Dear Editor:
A letter published on this page last week reminded me of an old saying: “Against stupidity, the gods themselves labor in vain.” In her letter to the editor in last week’s Hoboken Reporter, Beth Mason seems to have forgotten recent events, or has decided to falsify them.
Councilwoman Mason belatedly vents her frustration at a State takeover of Hoboken’s municipal finances. She goes so far as to chide her Council colleagues, who (according to Mason) “rather than dealing with the job they were elected to do…were quick to hand over the problem to someone else.” I am gratified that Councilwoman Mason feels that the City Council should tackle the City’s financial problems. However, I am gravely disappointed that she did not feel this way three months ago, when it could have made a difference and avoided the State takeover.
At a special City Council meeting on June 1, 2008, the Council was in receipt of an order from the State of New Jersey, instructing the Council to pass a budget within days. The Council voted on one measure only at that special meeting, a resolution that would have allowed the Council to pass a budget as ordered. During the meeting, I strongly urged the Council to pass the resolution, because to do otherwise meant defying a State order, and risked a State takeover of the City’s finances.
The measure failed by one vote; Councilwoman Mason was among the five who voted against the resolution. Despite her spin to the contrary, it was that vote cast by Councilwoman Mason on June 1 that cavalierly defied a State order to pass a budget, and literally invited a State takeover of our municipal finances.
Now, at long last, it is Councilwoman Mason who (according to her letter) “strongly believes that the City Council – not unelected State bureaucrats – should solve the City’s financial problems. That’s what we were elected to do.” Indeed, Councilwoman Mason, but again: too little, too late. Her letter proves that she’s willing to talk the talk. Unfortunately, her vote proves that she is unwilling to walk the walk.
If Councilwoman Mason personally authored last week’s letter, she needs to revisit our June 1 Council meeting, and make amends.
But if one of her high-priced political consultants authored the letter, she should ensure they watch the City Council meetings, and that her “message” is consistent with her voting record.
Peter Cammarano
Councilman-at-Large