Dear Editor:
On Tuesday Oct 28th, in the cafeteria of the Wallace School, our “village”, Hoboken, came together, spoke and moved a mountain. Over 100 Hoboken residents left work early, got a baby sitter or brought their kids, walked uphill in snow both ways (you get the point), to get to the 6:00pm, Special Meeting of the Hudson County Board of Chosen Freeholders (“Board”) where it was going to be decided as to whether the proposed Monarch Project deserved approval from the County.
For the second time, the county said no. And they said no because our “village” spoke.
The rules that night were different than what you see in a typical public hearing because it was an “appeal” of a prior decision; only what was part of the record from the original decision rendered back in February 2012 (pre-Hurricane Sandy) could be raised. Our community should be proud of the 20 or so neighbors who spoke that night, many who have never even been to a municipal meeting. They held to what was allowed; spoke concisely yet passionately on issues of traffic, safety, and drainage and the lack of credibility of the Applicant. All of which, when combined, underpins both the original denial by the County Planning Board and now the freeholder’s same decision.
Hoboken Residents for a Public Waterfront was created back in 2011 in response to Applied’s/ Barry Family’s reneging on their commitment to provide community space to the public. The whole purpose of this group is to keep the public aware, inform the public on this issue that the public has said is important to them, and to then let the public know when it is their turn to speak.
Tuesday night was the public’s turn and they showed up in force. Thank you to all who came out in support.
And to all who could not make it, but wrote letters to the freeholders, they heard you. One of the freeholders said that he had 70 emails from residents. He did not open the emails because he did not want to taint his position on the vote, but he didn’t have to. You could tell that having 70 emails in his inbox spoke volumes on its own.
So the next time someone tells you to write your councilperson, write you congressman, go to a municipal meeting…. Do. It works. And your first step can be to the Freeholders to say thank you for the effort they made to bring this important vote to Hoboken so the public could be heard.
And with Election Day fast approaching, you have another opportunity to voice what matters to you. The upcoming School Board election – whether you have children or not – matters to all Hoboken residents who are property owners and taxpayers. You may not think your individual vote counts, but it does. So please vote.
Because more voices are better.
And because it truly does take a village.
Tiffanie Fisher
Co-Founder Hoboken Residents for a Public Waterfront