U.S. Representative Albio Sires endorsed Mayor Steven Fulop and his city council slate in the citywide election in November.
Sires’ endorsement follows the announcement that Hudson County Democratic Organization Chair Amy DeGise has joined the mayor’s team as a candidate for an at-large council seat.
“Mayor Fulop has shown true leadership by bringing people together with one goal in mind, which is to keep moving Jersey City forward, and I’m proud to add my support for him and his entire team,” said Sires, who represents the Heights, Downtown, and several other city neighborhoods. “The fact that the Mayor has been able to grow his coalition and add new, highly respected voices like Amy DeGise and Rich Boggiano to his team shows that he understands the value of relationship building and working together for a common purpose. Jersey City’s future has never been brighter, and I’m excited to continue working with Mayor Fulop and his team.”
Mayor Fulop is running for his third term alongside a council slate that includes DeGise as well as city council incumbents Joyce Watterman, Daniel Rivera, Denise Ridley, Mira Prinz-Arey, Richard Boggiano, Yousef Saleh, and Jermaine Robinson.
According to the campaign, the final member of the mayor’s slate who would be running for Ward E will be announced soon.
“I’ve learned over the years that we can get much more done for Jersey City with the right partners working with us, both here in our community and at the county, state and federal levels,” Fulop said. “Our team has worked closely with Congressman Sires on so many important issues, most recently by utilizing federal funding he delivered to become the first city in New Jersey to offer COVID-19 testing to all residents, to support our local small businesses and to offer rent relief to working families in need. I know that Jersey City can count on Congressman Sires whenever we need him, and I’m proud to have his support in this election.”
When I watched the video of the accident involving Councilwoman Amy Degise and a bicyclist, I got flashbacks of the time a speeding bike came inches from slamming my automobile at a high speed, while pulling out of a Hudson County supermarket. A few more inches and he would have been dead; speedo shorts, fid bit, helmet and all. Yep, he almost hit my automobile just like the bicyclist was the one that hit Amy Degise.
The CCTV Video Cameras show proof that the cyclist ran the red light which is against the law, at the intersection of MLK Drive & Forrest Street, striking the vehicle with force.
My opinion is that so many of the bike riders are guilty of this infraction, it’s impossible to count them. We just Thank God that nobody was killed this time. Evidence proves that the bike hit the car at a high speed after running that very red light. My view is that it was not a hit & run crash because she reported it to police. It fact, it was her who was hit. I’m sure she panicked confusingly as any motorist would. Being a council woman doesn’t make her any less human.
Any calls for her to resign because of this incident are ill mannered political grand standing. Remember, running a red light is illegal. Fortunately for Amy, she was not the one who ran the red light. Indeed, the cyclist is the one who should be forgiven and will have his day in court. He is as human as her.
Any attempt to recall her with a few hundred signatures won’t be helpful either. The full video is proof of the most critical evidence. He ran the red light, not her.
In response to Walter White’s letter which says that a photo on “Facebook” shows Council member Amy Degise running the red light, my message to Walter White is this: if you can prove Amy ran the red light via CCTV Cameras, please do so.My opinion is that a lot of what we see on Facebook is not true.
Seated in a back booth at the VIP Diner, a well-known Jersey City political hangout for nearly a half century, Amy DeGise didn’t look remotely out of place.
The daughter of County Executive Tom DeGise is running to become chair of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) the longtime county political organization, challenging state Sen. and Union City Mayor Brian Stack.
So it was fitting that she sat down to talk to The Reporter in a place where members of the old guard of Jersey City have long met. But DeGise has big plans to revamp and modernize the HCDO if she is elected on June 12 by a vote by committee people throughout Hudson County.
“One of the reasons I’m running is to take a stand for women,” she said, describing herself as a progressive feminist. “I also want to take some of the ego out of this conflict and bring peace back to Hudson County.”
She doesn’t believe Stack is the right person to lead the Democratic Party into the future. “I want to bring the party together, not tear it apart,” she said.
She was clearly referring to Hudson County’s latest political war, which began at a meeting at other political handout, The Coach House in North Bergen, when Stack along with Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop confronted her father, telling him they would not support his reelection as county executive in 2019.
