MSV

City prevails seeing rent control class action suit dismissed

2013-06-19T09:23:00.004-04:00

Wednesday June 19, 2013

City of Hoboken

www.hobokennj.org

Community: City of Hoboken Prevails in Dismissing Class Action Lawsuit

Superior Court Judge Mary K. Costello, the Presiding Judge of the Civil Division in Hudson County, has dismissed a class action lawsuit against the City surrounding the administration of its rent control ordinance.

The suit was brought in 2010 by Gina DeNardo who alleged that the City misapplied the ordinance over a number of years to the detriment of landlords. The City has vigorously defended against this class action lawsuit for the last three years and steadfastly held to its position that the City and its officers have followed and administered the rent control ordinance in good faith for all resident landlords and tenants alike.

Over the last two decades, rent control in the City has been the subject of numerous court cases. Accordingly, the City argued in its summary judgment motion that it had faithfully applied the ordinance in light of the outcomes of those lawsuits. Judge Costello agreed with Hoboken that the Mayor and Rent Regulation Officer faithfully administered the ordinance in light of the lawsuits that have guided its application. She dismissed the class action lawsuit in its entirety based upon qualified immunity grounds stemming from the City’s good faith reliance on court decisions that guided the scope of the ordinance.

"I am very pleased with this decision that confirms that the City has acted properly with regard to the administration of our rent control laws,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “This latest court victory demonstrates once again the importance of making the necessary investment to vigorously defend the City’s interests.”

The City was represented by Victor A. Afanador and Jeffrey A. Shooman of Lite DePalma Greenberg, LLC in Newark.

Deconstructing the Hoboken411 by Terry Castellano

2013-06-19T09:10:00.000-04:00

Councilwoman Terry Castellano signs on to screed of fabrications and inaccuracies on Hoboken411

Hoboken411 the cybersewer where politics is guided by Beth Mason's iron fisted seal of censorship is the vehicle for pumping out massive fabrications once again - apparently in the hope to knock down Mayor Dawn Zimmer's high approval ratings leading into the November election.

It's the second time in recent months Castellano has a "letter" attached to her name appearing on Beth Mason's notorious vehicle attacking anyone seen in the way of her power and agenda. Even the manager of Hoboken's temporary post Sandy resource center was attacked in recent months in a hateful screed of lies by the notorious Masonista website.

Councilwoman Terry Castellano signed on to a screed of misinformation
on Mason backed Hoboken411. The website is known for attacking anyone
seen as contrary to Beth Mason's agenda. Even a long time resident
managing Hoboken's Sandy resource center was slimed by Hoboken411's lies.

Let's deconstruct the items one by one with a fair use journalistic critique beginning with a claim the Old Guard council is "independent."

If the Hoboken Sopranos are independent then Tony Soprano should be elected pope.

The crew has been working as a monolithic block against Hoboken's interests (even the City's solvency) since Timmy Occhipinti's campaign stole a special election with a record setting hundreds of paper ballots courtesy of the exploitation of the people in the HHA.

Prior to that, then Acting Mayor Dawn Zimmer who led the City Council saw all her attempts at consensus dismissed in an effort to destroy her reform agenda mayoralty out of the gate. The FBI complaint against Patrick Ricciardi described a "schism" with several council members and in the Hoboken blogosphere.

Fact 1: Zimmer’s 5th “rubber stamp” vote Jim Doyle

Let’s begin with Zimmer’s appointment of Jim Doyle to the City Council last fall. We had no problem with the selection, only the process. Zimmer chose to usurp the democratic process by not allowing the voters to make the decision. Furthermore, there were a few key facts omitted from Mr. Doyle’s public resume that would shed some light on his independence, namely the fact that Jim was the emcee at Zimmer’s inauguration and that he was chosen by the Governor, at the request of Zimmer, as the mayor’s appointee to the Hospital Board. All facts that were not included in his resume, facts he was not sharing unless questioned. What else was not disclosed?
If an election had been scheduled in 30 days of the appointment, Jim would have gotten a unanimous vote to remain on the council until that date. The elimination of the election process deprived the public of being represented by the person of choice. That fact was the driving force behind the original court case for his removal which we independent council members have financed ourselves.
Ask yourselves, why would Zimmer not want an election? The answer, they want that fifth and deciding vote to push through their agenda, with no discussion or opposition. The fact that the rubber stamp is out of ink, frustrates the Zimmer faction, which is evident by their behavior as the Council meetings get more contentious.

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Okay first things first. The Hoboken Sopranos never held this seat since 2009. The ruse they want to fix it through an election is as one commenter slipped past the goalie - completely made up. Jim Doyle is well known in Hoboken over decades. The Old Guard and Hoboken Sopranos know he can't be bought, isn't looking to cash in and won't sell out Hoboken period, so he's useless to them, end of story. What they claim is a need for "independence" is they would like to have a reliable puppet re: Occhipinti in the role and if not, an empty council seat will do.

The idea Doyle's resume failed to add some social engagement is frankly silly as it was hardly a secret he worked at the public mayoral inauguration event. There's the typical low grade Hoboken411 lies about the Governor being involved; other than signing off on the appointment this will surely be news to Jim Doyle. Serving on a public board in Hoboken is hardly a secret.

The fallacy NJ law allowed for an election to the council vacancy is an easily disproved lie. It's one Beth Mason has been using and no accident here, that party line found its way into Terry Castellano's version. Castellano's and her colleagues are no doubt convinced the seat was filled with the idea of leading into the next election but that's entirely legal and actually not the case. The seat was vacated by former councilwoman Carol Marsh who resigned due to a family tragedy impacting its livelihood.

The goal since Jim Doyle's appointment was ruled a valid process at the direction of the Hudson County Superior Court is to take away a fifth vote for reliable good governance. That's why they continue suing the PEOPLE OF HOBOKEN for what Judge Bariso called the Hoboken Sopranos' "gamesmanship."

The Hoboken Sopranos are not suing to have a special election. They know this is a pure canard.

Fact 2: Unbalanced budget and tax increases

A 4-4 Council is a breath of fresh air, a fact never more evident as we go through the Budget process. As our questioning has disclosed, the proposed budget has been underfunded, not balanced. To make up the difference, the Zimmer faction purposed a tax levy increase. We independents purposed nine amendments to the spending plan to avert a tax levy increase, which drives the budget’s bottom line.
We are aware that the 10% County Increase, the 4% Zimmer Board of Education budget increase and the looming increases as a result of the Zimmer-driven property revaluation will financially devastate our taxpayers. We, on the other hand, are committed to doing whatever it takes to keep expenses down and finding ways to decrease spending.

=====

Patting yourself on the back for suing the people to advance obstruction is one thing but the lies on the budget will surely never end with the Hoboken Sopranos. Here's the fact on the budget and the ongoing war: Mayor Zimmer presented a perfectly balanced budget as she has for several years and the proposed budget this years included a modest 2% tax decrease. This is pure fallacy and a weak attempt to tie the mayor's timely tax cutting budgets in recent years to failures of the past.

On taxes, the mayor has no control over the County or BoE although the Russo clan is looking to play politics with that in a resolution Wednesday night. What they don't do is go to the school board and suggest an alternative to the 4% increase there. (The last time the Hoboken Sopranos crew went to the BoE was to stop November elections and it not only passed in the BoE here (and most of NJ) but was supported overwhelmingly by the public for its local municipal elections last fall.

The reval is going to be an issue for taxpayers: with some taxes going up, some going down and others not changing much as anticipated. The reval is driven not by the mayor but county and state law. Again, that's not something the Hoboken Sopranos want you to know and blaming the mayor for county and state law is rather pedestrian.

If Ms. Castellano is concerned on the reval's tax impact on Hoboken residents, then why is both she and her council allies trying to shove down the throats of Hoboken a tax abatement (PILOT) for an undocumented massive building overhaul and expansion in the Hoboken Housing Authority with Vision 20/20?

