tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32634484017400721242024-03-12T23:56:12.122-04:00What's Up With Hoboken?What we love and hate about Hoboken, New Jersey,<br>that curious little city we live in.Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-73871520867886586312016-10-30T21:22:00.004-04:002016-10-30T21:24:07.423-04:00Hanging in the Balance: Hoboken's District Public Schools<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnUWnzFlPDyo8YJxSzXipzBaE07JTbJmPFr15sFfCBhq81L9NtIsEpPhs0TW3Xrgp7j67bUwW8hJUGcTGqDDLYyTF4QfT_hx22_v0rhkg6CaikP0deXLqszGo50Nyxh1zRNXZ6752XNMP/s1600/demarest-postcard.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHnUWnzFlPDyo8YJxSzXipzBaE07JTbJmPFr15sFfCBhq81L9NtIsEpPhs0TW3Xrgp7j67bUwW8hJUGcTGqDDLYyTF4QfT_hx22_v0rhkg6CaikP0deXLqszGo50Nyxh1zRNXZ6752XNMP/s400/demarest-postcard.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Demarest School, formerly Hoboken's High School (credit: Hoboken Historical Museum Digital Archives)</td></tr>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As most people already know by now, the QLC Board of Education Candidates forum revealed to all in attendance exactly who was backing the Parents United slate and what values they hold dear. Beyond the </span><a href="http://grafixavenger.blogspot.com/2016/10/debate-shock-parents-united-brings.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">thuggish hijinks</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> though, little discussion has focused on the debate itself which was revealing in its own right.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why These Candidates?</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Parents United are not remotely qualified for the School Board positions they are running for. Worse, their campaign is actively working to undermine Hoboken's Public Schools with the ultimate goal of convincing parents to abandon the public schools altogether. Like last year's </span><a href="http://www.whatsupwithhoboken.com/2015/10/a-scary-get-out-vote-story.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Smarter Future"</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> slate, and the </span><a href="http://www.whatsupwithhoboken.com/2014/10/the-evolution-of-reform-next-wave.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"Education for all Children"</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> slate the year prior, the PU slate were hand-picked by a group of politicians with long histories of corruption at the School Board and city level. Like all candidates they have chosen to run, none have had any prior experience with or shown any interest in Hoboken's Public School District.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If PU are elected, their job will be to do what they are told to do, just as their elected predecessors are doing today. Once they have inserted their own Superintendent, they will have total control of the multimillion dollar public school budget and will use it to reassert their political power, just as they did before they were voted out in 2009. As has been the case with every School Board election for more than a decade, this election is about providing a quality education versus draining the budget to consolidate political power and pad pockets. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">PU's total lack of prior experience or interest in the public school district was on display at last week's candidate's debate. Incredibly, not one of them has ever attended a school board meeting. And it was obvious from their comments that they are completely uninformed on what is happening at the district schools, particularly at the High School.</span></span></div>
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<h2>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What They've Been Told to Say</span></span></h2>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The PU platform comprises the classic, contradictory, political platitudes: cut costs and improve everything. They claim they love the programs that exist but also say things are in a bad state and many more programs are needed. They say they intend to dramatically reduce costs but won't say how they intend to do this. Presumably this is because any proposal to dramatically cut costs must involve dramatically cutting services, programs, teachers or benefits. Not only would this damage the schools, this would also run counter to all of their promised improvements. But, hey, they're running for election on behalf of the people who selected them to run, so they're saying whatever they've been told to say.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Along those lines, one of PU's most obvious failings is their manifest ignorance of school programs and services. At the debate they claimed the public schools were deficient and needed to add language classes, cooperate with local businesses, work with Stevens Institute and other higher education institutions, add STEM courses, and add cybersecurity classes. All of these already exist! Their complete ignorance of the district combined with their desire to take control of it is not only an insult, but also a threat, to district students, parents and teachers. </span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Trashing Hoboken High School</span></span></h2>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What riles me the most though is PU's unrelenting, underlying, message that the High School is a terrible, scary, school that no one in their right mind would send their children to. At the debate, two of the PU candidates stated they wouldn't send their own kids to the High School, and the third said with a resigned sigh that she had "no choice" but to use the High School. Trashing Hoboken High School is a tradition amongst opponents to school reform. Their supporters enthusiastically embrace this disparaging message and, by implication, disparage the students, the teachers, the staff and, of course, the Superintendent, and the School Board.</span></span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every High School student, every one of their parents, and every High School teacher and staff member should be personally insulted by PU's constant, ignorant claims about the High School. Unlike every other high school option for Hoboken children, the Hoboken Public School District is the only district that unconditionally accepts (in fact, is legally bound to accept) every student, regardless of economic background, physical or mental ability, or academic ability. What does this mean? It means that Hoboken public schools, and the High School in particular, have a more diverse population than any other schools in the city. </span></span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Those who have experienced the strong sense of community at Hoboken High understand that diversity is a core value and a strength. But it goes without saying that student diversity leads to diversity in grades and, by extension, diversity in test scores. Diversity in test scores does not, however, imply, as PU would have you believe, that Hoboken High School teachers are poor, curricula are substandard, or that the Superintendent and School Board neglect academic achievement. In fact, the reality is just the opposite. But as was clearly evident at the debate, irresponsibly trashing the High School is seen as a more effective talking point then providing considerate, insightful constructive criticism. Of course, to do the latter would require taking time to learn about the current state of the High School and attending a School Board meeting or two.</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Real Agenda</span></span></h2>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But PU has no reason to learn about the current state of Hoboken's Schools. Their goal is to undermine them. And the reason they do this is a fundamental part of a longer-term strategy to drive people away from the schools so that no one's left to notice when they divert resources away from the classrooms. I know this sounds like overheated conspiracy talk but, unfortunately, this exact behavior occurred for decades and only ended in 2009 when reformers first gained a majority on the School Board. </span><a href="http://www.state.nj.us/education/finance/kw/Hoboken.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well-documented forensic audits</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and legal contract reviews revealed years of pillaging by PU's current backers. Once one understands that this is, in fact, the reason that PU is running, their ignorance and negativity make sense. Improving education isn't the point.</span></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Future is in Jeopardy</span></span></h2>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last year's school board election was a blow to reform's efforts to continue to improve </span><a href="http://www.hoboken.k12.nj.us/home" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Hoboken's public schools</span></a><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. Reformers lost two seats which means that, this year, reform's majority is in jeopardy of being lost to those who controlled the schools pre-2009. Unlike last year, however, I sense the resurgence of a grassroots movement supporting Hoboken's Public Schools. Further, I've noticed parents starting to feel protective and proud of their schools. They're no longer willing to simply accept the uninformed, negative chatter. Community confidence in the high school is growing because parents are getting involved and getting informed.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Realize that last year's School Board election was decided by only 34 votes! So even if you are ambivalent about voting at the national level, keep in mind that your vote matters at the municipal level, not just in deciding election outcomes, but also deciding the direction of our city's public schools!</span></span><br />
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<span id="docs-internal-guid-ac2b6a0e-184e-0965-2a91-a6e0db2dd3b5"><span style="font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On November 8th </span><a href="http://www.forwardtogetherhoboken.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: "arial"; font-size: 14.6667px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Vote 1-2-4 to move Forward Together!</span></a></span></div>
Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-82727966557448266232015-10-31T15:35:00.002-04:002015-10-31T15:35:36.411-04:00A Scary Get Out the Vote Story<b><span style="font-size: large;">A Low Interest Year</span></b><br />
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It's really hard to generate interest in a school board election, especially when there are no state or federal elections happening at the same time. But the school board has elections every year and this is one of those low interest years.<br />
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In 2011, the last time there was an election like this, all three reform candidates were defeated. Who defeated them? Candidates financed by people with a history of redirecting school funds to friends and family. And this year is shaping up to be a repeat performance.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Usual Suspects</b></span><br />
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The usual suspects, Carmelo Garcia, Frank Raia, and Michael Russo, have united to support a cobbled-together slate consisting of perennial candidate and Raia-favorite, Britney Montgomery (city council 2013, school board 2014, and now school board again), perennial candidate and <a href="http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2010/03/hoboken_police_blotter_candida.html">scary-angry</a> ex-school employee John Madigan (school board 2002, 2003, 2010, 2011), and newcomer Alanna Kauffmann who, judging by her debate performance, is far out of her depth.<br />
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I leave it to <a href="http://www.hobokenhorse.com/2015/10/guest-of-stable-hoboken-donkey-weighs.html">Hoboken Donkey</a> and <a href="http://grafixavenger.blogspot.com/2015/09/team-dark-sides-boe-ticket.html">GrafixAvenger</a> to provide an overview of the candidates. As for, Garcia, Raia, and Russo, volumes have been written (<a href="http://russocorruption.com/">here</a>, <a href="http://www.whatsupwithhoboken.com/2014/10/the-evolution-of-reform-next-wave.html">here</a> or <a href="http://www.whatsupwithhoboken.com/2011/10/yuppy-myth.html">here</a> for example) on how they tirelessly work to divert taxpayer funds from the city and schools to benefit themselves and their friends. Madigan himself was a recipient of one of these jobs, until it was deemed "inconsequential" and <a href="http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2010/03/hoboken_police_blotter_candida.html">eliminated</a> by a reform school board in 2010.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b>Scared Yet?</b></span><br />
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Which brings me to my video. The prospect of any one of Montgomery, Madigan, or Kauffmann being elected and sitting with the reform school board we've worked so hard to elect is appalling. Their role would be to disrupt board meetings (something Garcia himself was renowned for) with the goal of discouraging parents from participating in improving our schools. This, in turn, sets the stage for low parent interest in future school board elections, which leads to further election victories for the bad guys.<br />