Tom DeGise, a five-term incumbent, had wavered earlier this year, undecided whether he would run again. But when he finally decided he would run again, Stack and Fulop decided to try to push him out and replace him with a choice of their own.
A trustee of the Jersey City Board of Education, Amy DeGise became a candidate for HCDO chair this year in order to keep Stack from getting it, and to try to enact a vision of a new HCDO, one that will embrace everybody in the party.
Chair will influence county exec candidate
The chair, of course, would have a lot of influence deciding which county executive candidate will run on the official Democratic line on the ballot in the 2019 primary.
Some believe that she is running in order to guarantee that her father, Tom, will have the Democratic line in 2019. But Amy said she would not automatically give the line to her father if she gets to be chair, or, for that matter, any of the current incumbents for any county or state elected office.
Just because she is her father’s daughter, doesn’t mean she agrees with him all the time.
“I’m not rubber stamp for my father,” she said. “My name is Amy, not Tom DeGise. I am a Board of Education trustee and a union rep at my school. I am my own person.”
There are a number of high profile seats coming up on the county and state level over which she will have the power to award the line or not. This includes the county sheriff and county register, as well as state assembly and senate candidates.
“I would have to sit down with them and hear what they have to say,” she said. “My goal is to bring more young people into the process, and more women. We have the first Democratic governor in eight years and we’re divided here.”
She said she believes she can be fair and impartial in the position.
“I want to give more decision-making power to committee people in each municipality,” she said. “I see myself as a good leader and I can relate to people.”
She said she wants the Democratic Party to mirror the diverse population of Hudson County.
“If I’m successful, I will sit down with committee people to determine what it means for us to be a Democratic Party,” she said. “I believe the chair is supposed to be the leader of the party.”
And part of that role will be to make sure Hudson County gets heard in Trenton.
_____________
“I don’t expect everybody to like me.” – Amy DeGise ____________
A feminist and progressive
While she doesn’t dismiss the previous leadership, she believes her role will be to bring old and young together, and to reenergize the party. This includes using contemporary means to reach people, including social media.
“I see myself as a feminist and a progressive,” she said. “I want to increase the role women play in local politics.”
She said she is very disappointed that there are currently no women mayors in a county that is considered one of the most progressive in the nation.
“I will promote women to fund for elected office,” she said.
Her aunt, Lois Shaw, was a prominent political figure in Jersey City, someone who helped break the glass ceiling when it came to women serving in government.
“Even at home, she would cook, but she called all the shots,” DeGise said.
If successful in winning the chair, DeGise would become the first woman to lead the HDCO in the history of the organization.
She has thick skin
The conflict has already become heated, with some vitriol aimed at DeGise. She shrugs it off.
“I have thick skin,” she said. “I don’t expect everybody to like me. I do not dislike other people. I don’t say bad things about them.”
The political war has people lining up on both sides. DeGise has the support of all the mayors in West Hudson, as well as the mayors of North Bergen, Guttenberg, Weehawken, Secaucus and Bayonne. But even in towns such as West New York, Hoboken, and Jersey City where the mayors are opposed to her, she has support of commissioners and council members.
Even some opposed to her she believes she can bring around after the chair battle is settled.
“I think I have a lot in common with (Hoboken mayor) Ravi Bhalla,” she said. “We’re both young progressives.”
To win the seat, she is meeting with as many committee people throughout the county as she can.
“I need to meet them and let them meet me,” she said.
Wednesday evening, powerful state Sen. and Union City Mayor Brian Stack lost his bid to become chairman of the Hudson County Democratic Organization – a longtime political organization that helps choose candidates for local and regional office – in a committee vote held at Kearny High School on Wednesday, June 12. The winner was Amy DeGise, a member of the Jersey City school board.
The vote was contentious, as Stack and several other mayors in the county have been hoping to eventually unseat, in 2019, longtime County Executive Tom DeGise, whose job involves overseeing county agencies and facilities. DeGise is Amy DeGise’s father.
The war has pitted mayors Stack, Ravi Bhalla (of Hoboken), Steven Fulop (of Jersey City) and Felix Roque (of West New York) against allies of U.S. Rep Albio Sires, who hails from West New York, and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco.
Amy DeGise beat Stack by nearly 100 votes – a larger margin than anyone predicted.