Vision 20/20 no matter the final size (uncertain currently) will add to the cost of public safety and education and deprive Hoboken of revenue in taxes with the tax abatement Councilwoman Castellano and the Old Guard council tried to ram through in a recent council meeting past midnight.
======

Fact 3: Desperate appeal costing property taxpayers in Hoboken

As I said earlier, council members, Mason, Occhipinti, Russo and myself are paying for the legal effort to maintain a council vacancy ourselves which means not one penny of taxpayers money is being spent by us. As you may be aware, during the first court hearing, county Assignment Judge Bariso ruled that the Doyle appointment was illegal and the “Zimmer Administration screwed up.” Subsequently, Zimmer levied an appeal, as she always does when she does not get her way, hired a high priced, politically connected Norcross law firm. The city estimates the cost of the appeal at $30,000 and counting.
Another benefit for Zimmer by keeping the appeal active is to make friends with political power brokers for the benefit of back room deals and political contributions. ( Nice “green reformer” you turned out to be Dawn.)
I hope these facts shed some light on how we independent stand. When anyone writes a letter of truth, you can expect a Zimmer tool to respond in an effort to mask and divert discussion. With this I have no problem, All it does if give me the opportunity to say yet again, the independents are paying for their own defense, shame on those who are lying to the public. And, yes, there will be another letter from me as countless residents have commented, saying that I am articulating what everyone is thinking.
Remember, that much overused, abused word from the distant past: transparency.
Look it up again, refresh your memories.”
====

This is touching how the Hoboken Sopranos are sticking together suing the people of Hoboken. There's a hilarious truth here that the Hoboken Sopranos that "not one penny of taxpayers money is being spent by us."

100% true - it's their legal action and appeals suing Hoboken people that is costing taxpayers more than $30,000 (and counting).

What Castellano is not saying is that the judge ordered her crew to attend and vote on the council appointment and then explained to them what the vote meant. The lie of omission of course is that there's no admission that - THE HOBOKEN SOPRANOS ALREADY LOST THEIR LAWSUIT EARLY THIS YEAR!

The only reason the case continues to cost Hoboken, time, council votes (cast by Jim Doyle) and money is because the Mason family continues to file appeals. No one has said anyone is paying for pursuing this lawsuit other than the Mason family which is underwriting.

The lawsuit is not to see any special election take place as Mason and her Hoboken Soprano allies state. The Hoboken Sopranos are appealing to keep Jim Doyle off the council from voting; they hope right into the November election!

That's the true 411.

Related: The actual legal decision early this year approving Jim Doyle's appointment and decrying the Old Guard council's gamesmanship: http://www.hobokenhorse.com/2013/02/court-approves-jim-doyle-appointment.html

Mayor to hold fundraiser/celebration TONITE downtown at Texas Arizona

2013-06-18T09:30:00.000-04:00

Grist for the Mill: Anthony "Stick" Romano gets his 15 minutes in Vision 20/20

2013-06-17T09:16:00.003-04:00

Anthony "Stick" Romano is getting his 15 minutes in local attention as he ponders much like Hamlet his future and the desire to sit on the second floor mayoral chair at City Hall.

Over the weekend, he shared his Hamletian thoughts on running clearly showing with the summer months ahead in Hoboken and most looking elsewhere, he's not going to bow out until his full 15 minutes is up.

Romano didn't show much inclination to convince himself of taking on Hoboken's popular mayor in the form of Mayor Dawn Zimmer. He sounded more like a man looking for a reason to not run but if there's anything on his wish list, he can't get it at City Hall if he doesn't run.

Unlike most who are intimate among the Old Guard, Romano doesn't bash the mayor. He's spoken of Mayor Zimmer as being a formidable opponent months ago and is not bashful to speak of her current popularity and string of successes from saving the hospital to overhauling the City's finances, reducing spending and cutting taxes. His view of her performance with Hurricane Sandy is like vast majority in and outside Hoboken - very positive unlike declared mayoral challenger Ruben Ramos who has come out from behind proxies directly criticizing the mayor stating Hoboken wasn't well prepared.

At the HudCo level, Stick can only contemplate what county politicos might do for him. Frank "Pupie" Raia is pushing him but there's only so much funding he can do himself even if he his very motivated to see Ruben Ramos stopped. (After seeing the Assembly seat under Brian Stack go to Ramos pal Carmelo Garcia, Raia is burning red hot embers for payback.) With Romano acting as chair to the county legislature board of freeholders, a political problem is right up ahead as he'll need to vote on a big tax increase for Hoboken courtesy of the County fat cats who "slashed" a few million from their almost half a billion annual budget at the last meeting. (Have these people learned the term attrition or headcount reduction yet?)

If rumors weeks back hold true, the votes on the County budget were up in the air on passage meaning Romano can't throw away his with a no vote. HudCo is very protective of its monopoly and doesn't like the idea of the chairman of the freeholders voting against their tax increases - makes the other monopoly players look bad.

Romano's zenith may already be passing with the County not being able to motivate him with a carrot as many are already getting behind Ruben Ramos, although the effectiveness of their support is unclear in an independent Hoboken where professionals are becoming more aware of local issues and the dangers the Old Guard brings on a regular basis and the poison pill they are desperate to inflict on the City.

That "Vision for Hoboken" as it turns out doesn't have flooding or taxes as its number one priority but Vision 20/20, an enrichment program for the Old Guard and their friends giving many a golden parachute to build new shore homes and a get out of dodge before it "hits the fan" - when the full impact is realized in piecemeal building approvals never presented as a whole or the resulting negative costs (in public safety and education costs) when Hoboken residents realize both their environment and taxes have been hoodwinked. The Hoboken Sopranos call these side effects a benefit - more votes and more locked in public safety costs re: jobs.

The Old Guard intention is to shove down as much of Vision 20/20 down Hoboken's throat as possible, by hook or by crook, take unplanned midnight votes and avoid presenting to all the people what the true intentions on the expansion are until it's a done deal.

Of course none of this is on paper and no process is being followed least of all a required redevelopment plan of the entire Vision 20/20 project. For something of this size and scope it's an affront to all Hoboken people.

That's one problem undeclared candidate Stick Romano doesn't have to answer to but if he runs, he'll probably try to run away from the controversy. As it stands, mayoral candidate Ruben Ramos can't although his council slate must be aghast at being the "professional" looking cannon fodder expected to make palatable the Vision 20/20 scam.

You haven't heard one word from Joe Mindak and Laura Miani on any of this have you? Welcome to Hoboken Old Guard politics kiddies. You've been adopted as the poster children to sell the biggest lie in Hoboken since four million quarters disappeared to a mob connected south Jersey arcade company.

Better get some of that Old Guard-Hoboken Sopranos speed fabricating coursework done and pronto.
See Tim Occhipinti as an example of how to claim integrity as a candidate and lie to the public's face at every turn.

If Stick Romano gets into the mayoral race, there'll be a huge Old Guard battle.
It'll be an all out war in the fourth ward for the vote-by-mail harvest, an OG exploitation staple.

Talking Ed Note: Beth Mason, the councilwoman who has to mull over more than Hamlet if it's okay to accept state and federal grants to repave Washington and Sinatra Drive has no such qualms when it comes to the massive plans for Vision 20/20.

For the councilwoman who almost always requires more information to do anything positive for Hoboken, she's been all in from moment one backing Vision 20/20 that has seen no redevelopment documentation, no plan to the public, no public input - zilch.

Mason stamped her approval on the massive scam anyway publishing it on the politically vile website Hoboken411 following with a letter in the weekend paper.

This of course comes at no surprise. Although Beth Mason has no need herself to cash in with developers and exploiting the fourth ward and all of Hoboken in such an enterprise, she's firmly in the grip of the grifting crew who does. They are looking to cash in a lot more than they did on her gargantuan $50,000 plus in street money expenditures in 2011.

At the last council meeting, lots of whispering chatter on that end of the table, reassuring Mason she's so loved and part of Hoboken's #1 grifting family. Until she and her family checkbook are tossed overboard of course.

What's that saying about milking the cow for free?

Vote-by-mail satirical graphic, courtesy of Grafix Avenger.

A Hoboken tableau

2013-06-16T11:16:00.003-04:00

Hoboken's charm and beauty must not be sold out for back door deals and shore homes - that's their vision in 20/20.

Photo courtesy Jhnny Newman - 8th and Washington - click to enlarge

HHA brings a message to the City Council

2013-06-15T11:20:00.003-04:00

At the last City Council meeting, HHA residents came for the second time to press for approval on a plan that did not exist, offered no redevelopment details and no communication to the impact on neighborhoods and the City at large.

Of course this is Vision 20/20, a plan limited to presenting more than doubling the size of the existing HHA with over 1800 units with higher density. HHA ED Carmelo Garcia's claim the HHA Board has options fails to show there was only ONE visual presentation offered to Hoboken - the one with 1850 plus units from the existing 806 units in the HHA downtown in a 2012 HHA meeting presentation.

One longtime parks activist witnessed the display at the council meeting and spoke during public portion saying respect is not a one way street adding they were "appalled" at what they were seeing on the dais and in the audience.

Councilman Dave Mello found himself the point of an ugly attack by HHA resident Michelle Lesane. She accused the councilman of calling residents monkeys. That "slander" was directed at the councilman who happens to be a school teacher in the south Bronx, a minority community with large demands of teachers.

