I am posting this email at the request of Jim Vance in the spirit of offering multiple viewpoints on the Hoboken St. Patrick's Day Parade this year and whether or not the event should continue. Here is Jim Vnce in his own voice below:
The city just put out a press release regarding serious crimes committed during last weekend's St Patrick's day madness . I responded with the following email. Might I suggest you make your voice heard as well. Jim Vance.
"It just gets worse every year. I hear complaints, sometimes horror stories, from almost every resident with whom I speak. Many now flee town, driven from their homes by hoards of drunks roaming the streets screaming, pissing, puking, destroying property and committing felonies. .
Why do we allow these hoodlums take over out town every year? What are benefit?
When the Mayor has to put out a statement saying she is working to "dramatically increase Police presence in an effort to ensure the safety of residents and visitors," doesn't that mean the situation is completely out of hand? Years ago Fort Lauderdale had similar problems at spring break. They finally shut it down to the great relief of the citizens. Shouldn't we?"
- Jim Vance Hoboken 4th Ward Resident
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Jim Vance Speaks out on the Hoboken St. Patrick's Day Parade
Joint Press Release From the Republicans of Hoboken and Hoboken Democratic Party
Hoboken Republican and Democratic Chairs Urge Residents to Serve as Poll Workers
Deadline to Apply is March 11th
The Chairpersons of the Republic and Democratic Parties of Hoboken jointly urge Hoboken residents to serve as District Boardworkers (a.k.a. “poll workers”) in the 2011 elections. “Serving as a poll worker is a rewarding and proactive way to get involved in the democratic process,” said Diana C. Davis, Chairwoman of the Republicans of Hoboken. “We would like residents in Hoboken to be aware of the process of applying to serve as a poll worker.”
Residents interested in serving as poll workers must fill out a simple, one page application and submit it to the Hoboken City Clerk’s office, located at 94 Washington Street, Hoboken no later than March 11th. The submission of an application does not guarantee designation as a poll worker in any particular election, and applications submitted after March 11th may be rejected based on timeliness.
The first election where poll workers will be required is the school board election on April 27th. Thepolls will be open from 7 a.m. until 9 p.m. for the school board election. “This is a wonderful opportunity to serve the community and take an active role in the election process in Hoboken,” said Ravi S. Bhalla, Chairman of the Hoboken Democratic Party. “I hope that residents interested in improving the voting process will consider serving as a poll worker this year.”
In addition to the public service residents provide by serving as a poll worker, they are alsocompensated in the form of a $200 payment for the day and the satisfaction of knowing theyperformed a service for Hoboken’s community.
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Hoboken Democrats and Republicans Urge People to Sign Up as Poll Workers
Here is a clip I recorded of Batman dancing in the Hoboken St. Patrick's Day Parade Saturday March 5, 2011. Video provided here to take off the stress of Hoboken's upcoming political season. It should be duly noted that Batman has some serious moves!
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Batman Dances at the Hoboken St. Patrick's Day Parade 3/5/2011
STATEMENT FROM MAYOR ZIMMER ON ST PATRICK’S DAY PARADE
The City of Hoboken confirms that there were two allegations of sexual assault reported over the weekend: one on Friday, March 4th, and another on Saturday, March 5th. These matters have been referred to the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office for investigation, and the City will continue its communication with the Prosecutor’s office to monitor developments in these cases.
“These allegations are extremely serious,” said Mayor Dawn Zimmer. “My Administration will fully review all of the activities that occurred on Hoboken’s St. Patrick’s Day so we can properly evaluate all of the facts and make fully informed decisions going forward.”
Over the last two years, the City has worked to dramatically increase Police presence in an effort to ensure the safety of residents and visitors.
“I want to assure the public that my Administration is in the process of conducting a complete review of this year’s event and will be making recommendations to the City Council as to how to move forward next year,” added Mayor Zimmer.
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By all accounts, Beth Mason did not march in yesterday's Hoboken St. Patrick's Day Parade. A parade official confirmed with me that Beth Mason was told that she could not have her sign in the parade as political signage has by tradition of the parade not been allowed. Whether Beth did not march in the parade over this issue or the fact that she was rumored to be taken ill is not known at this time.
While it is true that the Hoboken Journal does not support Beth Mason's candidacy, if she was indeed sick here is hoping that she has a speedy recovery.
This is yet another bizarre episode in a campaign that I assure you will get even more bizarre as election time comes near. She started with poinsettia's, candy, a small army of young workers in yellow and now green shirts, wheeling for Tim Occhipinti, and now has a hissy fit over campaign signage. To follow Hoboken politics, especially a Beth Mason political campaign is truly theater of the macabre.
