Dear Editor:
Recently I announced my desire to run for a Council-at-Large seat in Hoboken. I invite anyone to call to discuss any of the issues I list below. (798-5446 E-mail:TCLmath@aol.com). These issues affect the sanity of life, the quality of life, or the purse strings of Hoboken residents.
I think it is certainly time to look at what the St. Patrick’s Day Parade has become in Hoboken. I’m sure that most involved would agree that the drinking in the streets is out of control. There is so much good that the parade evokes, but it is being ruined by those abusing alcohol. I personally witnessed a young man urinating on my fence and a friend saw two men urinating out of a window on Monroe Street. I believe the Parade committee and city officials must address these and other issues before the next parade.
Next month there is a school board election. Over the past few years it has been very clear to me that the residents of Hoboken have little interest in an elected school board. Voting is way down. Very few residents desire to run. Save the taxpayers money and go back to an appointed board.
This one is a no-brainer. Put the brakes on any construction permits. There has been way too much allowed to go on within streets and days of each other.
I’m sure the administration is going to address this as soon as spring comes, but the pot holes are deplorable.
As a community I think we have done a good job in the past of having decent affordable housing available to some residents. I believe Joe Barry and the Applied Companies have done the best job. And many families have been able to stay in Hoboken because they have lived in Clock Towers, Church Towers and Marine View and other Section 8 apartments, but it is perfectly clear that Hoboken’s character will severely weaken if people who have lived here all their lives cannot afford to stay any longer.
And, more importantly, there are still too many residents, mostly young people, who live in affordable but not decent housing conditions. As a 4th Ward resident, a former Housing Authority Commissioner and a teacher, it boggles my mind why we must live in a Tale of Two Cities. The seven and ten-story buildings of the Hoboken Housing Authority do not provide decent living conditions for its residents. This is an extremely sensitive and serious issue that can only be addressed by the residents themselves and the federal government (through HUD). Are residents and HUD officials willing to make drastic change to improve the living conditions of the people that live on federal property? Does Congressman Menendez think the government is providing a safe, decent, environment to the children who live in those bigger buildings? You can put millions of dollars in windows and grass and security contracts, but ask the people if life is better in those bigger buildings.
Two of my children attend the only Catholic Elementary School in Hoboken. A city that had five Catholic grammar schools 12 years ago, now has one. Change is difficult but you grow and survive. As Hoboken’s demographics have changed has the Hoboken Board of Education made the necessary changes to provide a thorough and efficient education to its young people without strangling the overburdened taxpayer?
Some of these issues are easy to address and some are much more difficult, but when residents and officials are sincere and not selfishly motivated, I know some of them can be properly addressed.
Terry LaBruno
Council-at-large candidate