Lipski's friend says he didn't see pol urinate

Friday, November 14, 2008
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

An architect and close friend of Jersey City Councilman Steven Lipski said yesterday he was with Lipski a week ago when the councilman was arrested for allegedly urinating on fellow concert-goers in a Washington, D.C., nightclub.

But Dennis Devino, of Devino Associates on Garfield Avenue in Jersey City, said he didn't see Lipski do what police, bouncers and two victims have accused his friend of doing.
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But on the other hand, Devino, who said he's known Lipski for eight years, didn't rule out the possibility and acknowledged that Lipski, who he hadn't seen drink alcohol in two years, was drinking heavily.

"I don't know what compelled him to drink," Devino said. "He said, 'just one drink,' but somehow or other it got out of hand. I kept saying, 'Come on Steve, don't drink.'"

At some point at Nightclub 9:30 - where Lipski, Devino and others had gone to see the Grateful Dead tribute band Dark Star Orchestra - Lipski was holding a red 12-ounce picnic cup containing a mixed drink and spilled it while "moving around dancing," Devino said.

Some time after that incident, Devino said, bouncers came to the balcony where Lipski was and told him to leave the club.

He and Lipski began to look for a taxi, Devino said. Then a police car showed up. It was only then, Devino said, he heard the allegation Lipski had urinated on two concert-goers.

He said the two persons who complained were initially willing to let it go, but filed police complaints after nightclub management intervened.

"All of a sudden it all went crazy," Devino said. "It seemed like the club was going overboard."

Nightclub 9:30 managers and the alleged victims didn't return phone calls last night to comment.

After being arraigned and released on his own recognizance from court on Saturday, Devino said, he took Lipski to the hotel where they were staying. Lipski went home early Sunday morning, he said.

Devino said Lipski had been a teetotaler for two years and that his refrigerator is stocked with non-alcoholic beers.

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Nice friend.

Devino, you're a scumbag too.

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It was going overboard alright. Didn't know Steve referred to it as The Club.

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Hey, that's one thing I haven't done. I should move there and run for office. (Though I have to admit that at first glance pissing on the Grateful Dead had my seal of approval. I now renounce this position.)

Non-alcoholic drinks in the fridge ! What a load of horse-shit.

Lipski and his minders who have a vested interest in his position at cityhall, will even claim he was blessed by the Pope...At least he is a fast learner, and seems to be following Healy's lead on how to create a grey area when one fccukks up.

I call it the 'McDonalds syndrome' - feed us crap and give or create a charity, so everyone turns a blind eye!

Lipski should resign.

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Well no one seems to disagree with that, but we all know that's unlikely to happen.

You know what further disgusts me? Nobody at the public relations level in the various offices I've called will have anything to say about this and all they do is refer me to someone else.

In Lipski's office, they don't even pick up the phone but that's to be expected.

Mayor Healy's press office has said, well this is a serious matter but they believe Lipski can get through it, and I should really talk to the City Council President's (Vega's) press aide about it.

I spoke with City Council President Vega's press aide and she would not speak about it and said that somebody else will call me back about it. No one, as of yet, has gotten back to me. Of course, it was Friday afternoon when I called, perhaps they were busy, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

I do not want this story to die. Mayor Healy's, Councilmember Flood's and Deputy Mayor Tayiri's antics may be considered ancient history by now and maybe they'll even get away with what they did, but Lipski was the straw that broke the camel's back and I'm just sick of it. The high property taxes are something I can accept in a city that is expensive to run but the politicians who abuse their positions is something I can't.

Where is the accountability in one of New Jersey's largest cities? Why do we have to live with this corruption?

The elected officials in this city don't care what most people in this city think about them because most people in the city DO NOT VOTE!!!! It is all about votes.

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I vote, every election, even school board elections, but I don't live in Lipski's ward, which is too bad, because I know I'd be voting against him. I'd write in Donald Duck if I had to.

Honestly I think they get away with it because this is a relatively poor city of people who are not residing homeowners. You have a lot of absentee landlords. That leads to non-voting residents and thus no accountability. I think this already has and will continue to change starting downtown with Fulop and all the new homeowners who actually attend neighborhood meetings and give a sh1t. Not that there are not people that care in other parts of the city because there are, just not enough.

Jersey City and Lipski (though not mentioned by name) immortalized forever in The Approval Matrix of New York magazine.
http://nymag.com/arts/all/approvalmatrix/52166/

as Lowbrow Despicable

I really hope this story doesn't die in the press. I have nothing personal against Mr. Lipski, but he had the misfortune of being the fourth Jersey City politician this year to make headlines in the Star-Ledge for all the wrong reasons and I'm sick of it.

