Beth Mason Fails to Support even a 5% Municipal Tax Cut

Editorialized lead-in: Beth Mason and Mike Russo have been aligned against the Zimmer Administration from day one. An intelligent opposition minority can be a good thing for government in theory if they bring other ideas to the table. Beth Mason and Mike Russo have complained incessantly about Mayor Dawn Zimmer not fulfilling her campaign pledge to implement a plan to cut taxes 25% in the first year alone; over and over at numerous City Council meetings. Now, when Mayor Dawn Zimmer has finally decided to take action and provide some tax relief by an amount of 5%, Beth Mason is against police layoffs and has her reasons as she states below in this email blast before last night's marathon city Council meeting. Clearly her recent visits to Maxwell Place residents (yeah she's running already, running scared) left her unsympathetic to the plight of the taxpayer as well.

Here is more of her beating of the drum on a recurring theme:

Dear Friend,

Two years ago City Hall raised your taxes 84%. And you've been overcharged ever since. Your over payments have resulted in a $20 million surplus (and growing). City Hall won’t give your money back. Instead they are giving big raises to patronage employees while firing police officers. Putting your safety at risk.

On the very day the Mayor announced her termination of 19 patrolmen she gave a 31% raise to her public relations aide and a 25% raise to her confidential aide. The number one responsibility of government is to protect your safety and welfare, not run a political fiefdom.

Hoboken is the most unique city in the State. We are home to residents of all ages and backgrounds, a major transit hub, and a popular destination for thousands of visitors each week who come to enjoy our restaurants, shopping and nightlife.

If the public now believes that Hoboken is less safe because of the failure to maintain a properly staffed police department, it will be economically devastating to our community, costing taxpayers and business owners far more than any purported savings.

The police officers being fired are the lowest paid in the Department. Their dismissals represent a waste of many thousands of dollars recently invested in their training and professional development.

It would be more advantageous to restructure the police department’s table of organization, which is currently very top heavy. This would increase police presence on the street and allow us to shrink the department through attrition, rather than firing 19 patrolmen in one shot. If the city implements this plan it will eliminate all foot patrols, which are the single biggest deterrent against crime.

Please join me tonight at the City Council meeting at 7pm in asking Mayor Zimmer to protect our residents and not to fire these 19 patrolmen. Together we can continue to make Hoboken a better, safer, and more affordable place to live and raise a family.

- Beth Mason

2nd Ward Councilwoman

My comment: The only way the City of Hoboken gets to lower taxes at this point is shared sacrifice across all departments in personnel. I am not unsympathetic to what happens to the patrolman and their families effected by the layoffs should they occur. I do understand to some extent the difficulties of what police officers go through and myself have a cousin that is now a detective after first serving as a patrolman in Upstate NY.  My cousin has saved two people's lives using CPR, been the first on the scene in a 100 plus person gang brawl, solved complex murder cases and I'll bet he doesn't pull in the kind of money being payed out in Hoboken. These types of cuts are happening all over in austere times and I do not think Hoboken should be an exception. The argument that losing patrolman in the lower ranks is wasting an investment has merit but the senior officers have not made the situation easier by mentioning if any one of them would retire. Hoboken had fewer officers on the streets as recently as a few years ago and the sky didn't fall then with a massive crime wave. I don't subscribe to some of the fear tactics and veiled threats that were evident last night. I prefer to make my decisions with cold calculating reason devoid of emotional overtones but that does not make me inhumane. I have witnessed numerous layoffs in my stint at a number of companies that I have worked for in the private sector and I think that while more stable as a source of employment, the public sector should not guarantee jobs either.

If cost savings can be realized that are significant enough to avoid layoffs, I would be for it provided that the Police Union for once shows up to the negotiating table not with Judy Tripodi who did not represent the Hoboken taxpayer, but Dawn Zimmer who is the duly elected representative head of Hoboken (and not Beth Mason whose pandering and flailing campaign wasted a million dollars for a 3rd and then barely 2nd place finish). It is time for the pandering to stop by Beth Mason and for the Union to stop underestimating our Mayor whether you like her or not. There is less than a month before Mayor Zimmer's layoff plan goes into effect. If the Police Union is serious about saving jobs there is perhaps time for further negotiations.  The biggest revelation from last night's meeting was that there was not enough communication between the two parties. Well, if jobs are to be saved, start communicating! Communication is a two way street. ◦

Beth Mason Fails to Support even a 5% Municipal Tax Cut