DeGise beat Stack by a vote 452 to 360, with members of local Democratic committees in all towns voting, including some who were bused in.
“The 32nd District (which includes North Bergen, Guttenberg, and towns in West Hudson) came out big for Amy,” said Phil Swibinski of Vision Media, the political consultant firm that ran DeGise’s campaign.
DeGise, who ran a progressive campaign on issues like women’s equality, becomes the first female chair of the HCDO in history.
In February, Stack was seen as the county’s choice to replace outgoing chairman, Vincent Prieto.
But then, Stack and Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop threw down the gauntlet at a meeting in the Coach House Diner and told Tom DeGise they would not support his reelection as county executive in 2019.
This led to a fight for control of the chair this year since the chair eventually gets to decide whom county Democrats will support in the Democratic primary in 2019 as well as candidates for many county, state and federal seats in the future.
Fulop, who may well see a significant loss of political influence as a result of this vote, seemed philosophical about the outcome.
“You win some and you lose some,” he said. “That’s the way this works.”
He added, “Truth be told, we hit our numbers in every city including Jersey City, but we underestimated the turnout from Bayonne by 40 votes and we never thought it possible they would get 100 percent turnout from all of their towns.”
For a longer version of this story, see your local weekly print edition over the weekend, or come back to hudsonreporter.com starting Sunday.
Hudson County Democratic Organization Chair Amy DeGise will join Mayor Steven Fulop’s ticket and run for City Council at-Large in this year’s upcoming citywide election.
A lifelong Jersey City resident, public school teacher, and former elected member of the Jersey City Board of Education, DeGise won a contested election to become the first woman to lead the county party in 2018.
“Amy DeGise has established herself both here in Jersey City and throughout the state as a dynamic leader who cares deeply about issues that impact middle-class families day in and day out,” Fulop said. “As a lifelong resident of Jersey City who has seen the progress our community has made up close, an educator, and a leader in our Democratic Party, Amy brings a valuable perspective that will make her an asset both in the campaign and on the city council. I look forward to working closely with her to continue moving our city forward.”
DeGise will join a council slate that includes incumbent council members Joyce Watterman, Daniel Rivera, Denise Ridley, Mira Prinz-Arey, Rich Boggiano, Yousef Saleh, and Jermaine Robinson.
“Jersey City will always be my home, and nothing means more to me than making sure it stays on the right path and continues to be a place we can all be proud of,” DeGise said. “I know that Mayor Fulop shares that commitment, and it’s easy to see the progress that has been made under his leadership, from making our neighborhoods safer to building more affordable housing to modernizing local government and offering better services to residents while keeping property taxes stable. I’m incredibly excited for this opportunity to continue serving the city I love, and I will work hard to earn every vote in this election.”
Amy’s father, County Executive Tom DeGise, also served on the Jersey City Council as an at-Large member prior to being elected to his current position. Her aunt, Lois Shaw, was the first Democratic woman ever elected to the City Council, serving from 1973-1977 also in an at-Large seat.
Mayor Fulop will announce the final member of his slate in the coming weeks.
Jersey City Councilwoman Amy DeGise has admitted that she was involved in a hit-and-run accident on Tuesday morning and was issued summonses, following news reports about the incident.
“I acknowledge this unfortunate event [on Tuesday] and I’m thankful that no one was seriously hurt,” she told Hudson County View in a statement. “While the traffic summons that was issued is dealt with in court, I will not be able to make any additional comment at this time.”
According to the Jersey Journal via a crash report, the incident took place at around 8 a.m. on Tuesday, when a 29-year-old cyclist from Jersey City told police that he was riding his bike south of MLK Drive and had the green light at Forrest Street when he was struck by a black SUV going east on Forrest.
The report continued that the cyclist said he had pain in his left ankle and a laceration, and was taken to Jersey City Medical Center for treatment. Police then identified via CCTV footage that DeGise’s vehicle, a Nissan Rogue, was involved in the crash.
The report also said that DeGise was issued two summonses, one for failure to report an accident and another for leaving the scene of an accident.
The incident was first reported on Tuesday by HudPost, and was followed by another report from Hudson County View, citing anonymous sources that DeGise was driving to County Prep High School at the time. The Jersey City Times had also reported from a source that HudPost’s story was accurate.
