Citizens of Hoboken:
In the May City Council election the Hoboken Citizens Organization (HCO) has three candidates: Cheryl Fallick (Sixth Ward), Alice Misiewicz (Second Ward), and myself (First Ward). Along with stopping Hoboken’s overdevelopment, ending harmful government/private partnerships (including PILOT / redevelopment designations), and creating and preserving public open space, our platform includes:
* To protect tenants’ rights, rent control must be maintained. — We have worked ceaselessly to preserve rent control since 1981, and have successfully prevented its being repealed in four referendum petition drives (1981, 1989, 1994, and 2000). The reason is simple: Hoboken’s current popularity allows huge rents to be extracted from tenants, and if rent control is eliminated, hundreds of tenants will lose their homes and be forced out of town.
* Save Demarest and Hoboken High School — The Demarest and Hoboken High schools should be retained and necessary renovations completed. The School Board has approved the decommission (and possible demolition) of both the historic Demarest Middle School and Hoboken High School. Both are still viable schools which recently had major renovations paid for with taxpayer dollars. The School Board is planning to build new and potentially inferior schools in the Northwest Redevelopment Zone, the most polluted section of Hoboken and farthest from a central location. Taxpayers will pay for demolition and building the new schools even though they already paid for partial renovations to the existing schools. Who benefits? The School Board can sell decommissioned school property to favored developers for bargain prices at the expense of the Hoboken’s children and taxpayers.
* Parking and traffic — Overdevelopment contributes substantially to Hoboken’s parking crisis. The more commercial and residential units are crammed into Hoboken, the more traffic will be generated, and the more parking will be required. Existing parking regulations should be fully enforced and zip cars and permit restrictions should be considered.
* No surveillance cameras in Hoboken parks — The City Council should act to prevent use of surveillance cameras in public spaces. Recently, the Council voted to spend $75,000 to install surveillance cameras in four Hoboken locations, including Sinatra and Pier A Parks. No evidence was given of an increase in crime. Our Constitution requires that a court must rule that there is “probable cause” to put a citizen under surveillance — our Council should not undermine our Constitutional protections.
* The City Council should put all major changes to Hoboken’s laws on the ballot for a binding referendum vote, and should legislate to reduce the number of signatures needed for a citizen-initiated referendum. Major actions have been taken by the Mayor and Council that have forever changed our quality of life and our tax obligations with little regard for what the Citizens want. Instead, our City Council should insure that citizens have a real voice in our government by facilitating the use of Direct Democracy through Referendum.
Please contact me (201-656-7774, symbitar@aol.com) if you have any questions, comments, or a desire to help with our campaign.
Thank you for your consideration.
Daniel Tumpson
Hoboken Citizens Organization