Watch how gleeful the Hoboken Sopranos are and ask what principle and policy do Beth Mason, Michael Russo, Terry Castellano and Tim Occhipinti represent?

The Old Guard wants to profit from and control Hoboken with Vision 20/20 its linchpin. Beyond that, what other message do you think they are sending the larger Hoboken community applauding this behavior?

Trying to do the professional role of a HHA commissioner in Vision 20/20

2013-06-14T09:52:00.004-04:00

The ABC's of how not to run a government meeting and Vision 20/20 fallacies

Commentary from last night's meeting from the front lines:

Last night's HHA meeting was on the sedate side. There was about three dozen HHA residents among the thousands in the authority in attendance and nary a Mason thug or political operative on her payroll in sight.

The significant agenda item was the fifth attempt of the HHA Executive Director to force through the reappointment of the HHA legal counsel. It's akin to a bad movie watching this process unfold like a scene cut off the cutting room floor of the movie Groundhog Day.

Director Garcia in the video below speaks about how he has "educated" the commissioners about Vision 20/20. The battle ensuing with HHA commissioner Dave Mello is a first on several levels. First, this came after the vote not to reappoint Charles Daglian as HHA counsel. He remains as a holdover as he has for months. (How many MSV has lost count.)

Second, Mello is holding a fully functional microphone. The volume is actually set at the same level as the Garcia's - perhaps an all time first. Mello recognizing this, refuses to yield on a point of order to the HHA counsel.

A band of residents MSV has dubbed Carmelitos yells out and causes chaos at a mere question from Mello.

Is this any way to run a government meeting?

It gets better - or worse depending on your point of view.

Garcia in the video claims Vision 20/20's size is dependent on what the HHA commissioners decide. This is not met with receptivity by some of the commissioners. On what basis can any commissioner trust anything Carmelo Garcia says when just the other day he claimed the HHA counsel contract didn't involve him but would reflect the will of the commissioners? Would any rational person conclude that after five "shove him down your throats" votes on reappointing Charles Daglian?

Is that the reason why they were voting for the fifth time on Garcia's insistence they re-appoint Charles Daglian? If Mr. Garcia is unwilling to work with his employers - the HHA board on identifying and appointing legal counsel what makes you think he will be doing anything remotely desired on Vision 20/20 where ~~millions~~, correction tens of millions of dollars are flying over (and under the table)?

Watch the video and ask yourself if you as a professional could handle the utter lack of professionalism in a meeting under these conditions?

Then watch as commissioners Dave Mello and Jake Stuiver ask basic questions of the legal counsel on the role of the Board Secretary Carmelo Garcia. See if they get an answer on his role.

Talking Ed Note: The Chairman of the HHA currently is Rob Davis. At times he makes an effort to get the noise level under control but he never issued any warning to members of the audience who would yell out continuously during the meeting. What's heard here is with not even a half-filled room.

Mr. Davis needs to review the Robert's Rules and specifically the points of order. This pretty much is required by all members on Hoboken government bodies. Also, before a vote on any matter before the commissioners, members need to be invited to comment, ask questions or initiate discussion before a vote is called. More than once, the Board Secretary Carmelo Garcia called the vote without the chair inviting his fellow members to do so.

Just another symptom of a far greater problem.

Garcia in the video again says someone claimed the HHA sought to triple the size of the authority. This time he doesn't specifically make the false claim it came from MSV.

Garcia says the HHA Board of Commissioners with the City Council will decide the ultimate size of the authority. He says he can provide studies from Harvard and Yale on mixed income housing. Here's one study from Yale and it doesn't advocate anything along the lines of 50-50 low to moderate housing with market rate let alone 80-20 with the latter being market rate.

"The False Promise of the Mixed-Income Housing Project," a 2010 paper by Robert C. Elickson, Yale Law School. (MSV has not read the complete paper but thinks the summary provides a strong reference point on the topic. Note the percentages here of low income housing are criticized and fall in the 10 - 25% area. This is not what Vision 20/20 proposed in the more than massive doubling of the size of the HHA.)

The only reason these fallacies are brought forward is to make the project bigger and the developer and those in Hoboken connected, richer.

MSV hears Hoboken411 has been brought back from obscurity to promote Beth Mason's propaganda on Vision 20/20. The woman is cravenly pushing this ahead without any redevelopment plan even presented to the City Council.

Got transparency Beth Mason?
Utterly disgraceful.

Hoboken better prepare itself for war. With the amount of money involved here, the Old Guard will fight to the death to line their pockets on Vision 20/20.

HHA counsel contract rejected 4-3

2013-06-13T18:42:00.001-04:00

Two resolutions returned by HHA Chairman Rob Davis at the direction of the Board Secretary Carmelo Garcia to re-appoint Charles Daglian failed in consecutive 4-3 votes.

Reform members Mello, Lincoln, Stuiver and Burrell (via phone) voted against the re-appointment.
Stuiver called the act of bringing back the resolutions illegal.

Garcia read a legal review from an external lawyer on redoing a motion to reconsider or reintroducing a motion.

But the vote was on resolutions voted down at the prior meeting. Garcia's reading of a legal motion being returned was inert to the failed resolutions being reintroduced at the meeting.

A RFQ process will again be restarted. Law firms need to be given accurate information on the application process as in the recent past, some have not.

HHA ED Carmelo Garcia instructs HHA Chairman Rob Davis on how to present the legal contracts again
leading into Thursday night's meeting.

Talking Ed Note: A fast one failed - for the fifth time. Will ED Carmelo Garcia get the message finally and allow another choice to be vetted through the RFP process or will he act insubordinately to the board? He complains about the extra cost incurred of $1,000 a month but fails to note his obstinance is preventing the HHA Board from moving ahead replacing Charles Daglian who has clearly lost the support of the body.

Vision 20/20 was a topic of public speakers who were shown brochures of buildings from West Coast cities by the Board Secretary Carmelo Garcia.

Photocopies of what Garcia called a plan was announced and he said it was available but none was offered. In a sidebar, the Director offered the latest annual audit report. When received, it will be made available.

Complaints were made often and loud to the (reform) commissioners for not seeing approved Vision 20/20 at council meetings. The HHA residents don't appear to understand no funding has been approved for the first building and that no process has been completed on behalf of the full City of Hoboken. They've been led to believe there is political reasons holding up Vision 20/20 without any idea on what constitutes a true redevelopment process.

At one point, commissioner Dave Mello tried to explain other buildings in town going up currently have undergone years long processes. The answer was not met receptively among a group of the approximately three dozen residents in attendance.

At the end of the meeting, commissioner Eduardo Gonzalez was nominated and unanimously elected Vice President of the HHA Board of Commissioners.

Mayoral candidate Ruben Ramos stopped by during the meeting and watched a portion of the proceedings.

Guest of the Stable: Kurt Gardiner tackles HudCo's proposed 10% tax hike for Hoboken

2013-06-13T14:59:00.007-04:00

Last week, the spending juggernaut know as Hudco supposedly did Hoboken a huge favor by hosting a Freeholder 2013 Budget workshop meeting in Hoboken's City Hall. Mayor Turner of Weehawken and Mayor Zimmer of Hoboken attended and politely expressed their concern over the tax increase and overall expenditures. They have to be polite since they have to work with the county. As a private citizen I don't have to be so polite so here goes my stance on behalf of the Hoboken taxpayer....

Kurt Gardiner Remarks on

2013 Hudson County Budget
Kurt Gardiner is a potential candidate for Freeholder in 2014

I am writing this as a resident and taxpayer of Hoboken to speak out on the 2013 proposed Hudson County budget first revealed to the public on May 7th 2013. The initial version presented has an approximate tax increase on Hoboken residents of 10% versus prior year or an increase of about $5 million in the levy inflicted upon Hoboken residents. It is time to say enough is enough and that Hoboken in my opinion and that of other taxpaying residents I have spoken to, it has been taxed too much by the County. This is especially true due to the scant level services it receives in return on a levy which in 2013 is projected to be over $50 million raised from Hoboken residents.

Hoboken although considered relatively affluent in terms of property values and income in relation to the rest of the County, it was by far the hardest hit of all the municipalities and is still struggling to recover from Hurricane Sandy and its aftermath. A FEMA survey of Hudson County shows Hoboken in terms of the number of properties sustained 97% of the county's flood damages, next was North Bergen at 1.3%. The other municipalities each sustained less than 1% of the total damage to the county. Not everyone in Hoboken is rich and there is still a substantial middle class in Hoboken given the number of affordable housing options and many of them are still recovering. Sandy as storms go really hurt Hoboken and this tax increase is like pouring sea salt into those open wounds.