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In no time they will regain control of the school board and start stealing from the classrooms to provide jobs and perks for friends and family. So if this isn't a scary enough story to motivate you to vote <a href="https://facebook.com/ReachHigherHoboken">2-4-6 Kluepfel, Dallara, Velez</a> for Hoboken Board of Education, you must be dead!<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iNyFdmolBv8?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-53885101207358204482015-02-17T06:00:00.000-05:002015-02-17T06:00:02.120-05:00Lane Bajardi’s Pyrrhic Loss<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0157uZFzFof_PBnuAKVSFmOaxNkMSKKAo5tYBYhY0dymPdXlz2WgfNSVjxnYb5UhyphenhyphennN2tZHOKB-T6HZxU-r7h79oG6e_i2_L4nT3HfDogfR8KknnN5nDqvXIptoRI9SzQUKNgpd5_h-8/s1600/Fire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0157uZFzFof_PBnuAKVSFmOaxNkMSKKAo5tYBYhY0dymPdXlz2WgfNSVjxnYb5UhyphenhyphennN2tZHOKB-T6HZxU-r7h79oG6e_i2_L4nT3HfDogfR8KknnN5nDqvXIptoRI9SzQUKNgpd5_h-8/s1600/Fire.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Last week, a long-running lawsuit targeting two Hoboken political bloggers, </span><a href="http://grafixavenger.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nancy Pincus</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="http://www.hobokenhorse.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Roman Brice</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and ten anonymous commenters, was </span><a href="http://politickernj.com/2015/02/hoboken-blogger-trial-ends-with-dismissal/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">summarily dismissed</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in the Superior Court of New Jersey. </span><a href="http://matchbin-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/public/sites/383/assets/7L1K_BAJARDI.pdf" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The suit</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> sought two million dollars in punitive damages, and additional monetary awards for emotional distress, reputational damage, reimbursement for attorneys fees and a “cyber investigative service.” It also sought to remove articles and comments posted to a myriad of local and state websites. The suit was filed in July 2012 by Hoboken political activists </span><a href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/personality/lane-bajardi/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Lane Bajardi</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and Kim Cardinal who claimed their reputations had been damaged by the bloggers and commenters. The trial judge felt otherwise. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For the first week of the trial, Bajardi’s council presented the plaintiff's case to the judge and jury, calling on a rogues’ gallery of Hoboken’s political scene to testify on Bajardi’s behalf: </span><a href="http://hobokencurriculumproject.blogspot.com/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Anthony Petrosino</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (who maintained a </span><a href="http://grafixavenger.blogspot.com/2012/03/texas-budinsky.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">job and an apartment</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> in Austin TX while simultaneously employed full-time as Assistant to the Hoboken Superintendent of Schools), Peter Cammarano (disgraced Hoboken mayor </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/06/nyregion/06hoboken.html?_r=0" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">imprisoned for two years</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="http://www.nj.com/jjournal-news/index.ssf/2014/09/ex-hoboken_mayor_who_admitted.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">disbarred</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> after accepting a bribe from an undercover FBI informant), Patrick Ricciardi (former Hoboken City IT Manager, </span><a href="http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2013/08/former_hoboken_it_manager_sentenced_to_probation_for_stealing_emails.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">sentenced to five years probation</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for a conspiracy that involved “intercepting” Mayor Dawn Zimmer’s emails and forwarding them to as-yet unnamed recipients), </span><a href="http://www.hobokennj.org/council/members/tim-occhipinti/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tim Occhipinti</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Hoboken councilman, elected in 2010 with the </span><a href="http://www.bluejersey.com/diary/17458/red-flags-how-much-does-it-cost-to-buy-an-election-in-hobokens-4th-ward" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">largest number of vote-by-mail votes</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> ever cast in Hudson County, prompting the County Prosecutor’s office to contact the state Attorney General’s office), and </span><a href="http://www.hobokennj.org/council/members/elizabeth-mason/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Beth Mason</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (Hoboken councilwoman, who, along with her husband, attorney </span><a href="http://www.wlrk.com/RGMason/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Richard G. Mason</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, recently received a </span><a href="http://www.law360.com/newjersey/articles/609742/nj-pol-wachtell-partner-fined-for-late-campaign-docs" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">record fine</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> from the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission). These are the people Bajardi chose to bolster his case?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Wrongful Imprisonment</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unsurprisingly, at the end of the week, Judge Patrick Arre chose to dismiss the case and send the jury home rather than let the trial proceed any further. In his statement, Judge Arre indicated that Bajardi had not legally substantiated his claims against the bloggers and commenters. With that, Pincus, Brice and the commenters were released from a two and a half year ordeal, not unlike being released from two and a half years wrongful imprisonment. Like wrongful imprisonment, the defendants were deprived of their time, their privacy, their finances, and faced the threat of financial and reputational ruin. And that’s precisely what a SLAPP suit is intended to do. </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_public_participation" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From Wikipedia</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">:</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">"A strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP) is a lawsuit that is intended to censor, intimidate, and silence critics by burdening them with the cost of a legal defense until they abandon their criticism or opposition. The typical SLAPP plaintiff does not normally expect to win the lawsuit. The plaintiff's goals are accomplished if the defendant succumbs to fear, intimidation, mounting legal costs or simple exhaustion and abandons the criticism.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Squabble or SLAPP?</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sure looks like it was a SLAPP suit to me. Except for the “...does not normally expect to win the lawsuit” part. I really get the impression that Bajardi and Cardinal felt strongly they should win. After all, the lawsuit has to have disrupted their lives to some extent. And the mountains of personal email presented as evidence against them is likely to reveal a less than flattering portrait of the couple. Of course, the prospect of winning two million dollars and assorted awards could certainly make it all worthwhile. But they’d really have to believe they were going to win, otherwise why would they subject themselves to the process? </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So one might come to the conclusion that this suit wasn’t a SLAPP suit at all. It was instead simply what </span><a href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/26466391/article-Bloggers-get-off-free" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">some outlets</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> have </span><a href="http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/26468557/article-The-bounds-of-free-speech--Court-dismisses-defamation-case-against-political-bloggers--50-000-emails-appear-as-evidence-" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">portrayed it</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> as: a defamation suit arising from squabbling political factions - nothing more than a grown-up version of a school yard spat - with the SLAPP label affixed only as strategic move by the defense to undermine the plaintiffs' case. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Un-Winnable From the Start</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What I believe is that this suit was different things to different people. To Bajardi and Cardinal, this suit was about extracting punitive financial compensation from bloggers and commenters. But to some political allies of Bajardi and Cardinal, this was intended to be a SLAPP suit. For example, I’m guessing that Councilwoman Mason and her husband, </span><a href="http://grafixavenger.blogspot.com/2013/02/hobokenstwo-cover-girls.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">no fans</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> of the </span><a href="http://www.hobokenhorse.com/2014/03/uncovered-beth-ricky-mason-and-ines.html" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">defendants</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, were ambivalent about the suit’s outcome. For SLAPP suits it’s the journey’s duration that matters, not the destination.</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The court dismissed the suit mid-trial on the grounds that the plaintiffs were unable to substantiate their claims. This is probably the strongest evidence that the suit was a SLAPP suit. To anyone familiar with the case it was clear that the evidence to support the plaintiffs’ claims simply didn’t exist. The First Amendment and New Jersey state law </span><a href="http://politickernj.com/2015/02/rutgers-newark-law-professor-underscores-importance-of-first-amendment-in-hoboken-blogger-trial/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">set high bars</span></a><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> for proving defamation. Surely any lawyer worth their salt would have advised Bajardi and Cardinal of this from the outset. The only reason a lawyer would agree to take on a case like this would be if it were guaranteed to drag on thereby guaranteeing an ongoing income. Obviously, there was no prospect of taking a percentage of “winnings” at the end. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Feeling Used?</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But this raises a question I’m still struggling to answer: Why did Bajardi and Cardinal proceed with the suit? Were their lawyers incompetent? Did they ignore their lawyers’ advice? Or were Bajardi and Cardinal urged on by parties who needed an excuse to launch a SLAPP suit? These parties saw that Bajardi and Cardinal were eager to be the public face of the suit as long as they believed they could win. So these parties let them believe it, maybe even convinced them to believe it, perhaps even providing financial support, while withholding from them the knowledge that the suit was unwinnable. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I don’t believe this question is necessarily unanswerable. For example, if it were to come to light that the suit was financed by a politically affiliated third party then we’d have our answer. The true answer may lie in the mass of evidence accumulated during the long and extensive discovery and deposition phases of this case. We’ll see…</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Bent on Self-Destruction</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In the meantime, predictably, Bajardi’s lawyer has stated his intention </span><a href="http://politickernj.com/2015/02/hoboken-blogger-trial-ends-with-dismissal/" style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">to appeal</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> the court’s decision. At this very moment, I imagine a couple of legal interns at a high-end law firm are poring over the trial transcripts looking for grounds for appeal, whether Bajardi wants this to happen or not. At this point you have to wonder if Bajardi and Cardinal aren’t asking themselves if they’d rather be getting on with their lives. Going back "once more unto the breach" of what is an undoubtedly unwinnable contest doesn’t make sense for them - it only makes sense in the context of a SLAPP suit.</span></div>
Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-21291347135509239992014-10-20T13:22:00.001-04:002014-10-22T15:24:21.335-04:00The Evolution of Reform: The Next Wave<div style="orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; widows: 2;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB6lHj3CbN-w30jkPKAhTKO4q0Y6hznuTZDOSHW8L7GB2YfHrOnedZsfps77-lNHhDwBYBp-7b-YOT3ykuI4Qif5vTsQVhrvaisSWbb1qKXlPCqEwHnhSxbyoYIFeVE1xOFhaOY5sEm87J/s1600/Wallace+School+-+Public+School+No+6+-+c+1907+1914.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhB6lHj3CbN-w30jkPKAhTKO4q0Y6hznuTZDOSHW8L7GB2YfHrOnedZsfps77-lNHhDwBYBp-7b-YOT3ykuI4Qif5vTsQVhrvaisSWbb1qKXlPCqEwHnhSxbyoYIFeVE1xOFhaOY5sEm87J/s1600/Wallace+School+-+Public+School+No+6+-+c+1907+1914.jpg" height="207" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Public School No. 6 at Willow and 11th Streets c. 1907- 1914 (credit: Hoboken Historical Museum)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">As someone who's assisted reform slates in every school board and city election since 2009, I've occasionally thought about a future where we'd get past the stark "good versus evil" state of Hoboken politics to arrive at a more nuanced, normal state of political affairs. When I describe Hoboken's bloody knuckle political scene to friends from the Jersey suburbs, they're amazed. They're amazed that millions of dollars were pillaged from the public schools, that <a href="http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2013/08/former_hoboken_it_manager_sentenced_to_probation_for_stealing_emails.html" target="_blank">the current mayor's private emails were wiretapped</a>, that <a href="http://russocorruption.com/" target="_blank">a sitting councilman agreed to accept a bribe from an FBI informant</a>, that two of our recent mayors (<a href="http://russocorruption.com/index.html#Family" target="_blank">Russo</a> and <a href="http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/08/former_hoboken_mayor_peter_cam_2.html" target="_blank">Cammarano</a>) were jailed for corruption, and that's just a small sample off the top of my head.</span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">The Long Path to Reform</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">But you see, this corrupt state of affairs has a very long history in Hudson County, as recounted in the excellent books <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000FC1I40?btkr=1" target="_blank">Five-Finger Discount</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009K91WD6?btkr=1" target="_blank">Killing the Poormaster</a>. Until recently it was understood that whoever won a majority would loot the taxpayers to reward friends, family and business partners. And this is how Hoboken operated until 2009 when a majority of reformers were elected to the Public School Board, and a reform mayor was elected to City Hall. At the city level, the path to reform has been rocky. Since 2009, Mayor Zimmer has only had majority support in City Council for two years: between November 2009 and November 2010 when Michael Lenz served as interim Fourth Ward Councilman, and since November 2013 when James Doyle was elected Councilman-at-Large. In contrast, the Kids First reform slate have maintained a majority on the Hoboken School Board since 2009 and not surprisingly, they have accomplished a lot. So much so, that I think we may be on the cusp of a long-awaited change in Hoboken's political climate.</span></div>