DeGise became a councilwoman after winning one of the three at-large seats in last year’s City Council elections. She was formerly the chairwoman of the Hudson County Democratic Organization and is the daughter of Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise.
Following the reports, BikeJC and SafeStreetsJC said in a joint statement that the public “deserves a full accounting from those involved and thorough investigation of the circumstances surrounding this and every crash.”
“An elected leader must do better by their constituents,” they said. “Just as everyone else should, they must remain at the scene and render assistance to the injured. No one is above the law.”
The Jersey City Police Department directed press inquiries about the reported incident to a city spokesperson, who did not respond for comment.
For updates on this and other stories, check hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Mark Koosau can be reached at mkoosau@hudsonreporter.com or his Twitter @snivyTsutarja.
U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez won the Democratic Primary on June 5 and will be going into the general election against GOP challenger Bob Hugin. But while Democrats may rally behind Menendez in November, his close victory over underfunded Lisa McCormick reveals a serious vulnerability that you can expect the GOP to exploit.
A two-term incumbent, Menendez won with just shy of 60 percent of the Democratic vote. McCormick, who ran a grass-roots campaign, came up with a surprising 38 percent, despite the fact that the chairs of all 21 county Democrat organizations in New Jersey endorsed Menendez.
The senator, while never an overwhelming favorite even in past elections, was hampered by a recent scolding by the Senate Ethics Committee for how he dealt with gifts from a friend and campaign donor. The federal corruption case against Menendez fell apart after a mistrial last year. But a dark cloud has been hanging over him ever since.
His only saving grace is the Hugin may be going into the general election with as much baggage as Menendez. Hugin, a former drug company executive, oversaw a settlement in a lawsuit brought against the company. Drug companies are not popular in today’s culture and so expect Menendez to exploit this as well as the general GOP connection with Donald Trump in the November general election.
You can expect both sides to become extremely nasty as the GOP seeks to steal a critical Democratic senate seat, and the Democrats seek to hold onto it. At stake is control of the U.S. Senate and the likelihood that the Senate will oversee the confirmation of one or more Supreme Court justices over the next two years. If the GOP is successful, the Supreme Court will likely become much more conservative than in the recent past.
Sires is still popular in West New York
The battle for Democratic committee seats in West New York was clearly won by those supporting Tom and Amy DeGise in the ongoing battle over who will steer county government.
All but 10 of the 58 committee seats went to DeGise loyalists who are expected to turn out on July 19 in Kearny to vote for Amy DeGise as chair of the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO).
In a statement, DeGise said that West New York and Harrison delivered a strong message to the political machine of state Sen/ and Union City Mayor Brian Stack that the HCDO won’t be taken over by him.
Stack, along with the mayors of West New York, Hoboken, and Jersey City, hope to unseat Amy’s father Tom in next year’s election for county executive. The person sitting as chair of the HCDO would have a huge say in determining which candidate the party will support.
Rep. Albio Sires, a strong DeGise supporter, put his own personal popularity on the line in this committee fight in West New York. As a former mayor of West New York, he called on his supporters to rally behind DeGise. Stack, who previously served as state senator in West New York before the town was redistricted in 2012, also tested his personal popularity, sending more than 100 workers into town to help get out the anti-DeGise vote.
Amy DeGise, however, was also helped by the fact that the committee people supporting her ran on the ballot along with Sires and Menendez. As unpopular as Menendez might be in the rest of the state, locals strongly support him.
Roque could be in trouble
The committee vote in West New York will have implications for Mayor Felix Roque was well.
With the majority of commissioners in West New York loyal to political people other than Roque, this inability to control the committee will likely be the opening gambit in a move to replace Roque next year.
Three of the five commissioners in WNY supported DeGise in this election. But more importantly, one or more have strong loyalties to state Senator and North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, who supports Tom DeGise, and one is strongly aligned with Sires.
This bodes ill for Roque’s reelection chances, especially because of the position Roque has taken in supporting Stack’s move to take over the HCDO.
Bad feelings will linger into 2019 even if Amy DeGise becomes the HCDO chair this year. While Stack is safe on his island in Union City, Roque will likely feel the wrath as Sires, Sacco and Tom DeGise throw their support behind one of the other commissioners to run against him.
