10/19 1:18 Last Login : 2020/9/25 20:40 From somewhere else
Group:
Registered Users
Posts:
1609
![]() |
Will Nidia be arrested today too???
Posted on: 2009/7/23 13:16
|
|||
|
Re: Councilwoman Elect Lopez a Florida Resident?
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Quote:
Stay tuned we are working on something up here in Ward C.
Posted on: 2009/7/23 4:24
|
|||
|
Re: Councilwoman Elect Lopez a Florida Resident?
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() Joined:
2008/10/19 1:18 Last Login : 2020/9/25 20:40 From somewhere else
Group:
Registered Users
Posts:
1609
![]() |
Still waiting for that bus. Man, the wheels of justice turn sl-o-o-o-o-wly....
Quote:
Posted on: 2009/7/22 15:53
|
|||
|
Re: Councilwoman Elect Lopez a Florida Resident?
|
||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Home away from home
![]() ![]() ![]() |
Quote:
She'll be under the bus by the time Atomic Wings opens, or my name isn't Bret "The Hit Man" Schundler.
Posted on: 2009/7/19 1:41
|
|||
|