Judge approves vote to make Jim Doyle a Hoboken councilman
HOBOKEN – After a few contentious months, Jim Doyle has finally been added to the Hoboken City Council to fill a vacant seat left by Councilwoman Carol Marsh, who resigned last fall. Marsh was an ally of Mayor Dawn Zimmer, as is Doyle. The nine-member council now has five Zimmer allies on it and four councilpeople who frequently criticize her policies.
The four Zimmer opponents had fought to legally overturn Doyle’s appointment last year, saying the votes were not done properly.
The city sent out a release Monday morning saying, “Last Friday, Hudson County Assignment Judge Peter Bariso ruled that the vote held on January 16th appointing Jim Doyle to the Hoboken City Council was valid, despite the abstentions cast by Councilwoman Beth Mason and Councilman Michael Russo.
“Judge Bariso summed up his ruling (www.hobokennj.org/docs/corpcounsel/Opinion-Zimmer-v-Castellano-Final-2-1-13.pdf) as follows: ‘This court cannot countenance the notion that the Municipal Vacancy Law was intended to encourage gamesmanship. Council members should not be permitted to undermine the deliberative process and trump the intent of the legislature.’ ”
For coverage of the council meetings and other important matters, keep watching hudsonreporter.com and pick up your print edition each weekend.
Jersey City school board attorney may release Fulop emails
JERSEY CITY – According to NJ.com, the attorney for the Jersey City Board of Education may release emails between Councilman and mayoral candidate Steve Fulop and members of the predominantly Fulop-allied Board of Education.
Fulop is running against Mayor Jerramiah Healy in the May 14 mayor/council election.
Fulop has been accused of having too much influence on school board members (see related Reporter stories on the subject, linked below).
The attorney’s statement came after political consultants representing Healy filed court documents to get the emails.
Players to hold Valentine’s Day concert Feb. 10
UNION CITY – The Union City Chamber Players recently announced that their next concert, celebrating the many varieties of love (spiritual, earthly, requited and not), will take place on Sunday, Feb. 10 at 3 p.m. at St. John’s Episcopal Church, 1506 Palisade Ave. in Union City.
Charles Gounod’s fervent “Ave Maria” will open the program, followed by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s intimate and virtuosic “Violin sonata K. 526.”
French songs of love found and lost by Faure and Massenet follow, along with Richard Strauss’s haunting “Stiller Gang” and Rachmaninoff’s reverie “In the Silence of the Secret Night.”
Wine and cheese will follow the concert. There is a suggested donation of $8 (children free).