Nothing like spending more needless money eh Jersey City?

The state mandated and court ordered reval is going to cost Jersey City taxpayers another $5 million dollars as City Council, who haven't yet met something they wouldn't overspend on, will Wednesday approve asking for yet more money on the childishly delayed reval, no doubt because Mayor Fulop wants it.

It's mandated to be done in November of 2017, hey look an election date, and somehow the Fulop Administration who has no interest in it ever happening courts be damned. It has already fallen behind in the timeline. You have to love Fulop mouthpiece Jennifer Morrill who was sent out to pick the scab yet again that despite the courts consistently saying the first reval was done properly and it was Fulop acting childishly (in practically these same words) by making sure Mr. Petulant gets in some kind of imagined last word:

"We have always said this is a tight timeframe established by the state and we are working within that to comply, however, it is important that the best format and practices are followed, which was not the case previously," Morrill said.

Again, yes it was fair whether you think so or not. Anyway the judge decided you have no point there Jennifer and that's the only funny thing about this.

This here Jersey City, this is a hell of a price to pay for Steve Fulop's donor-class staying happy and that is ALL.THIS.IS.REALLY.ABOUT:

If the city's $4 million estimate holds, the cost to taxpayers for the reval will be at least $7.6 million. That includes the cost of the canceled reval ($3 million), legal fees Jersey City has been ordered to pay Realty Appraisal ($115,000 so far), costs for the firm Jersey City hired to defend itself in the case ($450,000 so far) and, to date, $26,954 in interest the city has been ordered to pay Realty Appraisal.

So we're begging $5 million for a job estimated to take 4, yet we're still loaning money to Bruce Rater to develop the Pep Boys site, the city spends money like a drunk teenager, the city doesn't raise taxes because we have such a surplus, so why not bond this out? Why take a high price loan with a quick turnaround payback if the city is only planning on doing revals every 20--30 years at gunpoint? What a poor use of city money.

It's like Donald Trump is somehow running 280 Grove St with his idiot minions with the kind of money decisions being made.

Jersey City taxpayers again on the hook for Mayor Fulop's miscalculations

The cost to Jersey CIity taxpayers for the loss of the court case against Realty Appraisal just increased by $115,000 because once again the mayor didn't understand how the reval worked or he was simply stalling for no good legal reason in order to protect his donor class downtown.

Hudson County Superior Court Judge Francis B. Schultz had earlier awarded Realty Appraisal almost a million dollars in the original case:

Schultz awarded $984,511 to Realty Appraisal in April when he ruled that Jersey City acted in bad faith when it backed out of a $3.2 million contract the West New York firm was awarded in 2011 to conduct the long-stalled citywide property revaluation. Mayor Steve Fulop halted all work on the reval when he was elected mayor in 2013 and stopped paying the firm.

Do remember this waste of over $100K when the Fulop Administration begs you to move the elections to November from May (When Jersey City gets a say on strictly Jersey City business) so he can lose in the governor's run and still run for mayor again in 2017, you know, change the law for one person. What's that you say? It'll save money according to the mayor's office? Well he just pissed more than the savings away because he's in over his head. That argument stops NOW.

Perusing the news this morning Johnny is reminded of a Game of Thrones line

If you're not a Game of Thrones watcher do stick around as these issues we're dealing with today are important. For fans, remember the scene where Arya and The Hound find the dying farmer, talk with him and The Hound gives the farmer a merciful end only to be jumped from behind and bitten by two guys trying to collect the bounty on him? After he snaps the first attacker's neck with his bare hands he turns to the other now well aware of his coming fate and tells him "This day's really not working out the way you'd planned..."

Mayor Steve Fulop is having one of those weeks that's surely not working out the way he planned. As noted here earlier the Hamilton Park Neighborhood Association won a victory over a developer, LeFrak, and "City Planning" which if you're paying attention does what the mayor likes. More seriously however the mayor's SuperPAC is looking worse and worse when it comes to violating more pay-to-play laws championed and passed by Councilman Fulop. The administration seems pinned down by all the bad news coming out about it. Two new campaign finance watchdog groups are calling on the FEC to look into the mysterious SuperPAC that will mostly be supporting Mayor Fulop in his run for governor yet had over $1 million in a single donation less than 24 hours after the PAC paperwork was filed. Fulop won't say who is behind the donation (Johnny's got an idea, follow the casino munneyz) and it stinks to high heaven for someone who ran on a platform of being a champion of open government and good governance. It stinks to high heaven for someone who didn't run on a platform of being a champion of open government and good governance. But, seeing as how most of the big Fulop contributions have been from developers who either do business with Jersey City or get tax abatements from Jersey City, you can only guess who wants to give Mayor Fulop a million in secret cash.

Also not on the mayor's list this week Superior Court Judge Francis B. Schultz brought the Fulop Administration one step closer to a state-mandated reval whether Fulop likes it or not, and with yesterday's ruling certainly opens Jersey City up to a huge lawsuit by the company performing the reval that was 95% complete at he time Fulop stopped their work, (Fulop's admission) Realty Appraisal Co. Judge Schultz had this to say about the city's flimsy filings in why Realty Appraisal Co. shouldn't be allowed to finish the job:

But Superior Court Judge Francis B. Schultz this afternoon ruled that witness testimony did not back up the city's claims that O'Reilly had any significant role in the city's selection of Realty Appraisal in 2011. The testimony by city employees showed O'Reilly recused himself from any role in the selection process while he was still employed by the city, Schultz ruled today.

"There was no conflict," he said.

This was one baaaad week at 280 Grove St. kids. If Fulop is running for governor (he is) he's already compiling a lot of baggage on his own and giving Steve Sweeney and anyone else running in the Democratic primary plenty of mud to sling.

The Fulop Administration, they're not so great in the courts

The Fulop Administration lost another court case yesterday, this a motion to dismiss the judge hearing the city's lawsuit with reval company Realty Appraisal Co., in what some may call humiliating fashion, by being called the city's actions those of King George III:

The breach-of-contract case between Jersey City and a West New York revaluation firm is set to go to trial Tuesday following a failed attempt by the city's attorneys to have the pre-trial judge recuse himself, a bid the judge called "an attack on the court" and likened to the actions of King George III.

There's a lot more including some pretty desperate city pleadings and why the city is really worried about losing this case. As always, Terrence T. McDonald has us covered.