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">How Corruption Survives</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="http://www.whatsupwithhoboken.com/2011/10/yuppy-myth.html" target="_blank">As I've written about elsewhere</a>, Hoboken started to actively encourage gentrification in the mid-80s aiming to refill nearly empty coffers. On the one hand, there was resentment directed towards the "newcomers" that came to occupy the new developments. On the other hand, the money started flowing again. Moreover, the newcomers were, generally-speaking, politically ignorant.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Today's Hoboken is famous as a temporary home to 25-35 year old young professionals, renting shares, getting their careers on-track, partying, meeting life partners, and then moving to the suburbs a few years later to settle down and have families. I can tell you that, as someone who's accompanied candidates door-to-door canvassing over the years, I've been through big rental buildings where virtually no one is registered to vote nor interested in registering to vote. Local politics just isn't on their radar. Hoboken is only a temporary stop on the road of life. And this suited the corrupt powers-that-be perfectly.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Over the years local voting blocs were created and exploited by Hoboken's old established political factions. Some of these blocs still exist, primarily in the city's assisted housing developments and in the Third and Fourth Wards, parts of the city that haven't yet been overrun with new developments. Although these blocs get smaller each year as long-time residents sell and move out, retire to somewhere more affordable, or simply die, they've been a force to reckon with given the relative apathy of the vast majority of Hoboken's population. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">When they're not squabbling amongst themselves and join forces, these blocs can win elections that disrupt and even set back reform. Some examples: in 2010 Tim Occhipinti was elected Fourth Ward Councilman with <a href="http://www.bluejersey.com/diary/17458/red-flags-how-much-does-it-cost-to-buy-an-election-in-hobokens-4th-ward" target="_blank">an unprecedented number of vote-by-mail submissions from paid "campaign workers."</a> In 2011, Michael Russo, <a href="http://russocorruption.com/" target="_blank">fresh from being exposed for agreeing to accept a bribe from an FBI informant</a>, was re-elected Third Ward Councilman. That same year, in a record-low voter turnout, <a href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/13051124/article-School-board-election-may-have-future-political-impact-Garcia--Rhodes-Kearns--and-Biancamano-win-seats-" target="_blank">three school board seats were lost to Peter Biancamano, Francis Rhodes-Kearns, and Carmelo Garcia</a> - individuals I shall return to shortly who, needless to say, are no friends of reform.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Plundering The Schools</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">On the topic of voter apathy, I hope you know that there's an election November 4th. And, along with the inauguration of Cory Booker, which isn't generating much voter interest, there are also three positions up for election on the nine seat Hoboken Public School Board, which should be generating voter interest. Why? Because historically, the school board has served as a big fat loot bag to be plundered and, despite a reform majority since 2009, there are still a lot of people with their eyes on the prize. What might they do if they get their hands on it? We only have to look back to the 2004-06 budget years for a graphic example. When the Kids First reform slate gained a majority in 2009 one of the first things they discovered was a <a href="http://www.state.nj.us/education/finance/kw/Hoboken.pdf">297 page KPMG audit of the 2004-06 budgets</a> that had been buried by the non-reform majority at the time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Here are a few of the many KPMG audit "lowlights." Over 1,000 improperly documented employees on payroll, including employees on payroll after termination and even after death. Outsourcing janitorial services while simultaneously retaining 60 janitors on payroll. Almost $2 million in unapproved vendor overpayments. Expense-paid junkets to Atlantic City for board members and their friends. Tens of thousands of dollars spent on lavish steak dinners, floral arrangements, and "beverages." Even dipping into student-raised funds for non-student expenses. No wonder the audit was hidden. And who were members of the Board majority overseeing all of this? Frank Raia, Francis Rhodes-Kearns (currently running for re-election to the board), and Carmelo Garcia. For those who aren't familiar with Hoboken's political landscape, it's helpful to get to know Frank Raia and Carmelo Garcia a little better because they loom large in this year's School Board election.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Raia, Garcia and Their School Board</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Frank "Pupie" Raia is a wealthy local real estate developer, born and raised in Hoboken. You may know him from the lavish public birthday parties he throws for himself every summer in Hoboken's parks. Not only has Raia served on the School Board, but he's also run for Mayor and City Council on numerous occasions. And when he's not running for office he's helping others run, including School Board slates, most notably in 2011 when Carmelo Garcia, Francis Rhodes-Kearns and Peter Biancamano <a href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/13051124/article-School-board-election-may-have-future-political-impact-Garcia--Rhodes-Kearns--and-Biancamano-win-seats-" target="_blank">swept the School Board elections.</a> Raia knows how to leverage his wealth to mobilize voting blocs and this year he's supporting Rhodes-Kearns and Biancamano again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Carmelo Garcia, also Hoboken born and raised, is a career politician, holding positions at the School Board, City, County, and now at the State level as a newly elected Assemblyman. Until recently Garcia was also Executive Director of the Hoboken Housing Authority (HHA), a position he was selected for in 2009. The HHA manages over 1,300 low income housing units across six locations in Hoboken and, historically, Garcia has garnered significant numbers of votes from these blocs, not just for himself but also for candidates he chooses to back. Like Frank Raia, Garcia is also supporting a School Board slate this year consisting of three of his loyal supporters: Brian Murray, Lynn Danzker, and Patricia Waiters.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carmelo Garcia (credit: nj.com)</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">I've already mentioned Garcia and Raia's time on the School Board, the same time millions of tax dollars were diverted away from students and classrooms. Why was this happening? </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Raia, a successful businessman, certainly didn't need anyone to pay for his steak dinners. But perhaps it's nothing more than good business sense: why spend your own money when you can spend someone else's? As a real-estate developer, Raia's business partners range from law firms to building contractors, all of whom would appreciate business coming their way. He also has plenty of friends who would appreciate well-paying jobs with benefits. Some notable examples: Hoboken Superintendent of Schools from 2007-2009 Jack Raslowsky, Hoboken Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools from 2007-2009 Anthony Petrosino, School Board Secretary from 2005-2010 David Anthony. All are good friends of Raia's (Raslowsky and Petrosino are boyhood friends, and Anthony was a business partner), all were hired when Raia sat on the school board, and all were provided with excessively generous compensation and benefits. So much so that the Kids First reform majority discovered that both <a href="http://thehobokenjournal.blogspot.com/2010/01/hoboken-boe-fact-check-dr-petrosinos.html" target="_blank">Petrosino's</a> and <a href="http://thehobokenjournal.blogspot.com/2009/12/david-anthony-resigns-from-boe.html" target="_blank">Anthony's</a> contracts were found to flout State contract laws and guidelines.</span></span><br />
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<span style="text-align: -webkit-auto;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica;">The icing on the cake is that both Petrosino and Anthony maintained full-time jobs during their employment with the School Board. Incredibly, <a href="http://grafixavenger.blogspot.com/2012/03/texas-budinsky.html" target="_blank">court transcripts reveal</a> that Petrosino, during his tenure with the School Board, was also employed by the University of Texas in Austin, rented an apartment in Austin, and had a Texas drivers license. (Interesting side note: Raia and Petrosino are now Board members for a local charter school whose annual budgets and audits are mostly missing from their website.)</span></span><span style="font-family: Helvetica;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">As for Garcia, favors are the currency of politicians, and the School Board provides plenty of opportunities for doling them out. In 2006 Garcia was <a href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2407862/article--Political-shenanigans--made-him-do-it-Responding-to-ethics-charges--Garcia-accuses-mayor--his-ally--of-deal-making" target="_blank">found guilty of violating the New Jersey School Ethics Act</a> for voting to award a job to his brother, and another job to his boss at the time, former Hudson County Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons. More recently, <a href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/25557925/article-Hoboken-Housing-Authority-director-fired-in-heated-meeting-Monday--but-will-be-paid-$55K-over-next-4-months?" target="_blank">Garcia was fired from his position as Executive Director of the Hoboken Housing Authority</a> for, you guessed it, lax oversight of the HHA's multi-million dollar budget. A preliminary audit ordered by the recently appointed HHA board reform majority has found, among other things, $3 million of <a href="http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/25654251/article-HUD-review-slams-Hoboken-Housing-Authority-procurement-practices--Garcia-blames-board--others-for-issues" target="_blank">“unjustified non-competitive procurement.”</a> A full audit has yet to be completed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Despite not holding a School Board majority since 2009, Garcia and Raia still hold out hope that if they persevere, especially in the face of voter apathy, they will eventually regain control of the Board and its budget. This isn't a pipe dream. <a href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/13051124/article-School-board-election-may-have-future-political-impact-Garcia--Rhodes-Kearns--and-Biancamano-win-seats-" target="_blank">They swept the Board election in 2011</a> when only 4,000 people cast votes out of roughly 36,000 eligible voters. They're politically astute and know that this year's election has the hallmarks of a low turnout, winnable election. Now let's take a brief look at their slates and what might be motivating them to run. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Garcia's Volatile Slate: Murray, Waiters, Danzker</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Garcia's slate, consisting of Brian Murray, Patricia Waiters and Lynn Danzker, would explode were it not for Garcia working hard to keep it together. After all, how can Lynne Danzker, <a href="http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2014/06/hoboken_resident_honored_with_jewish_american_heritage_month_award.html" target="_blank">who was recently awarded a "Jewish American Heritage Award"</a> by none other than Assemblyman Garcia, be running-mates with Garcia's former paid aide, Patricia Waiters, <a href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/25840675/article-Hoboken-school-board-candidate-was-accused-of-anti-Semitic-comments--and-now-says-she-s--ashamed--of-her-apology-letter?" target="_blank">who made what were considered anti-semetic remarks at an HHA meeting earlier this year, and then recently retracted a public apology for those remarks?</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Apart from reprehensible rants at public meetings, Waiters is known as a Hoboken fixture who regularly runs for positions on City Council and the School Board, and speaks frequently at public meetings. And over the past year, the relationship between Garcia and Waiters has been close, as Waiters repeatedly spoke in defense of Garcia at HHA meetings. Waiters' voting base has grown over the years, so one can only assume that Garcia, hoping to garner support from Waiters' base, has instructed Murray and Danzker to ignore Waiters' assertions that there are too many Jews in real-estate and too many Jews appointed to City boards.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Upon receiving her Jewish Heritage Award from Garcia, Danzker stated how proud she was of her religion and her heritage. It boggles the mind how she's managed to rationalize running with Waiters. Danzker and Garcia's kids attend the same charter school that, incidentally, Garcia's wife also works at. And, while Danzker does not have kids in Hoboken's public schools she's known on the <a href="https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/HobokenMoms/info" target="_blank">Hoboken Moms discussion board</a> for launching multi-font, personal attacks on School Board members, and for consistently misrepresenting the financial relationship between public and charter schools.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Murray is a local real-estate agent whose business relies on convincing people to move <a href="http://thehudson3.com/hoboken-to-the-burbs.asp" target="_blank">"To the 'Burbs."</a> Not surprisingly, Murray's many speeches focus on scaring parents away from Hoboken by way of citing flawed statistics on violence in Hoboken's public schools. Parents whose children attend Hoboken's schools, including me, say that the schools Murray describes bear no resemblance to the schools their children attend. As for Murray's relationship to Garcia, this summer Murray was spotted in an unruly crowd at City Hall cheering in support of Garcia as Garcia faced ejection from his position at the HHA. Why would Murray choose to publicly support Garcia, especially at the risk of sullying his business reputation? Perhaps the two are simply friends? Or perhaps there's a mutually beneficial relationship based on shared real-estate interests? Before his ouster from the HHA, Garcia initiated a controversial multi-million dollar real-estate development plan, dubbed <a href="http://www.myhhanj.com/vision2020.html" target="_blank">Vision 2020</a>, to "create a mixed-income sustainable community" in place of existing HHA properties.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Raia's Old School Slate: Biancamano, Rhodes-Kearns</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Raia's slate, consisting of School Board incumbents Peter Biancamano and Frances Rhodes-Kearns, is old school compared to Garcia's. Rhodes-Kearns is a nine year veteran of the School Soard, elected long before the Kids First reform majority took control and cleaned things up. In fact, Rhodes-Kearns was the sole Board signator for the aforementioned, absurdly generous, legally questionable, contracts of Anthony Petrosino and David Anthony. Rhodes-Kearns also has a relationship to disgraced, indicted ex-mayor Peter Cammarano: <a href="http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2009/03/cammarano_announces_slate_ange.html" target="_blank">she was a member of his election slate in 2009</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br />As for Biancamano, he's been groomed for politics by Raia since Biancamano first ran for School Board in 2011. That year, Raia chaperoned Biancamano everywhere on the campaign trail. And last year Raia and Biancamano were running-mates for City Council. Raia funded that campaign to the tune of $122,000 out of his own pocket. Biancamano is often heard complaining about how much the School Board spends on legal representation, despite the fact that without representation the Board would lose legal battles launched by the likes of Anthony Petrosino. But, as I expect Raia has explained to him, Biancamano surely understands that this is precisely the point.