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The money they both raised for this position is obscene. Certainly would like to know where Solomon got his $$$ thousands from?

I?m just mad someone called me a sock puppet.

I?m not smearing Rebecca. It just doesn?t have to be this way. This system where developers run wild and don?t give anything back. This system exists because development interest run campaigns and donate to campaigns. It?s why things don?t change. People who support development interests are both working on her campaign and now a pac is contributing to her campaign. The truth is not a smear. I?m here I?m posting under my own name. I?m a community activist who became hyper engaged in this race when I felt that my ward was being bought by Rebecca Symes. If you want to accuse me of something sign your posts. This is the first time we?ve seen TV ads in a municipal ward race, to my knowledge. You minimize but you know it?s true. I?ll do some research on Stronger Together and I?ll be back with what I find, which I?m sure will confirm what should be obvious. People can say anything, actions matter. Have Rebecca publicly condemn this pac money and dark money and I?ll stop posting.

Felicia Noth

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No no no. Fulop is the Sith Lord. Symes is the apprentice.

I cannot vote in Ward E but find the continued smear campaign by Solomon's followers interesting. It is not surprising from some of his followers who come from the Healy/Matsikoudis camp, but if he is such a great ideas guy, why is there a constant negative fear-mongering attack from his supporters? Why not speak to the things Symes (who seems to be a very accomplished woman) actually says?

If I didn't know any better, I'd believe Symes is a sith lord ready to turn Ward E into Mordor. Time will tell if the Trump-like tactic of fear and hate will win...

Please don?t pretend these are local union workers who live in ward e this pac has been spreading money all over New Jersey.

This is the first pac money in a council race. Where are the commercials in other wards? I don?t see any TV for Hanussak.

Just ask yourself.Why here? Why now? That?s all.

Replying to ECJC:First off, maybe you should actually read tax abatements or redevelopment plans for the required community givebacks. Second, I want a council person that stands up for unions as well as its constituents. Third, "give back our neightborhood" our neighborhood exists because of your "big bad" developers and construction. The waterfront was polluted rail yards. Ward E was filled with vacant houses or rundown buildings. Even in the past seven years, there are more small business, resturants and bars. Solomon has only lived here for four years or less. He has serious white knight savior complex. WE DONT NEED HIM. I want someone who will sit at the table and represent me, not stand outside and hold a sign.

The two candidates' positions on abatements are indistinguishable. If there is a difference it is that the Symes campaign has chosen to address the issue on merits. The Solomon campaign engages in street theater tactics trying to humiliate the residents of the Trump and Oakman buildings and constantly insisting that their opponent is corrupt.

Contrasting those two campaigns, it would not surprise me in the least that a labor PAC would prefer to deal with the individual who addresses issues on the merits rather than tries to turn their members' living into a political football. All the more so when that campaign's supporters try to paint labor unions as being somehow opposed to the interests of constituents.

I note that many of the people who support Solomon also engaged in the same rhetoric when it came to teachers and their union as well. Yet they had no problem taking tens of thousands of dollars from hedge-fund backed PACs whose stated intent was to cripple the union.

A campaign that portrays itself as progressive should not be attacking unions. And saying "We're doing it for the children" or "It's the decision of the neighborhood" doesn't give a progressive campaign a dispensation to trash workers.

Let?s say they disclose their donors and it actually is operating engineers. How can a person take that money for TV ads and not be beholden to them? This is how construction/developers win. I want a councilperson beholden to constituents not labor. Don?t you get it that?s why we have all these abatements with minimal community givebacks. We need to hold developers feet to the fire to give back to our neighborhood. This is about Ward E quality of life James starts talking about smart development and this pac starts running tv ads in a council runoff. Tv ads on msnbc.

What Dark Money? They said its from labor unions. How is being supported by labor unions a bad thing?

"The group, which has a Rahway P.O. box, says its money comes entirely from the labor management fund of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825."

The issue here is dark special interest money. We don?t know who it?s from but let?s assume ( best case scenario ) it?s operation engineers and others with development ties. Why are they afraid of James?

Maybe because he?s independent.

Basically all your responses against are personal attacks James ie. that he?s white and not poor. I?m not personally insulting Rebecca except her bad choices to let development interests fund her campaign.

Solomon is the epitome of white privilege. During a planning board meeting discussing the Journal Square tower, he ranted about Kushner. However, he failed to notice all of the journal square locals in a heavy minority area are in favor of the project because among other things they are sick of this lot being vacant for 40 plus years. This was a pure example of "i know better than you. i'm going to be your "white knight" and dismissing the people who actually live there.

Maybe I've missed something, but it seems neither has done much of any campaigning since the November elections. Canvassing,yes. But making a new/enhanced/more specific case for voting for them - I haven't seen a thing.

If I did miss something (not counting the video interview in the prior post) please let me know.

Phil, what does "Short Hills Solomon" mean?

From the Jersey Journal:

"The Ward E race has been an expensive one. The two candidates' most recent filings show Symes raised about $92,000 and spent $58,000 on the first round of campaigning, while Solomon raised $125,000 and spent $116,000. Solomon's fundraising haul includes a personal $25,000 loan."

Right that's why the Jersey Journal is reporting on the fact James is getting donations from friends and family. Oh wait they aren't. They are reporting about the DARK MONEY in a council race.

This is big money coming from outside interests. Why? Developers and development interests are afraid enough of something to POUR money into this campaign. It's not nothing it's something a BIG DIRTY something. The video is running NON-STOP on Facebook.

Are they scared they won't get their way anymore. Looks like it. Don't let them buy us or our votes. And if you are real people who actually don't think this is important then sign your posts and let's see.