Beth Mason sign was not allowed in the parade.
2nd Ward challenger Tom Greaney did march in the parade without any signs. The photo below shows how enthused the normally measured Tom Greaney was with the feedback he got as he walked downtown between 7th and 8th Streets.
Tom Greaney at Hoboken's St. Patrick's Day Parade gets fired up with the crowd.
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Beth Mason Meltdown Over Signage in Hoboken St. Patrick's Day Parade?
Here is a widely distributed email from Maureen Sullivan that has made its rounds around Hoboken sent last week. Maureen Sulllivan sits on the Hoboken Board of Education and split last year from the Kids First team. Leon Gold and Rose Markle are on that team and it is fair to say there is a substantial amount of "bad blood between Maureen and Kids First. Ah, such is Hoboken politrickery these days. (lament)
Maureen Sullivan has been consistent in saying that the budget needs to be cut but has refused to date to provide a comprehensive plan as to how she will legally and practically accomplish that task. Instead we get drips and drabs and nickels and dimes. I don't doubt Maureen's desire to cut the school budget just her ability to do it in a way that first of all legally can be done and secondly without harming the education of the children. This letter mentions overtime for the transportation so that is a start but where is that "long list of ideas for cuts and cost-saving measures aimed at bringing down the district’s budget" ?
The Hoboken Journal has been waiting for almost two years for that from Maureen. My face is turning blue from holding my breath:). Maureen's conduct on this budget issue is very similar to Beth Mason and Mike Russo on the City Council spouting off about small lines items when the big items such as union contracts are the real way to control spending. At least she mentions one potentially valid item, that of transportation overtime. The rest of her letter is nothing but the pettiness of personal politics. I will acknowledge though that pettiness in on both sides. Our children deserve better.
Here is Maureen (Beth Mason Lite) Sullivan's vindictive email once again short on the details of the cuts she claims she has proposed:
SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER SULLIVAN BOOTED FROM BUDGET MEETING Gold: I am not a man of my word
Sullivan came to the meeting armed with a long list of ideas for cuts and cost-saving measures aimed at bringing down the district’s tentative $58 million budget for 2011-12 and avoiding a school tax increase for the second year in a row. But the Kids First contingent refused to begin the meeting with Sullivan in the room, hurled abuse at her for five minutes and then finally stormed out of the room and moved the meeting elsewhere in the district offices on Clinton Street. "Go (f-word) yourself," said Board President Rose Markle as she left the room.
Sullivan noted that when someone you’re debating resorts to profanity, you’ve won the argument. "It's not unexpected," said Sullivan. "Kids First has gone back on every claim they ever made about getting the enormously high spending under control. It’s clear that Kids First still has no interest in providing our taxpayers with some relief, and they didn’t want to be presented with some ideas that would put them on the spot. I came to talk about the budget and instead I'm met with the type of thuggish, machine-style behavior they once claimed to abhor."
At the Feb. 8 public board meeting, after a heated discussion about the rising school taxes, board member Frances Rhodes-Kearns suggested that Sullivan take part in the next finance committee meeting to present her budget proposals. Board member Leon Gold, who sits on the finance committee, then volunteered to give up his seat to Sullivan. To avoid violating sunshine laws, only four members of the board are allowed to sit on a committee, and Sullivan would have been a fifth without Gold’s offer. The finance committee is chaired by Theresa Minutillo. The other members are Irene Sobolov and Markle. They meet once a month with the district’s business administrator.
Gold had a change of heart last week. In an email to the board late Saturday night, he reneged on his public offer, saying, "I unfortunately forgot that this upcoming meeting was to review next year’s proposed budget." Sullivan responded in an email to the board that Gold could not extend an invitation in public, have it accepted, and then withdraw it in private without Sullivan’s consent. No board members responded, so Sullivan went to Thursday’s meeting, where Gold told her that he "made a mistake" by offering to step aside.
"When I asked him today if he was a man of his word, he told me he wasn't," she said."That didn't seem to bother him or the others."
Sullivan was elected to the board in 2009 on a platform of weeding out waste in the district’s bloated budget and cutting taxes while making major improvements to the schools, but for the second year in a row there has been no opportunity for the full board to meet in closed or open session to publicly discuss the budget as it was developed. Finance Chair Minutillo has never called on all board members to make suggestions or created a process or a venue for that to happen. Unlike many other districts, Hoboken hasn't held public hearings during the lead-up to a final budget. Many of Sullivan’s suggested cuts involve personnel, contracts or other private matters and cannot be discussed in an open meeting or released to the public. On Jan. 11, the business administrator proposed a budget for next year that’s bigger than the budget approved a year ago, and today’s finance meeting was the only chance Sullivan would have had to discuss it before it must go to the county superintendent for approval on Friday, March 4.