As a progressive I don’t expect Hoboken to get every dollar back for the money it is taxed. The County provides many services to the poor and elderly that are disproportionally in other areas of the County than Hoboken and that need them more. I get that. While Hoboken certainly benefits from the County Jail keeping criminals locked up and mental health programs and facilities that amount does not come close satisfying the $50 million plus per year that Hoboken residents put in.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer, leading by example and and making tough but smart choices has reduced taxes more than 10% in her 4 year tenure but the County has given Hoboken taxpayer a raise of just 10% in one year and an overall increase of around 20% over the same time period. To simply blame the increase on increasing Hoboken property values and on the State Formula is not enough. In a time where local and state governments have all learned to really tighten their belts and show some fiscal restraint, Hudson County still operates in a bubble of zero accountability and as a county jobs patronage mill oblivious to call for a more service based approach. Nothing embodies that more than the recent attempt to hire Anthony Romano political ally Michelle Russo, wife of former Hoboken Mayor and convicted felon into a Custodial Services job for which she had no experience. Thankfully, responsible Hoboken residents got wind of that patronage hire attempt and the county backed off. How many other such County appointments still fly under the radar? Things that make you go hmm.

Other examples of County waste or inappropriate allocation of funds include $12 million for the County Golf Course. In a time with a deep recession an expenditure of this magnitude is unconscionable but spend it the county did. A more appropriate allocation would have been to help Hoboken with the privatization of the HUMC Hospital when it was in jeopardy of closing and plummeting Hoboken into bankruptcy. While Anthony Romano’s allies on the City Council Minority, Tim Occhipinti, Mike Russo, Terry Castellano, and Beth “I’ll sue you and your little dog too” Mason and were obstructing the deal with the only legitimate bidder from getting accomplished, where was the County? Surely since over 50% of the patients at the HUMC at the time were not from Hoboken and the county should have had a vested interest. Right? The answer was the County was nowhere to be found during that time of crisis.

Those are just a few examples from the past.

More importantly: What should the county do going forward? ...

The fact is that there is still much bloat in the current budget and while this can’t all be addressed in one year it is time to start a change in the culture. There is at least one Freeholder, Bill O’Dea that in earnest is looking for both costs savings and realized revenue to reduce the current levy for all Hudson County taxpayers of which Hoboken is just a part. Where are the other Freeholders including Anthony Romano who represents Hoboken in leading the charge to smartly reduce expenditures? Both the executive and the remainder of the legislative branch need to step up and get results.

Anthony Romano, unlike Mayor Zimmer has yet to speak out to the Hoboken taxpayer against this colossal increase via a letter to the editor or a public statement. So far he has produced nothing. I know Romano is not a big internet guy but not even writing something in the Hoboken Reporter is an insult to the Hoboken taxpayer. Hoboken comprises approximately 7.9% of the population but pays close to 17% of the taxes and would in my estimation be lucky to see 2-3% back in services. I find this to be an utter lack of leadership from my elected Freeholder. Perhaps from his subsidized Marine View Apartment that could go to a more worthy recipient of the middle class, Anthony Romano literally and figuratively looks down on those who foot the bill. That is admittedly speculation on my part. Romano’s silence on this matter is implicit support for pillaging of the Hoboken taxpayer.

Other areas where the County could help Hoboken would be additional grant money for infrastructure improvements like Sinatra Park repairs, park acquisition for the Henkel Site which would produce real ball fields, Washington Street (which is no longer a county road but gets a ton of county use as Hoboken is the #2 tourist destination in the State of New Jersey), help for the Jubilee Center, Hoboken Shelter, and other worthwhile organizations that are struggling for Federal and State funds. Moving monies into these areas in future budgets would help offset that imbalance that I and other Hoboken taxpayers see in the current situation.

Opportunities for further reduction include tighter monitoring of employee overtime and filling of vacancies (aka a hiring freeze or a downright RIF). I honestly wasn’t shocked to hear that 8 employees in the Department of Corrections consistently get tons of overtime very year and they are the same employees year after year. Remember Patrick Ricciardi who amassed tons of OT for years in Hoboken and pled guilty to data theft? This smells of favoritism and needs to be investigated. I liked Bill O’Dea’s suggestions of a committee to review all vacancies as long as he is on it. As the only Freeholder who in my view is a true fiscal hawk (which is Hudson County is actually a good thing) having him the chair would yield desirable results in my estimation. Constituent Services is a redundant department and can be eliminated with improved communication protocols and the adoption of a 311 system. The elimination of that department would not mean everyone would not necessarily lose their job, just be redeployed.

I am perturbed that possible employee headcount reductions were not mentioned as a possible solution to reducing costs to the County taxpayer. The fact the County would take that off the table limits its ability to make more cost savings and shows that it is operating in a vacuum where money seemingly has an endless supply. We all know that is not the case. Employee headcount reductions should be a part of these savings.Having a county job should be a privilege and not an entitlement but more and more the entitlement attitude seems to permeate in Hudson County. It cheapens the whole notion of civil service.

The other aspect of the equation that hurts not only the Hoboken taxpayer but Weehawken and Secaucus is the implementation of use of pilots. Hoboken and Jersey City were listed as two cities making extensive use of long term pilots is a report on New Jersey Tax Abatements written in 2010 by State Comptroller Michael Boxer. Jersey City in particular stands out as quoted in the 2010 report:

“Jersey City currently exempts approximately $2 billion of property value. In view of the city’s general tax rate of $6 per $100 of assessed value (6%), Jersey City is not collecting approximately $120 million is property taxes on the exempted property. In 2009, Hudson County received approximately 25% of the property taxes collected in the city. Using that as a baseline, the county did not collect approximately $30 million from Jersey City due to the city’s abatements. While the county still receives some amount through it 5% portion of PILOTS it does not make up for that $30 million in lost revenue. Instead, the other municipalities in the county make up for those dollars”.

This year that would be Weehawken, Secaucus and Hoboken. Just to be clear the PILOTS in Jersey City and Hoboken were not created by the currently elected officials in Hoboken and Jersey City but they have choices going forward about how to handle PILOTS. I know we have a reform mayor reform in Hoboken that understands this and I am hopeful for fairer use PILOTS in Jersey City with newly Mayor. Time will tell.

We know life isn’t fair but something has to be done about PILOTS and the State formulation going forward. Since that is not in direct control of Hudson County, it is up to the county to do their best to help make up the difference. There is a overcapacity built in to our current corrections and juvenile facilities that needs serious examination for example. Operational audits from a respected firm or firms would go along way to finding additional savings opportunities without jeopardizing services.

Again this isn’t about Hoboken getting back dollar for dollar, it is a about a better balance. Expenditures can be decreased and revenues realized. At the very least a hiring freeze and possible employee headcount reductions should be a part of it. It is high time Hoboken taxpayers stopped getting the short end of the “Stick” and have leadership that will understand the Hoboken taxpayer. I can’t wait for 2014 and it is not just about me necessarily running for office. I just want better representation for Hoboken.

City partnering with Dept. of Energy, NJ utilities to develop resilient electric grid

2013-06-13T11:28:00.002-04:00

Go to nixle.com

Thursday June 13, 2013

City of Hoboken

www.hobokennj.org

Community: City of Hoboken, US Dept of Energy, NJ Board of Public Utilities & PSE&G Partner to Develop Resilient Electric Grid

The City of Hoboken, U.S. Department of Energy, N.J. Board of Public Utilities, and PSE&G are partnering to design an energy resilient “smart grid” to improve Hoboken's resiliency to power outages.

In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability is supporting Sandia National Laboratories to aid the City of Hoboken in boosting the resiliency of its electric grid. This critical partnership brings the deep expertise of the national labs to address the critical needs of our nation's electric grid.

"We are honored to partner with the Department of Energy, Board of Public Utilities, and PSE&G to make Hoboken a model for resilient electric grids using 21st century technology," said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. "Through this partnership, Hoboken will build on its proud history of innovation in technology by becoming one of the first non-military applications of Sandia’s design methodology."

“We are proud of the reliability of our system, which has been nationally recognized,” said Ralph LaRossa, PSE&G president and COO. “But the extreme weather in the past two years calls for extraordinary measures to harden our systems. PSE&G is pleased to support this unique effort to improve the resiliency of the city’s critical infrastructure. This effort is a perfect complement to our proposed Energy Strong filing, which would protect Hoboken’s substations from the type of water damage we had during Sandy.”

“Today’s agreement is yet another step in the State’s continuing efforts to address safety and reliability concerns related to the delivery of electric and gas service to New Jersey ratepayers,” said Bob Hanna, President of the N.J. Board of Public Utilities. “This collaboration will enable us to assess the potential benefits and costs associated with implementing distributed generation and smart-grid technologies to improve energy reliability and resiliency in the Hoboken service area and to apply the lessons learned to other cities and towns across New Jersey.”