If I speak about this during the open mike at the next council meeting, will I be assaulted by Mr. Lipski's security detail?

If the guy was honest about this incident one might find it in their heart to forgive but he has lied again and again and the other council people are buying it. It's obvious by now that these guys are nothing but a bunch of degenerates. Members of a club that protect their positions and keep their hands in the till.

That fact that a councilman behaves moronically is nothing new to Jersey City. Many have done far worse (some discovered, some not) and risen to be mayor. Over the years either the citizens have been forgiving or immune to it all. However, this guy runs a school! I don't care if he remains a councilman, they're impact is minimal. Just get him out of the way of kids and education.

IN THEIR OPINION
Reporting of my situation balanced, commentaries not
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
By STEVE LIPSKI

JERSEY CITY COUNCILMAN

Y our newspaper states about my recent fiasco in Washington and my statements about it afterward that it "cannot allow a political explanation by Jersey City Councilman Steve Lipski to blind his constituents in Journal Square to the character of the person representing them on the City Council." My character is not made up solely of the two alcohol-related arrests, as was communicated by my wife to one of your reporters.

I am embarrassed and ashamed that I have made the front page of your paper every day this past week, but I believe the reporting to have been balanced.

I am outraged, however, by two editorials this paper has recently published about me. The first one is the Political Insider's column of Nov. 12 that claims those who accompanied me to Washington, D.C., "were good buddies of his (mine), which means they are somehow connected to developers." In my press release on Nov. 10, I stated that I traveled with "two very close friends, one of whom I have known since kindergarten and had gone to Dead shows back in the seventies and eighties." I know that this distinction pales in comparison to the god-awful deed of which I am accused; but, it does make me wonder that if I had not been such a strong advocate for development and abatements would the Political Insider have been more thoughtful and thorough in his comments?

Further, the Political Insider writes, "[i]t seems that Lipski is pulling the Gov. Jim McGreevey defense. Instead of saying he's gay, Lipski said, 'I'm an alcoholic.' It is more of a political position than for use in a D.C. courtroom." Alcoholism has been part of the DSM classification system since its inception in 1952. In 1974, the DSM-II no longer listed homosexuality as a category of disorder. Alcoholism is a disease, being gay is not!

Medical classification systems aside, saying that I am pulling a Gov. Jim McGreevey is quite a stretch of the imagination. Up until Gov. McGreevey announced his resignation, he is not known to have sought any help. I, on the other hand, after my arrest for driving intoxicated in Pennsylvania, went to intensive outpatient counseling in North Brunswick as well as countless alcohol addiction meetings. I was sober for a year and 11 months. I fell off the wagon in Washington because things were going so well in my life, and I did not think that partying one night would matter. I was wrong.

The Political Insider concludes his article by asking, "Does he believe that his rehab effort and his mea culpa - without specifically saying what's he's sorry about - entitle him to run for re-election?" Re-elections aside, I am ashamed, embarrassed, and sorry for all my alcohol-related wrongdoings. I cannot speak about the specifics of what happened in Washington, D.C., because what the paper looks for in an admission of guilt is different from what a court of law looks for in an admission of guilt; and, I believe, I am entitled to the same courtesy and due process of law as those about whom you report in the crime section of this newspaper.

The other editorial that has outraged me was written Nov. 14, (Sad: Lipski's use of pupils as props). It states, "To show he has support, he had some students from his CREATE Charter School lined up on the school's front steps with a sign reading 'CREATE is with you Lipski.'" On Wednesday, Nov. 12, Charles Hack, a reporter for this newspaper, contacted me about an article he was writing about the Washington, D.C., incident. I informed him that I was on my way back to the school from a meeting and that if he wished to meet me, we could meet around 3 o'clock. Mr. Hack arrived around the same time I did at the school to find an auditorium full of students sharing their support for me. With Mr. Hack was a photographer. The photographer wanted to take a photo of the students with me, so it was suggested that we go outside. The photographer lined up the students and me and took about two dozen group and individual shots. Your newspaper made the decision to run with the group photo of the students behind me, not me. I had no influence over your photo selection process; and, I feel as if your editorial board set my students and me up for your highly critical editorial.

This same editorial column comments that had I been an administrator in a suburban school, officials would have removed me from my position. This statement is not necessarily true. School boards are comprised of humans whose decisions differ from one board to the next; and, the legal offenses with which I have been charged do not affect my licenses.

It is ironic that this newspaper's editorial staff blasts me for alcohol-related wrongdoings and for admitting that I'm an alcoholic when in a separate editorial, (City being defined by pols and booze" 11/13/08), this paper calls for people to admit they have an alcohol problem and the administration to provide a program for those who want help. Which is it? Help or hurt?