The controversy began in January when the district’s auditors released their annual report, which noted that the tax rate for the schools portion of the Hoboken tax bill went from 1.176 to 1.199 per $100 of assessed value, a 1.95% tax increase from 2009 to 2010. Kids First had claimed that taxes stayed flat, and in the argument before the meeting Thursday, Markle continued to claim that school taxes have not gone up. "Rose told me today that the tax hike is all due to the county, when a simple reading of a tax bill, online or the one you get in the mail, shows that’s not true,” said Sullivan. “It's incredible to me that our board president doesn’t even know that she and her fellow homeowners are paying more in school taxes."
Sullivan said there are myriad cuts that could be made to the budget that would total into the millions of dollars, but other board members have never expressed any interest in hearing them. Sullivan sits on the facilities/technology/transportation committee and pointed to a few instances of waste in just one of those departments as an example. That committee met Monday but Committee Chair Jean Marie Mitchell told her there was no time to discuss issues such as the recently updated transportation report from the consulting firm EarthSpec. The board also declined to discuss the report at last month’s public meeting. In the report, which Sullivan described as “devastating,” the company finds that overtime "remains a significant expense for the district." The transportation director, who the report says should be part of management, made $12,427 in overtime in just six months (equaling 37% of his base pay for that period.) The mechanic was paid $10,632 in overtime, though the report says "there is no reason this employee should incur overtime." The report also slaps the district for employing six bus aides who collectbenefits, and pointed out that hiring full-time aides was a practice unheard of in the industry. It says the total savings would rise “exponentially” if all of its recommendations were implemented.
"I'm the only board member who seems concerned that we're spending nearly $22,000 per pupil when the state average is less than $14,000, and that this will likely go up this year as the budget grows and enrollment continues to decline," said Sullivan. "In January, we had fewer than 1,800 students in kindergarten through grade 12."Hoboken school board member Maureen Sullivan was barred from taking her seat at the finance committee meeting Thursday morning. Kids First members on the committee refused to honor an agreement they had made at the February board meeting.
- BOE Member Maureen Sullivan
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"Maurauding" Maureen Sullivan Blasts Leon Gold and Kids First
Tony Soares sent this email to Renee Steinhagen of NJ Appleseed an organization that remarked on the HUMC negotiations last week by issuing a statement asking for more transparency. Here is Tony Soares' response to Ms. Steinhagen who issued the press release on behalf of her organization...
Perhaps you can "shine some light" on who the officers are of your client "The Coalition for Quality Healthcare Hoboken".
As I understand it, it is made up of a group including politicos and Ms Mason herself.
Could it be true that Ms Mason also gave to your organization?
I also would like to know if you have ever donated to any Hoboken elections? (Rumors are that you have) And since you follow rumors, perhaps this is one YOU can answer for the REAL citizens of Hoboken, rather than aide Mason and her quest to hurt a Hospital transaction that WE CITIZENS of Hoboken can no longer guarantee.
Thank you in advance
Tony Soares
Former Hoboken City Councilman
Hoboken Taxpayer
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Here is a tweet from Mushmouth123 on Twitter that really gives it to 1st Ward Councilwoman Terry Castellano. I feel that such divisiveness in such rhetoric does bring up some elements of the past that have plagued Hoboken but also detracts from the current issues facing Hoboken. Is there really the need to to bring the family history up at this point when her current votes and tone on the City Council are much more relevant for discussing and justify the reasons to oppose her than anything Mayor Russo did in the past? Terry's voting record is an appropriate way to vet out this candidate and consider the worthy choice of Eric Kurta as the alternative. While perhaps slightly entertaining to Terry's detractors, I suggest that the discussion be focused on the things that matter, what direction should Hoboken go in for the future.
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Tweet of the Day - Mushmouth123 Blasts Terry Castellano
On March 3, supporters of Greg Lincoln's candidacy for 3rd Ward City Council came together for Greg's Kickoff and Fundraiser event, held at Willie McBride's in the heart of the 3rd Ward. Speaking at the event were City Councilman Ravi Bhalla, Former City Council President Tony Soares, and Mayor Dawn Zimmer. A transcript of Greg's speech is attached below.