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Underscoring the old school roots of Raia's slate are recent Facebook notes of support from none other than Michael Russo and Michele Russo. Michele Russo, matriarch of the Russo clan, possesses her <a href="http://russocorruption.com/index.html#Family" target="_blank">very own list of unscrupulous dealings</a>, just like her indicted ex-Mayor husband Anthony, and her bribe-agreeable Councilman son Michael. Now that's support that only money can buy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Parents for Progress</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Standing in stark contrast to Raia's and Garcia's slates is the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/ParentsForProgressHoboken" target="_blank">Parents for Progress slate</a> consisting of Monica Stromwall, Sharyn Angley, and Antonio Gray. All three are parents with kids in Hoboken's public schools. Stromwall was unanimously appointed to the School Board at the beginning of the year when Garcia was forced to leave the Board after winning his Assembly seat.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">The Parents for Progress slate claim their interest in running for election is simply to ensure that the schools continue to improve. They've got skin in the game and they care. Having spoken briefly with the candidates I was struck by their honesty and integrity. However, I also discovered that they had no knowledge of the School Board's history of corruption. They had no idea of how hard reformers originally fought to get elected to the board, and the significance of Kids First taking a majority in 2009. They had no idea how much the schools have been cleaned up since then, how much money taxpayers have saved despite massive state cutbacks, and how much money has been directed back to school classrooms and students. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">The Next Wave</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><a href="http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/25971163/article-Running-without-the-rancor--Parents-for-Progress-school-board-slate-rejects-political-division--" target="_blank">By their own admission</a>, Stromwall, Angley and Gray are not affiliated with reform, and they most certainly aren't affiliated with any of Hoboken's corruptocrats. Instead, these three represent what I think is the next wave in Hoboken politics, the one I've sometimes daydreamed might finally come to pass. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica;"><br />Like Hoboken's reformers, Parents for Progress want to make a difference in this city. They like Hoboken and they want to raise families here, not flee "To the 'Burbs" as Brian Murray urges them to do. Unlike the corruptocrats, they don't expect favors or payback but, unlike reformers, they're unaware of Hoboken's recent "good versus evil" political history. Why? Because in just a few years reformers have managed to fix things up enough that more people are choosing to stay in Hoboken longer, and corruption is beginning to fade into the past.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Choosing to stay longer has positive results for Hoboken. Families and property owners pay attention to schools, parks, and taxes and inevitably, they become politically engaged, initially as voters but sometimes even volunteering to serve their community, just as Stromwall, Angley and Gray have. </span><span style="font-family: Helvetica; text-align: -webkit-auto;">This is why Hoboken's formerly disengaged electorate is beginning to take notice and start participating. And this is what it's going to take to eliminate, once and for all, the long-standing tradition of looting Hoboken's school and city coffers.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">While the appearance of the Parents for Progress slate is a positive sign for Hoboken politics, I am concerned that this election will be a particularly harsh one for these political neophytes. Not only is this election guaranteed to have a low turnout, Parents for Progress is being out-campaigned by Garcia's ticket and, naturally, Raia's ticket need not rely on campaigning as they are assured of votes via other, tried and true, methods. (Word on the street is that votes are being bought for $35 this election - a little lower than usual.) So perhaps Parents for Progress will win or perhaps they will lose, but I am willing to bet that we will see more slates like Parents for Progress in School Board and City elections in the years to come. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica;">Hoboken's demographics keep changing. The ranks of the public schools continue to swell and, while parents still leave Hoboken for the suburbs, it's clear more are choosing to stay every year. It's well known that schools are an important factor in choosing a place to raise a family, so continuing to improve the public schools is fundamental to Hoboken's future success. For this reason be sure to vote <a href="http://www.facebook.com/ParentsForProgressHoboken" target="_blank">Angley, Stromwall and Gray: 2, 3, 5 for Hoboken Board of Education</a> on November 4th. </span></div>
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Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-495752743462308682014-02-26T20:13:00.002-05:002014-02-26T20:14:44.129-05:00I Sue You!<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">When your only tool is a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail. Such as it is with Hoboken 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason who is suing the City for the release of documents exchanged between the City and one of the law firms it's contracted in the past. Mason's tool of choice is the lawsuit - a great tool for depleting the resources, both time and finances, of its target. For this reason it's a terrific tool for revenge and obstruction. Of course, it's a terrible tool for carrying out the day-to-day duties of a ward councilperson. But when revenge and obstruction are all your councilperson is interested in, then that's what ward residents have to settle for. For the record, let's take a brief look at Councilwoman Mason's history of lawsuits against Hoboken and its residents.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Most recently, there is the </span><a href="http://www.hobokenhorse.com/2014/02/sue-happy-beth-mason-launches-new.html" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">aforementioned lawsuit</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> against the City of Hoboken that some believe is tied to politically motivated attacks against recently re-elected Hoboken Councilman-at-Large Ravi Bhalla.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">There is also </span><a href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/20632825/article-Lawsuit-targets-Doyle-appointment-Mayor-accuses-council-minority-of-trying-to-deadlock-the-governing-body-" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">the lawsuit</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> filed against Hoboken Councilpersons Bhalla, Cunningham, Giattino and Mello that prevented newly elected Councilman Jim Doyle from serving as interim Councilman after Councilwoman Carol Marsh resigned in October 2012. This lawsuit blocked a reform majority on City Council allowing Mason and her fellow Council plaintiffs to obstruct city progress for more than a year.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Then there is the </span><a href="http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/19788674/article--Free-speech-or-libel--Hoboken-couple-files--2M-defamation-suit-against-bloggers-" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">sordid SLAPP-suit</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) filed against two dozen Hoboken bloggers in August 2012. While Mason's name is not on the complaint, the names of two of her closest supporters are. More damning though is that Councilwoman Mason </span><a href="http://www.hobokenhorse.com/2012/08/beth-masons-legal-threat-slapp-at.html" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">publicly disclosed</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> the lawsuit's existence prior to its receipt by the targeted bloggers. Needless to say, the bloggers were not, and are not, Mason cheerleaders.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Prior to Councilwoman Mason's failed attempts for election as Mayor in 2008 and 2009, Mason filed at least</span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/nyregion/26litigate.html?_r=0" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">eleven lawsuits</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> against the city, the school board and the city's now defunct hospital board. Back then, these actions may have been viewed as heroic attempts to shine light on possible corruption. But, as I've written about </span><a href="http://www.yogregory.com/2011/11/things-get-in-my-way.html" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">elsewhere</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">, in light of Mason's behavior after losing these elections, all her actions are now suspect.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">In 2008, the New York Times </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/26/nyregion/26litigate.html?_r=0" style="background-color: white; color: #888888; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px; text-decoration: none;">estimated</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> that Mason's lawsuits cost the city about $200,000. Just imagine the total cost to her constituents, our city's bloggers, and the city to date.</span><br />
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<iframe src="//player.vimeo.com/video/87724578?byline=0&portrait=0" width="480" height="270" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/87724578">I Sue You!</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/yogregory">Greg Bond</a> on <a href="https://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-14961711276618130482013-08-25T14:07:00.006-04:002013-08-25T14:08:32.635-04:00An Evening Walk Along the Waterfront<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-14768012211945438802013-02-18T10:30:00.001-05:002013-02-18T10:35:11.832-05:00My Funny ValentineOn Valentine's Day 2013, I was present at the Hoboken Housing Authority public meeting to video the proceedings. Minutes after I had set up my equipment, Hoboken Democratic Committee-person Matt Calicchio, who is also an employee of Hoboken Second Ward Councilperson Beth Mason, began an evening-long campaign to obstruct my camera. When he wasn't blocking my camera he was handing out Valentine's Day chocolates to meeting attendees (but not me, unfortunately). The chocolates included a "Love Your Neighborhood" message from Councilwoman Mason. Mr. Calicchio's antics were no surprise to me. He has a well-known reputation for dirty-politics, the "low-lights" including alleged public harassment of a Hoboken School Board member and her young daughter last year, and alleged harassment of Hoboken Mayor Zimmer in 2007.<br />
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<b>Who's Your Mama?</b><br />
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As I've written in the past, Councilwoman Mason once spent her ample personal funds bringing transparency to Hoboken politics, ironically including paying for videoing Hoboken City Council and Hoboken School Board meetings. Now that her attempts to become Hoboken's mayor have been thwarted, she hires the likes of Mr. Calicchio who intimidates those who seek transparency and good government in Hoboken.<br />
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<b>Why the Interest in the HHA?</b><br />
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The Councilwoman's interest in the HHA would seem peculiar at first. Most HHA buildings are located outside of her ward. But the HHA is known to be a guaranteed block of votes and Councilwoman Mason, now having given up on becoming Hoboken's Mayor, is rumored to have set her sights on a seat in New Jersey's State Assembly. Since Hurricane Sandy, Councilwoman Mason has paid virtually no attention to Hoboken, and focused her attention on currying favor with New Jersey State Senator, and Union City Mayor, Brian Stack, who has a reputation for delivering votes himself. With her checkbook and her HHA votes, it is thought that Councilwoman Mason may convince Senator Stack that she is worthy of receiving his support (and his block of votes). This would explain Mr. Calicchio's presence at the HHA meeting, the Councilwoman's chocolates for HHA residents, and the fact that Councilwoman Mason also employs a relative of HHA Executive Director Carmelo Garcia. As for interfering with my right to video the HHA meeting, this was probably nothing more than Mr. Calicchio improvising in a way he thought might please his boss, since anything to obstruct progress in Hoboken is bound to please her.<br />
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A nice summary, from the Hoboken Reporter newspaper in 2012, of Matt Calicchio's history with lawsuits, political dirty tricks, and Councilwoman Beth Mason. <a href="http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/18931247/article-‘This-is-dirty-Hudson-County-politics’-Young-politico-found-not-guilty-of-charge--but-judge-says-‘I-think-you-lied’-">Link</a><br />
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A 2007 TV news clip dealing with the interruption a School Board Meeting video that Councilwoman Mason was paying to record. In an interview, Mason explains how interrupting the video violates the spirit of open public meetings. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjRrMUBGMj0">Link</a><br />
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Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-8797503540602644382013-02-05T10:39:00.000-05:002013-02-18T10:44:41.753-05:00Pulling Our StringsHere's a very late video "treat", or perhaps "trick", depending on your political persuasion, that I had prepared before Hurricane Sandy's arrival for a Halloween release. Of course, that was before Sandy ruined Halloween, and everything else, for everyone in Hoboken. Immediately after Sandy, the satire seemed out of place when so many people were still trying to get back on their feet. So I decided that the video shouldn't be released. With the Kids First victory sweep now three months behind us, the video is irrelevant, but I've decided to release it anyhow because the tune is still catchy!<br />
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<iframe width="500" height="280" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/knd4fF94ubs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br />
Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-25805802471299219242012-11-09T15:12:00.000-05:002013-02-23T15:19:49.616-05:00SandyWow! What a couple of weeks we've had. Not to mention everyone else along the New Jersey and New York coast. Hurricane Sandy flooded Hoboken Monday night October 29th and flood waters trapped us in our third floor apartment until Thursday morning November 1st. Our power and heat went out the night of the storm and didn't return until seven days later on Monday night November 5th. Fortunately, we were well provisioned, and we had hot water and gas for cooking. We can't complain though. Many of our friends and neighbors lost property and sustained major damage to their homes and businesses. Almost two weeks later, the clean-up and rebuilding continue.<br />