The passing of an icon
The death of Jersey Journal columnist Earl Morgan last week is more than just the loss of another reporter. Morgan was a powerful voice in Hudson County for the under-represented, not just in the African-American community, but for any of the downtrodden masses that are often neglected or overlooked in the rush for progress.
Morgan fought for decades to make sure that these people got their fair share of the success that has enriched the Gold Coast, and held public officials accountable when it came to distribution of wealth. Over the last decade, he was a tireless voice in pushing for Jersey City government to live up to recommendations in a report that showed disparity in wealth, jobs and opportunities.
Yet beyond serving as a reminder of promises made but not lived up to by society, Morgan was the conscience of the community, a beacon of light in darkening times. He constantly fought the good fight against bad options, and in many cases, won – not for himself, but for people who otherwise lacked a voice or power to fight for themselves.
Morgan’s death robs Hudson County of experience and knowledge that only he had. While many will remember Morgan as the heart and soul of the community, he was also its living memory. He takes with him recollections that we have lost forever. We can only cling to what he’s written in the past with the hope we can build on his legacy.
Jersey City Councilwoman Amy DeGise will not resign from office despite calls to do so after CCTV footage released by the city shows she struck a cyclist at an intersection without stopping afterwards.
Her spokesman, Phil Swibinski, told the New Jersey Globe that she “plans to complete her full term and continue in public service.”
“Councilwoman DeGise was elected overwhelmingly just a few months ago and she has no intention of walking away from the commitment she made to serve the people of Jersey City,” he said.
A rally to call for DeGise’s resignation is set to be held tomorrow on the block of Newark Avenue at Bay Street in Downtown at 3 p.m..
The footage, which was provided to the Hudson Reporter by the city earlier this week, shows the incident taking place on the intersection of MLK Drive and Forrest Street at around 8 a.m. on July 19.
The videos capture a cyclist traveling south on MLK Drive at around the 50 second mark, crossing a double yellow line to pass a stopped car on the left, running a red light and looking away from oncoming traffic before being hit by a black SUV from his right.
The impact knocked him over onto the road, but the vehicle continued to speed east without stopping.
The cyclist then makes his way to the corner as a number of pedestrians come over to check on him before resting on top of an ice cooler, and his crushed bike is on the other corner.
Multiple news outlets identified the cyclist as Andrew Black, who told HudPostin an interview that was on his way to pick up an UberEats delivery, and claimed that he had the right-of-way at the time of the incident.
DeGise then waited six hours before reporting the incident at the Jersey City Police Department’s West District precinct, according to footage obtained by the Jersey Journal.
The councilwoman had admitted her involvement in the incident last week, saying that she was “thankful that no one was seriously hurt” and that she was issued traffic summons, but has not made any other comments on it herself since the incident. Swibinski told the Globe that she “fully intends to speak out more when the legal process is concluded.”
Calls for resignation grow
DeGise was elected last year as an at-large councilwoman on Mayor Steven Fulop’s slate in the City Council elections, unseating then-Councilman Rolando Lavarro after he had run as an independent and was no longer an ally to Fulop.
She was also the chairwoman of the powerful Hudson County Democratic Organization for four years until a few months ago, and is the daughter of Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise.
Fulop said in an interview with NJ Spotlight News that one should “never” leave the scene of a crash, and that he supported the release of the CCTV footage.
“She should certainly not have left the scene of that crash,” he continued. “That was a tremendous mistake she made. I’m happy she took some responsibility for that, although it doesn’t correct what she did.”
Since footage of the incident was publicized, DeGise has faced multiple calls to resign from her seat, including Black, who told the Jersey Journal that he’s considering suing DeGise.
Amy DeGise was elected last year to an at-large City Council seat, but is now facing calls to resign. Photo by Mark Koosau.
Councilmen James Solomon and Frank Gilmore in particular have also made calls for DeGise’s resignation, with the former calling the video “horrifying” and said that she should either resign or face a recall election.
“Leaving the scene of a crash is illegal,” he said in a statement. “Doing so demonstrated a callous disregard for the life and health of the victim she hit. Public servants must be held to a higher standard. While Council member DeGise is entitled to forgiveness and her day in court, both should come as a private citizen.”
