Hoboken should repeal residency restrictions for all municipal employees. The subject of residency requirements came up briefly at the last council meeting but the rules need to be thoroughly re-examined and rejected. The rules are bad for employees, bad for the town, and the arguments in their favor no longer justify them.
Without the ability to move around, municipal employees lose a freedom most Americans take for granted. Residency restrictions mean that an employee cannot take care of a sick in-law living out of town. A municipal employee can’t split the commute if their spouse gets a dream job in Trenton or get a larger place for their growing family, even if it is literally feet from Hoboken, in Jersey City Heights. Importantly residency restrictions remove a crucial safety valve against the abuse of power. An employee cannot move away from unofficial coercion if they run afoul of others in town government.
Dear Citizens and Parents of Hoboken, May I impose upon your time just a bit to follow up on one of the points made in my April 1st letter which was posted on the District’s Website. With respect to our renowned drama and stage musicals, we wrote that there would be no changes in that program. We further stated that there would be no Reduction in Force (layoffs) as a result of the over $3 milllion in state aid reduction imposed on us by the Governor of the State. On April 1st we also wrote that the drama program would continue with increased FISCAL RESPONSIBILTY, something we all as taxpaying citizens in any municipality. No where in any statements, written or otherwise from yours truly, was it ever stated that the director of the program was being “let go.” In order to avoid confusion and angst as we work together on behalf of our beautiful children, I beg each and every one of you to derive your information about the school district from our website (www.hoboken.k12.nj.us) or our Board of Education meetings (local Channel 77) or the posted agenda and minutes of the meetings. In the budgeting regulations promulgated by the State of New Jersey is a phenomenon known as Position Control which requires us to administratively account for each teaching position as a TEACHING position. Our review in the budget preparation process revealed a few individuals who were on the teaching staff payroll but not assigned specifically as teachers. We corrected that by eliminating those =&0=&, only the positions, not the people. The people, the drama director among them, have been reassigned to teaching positions. The administration shall be able to state specifically what these teaching positions shall entail as the master schedule for the fall and spring is developed. We are working on that massive task at the present time and shall continue for several months as we make final determinations on all teacher placements. Again, let me reiterate there is no reduction in force planned for the next school year. So, let us move forward knowing that all is well with respect to the 2010-2011 Theater Season on the Hoboken High School Stage, as long as we receive no other surprises from Trenton, and the citizens accept the advertised spending plan as proposed by the Administration and approved by the Board of Education. Sincerely yours, Peter E. Carter Interim Superintendent of Schools =&1=&=&2=& Hoboken is fortunate to at least have an interim superintendent who is looking out for the town overall and acting accordingly. Of more importance for those who missed the last BoE meeting, Mr. Carter has restated his intent to perform a re-registration process to identify all students in the school district at a time of his choosing. He expressed some strong concerns about the mischaracterizations by some in that area and challenged anyone to make a credible claim contrary in this regard. =&3=&, he saw the political demagoguery advanced by one campaign as an attack on his credibility. Mr. Carter is right on both counts. Politics being what it is among certain corners in Hoboken, that issue has been mischaracterized and people should heed Mr. Carter’s comments on the matter as the BoE election winds down into the home stretch.
City of Hoboken announces:
COUNTY PLEDGES TO INCREASE PEDESTRIAN SAFETY ON REVAMPED 14TH STREET VIADUCT Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise has committed to increased pedestrian safety measures on the proposed 14th Street Viaduct Replacement Project, announced Mayor Dawn Zimmer. The County has proposed narrowing vehicular lanes on the reconstructed viaduct to provide an additional four feet of shoulder area that will provide an additional buffer between the travel lanes and the sidewalk. “At this stage of the project, it is important to implement all possible measures to ensure the safety of pedestrians and bicyclists,” said Mayor Zimmer. “The viaduct is a heavily used gateway to our community. I thank the County Executive and his staff for incorporating additional safety precautions.” The change comes two months after project engineers met with Mayor Zimmer and residents who expressed concerns over pedestrian and bicycle safety on the planned structure at a community forum. “The new structure at 14th Street, with wider sidewalks, the proposed shoulder area and new traffic calming elements will be a step toward that goal,” DeGise said in a letter to Mayor Zimmer. The County has a June 30th deadline to complete the final design of the $45 million federally funded viaduct project. Project engineers would like to break ground on the two-year project in early 2011. The current structure will remain open during the construction phase. The County estimates that approximately 20,000 vehicles use the viaduct daily, which connects Hoboken with Union City and Jersey City. An engineering study determined it to be “fracture critical.”