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Here are a number of pictures and a quick video of what I saw around Hoboken before, during and after the storm. Many of the pictures are taken from the perspective of our apartment window looking out onto the street below simply because that was our main view of the world while we were trapped waiting for the flood waters to recede. Click on the pictures below to see all the photos.<br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/bond.gregory/HurricaneSandyPreStorm2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCOfwmr3s5sHv9QE#slideshow/5804786079820723346"><img height="332" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-zukvbY8Pfh8/UI68t0kflbI/AAAAAAAAIQc/8CW5YAORDQM/s640/P1130500.JPG" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: right;">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/bond.gregory/HurricaneSandyPreStorm2012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOfwmr3s5sHv9QE&feat=embedwebsite">Hurricane Sandy - Pre Storm 2012</a></td></tr>
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<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="280" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/66-IdNKFw2g" width="500"></iframe><br />
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<tr><td><a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/bond.gregory/SandyTheStorm2012?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ_RosiYoeDPIg#slideshow/5806627461369312754"><img height="332" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OmvSUUoqhBA/UJVJCcz0a9I/AAAAAAAAIUQ/7FI2X9KO3pc/s640/P1130580.JPG" width="500" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td style="font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: right;">From <a href="https://picasaweb.google.com/bond.gregory/SandyTheStorm2012?authuser=0&feat=embedwebsite">Sandy - The Storm - 2012</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-58606482325274814462012-11-04T16:30:00.001-05:002012-11-04T17:03:02.466-05:00On Hurricanes and Election CampaignsWhat happens when a hurricane interrupts an election campaign? For me, the campaign instantly becomes a triviality. Making sure your family and neighbors are safe is all I've thought about since Hurricane Sandy struck Hoboken almost a week ago. And then we receive news, while we're still without power, on our wind-up radio, that the nation is determined to hold the election on Tuesday, despite the fact that much of Hoboken, is still recovering, still without power, still seeking refuge. With only two days until election day those of us who care about the outcome of the election find ourselves torn. Do we not campaign out of respect for our community's current predicament? Or do we turn our attention to an election that has been called without regards to our predicament?<br />
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<b>Forced Into an Election</b></div>
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We're being forced into this election too soon. Nevertheless, I know that, hurricane or not, the outcome of this election has long-term importance for Hoboken Public Schools. If the Kids First reform slate of Ruth McAllister, Jean Marie Mitchell, and Tom Kluepfel lose this election then majority control of Hoboken's Public Schools will return to former School Board President Frank Raia's "Move Forward" slate. While the slate itself seems harmless enough at first glance, save for the slate's uniform unfamiliarity with Hoboken Public Schools, what is most alarming is who is behind the slate. To anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Hoboken politics, a glance at the photos of the Move Forward's kick-off party says it all. A consolidated who's who of politicians and supporters responsible for raiding the coffers at both the School Board and the City. But three years ago Hoboken voters elected reform majorities to both the School Board and City Hall. And in that short time they've been cleaning up the corruption with a vengeance.</div>
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<b>A Litany of Atrocities</b></div>
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At the School Board, the Kids First majority has uncovered a litany of atrocities: rigging the results for state education tests in order to obtain "Most Improved School District" status, providing hundreds of no-show and no-bid jobs and contracts, and running enormous tabs at restaurants. Meanwhile, school textbooks were long overdue for replacement and school buildings were falling into disrepair. All of this and much more has been rectified under a Kids First majority. Under Kids First the School Board has, for the first time, been honest about the financial and academic status of Hoboken's Public Schools. They've hired a new Superintendent, Dr. Mark Toback, who is implementing an aggressive plan to get Hoboken Schools back on track. They've eliminated the bogus jobs and canceled the contracts, successfully defending themselves against retaliatory law suits. Not only that, but our school district received an award for financial accounting excellence last year for turning the district's finances around and keeping Hoboken's tax levy flat for three years running, despite enduring severe financial cuts from the state.</div>
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<b>Vote to Continue the Progress</b></div>
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Those behind Raia's "Move Forward" slate are desperate to regain control of the School Board. There is no question that under their control, Hoboken's Public Schools will quickly "Move Backward" to the sorry state they were in prior to Kids First majority control. If we must vote on Tuesday, before we've recovered from the disaster that has visited us, then we must vote to continue the progress that Kids First has brought to the Hoboken Public Schools. To maintain a majority the entire Kids First slate has to be elected. On the ballot please vote columns K, L and M, for Tom Kluepfel, Jean Marie Mitchell, and Ruth McAllister.</div>
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<b>Links:</b></div>
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For a list of the financial atrocities we can expect under a "Move Forward" majority, see the <a href="http://www.nj.gov/education/finance/kw/Hoboken.pdf">KPMG audit of the Hoboken Public Schools</a> from 2004 to 2006 that was buried by Frank Raia when he was President of the Hoboken School Board.</div>
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For an honest appraisal of the current academic state of Hoboken's Public Schools, I highly recommend reading Jason Yoon-Hendrick's two recent, <a href="http://hoboken.patch.com/users/jasonyh/blog_posts">extensively researched reports</a> recently published in Hoboken Patch.</div>
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Photos of the "Move Forward" <a href="http://hoboken.patch.com/articles/move-forward-fundraiser-kicks-off-school-board-campaign">kick-off party</a>.</div>
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Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-9386869065782378122012-03-03T15:00:00.000-05:002012-03-03T15:00:50.644-05:00Demolition After the FireOn February 19th, <a href="http://hoboken.patch.com/articles/building-evacuated-after-three-alarm-fire-on-washington-street">a fire destroyed</a> historic 300 Washington St. Unfortunately the top floors of the building are being demolished.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9kToW2awTIwc-o0COTj3rT8Gs2Sc2IaSHtfMstDlrEy-V9e0qUr9rWLsnEgkad4QIYjN8BJ54Q-uRuUsaTrcERVn9CbtjucAaor-pPrimDapVEq7AYP136BjTgpfKelsJfU9D6Z8F1MAe/s1600/IMG_0239.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9kToW2awTIwc-o0COTj3rT8Gs2Sc2IaSHtfMstDlrEy-V9e0qUr9rWLsnEgkad4QIYjN8BJ54Q-uRuUsaTrcERVn9CbtjucAaor-pPrimDapVEq7AYP136BjTgpfKelsJfU9D6Z8F1MAe/s400/IMG_0239.jpg" /></a></div>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-27743438324071960432012-03-03T12:00:00.000-05:002012-03-03T12:00:52.375-05:00iPhone Waterfront PhotosHoboken's waterfront is so photogenic, it even looks good when captured with my crummy 3GS camera. Here's a selection from the past few months.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwbNr0iAXGTx5RN7YKVjRxIla9XiLXMx_IypA1HUujh4ZDP_jvq6z26Brh9e_NXHLZMSSnEKBEhc39so9q-pMyTFtoGa3eT9K_r1RWl4u6kTiHEyVprn245Kc2rGjGMgk70ZEt_wWSdh-M/s1600/IMG_0122.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwbNr0iAXGTx5RN7YKVjRxIla9XiLXMx_IypA1HUujh4ZDP_jvq6z26Brh9e_NXHLZMSSnEKBEhc39so9q-pMyTFtoGa3eT9K_r1RWl4u6kTiHEyVprn245Kc2rGjGMgk70ZEt_wWSdh-M/s400/IMG_0122.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwLugR682NZ4sltDOVEdzrSd9XWDPBRfTS8Yjc7UcVprtBsd9qBp0CykAjY_Xa4PlAQXvRVie9zVl38pzHYRymj198NV5JUwlv55pjc53VzBkw4qRGlM2CI0a6FeaAjcr5ofiU8Pjqjup/s1600/IMG_0128.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZwLugR682NZ4sltDOVEdzrSd9XWDPBRfTS8Yjc7UcVprtBsd9qBp0CykAjY_Xa4PlAQXvRVie9zVl38pzHYRymj198NV5JUwlv55pjc53VzBkw4qRGlM2CI0a6FeaAjcr5ofiU8Pjqjup/s400/IMG_0128.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPP513ZjVfY0jNQdIcpOeaXAf8-zXjzO9Je4hHdYKkpLMLaj0wOLsIXlHayH6MJfADOmlQF3QWqKUajFvYwSj6GMkTwszkM8_sBkh8eyqhhTgt0FF0hKXHMcZxt4Zvs12vjtfLDmkELVdD/s1600/IMG_0150.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPP513ZjVfY0jNQdIcpOeaXAf8-zXjzO9Je4hHdYKkpLMLaj0wOLsIXlHayH6MJfADOmlQF3QWqKUajFvYwSj6GMkTwszkM8_sBkh8eyqhhTgt0FF0hKXHMcZxt4Zvs12vjtfLDmkELVdD/s400/IMG_0150.jpg" /></a></div>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-13249955448127238982012-01-15T14:45:00.001-05:002012-01-15T15:35:13.050-05:00Hoboken St Patrick's Day Parade ≠ Trash Hoboken Day<p>
On Friday, the Hoboken St. Patrick's Day Parade Committee <a href="http://www.hobokensaintpatricksparade.org/index.html">released a letter</a> canceling this year's parade. Nevertheless, at least one local bar and restaurant promoter is <a href="http://eatdrinkhoboken.com/2012/01/hoboken-st-pattys-day-will-go-on-with-or-without-the-parade/">actively encouraging</a> tens of thousands of non-residents to descend upon Hoboken for the traditional public urination and puke-fest known as Trash Hoboken Day.
</p>
<p>
Trash Hoboken Day has traditionally fallen on a weekend, the same day as Hoboken's St. Patrick's Day parade. But after last year's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/14/nyregion/st-patricks-day-parade-in-hoboken-is-canceled.html">nationally publicized</a> debacle, City Hall decided that the parade must be moved to a weekday. In their disingenuous letter to Hoboken residents, the Parade Committee made it clear that they would not consider holding the parade on any day other than Trash Hoboken Day. So they quit.
</p>
<p>
In the ensuing public debate on the city's various blogs, the main topic of discussion isn't about canceling the parade, but about canceling Trash Hoboken Day. But Trash Hoboken Day doesn't appear to have been canceled. Because people are <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/194504937249857/">actively promoting</a> it, City Hall has no choice but to <a href="http://hoboken.patch.com/articles/parade-cancelled-bar-owners-upstet-but-still-expecting-large-crowds">plan</a> for the onslaught.
</p>
<p>
What about the parade? Why is the parade committee so insistent that the parade happen on Trash Hoboken Day? Many local residents don't even bother to attend the parade anymore because of the unruly drunks, and many of the unruly drunks don't even know there is a parade. That the parade committee genuinely considered holding the parade on a different day is not apparent in their letter. The only stated "reason" against holding the parade on a weekday is that it will be dark, which is false. For example, <a href="http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=842&month=3&year=2012&obj=sun&afl=-13&day=1">darkness falls</a> in Hoboken between 7pm and 7:30pm on Wednesday March 14.
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<p>
I know that not all Hoboken residents of Irish descent agree with the parade committee's decision. Not only that, there are plenty of Hoboken residents of non-Irish descent who enjoy "being Irish for a day," sharing in a celebration of Hoboken's rich Irish history.
</p>
<p>
Rather than attempting to compete with NYC's massive St. Patrick's Day parade, Hoboken's celebration could distinguish itself by having a more local focus. The parade could feature the High School marching band, local step dancers, prominent members of the Irish community, and the police and fire departments marching alongside. Afterwards we could all raise a few pints at the local pubs and restaurants, attend an Irish play at a local playhouse, attend a reading of Irish literature, or attend a lecture on Hoboken's Irish history. Yes, it's a marked contrast to Trash Hoboken Day, but that's the idea. Why can't we celebrate Hoboken's Irish heritage without inviting tens of thousands of outsiders to vomit and urinate on our streets, throw beer bottles at pedestrians from roof tops, and assault our police officers and fire fighters?
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<p>
I encourage all prominent members of Hoboken's Irish community to consider forming a new parade committee. A committee that believes celebrating Irish heritage needn't be equated with trashing Hoboken. A committee who believes that Hoboken can celebrate its Irish heritage, regardless of the day of the week.
</p>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-22697133262719148532011-11-27T18:02:00.004-05:002011-11-27T18:10:46.259-05:00Things Get in My WayWhat happened to Beth Mason? When Hoboken's 2nd Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason began her political career in the early 2000s, she fought against corruption and fought for transparency. In 2003, she took the principled stand of resigning from the city's Planning Board, despite being Mayor Robert's designee for the position, because she disapproved of the direction Roberts was taking the city. She also co-founded Hoboken's People for Open Government (POG) which, in its early years, fought to release public records and fought to combat pay-to-play (contributing to a political campaign in exchange for future political favors). Finally, she decided to run for 2nd Ward Council, only to be defeated by a Robert's-backed incumbent. Mason persisted and, in 2007, she was elected as 2nd Ward Councilwoman. In a demonstration of her independence, she publicly announced she would forgo her Council salary and benefits.
<h3>Mason's Run for Mayor</h3>
Everything changed when Mason decided to run for Mayor in 2009. In the spring election, she lost by a significant margin to Peter Cammarano and Dawn Zimmer. Of course, Cammarano went on to beat Zimmer in a run-off election, but he was arrested only a month into his term for accepting bribes from an undercover FBI informant. That fall, a special election was held to fill the vacant Mayor's seat. Once again Mason ran against Zimmer and, once again, she lost by a significant margin. All told, Mason spent in excess of $1 million on campaign expenses; the majority of it her own money. Moreover, while her spending more than doubled Zimmer's, she received only a third of the votes that Zimmer did.
