An open letter to the citizens of Hoboken:On Wednesday, March 1, 2000, the City Council passed amendments to the Rent Control (RC) Law which are very dangerous to tenants. They are due to go into effect on March 20, 2000. If these amendments go into effect, hundreds of apartments will be decontrolled on vacancy, giving the landlord the incentive to kick out his tenants to gain vast increases in rent. The mayor and the majority of the council who voted for the amendments invented a false emergency which was designed to scare tenants in the very units that will be vacancy decontrolled and hoodwink them into believing the amendments had to be passed quickly to protect them. The emergency and the protection are both bogus; the real agenda of these amendments is to undermine and ultimately get rid of rent control, and in the process get rid of all of our less affluent rent-paying friends and neighbors who rely on rent control to be able to live in Hoboken. In response, a committee of petitioners has formed to circulate a referendum petition which protests these anti-tenant RC amendments and demands that they either be repealed or put on the ballot for a binding referendum vote. If we gather enough signatures on our petition and submit them to the City Clerk by March 20, then the amendments will not go into effect until and unless the voters approve them at the polls. This petition is the only chance tenants and their fair-minded friends and neighbors will have to stop these destructive rent control amendments from going into effect. We ask that you sign the petition when you see us on the street and that you contact us if you can help circulate petitions. The referendum is the only form of direct democracy left in America, it is the only way citizens can have a say on major issues, like Vacancy Decontrol. If you want more information, we’ll be on the streets of Hoboken and will be glad to give you the low down. But for a brief description, consider the following song that I wrote awhile ago, when the mayor and council first introduced Vacancy Decontrol. It’s amazing how little things have changed. Put It On The Ballot! (C)1981
Come on people, gather around
Find out what’s happened in Hoboken town
The time is now, yeah, it all happened today
A few months back many of you
Cast your votes and elected this crew
Now that they’re in, they’re giving your rights away
If you’re paying rent, hear what I say
Thanks to City Hall, you’re in trouble today
Pretty soon you just may have to move out of town
For the Mayor and Council did ordain
That the Rent Control Law had to be changed
Pretty soon not many of us poor ones will be left around
If you want to beat it, put it on the ballot!
If you want to beat it, better put it it to the vote!
If you want to beat it, sign the petition today!
They represent us? What a lie
They’ve decided to give the landlord a prize—
If he can kick you out, then he can jack up the rent
You out of your home, that’s the goal
Vacancy Decontrol
And the next guy will pay another 95 percent!
Perhaps a few of you are a little like me
You wish you were living in a democracy
When you go to the polls you wish you had some kind of choice
Gets so frustrating, it makes you want to scream
If you’re thinking at all, then you know what I mean
Screaming ain’t allowed, besides you haven’t get a voice
If you want to beat it, put it on the ballot!
If you want to beat it, better put it it to the vote!
If you want to beat it, sign the petition today!
Now the time for excuses has come to an end
It doesn’t take a genius to see the trend
If we run away now, there’s no place left to go
We’ve got to hang together, we’re under attack
We’ll be kicked out of town if we don’t fight back
Here’s a chance for you to say No!!
If you want to beat it, put it on the ballot!
If you want to beat it, better put it it to the vote!
If you want to beat it, sign the petition today!