Timothy on Hoboken Patch July 8, 2010:
"Without any explanation to residents, The City of Hoboken will delay using the municipality's only community pool by two weeks," said Occhipinti in a statement sent out last week, "well after other 'Summer Fun' programs begin on Tuesday, July 6th."
Article: http://hoboken.patch.com/articles/cool-pool-becomes-heated-topic
Hoboken Journal: Contrast this statement with other recent statements he made on the pool. This appears to be a re spun statement on his initial statement saying that the city was late. Director Leo Pellegrin's response was that the original date was and always has been July 19th and that historically the pool has been open for 6 weeks which is the current schedule. It is in the article and Claire's reporting on Hoboken Patch is noted for its neutrality.
Timothy Occhipinti on Hoboken 411 July 11,2010 Update:
“This is not a campaign issue, this is a community issue. The fact that this pool will only be open for six weeks is unacceptable. I asked Director Pellegrini months ago outside a City Council meeting if this pool would be open on-time and was budgeted and the answer was yes. I do not consider July 19th to be on-time for the children of our community.
It is clear that nobody made fully funding this pool for the entire summer a priority. Even current 4th Ward Councilman and Finance Chair Michael Lenz refused to fund the pool beyond the available grant to provide a basic service to his own constituents.
This was not a surprise to anyone, it was a conscious choice not to fully fund the pool.”
Article: http://hoboken411.com/archives/45890#comments
Tim also links to the Hoboken 411 story to his website even though "it is not a campaign issue":
Link: http://occhipintiforcouncil.com/
Timothy Occhipinti on Hoboken Patch July 12, 2010:
Fourth Ward Council candidate Tim Occhipinti is still standing by his opinion that the pool should have been opened earlier.
In a statement sent out to Hoboken's media, Occhipinti wrote: "the fact that this pool will only be open for six weeks is unacceptable."
HobokenJournal: Now, whether or not the pool should be open for more time or not is a policy question and rightly should be debated. I think Tim politically made a mistake in his approach to this by misstating the facts.His statement came across as a shot against the Administration that he supposedly respects without the correct set of facts. Had he initially just said the pool should have been open for more time because it is good for the residents that point would certainly warrant discussion. I look forward to his upcoming debate/forum with Anthony "Stick" Romano's media show where I imagine that cold be a topic. Schedule to be determined.
Timothy in my opinion also has lost credibility by making an initial false statement and then not owning up to it. Another mistake from a political strategy viewpoint is referring to Hoboken 411 in a few of his press releases. As any informed observer of that website knows that if Timothy wants to get enough reform votes to win, cozying up to Hoboken 411 is not a good bet to picking up those votes. Look what happened to Beth Mason.
Finally and most importantly, Tim has not presented how this additional time for the pool being open should be paid for? Increase taxes, cut something else,get additional grant money, private fundraising? Some people have remarked that Timothy is long on criticism but short on solutions. It is easy to take shots and not provide solutions. In order for Timothy's campaign to have merit he will have to provide some. And that point provides my next segway in my next editorial which will be posted above this article....... ◦