<p>
After losing the first Mayoral election, Mason, still holding her Council seat, reneged on her pledge to forgo her Council salary and benefits. Not only that, she demanded she receive "back pay" for the salary she had voluntarily forgone. Mason's public persona had changed and her supporters noticed it. Between the two Mayoral elections Mason lost many of her supporters, who defected to support Zimmer in the fall election.
<h3>The New Beth Mason</h3>
Since losing the mayoral elections in 2009, Mason has morphed beyond recognition. Just last year, she made large and ethically questionable campaign contributions to Tim Occhipinti's 4th Ward Council election campaign. Occhipinti was running as an opponent to a Zimmer-supported candidate. First, Mason and her husband each contributed the maximum individual amount of $2,600 to Occhipinti's campaign. Then, Mason's campaign committee, dormant since she ran for Mayor, contributed another $8K to his campaign. And finally, she contributed another $6K for "canvassing" expenses. By exploiting loopholes in campaign financing law, Mason's total contribution far exceeded the maximum legal individual contribution, making this a perfect example of the kind of campaign financing that Mason once fought so hard against.
<p>
Incredibly, Mason also contributed to Mike Russo's 3rd Ward Council election campaign this year. Mike Russo is a classic example of the kind of <a href="http://russocorruption.com">corrupt politician</a> that Mason once fought against. In fact, in the months leading up to the election, FBI videos were released showing Russo accepting a bribe from the same undercover informant responsible for Cammarano's arrest!
<p>
Most recently, Mason's voting record indicates that the welfare of Hoboken is the last thing on her mind. The most deplorable example is Mason's attempt to kill the planned sale of Hoboken's only hospital. Much has been written about this elsewhere so it is sufficient to point out that killing the sale would have resulted in the loss of Hoboken's only hospital, layoffs of thousands of hospital employees, and a bill to the city that would have forced the city to declare bankruptcy. Mason has also voted against maintaining a budget reserve, and she's voted against routine budget line item transfers even after being warned in a letter from the State that voting this way violated a Councilperson's fiduciary responsibility. Mason's votes jeopardize the city's financial well-being, which would appear to be precisely the point. The reasoning is that if the city is financially damaged, then it will be viewed as Mayor Zimmer's fault, not Mason's, and then Mason will be in a position to finally be elected as Mayor.
<p>
Finally there are the questions that have arisen regarding Mason's uncanny premonition of an email scandal at City Hall before its investigation by the FBI was made public earlier this month. With one arrest already, and others expected, this is a story that is still being told.
<h3>What Happened?</h3>
Mason's ever-worsening behavior has not escaped the public's notice. There is even discussion of organizing a campaign to recall her from public office.
<p>
So what happened to Beth Mason? Her behavior is consistent with a thwarted quest for power, lashing out at the person who bested her: Mayor Zimmer. In this context it's reasonable to ask if she was ever interested in the betterment of Hoboken. Was her early behavior just part of a cynical strategy to attain power? Or did she sincerely care about Hoboken at one time, only to abandon her principles in order to get ever closer to power? In any event, there is plenty of evidence that, today, she doesn't adhere to any of the principles that reformers would recognize. And that would seem to be a suitable introduction for a lament.....
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<iframe width="480" height="274" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zSV83nwHsmk?rel=0&hd=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-32873698739713350732011-11-21T09:14:00.004-05:002011-12-16T20:53:58.553-05:00Hoboken High School Open HouseOn November 16 2011, Hoboken High School held an open house. Take a look and see all the great things that are happening at HHS.
<iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/-KGP_E8nGFs?rel=0&hd=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-50541587402214016732011-10-31T00:46:00.003-04:002011-11-21T09:18:17.676-05:00Hoboken City Council Vote to Finalize Hospital SaleAt a special City Council meeting on Sunday October 30, a vote was held to decide whether to accept the final terms of the agreement for the city to sell the Hoboken University Medical Center. Up until this point, the minority council members, Tim Occhipinti, Theresa Castellano, Michael Russo, and Beth Mason, had voted against the sale, jeopardizing the existence of the hospital and over 1,000 hospital jobs. Preventing the sale would also have put the city on the hook for over $50 million which would have resulted in massive layoffs of city employees and increased taxes. The community took notice and began to pressure the council minority to change their vote to support the hospital sale. At this meeting the council minority finally conceded, and voted in support of the sale.
<p>
<iframe width="480" height="270" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/HhOy1SREoMQ?rel=0&hd=1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-197809160958282302011-10-23T18:29:00.003-04:002014-10-22T16:41:19.842-04:00The Yuppy MythThe last couple of elections in this city have really got me
thinking. Taken at face value, none of it makes any sense.
<br />
<h2>
Look Who Got Elected</h2>
For
starters, consider the City Council election last May. Incumbent Third Ward
Councilman Michael Russo was re-elected by a huge margin over his
opponent despite the fact that, just prior to the election, FBI tapes
were released showing him agreeing to accept a bribe from an informant –
this latest revelation being only the icing on his already large, well-documented, corruption cake. (See the 'Links' section at the bottom of this article for links to further reading on this and other items discussed in this article.)
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVQ8rsTokfyKkZGZ81aXWLU2yIF95Ez8n3AaW2WH-b416yzwpICxYuR25mBEYW1m0RThm8herA-SeAk9NiyW1YF-7g7_d7mn_VVDxol6vSwueZGIWe_q5FnMgukn0JjLH_bDEhtCmnHYH/s1600/Russo-266x266.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGVQ8rsTokfyKkZGZ81aXWLU2yIF95Ez8n3AaW2WH-b416yzwpICxYuR25mBEYW1m0RThm8herA-SeAk9NiyW1YF-7g7_d7mn_VVDxol6vSwueZGIWe_q5FnMgukn0JjLH_bDEhtCmnHYH/s320/Russo-266x266.jpg" height="266" width="266" /></a>
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Councilman Michael Russo</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzVYxVfVtViUReKXCuMgIqGn0JIhLY6OsF1tuNwViecnVHEMFLdSDk9H8jP03dkA7xwpjhpF5hMzDjXZ203dgAx390VQrsooFDpn0PyMf6f1uS4bqKKRii90gjmhlrjyv5pHauSENn4c7/s1600/Castellano-266x266.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBzVYxVfVtViUReKXCuMgIqGn0JIhLY6OsF1tuNwViecnVHEMFLdSDk9H8jP03dkA7xwpjhpF5hMzDjXZ203dgAx390VQrsooFDpn0PyMf6f1uS4bqKKRii90gjmhlrjyv5pHauSENn4c7/s320/Castellano-266x266.jpg" height="266" width="266" /></a>
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<div style="width: 266px;">
Councilwoman Theresa Castellano</div>
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<br />
Russo's cousin (once removed), incumbent First Ward Councilwoman
Theresa Castellano, also won by a comfortable margin. Castellano is the
longest serving council member (twenty years) and she too has been the
center of corrupt dealings in the past. One example: in 2000, she
single-handedly awarded a big fat raise to her cousin, then mayor,
and now convicted felon (and Michael Russo's father), Anthony
Russo. Fortunately, a lawsuit launched by a citizen resulted in the
raise being nixed.
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<br />
Both Russo and Castellano handily defeated their opponents – reform-minded residents sick and tired of Hoboken's long history of corruption. Corruption won the day.
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<br />
In last April's School Board elections the same thing happened. A
slate bankrolled by local real-estate developer Frank Raia swept the
elections. Receiving the highest number of votes was incumbent Carmelo
Garcia, a long time School Board member; his board position being one of three jobs he presently holds (two of them tax-payer funded). In 2006 Garcia was found guilty of violating the New Jersey School Ethics Act by voting to award a job to his brother, and another job to his boss at the time, former Hudson County Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuc2Q1dtmj9D1VI_6uREQr0R8WcdHDoRPk-KVu-yysEocZd3U3HJsgUJC63QJ8kzWSZSVIDa3zvoyxqkwI7C8YLVMYgW3RmwyjLqOlyNkYO4KVXlst48raCAK26i_jZGxTYGBm_A6HJHgO/s1600/Garcia240x266.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuc2Q1dtmj9D1VI_6uREQr0R8WcdHDoRPk-KVu-yysEocZd3U3HJsgUJC63QJ8kzWSZSVIDa3zvoyxqkwI7C8YLVMYgW3RmwyjLqOlyNkYO4KVXlst48raCAK26i_jZGxTYGBm_A6HJHgO/s320/Garcia240x266.jpg" height="266" width="240" /></a>
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School Board Trustee Carmelo Garcia</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwdxUCB86SloT4xNxYx0TP4qD3TppK6YCwbKMEVbhNKibbDnzV0_8caXFGX37b_hwf_enZ4z-d3VYdqZcGv2f-QXJj-Q7Q7Mu9-hTTTxR7gOyA3ACFXNYYxshYq4TsKkQZh85Fsq0e8wM_/s1600/RhodesKearns-266x266.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwdxUCB86SloT4xNxYx0TP4qD3TppK6YCwbKMEVbhNKibbDnzV0_8caXFGX37b_hwf_enZ4z-d3VYdqZcGv2f-QXJj-Q7Q7Mu9-hTTTxR7gOyA3ACFXNYYxshYq4TsKkQZh85Fsq0e8wM_/s320/RhodesKearns-266x266.jpg" height="266" width="265" /></a>
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School Board Trustee Frances Rhodes-Kearns</div>
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<br />
Frances Rhodes-Kearns was another member of Raia's slate. She also happens to be Maurice Fitzgibbons' cousin, and she was a member of convicted Mayor Peter Cammarano's election slate in 2009. In 2005, as School Board President,
Rhodes-Kearns voted to award a job-for-life, with notoriously lax
terms of employment, to fellow School Board member, David Anthony, who
already had a full-time job (another board member who voted in favor
was Frank Raia). Fortunately, Anthony chose to resign from this job after
a reform majority swept the School Board elections last year. This
year, however, was a different story: Rais's slate trounced the anti-corruption reform candidates.
<br />
<br />
All of these politicians have a well-known history of corruption and yet they
were elected by wide margins. What could possibly be going on? Who
could possibly be voting for these people? How could their
anti-corruption opponents lose so badly? At City Hall, when it became
clear that Raia's slate had swept the elections, Raia was
heard saying that the win confirmed that the people were sick and tired
of what's been going on and wanted a change. Huh? A change from reform to corruption? Who would want that?
<br />
<br />
While these questions are seemingly baffling, the answers become evident when we take a look back at Hoboken's history.
<br />
<h2>
Feast Bombs</h2>
No one would dispute that Hoboken is no longer the city it used to be. Talk to anyone who's lived hear more than ten years and you'll hear them remark how much things have changed. Talk to someone who's lived here more than fifty years and you'll get an earful.
