Office of the Mayor announces:

=&0=& Following the City Council minority’s vote to block the refinancing of bonds for the Midtown Garage and a bond for capital improvements, Mayor Dawn Zimmer announced that it would unfortunately be necessary for the Administration to begin a city-wide layoff process in order to close the resulting budget gap. “I deeply regret that this action must be taken, but unfortunately the City Council minority’s blocking of these essential bond ordinances leaves me no choice,” Mayor Zimmer explained. “Layoffs should not be necessary at all, but the City Council minority has intentionally created an easily avoidable budget gap that must now be addressed in a fiscally responsible manner.”  The refinancing of the bonds for the Municipal Garage would have saved the City $50,000. Instead of achieving this savings, the failure to refinance will require the City to unnecessarily spend $4.5 million to pay down the existing bond. This cost will have to be offset by staffing cuts in order to stay within budget and avoid a significant tax increase.

The capital improvement bond was desperately needed in order to address long neglected infrastructure needs including providing heat and proper security measures for the Police Department Headquarters and replacing broken equipment necessary for the City to plow snow, sweep streets, and pick up garbage. These desperately needed items will now have to be deferred or offset by additional cost saving measures.

Since the City Council minority blocked approval of these critically needed bonds, the City is now left with a $7.3 million budget gap.  As a result, all City employees were provided with a general advisory concerning possible layoffs earlier today. Read More...

We’re seeing record traffic for a Thursday developing here today.  So with that, anticipate more stories and stay tuned.

In fact as we are now about to enter the Battle of the Big Lie, please take this time to email all your friends in Hoboken the web address to MSV.  Da Horsey appreciates it. https://hobokenhorse.com or http://milesquareview.com

With the sudden appearance of a paid videographer at the meeting last night working for Councilwoman Beth Mason, MSV anticipates you will see a concerted push to point the finger and excuse the reckless action by the Beth Mason hydra last night. Read More...

It needed to be said.  The sabotage of Hoboken is out in the open, a full time endeavor and the battle for the truth will be on full out.  MORTe (Mason, Occhipinti, Russo and Terry Castellano) made it clear their declaration of full out war on Hoboken will not see any limits.

After trying (and failing) to sabotage the hospital sale saving countless jobs and the taxpayers of Hoboken, they went on to the next best thing – undermining a refinance of the midtown garage connected to the hospital, both figuratively and literally. Read More...

In a critical refinance question on the midtown garage, a presentation with corrections to numerous misstatements by the council minority led to their tanking a clear cut way to aid the city in shifting the tax status of the midtown garage.

The gap from failing to obtain a required sixth vote for the bond ordinance blows a $4.5 million dollar hole into the City budget with less than three months remaining in the fiscal year.

Failing to present any financial argument against the numerous reasons for refinancing, among them a lower cost to the completion of the bond’s overall cost to the city, the Council of No re: MORTe (death) voted no leaving the critical financing for the midtown garage one vote short.  The measure failed 5-4. Read More...

The following is a special letter to the talking Ed:

Dear Talking Ed:

I wish to comment on Mr. Roman Brice’s JibJab video that he posted on his Mile Square View Internet blog in mid-October, today as a matter of fact. My Councilwoman, Beth Mason, and I were on vacation with our respective families at the time, and so now is my first opportunity to react publicly.

In his video Mr. Brice depicts that he has always wanted the Councilwoman and Councilman Michael Russo engulfed in flames as if as many s’mores in a burning car. We presume it’s our car. Read More...

Tonight Hoboken will find out if there’s going to be City layoffs. A refinancing of the midtown garage stands to either benefit Hoboken $50,000 or put the budget into an immediate hole of millions of dollars. 

The mayor says if the refinancing fails layoffs follow. Mike Russo who called the mayor a grifter at last month’s meeting leads the Beth Russo hydra that can force the red ink on the city and the resulting layoffs.  Russo says no more bonding.  He can explain why it’s so critical for capital improvements and bonding as in this instance must be stopped at all costs – even to scores of City workers. Read More...

Tonight is the showdown which is dire for city workers held hostage by the Beth Russo hydra on a straightforward refinancing of the midtown garage.  The garage’s refinancing was required when the sale of the hospital to Holdco was set to complete and the tax status needed to be updated.

Failure to refinance the garage will create an immediate multi-million dollar hole in the City’s budget.  There would be 90 days to come up with the funds to pay off the bond, estimated at $4.5 million. Read More...

From the desk of Freeholder candidate Kurt Gardiner:

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There’s been a spewing of flotsam and jetsam over at Hoboken Patch.  It’s like a last stand on the hospital, except the politicos and political operatives are teaming up not to celebrate the hospital being saved – they are complaining about everything but saving the hospital and with it the Hoboken taxpayers.

Much of of it is your typical Hoboken bloviating, distortions, half-truths and arguments about minutae no normal resident will drill down into but sometimes you can find a pearl, a nugget so good, it’s better than being a priest in confession. Read More...

MILE SQUARE VIEW EXCLUSIVE

This story first appeared on MSV March 27th, 2011



3rd ward Councilman Mike Russo who just submitted a questionable letter of achievements printed in the weekend’s Hudson Reporter predicting there would be lies about him is named in a new book – the Jersey Sting.  The book details reveal Mike Russo’s meeting with FBI informant and star witness Solomon Dwek in Jersey City’s Light Horse Tavern where bribes were discussed.


In the meeting Solomon Dwek who was working for the FBI and wired for sound, a discussion on $5,000 in bribe money is agreed upon:

Read More...