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James Solomon has spent $100,000+ on this race so far

So it's OK for Solomon to have wealthy out-of-state voters who max out their contributions to him, but not OK for a PAC -- which by law can't coordinate with the Symes campaign -- to spend money on a pro-Symes ad?

Don't get me wrong, I'd really like full disclosure on all donations and campaign spending. But this is not something either of them can control; they can't even stop PACs from running ads on their behalf. Sounds to me like you're splitting a pretty thin hair here.

Hi all,

Most of you know me as a local schools activist and a parent chasing my crazy kids at the playground. Since last time I posted I got called a sock puppet I'll sign this one. I'm admittedly a huge James Solomon fan because he is my neighbor and super smart and ethical guy.

But now I'm just mad that development interests ( ie. construction unions and god only knows who else.) ARE TRYING TO BUY our council race. A PAC called Stronger Together, who doesn't disclosed their donors, are pouring huge money into Rebecca Symes campaign. They clearly have a favorite in this race and it is not James. So for all those people who think Rebecca and James are the same... the developers clearly don't agree. But please read this article judge for yourself, and don't let this election be bought by developers. Develop don't destroy!

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _in_jersey_city_coun.html

Felicia Noth
Parent and Schools Activist

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _in_jersey_city_coun.html

?JERSEY CITY -- In the final week of campaigning in the Dec. 5 Downtown council race, a group with ties to a politically powerful labor union is starting to spend big money in support of Rebecca Symes.

Stronger Foundations Inc., which has spent hundreds of thousands this year to back pols like Sen. President Stephen Sweeney and Hoboken Mayor-elect Ravi Bhalla, paid for a 30-second spot on behalf of Symes that started circulating on Facebook this week and will also air on television.

The spot calls Symes "an attorney and a strong woman who will stand up to the Trump agenda."

While not unprecedented for an independent group to attempt to influence a local race -- one spent more than $250,000 to support Mayor Steve Fulop in 2013 -- this is the only one that has spent money in this year's municipal contest.


Stronger Foundations is not required to list its donors.

Symes, 36, came in first place out of five Ward E council hopefuls on Election Day, but landed in a runoff because she failed to win more than 50 percent of the vote. Her opponent is the second-place finisher, James Solomon, 33, who teaches about politics and government at two local colleges.

The Ward E race has been an expensive one. The two candidates' most recent filings show Symes raised about $92,000 and spent $58,000 on the first round of campaigning, while Solomon raised $125,000 and spent $116,000. Solomon's fundraising haul includes a personal $25,000 loan.

Solomon has made reform of the city's real-estate development process a central promise of his campaign, and he has highlighted Symes' prior work as general counsel for real-estate investment firm Dixon Advisory to cast her as the candidate who would be beholden to big-money donors tied to that industry.


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Stronger Foundations' ad, he told The Jersey Journal today, shows "one candidate is independent of outside special interests and the other candidate is not."

Symes' campaign has expressed irritation at Solomon for attempting to draw this contrast, noting that his campaign finance reports show maxed-out contributions from wealthy, out-of-town donors. Speaking by phone to The Jersey Journal today, Symes responded to Solomon's criticism of the Stronger Foundations ad by repeating her campaign pledge to pursue publicly financed local elections in Jersey City.

"It's not a surprise that someone who has an extra $25,000 and a national network of donors doesn't care about locally funded elections," she said. "He doesn't need them."

Stronger Foundations is an independent expenditure group, and is permitted by state law to raise unlimited sums and spend money on behalf of candidates. It is not allowed to coordinate with Symes' campaign.

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It has reported spending hundreds of thousands of dollars this election cycle, largely in legislative races, on behalf of Democrats and Republicans. On its campaign finance reports it says it spent $50,520 to support Bhalla, who won a six-way race on Nov. 7 to become Hoboken's new mayor.

The group, which has a Rahway P.O. box, says its money comes entirely from the labor management fund of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825. Its registered agent is Christopher Lalevee, whose brother Greg is that union's business manager. Greg Lalevee was named to Gov.-elect Phil Murphy's transition team as a co-chair of the labor and workforce development committee.

IUOE Local 825 represents nearly 7,000 operating engineers throughout New Jersey and New York. Its members work on transportation infrastructure.

"Stronger Foundations, Inc. is an independent organization that was created to inform voters and the public about the importance of infrastructure and economic development investments throughout New Jersey, as well as provide information regarding the positions of legislators and other elected officials on these very same issues," Stronger Foundations spokesman Michael Makarski said. "Because it is an independent organization, it does not coordinate its efforts with candidates or their campaigns."

Makarski also works for public relations firm MWW. Stronger Foundations has reported paying only two companies, MWW and pollster McLaughlin and Associates.

Makarski previously worked for Vision Media, a politically connected Hudson County public relations company that is working for Symes' campaign.

Symes and Solomon, both Democrats, are vying to succeed Councilwoman Candice Osborne, who did not seek a second term on the nine-member council (Osborne has endorsed Symes). The Ward E race is one of four runoffs facing Jersey City voters next week.

Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 8 pm?

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Or they could be like JCGuys who tries to bully people with personal attacks instead of trying to present his own ideas.

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There's nothing stopping Jersey City from adding an additional local sales tax on top of whatever the state's charging, is there?

Murphy has been very clear he intends to use the revenue to shore up the pension fund and for infrastructure spending, neither of which I think are bad things.

Especially after the reval. And because no other states allow it, the state can set rates at near confiscatory levels and still expect NYCers to hop on the PATH train to shop.

Though I suspect like most of the revenue generated in Jersey City, it would all be gobbled up by the state while it complains the city isn't doing enough to pay for schools from property taxes.

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Tell the NIMBYS that the state tax revenues from the sale of weed will bring down their property taxes and they will jump on board faster than you can blink.