To the Editor:
Let’s get right to the point. Who the hell does Mark Smith think he is? How dare he criticize the city council for voting to agree to settle lawsuits? Lawsuits we would not have had if it is wasn’t for his city council voting to agree to sell the former MOTBY to the New York & New Jersey Port Authority. Does he think we residents forgot about the crucial mistake he made for the city of Bayonne? He made so many mistakes that we cannot remember anything else about his administration. I can remember some other things that were wrong with his term as our mayor. He tried to make Bayonne run like North Bergen. He thought Bayonne residents were going to sit by and allow this to happen? Not a chance. That is why you are not in office anymore, Mr. Smith. You and your arrogance and bully tactics are no longer in charge of running this town and selling off everything it owns.
Now don’t get me wrong, I am not loving this new mayor either, but at least the bully tactics and mentality is gone from city hall and the entire city. People are not afraid of speaking again. Taxpayers should not be afraid. They are the ones who pay all the salaries of the city employees, police, fire, teachers and anyone else who gets paid at public expense. A mistake that has been visible to the residents by this mayor is the fact that he did hire three important seats to his administration that really should have gone to Bayonne people. Those seats are the Chief of Staff, Business Administrator, and the Municipal Services Director. That being said, maybe at some point Mr. Davis will change this decision and realize that Bayonne should always come first in filling the positions. No matter where these three people are from, they will never make a decision because of their love for Bayonne and wanting to see Bayonne succeed. These people are making decisions solely for their financial gain. I don’t know these people and have never met them, but I am a lifelong resident of Bayonne and I do remember what we had here years ago and what we don’t have now. I do realize what we will never have again on Broadway; unfortunately that is reality. Broadway is going to rebuild but not what it once was. The city should enforce the law we have in place where these directors have to live in Bayonne to be employed here.
As far Mark Smith goes, he should be ashamed of himself for his rants in the letters he writes. Mr. Smith writes that if we are to do abatements, then the developer should hire local union labor and/or apprenticeships to our high school students. Mr. Smith, do you have more family members looking for another job? Mr. Smith makes the comment, “many of our families prosper.” Are we sure he doesn’t mean many of his friends and family members prosper?
The reason the money from the Bayonne Bay settlement is gone is because you and former mayor, Joe Doria, filled the budget gaps over the years. What you are forgetting is that we will be getting tax ratables from these developers which was something you were not ever going to get because your business administrator and law director couldn’t settle a contract down the base to save your life.
JOAN PRUDEN