Dear Editor:
What about “shared services?” There has been a lot of controversy about the Hoboken administration’s attempt to move the Municipal Garage to a lot in a residential neighborhood on 6th Street. An alternate location, along the waterfront and across from Stevens Institute, seems to me to be another bad suggestion. Why does this facility have to be in Hoboken?
Hudson County, with about six hundred thousand residents, has twelve municipal governments and one county government. I would imagine that there are at least thirteen municipal garages and at least one that could accommodate Hoboken. Here is where the concept of “shared services” comes in. With so many governments, so close geographically, all doing more or less the same thing, there are often opportunities for one city to help out another. It’s time that Hoboken looked to its sister municipalities and the County for help.
Shared services is not a new concept. Mayor Dawn Zimmer appeared on stage at the Hoboken Catholic Academy with Governor Christie less than one month ago. At that meeting the topic of conversation was balancing the budget, saving money, lowering taxes and cutting waste. If we are ever going to eliminate today’s economic mess, shared services must become a reality. The only other alternative would be the forced consolidation of municipalities.
Bob DuVal