Friends, Romans, and Hobokenites: lend me your ears. Although the poorly planned and executed resolution (item 39) on limiting public speech at City Council meetings was tabled last night and sent to committee for reworking, the hot air flowed ever so lovingly with the warm air outdoors.
The best result from this exercise: more than a dozen people came out to speak against the notion the public is a good place to start on limiting the endlessly long meetings. There’s plenty to be done among the Council themselves. How about starting with limiting their comments? That would at least end the grandstanding that goes on even when an election is nowhere in sight. Even better, it would force members to apply their words wisely. In addition, the idea of moving the public portion to the beginning is an excellent one and widely supported, however unless the resolution pack is going to provide more detail in a clearly understandable way for the public – those efforts and effectiveness will be lost. As Hoboken resident Jim Doyle pointed out, the lack of detail doesn’t help the public to understand what the agenda items are all about.
MSV received this notice of another Kids First BoE meet the candidate series:
Next Thursday, April 15th, Miriam and I will be hosting a meet and greet with the Kids First slate for the upcoming Board of Education election on April 20th. The event will take place in the Sky Club lobby (700 1st Street) from 7-9pm.
As many of you know, the Board of Education plays such a significant role in our community as it oversees the quality of education for our city’s schools, as well as being the recipient of 1/3 of our taxes. A well run school system gives the children a better education, while at the same time it also increases property values.
Native son Bruce Springsteen is revered in New Jersey coming up from the watering holes of Asbury Park and writing many an iconic song weaved into the fabric of life for many of its residents over decades. To ask who loves Bruce on the political side of the fence in NJ equally creates a long list of fans including the current Governor. Who else loves Bruce?
A lot more New Jersey politicians apparently. But it’s not all about the love of music and unfortunately, from an ethics standpoint, some of these pols aren’t willing to wait in line like regular fans of The Boss, instead they’ve used a state agency to access tickets. A Businessweek article yesterday exposes tickets given last year to top New Jersey officials before they were sold to the public. Ironically this occurred while New Jersey was suing ticket brokers over sales practices.
Tonight’s City Council meeting promises to be heated. And maybe not just because of the weather although that won’t hurt with our brief summer heat passing through. Here’s the resolution pack at the link here and the the agenda link is here.
Fiscal Monitor Judy Tripodi will be attending on some revenue items and this could well be her last appearance with the continued interviews for a Business Administrator going in full force. With a hire in that role, the City should be able to satisfy the State requirements to once again attend to its own affairs. The Fiscal State Monitor has played a more supporting role in that position with the election of new Gov. Chris Christie.
City Bistro hosted a local Hoboken Democratic event last week and unknown to most, it was infiltrated by a Tea Party member. Etiquette for such events probably suggests people be identified in advance but in this case it didn’t occur regarding one attendee while a target of that same movement and most senior Democrat in attendance – NJ Senator Menendez also appeared at the same event.
With two polarized sides at such an event, it’s even odder to find such a happenstance coupled with the recent recall efforts by the same group against the sitting Senator. Menendez currently finds himself in a legal battle to forestall the group’s efforts to collect signatures to have him removed and the legality of such a recall effort is at question but the NJ Courts have ruled the effort may continue while the matter is under appeal. The mere constitutionality of recalling national senators is not certain although many people had suggested it was not even possible.