Sandia will bring their Energy Surety Design Methodology to partner with the City of Hoboken, N.J. Board of Public Utilities, PSE&G, Greener by Design and other stakeholders to develop a comprehensive plan to meet the critical needs of Hoboken in future events such as storms and other disruptions to the electric grid.

The design methodology uses advanced, smart grid technologies and distributed and renewable generation and storage resources as a way to improve the reliability, security, and resiliency of the electric grid.

Signing event remarks from Mayor Dawn Zimmer:

“Today, as we sign our energy agreement, we officially launch an energy resiliency partnership between the City of Hoboken, the U.S. Deparment of Energy, Sandia National Labs, PSE&G and the N.J. Board of Public Utilities.

Thank you so much to our DOE representatives, Ravi Gorur and Dan Ton, Ralph LaRossa, President & COO of PSE&G, and Robert Hanna, President of the BPU for being here with us today and making a commitment to collaborate on this smart grid energy project that could help to ensure communities like Hoboken are safer through future storms.

Thank you also to my Resiliency Team members Stephen Marks and Brandy Forbes and the Greener by Design team headed by Adam Zellner for working so hard on this crucial project.

As we all heard, Hoboken was devastated by Hurricane Sandy, so when HUD Secretary Donovan and Bill Bryan from the Department of Energy came to visit our City, I shared our residents’ challenges and eagerly offered Hoboken as a learning laboratory for energy resiliency. I have had the honor of serving on Secretary Donovan’s Hurricane Sandy Rebuilding Task Force, and I want to thank Michael Passante and his team for being here with us, and I thank them all for choosing Hoboken as an energy learning center. They wanted to do a pilot program for a smaller scale City impacted by Sandy, and Hoboken was a perfect match. After all that we went through, I was more than happy to partner with them on this exciting project.

I also want to give a huge thank you to Governor Christie for supporting this project through the BPU’s involvement. Ultimately, I am determined to implement a smart grid and microgrid system for Hoboken. The State and the BPU are very important partners for this hefty energy goal of mine since it could involve the need for some adjustments to the regulatory process in order to achieve our objectives. Thank you to Senator Menendez and Congressman Sires for their support of this project – they wanted to be here but they are in Washington today.

Finally, I want to give a very special thank you to the senior from Church Towers who made me even more determined to fight harder for Hoboken. One evening in the midst of Sandy, I went knocking on doors to bring food and tell residents about how Brad Paisley’s chef was going to be cooking up a storm in Church Square Park. He heard about Hoboken on the news and drove up from Pennsylvania with a truck filled with food and rolled out his portable kitchen.

This senior thanked me for the food, but asked incredulously in tears about the management of her building: “How could they leave us completely in the dark? Look, not even the exit sign is lit up,” she exclaimed. “I am afraid to go down the stairs because I could fall.” As she cried in my arms, I assured her I would fight to find a solution. With her story and so many others like hers in mind, I am proud that a little over seven months after Sandy, we have created an energy partnership and agreement that will help to keep everyone safer through the next storm.

As we stand here today, in this basement conference room that was the pulsing heart of an emergency command center, I want to briefly explain what we mean by a smart energy grid and how it could help our community.

Having a smart grid means designing an electrical grid that keeps the power on through the storm for our most essential services. Our first responders at the Police and Fire Departments and here at City Hall must have power through the storms so they can effectively respond to all of the emergencies. It means keeping the power on at Hoboken University Medical Center so residents have an emergency center open and available when that emergency situation strikes. It means keeping North Hudson Sewerage Authority operational so that our flood pump keeps pumping out flood waters and our sewage can be treated instead of backing up onto our streets.

Having a smart grid means making sure the hallway lights and exit signs are lit for my seniors who may not have the resources to evacuate. This smart grid, possibly connected to a microgrid system, could power emergency LED hallway lights and the community rooms where seniors gathered every day to share meals and shelter together through Hurricane Sandy. It could possibly power the elevators to make one trip down in the morning and one up at night so seniors are not stuck in their apartments waiting for the power to go back on.

It could power the fire suppression system so we can avoid the unbelievably dangerous situation we had throughout Hoboken: Apartments filled with candles, no fire suppression or alert system, and irresponsible property owners who failed to even implement fire watches.

Build stronger, and yes, communities like Hoboken could safely shelter in place. During Hurricane Sandy I was on a conference call with President Obama together with other State and community leaders, and the President was discussing the need to move people into shelters. I pointed out that in urban communities like Hoboken we needed to shelter in place because most people simply would not go to the shelters. President Obama listened and got us generators as quickly as he could, and now we are building on the sheltering in place approach with this project.

This energy resiliency partnership is an essential component of a comprehensive approach designed to protect Hoboken. Our plan includes more flood pumps along our waterfront, large detention basins to retain rainwater under land we are trying to buy for parks, and expanded implementation of city-wide green infrastructure to capture rain water in every way possible. It also includes a series of protective barriers and hardening of existing buildings to protect Hoboken at the north and south from future storm surges.

Since Sandy, Hoboken has had several major flood events. Unfortunately, when heavy rains and high tide come at the same time, we get flooded, including our PSE&G substations. We have applied for grant funding for our comprehensive flood plan, and I am very glad that PSE&G’s Energy Strong program includes a proposed action plan for Hoboken’s substations. I am a huge fan of that plan.

As I participated in a crisis simulation workshop at a UN Conference on Resiliency a few weeks ago, I reflected on that fact that in addition to getting funding for the pumps, ensuring that Hoboken is energy resilient has to be my top priority for both our residents and our businesses that were so hard hit by the loss of power and the flooding. One way or another, I am determined to get this done by some combination of grants and public-private partnerships.”

Hoboken Housing Authority cleared in investigation of $100,000 federal stimulus expenditures

2013-06-13T08:51:00.002-04:00

The odd trumpeting of HUD's Office of Investigation unit's examination into three areas related to expenditures on the federal stimulus has been the subject of some extracurricular spin in recent days. MSV obtained the report. Here's the three items related to the investigation in the May report:

No one is arrested on the HUD investigations of $100,000 in federal stimulus fund expenditures.
Based on the political operative commenting here and crowing elsewhere, you'd think it's akin to earning a medal.
Tonight a definite round of law breaking is on tap when HHA counsel Charles Daglian will see a vote if
Director Carmelo Garcia has his way with five attempts to ram him down his boss' re: the HHA board's throats.

Talking Ed Note: It's unclear what prompted the investigation unit of HUD to look into how stimulus funds were spent. This clearly goes back several years when the almost trillion dollar package was passed in 2009 and has nothing to do with the controversy over spending more than $300,000 on elevator floors. Or the documentation-less Vision 20/20 project.

After celebrating there's no convictions on expenditures from the federal stimulus program (it's unclear how much employment stimulus the expenditures created) let's move on to an illegal appointment again of the HHA Director's personal consiglieri - for the fifth time.

How is a contractor in the form of Director Carmelo Garcia respecting the wishes of his employers by attempting to circumvent the obvious will of that body which has repeatedly rejected his insistence Charles Daglian remain as the HHA counsel?

Is the HHA counsel contract under Carmelo Garcia some kind of lifetime appointment?

On the matter of law, on basic common sense and ethics 101, NO HHA commissioner should be voting for the fifth time to reappoint Charles Daglian as HHA counsel. To those who will vote for him again (illegally mind you) don't you have an ounce of self-respect for yourself or the oversight responsibility of being a HHA commissioner?

How does commissioner Eduard Gonzalez explain that on the campaign trail and his friends at the Quality of Life Coalition? He's a candidate for the City Council on the Ruben Ramos mayoral ticket.

Had enough?

6:00 pm at 220 Adams Street tonight if you want to see the law broken in plain sight.

Vision 20/20 eye chart courtesy of Grafix Avenger

Mayor Zimmer to Assemblyman Ramos: Help Hoboken protect its waterfront from construction piers development

2013-06-12T13:36:00.004-04:00

Office of the Mayor announces:

Today the Assembly Environment & Solid Waste Committee is considering A-3933/S-2680 which would enable urban coastal communities to build residential and commercial development on existing piers in coastal high hazard areas.

The attached letter is being read to the Committee today by Mayor Zimmer’s Chief of Staff in order to convey Hoboken’s position with respect to this legislation and opposing Hoboken’s inclusion in the legislation.

Mayor Zimmer letter to Assemblyman Ruben Ramos 6-12-13

Talking Ed Note: MSV as a matter of policy doesn't comment on official government releases but will here to the extent of emphasizing the important intervention the mayor is taking to protect Hoboken.

