There’s a slight improvement in November and the CEO Spiros Hatiras lays out the picture. Sorry for the low volume as the room is midsize and they do not use mikes. (A better camera is coming to pick up the normal voices.)
2008 losses were $17.5 million and 2009 the target was to reduce it to $8.5 million with a recovery plan in place to break even in 2010. They are on target for the year end goal. In addition, they have put in place an across the board 10% cut for all employees and looking to negotiate similar with the unions. This is a serious and impressive effort. Some will say it should have come sooner. MSV would not disagree. The CEO himself is taking a leadership role and is reducing his salary 15%. Awaiting the unions response on the reductions. Questions arose later around a job freeze and layoffs, but the philosophy is to avoid it if at all possible as the recovery plan looks viable.
Payroll for employees is $22 million netting $2.2 saved to the bottom line. Union payroll is $39 million with desired savings of $3.9 added. Overtime and consultant costs are also being reduced with the former benefiting just over a half million in savings: $525,000.
Former CEO Harvey Holzberg is waving his last month of consulting fees for December.
We will verify this amount shortly.
Grant announcements from the State should be coming as soon as next week. HUMC has requested $7 million and we await that announcement.
Mile Square View has requested expense financials for the approximately 50 departments with year over year detailed analysis and projections for 2010. That information will be made available as soon as it arrives.
With the two additions to the Hospital Authority Board, the direction is clearly positive.
More video will be posted today.
First courtesy of the Hoboken University Medical Center, here are the financials for the month ending November 30, 2009. There’s beens some slight improvement and a couple of notes: the recovery plan is not yet reflected in the numbers here and next week they should be getting some word on how the grant applications will go. Keep your fingers crossed and hopefully some good news will follow shortly thereafter.
HUMC Nov 30 09 Financials
Lots to catch up on after last night’s Hoboken University Medical Center. We will be back with all the news and plenty of video including the entire Q&A.
For now, let’s throw you folks a bone. In 2010, they are taking action: 10% salary reductions across the board! Every employee is taking the hit except one. CEO Spiros Hatiras will be taking a 15% reduction! The unions are still in negotiations and the CEO prefers wage reductions to any additional layoffs or a job hiring freeze.
Hoboken resident and Revolt steering committee member Toni Tomarazzo came after her appointment to the Hospital Authority Board and immediately got off to a good start. She spoke with the Acting CFO and will be doing lots of Christmas financial analysis reading. She also expressed a strong desire to act on the revenue side to help the hospital maximize its strengths on delivery for the Hoboken community and beyond with a focus on strengthening revenue. After we left the meeting, we trotted over to the City Council and got word on the appointments to the Zoning Board and the alternates. It’s great news across the board, pardon the pun.
Back soon! First up, the CEO Spiros Hatiras report.
MILE SQUARE VIEW EXCLUSIVE
In a development many missed with the well deserved 500K surprise from Interim Superintendent Carter, the Board of Education Secretary David Anthony has resigned effective June 30, 2010. That’s 45K of a quite rich and some would say not quite legal lifetime contract being removed from the gravy train, excuse me the cost to Hoboken children’s education. Some features of this “value added” contract included:
- Immediate tenure (For just being a swell guy.)
- Pay similar to a full time teacher for at best a part time position (if that)
- Vesting completely outside the bounds of the NJ formula
- A termination clause giving an attorney to the contractee if needed on the taxpayer dime
- A lifetime contract! Is that even legal? cough, cough.
Now how many computers can $45,000 buy not including the overinflated bennies:
That’s maybe a couple of thousand computers for children (at a grand a pop) with a decent service contract, countless textbooks, a tutoring program or maybe a downpayment toward some new space for a rapidly expanding school age population. Moving on to the big picture…
Next stop on “The Cartel” targeted gravy train: a $125K administrator position will be up with elections next April. That is if the two trustee positions change hands from the Kids First coalition. And from there, back to business as usual baby!
A reader Janis noted, there’s been 500K in savings without touching a dime from the classroom since Kids First took the helm as the majority coalition. Someone get Bob “The Cartel” Bowdon on the line. The machine called and they want their own 500K check for Christmas.
Sorry guys. Maybe now it will really be about Hoboken’s kids.
Here’s David Anthony’s contract but don’t read it on an empty stomach or it’ll induce the dry heaves.
(Click on the fullscreen button.)
Update: There’s been some crying over at Hoboken Now by a reader about holding interviews in executive session of the candidates, but the sunshine is still shining this morning. The New Jersey School Board’s Association along with some expert legal beagles have deemed it so. Who would want to be interviewed in front of a hundred or more spectators anyway? The idea this would “taint” the superb pick last night is shall we put it nicely specious but hollow.
Gristy Chewable: A reader emailed asking if the tenure was really true. Yes, it’s true. And the pay is for a part time job equal to the cost of a new teacher too. In addition, no BOE trustee can take a paid position after resigning without a 60 day grace period. In this case, David Anthony resigned as a trustee and took the paid role THE SAME DAY. The State Department of Education chimed in on the matter saying “if your board is stupid enough to do this and no one files a complaint, so be it.”
Got a tasty carrot for Da Horsey? Send an email to smartyjones@me.com or drop a dime on the varmint at
(201) 683-0250. All confidences remain, well confidential (as many of you now know.)
How often is it we can say there’s been a discovery in Hoboken and it’s not going to cost the town more money? You wouldn’t be alone in drawing a blank and in this case, some blank checks have been filled in quite nicely by the interim school superintendent Mr. Peter Carter. (Shown above holding up the checks or Santa’s early gift to the town.) Hoboken Now’s Amy Sara Clark reported on the surprising event last night.
You’ll hardly believe this part either. The monies have not been budgeted as receivables so it’s pretty much a Christmas present from Mr. Carter to the town. That’s one big bag of Santa’s booty he just hauled in, courtesy of the Hoboken Charter Schools rent payments going back to 2006.
If one wasn’t too careful, you’d think a new Dawn had arrived. Perhaps it has.
Interim Superintendent Carter photo courtesy Amy Sara Clark / Hoboken Now
Last shot for city business with the final regularly scheduled 2009 meeting of the City Council at 7:00 PM tonight. Here’s the full agenda:
And the resolutions. Note the area top right for primary and secondary sponsors.