Dear Editor:
The St. Patrick’s Day parade is over, so the political season now starts in earnest. Over the next few weeks mayoral and council candidates will present their council candidates and their plans for the future. I’d like to offer some thoughts as to how the voters might come to their decisions as to whom to support.
Over the last 24 years we’ve elected some really bad mayors and council members. Tom Vezzetti was named “The Wackiest Mayor in America.” Pat Pasculli, a fine gentleman and outstanding public school teacher, was out of his depth in the corner office.
Anthony Russo brought a reign of terror to town and went to prison. Then, of course, there’s David Roberts. I think it’s fair to say that if malfeasance in office were a crime, Dave would be serving life.
Now there is an opportunity to elect a competent mayor and council, and while I no longer live in Hoboken, I am still a property owner, and therefore would like to toss in my two cents.
It’s an understatement to say that Hoboken faces significant fiscal challenges and that drastic action is needed to right the fiscal ship. I believe this means we should elect a mayor and council based only upon their solutions to deal with the fiscal crisis and other issues. Where they were born, the ward in which they live, whether they coached Little League, all of these sorts of things should be irrelevant.
The operative question is this: “You are going to be sworn in on July 1st. What will you do starting July 2 to start fixing the Roberts’ mess?”
To that end, insist that the candidates be specific. Tell any candidate that gives you the usual vague nonsense that you won’t support them. Don’t let them get away with things like “I’ll reduce payroll by attrition”, or “I’ll scour the budget line by line for efficiencies”. These lines are nonsense and should be treated as such.
Make them tell you what functions they’ll eliminate or reduce and the associated savings. Then hold them accountable. Tell them that if they don’t follow through starting July 2, 2009, they’ll face a recall on July 2, 2010.
Hoboken is a wonderful city that has been grossly mismanaged. The wallets of her residents have been used as an ATM by a succession of inept mayors and council members. The voters have an opportunity to put a stop to the raid on their wallets, but only if they vote for serious candidates who have the brains and the will to take serious action.
Sincerely,
Jonathan R. Gordon