Many legal eagles will tell you the best way to win a law case is to avoid having it heard in court. This means that settling out of court often avoids the risk that a ruling by a judge or jury might slam the defendant.
Secaucus recently learned this lesson the hard way when it lost its gay harassment suit. In that case, Secaucus made several settlement offers, but could not escape the fact that the two homosexual former residents knew they had a strong enough case to win – and did.
Nonetheless, the strategy prevails. In Hoboken, Councilwoman Beth Mason was thwarted in a recent state Supreme Court decision, not by her arguments, but by the fact that she did not file her suit against the city within the 45 days stipulated under state law.
Instead of arguing whether Hoboken complied with requirements to supply requested information to her in a timely fashion, the case was decided on technicalities.
This is similar to the case in Bayonne in which several parents challenged the constitutionality of the school uniform policy. Rather than have a court decide, Bayonne school officials argued that the parents did not file the lawsuit in time. The court agreed, but also noted that this was not a ruling on the merits of the case.
More appalling is the recent effort in Jersey City to deny voters the right to decide by referendum if public officials are entitled to pad their pensions by holding salaried government jobs and elected positions at the same time. Councilman Steve Fulop is seeking to get two referendums on the November ballot, one that would set strict guidelines against political contributions from those working for or doing business with the city. The second would strip elected officials of extra pension money and health benefits, if they already have a government job and are receiving a pension and benefits.
The multiple benefits are particularly offensive at a time when most people in the private sector are being cut back, and many of those footing the bill for these benefits through their taxes often make far less in salary than the government officials do.
Some residents would like to go farther than Fulop and do away with the state pension system entirely, suggesting that government employees might adopt the same retirement designs as private sector, where the employee puts away money and the employer matches a small percentage of it.
The lucrative pension packages enjoyed by government employees including teachers, police, firefighters and others were developed at a time when government salaries were much lower than those of the private sector, and these benefits were designed to lure and keep qualified employees.
Getting local legislators to change the law is next to impossible because they generally are those who benefit most from the status quo. So those interested in changing things must resort to other means such as ballot referendum that would pose limits on local officials.
The terrifying aspect of this for officials is that Fulop’s idea is spreading to other communities, shaking up a number of people throughout Hudson County who see the extra fringe benefits being stripped away.
In order to get a referendum on the ballot, you have to get signatures from registered voters. The number depends on several factors. This is where public officials who are trying to protect their turf and their pensions managed to divert the matter. Many months ago, Fulop asked City Clerk Robert Byrne well in advance as to how many signatures he needed. Byrne gave him a number, and then sent the request to the city’s attorney for review.
The city counsel raised no objection at the time. So Fulop went and gathered the 3,000 signatures needed for the referenda. After the filing deadline, the city counsel raised objection, saying that Fulop actually needed 12,000 signatures for one of the measures.
Yes, Fulop could wait until next year to push for the referendum, but with the presidential election bringing out many voters this November who would not come out in other years, the best chance for passage is this election.
In Hoboken, where Councilwoman Beth Mason has proposed the exact same restrictions, the issue is facing a split vote on the City Council, with Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer apparently the deciding vote. (In Jersey City, Fulop’s measures were also brought before the City Council, but were not passed, making the next step a petition for a referendum.)
Thus, in Hoboken, what should be a clear-cut case for the reformers instead gets lost in a haze of political alliances, since a significant number of Hoboken reformers now have connection to Hudson County Democratic Organization members who do not want these reforms to move forward.
Stack and Vega meet
State Sen. and Union City Mayor Brian Stack met with West New York Mayor Sal Vega at the Riverside Diner on near the Guttenberg border two weeks ago.
The meeting was significant because it suggested the peace between the two former rivals for the state senate in the 33rd district is real.
The usually glib Vega joked that he and Stack share affection for diner food.
“We go out to diners a lot,” he said, “So it is only natural that we should meet up with each other. Both have a love for late snacks and local diners.”
Vega said he had his usual diner food, cheese cake and coffee, but could not recall what Stack had.
“You’ll have to ask him.” Stack didn’t say what he had to eat, but said the meeting with Vega covered a number of subjects including politics.
“But we also talked about common issues. After all, our two towns have a common border,” Stack said.
Vega said local politics appears to have taken a back seat to the upcoming presidential election.
“Next year will be a big year in local politics when we’ll have to select a governor and our state legislature,” he said.
Vega joked that he is not considering a run for lieutenant governor, a new seat voters will have to select next year.
Hoboken election talked up
The short list for potential mayoral candidates in Hoboken isn’t short. But most agree that five names dominate the list: Council members Beth Mason, Michael Russo and Peter Cammarano, as well as Frank Raia and incumbent Mayor Dave Roberts.
Theories vary on what might happen, although some challengers believe that the large field of very qualified candidates could cancel each other out, leaving Roberts to get re-elected.
Another theory sees Russo and Raia canceling each other out, leaving Mason and Cammarano in a runoff. This is a nightmare scenario for some reformers who would be hard pressed to choose between the two.
One theory has Mason running at the top of a ticket that includes Russo, giving her the sorely needed base in the Old Hoboken community that is needed for her to get elected.
Cammarano already seems to have the foundation of a formidable ticket.