Dear Editor:
After reading Shelley Miller’s last letter, I’m left just as confused as she sounds. She complains “Mayor Roberts critics thinks he’s not moving fast enough to make changes.” Why shouldn’t we when two high-rises are nearing completion on the west side, and four have been approved on the Maxwell House site, while we wait for his administration to reform the laws that re-zone this city.
As evidence of his “success” Ms. Miller states that Mayor Roberts reformed even the “most corrupt city agencies.” Really, Shelley? Which agencies are you referring to?
You can’t mean the zoning board where Roberts just re-appointed all the former Russo commissioners. Nor can you mean the planning board where more Russo supporters were kept on, and Beth Mason — the driving force behind the master plan — resigned over Roberts’ lack of action.
It might be the Alcohol Beverage Control board that was corrupt — the board where the Chair went to jail for taking cash bribes. Or maybe not, as he is the husband of your third ward running mate. Was it the Parking Authority, where Mayor Roberts insists on retaining Joanne Serrano despite her record of failure?
Which corrupt agencies are you speaking of, Ms. Miller? Or is this just a line that sounds like progress when there is none to show?
Perhaps you think, Ms. Miller, that two years in office are just not enough to make substantive changes. I disagree! Two years is plenty of time to trim the $12 million dollar deficit out of our municipal budget and eliminate our dependence on “one shot” revenues. To focus the education debate on students’ achievements, not buildings. To infuse our public boards and commissions with exciting new participants, rather than recycle the same tired faces. To make our City Government friendly and accessible to all.To remove cars from our pedestrian crossings and ensure that our seniors and kids cross our streets safely. Two years is long enough to install a better and accountable government, and it is certainly long enough to keep promises!
Ron Rosenberg
1st Ward City Council Candidate
Hoboken Alliance For Accountable Government