The Jersey City Independent "

UPDATED SEPTEMBER 22 at 1:25 PM A petition to prevent candidates from pairing off together in Jersey City’s special At-Large council election was denied by Judge Maurice Gallipoli Thursday morning when the attorney representing Imtiaz Syed failed to demonstrate how the New Jersey statute explicitly permitting bracketing could be ignored. Gallipoli described the statute as [...]

Two of the 19 candidates for November’s special election of two At-Large City Council seats petitioned Hudson County Superior Court yesterday to overturn the Hudson County Clerk’s previous decision allowing pairs of candidates to be bracketed together on the ballot. Both Imtiaz Syed and Nabil Youssef (at left and right in photo at right) have [...]

Recent confusion over the deadline to file a petition to run in Jersey City’s special election this November has left At-Large council hopefuls scratching their heads, but Hudson County Clerk Barbara Netchert (seen at right) says the mixup was “an honest mistake” with a simple explanation. “The county clerk’s office never received the most updated [...]

A resolution awarding a contract to Certified Products was withdrawn on Wednesday night for the second time in two council meetings. This time, the resolution’s language had to be changed because it amends a contract that ends in June, rather than initiating a new one, and that wasn’t made clear in the wording, according to [...]

Although the deadline is still 12 days away, it is looking like the group of Jersey City activists who have been trying to mount a recall of Mayor Jerramiah Healy will not be able to collect enough signatures to push the recall through.

- A representative from New Jersey Policy Perspective came to last night’s council caucus meeting to present the group’s report on Jersey City’s abatement policy. She was met with a full-on rebuttal from the city and indifference from most of the City Council. – An attorney for Ward C councilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez is seeking [...]

- Ward C councilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez has not filed her taxes in New Jersey for the last three years, according to a deposition of her given by Diana Jeffrey, an attorney representing Norrice Raymaker in the legal battle over whether or not Lopez is a Jersey City resident. “”It’s pretty hard to claim that [...]

- “This is my home too,” Ward C coucilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez tells the Orlando Sentinel. “All my clothes are here.” The Florida paper, wading into the residency issues of the newest council member, says she could owe $33,000 in back taxes if it is proven she was committing tax fraud in the Sunshine State. [...]

- Florida officials say Ward C councilwoman Nidia Rivera Lopez broke Florida voting law by voting both there and in Jersey City. The offense is a third-degree felony, but a Florida elections spokesperson tells the Journal that it would be up to Orlando police officials to enforce the laws; it is not clear if they [...]

- The Belmont Avenue Homeowners Association is asking the city to shut down the Belmont Guest House, a transitional housing facility that was recently tapped to receive $550,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds. The building owner says he will take some steps to make the house a better neighbor, but the homeowners — who [...]