City Hall under Dave Roberts has been a spin factory for bad figures Hoboken Now, NJ.com's Hoboken Blog has the latest in figure spinning from Dave Roberts and Judy Tripodi no claiming the 47% percent overall tax increase was more like 23%. To me this is messaging the numbers to lessen the political fallout from years of poor decision making. Here is the article on that site:
The way this trick is accomplished is to forget that only in Q3 and Q4, the tax levy increased. If you were to annualize that out over the whole year you get back to 47%. NJ.com used the calendar year as opposed to the fiscal year. Most of the comments against this story were right on. I have to agree with Wakeup_07030 as well about the revisionist aspect of this. Is Dave Roberts looking to put up a monument for himself before he leaves office? Looks like he is trying to polish his image before he steps down after two terms of financial mismanagement.
This brings me to my creative side. Oh no, not another Reformerus_Gianticus poem! Yes, you act like a unaccountable spoiled brat and you can feel once again my poetic wrath :)
Roberts Farewell Sonnet
They voted you in,
Back in the year 2001,
they kicked out Russo,
now a convicted felon.
You said $55 million,
was a budget obscene,
but you created no-show jobs,
and spent lots of green.
You hired your political friends,
who lacked proper qualification,
you fired some wrongly,
which led to expensive litigation.
You sold city assets,
which was part of your plan,
You gave in to developers,
Really, not much of a man.
You talked up getting park land,
like 1600 Park Avenue,
But never got the land secured,
and now Mr. Septembre has one hell of a view.
What about Robert's Barge?,
that big floating pool,
It was supposed to be off Pier C,
now the children know you're a fool.
It took guts by Carol Marsh,
who you claim once shut the City down,
and now more residents know the impact,
of re-electing a clown.
Yet the spending continued,
and more than doubling of the budget,
yet you hid the expenditures,
and got Dick England to fudge it.
The SWAT team trip,
made the citizens holler,
with some of Hoboken's finest,
doing Jello shots on the taxpayer dollar.
You had a full time driver,
known by some as "Stick",
you would escape to Mantaloking,
while Hoboken's Finances got sick.
You got distracted at times,
acting like the young child Dave,
who needed a hiding place,
like taxpayer funded Sybill's Cave.
You did the one shot deals,
with Team Roberts at your back,
as well as Nino Giacchi,
and Chris Campos that hack.
You have mortgaged our City's future,
as you retire to "On Golden Pond",
your only way out of the mess,
was to continue to bond.
Then came a time,
for the City Council to make a stand,
They voted 5 to 4,
to have the State give a hand.
At first the State was furious,
the Council did not approve,
and as the fiscal monitor found out later,
it turned out to to be a good move.
I hope you reflect,
on what has transpired,
and enjoy the company of your family,
while polically retired.
Editors Note: I want to be clear that as a person I mean Dave Roberts no ill on a personal level. It is important to note that political satire has been a cornerstone of our Nation since the first newspaper was printed. The events of the past 8 years do warrant some criticism and my medium is that of the rhyme. Others draw political cartoons, I write silly and sarcasic poems.
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