At Wednesday’s City Council meeting, five councilpeople who are opponents of Mayor Dawn Zimmer voted to cut salaries for her and her directors. It was their last chance to do so before they lose the council majority in July due to recent elections.
The council also scheduled a budget hearing to adopt a $101.7 million municipal budget that will allow a $4.1 million surplus to be returned to taxpayers. The returning of the surplus is controversial, as Zimmer’s allies wanted to keep it on hand.
The day after the meeting, the salary ordinances were swiftly vetoed, as promised, by the mayor.
‘I conveyed to the agent that we are not attempting to interfere with this investigation.’ – Council President Beth Mason
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Cutting salaries
At the meeting, Council President Beth Mason, a frequent mayoral critic, said cutting the salaries would save taxpayer money.
The mayor took a $14,000 pay cut when she took office in 2009. She now earns approximately $116,000 annually.
The directors’ salaries vary, but they earn approximately $103,000. The ordinance calls for the range to be lowered, and the salaries to be set between $70,000 and $90,000 annually.
Mo DeGennaro, a long time government activist and frequent speaker, said at the meeting that he is not taking a side politically but doesn’t agree with the current salaries.
“In other towns they’re taking less money,” DeGennaro said. “I think it should be brought down to a reasonable rate. You guys know what a reasonable rate is.”
Zimmer is currently the highest paid mayor in Hudson County. However, she works full-time, while several mayors in Hudson County are part-time.
“We went out and benchmarked, and we’re way above everybody else,” Mason said, noting that Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy took a pay cut in 2009, lowering his salary to $112,000.
Mason also pointed out that Bayonne Mayor Mark Smith, who governs a city similar in size to Hoboken on a full-time basis, makes approximately $72,000.
Councilman Michael Russo said he didn’t “want the public to be fooled.”
“We’re not talking about lowering their salaries to $20,000,” Russo said. “The directors are still going to make $90,000 a year and the mayor is still going to make $100,000 a year…we’re not taking food out of their mouths.”
Zimmer’s allies said maintaining the current salaries will attract top talent for city directors, and lowering them is “not in the best interests of the city of Hoboken.”
Budget hearing
Mason scheduled the budget hearing and final vote for June 29 at 7 p.m., two days before Mason loses her majority and, most likely, her council presidency.
Councilwoman-elect Jennifer Giattino will replace 6th Ward Councilman Nino Giacchi on July 1. Giattino won the May 10 council election with Zimmer’s support.
The council’s main budget issue is what to do with the $4.1 million cash surplus.
Mason and her allies want to give the surplus back to the taxpayers, applying it to the municipal tax levy to provide immediate relief. Zimmer and her allies cite municipal government recommendations that a 5 to 10 percent cash surplus is fiscally prudent.
Zimmer said two weeks ago that if the council spends the entire surplus she cannot guarantee job security for city workers.
After amending the mayor’s budget at the June 1 council meeting it was sent to the state Department of Community Affairs for review. The council majority expected to adopt the budget on Wednesday.
However, the state review was not completed before June 15, according to Business Administrator Arch Liston. Liston also said the public hearing had not been properly noticed. The next regularly-scheduled council meeting comes after Giattino takes office, and the new council would most likely reject the measure to eliminate the surplus. Thus, Mason, after hearing that the final vote on the budget could not happen at the June 15 meeting, scheduled the hearing and final vote on the budget two days before Giattino is sworn into office, ensuring that Mason and her allies will make the final decision on the budget.
The mayor cannot veto those amendments.
The FBI and the e-mails
Allegations continue to fly on local blogs and websites about a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) criminal probe in City Hall. The official word from the city has been there has been a potential breach of the city’s electronic communication system (meaning e-mails), and Zimmer’s administration called in the FBI to investigate.
The city does not comment on personnel matters. But timesheets obtained by The Reporter indicate that the two Information Technology office employees have not been to work since May 17 and May 18, around the same time the third floor Information Technology office was padlocked.
A week later, on May 26, FBI agents removed computers from the IT office. Sources say a computer was taken from at least one other office in City Hall.
A city spokesperson was asked why the two employees have not been at work for approximately a month, but would not comment, citing it as a personnel matter. City officials often do not comment on personnel matters, but can usually only say if someone is employed with the city.
The spokesperson said that the two workers from the IT department are still employees of the city.
Around the same time as the investigation, Mason happened to be pushing a resolution asking to view e-mails between two of Zimmer’s aides and the local press and bloggers. She said she was concerned that the mayor’s aides have used city time to do political work.
The council has adopted a resolution saying the e-mails will be given to the council if the FBI approves.
Mason took her request for the e-mails a step further last week, announcing at Wednesday’s meeting that she called a field agent from the FBI to explain the situation.
“I conveyed to the agent that we are not attempting to interfere with this investigation,” Mason said. “In fact, we requested this information before the investigation even started. I explained that we are simply attempting to determine if taxpayers’ money is being used for political purposes.”
Mason said the FBI told her the city attorney would give the FBI the e-mails from the two aides, and the FBI would decide whether the release of the e-mails would interfere with their investigation.
Elevator business
Residents of Hoboken, including regular attendees of council meetings, spoke out to the council because the elevator in City Hall has been inoperable for some time.
“This inconveniences the public,” said Helen Hirsch, a resident who uses a walker.
The council approved a contract for the emergency repair of the elevator at the meeting, and Liston estimated that repairs would take approximately two to three weeks.
“The city ought to be ashamed of itself that it’s not taken care of this,” said DeGennaro, who uses a wheelchair and often attends meetings.
He also used the opportunity to vent about frustrations with the city government in general.
“We see nine council people, and we see a thousand questions asked,” DeGennaro said. “No one seems to know what’s going on. Whether it be on the elevator; whether it be on anything…don’t you guys believe in homework?…I wish all of you people had to answer to the public more than once every four years. Maybe then something would get done.”
Ray Smith may be reached at RSmith@hudsonreporter.com