The Hoboken City Council approved upgrades for parks, amended local political contribution limits, and discussed meeting etiquette on Wednesday night.
Hoboken residents will begin to see upgrades to three city parks after the council awarded a $239,500 contract to Louis Barbato Landscaping.
The parks to be repaired first are the Boys and Girls Club Park on Jefferson Street, the park near 120 Jackson St., and a small park near 1300 Willow Ave.
Director of Health and Human Services Leo Pellegrini said the new upgrades will conform the sites to new state park regulations set to take effect in 2014.
“I have an obligation to bang this gavel.” – Council President Ravinder Bhalla
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The park repairs are scheduled for completion in the winter.
Political contribution limits finally passed
Nine months removed from its first introduction, the City Council finally approved a new ordinance that sets lower contribution limits from political action committees to candidates for local office. Under the new rules, PACs can only donate $500 to candidates for council or mayor, which is much more restrictive than the state’s $8,200 limit.
The sponsors of the ordinance were Council President Ravinder Bhalla and Councilman Peter Cunningham. The allies of Mayor Dawn Zimmer supported the ordinance, while council members Tim Occhipinti, Beth Mason, and Michael Russo opposed the measure. Councilwoman Theresa Castellano abstained from the vote, stating that she funds her own campaigns.
The legislation became a hot issue after Mason donated $8,200 from her largely self-funded PAC to Occhipinti during a special election in November 2010 to help oust a Zimmer-back candidate.
Before the vote, Bhalla said, “There has been a corrosive influence of money in politics. You shouldn’t have to be a millionaire to run for council.”
Bhalla added that the rule will be “one means to put a check on the influence that money has had” in local elections.
Zimmer’s allies first introduced the measure to limit contribution donations in February. However, these allies were in the minority, a factor that changed this past July.
At the meeting, Occhipinti read a memo from a state legislative attorney who said Hoboken’s new limits to PAC’s could be preempted by state law.
“It hasn’t been challenged in the courts,” Cunningham said in response to the claim that the law could be preempted. “There are several municipalities in the state that have adopted similar language.”
Fighting over etiquette
The council meeting turned contentious when council members Russo and Castellano criticized Bhalla for the way he runs the meetings. The pair took issue with not being able to amend a bond ordinance vote.
Russo called Bhalla “a dictator.”
“Councilwoman Castellano and [Councilman] Russo don’t like the way I run these meetings,” Bhalla said during the meeting. “I take that as a compliment…my job as council president is to try and run a meeting that’s orderly.”
Cunningham, the council vice president, supported Bhalla, saying he does “a fantastic job” as council president.
Bhalla said he “is not going to be bullied” by council members, but his opponents think the council president is the one doing the bullying.
“I have an obligation to bang this gavel,” Bhalla said in response to questions about how he operates the meetings. Since Bhalla became the council president, the meetings have become shorter.
The incident that provoked the comments occurred when the council was prepared to vote on a bond ordinance that would approve $2 million in money owed to retiring city workers. Russo wanted a list of the retired workers to see where the money was going. After a brief discussion, Bhalla asked the clerk to call for the vote. But Russo asked for an amendment to only approve approximately $250,000 of the bond, since the council was only able to identify where that much money was to be spent.
A bond ordinance requires affirmative votes at both meetings, so the business administrator recommended that the council vote yes to introduce the ordinance, and then they would be briefed on the recipients over the next few weeks before they take a final vote. The measure eventually passed by a 5-4 vote.
Bhalla did not allow Russo’s amendment to be introduced because he had already begun the vote. Russo began arguing with him.
Bhalla threatened to have a police officer remove Russo from the meeting because of the argument, but the argument eventually cooled down.
Settlement with Hoboken Unleashed
After a battle lasting for more than a year, the city of Hoboken and Hoboken Unleashed, a local pet daycare center, reached a $15,000 settlement after a dispute over a garage property at 1714 Willow Ave.
The council approved the settlement on Wednesday, awarding Hoboken Unleashed the money.
The dispute originally arose in the summer of 2010 when the city signed a lease to the Willow Avenue property to move their municipal garage operations there. However, Hoboken Unleashed already had a lease in place. Hoboken Unleashed took the city and the landlord of the property to court.
Because of the controversy, municipal garage operations were forced to return to their original Observer Highway location. It is unknown if the city will now look to move up to 1714 Willow.
Ray Smith may be reached at RSmith@hudsonreporter.com