Hudson County Superior Court Judge Joseph Turula has dismissed a lawsuit brought by Hoboken’s 2nd Ward Councilwoman Tiffanie Fisher which attempted to overturn the Council’s decision to increase the limit allowed for union donations. Fisher claimed that the ordinance was changed without sufficient public notification by its sponsors, or a public hearing on the amendments, a violation of state law.
Initially approved by the Council last December, the Council made changes to the Hoboken ordinance in February before Fisher’s lawsuit had been ruled upon by the court. Fisher’s lawsuit challenged the legality of the Council’s decision to raise the donation limit by unions from $500 to $7,200, which is the limit allowed in New Jersey.
Now with the Superior Court’s ruling, members of the Council who supported the increased donation limit, all allies of Mayor Ravi Bhalla, are calling on Councilwoman Fisher to reimburse the city for legal fees incurred for a “frivolous lawsuit” dismissed with prejudice.
At Large Councilwoman Emily Jabbour stated, “Thank you to Judge Turula for seeing this lawsuit for what it was – a nonsense political stunt. Councilwoman Fisher should do the right thing and reimburse the City for its costs, and to engage with her colleagues in a productive way rather than filing frivolous lawsuits at the expense of Hoboken taxpayers.”
5th Ward Councilman Phil Cohen added, “Councilwoman Fisher easily could have withdrawn her case when the Council addressed her concerns by passing the campaign finance legislation on first and second reading in the new year. Instead, she forced the City to defend her baseless claims, costing taxpayers thousands of dollars. Councilwoman Fisher claims to be a watchdog of the taxpayer dollar, but this is yet the latest example that she is anything but. I’m disappointed by her attempt to seek political benefit from this frivolous lawsuit. She should reimburse the City the full cost of defending her bogus case.”
The. newest member of the Council, At Large Councilman Joe Quintero stated, “What’s disappointing here is that there was a missed opportunity for Councilwoman Fisher to reach out to her council colleagues to solve this issue. An issue, by the way, which was solved by a simple re-vote. Instead she jumped to costly litigation at the expense of our tax payers. This was simply a waste of money and I think it’s right that the City seek reimbursement. Our residents expect more from us.”
Finally, At Large Councilman Jim Doyle added, “I agree with my council colleagues that Councilwoman Fisher should have dropped the case when the ordinance was reintroduced and passed in 2022. At that juncture, her stubborn refusal to do so merely resulted in the pointless expenditure of legal fees by the City’s law department until the matter was ultimately thrown out. I understand that the judge in the matter was none too happy with the continuing presence of the case on the court’s docket. Perhaps the Councilwoman should consider reimbursing the taxpayers for these ill-spent funds?”