A legal watchdog group is suing the Federal Election Commission over a $1 million donation made in 2015 to a super PAC once linked to Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop's gubernatorial bid.
The only money the super PAC made in the final month of last year was interest from TD Bank in the amount of $1,058.99. The PAC is sitting on $3.2 million, a smidgen more than its war chest at the end of 2015.
Meanwhile, the city's pay-to-play laws, which Fulop was instrumental in implementing when he was a councilman, may keep the the PAC from using its $3.2 million war chest to aid the mayor in his re-election bid next year. The bulk of its cash haul has come from individuals and businesses who work in Jersey City or with city government, some of which are barred from working for the city and donating to local political campaigns.
When a super PAC called Coalition for Progress burst onto the scene in early 2016 with a $3.2 million fundraising haul, it was widely seen as a way to boost Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop?s anticipated run for governor in 2017.
Now, with Fulop out of the running for governor, the super PAC?s activity is at a near standstill. And it may encounter trouble if it tries to spend the millions it?s sitting on to help Fulop win reelection as mayor.
Bill Matsikoudis, a former Jersey City corporation counsel who is running against Fulop for mayor in 2017, said he?s heard many donors to the PAC are asking for their money back.
When a super PAC called Coalition for Progress burst onto the scene in early 2016 with a $3.2 million fundraising haul, it was widely seen as a way to boost Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop’s anticipated run for governor in 2017.
Now, with Fulop out of the running for governor, the super PAC’s activity is at a near standstill. And it may encounter trouble if it tries to spend the millions it’s sitting on to help Fulop win reelection as mayor.
Bill Matsikoudis, a former Jersey City corporation counsel who is running against Fulop for mayor in 2017, said he’s heard many donors to the PAC are asking for their money back.
fat-ass-bike wrote: I'm all for the idea that requires all Mayors and State Officials to wear jackets that display all sponsor logos like NASCAR drivers do. This will allow 'Joe Citizen' to understand who actually has the 'ears' and support / purse strings from our elected officials and public servants ... At times I wonder why we need to vote in individuals in the first place, when we are really voting on the sponsors and what they want !
Wow, did you think of that all by yourself? Or was that Robin Williams.
Way to pass off someone else's joke as your own.
My first 5 words was the giveaway that I wasn't the author of the quote - I did read the insightful 'joke' some time ago, but didn't know the author ... maybe some reading comprehension is lacking in some!
Posted on: 2016/7/25 11:20
My humor is for the silent blue collar majority - If my posts offend, slander or you deem inappropriate and seek deletion, contact the webmaster for jurisdiction.
We've finally learned the identity of a mysterious $1 million donor to a Super Pac supporting Jersey City mayor and aspiring governor Steve Fulop.
It's the wealthy mogul behind the most notorious price-gouging hospital in the nation. Fulop once recommended this man's company for a city contract. Which raises the question: Could it look any worse?
Vivek Garipalli and the for-profit hospital system he owns, called CarePoint, donated nearly a third of the $3.2 million raised last year by the Pac with close ties to Fulop, called "Coalition for Progress." More than three quarters of that total stash was from people who do business with Jersey City, either personally or through their companies, like Garipalli.
We've finally learned the identity of a mysterious $1 million donor to a Super Pac supporting Jersey City mayor and aspiring governor Steve Fulop.
It's the wealthy mogul behind the most notorious price-gouging hospital in the nation. Fulop once recommended this man's company for a city contract. Which raises the question: Could it look any worse?
Vivek Garipalli and the for-profit hospital system he owns, called CarePoint, donated nearly a third of the $3.2 million raised last year by the Pac with close ties to Fulop, called "Coalition for Progress." More than three quarters of that total stash was from people who do business with Jersey City, either personally or through their companies, like Garipalli.
fat-ass-bike wrote: I'm all for the idea that requires all Mayors and State Officials to wear jackets that display all sponsor logos like NASCAR drivers do. This will allow 'Joe Citizen' to understand who actually has the 'ears' and support / purse strings from our elected officials and public servants ... At times I wonder why we need to vote in individuals in the first place, when we are really voting on the sponsors and what they want !
