I always try to present the facts to back up my opinions when I do editorial statements but here is an example of where I got it wrong. Last year when Beth Mason presented the option of a outside firm coming in I had mistakenly stated that this emergency bid waiver went to vote. It did not and I had attributed Peter Cammarano as voting no when in fact the proposal was tabled due to perceived lack of support by the council. There was no vote. I attribute this to my faulty recollection as opposed to an attempt to misrepresent the truth.
My Original Comment on the Budget passing: Listening to the comments from Beth Mason , Peter Cunningham and Dawn Zimmer for their reasons for not voting yes on the 2009 amended budget is that basically not enough information has been provided to the council to make an informed decision. On this point I completely agree with all three of these council members.
I do trust that Judy Tripodi has and her staff has represented the current cost of running Hoboken's government is the most honest way possible. However, the audits of fire and police as well as the City employees needs to be done and reported out so that the Council members and the public can begin the debate about what level of services we need as well as what we are willing to pay to get those services. Additionally, the audits would be very helpful in upcoming union negotiations since some audit findings could find areas where staff could either be reduced or redeployed elsewhere. I am no fan of layoffs but where Hoboken is today, it is clear to me the City is spending too much on salaries and benefits for the level of service we are getting. I defer to the experts as to where.
Despite my agreement with Dawn Zimmer, Beth Mason and Peter Cunningham on the reasons why they did not vote yes on the budget I am glad it passed since the 2009 year is already almost over. Not too much could have been to curtail the burden on the tax payer since most of the money again has already been spent. Let us demand that we get these audits completed soon and start work immediately to figure out where we are with 2010. Judy Tripodi and her staff through hard work have brought us to stage 1 which is what it costs to run Hoboken the way it is in terms of costs and proper revenue projections. I take that on faith. Stage 2 is to figure out what Hoboken should be spending on to run its city operations and capital projects. The audits being completed and released are the key to the next phase.
It is important to note that while I aggree with Peter Cammarano on this yes vote, I still disagree with his vote against bringing in an outside firm last year like the one Beth Mason had suggested. A whole year has gone by and we still don't have an objective outside independent audit of our city's operations. Truly a wasted opportunity.
Additional Explanation of Editorial Retraction:
Please note that the italicized statement is not correct. There was no vote on this proposal as it was pulled from meeting by Beth Mason as there was very likely not enough support for it. Peter Cammarano did speak out against it due to the lack of an RFP process and bid waiver.
Here is Peter Cammarano's email response: "I was against even calling a vote on the resolution appointing Alvarez & Marshal because (1) it wasn’t on the agenda, (2) Beth was dropping it on the Council with no advance notice whatsoever, (3) it was explicitly a no-bid contract, and (4) it represents an effort by the Council to outsource its job (i.e.- scrutinizing the budget, making DECISIONS on where & what to cut) to a private firm".
One last comment from me: I for one would like to see either the State complete their audit findings or if they can't, get an outside firm to come in and do the evaluation. Just because a firm comes in and makes recommendations does not force the City Council or the Mayor to act on them. I for one would like to see an objective opinion come in and help give the City Council and Mayor's office some idea if cuts are possible without jeopardizing public safety. No one on the current slate of Mayoral candidates quite frankly has the skill set to assess whether we are staffed to the right levels so why not bring an objective opinion in to answer that. Now that is transparency!
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