Dear Editor:
For anyone who wants to go out and speak against corruption in government at a Hoboken City Council meeting – beware. You may have a City Council member viciously attack your character like Tiffanie Fisher did to me.
Presumably, everyone gets their start in politics somewhere. For me, it was listening to council meetings where my council representative, Councilwoman Fisher, was the only no vote for our Hispanic director of environmental services; and was the only one not to vote in support of our first African-American director of community development.
After expressing my First Amendment rights to speak out on issues I found to be important, I opened my inbox days later to see thorough research done on me, including my age, profession, and misleading — and in some cases, downright wrong — personal information about me published in an email by Tiffanie to her constituents. I found this to be a vicious attack on my character and a blatant act of political intimidation, which is something that I will not stand for.
Her insinuation is that because I’m young, not a lawyer, and haven’t been active before, I don’t have the right or ability to speak my mind on her actions. As her constituent, it’s not just mind-boggling and insulting, but I believe this is clear intimidation by a public official and should be called out for what it is — bullying through scare tactics.
Perhaps Ms. Fisher should look in the mirror when she accuses me of launching political attacks. Her recent record speaks for herself:
1. Attempting to strip the mayor’s office of one staff member, despite a legal opinion from the law department stating that it was improper to do so.
2. Refusing to reimburse a staff member in City Hall for the cost of pizza during a community event.
3. Fundraised for an alt-right local blog, which posts disgusting and vile things about residents, including using the word “retard” as a nickname.
4. Attempted to strip appointments from Mayor Bhalla to the rent control board
And the list goes on.
Tiffanie Fisher claims that “more voices are better,” (her campaign tag line) but apparently that’s just if someone agrees with her. It’s a shame she can’t answer to her own poor record without launching into personal attacks on her constituents.
Mike Donnelly