The changes started with the loss of the city's traditional employers: the factories, the ship yards, and all the services that supported them. By the early '70s they were almost all gone and Hoboken was destitute and crumbling. In 1970 the Urban League named Hoboken one of seven cities in the US that might well be past saving. And then came gentrification.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Pt8My-WmBS4KfDSB01WS2yUdNt3f5O_7ktZhFo4sco_zJUuO2omb-13JNTyocQ6HJxsgSKlpoWGymZlq9vYttzq1uCf2X7Xe7hudkXhLjcGS_TkxKC1g2XgLtvWCqGH0mghTXzqCMHOo/s1600/HollandAmericaLinePiersFifthStreet-1948.jpg" imageanchor="1">
<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3Pt8My-WmBS4KfDSB01WS2yUdNt3f5O_7ktZhFo4sco_zJUuO2omb-13JNTyocQ6HJxsgSKlpoWGymZlq9vYttzq1uCf2X7Xe7hudkXhLjcGS_TkxKC1g2XgLtvWCqGH0mghTXzqCMHOo/s320/HollandAmericaLinePiersFifthStreet-1948.jpg" height="250" width="320" />
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Holland America Piers at 5th St., Hoboken, 1948 (Hoboken Historical Museum Archives)</div>
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<img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRFgOYIVYW4V8kIjD5CiAT9na0xjHHbTU04KFZscKtIfhjzLKGcmpAt2M7aQX1oSwWkj659IOE0jjxCxuZqpo3j9Gt5MxaPcGbxxUjv1kJawaiB-43D1AdJUdFKeEJSdGVjN6Ys-89xzZO/s320/KidsInPlayground-JohnConn-1976.jpg" height="320" width="319" />
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Kids in playground, Hoboken, 1976 (John Conn, from "From Another Time: Hoboken in the 1970s", Hoboken Historical Museum pub.)</div>
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It started slowly in the late '60s as artists started to move in and, by the mid-'80s, it became white hot as "newcomers," more commonly referred to by the derisive term "Yuppies," moved into shiny new developments in droves. What came next was inevitable given the hyper-development in a mile-square city: old butted up against new and, occasionally, sparks would fly. The issue that came to symbolize this clash of cultures was the "feast bombs."
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<br />
Today, residents are undoubtedly familiar with the different religious
processions and feasts that take place during the summer months and
early fall. But one aspect of the feasts is a shadow of what it used
to be. Traditionally, the celebrations included lighting
fireworks in the streets – known as "feast bombs" – for
nights on end. To some newcomers, this was charming at first
but, after a night or two of lost sleep, the feast bombs became irritating.
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Lighting fireworks in the street, Hoboken, 197? (Benedict Fernandez, from "From Another Time: Hoboken in the 1970s", Hoboken Historical Museum pub.)</div>
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A letter of complaint from a "Yuppie" to the Hoboken Reporter in 1986
became the first shot in what was to become a popular, long-running
war of words in the paper's letters section. As the argument was
framed at the time, the feast bomb issue
forced Hoboken residents to choose a side: "us" or "them." The old Hoboken BnRs ("born and raised") saw their old community disappearing and they blamed the Yuppies for it.
<br />
<h2>
The Yuppie Myth</h2>
And here we are, a quarter century later, and I invite you to listen to a thirty second excerpt of a speech made only last year by First Ward Councilperson Theresa Castellano:
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Listening to the rousing cheers Castellano receives, it's clear that
not much has changed since 1986. But how can that be? It's a stretch
to be calling people who moved to Hoboken twenty, thirty, or forty years ago "Yuppies." Many of these so-called Yuppies have established their own businesses in the city, they've raised families in the city, their kids go to school and play on teams with BnR kids. In fact, these Yuppie's kids are part of the next generation of BnRs! The whole idea of "Yuppie" is ridiculous today – it's a myth. Nevertheless, this Yuppie myth persists. Why? Well, the reason why brings us back to the where we started: corruption.
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<h2>
Keeping the Myth Alive</h2>
Castellano, Russo, Garcia and Rhodes-Kearns, and many others, have
a vested interest in keeping the Yuppie myth alive. It's in their best
interest to encourage their supporters to believe they are under siege
by Yuppies; that Yuppies are trying to destroy their community. This
is how they get the votes they desperately need. The fear and anger
they arouse blinds people to the damage they have done to the
city, and to the damage they have demonstrated a willingness to do if they regain power. Look no further than Russo and Castellano's recent concerted efforts to kill Hoboken's only hospital, layoff masses of city workers, and leave the Police Department in a state of disrepair.
Not every one of their supporters necessarily believes the Yuppie
myth. A small number stand to gain if the people they support gain
power, so it's as convenient for them to perpetuate the myth as it is
for the people they support. The City of Hoboken and the Hoboken
School Board have a long history of hiring unqualified friends and
relatives, awarding them with raises, no-bid contracts, jobs created
out of thin air, or cheap housing. Forensic audits requested by the current reform majorities on City Council and the School Board have uncovered numerous examples of this.
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Obviously not every supporter can benefit so richly; the city and
School Board budgets can only be stretched so far – and they
most certainly have, most recently resulting in the near bankruptcy of
the city in 2008. Also, it mustn't be forgotten that these awards don't come for free. Those awarded are expected to give back. In the immortal words of Councilman Russo, captured on FBI tapes as he boasted about finding housing for someone in exchange for political favors: "I do for you, you do for me."
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When an unqualified friend or relative is awarded, then those who legitimately qualify are passed over. For example, When someone is awarded housing, those already waiting for housing have to wait for a few more years. When someone is awarded with a job or a raise, then a more deserving qualified person is less likely to receive one. Basically, the majority of those who support corrupt politicians end up worse off than if they hadn't supported them. These supporters, the vast majority of them, while perhaps
holding out hope for a job or housing, will get nothing more than a
Christmas poinsettia, an Easter basket, $100 in the Bingo pot, or $40
"street money" for their vote on election day.
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One of many poinsettias distributed to Third Ward constituents in 2010.</div>
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Is this the answer then? Is this why corrupt politicians continue to
be elected? Is is because of a fear and hatred of Yuppies, a few
bucks or a potted plant, and the hope of receiving a job or
cheap housing? As the voting record reveals, the
answer appears to be "yes."
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<h2>
Who Invited the Yuppies?</h2>
The ultimate irony is, of course, that the Yuppie invasion so many blame for their loss of community is a direct result of supporting corrupt politicians in the first place. Think of it this way: if too many relatives show up at your house for Thanksgiving dinner, do you blame the relatives? No. You blame your spouse for inviting them all.
So who invited the Yuppies to Hoboken? Every mayor but one in the
course of 36 years, from 1973 to 2009, has been pro hyper-development,
actively inviting Yuppies to move to Hoboken: Steven Cappiello,
Patrick Pasculli, Anthony Russo, David Roberts and, of course, most
recently Peter Cammarano. Yet every one of these mayors was embraced
as a savior from the Yuppie scourge despite their working tirelessly to develop every acre of the city, at the expense of parkland, infrastructure and services.
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It should be remembered that the only reason Hoboken has its beautiful waterfront parks is because of fierce opposition and lawsuits from the community; people who recognized that over-development was destroying Hoboken's community. One has to question why these mayors, and their majority councils, encouraged development over so many years when they could plainly see the damage it was causing. For three of these mayors, Anthony Russo, David Roberts, and Peter Cammarano, the reason is clear. Russo's wife netted in excess of $1,000,000 in commissions from exclusive real-estate agent listings for new condo development projects that were approved while her husband was mayor. Roberts' received over $35,000 in direct campaign contributions, and tens of thousands more in indirect contributions via the Hudson County Democratic Organization and the Hoboken Democratic Party, all from the development company whose plans he supported. Cammarano was convicted for receiving kickbacks from an FBI informant posing as a real estate developer.
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Hoboken's beautiful waterfront promenade, 2010.</div>
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And let's not forget the School Board. Many people don't realize how
important the School Board is for Hoboken, as is evident from the
paltry 9% of Hoboken's registered voters who bothered to cast votes in
the April School Board elections. Nevertheless, the School Board oversees a large budget, almost $60 million, of which $36 million factors into city taxes.
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Control over such a large pot of money, combined with the relative ease of winning a School Board seat, is what makes the School Board such an attractive target for corrupt politicians. They pilfer the School Board the same way that a corrupt City Council and mayor pilfer the city: by awarding jobs and no-bid contracts to unqualified friends and relatives. Not only do Hoboken's taxpayers get stuck footing the bill, but Hoboken's kids suffer because the money in the budget is diverted to corrupt politicians and their friends, not to the schools.
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Hoboken High School, 2009. (Nightscream, Wikipedia)</div>
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But there's something even more insidious at play when corruption
infiltrates the School Board – something that should give pause
to those who still believe the Yuppie myth: electing corrupt
politicians to the School Board serves to further deteriorate Hoboken's community. Poor schools make the city less attractive for families, but it's families that form the basis for any community.
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<h2>
Repairing Hoboken's Community</h2>
So the Yuppie myth is exactly that: a myth. It's not the Yuppies we should be scared of, it's the corrupt politicians. For decades they've done nothing but erode Hoboken's sense of community in order to live a life of comfort at the expense of Hoboken residents, old and new. "Yuppies" have been taking up residence and raising families in Hoboken for over forty years now; it goes without saying that they have as much a stake in building Hoboken's community as any other resident. In fact, many Yuppies have taken part in efforts to slow down development, create park space, and root out corruption.<br />
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Today, Hoboken is at a critical juncture. As evidenced by the past two
elections, the forces of corruption have joined together to
effectively erode the reform majorities on both the City Council and
the School Board. Anti-corruption reformers currently maintain only
the slimmest of majorities. Former political enemies like the Russo
family, Frank Raia, and Beth Mason first joined forces to support Tim
Occhipinti's successful bid for City Council in late 2010, and
repeated their success last May.
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<br />
These same forces successfully got out the vote for Michael Russo,
Theresa Castellano, Beth Mason, Carmelo Garcia, Frances Rhodes-Kearns,
and Peter Biancamano. Occhipinti and Biancamano's campaign
teams, and their voting records since they were elected, reveal they
are nothing more than the new faces of the corrupt Old
Guard. Meanwhile, reform candidates fared poorly in the elections,
despite a concerted effort on their part to get out the vote. What happened? Do the majority of the Hoboken electorate actually believe the Yuppie myth?
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<br />
No. The answer is simply that fewer people have been voting since reformers gained majority control only two years ago. The numbers say it all: only 3,400 of 36,000 (9%) of registered voters voted in the last School Board election, and only 7,900 (22%) voted in the last City Council election. Compare this to just two years earlier when 5,000 (14%) voted in the the 2010 School Board elections, and over 13,000 (36%) voted in the November 2009 mayoral election.
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When fewer people vote, those who support the Yuppie myth have more
influence, and corrupt politicians are more likely to be elected. Given the tenuous position of reform majorities at present, it follows that if more people don't vote in upcoming elections, then
corruption will reign once more in Hoboken. Eligible voters take note: the next two elections are the Hudson County Freeholder election on November 8th, with reformer Kurt Gardiner opposing incumbent Anthony Romano, and the School Board election in April 2012, where reformers are likely to oppose a slate supported by Frank Raia, Beth Mason, and the Russo family.
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I want to close with a story I heard recently about a Mom in a local park talking to two boys who were looking for kids to play ball with. The Mom suggested the kids go play with a couple of kids nearby, to which one replied "Nah. We don't want to play with them. They're Yuppies." This is a tragedy. A new generation is being brain-washed with the Yuppie myth, virtually guaranteeing that Hoboken will remain a dysfunctional community for decades to come. This has to stop, and the only way to stop it is to stop supporting the corruption that is causing it. The less influence a corrupt politician has, the more people will ignore them and, eventually, they will become inconsequential, and disappear, unable to poison the community any more.
