Hoboken Democratic Party Expresses 'Disappointment,' Slams Former Freeholder

Updated, Saturday 12:15 p.m.

The Hoboken Democratic Committee sent out a release, saying it is “disappointed” in a planned fundraiser honoring Assemblyman Ruben Ramos Jr., which is supposed to take place on Monday night and is organized by Political Action Committee “Real Democrats of Hoboken.”

The PAC has not yet been registered with the Election Law Enforcement Committee, according to the press release. An unregistered committee cannot raise money. 

In a follow up e-mail on Saturday morning Ines Garcia Keim, who agreed to serve as the PAC's chairwoman, followed up in an e-mail about the allegations from the Democratic Party.

"The 'Real Democrats for Hoboken'  has only existed formally as a political action committee (PAC) since last Saturday, February 19, 2011.  On that day, Eduardo Gonzalez was appointed as treasurer and I agreed to serve as chairwoman," Garcia Keim wrote.

Garcia Keim added, "there is no requirement to register with ELEC for any group that expects to contribute less than $4,900 to any candidate(s) in one calendar year." She said that the group met for the first time last week. 

The annual Lincoln Day Dinner will honor Assemblyman  who is the former chairman of the Hoboken Democratic Committee. (He was succeeded by Councilman-at-Large Ravi Bhalla)

“We’re just the honored guest,” said Ramos’ spokesman Alex Habib about the annual Lincoln Day dinner. Habib added that Ramos was not aware that the “Real Democrats” weren’t registered with ELEC yet.

“It is against New Jersey state law for an unregistered PAC, like the ‘Real Democrats for Hoboken’ to spend money or raise money in support of candidates for political campaigns, such as the event that the “Real Democrats for Hoboken” is advertising for Monday February 28th,” states a release from the Hoboken Democratic Party.

The release also slams former Hudson County Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons. 

"This event, which is being actively promoted by Maurice Fitzgibbons, another prior Chair of the Hoboken Democratic Party and a former Freeholder, is intended to raise money from developers to support candidates running against the incumbent committeemen and committeewomen who presently serve the Hoboken Democratic Party."