Mayor Zimmer became aware of this statewide legislation barreling ahead and is seeking assistance from Assemblyman Ruben Ramos to adopt an amendment and stop Hoboken's waterfront from being targeted for further development re: the Monarch.

Hobokenites will look toward cooperation in seeing this exemption here through as it is already flying out of the station with passage in the State Senate and Assembly assured.

Battle anticipated on HHA legal counsel contract Thursday - for fifth time!

2013-06-12T09:22:00.006-04:00

MILE SQUARE VIEW EXCLUSIVE

HHA counsel contract returns from prior meeting for Charles Daglian with fifth vote scheduled

The Hoboken Housing Authority Agenda yesterday reveals its legal counsel contract is up for consideration this Thursday night. Again, as in for the fifth time the past year.

After the resolution to rename Charlie Daglian failed in the prior meeting on a 3-3 vote, it was thought a public bidding process would again start as required by state law.

The four prior votes failed to produce a legal vote for a HHA counsel and months long holdover Charles Daglian saw his participation on the board leading to a vote for his own contract questioned by a HUD review of the vote reappointing him held last March, calling it legally flawed.

The scathing indictment of the counsel contract by HUD under HHA Executive Director Carmelo Garcia has seen no compromise candidate/law firm emerge since. A critical memo requested by then Chairman Stuiver of the City's Corporation Counsel last February was met with derision by the Garcia faction of HHA commissioners who voted it not be released to the public. The memo deemed the vote in March to reappoint Charles Dagalian invalid.

The HHA finds itself deadlocked as the Hoboken City Council on an appointment with Garcia refusing to allow a replacement to Daglian to move forward in the procurement process with a vote.

The vote planned Thursday night with no restarted procurement process since the last meeting is sure to cause more strife in the struggle between the Executive Director Carmelo Garcia who is again challenging commissioners for questioning the "sole appointing" powers in his contract. The controversial contract was thought to be subject to renegotiation when a questions on the contract's status was raised in a meeting earlier this year. A vote on his termination was withheld with the agreement of updating the terms more to the current board's liking.

Garcia's contract hidden from public view and the full HHA board of commissioners was first published on MSV in early February. The controversial terms of the contract with generous time off was negotiated by Charles Daglian.

After reviewing the HHA agenda, commissioner Jake Stuiver who is like Daglian a holdover with a fractured Hoboken City Council unable to agree on his replacement, wrote via email saying he believed Director Garcia was staging an illegal vote outside the legal process with the belief he would not be attending. Dispelling that notion he harshly criticized Garcia saying he had brought back Charles Daglian for the counsel contract twice since the HUD's memo in March outlining "perceived impropriety of current general counsel."

Stuiver followed writing, "This time Mr. Garcia is attempting to circumvent the legally required process of reissuing the RFQ for a new round of bids following the Board's rejection of the most recent proposal at its May meeting. When I inquired about the legality of asking the Board to revote the contract without rebidding first, I was told that the resolution to reappoint Mr. Daglian technically did not fail last month because there was a 3-3 tie. This statement is preposterous and is a direction violation of Roberts Rules, HHA Board by-laws, the HHA procurement policy and quite frankly, the law."

In a phone interview late yesterday, Director Garcia viewed the upcoming counsel contract vote on the agenda Thursday differently saying, "It's a new resolution on the recommendation that was put forth with respect to a commissioner (Greg Lincoln) to review the proposals. Speaking of the vote on the counsel contact at the prior meeting, Garcia said, "Even though it fails, it's a new resolution."

Some Q&A led to Garcia tailoring his answer further, "The Chair (Rob Davis) has a right for a resoltuion to the firm that they can review. The Chair has a right to put a resolution (before) the board that exists because you have the opportunity on the basis on what (commissioner) Lincoln had stated to bring it back under a new resolution, under new dates, on the premise on that process that you had."

Garcia was referring to comments at the last meeting by commissioner Greg Lincoln who had said due to his child's illness he had not had adequate time to review the agenda packet leading into the meeting. Lincoln voted "no" on reappointing Dagliagn in the failed 3-3 vote.

On the counsel contract process itself Garcia said, "We've gone out (rebidding) four times... The criteria we had in place, if the Chair says, (it's) his prerogative to have that matter brought because that commissioner hadn't reviewed that."

As for the legal review on how Garcia came to this conclusion, he took single-handed ownership saying of Mr. Daglian, "He can't give an opinion (on bringing the contract vote back) because it involves him.

Garcia concluded there will be a vote on the HHA counsel contract saying, "Whatever happens Thursday, it's the desire of the board. It's not my fight."

At an HHA meeting earlier this year, HHA ED Camelo Garcia pleas his case to then Chairman Jake Stuiver to
reappoint HHA counsel Charles Daglian.

Talking Ed Note: The HHA meeting is scheduled to begin 6:00 pm at 220 Adams. St. Commissioner Judy Burrell is believed not attending due to a conflicting event. It's not known if she will be participating by phone.

Leading into a previous HHA counsel contract vote last February, Garcia told the commissioners failing to vote in favor of Daglian was "criminal and unethical."

MSV covered that meeting and filed this story immediately questioning the vote:

http://www.hobokenhorse.com/2013/02/chaos-and-confusion-reigns-at-hha.html

MSV has not seen the resolution for the HHA legal contract but believes it's in the area of 45K.

Mason implosion incomplete without final Russo push in the back

2013-06-11T11:12:00.003-04:00

The Mason implosion - new land record

Beth Mason's 24 hour Senate campaign has made her the butt of jokes but she's not out of trouble if the simmering embers of recall are carried out by the Old Guard with the new HudCo powers entering the fray. While there's been no evidence to date a real on the ground effort is underway, it won't be a secret for long if they throw down.

Nothing happens however until there's a decision in the Jim Doyle case. Can't act against the lead weight in Mason unless the fool's money bags have been completely emptied. With a 2-1 decision either way the most likely outcome in the NJ Appellate Court, an appeal to the NJ Supreme Court will follow and more legal fees all around. Since the Mason family underwrites suing the people of Hoboken, Beth Mason is safe from any backstabbing bloodletting from the Russo clan. (Michael Russo supported Steve Fulop and will stick with a rising star not a loser drowning in the spiraling toilet water in Beth Mason.)

Councilwoman Terry Castellano along with the other MORTe members have no problem ringing up legal bills suing the people of Hoboken well into the tens of thousands and counting. After all, it's power their after and they've neutralized an at-large vote they never won at the polls in 2009.

In the weekend rag, Al Sullivan clearly being rung up by Fulop forces said displeasure with Beth Mason is fierce and payback sought. But none of this matters unless there's boots on the ground and three second ward residents are required to register a recall committee. There's other less labor intensive options if pursued.

The rest of this issue is MSV subscriber content. Choose among the selections below and support MSV's efforts to root out corruption.

Gov. Christie video accepting endorsements in Union City

2013-06-11T08:26:00.005-04:00

Talking Ed Note: In the latter point of video Hoboken's ED of the HHA Carmelo Garcia joins in applauding Gov. Christie.

Carmelo Garcia endorses Gov. Chris Christie for re-election

2013-06-10T17:40:00.003-04:00

Carmelo Garcia, second from right joined in endorsing Gov. Chris Christie for re-election today with
State Senator and Union City Mayor Brian Stack. Here's the photo op in Vision 20/20 in Union City today.

PolitickerNJ covered the endorsements for Gov. Christie today writing:

"Today, Stack, a renegade Democrat, his 33rd District ticketmates, Assembly candidates Carmelo Garcia and Raj Mukherji and the Union City commissioners, declared their support for the incumbent Republican governor."

photo courtesy Facebook NSAjacked

State Senator Brian Stack and assembly pick Carmelo Garcia to endorse Gov. Chris Christie for re-election

2013-06-10T11:02:00.005-04:00

According to PolitickerNJ, State Senator and Union City Mayor Brian Stack will endorse Gov. Chris Christie today for re-election this November. The endorsement is not a surprise considering the positive relationship between the State Senator and Governor such as state pension reform.

Of interest though is Brian Stack's handpicked selections for Assembly who are expected to also join in endorsing Gov. Chris Christie. Hoboken's Carmelo Garcia who holds multiple paid positions in the public sector should be on hand when the announcement is made. He's expected to deliver his Hoboken Housing Authority followers vote for the popular Governor.

Will Hoboken be seeing Gov. Chris Christie posters in HHA windows?

Statewide other Democrats are falling into the Gov. Chris Christie column with the latest statewide poll showing Christie far ahead of his main Democratic challenger.

