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Last night’s City Council meeting was notable in one instance.  While a Business Administrator is not present in City Hall, some bills were not promptly paid giving MORTe a beautiful chance to block the additional bills for payment as it requires six votes.

Grafix Avenger has a brilliant breakdown on the politics behind the latest moves and how an exasperated Corporation Counsel finds himself and his law firm unpaid as a result.  No one is surprised this took place but it’s unfortunate that Hoboken is in transition with the Business Administrator role.  It looks like this is the result of that transition and sadly, it’s the professionals serving the City’s interests who are in the line of fire. Read More...

Dear Editor:

I previously had written to the Hoboken Reporter back in October of 2011 informing Beth Mason her focus on the hospital sale was misplaced and she needed to re-focus her attention on the proposed Monarch project that was to be developed by Shipyard Associates in her own 2nd ward. Unfortunately I have felt compelled to remind Ms. Mason that again she has lost her focus on this important issue. Though we appreciated her attendance at the Hudson County Planning Board meeting and speaking out against the project, she has been inconsistent with her approach regarding this matter.

Four times an emergency temporary appropriation has been put before the Hoboken City Council and two times she voted against this appropriation and for the other two votes she was absent from the city council meeting (in which she could have easily called in to vote). This emergency temporary appropriation would fund the legal defense team that is representing the city in its legal fight against the proposed Monarch project. This legal team has made significant progress in this battle by recently filing suit in the superior court of New Jersey to compel Shipyard Associates to construct open space as the original developers agreement required and filed an injunction to prevent the construction of the two eleven story towers on the pier platform. In addition, they are also appealing the recent NJ Department of Environmental Protection decision to issue the Waterfront Development Permit that would allow construction on the pier platform.

It should also be noted that the Fund for a Better Waterfront and the Hoboken Residents for a Public Waterfront have also appealed the NJ DEP’s decision to issue this permit but Shipyard Associates is attempting to have their appeals thrown out which makes the City of Hoboken’s appeal that much more important.

Therefore I am hereby requesting as a 2nd ward resident that Beth Mason vote in favor of this emergency temporary appropriation in totality and stop playing politics where it is not welcome or necessary.

Respectfully submitted,

Eric, Michelle and Ethan Sandler



This letter originally appeared in the weekend paper.   Read More...

The City Council presented with some outstanding bills for vendors unprocessed required six votes for normal course of business payments.  Six votes, typical, paying bills, normal? Yes, normal for over five-hundred municipalities in the State of New Jersey except for Hoboken.

Why?  Well any financial budget item requiring more than five votes is an opportunity for sabotaging the City and MORTe NEVER misses that opportunity to do harm.  In this case, it’s not the taxpayers who bear the brunt of their scorn, but the professionals such as the Corporation Counsel and his law firm with a bill in the range of $200,000. Read More...

Tonight another round of the Hoboken City Council follies is on tap with some comedic humor; the usual pure politics brought to bear by Councilman Michael Russo in resolution #2 where MORTe looks to present a bill for the protest walkout of council members Carol Marsh and Peter Cunningham.

There’s still no actual resolution just hours before the meeting.  This is the type of transparency Hoboken government observers are use to from the Beth Russo hydra.  

Does anything need to be said about the irony of this coming from the public face of the Russo clan who have made looting the Hoboken taxpayers as only his family has in recent and past years the family business? Read More...

From the desk of Assemblyman Ruben Ramos:

In 1999, I was diagnosed with Stage 2B Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. Thankfully, I was able to navigate the system and am in my eleventh year of remission. Unfortunately, millions of Americans are not as lucky. The federal government spends an extraordinary amount of money on healthcare. Individuals and families were often left without coverage due to “pre-existing conditions,” administrative errors, and clauses that allowed companies to suddenly discontinue coverage. The system was broken. Read More...

Was it over a month ago since the Valentine’s meeting of the BoE where this shot of Councilwoman Beth Mason and political operative Matt Calicchio in her employ was taken?

It is but the echoes of that meeting live on and not solely in the misinformation from MORTe in the City Council where every aspect of their argument has been outright wrong or simply false information.

Tonight’s Council meeting will feature Resolution Number 2: a Michael Russo concoction seeking to charge Council members Carol Marsh and Peter Cunningham for leaving an earlier council meeting last month.  This was in protest at the risk of a one day MORTe majority adding less than weak Hoboken Zoning Board members like Michael DeFusco who MSV heard made a hollow speech bereft of legal facts on behalf of a developer who has broken numerous rules in a bar construction on lower Jackson Street. Read More...

You hear the worst things about radiation. Radiation?  That may not be an exact quote from the Tuesday night budget hearing but it does come close to a somewhat accurate line from the movie “Repo Man.”  In this case it’s not a mad scientist carrying radioactive material in the trunk of his car but a reference to documentation as in “You hear the worst things about documentation.”

How can documenting something be bad?  Well watch the video clip and let Tim Occhipinti explain to you how sending an email of your request is an onerous request. Read More...

The video will reload for the complete evening’s events for those who wish to watch.

Public Safety Director Jon Tooke is discussing an increase in adding public safety.  There’s discussion of adding headcount to fire and also to the police department satisfying available grant criteria to cover costs in a two to three year window.