It’s funny when people quote other people on an issue but insert a lie right at the top of the page.  Must be a severe Hoboken411 disorder or blind fealty to the errors demonstrated by their political allegiance to Tim Occhipinti.

Occhipinti is wrong.  You can not reprogram the County grant of $3 million to the Southwest not because of the mayor, not because it’s her decision, but BECAUSE OF THE COUNTY STIPULATIONS ON APPLYING THE GRANT MONEY.

Either way, this is a coverup.  Whoever is a member of this group should make a point of challenging such behavior by the person writing on the issue.  They can’t do it in the comments section of this group’s webpage.

The administrator of the HSPC page, like Hoboken411 censors comments.

As for the facts:

The comments here attributed to Tim Occhipinti’s statement on what Freeholder Anthony Romano agreed to are false.  Anyone contacting the Freeholder will quickly see he clearly states where and how the $3 million can be applied.  It isn’t in the Southwest.  There’s no property the city owns to apply it to and the reason is because no potential seller to this point has emerged.  No city ownership of a property to dedicate, no grant money.

It’s that simple.

Regarding Councilwoman Beth Mason’s request to split the funds with the Southwest.  Director Forbes was not sure on the answer, but MSV is clear.  You can’t do it.  A simple call to the County would confirm it, and it’s spelled out in the previous story.

MSV highlighted Mason’s application of her usage of the word transparency.  Where is the documentation on her $52,000 in street money?  Where’s your transparency Beth Mason?

As for this shadowy HSPC group, for all we know the author below lives about as far from the Southwest as you can get.

How’s that for transparent?

Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. City Council Approves Using Eminent Domain To Acquire SW Park Land The $3 Mil County Grant Was Not Approved For The SW Park The council said the re-programming of the $3 M in county grant funding for the SW park (as requested by Councilman Occhipinti) is the Mayor’s decision and they did not vote on it. The actual resolution on last night’s council agenda: Resolution of support for the use of Eminent Domain in the Southwest portion of Hoboken (submitted by Administration) The City Council approved the resolution 5-4: Bhalla: Yes Castellano: No Cunningham: Yes Giattino: No Marsh: Yes Mason: No Mello: Yes Occhipinti: Yes Russo: No Comments from council members (in no particular order): Councilman Tim Occhipinti: “The 4th Ward residents have waited longer than 3rd ward residents for a park. Sinatra already has $12 M in bonding and there has been no movement on the SW park. Our Freeholder, Romano, will support the money [$3M] being re-programmed for the SW. Bring us the evidence that you need to use eminent domain. Councilman Mello, if I support this, which Corporation Counsel says has no bearing, will we put forward the re-programming of funds to the SW?” Councilman Dave Mello: “Previous councils showed no willingness to use eminent domain. This kills the Administration’s leverage to go into negotiations. Nobody wants to use their bombs, but it helps in peace negotiations. We need to get the property prices close to appraised values.” Councilman Michael Russo: “This eminent domain pigeonholes us. You don’t need a resolution to use eminent domain. We always have the ability to use eminent domain.” Regarding the $3M grant, Russo felt the money would be better spent on the 6th & Jackson property which he described as more shovel-ready. “It might not be appropriate to put the $3M into the SW and rush this process. The Administration and Directors should find another place to put the funds which will then remove this resolution [eminent domain] from the table.” Councilwoman Carol Marsh: “I don’t take eminent domain lightly. I do support this.” Regarding the $3M grant, Marsh felt that if the funds are used on Sinatra Field, then “we are eating $3M in land acquisition funding.” Councilwoman Beth Mason: “This is unnecessary and not the way to do it. We need to do it with transparency with the property owners. We only heard about this three hours before tonight’s meeting.” Regarding the $3 M in grant funding, Mason inquired with Director Forbes if the money could be split between the SW park and another project in need. Director Forbes did not have the answer for that. Councilwoman Theresa Castellano: “This is a very sneaky underhanded tactic [eminent domain] to take property. There’s been no proper notice to the public or the property owners. This is a tactic by the Administration to say we voted against parks.” Councilman Peter Cunningham: “I was against eminent domain five years ago on the 11th & Grand property. It was a bad project. This project [SW] has a benefit to all residents of the city by providing parks and flood mitigation. I’m in support of seeing this done. And flood mitigation is what I support.” Council President Ravi Bhalla: “i can think of at least two members who support putting the funds towards the SW park, but they haven’t offered the tools necessary to move that forward.” Councilwoman Jen Giattino: (We had no audible quote from her regarding eminent domain but she did inquire if the $3M grant would need to be spent in a one year period. She did say she wants the $3M to go towards Sinatra Field.)