Correction
During the editing process, a digit in a number was inadvertently left out of Maureen Sullivan’s letter in last weekend’s Hoboken Reporter. The first part should have read:
Dear Editor:
During the school board budget workshop on March 22, Business Administrator Robert Davis said Trenton was cutting our state aid by 25 percent while the county average was 8 per cent.
Why? I asked.
“Because you spend too much,” said Davis, a veteran of more than 40 school budgets in his career.
Bingo! We spend too much.
Campos sues police
Former Hoboken City Councilman Chris Campos has filed a lawsuit against a New York City police officer, as well as a Hoboken policeman, following his DUI arrest in 2007.
The civil lawsuit, filed early this year, names NYPD officer Joseph Liotta and HPD Sgt. James Peck as well as the cities of Hoboken and New York, according to Campos’ lawyer, Louis Zayas.
Campos is seeking damages because Liotta allegedly called Hoboken police dispatch, where Peck was stationed, asking if Campos was friendly to police in his capacity as a City Councilman, before making the arrest.
Zayas said the DUI arrest that followed, which came in the middle of Campos’ heated 4th Ward election with now-Mayor Dawn Zimmer, led to Campos’ “political demise” and loss of government work. He said the damages, if a jury finds in Campos’ favor, could exceed $1 million.
In October of 2008, Campos pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of Driving While Impaired.
A court date for the suit has been set for August 2010.
Police brutality claim
Two local brothers have filed a complaint with the Hoboken Police Department alleging police brutality following their arrest for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest two weeks ago.
Christopher Aponte, 28, and Fernando Aponte, 33, have filed separate complaints against the arresting officers in the March 20 incident. The Aponte brothers claim they were illegitimately stopped and allegedly roughed up by Hoboken police who were investigating a bar fight on Washington Street. The two brothers claim they had no involvement in the fight and were just passing by after stopping at a local eatery.
Two rough videos of the arrest was caught on camera and posted on the internet.
Hoboken Public Safety Director Angel Alicea could not comment on the case, but did say that an internal affairs investigation has been initiated. He said after reviewing the video that he did not believe police had done anything incriminating.
School election debate
A “Board of Education Candidates’ Forum” is scheduled for Monday, April 12 at 6:30 p.m. in Kidde Hall, the Stevens Institute of Technology campus at Sixth Street.
Voters will have the opportunity to hear directly from the 12 candidates running for seats on the Hoboken Board of Education.
In order to provide sufficient time to hear all candidates, the evening will be divided into two parts. The first segment will run from 6:30 to 8 p.m., during which Kyelia Colon, John Forsman, Ken Howitt, Jean Marie Mitchell, Irene Sobolov and Kathleen Tucker will be heard. The second portion of the evening will run from 8:15 to 9:45 and include Leon Gold, Perry Lin, John Madigan, Elizabeth Markevitch¸ Rose Marie Markle and Patricia Waiters.
Questions for the candidates will be written by the audience. Admission is free.
The event is sponsored by the Hoboken Quality of Life Coalition, People for Open Government, Hoboken Grace Community Church, and Stevens Institute of Technology.
Stevens garage before council
The City Council is in the middle of hearing three Zoning Board appeals, the next of which will be heard on Wednesday, April 17 at 7 p.m. in City Hall.
On Wednesday, the council will hear an appeal by a local activist group, Fund for a Better Waterfront, which opposes the construction of a new waterfront garage for the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken. They say they are concerned because the construction will re-route a city road and change traffic patterns on Sinatra Drive.
The garage is for students and staff and is not planned to be publically-accessible, but Stevens representatives say it will help alleviate some parking concerns in the area.
Shelter awareness week
The Hoboken Homeless Shelter is celebrating its 28th anniversary this month and to commemorate the event they are sponsoring Shelter Awareness Week from Saturday, April 17 to Sunday, April 25.
The shelter, 300 Bloomfield St., houses 50 people per night and serves over 300 meals per day to the needy.
In honor of its birthday, the shelter staff is accepting any gifts that residents can give, especially socks undergarments, and toiletries for guests.
For more information, call (201) 656-5069 or visit hobokenshelter.org.
Ice cream Boathouse fundraiser
Ben & Jerry’s, 405 Washington St., is donating a percentage of ice cream sales to the Hoboken Cove Community Boathouse on April 13 from 6 to 9 p.m.
The fundraiser is to support the volunteer-staffed free kayaking program at the Boathouse next to Maxwell Park Pier. Boathouse volunteers will be scooping ice cream for the event.
Italian descendants sought for exchange program
The Federazione Molfettesi D’America seeks descendants of Molfetta, Italy in order to participate in an exchange program with the City of Molfetta, Italy. Twelve people between the age of 18 and 40 will be selected to travel overseas during the first week in September, 2010. All interested should send a letter of interest no later than April 15 to Federazione Molfettesi D’America 112 Willow Ave., Hoboken, NJ 07030. Expenses will be paid by the sponsors.
Two author events this week
Two free events are taking place in Hoboken this week for writers and readers.
Queens author Eric Nelson has organized a literary event at Symposia Community Bookstore, 510 Washington St., for Friday, April 16 at 8 p.m.
The event will highlight some the New York metropolitan area’s “best and brightest” in the do-it-yourself (DIY) print community, including Andria Alefhia, Cassie J. Sneider, Gus Iverson and Veronica Liu, who will read short segments of their work.
Nelson recently released a book of short stories entitled “The Silk City Series,” a collection of tales all based in Paterson, N.J., his mother’s hometown.
For more information, call Symposia at (201) 963-0909.
Also this week, the Hoboken Public Library will host a forum in which Hoboken-based authors talk about the creative process and getting published. The forum will take place Wednesday at 6 p.m. at the library at 500 Park Avenue, and is free to the public. For more information on that event, see page 10.