Greg Lincoln for 3rd Ward City Council - Kickoff and Fundraiser Speech - March 3, 2011
Thank you, Mayor Zimmer and Tony. I'd particularly like to thank and acknowledge my campaign team: Deirdre Wall, Greg Bond, Tony Soares, and the rest of my volunteers for all their hard work. I thank my wife Carma, who I somehow talked into this. And thank you to everyone for coming tonight to support my campaign for City Council.
As some of you may know, my job entails working with a lot of numbers, data management, and a keen attention to detail. Now, I'm not a numerologist or anything, but I noticed when we were choosing the date for this event that we would gather on the third day of the third month to kickoff this campaign to bring change to the third ward. I want you all to remember this as the beginning of change for the third ward, and that you were here.
For too long, the third ward has been represented by a councilperson who is unable or unwilling to properly do his job. A councilperson who submitted, without consulting his council peers, a temporary budget scribbled in pencil for people to vote on. A councilperson who, as the chair of the finance committee, "lost" almost a million dollars in parking meter funds, and called it a mistake. Meanwhile his friend, the former parking utility director, has been indicted for stealing approximately 55 tons of quarters.
For too long, the third ward has been represented by a corrupt family dynasty that has been more concerned about their own family's finances than the interests of our city. We all know about father Anthony Russo, who pled guilty to accepting bribes, served jail time, and still owes our city over $300,000. There's also the mother, who while serving as Parking Commissioner, was named in FBI documents for demanding $5-a-tow kickbacks. Despite all this, the family occupies subsidized housing units that should go to people who actually need them.
For too long, the third ward has been represented by a councilperson who has deceived his constituents. A councilperson who lied to the third ward about the municipal garage supposedly coming to the Pino site at 7th and Monroe. A councilperson who lied to the Hospital board, telling them they don't have the authority to sell the hospital and release Hoboken from the $52 million dollar bond liability.
For too long, the third ward has been represented by a councilperson who has repeatedly made poor choices for our city. Over the past 18 months Mayor Zimmer has led Hoboken in a positive direction of accountability and fiscal responsibility. Yet my opponent seemingly does nothing but put up obstacles to impede this progress.
My friends, it is time for a change!
I am running for City Council because I want to bring the representation to the third ward that is long overdue. I believe that everyone in the third ward needs to be represented ‚ not just those who benefit from the system and want to maintain the status quo.
I am running for City Council because I'm a homeowner and taxpayer that loves living in Hoboken. My wife, two sons, and I have lived here for almost six years and love the vibrant, diverse, and welcoming atmosphere of our town. Except I have a councilman who in four years has never responded to a single email I've sent him.
I am running for City Council because we are at a critical juncture. Mayor Zimmer and her supporters on the council have taken firm stands on fiscal responsibility, nepotism, and pay-to-play; they have improved transportation issues, infrastructure and quality of life, making Hoboken a better place to live. My opponent has resisted most of these. Do we want four more years of politricks? Or do we want to continue to move Hoboken ahead and help it flourish?
I am running for City Council, but I need your help. I can't do this alone. I ask each of you to do three things to help bring change to the third ward.
First, I need funds to compete with my opponent. He is well-funded and connected and will get lots of PAC donations. I fully expect him to double or triple my spending. Thankfully, Mayor Zimmer has shown us that it's not about how much money you campaign with, but that you spend the money wisely. Please donate tonight if you are able, we take checks or credit cards. You can also donate via my campaign Facebook page or website.
Second, we need volunteers. As hard as my team works, we can't do it all. We need people to help us knock on doors, organize events, stuff envelopes, make phone calls, etc. If you are skilled at anything, we have a place for you. If you can only spare a few hours of your time, we have a place for you.
And third, we need you to help us spread the word that there's an honest choice for the third ward. Contact your friends and neighbors that live in the third ward, talk to them, share our Facebook page, and website. Let us know if you will put a sign in your window. Let us know if you want to host a meet and greet. Let us know if you would like to write a letter to the editor. We need all these things.
Friends, I thank you again for coming tonight. I couldn't be here without your support.
Here is the video of his speech with an introduction from Mayor Dawn Zimmer:
This weekend I was covering the 2011 Hoboken St. Patrick's Day parade for the website The Boken (http://www.thebokenonline.com/) and I also was able to compile these two videos from the parade an the aftermath. The Boken Online is a widely read website and is focused on events and happenings in the Mile Square minus the politics. The site has over 4,000 Twitter followers so I have been happy to help give The Boken a content boost. Join The Boken's twitter feed by going to http://twitter.com/theboken for frequent updates on Hoboken's food and social scene.
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Video Highlights of Hoboken's St. Patrick's Day Parade