Wow, did you think of that all by yourself? Or was that Robin Williams.
Way to pass off someone else's joke as your own.
I heard it was also part of Melania Trump's speech...
fat-ass-bike wrote: I'm all for the idea that requires all Mayors and State Officials to wear jackets that display all sponsor logos like NASCAR drivers do. This will allow 'Joe Citizen' to understand who actually has the 'ears' and support / purse strings from our elected officials and public servants ... At times I wonder why we need to vote in individuals in the first place, when we are really voting on the sponsors and what they want !
Wow, did you think of that all by yourself? Or was that Robin Williams.
Way to pass off someone else's joke as your own.
I heard it was also part of Melania Trump's speech...
fat-ass-bike wrote: I'm all for the idea that requires all Mayors and State Officials to wear jackets that display all sponsor logos like NASCAR drivers do. This will allow 'Joe Citizen' to understand who actually has the 'ears' and support / purse strings from our elected officials and public servants ... At times I wonder why we need to vote in individuals in the first place, when we are really voting on the sponsors and what they want !
Wow, did you think of that all by yourself? Or was that Robin Williams.
I'm in no way a fan of this whole scenario and I want to see it play out to its fullest... However, isn't the thread title stating that the Mayor received the donation dishonest? The donation was made to a Super PAC. It wasn't donated to the Mayor. The distinction is small but something that has been established as extremely wide in court.
we now know who made what I believe is an illegal campaign donation, someone whose interests include an illegal agreement to take over city ems services, and also interests in medical services and real estate in jersey city, not to mention what the future holds.
the way I see it, the owner of carepoint was attempting to by pass campaign finance regulations with a straw business and in doing so should face some type of sanctions to the extent of the the law.
Activist: Feds should take 'swift action' on $1M donation to Fulop-aligned PAC
Federal authorities should take "swift action" in the case of a New Jersey hospital chain owner who gave a hidden $1 million donation to a super PAC expected to back Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop?s gubernatorial campaign next year, an activist says.
fat-ass-bike wrote: I'm all for the idea that requires all Mayors and State Officials to wear jackets that display all sponsor logos like NASCAR drivers do. This will allow 'Joe Citizen' to understand who actually has the 'ears' and support / purse strings from our elected officials and public servants ... At times I wonder why we need to vote in individuals in the first place, when we are really voting on the sponsors and what they want !
This IS brilliant. Perhaps we can go with the approach like the Girl Scouts. In my day, a thousand years ago, we had to wear a sash with our merit badges. Now, the scouts just wear their badges on a vest. Easy, peasy, pay-to-play squeezy.
Asif wrote: I know people on here especially the right wing conservatives and neocon reactionaries will find this horrible....but this is such a brilliant idea.
Really great idea and it would cost nothing to implement or oversee. :)
Quote:
fat-ass-bike wrote: I'm all for the idea that requires all Mayors and State Officials to wear jackets that display all sponsor logos like NASCAR drivers do. This will allow 'Joe Citizen' to understand who actually has the 'ears' and support / purse strings from our elected officials and public servants ... At times I wonder why we need to vote in individuals in the first place, when we are really voting on the sponsors and what they want !
Good grief, if that happens, you would not see the colors of the fabric.
Now why would you think that conservatives would be against this great idea???? Fulop is your guy... if anything some kook liberal would be against because we are putting labels on people... we could even make their clothes in pinstripe so when they get sentenced we can rip of the sponsors names and replace it with their prison #,
Quote:
Asif wrote: I know people on here especially the right wing conservatives and neocon reactionaries will find this horrible....but this is such a brilliant idea.
Really great idea and it would cost nothing to implement or oversee. :)
Quote:
fat-ass-bike wrote: I'm all for the idea that requires all Mayors and State Officials to wear jackets that display all sponsor logos like NASCAR drivers do. This will allow 'Joe Citizen' to understand who actually has the 'ears' and support / purse strings from our elected officials and public servants ... At times I wonder why we need to vote in individuals in the first place, when we are really voting on the sponsors and what they want !
I know people on here especially the right wing conservatives and neocon reactionaries will find this horrible....but this is such a brilliant idea.