SafeStreetsJC and BikeJC, who had previously called on authorities to release footage of the incident, have also called on DeGise to resign.
“Given this criminal behavior and blatant disregard for the health and well-being of her constituents as well as the damage to the credibility of her office, we believe Councilwoman DeGise has demonstrated herself unfit for the office she serves,” they said in a joint statement.
As calls for her resignation grow, former Councilman Chris Gadsden, who placed fourth in the at-large City Council elections last year, also told the Jersey Journal that he is interested in running for her seat.
For updates on this and other stories, check hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Mark Koosau can be reached at mkoosau@hudsonreporter.com or his Twitter @snivyTsutarja.
Embattled Jersey City Councilwoman Amy DeGise pushed back at the August 17 City Council meeting against numerous calls for her to resign after her hit-and-run accident with a bicyclist last month, saying that she does not plan to leave her position despite pressure from the public.
The controversy, which has roiled Jersey City and New Jersey’s political world and attracted national attention, dominated a five hour meeting at City Hall in a full council chamber covered by local news media, as well as TV crews from New Jersey and New York City news stations and a larger than usual police presence.
It was DeGise’s first public comment and her first appearance before the public since the incident, where she hit cyclist Andrew Black, who had run a red light without stopping, then had not reported it to police until six hours later.
Since CCTV footage of the incident was publicized, DeGise, who is a first-term at-large councilwomanallied with Mayor Steven Fulop but has deep connections to the political establishment in Hudson County, has faced numerous calls to step down from her post, which she listened to for multiple hours.
“I believe that our elected officials should represent the best of us, not just in here when writing our laws, but out there in showcasing the character of our community,” said former progressive congressional candidate David Ocampo Grajales, who was the first person at the meeting to call for her resignation.
“If you agree with that, then you must also agree with the fact that someone who drove away without checking whether the person they hit with a car is okay, someone like that can’t possibly represent us because that’s not who we are,” he continued. “That’s not the Jersey City that I know.”
Many people made numerous references to DeGise’s troubled history that have been reported by local media outlets, including attempting to use her connections to dispute her vehicle getting towed in Hoboken, living in a low-income apartment despite her $200,000 combined salary, and having numerous unpaid parking tickets and license suspensions.
The council chamber was filled with residents, media and security during the meeting. Photo by Mark Koosau.
“She shows she thinks a different set of rules apply to her and the politically privileged than the rest of us,” said Eleana Little, the president of the Harsimus Cove Association and a Democratic County committee person, referencing the Hoboken case.
In other instances, a number of comments for DeGise to resign also took aim at the city’s and the county’s political establishment, as well as Fulop’s allies for their silence on the matter.
“The deafening silence of inaction and cowardice when the majority of this body is deafened, and the rest of the political establishment is allowing our democratic institutions to waste away,” said progressive organizer Ricardo Rojas. “Our democracy is much more important than any one of you or your political careers.”
While they were vastly numbered by those calling for DeGise to resign, a few speakers came to her defense. One resident, James Francis Waddleton, called the entire controversy a “mob mentality.”
“Don’t be afraid of the mob, Amy, it’s just a mob” he said. “Who should suffer the consequences? Kid ran the red light, he broke the law! It’s over! Does a court of law decide the case or a mob?”
After public speaking ended, DeGise spoke publicly for the first time since the incident, saying that the past few weeks have been “the most difficult, traumatic times of my entire life,” and later added that she was limiting her comments at the advice of her attorneys. She also pointed out the numerous threats she received since the incident.
“To those of you who believe in me, thank you,” she said. “To those who don’t, I thank you as well for making me want to be a better leader. This has only made me stronger, and I will use that strength to fight for the issues that help every resident.”
So far, Councilmen James Solomon and Frank Gilmore have been the only two that have called for DeGise’s resignation. None of the other council members allied with Fulop made any comments on DeGise’s controversy during the meeting (Councilman Rich Boggiano was absent that night).
DeGise’s hit-and-run case has been moved to the Essex County Superior Court’s Special Remand Court. According to DeGise, a date for the case has not been set.
For updates on this and other stories, check hudsonreporter.com and follow us on Twitter @hudson_reporter. Mark Koosau can be reached at mkoosau@hudsonreporter.com or his Twitter @snivyTsutarja.
