Dear Editor:
Just about a year ago Hoboken United picked up the reins of Hoboken’s municipal government by announcing “What We’ll Do:” Stop irresponsible development, control taxes, improve parking, clean up a city hall that needs it, increase citizen participation, unite our community. The summarizing statement was “acting, in every way, and all the time, in the interests of us all.”
Adults do, or should, realize that campaign promises are just that, promises. Here, not only have the promises for improvement been broken, “it’s the other guy’s fault” but some things are worse. Taxes have not been controlled. Despite an appreciable increase in taxpaying entities (ratables), the municipal rate is down by a fraction of a fraction. The completion and occupancy of several profit-making installations should have generated a large cut in our taxes. It didn’t happen!
Perhaps a new mop was bought to clean up city hall. I have not noticed. In another sense, the clean-up seems to have become a sweep-in, but not rapidly enough to deter a contributor from complaining that too few patronage positions had been filled to his satisfaction. What happened to the plank; advertising vacancies on public bodies so the best-qualified residents can be found? And whatever happened to the City ordinance that staffing be by residents?
We all know about parking. That’s another instance of “it’s the other guy’s fault.” Here is the Parking Authority, which is autonomous until it comes time to be rescued from ill-advised borrowing. This is not to mention that the City sits on under-utilized land which it owns while it talks about buying other properties for parking.
Bottom line. “We stand for reducing taxes by controlling spending and waste; developing fiscally sound budgets without reliance on one-shot revenues.” Despite world wide money problems, it would seem that the administration has not thought much about economizing, about belt-tightening, as governments and businesses everywhere are doing. Hoboken seems unique in spending money, time and effort on feel-good, optional things. It seems not to have assembled its staff to try to develop a logical, comprehensive approach to things municipal. But now it has decided to spend even more money, $50,000, to hire a company “to provide the implementation of revenue enhancement techniques for the benefit of the City.” Does this translate into even higher taxes and fees or will these experts suggest a lottery or an off-shore casino? It is conceivable that they would go so far as to mention “enhanced” productivity. This company’s resume starts with “provides investment banking and financial advisory services to governmental entities, financial institutions, corporations and non-profit groups.” It would seem that our good mayor has forgotten that when a photo-op was offered he signed a document requesting that the State Local government Budget Review Board, which provides its service without charge, put Hoboken on its list of clients. Has he, with his present authority, renewed that request or is he as reluctant as his predecessor for objective examination of the City’s money practices?
Helen Hirsch