Really great idea and it would cost nothing to implement or oversee. :)
Quote:
fat-ass-bike wrote: I'm all for the idea that requires all Mayors and State Officials to wear jackets that display all sponsor logos like NASCAR drivers do. This will allow 'Joe Citizen' to understand who actually has the 'ears' and support / purse strings from our elected officials and public servants ... At times I wonder why we need to vote in individuals in the first place, when we are really voting on the sponsors and what they want !
I'm all for the idea that requires all Mayors and State Officials to wear jackets that display all sponsor logos like NASCAR drivers do. This will allow 'Joe Citizen' to understand who actually has the 'ears' and support / purse strings from our elected officials and public servants ... At times I wonder why we need to vote in individuals in the first place, when we are really voting on the sponsors and what they want !
Posted on: 2016/7/16 18:41
My humor is for the silent blue collar majority - If my posts offend, slander or you deem inappropriate and seek deletion, contact the webmaster for jurisdiction.
neverleft wrote: Here you can get the facts about the ambulance contact from these two below JJ pieces. As I recall Fulop wanted CarePoint/McCabe because they were going to GIVE 2.6 million to JC for the contract where as JCMC was charging us 3.8 million for the contract. (WTF?) JCMC changed their tune and won the contract second time around.
?In its most recent contract, JCMC has been charging the city $3.8 million a year for ambulance service over the last three years, but CarePoint/McCabe offered to pay the city for the contract.
The $2.6 million from CarePoint/McCabe would allow the city to pay for firefighters who act as first responders for any calls the new providers cannot respond to in time, according to city officials.?
** ******* Jersey City recommends CarePoint/McCabe for ambulance contract; city would get $2.6M a year
Those articles unfortunately skip over the history of the prior JCMC contract and Fulop's involvement with it.
Prior to JCMC EMS charging Jersey City for ambulance service, JCMC had never charged a dime. So why was JCMC charging the City for EMS service over the past few years? Answer: JCMC was very close to closing its doors and was in financial distress. JCMC got millions of dollars from the state to restructure and update the public hospital. JCMC EMS was also going down. Since the City is legally bound to have a contracted EMS provider and there was no one other than JCMC interested the city had a tough choice to make. 1) create their own EMS provider from scratch or 2) help finance a restructuring and upgrade to JCMC EMS. The city chose the cheaper JCMC upgrade option. With Jersey City money JCMC EMS bought new ambulances and upgraded their dispatch headquarters. With these and other changes JCMC EMS turned their act around and became one of the most recognized EMS in the country in just a few years.
Was it expensive? Yes, but we now have a great EMS and it would have been absolutely foolish to switch providers and throw that investment away. And it gets better? The City Council knew at the time that the expensive JCMC EMS contract was just for that one term and that it would go back to zero with the next. In fact Fulop was on the Council at the time and he voted YES for that JCMC EMS contract. So for him to publicly rag on JCMC for their last contract like it was a surprise that someone could do it for free was hot stink BS. He was there, he was informed and he was for it.
In addition, as the article explains, McCabe has been charging Bayonne $800,000 per year. When the Mayor of Bayonne heard that McCabe was not only going to provide free service, but also provide a kickback he was not happy. Their new contract is now free.
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As for the 2.6 million per year reimbursement CarePoint/McCabe was offering. That part of the deal was illegal. It violated Federal Anti-Kickback law. So when a new RFP was issued for the ambulance contract without the kickback and it was based on who could provide the best service, it was no contest. It went to JCMC EMS.
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As for the $1,000,000... CarePoint represents the worst of for profit healthcare. More importantly, Fulop shows he has no concern for public health to align himself with such a reprehensible company. And this payout speaks volumes as to his close relationship with CarePoint and his pushing to move from JCMC EMS to CarePoint/McCabe EMS.
Here you can get the facts about the ambulance contact from these two below JJ pieces. As I recall Fulop wanted CarePoint/McCabe because they were going to GIVE 2.6 million to JC for the contract where as JCMC was charging us 3.8 million for the contract. (WTF?) JCMC changed their tune and won the contract second time around.
