A day after nearly a thousand people stormed a Board of Commissioners meeting to protest a proposed 27 percent municipal tax hike, Mayor Silverio "Sal" Vega defended the increase and the steps he's taking to lower taxes in the future, saying the hike was due to increased costs and years of deficit spending. "A lot of it has to do with putting things off until it gets to the point where the house of cards will not stand. And it's my responsibility as mayor to create a budget that we can stand on in the future," he said in a sit-down interview at Town Hall yesterday afternoon. (Clark, Jersey Journal)
http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2009/02/west_new_york_mayor_sal_vega_d.html
My take:
This key quote from Sal Vega stands out:
"A lot of it has to do with putting things off until it gets to the point where the house of cards will not stand. "
This is exactly what happened in Hoboken. Our Municipal Government sold city assets to cover operating expenses, delayed payments and didn't gradually raise taxes or cut expenses to compensate until the "house of cards" collapsed. Enter Judy Tripodi. ◦
