Hoboken Councilwoman Says She Can't Support Bhalla For Congress, Citing 'Dishonesty'

HOBOKEN, NJ — As the 8th District Congressional race heats up — in which Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla is taking on incumbent Rep. Rob Menendez Jr., and making references to Menendez's indicted father — a Hoboken councilwoman who has been one of the independents on the City Council made a damning accusation against Bhalla on Friday.

In her newsletter sent to local residents, City Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher, who was recently elected over a Bhalla-backed candidate in Hoboken's north end, accused Bhalla's campaign of involvement in a racist flyer that was distributed around the mile-square city in 2017. The flyer was spread days before Bhalla wound up squeaking to victory against an opponent in a runoff election.

Although four people were questioned by the Hoboken police in connection with the flyers, no one was ever arrested in the apparent hate crime. The anonymous flyers (pictured here) featured Bhalla, a Sikh Indian wearing a turban, with the words "Don't let terrorism take over our town." READ MORE: Hoboken Asks NJ Attorney General To Investigate Racist Flyers

Former Councilman Michael DeFusco has long believed that the flyers raised Bhalla's visibility enough to help him beat DeFusco in the election by around 500 votes. DeFusco said in a recent interview with Patch that the flyers only appeared after polling showed DeFusco with a slight lead in the race.

But so far, no one has been able to implicate any candidate or campaign in the crime. Sources have said over the years that they believed a political PAC or union was behind the flyers in order to help a certain candidate, but have not proven it. Such things have happened in Hoboken with unsigned flyers before.

All campaign materials must have language on them saying who funded them, according to New Jersey law.

In 2021, five Hoboken council members, including Fisher, asked the state's attorney general to investigate the flyers the way they had investigated a similar situation in Edison. But still, none of them accused a campaign of having involvement or knowledge in their creation.

In Fisher's Friday morning newsletter, her tone changed.

Fisher wrote, "As you know, I try to uphold the principles of integrity, fairness, and democracy in our community and have often been the loudest voice to speak out against corruption. Whether its New Jersey’s broken ballot and county 'line' system, elected officials trying to enrich themselves off the backs of our neighbors, or those in government using their office for personal gain. We have it. I fight it.

"Today, I find myself faced with the challenging task of addressing a matter with you that has weighed heavily on me for the last four years and is suddenly front and center as we consider who we will support in the upcoming Congressional race.

"I can’t support our mayor, Ravi Bhalla for the Congressional seat. And before the election really gets started, I need to tell you why..."

Fisher then accuses Ravi's campaign of involvement in the flyer — but doesn't detail the evidence, only citing anonymous sources so far.

She writes, "After calls by the City Council in early 2021 for the Attorney General to investigate with Hoboken PD’s support seemed to fall on deaf ears, I spoke to Hoboken PD and then filed a complaint with the Attorney General and Hudson County Prosecutor’s offices on June 29th, 2021 providing details and testimony related to the above-mentioned incidents and [a campaign's] potential involvement. The investigation commenced and is ongoing, including federal officials, which speaks to the gravity of the matter.

"I specifically excluded the Attorney General himself from my complaint because he was Ravi’s best friend. Although many are aware of this complaint, I have not previously disclosed this publicly but have attached redacted excerpts."

(The attorney general and Bhalla grew up together, according to reports and social media posts.)

"The complaint alleges, among other things, that the AG and HCPO failed in their duty to investigate what were not just one, but two potential crimes committed that day in 2017 – one, the racial bias crime and two, for attributing it to a political rival which is a crime of Impersonation under NJ Law. According to all involved, myself included, Hoboken Police Department’s investigation should be commended for their efforts. However they were hindered by the clear conflict of interest."

Fisher then says the police attempted to move the investigation out of Hudson County, but their attempts were denied.

'I Am Not Taking This Lightly'

Fisher, who has sometimes voted for the mayor's initiatives and sometimes criticized them, wrote, "There are many reasons I struggle with our mayor’s approach to governing ... But it is his use of hate and dishonesty as his political strategy to betray our community for his own political advantage that is why I could never support him for Congress. With so much hate and discrimination going on around us, to pretend to be a victim of discrimination to personally benefit and get the public’s sympathy and vote is an affront to all who really are suffering. And something I could never accept.

"I know that sending this is a big deal and please know that I am not taking this lightly. But I could not let another election involving him go by, without sharing this information with you. Enough is enough."

Fisher provided, along with her newsletter, a letter she sent to the attorney general's office.

She said her evidence goes back far beyond 2017. Find out all the details in the newsletter here.

Responses

Two council members who support Bhalla blasted Fisher's comments on Friday.

“I am disappointed — but not surprised — to see the lengths to which Councilmember Fisher will go in order to distract people from the progress the city of Hoboken has made under Mayor Bhalla’s leadership," said Councilwoman Emily Jabbour. "This repackaging of the same allegations that Councilmember Fisher has repeatedly hurled without merit is clearly the latest in her anti-Ravi agenda.”

“I don't know if Tiffanie’s transparent mayoral aspirations are clouding her already biased judgment on the topic, but the substance of her manifesto reveals a genuinely disturbing mindset," said Councilmember Jim Doyle.

Fisher recently criticized Bhalla's new campaign, arguing that he has presented himself to voters outside of Hoboken in a way that doesn't mesh with what he's done in office. For example, Bhalla publicly criticized the "county line" method of having county bosses help pick local candidates, but Bhalla himself recently supported his former chief of staff for the state legislature, over the incumbent, a Latina woman, Fisher noted.

Last month, Bhalla was criticized for undertaking an interview about his campaign from his office at Hoboken City Hall. Bhalla apologized for the oversight.

Suspect Admitted To Harassment

However, Bhalla has been subject to harassment and threats that have been proven.

A Hoboken man pleaded guilty last year to having harassed a local resident for political reasons. The same Hoboken man was also accused of having sent harassing materials to Bhalla and his brother, and admitted to having sent the materials to Bhalla, but was not charged.

Besides serving as Hoboken mayor, Bhalla is also of counsel at a North Jersey law firm. The $60,000-per-year job garnerned some scrutiny because he ran for office promising to be a "full time" mayor.

READ MORE: Hoboken Asks NJ Attorney General To Investigate Racist Flyers