At Thursday night’s meeting of the Hoboken Housing Authority Board of Commissioners, the seven unpaid members who help oversee the 1,353 federally subsidized housing projects welcomed their newest member, Jake Stuiver.
Stuiver had been appointed to the seat at a council meeting a week earlier that saw much wrangling over the slot. Even though positions are unpaid, the projects are a source of votes during election time, so some see the seat as a chance to gain visibility. Others see it as a way to help out an often neglected part of town.
Stuiver has volunteered in the projects and also recently ran political candidate Beth Mason’s mayoral campaign. He and Mason supported now-Acting Mayor Dawn Zimmer in the runoff election after Zimmer lost. Zimmer and her council majority voted for him to get the seat.
Several residents of the projects had said at the council meeting the previous week that outgoing commissioner Perry Belfiore should get to retain his seat. They also pointed out that the last person supported by Zimmer, former Commissioner Hector Claveria, ended up getting arrested months later for allegedly accepting a bribe to move someone up on a housing voucher waitlist.
Nevertheless, Zimmer’s council majority prevailed at the council meeting and Stuiver was picked. Another open seat will be decided at this week’s council meeting, and Belfiore has asked to retain it.
Thus, at this past Thursday’s Housing Authority meeting, Stuiver took his new seat. He told residents at the meeting, “I can’t promise we’ll always agree, but I can promise that I’ll always listen.”
Stuiver proved true to his word as he spoke nary a sentence after his introduction. After the meeting, he said that he was just listening and trying to get up to speed on the concerns of the residents.
Some of the notable candidates for the second open seat include Michael Lenz, the former city CFO and a close Zimmer ally; Joe Garcia, former Mayor Peter Cammarano’s chief of staff until he resigned immediately after Cammarano’s arrest in July; Rev. Anthony Forbes; former housing commissioner (and current projects resident) Linda Walker; and former City Council candidates Patricia Waiters and Timothy Occipinti.
Stuiver was later asked if he would be supporting either the Zimmer or Mason campaign in this coming November’s election.
“I have been way too focused on the work of trying to get up to speed for the Housing Authority position, organizing Mizvah Day, and various other projects I’m involved with to have given much thought to if or when I will take a public position on the upcoming election,” he said on Friday. “Obviously that’s something I’m going to have to think about.”
Security qualms
Also at the meeting, the Housing Authority debated how to improve security.
“Will people respect special police?” – Dominic Lisa
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But in the summer, the number of Hoboken police who can work those shifts dries up, even though they get paid overtime by the Housing Authority.
City Public Safety Director Angel Alicea, a former chairman of the housing board, was at the meeting to address some of the needs of the board. “The coverage is sporadic,” he said, “and that’s a problem.”
Commissioner (and 3rd Ward Councilman) Michael Russo asked whether it would be better to have a dedicated division of the Police Department for the HHA.
He said the authority could use the same $540,000 they are spending now on permanent crew of Hoboken’s finest.
Alicea agreed, but provided another option. He said the Union City Police Department uses “Class II” officers, or part-timers who work five or six hours per day at a rate reduced from full-time employees. “Class II” officers also do not receive health benefits, Alicea said.
Russo was open to the suggestion and recalled that the board bandied around the idea years ago before then-Police Chief Carmen LaBruno shot it down.
The board tried to use private security contractors instead, but sources said the security guards ended up working with drug-related offenders and alerting them of police action.
Commissioner Dominic Lisa wondered whether “Class II” officers would fare better.
“Will people respect special police? Because they damn well didn’t respect the private security,” he said.
Russo said he will ask at the next City Council meeting for more police officers to be hired.
Councilwoman Beth Mason, who is collecting signatures for another mayoral run, said during the public speaking portion of the meeting that Russo and the board should do the math to figure out exactly how many officers they need. She said a quick analysis of manpower needed for building sweeps and patrols could better support the case for more officers.
$15M budget to HUD
The HHA board also submitted the authority’s $15 million budget to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which oversees the finances for the public housing. The HHA also reported a paltry surplus of $113,000.
William Katchen, the HHA accountant, told the board that utility costs are higher than rental revenue, meaning that the operations of the Housing Authority are not breaking even. Additionally, he said the federal government isn’t subsidizing all of the costs.
“You have to continue to be concerned,” Katchen said. He said cost savings are best found by cutting back on salaries and benefits packages.
“The level of maintenance staff is high for the number of housing units that you have,” Katchen said.
Belfiore, who is still in his seat on holdover status, noted that the Authority is looking into “green” initiatives that may save money or, as Director Carmelo Garcia pointed out, may bring government incentives with them.
Timothy J. Carroll may be reached at tcarroll@hudsonreporter.com.