The latest Quinnipiac poll puts Gov. Christie ahead of his Democratic rival Barbara Buono more than 2-1 with a 59-29% differential. The Governor holds an even wider margin among men

Barbara Buono (l) the main rival to Gov. Chris Christie this November
made a recent visit to Hoboken. The only person who showed up
other than a few young astroturfers was Councilwoman Beth Mason.
Is that the kiss of death or what?

Assembly leader Sheila Oliver is ready to throw her hat in the ring for the US Senate seat giving frontrunner Newark Mayor Cory Booker another challenger in the Democratic primary.

Photo courtesy NJ.com, by arrangement.

Sign of the Times: Hoboken feeling summer

2013-06-10T09:41:00.004-04:00

Spectators in Hoboken take in the Hudson sights

Sailing away, no that's no stars and stripes accident.

Sing it Tweety. All the bird's a stage.

Horse Sense: the week that was in Vision 20/20 and ode to a pony

2013-06-09T11:47:00.002-04:00

Every week that passes is momentous as Hoboken is in full election mode with the countdown to November. You can tell when the Hoboken Sopranos go all out in utterly shameless fashion and this week they got down and dirty with the Carmelo Garcia crew for oodles of Vision 20/20 loot dancing in their eyes.

If intimidation into voting for a scam project with no discernible documentation was the objective, they certainly failed. If their goal was to gin up the mob and inspire the $40 per vote crowd, well they are sufficiently fired up to come after the Hoboken taxpayers. Come and get it!

The group of Hoboken Housing Authority residents present, a minute dozen or so is a fraction of the thousands who reside there and don't represent those people anymore than say a Beth Mason or Tim Occhipinti represents the actual interests of Hoboken. They are a subset of a cult, organized and directed by their charismatic but ethically challenged leader, Carmelo Garcia who rumor has it met with the staff of Senator Stack and Ruben Ramos and was told in no uncertain words to deliver the bountiful bacon for all concerned in Vision 20/20.

Garcia a product of the HHA himself is a take no prisoners street fighter. Truth has little part in the power struggles he engages in as has been seen over the past year when he went toe to toe with a four member majority for the first time in his capacity as the Director and contractor to the HHA. The four member reform oriented group has wilted each and every time on most every single vote of importance. In short, Carmelo Garcia is the full fledged magician Michael Russo one day dreams about becoming.

So Vision 20/20 and its proposed massive expansion may have taken a couple of hooves to the head but it's not wobbly, merely dazed. This past week's Hoboken Reporter kept the coverage regarding the massive project vague and clean, not depicting any of the ugliness seen in the council meeting last Wednesday night. The details on paper showing the full intent of Vision 20/20's 1853 units is never mentioned nor the full impact to the fourth and third wards let alone the added costs in public safety and education services.

The true face of Vision 20/20's bountiful millions did emerge when the ugliness mounted with Councilman Dave Mello being the target of a race baiting attack by HHA resident Michele Lessane, who one reader commented here's aka is "pokey." Well Lessane poked Mello in the eye accusing him of making racist remarks at an earlier meeting causing Mello to retort, "You're slandering me ma'm."

The response by the Hoboken Sopranos as Lessane departed from her ugly gutter work? Manic applause. Beth Mason looked more excited than she has in months since she dug through claims during a council meeting and found a NJ Transit ticket in the pile for $10 she was sure was part of a Zimmer scandal. (It actually was a midday trip for a worker on Hurricane Sandy efforts.) Councilwoman Terry Castellano looked almost 20 years younger, her face lit up with glee. (Video to come.)

Councilman Michael Russo and Tim Occhipinti sparred in grandstanding to the unruly HHA ruckus taking turns alternating with out of order remarks playing to the mob which kept the proceedings fueled with a low machine gun growl for most of the evening alternating with catcalls and yelling joined in on regular occasion by Vision 20/20 Garcia supporter Barbara Reyes who returned for an encore edition, being voted down for the second meeting in a row for HHA commissioner at the end of the evening.

This was met with dismay and much complaint by the Hoboken Sopranos who were none too pleased the repeat vote on the same candidate would drag on past 11:00 pm, when the Carmelitos Circus lost some fervor and manic Vision 20/20 fever.

The Carmelitos say they will be back "for their rights." They believe it means new housing for them, something not seen in writing anywhere. The developer RPM who sought a 20 year pilot on top of massive government funds to start Vision 20/20 was designated in control of the list re: out of reach of any governmental authority, able to work the back rooms with the Old Guard at will - with no consequence.

There's not a word in writing about any detailed project plan, schematics, community outreach, planning or zoning board approvals whatsoever in regard to Vision 20/20.

Mayoral candidate Ruben Ramos who supports Vision 20/20 as part of his "Vision for Hoboken" called the earlier opposition vote to the massive expansion of the HHA by the reform council members "dubious." He and his council slate have begun to feel whiplash from people sniffing out the Vision 20/20 scam and the impact on all of Hoboken from the environment to the larger tax bill for the additional public safety and education costs inherent in such an expansion.

Is Ramos as cynically strong in posture as Carmelo Garcia who without blinking would call this "a benefit." While council slate member Eduardo Gonzalez is a commissioner on the HHA and is absolutely cognizant of the particulars and impact on all of Hoboken with Vision 20/20, what do the other slate members Joe Mindak and Laura Miani have to say about it?

While Carmelo Garcia is verbally backtracking on the massive expansion of the HHA, there's nothing in writing to stop it if Ruben Ramos is mayor and he has a majority vote led by Michael Russo in the City Council. Ask Mindak and Miani about all this and see if their answer meets to your liking.

The local media hasn't said one word about any of these details. (Al Sullivan references elements in his weekend column but the big strokes are incomplete.)

Telling the public the true status of what's on the table with Vision 20/20 is bad for Old Guard business, millions and millions in easy to make disappear business. For the kind of money involved here, bodies in New Jersey disappear, even horses.

Nevertheless, Da Horsey is going to shine the light on the biggest attempted Hoboken scam going since the looting of four million in parking meter quarters out of the Parking Authority.

It's not over either. The war for the green is only beginning.

Pokey is that you? This is the nice, friendly one.
Wrong pokey.

Talking Ed Note: Someone sent a little fan note to Horsey. So we posted the video portion for its entertainment value. Thank you very much and hearty thanks to all those in Hoboken (and beyond) who have provided encouragement, moral and financial to this website as we prepare to make a move on the backstretch.

Smarty loves the backstretch.

Related: Grafix Avenger has a story on some of the latest Beth Mason recall chatter and how it ties into Vision 20/20 and Ruben Ramos, Michael Russo with a huge payoff if they pull it off.

MSV can confirm the latest rumor on a Beth Mason recall candidate is Carla Katz, known to enjoy political power in invariable ways and hostile to the reform mayor in City Hall.

Unrelated: Da Horsey welcomes new twitter follower Jessica Chasmar who reports for the Washington Times. The word on MSV continues to spread and Da Horsey's Washington D.C readership grows.

BREAKING NON-NEWS: Beth Mason officially admits - no run for NJ Senate

2013-06-07T19:29:00.001-04:00

MILE SQUARE VIEW HOBOKEN EXCLUSIVE

In something of a laugh-a-rama torture test, Beth Mason has come out from behind her political operation planted Thursday on NJ.com and admitted she isn't going to be a candidate to replace the late Senator Lautenberg after all.

Rather than say that, here's her stilted language as quoted on NJ.com:

"Over the past several days several Democratic leaders and Democratic strategists reached out to me to encourage me to consider running for United States Senate."

What this means to those of you in the real world is Beth Mason and her political operatives called every person the Mason family has given money to and demanded they give her support to run for US Senate.

And what they said is one of two things: "No!" and "Are you nuts?"

Candidates need to collect 1,000 signatures by Monday afternoon. Unless Mason doubled up with the quiet Old Guard team looking to collect signatures in the second ward for her recall, there's not much likelihood she could get it done.

Her best chance to get signatures would come out of the Hoboken Housing Authority where they usually sign for politicians on vote-by-mail ballots for $40 a pop but none of that matters now.

This is hardly a defeat for Beth Mason because no one took it seriously. A much bigger defeat is seen here when the hospital was saved from her attempts to kill it and bankrupt the City of Hoboken. Look at the tape and watch Beth Mason's reaction when the audience bursts out in spontaneous applause for Mayor Dawn Zimmer's efforts when the sale was finally completed.

Skip to the 2:30 mark and watch Beth Mason's reaction as she sits on her hands as the audience explodes into cheers.

Next!

Talking Ed Note: Other than the laughable noise generated in the last day on this, the only important aspect is to keep the Feds motivated. Beth Mason really stuck it in the eye of the Boys of Summer. Don't forget that lads.