?In its most recent contract, JCMC has been charging the city $3.8 million a year for ambulance service over the last three years, but CarePoint/McCabe offered to pay the city for the contract.
The $2.6 million from CarePoint/McCabe would allow the city to pay for firefighters who act as first responders for any calls the new providers cannot respond to in time, according to city officials.?
** ******* Jersey City recommends CarePoint/McCabe for ambulance contract; city would get $2.6M a year
JCMan8 wrote: Remember when Fulop shoved through a law ending the city's ambulance contract with JCMC and awarded it to McCabe (who feeds the Carepoint network)?
The only reason it got stopped was because the State stepped in because Fulop's move was illegal. Guess he's been rewarded for his efforts. No wonder he tried to hide this.
The answers from CarePoint/McCabe on the Request for Proposal were appalling compared to JCMC. I say CarePoint/McCabe because that is what was on the cover page of their proposal and CarePoint is part owner of McCabe. Fulop's desire to have CarePoint win that contract was suspect.
As to the illegal move you refer to? The RFP was amended to include a kickback to the city for ambulance service. CarePoint included this kickback in their ambulance proposal. JCMC did not because it was illegal and they knew it. Paying the city a kickback for EMS transport is misuse of medical payments.
Remember when Fulop shoved through a law ending the city's ambulance contract with JCMC and awarded it to McCabe (who feeds the Carepoint network)?
The only reason it got stopped was because the State stepped in because Fulop's move was illegal. Guess he's been rewarded for his efforts. No wonder he tried to hide this.
As long as our system requires politicians be up for sale in order to campaign, there'll be someone to buy them. And after the SCOTUS ruling vacating Bob McDonnell's conviction, it's damn near impossible to prove misconduct.
Quote:
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., writing for the court, narrowed the definition of what sort of conduct can serve as the basis of a corruption prosecution. He said only formal and concrete government actions counted ? filing a lawsuit, say, or making an administrative determination. Routine political courtesies like arranging meetings or urging underlings to consider a matter, he added, generally do not, even when the people seeking those favors give the public officials gifts or money.
That still leaves prosecutors plenty of room to pursue classic bribery and kickbacks. But there was widespread agreement among prosecutors and defense lawyers on Monday that the decision would make it harder for the government to prove corruption.
By Terrence T. McDonald | The Jersey Journal Email the author | Follow on Twitter on July 15, 2016 at 4:37 PM, updated July 15, 2016 at 6:54 PM
The mysterious $1 million donation made last year to a Super PAC that is connected to Mayor Steve Fulop came from the founder of local hospital system CarePoint Health.
The news that CarePoint owner and founder Vivek Garipalli made the seven-figure contribution is included in a campaign finance report filed today by the Super PAC, Coalition for Progress. CarePoint owns three hospitals in Hudson County, including Christ Hospital in Jersey City.
Coalition for Progress, a super PAC linked to the expected gubernatorial run of Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, has raised about $360,000 through March 30th of this year, with a select few donors having ties to Jersey City.
In the super PAC’s first Federal Election Commission filing for 2016, made on April 15th – which covers the dates January 1, 2016 through March 31, 2016 – the entity reports raising a total of $359,600.
A handful of Coalition for Progress donors this time around have ties to local government agencies in Jersey City.
Progressive New Jersey Inc., an entity that donated $400,000 to the Coalition for Progress super PAC – which is linked to Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop’s expected gubernatorial run – has ties to District 5 Democratic congressional
How ?ghost corporations? are funding the 2016 election
By Matea Gold and Anu Narayanswamy March 18 at 7:49 PM Follow @mateagold Follow @anu_narayan
Two days before Christmas, a trust called DE First Holdings was quietly formed in Delaware, where corporations are required to reveal little about their workings. A day later, the entity dropped $1 million into a super PAC with ties to Jersey City, N.J., Mayor Steven Fulop, a Democrat considering a gubernatorial bid.
The trust, whose owner remains unknown, is part of a growing cadre of mystery outfits financing big-money super PACs. Many were formed just days or weeks before making six- or ?seven-figure contributions ? an arrangement that election law experts say violates a long- standing federal ban on straw donors.
