STATEMENT FROM MAYOR BHALLA ON HOBOKEN COUNCIL’S FAILURE TO VOTE ON CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAW

Tonight, the Hoboken City Council failed to vote on a resolution put forward by Councilmembers Emily Jabbour and Jim Doyle to uphold Hoboken’s local pay-to-play reform and related campaign finance laws. According to current Hoboken law, as adopted in 2011, Political Action Committees (PACs) are limited to $500 contributions for individual candidates for elected office and severely restricts contributions from developers and professionals with or seeking city contracts in Hoboken.

The resolution, as introduced by Doyle and Jabbour, would have ensured that the current Councilmembers accept and agree to adhere to Hoboken’s laws for the upcoming November elections. The vote was prevented due to the lack of a quorum at the special council meeting with Councilmembers Tiffanie Fisher, Jen Giattino, Vanessa Falco, Peter Cunningham and Ruben Ramos absent.

“It’s troubling that five Councilmembers decided to not show up to tonight’s City Council meeting,” said Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla. “This deliberate action prevented an important vote to protect the integrity of our local elections as well as our redevelopment initiatives and city contracting process. Instead of taking a stand against special interest groups, agreeing to abide by our current pay to play laws, and setting a positive example, the Council majority is choosing to ignore the law for their own benefit. We must continue to be vigilant to stamp out voter fraud and strengthen campaign finance regulations, and tonight the Council failed to accept the very the laws they have been elected to uphold.”

The resolution drafted by Councilmembers Doyle and Jabbour was previously introduced at the last council meeting on September 18 and was tabled by a 6-3 vote at the request of Councilwoman Fisher, with Councilmembers Doyle, Jabbour and Russo voting against the tabling of the resolution. Councilmembers Doyle and Jabbour plan to reintroduce the resolution at the next regularly scheduled council meeting.