Hudson County Freeholder Budget Meeting in Hoboken

2013-06-07T11:08:00.001-04:00

The Hudson County Freeholders held their budget meeting in Hoboken last night in City Hall.
This video, courtesy of Kurt Gardiner, an independent Freeholder candidate in 2011 includes:

Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise
Mayor Dawn Zimmer
Mayor Richard Turner of Weehawken

Hoboken is facing a 10% tax hike in the proposed Hudson County budget.

Kurt Gardiner said he was encouraged by the last campaign and is mulling another run for Freeholder in 2014. He said he'll be reaching out to local and county officials in the near future to explore potential support.

Gardiner's platform in the last Freeholder race is available here:

http://gardinerforfreeholder.com/

Beth Mason eyes buying a US Senate Seat!

2013-06-06T17:32:00.003-04:00

Beth Mason, Hoboken's nasty political laughing stock is looking to purchase a new toy - a US Senate seat!

Beth Mason's family will try to buy her another exit out of Hoboken. She wants to be a US Senator. Stop laughing.

Coming off her recent failure to make an Illinois Blaggo type purchase of the Assembly seat under Brian Stack, Mason has planted a friendly story in the Star Ledger with a friendly journalist who she fed misinformation on the hospital sale. Jarrett Renshaw bit so hard on it, he found himself in select category with Hoboken411 saying the sale was dead. That's pretty select, bad company.

Now he's back doing Mason's bidding making a bigger fool of himself.

Here's the story already getting around to much hilarity:
http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/06/beth_mason_a_wealthy_democrat.html

Then there's this prophetic comedy masterpiece courtesy of yogregory:

Sign of the Times: the truth about Vision 20/20

2013-06-06T08:43:00.001-04:00

There's been accusations tossed about for the blowback on Vision 20/20 as the truth on many elements have become known to the public. MSV attended many of the Hoboken Housing Authority meetings where the plan was discussed including its initial plan presentation.

From the actual Vision 20/20 Plan - Page 74 - You see the number bottom left in bold?
The downtown campus is just over 800 units at present. This plan proposed 1,853 units, more than double.

As MSV has stated earlier, the factual notation the Vision 20/20 plan intended to more than double the size of the downtown HHA is a matter of the public record. HHA ED Carmelo Garcia can say what he wants, this was the plan presented at a government meeting last year.

The "public input" mentioned in the 100 plus page plan has never occurred and the strategy has been to get the City of Hoboken to begin approving the project building after building with no comprehensive documentation offered - working toward this outcome depicted above.

Talking Ed Note: Carmelo Garcia owes this website an apology for last night's fabrication claiming MSV said the Vision 20/20 Plan would triple in size. MSV has stated repeatedly the intent was more than double the size of the downtown campus based on the above data.

Is anyone going to call this 1,853 units less density? All the attacks by the political operatives, naysayers, race baiters against MSV (and its readers as one paid political operative has firebombed on Facebook more than once) can go eat crow.

No detailed project plan has been put forward for public examination or scrutiny. Now you know why.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/142884491/Vision-20-20-Booklet

Vision 20/20 scam returns with Carmelo Garcia coyote ugly attack

2013-06-06T00:45:00.003-04:00

HHA ED Carmelo Garcia backtracks on Vision 20/20 size, claims MSV wrote of size tripling

The HHA Executive Director returned with his traveling troupe from the HHA unleashing a fusillade of attacks on the reform council members eagerly joined by MORTe who apparently failed to understand no vote was in the offing.

No resolution was on the table for passage since the post midnight power grab approved by MORTe at the preceding meetings.

The often ugly attempt to resurrect the unwritten, sight unseen Vision 20/20 plan began with HHA ED Carmelo Garcia introducing four children from a HHA Karate program. Each read prepared statements almost equally dripping in praise for both Garcia and the Vision 20/20 plan.

MSV would rather not name the children; it was an unseemly display but a highlight in comparison to what would follow with one youth saying, "Why can't we be treated equal and have the same (housing)?

Another child praised Garcia, calling him a "great mentor to us" and the last said "why don't you want us to have new buildings?"

One council member before the meeting noted in an aside Carmelo Garcia had not provided a documented plan of the project to anyone since the prior meeting.

Garcia rose to correct what he several times called "misnomers" about the Vision 20/20 plan on local websites but said he would not name any. He then followed naming Mile Square View and accused this website of saying Vision 20/20 would triple the size of the HHA.

A demand was made for the council members "to denounce the misnomers on those websites." Garcia then said there was no plan to increase density but offered no documentation on any plan similar to his prior two appearances before the City Council which led to wild racist accusations by Councilman Michael Russo when the votes would not be delivered past midnight for "the emergency" approval request.

During the public portion often after a speaker, the dozen plus crowd of HHA residents would yell, "We can, we will, watch us," a popular Garcia chant.

Other members of the public most from the HHA would follow with wild accusations, charges of racism spoken at prior government meetings and much rhetoric spewed without any evidence put forward kicked off by former 2009 Frank "Pupie" Raia campaign spokesman David Liebler who is virulently pro-Old Guard supporting Ruben Ramos for mayor and working for Beth Mason in recent months. His comments covered many areas when he got to Vision 20/20 he demanded its immediate approval failing to state any facts why.

Some enlightening exchanges with Old Guard politico and Ruben Ramos campaign operative Perry Belfiore defending Vision 20/20 and saying Church Towers "is segregated due to the government" and "how can you be so cruel," in not approving Vision 20/20?

Councilman David Mello came under personal attack with one HHA member claiming he made racist comments to the residents at a previous meeting. When challenged by the councilman, the resident saw no need to retreat but repeated it. Her comments were met with applause by Councilwoman Beth Mason.

MSV will have the video showing the prophetic story late Wednesday was 100% on target.

Talking Ed Note: It's not the first time Garcia has made false claims about what's appeared on MSV. He's done so several times in the past and when invited to produce evidence to a claim fails to follow up with anything at all.

MSV stands by its stories on Vision 20/20. There's never been any talk of the HHA tripling in size.
It's an utter disgrace how the residents of the HHA are being abused and exploited in this manner.

The developer RPM who stood to walk away with a one million dollar fee for the first 44 unit building was reportedly not moving forward with an application for Vision 20/20. Carmelo Garcia claimed an application was made and is pending.

MSV will need to verify what is accurate. When it comes to the HHA and its leadership, facts are very much a moving target while attacks are a staple.

One thing is clear. The initial plans presented for more than doubling 800 units in the downtown campus of the HHA has not gone over well with the public and has become problematic for the Ruben Ramos mayoral campaign.

No detailed plan of any professional standard has been presented on Vision 20/20. None.

City payments jeopardized as Hoboken Sopranos vote down payment of claims

2013-06-05T21:16:00.005-04:00

The claims portion of the meeting, often used for ridiculous grandstanding on bills of ridiculously low amounts in the hundreds in a $100 million budget entered a dire position when a 4-4 vote rendered payments void.

According to the Business Administrator Quentin Wiest, garbage collections for the firm Cali among many others were not paid in advance of the meeting although checks may be have been prepared.

In response to an impact inquiry after the claims were voted down, Councilman Michael Russo began yelling why every time his allies vote down an item, an inquiry is often made to the BA.

Councilman Ravi Bhalla replied saying, "The reason we ask the effect of these votes (on occasion)... is so the public can see what you're doing... You're preventing Medicare payments to get paid... You're preventing the payment for trash (hauling).

Voting down the City claims for payment: Council members Terry Castellano, Beth Mason, Tim Occhipinti and Michael Russo.

Councilman Michael Russo joins MORTe in voting down payment of the City's bills. He'd follow that complaining
why the BA is asked about what harm is done to the City as a result.

Talking Ed Note: The all out sabotage of Hoboken as predicted is underway. Hoboken's budget is under duress even before being presented.

The Hoboken Sopranos are eager to harm the City.

Update 11:30 PM Tim Occhipinti reversed himself on the claims at the end of the meeting to pay for a number of items including the carting for the firm Cali. The total for various amounts was $1,116,495.10 Michael Russo stood by his sabotage as the rest of his allies folded.

Someone must have gotten to the Hoboken Sopranos and let them know word on their damage to the City was out. Well it was reported here. Word gets around fast.

An emergency temporary appropriations budget finally was approved with many sidesteps attempted to completely deplete the surplus. The back and forth has reduced it to a mere 1.3 million. No one among the Hoboken Sopranos ever says what municipal finance expert of renown advocates for a zero budget surplus.

Advancing the ball to set the City up for harm and failure is their expertise. Without Jim Doyle, the City is being harmed more with every subsequent meeting. You can thank the Mason family for that.