Dear Editor:
I attended the Hoboken Alliance launch party at the Shannon Lounge and was impressed by the people I saw there and by their ideas for Hoboken’s future. I was NOT impressed by the Mayor’s complaint that the group was ignoring traditional Hoboken. What could this possibly mean?
The Hoboken Alliance represents parents and singles, with children in public, charter, and private schools. They are diverse from Italian to Portuguese to French to long time American to you name it. One was born in Hudson County, one in Puerto Rico, one in Israel. They have business owners and employees. They have been tenants and owners here in Hoboken. They are involved in our community, and have been for a long time. They vote here.
They only tradition this ticket seems to break is that not one of them has a City Hall job or a relative on the public payroll. Contrast this with the Mayor’s allies on the council, DelBoccio currently gets a pension from his job as a school administrator, Rosanne Andreula’s husband worked for the schools until he went to jail for corruption at the Alcohol Beverage Control board. Campos is late to the game, but last week he was hired by Hudson County, fresh out of law school, at over $60,000 per year. Giacci’s mother works for the city finance department, and Ramos’s mother was hired after Mayor Roberts was sworn in, while her son works in the Paterson Public schools for a former Hoboken City Councilman.
Each of these individuals may do a great job, but is such a ‘connection’ a requirement for public office? The “tradition” that public service should be motivated by hope of public employment or private benefit is much of the reason that Hoboken faces a $10,000,000 deficit next year.
No, that is not what I believe the Mayor meant by traditional – in my opinion, he meant they were not born in Hoboken. This Mayor is trying the oldest trick in the book, pitting group against group. But you can’t fool all of the people all of the time.
Old and new have no place to park. Old and new demand effective and efficient city services. Old and new play in the parks and on the fields. These were the people, Mayor, who gave you a chance to unite our community, and these are the people, old and new, who will hold you accountable.
Stacy Irwin