Dear Editor:
Hard-pressed taxpayers may want to take a look at what has been going on behind the “facade” known as the McGinley Square Special Improvement District.
As owner of a commercial property located a mere one city block from the boundary of the McGinley Square SID, I have for several months been attending regular bi-monthly meetings of the Board of Directors looking ahead to one day perhaps joining the organization as a full-fledged member. I often made comments and asked questions at these meetings, seeking general information on the way things work and possible benefits of membership. The responses were always respectful, and informative, that is until the meeting on May 22, when things got ugly.
It was the annual reorganization meeting. I simply asked the group which consisted of a few Board members led by president Alan Bardack, David Biagini of FirstTeam Management Corp, which runs the SID, and his employee, Christine Baresi, executive director, for general information on procedures governing the recent election of board members. Before I was able to complete my inquiry, I was rebuked, and subsequently heavy-handedly ruled out of order by the outgoing president, who objected for the very first time to a comment I had made at the previous meeting in April, recommending that local shopping districts such as McGinley Square could aid in reducing US dependency on foreign oil, that the president regarded as irrelevant!
Eh? What did that have to do with my question on re-election procedures? What message does Bardack’s strident remark also communicate to the general public, regarding respect for the integrity of the environment, and the critical need to reduce America’s perilous dependency on foreign oil? It was insulting.
I felt like I was being squelched further, as manager Biagini, executive director Baresi and Roger Hejazi, the new president, joined Bardack’s attack, incredibly, stridently, asserting for the very first time ever in these meetings, that I had no standing because my property was outside the SID! I objected strenuously that I had the common Right to Know, simply as a taxpayers, to no avail. So much for democracy, and the dignity of the taxpayer!
A short time after, I left the meeting in complete disgust, after witnessing another travesty, the seating of two new Board members, elected in questionable circumstances, and the election of the new officers, nominated by the president and unopposed by the majority of the scant few Board members present who remained conspicuously silent in the midst of all of these goings on! Remember that ol saw, “Silent is assent?”
Incredibly, two very effective Board members, Ms. Charlene Burke and Valerie Vlahkis, “lost” the election, and their committee posts to boot, in the aforesaid questionable election. The way I see it, it was a disgraceful coup, Banana Republic style! They were “kicked out” because they were inclined frequently to ask penetrating questions regarding the budget, and other items on the agendas, that apparently were disturbing to Bardack, the obviously disgruntled managers and the others.
There are four SIDs in Jersey City: McGinley Square, Newark Avenue, Central Avenue and Journal Square. They can receive hundreds of thousands in taxpayer dollars each year, including matching state grants, to fund activities such as facade replacement grants, advertising, streetscape improvements, and last but certainly not least, the salaries of the management officials and others selected exclusively by them to “improve” the business districts.
After several years of hefty expenditures, nearly a million dollars spent so far, what have taxpayers got at McGinley Square? Fast-food joints and discount stores. Two banks moved out, and several stores have remained vacant for months and years. This is “special improvement?” Pshaw!
All of this begs the question, “Who are the real beneficiaries of the McGinley Square SID, and are Special Improvement Districts in need of “improvement”…forever? Where does the “gravy train” end?
Vincent Pantozzi