Councilwoman Fisher’s Ethics Reform Becomes Law After Intentional ‘No Action’ by Hoboken Mayor Bhalla

HOBOKEN, N.J. – In a remarkable move, Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla intentionally chose to take “no action” on a new ethics reform policy after signing seven other pieces of legislation into law and vetoing an eighth. The ethics reform legislation, co-sponsored by Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher and Councilman Mike DeFusco, was introduced to significantly strengthen Hoboken’s laws to prevent city employees from using public resources for political purposes.

The City Council adopted the policy during its August 7 meeting on a 6-2 vote, with Mayor Bhalla’s allies on the council voting against the common sense legislation. As a result of the Mayor’s inaction, the legislation became law on August 22, closing a loophole that previously allowed public employees to use computers, phones and other public property for fundraising, political gain and campaign activities.

Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher is releasing the following statement:

“I am proud to have co-sponsored this important piece of policy to protect the integrity of city resources funded by taxpayer dollars,” said Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher. “The Mayor seems to have been caught between a rock and a hard place: support good ethics laws or veto good ethics laws and support his Council allies who voted no. So he chose the ‘no action’ approach, allowing the ordinance to become law without his signature. Now, we will hopefully begin to see an end to the repeated politicking out of City Hall, particularly in the Mayor’s own office where his communication director Vijay Chaudhuri uses his taxpayer funded position to make defamatory and politically charged statements. Hoboken residents and taxpayers deserve better.”

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