The Hoboken Reporter did a profile of the three independent candidates for Mayor this weekend. Due to a publishing error part of Tom Vincent's profile was cut off in the latest issue of the Hoboken Reporter. I have given Tom the courtesy of publishing his responses here on this site:
KurtCandidate Profiles, The Missing CopyAs an independent candidate for mayor, I was looking forward to being included in the mayoral candidate profiles featured in this week's Hoboken Reporter.Life, however, is rarely fair.In the piece we were all given three questions to answer with strict limits on length.My profile accidentally got cut by about 25 percent. It happened in the jump from page 23 to 37. The result is that the reader goes from the conclusion of the first answer smack into the middle of the second answer, in a rather non sequitur fashion, without the luxury of an actual second question. Confused? I know I was.While this was obviously an honest mistake, we still have to wait a week to see a correction in print (the online version should be fine), so I'm providing the uncut questions and answers here:TomQ: Please tell us why you are more qualified than your opponents.
A: The tax increase, the state monitor, the budget crisis, all of these are symptoms of a broken, severely out dated system. Right now we need to modernize the entire thing, top to bottom. I have lots of experience doing this very thing and I can do it for less. We also need a complete break with the past. I can provide new perspectives and positive energy. I want to make it rewarding and enjoyable to work for the city so we can attract real talent. I hold no grudges and have no political agenda so I am free to do what's right for the city. I'm also serious about sharing information. Transparency is just the beginning. I want to make the government easy to understand with explanations instead of simply posting documents. The more the citizens understand, the better the public dialog gets.
Q: What do you think is the most pressing issue facing Hoboken right now, and how do you propose to solve it?A: There are two pressing issues. We have to fix the system and share information. We can’t really fix anything until we get the government operating efficiently and everyone knows what's going on.Then we'll be equipped to deal with the budget, flooding, parking, the hospital, health insurance costs, it seems everywhere you look there's something that needs fixing.With a state monitor running things, this is the perfect time to revamp the entire system so that when she leaves we've got a nimble and responsive government to take back our city. These are the most pressing issues because they are at the heart of our problems. Here's some of what we get: Eliminated waste and duplication. Easy access to information. Reduction of abuse. Redefined job descriptions. In short, we finally get the tools we need to run the city so we can start to explore our incredible potential instead of putting out fires.
Q: What makes Hoboken great?A: Where to start? The people, the architecture, the history, but mostly the incredible potential. We have the opportunity to be an amazingly progressive, green, caring community and our government has let us down. It's like watching a good friend in a bad relationship and I feel that someone finally has to do something.
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Tom Vincent - The Missing Copy