I fully take responsibility and accountability for my actions; I hope the editorial board of this newspaper will do likewise.

EDITOR'S NOTE: When an interview was requested, Mr. Lipski urged the reporter to hurry to the school because he said students were anxious to show their support for him. Upon arriving, the councilman shepherded the students out, lined them up, and provided the sign in the photograph. The photographer questioned the use of the students and asked them if they wanted to remain. They said they did and Mr. Lipski encouraged their participation.

http://www.nj.com/jjournal/stories/in ... 27083172126310.xml&coll=3

Squinting through the fog, and spin
Wednesday, November 19, 2008

T his is a short column because the space where the Insider is usually found is being used by Jersey City Councilman Steve Lipski complaining about how editorial commentary in The Jersey Journal tried to make him look bad. Read his letter first to make more sense of the following.

Now, let's succinctly cork some of his fine whine.

Comparing Gov. McGreevey's declaration that he was a gay American with Lipski's "I am an alcoholic" was about the councilman's attempt to fog over the real issue - he allegedly urinated on people and hid his previous DUI arrest in Pennsylvania. By writing about how alcohol is a disease and homosexuality is not, Lipski is looking for sympathy.

What we have learned from this is that the councilman, while willing to talk to reporters, at times has not been forthcoming with all the facts. So excuse this columnist for taking whatever he says with a grain of salt.

There was a reference to his being at that fateful concert venue balcony with some buddies. Lipski is upset that it was suggested that the pals were connected to developers. There was only one person this newspaper could confirm was with Lipski that D.C. evening and that was architect Dennis Devino of Jersey City.

A Devino employee did say the architect's office just moved to Jersey City from Hoboken, where a Devino had worked with Toll Brothers - the big developer proposing the Provost Square project in the Jersey City Powerhouse Arts District. It's probably just a coincidence that the architects have the same name.

The rest of his letter is, to be polite, silly.

The complete article with non Lipski related content at:
http://www.nj.com/jjournal/stories/in ... 27083178126310.xml&coll=3

I'm not sure which is the most horrifying aspect of Lipski's editorial:

That he doesn't seem to understand that editorials are indeed opinion pieces, and thus newspapers have the right to voice their opinions?

His astoundingly poor writing skills? I mean, come on... if you're going to run a piece in the paper, make sure you have a literate staffer help you out!

The fact that the children at CREATE are involved in this matter at all, whether or not they were coerced into holding a rally for him. This is not a story for young children to learn about at school.

Nope, for me, the thing that is the most horrifying is his flagrant unapologetic nature. Dude, you effed up. Apologize once and quietly disappear. You are only making things much much worse by arguing back. That editorial is the last nail in his political coffin.

GET HIM OUT OF OFFICE ASAP.

Whata POS!



No shame! Pathetic, really.

He sits on the planning board and he was out with developer "friends"?

Resign or face the election results.

What really sucks is we can't call him "Tipski" because he was so much more than that.

I know the Lipski's in trouble for his urination habits, but really this guy is a giant turd. You don't get to urinate on a crowd of people and then (1) dismiss it as a rare occurrence, plead alcoholism, expect people to sympathize with you, and then (2) whine whine whine about how you feel the media is mistreating you when they call you out on your mishandling of the whole situation.

The Insider columnist had a perfect response.

Someone needs to give this guy the hook before he brings any more embarrassment to this city.

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I have no doubt in my mind that these kids were either hand-picked, didn't know the implcations of what they were doing or the entire scene was merely orchestrated, as the editor of the article seems to indicate (after all, Mr. Lipski knew the reporter was coming to the school).

Someone get this guy away from the kids....please Fulop, HELP FIX JC's politicians blatant disregard for citizens and the city's well-being !!!

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Are you kidding? These kids are in awe of this man. He pissed off a balcony at a rock concert! Does it get any cooler than that? Get in touch with your inner 14 year old.
BTW - he's got that Michael Madsen look goin on in this pic

Indeed. He may inspire some of these kids to go drop a deuce onto traffic from above the covered roadway.

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LOL disturbingly funny.

Amazingly stupid man-child acts of common petty criminal nuisance should play no part in an all-important public service. Holding office should be reserved for the best qualified candidates.

These positions are not a charity but intensely important to the everyday lives of thousands of hard working residents who pay taxes for the best public service available. Don't be swindeled by fast talking politicians and rushed to print editorials demonstrating further poor judgement and lack basic moral judgement. There is far too much money involved in real estate developement and Jersey City politics to be trusted to those who demonstrate at best incompetence and even outright gross dereliction of duty and dishonesty.

God damn graffiti artists !

I have called the city council and Create Charter School about this, and left messages. To this date, no response from either. I guess they're waiting for me to just go away.