ICYMI: Steven Fulop’s Terrible Two Weeks

Fulop’s Rebrand Keeps Running Into Stubborn Reality: He’s Just That Corrupt  

“Fulop has used his position as mayor to advance the financial interests of some of his largest real estate-connected donors”

“His actions in Jersey City make some open government advocates wonder if he is giving lip service to transparency”

“Hardly the actions of a transparency crusader”

BLOOMFIELD — Poor Steven Fulop. For more than two years, he’s run a campaign desperately trying to rebrand himself as a reformer, spending millions and barely making headway. Now, it’s all starting to unravel and his long history of corruption is catching up with him. During these last two weeks, Jersey voters are getting a peek behind the curtain at the real Steven Fulop — a model of the very corruption and secrecy he insists he’s against. From his pay-to-play operation that is fueling his dark money super PAC and selling out Jersey City to the highest bidder, to stonewalling Open Public Records Act (OPRA) requests to city hall, Steven’s on nobody's side but his own — and his special interest donors.

Just take a look at some of the recent coverage: 

Jersey City Times: Over $6.8 Million in Real Estate Money Fueled Fulop's Campaigns 

• In a campaign ad released on Tuesday, Mayor Steven Fulop said that if elected governor, he’d “open up the books in Trenton so you can see who’s paying off the politicians.” Fulop may want to begin with his own books.
• In several well-publicized cases, Fulop has used his position as mayor to advance the financial interests of some of his largest real estate-connected donors.
• Among the most significant examples: Fulop backed the takeover of Christ Hospital by donors who have given over $1.5 million to his super PAC Coalition for Progress—including $1 million from former owner Vivek Garipalli, $400,000 from real estate developer Yan Moshe, and $100,000 from landowner Avery Eisenreich.
• While billed as a healthcare deal, critics say it’s rooted in real estate. In 2012, Garipalli sold the prized land beneath the hospital with its Manhattan views to Eisenreich. Eisenreich’s company has since charged rents that some say could destabilize hospital finances and open the door to future residential development. Real estate developer Yan Moshe, is now a key player in the newly formed Hudson Regional hospital network which is taking over the hospital. Fulop, who served on the hospital’s board at the time, promoted the takeover as “great news.”
• Other major Fulop contributors included Dixon Advisory, a firm that once owned dozens of properties in Jersey City. Its CEO at the time, Alan Dixon, was reportedly close with Fulop and his wife, socializing with the couple, overseeing renovations of their Ogden Avenue home and Rhode Island beach property, and ultimately selling them a $2.4 million trophy home in 2021 in an insider deal. 
• Fulop had also proposed a tax appeal plan in 2016 that could have saved Dixon Advisory over $100,000, though the deal was later blocked by the county tax board. Fulop’s decision to postpone a property revaluation that shifted $143 million in taxes to less affluent areas of the city also benefited Dixon.

New Jersey Monitor: Democrat running for governor wants more transparency in Trenton — what about in his own backyard? 

• Color me surprised that the Fulop administration and I will be facing off in court yet again, this time at the New Jersey Supreme Court on Tuesday as Jersey City argues that it simply must withhold records the New Jersey Monitor is seeking.
• This time, the record is an internal affairs report we requested from the file of police Lt. Michael Timmins, who police say fired a gun at guests during an alcohol-fueled dispute at a party at his Sussex County home in 2019.
• The city could have released these records back when we requested them in March 2022, before any expungement order had been issued and muddied the waters. Instead, it denied the request, moved to make all the legal briefings in our case secret, and, when it partially lost an appellate court ruling, asked the Supreme Court to weigh in. Hardly the actions of a transparency crusader.

WPG Radio: Fulop’s Big Atlantic City, NJ Mistake: Aligning With Mayor [Op Ed]

• Fulop’s all in strategy with Small was an early warning signal about the kind of decision-maker that he is. It disqualifies Fulop from serious consideration for higher office.
• Add to this, the fact that both Marty and La’Quetta Small currently face disturbing criminal indictments for alleged child abuse … Fulop has continued to unconditionally align himself with Team Small.
• Marty Small was also indicted by a second Atlantic County Grand Jury for alleged witness tampering. Fulop knows all of this and yet he remains firmly aligned with Small. This is a disturbing example of Fulop’s poor judgment before winning the Governorship. It tells you all that you need to know about Steve Fulop.

Jersey City Times: Did Steve Fulop Win His First Election With the Help of Voter Fraud? 

• Among documents produced by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s office is the transcript of an informant’s sworn statement given to it in 2008 claiming that on Election Day 2005 as many as three vanloads of people were driven to polling places where they voted for Fulop using names other than their own. 
• If the allegations are true, illegally cast ballots could have affected the outcome in a race that Fulop won by 346 votes.
• The Jersey City Times twice asked Mayor Fulop’s spokesperson for comment and if Fulop would call for the HCPO to release the results of its investigation and any grand jury proceeding. The spokesperson did not respond. In December, The Times filed a records request with Jersey City.  Municipalities are required to respond to a records request within seven business days. Almost four months later, the city has asked for five extensions and produced no documents. Fulop, who is now running for governor, has made government transparency and support for the Open Public Records Act (OPRA) a centerpiece of his campaign.

Jersey Vindicator: Jersey City officials muzzle press at event, ban recording, social posts, police photos 

• Fulop, one of six Democrats running to be the next governor of the state, has promoted transparency as a pillar of his campaign. He released a campaign policy paper on the issue last June, defending the Open Public Records Act and criticizing legislation to weaken it. His actions in Jersey City make some open government advocates wonder if he is giving lip service to transparency.
• “Jersey City officials should know that they cannot retaliate against a member of the press for lawfully engaging in newsgathering activities,” she said. “They are currently involved in a lawsuit which alleges exactly that.”
• Borg is a fellow and clinical lecturer at Yale Law School, where she is representing the Jersey City Times in its federal lawsuit against Fulop and Wallace-Scalcione for removing the Times and its editor from the city’s press list in retaliation for publishing stories critical of the mayor.
• According to the complaint, Fulop and Wallace-Scalcione blacklisted the Jersey City Times following an article that criticized the mayor’s record on public safety.

NorthJersey.com: Black residents are leaving these three NJ cities. What else to know from this new report 

• Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop did not respond directly to questions from NorthJersey.com on the increase in the city's homeless population and the loss of Black residents listed in the report or on the report itself.

From the Mikie Sherrill Campaign.