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Madison Park, Hoboken, 2009.</div>
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<h2>
Links</h2>
<ul>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">RussoCorruption.com. A web site documenting Michael Russo's, and his family's, history of corrupt activities. <a href="http://www.russocorruption.com/" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Hoboken Reporter article, August 19 2000, by David Danzig, describing Theresa Castellano's one-person vote to award a raise to her cousin, then Mayor Anthony Russo. <a href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_story?page_label=full_story&id=2364608&widget=push&article-1-0%20vote%20gives%20city%20workers%20big%20payout%20Mayor%20gets%20-42K-%20Roberts%20apoplectic%20=&open=&" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Hoboken Reporter article, March 14 2006, by Tom Jennemann, describing ethics charges against Carmelo Garcia. <a href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/2407862/article--Political-shenanigans--made-him-do-it-Responding-to-ethics-charges--Garcia-accuses-mayor--his-ally--of-deal-making" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">nj.com article, April 4 2011, by Terrence McDonald, describing the three government jobs currently held by Carmelo Garcia. <a href="http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/2011/04/hudson_county_freeholders_help.html" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Hoboken Journal article, June 30 2010, by Kurt Gardiner, describing Frances Rhodes-Kearns' vote to award David Anthony a job, and details regarding Anthony's contract. <a href="http://thehobokenjournal.blogspot.com/2009/12/david-anthony-resigns-from-boe.html" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">nj.com article, March 3 2009, by Carly Baldwin, stating that convicted Mayor Peter Cammarano's slate included Frances Rhodes-Kearns and Angel Alicea. In addition to Cammarano's conviction in 2010, Alicea resigned as the city's Public Safety Directory in April 2011 when it was discovered that Alicea had not disclosed he had met with the same FBI informant that Michael Russo and Peter Cammarano had met with in 2009. <a href="http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2009/03/cammarano_announces_slate_ange.html" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">"From Another Time: Hoboken in the 1970s," edited by Robert Foster, designed by McKevin Shaughnessy, published by the Hoboken Historical Museum, 2007, ISBN 978-0-9768525-2-0 . This fantastic book includes engaging essays, by "BnR" Anthony DePalma and "Yuppie" Sada Fretz, describing life in Hoboken in the 1970s. It also includes more than 150 beautiful, large format, black and white photos of Hoboken from that time, taken by three talented photographers: Caroline Carlson, John Conn, and Benedict Fernandez. The book can be purchased from the Hoboken Historical Society. <a href="http://store.hobokenmuseum.org/book-from-another-time-hoboken-in-the-1970s/" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">The Hoboken Historical Museum online archives. This is a vast, searchable archive of photos, illustrations and documents in the museum's collection. It's very easy to get lost looking at photos of Hoboken, some of which date back to the beginning of the last century. Also you can find some of the photos from the aforementioned "From Another Time: Hoboken in the 1970s" book here. <a href="http://hoboken.pastperfect-online.com/32340cgi/mweb.exe?request=ks" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Hoboken Historical Museum. If you aren't already a member of the Hoboken Historical Museum, you can join online. <a href="http://www.hobokenmuseum.org/" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">New York Times article, March 6 1987, by By Michael Winerip, describing the war of "Feast Bomb" letters in the Hoboken Reporter. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1987/03/06/nyregion/our-towns-feast-fireworks-yuppies-take-on-the-old-timers.html" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Hoboken Reporter article, October 20 2011, describing how recent "No" votes from Michael Russo, Theresa Castellano, Beth Mason and Tim Occhipinti, have put many city workers in jeopardy of being laid off, and prevented the Police Department headquarters from undergoing much needed repairs. <a href="http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/16112316/article---Layoffs-could-come-to-Hoboken-after-bonds-fail-at-council-meeting-?instance=up_to_the_minute_hoboken" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Hoboken Patch article, September 22 2011, by Claire Moses, describing how the recent "No" votes from Michael Russo, Theresa Castellano, Beth Mason and Tim Occhipinti, jeopardized the existence of Hoboken's only hospital. <a href="http://hoboken.patch.com/articles/city-council-votes-down-bond-hospital-deal-likely-to-fall-through" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">New York Times article, June 26 2008, by Peter Applebome, describing how Hoboken's budget grew from $52 million to over $100 million in only 7 years, resulting in the State of New Jersey appointing a fiscal monitor to take control of Hoboken's budget. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/nyregion/26towns.html" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">New York Times article, February 9 1986, by Anthony DePalma, describing how pro-development Mayor Steven Cappiello was ousted after 12 years in office by anti-development Mayor Thomas Vezzetti. Vezzetti died of a heart attack three years later. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1986/02/09/realestate/in-new-jersey-how-hoboken-tries-to-control-growth.html" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">New York Times article, May 5 1989, by Anthony DePalma, describing the pro-development stance of Mayor Patrick Pasculli. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/1989/05/05/nyregion/parks-vs-development-battle-for-hoboken-s-salty-soul.html" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">RussoCorruption.com. This site provides links to documents showing that Mayor Anthony Russo's wife, Michele Russo, made in excess of $1 million in real estate transactions for condo development projects approved by City Hall while Anthony Russo was mayor. <a href="http://www.russocorruption.com/" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">New York Times article, March 20 2005, by Terry Golway, describing the community uproar over Mayor David Roberts endorsement of a massive redevelopment plan by developers who had contributed over $35,000 to his election campaigns. <a href="http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07E7DC103CF933A15750C0A9639C8B63&pagewanted=all" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">New York Times article, April 20 2010, by Richard Pérez-Peña, describing Mayor Peter Cammarano's guilty plea to accepting campaign contributions in exchange for favoring development projects. <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/21/nyregion/21hoboken.html" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Delivered Vacant, 1992. A terrific documentary film by Nora Jacobson chronicling the tumultous history of Hoboken's development from 1984 to 1992. Available on loan from the Hoboken Historial Museum for museum members.<a href="http://www.offthegridproductions.com/pages/films/vacant.html" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Fund for a Better Waterfront. A citizen-based organization that has, over the past two decades, worked to ensure that Hoboken's waterfront can be enjoyed by the community. <a href="http://betterwaterfront.org/" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Hoboken Journal article, March 28 2011, by Kurt Gardiner, providing an overview of the recent School Board budget. <a href="http://thehobokenjournal.blogspot.com/2011/03/hoboken-boe-2011-2012-budget-meeting.html" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Hoboken Patch article, November 2 2010, by Claire Moses, describing Tim Occhipinti's election win, as he is surrounded by his supporters, Councilman Michael Russo, Councilwoman Theresa Castellano, and Councilwoman Beth Mason. <a href="http://hoboken.patch.com/articles/polls-open-for-election-day" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Hoboken Reporter article, December 19 2010, by Ray Smith, exploring the unusually high correlation between the Occhipinti campaign's paid workers and vote-by-mail submissions. <a href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/10711146/article-Spotlight-on-campaign-spending-Election-forms-in-recent-council-campaign-lead-to-questions-?instance=more_page" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Hoboken Reporter article, June 5 2011, by Ray Smith, describing Frank Raia and Beth Mason's financing of the School Board election slate comprising Carmelo Garcia, Frances Rhodes-Kearns, and Peter Biancamano. It also describes the unusually strong correlation between the slate's paid campaign workers and vote-by-mail submissions. <a href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/13651100/article-Money-well-spent---$chool-board-election-filings-reveal-vote-by-mail-boom-?instance=more_page" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
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<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Mile Square View article, November 4 2009, by Roman Brice, showing vote tallies for the most recent mayoral election, won by current Mayor Dawn Zimmer. <a href="http://www.hobokenhorse.com/2009/11/mayoral-final-tallies-with-absentee.html" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
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<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Hoboken Patch article, April 20 2010, by Claire Moses, showing vote tallies for the spring 2010 School Board election in which reformers swept all three seats. <a href="http://hoboken.patch.com/articles/kids-first-sweep-in-board-of-education-elections" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Hoboken Reporter article, July 10 2011, by Ray Smith, describing low turnouts in the 2011 City Council and 2011 School Board elections. <a href="http://www.hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/14649585/article-Toward-fewer-elections-in-Hoboken-Council-proposes-moving-vote-from-May-to-Nov--some-disagree-" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a>
</li>
<li style="margin: 1em 0px;">Hoboken Reporter article, June 12 2011, by Ray Smith, investigating what motivated Third Ward residents to re-elect Michael Russo, in light of Russo's corrupt history. The responses he receives from Russo's supporters reveal they are blind to corruption and the damage he has inflicted on their city. <a href="http://hudsonreporter.com/pages/full_story/push?article-%E2%80%98Michael+never+committed+a+crime%E2%80%99-Why+councilman+won+in+a+landslide+after+appearing+on+FBI+video-%20&id=14119262&instance=home_Most_popular" style="color: red; text-decoration: none;">Link</a></li>
</ul>
Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-64820952576662298622011-10-02T23:12:00.001-04:002011-10-02T23:25:58.335-04:00Soul PatchIn 2007, Hoboken Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo voted in support of a $52 million bond to finance keeping Hoboken's St. Mary's hospital open. Fast forward to 2011, the hospital now renamed Hoboken University Medical Center is on the verge of bankruptcy and Hoboken is faced with losing the hospital, along with over 1000 jobs, and taxpayers are on the hook for paying back the $52 million. <br />
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In an effort to save the hospital, the hospital board put the hospital up for sale with terms that ensured the hospital would stay open and that the buyer would assume the hospital's debt. The bidder selected by the board requested that, as part of the deal, $5 million be paid to them in order to assist with paying back creditors. Hoboken's Mayor Dawn Zimmer requested that the City Council vote to support bonding the $5 million in this last ditch effort to save the deal.<br />
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When it came time to vote, Councilman Russo launched into a rambling, disjointed speech, whose underlying message was clear: he would rather see Hoboken without a hospital than see the Mayor help save the hospital. He would not vote to support the deal because he hates the Mayor. <br />
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To read more about Councilman Russo's corrupt approach to politics, see <a href="http://russocorruption.com">russocorruption.com</a><br />
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<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/29937792?byline=0&portrait=0" width="476" height="268" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-82930353698826551362011-09-12T08:56:00.003-04:002011-09-12T08:58:26.851-04:00A Tribute to the Tribute in LightTen years ago I was walking down 6th Ave in Manhattan when I saw the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. Not long afterwards I saw the second plane hit the South Tower. In the decade since then, I've been unable to come to terms with what took place that day. It was simply too immense. The death of so many innocent people. The destruction of two towering landmarks that I saw every day.<br />
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For me, the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribute_in_Light">Tribute in Light</a> is a haunting and beautiful memorial to not just those who perished that day, but also to the two towers themselves. <br />
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This is a time lapse movie taken of the Tribute in Light the night of September 11th, 2011. For those viewing the tribute from Hoboken's Pier A where I made the movie, the lights appeared to be partly obscured by motionless, low clouds. But the time lapse reveals a more dramatic and dynamic view. At times the clouds swirling around the towers unsettlingly evoke the moments before the towers fell. At other times, however, the clouds brighten and shine, and the towers rise heavenwards.<br />
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<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/28928031?byline=0&portrait=0" width="480" height="270" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-49662539732742182942011-09-10T12:20:00.004-04:002011-09-10T12:22:24.195-04:00Hoboken Italian Festival 2011A warm September night on the Hoboken waterfront attracted crowds to the annual Italian Festival.<br />
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<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/28860269?byline=0&portrait=0" width="480" height="270" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen allowFullScreen></iframe>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-57545881278693622002011-05-30T10:06:00.000-04:002011-05-30T10:06:48.653-04:00Memorial Day Weekend on the Piers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLb6K68iqpd6zV8Kx1NrArTq9t8ukwaYSyaTDELaFQGhyn5ozbCKEafIBb9SqVbO0rlVcX8bpPkojGRI9kNcaDbsWm19Q9YIcu3WZ70BxJ31qwtkFZc8Q-DZdxQKjzDaDGqT_In4Y0xXl7/s1600/P1030733.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLb6K68iqpd6zV8Kx1NrArTq9t8ukwaYSyaTDELaFQGhyn5ozbCKEafIBb9SqVbO0rlVcX8bpPkojGRI9kNcaDbsWm19Q9YIcu3WZ70BxJ31qwtkFZc8Q-DZdxQKjzDaDGqT_In4Y0xXl7/s400/P1030733.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ntCp1aTZm0MpSar-5dQ80Sv5ljdpADScpRE49iUw93QUvJNl5syl-nT58djqxbGS8zuvLCqoTCexzQ9nILYTBdVqo7opN_SQKDKUATAOdUXKHRXmd1S0dPRvQP5DDFOoQsR7Hq04iaVm/s1600/P1030731.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4ntCp1aTZm0MpSar-5dQ80Sv5ljdpADScpRE49iUw93QUvJNl5syl-nT58djqxbGS8zuvLCqoTCexzQ9nILYTBdVqo7opN_SQKDKUATAOdUXKHRXmd1S0dPRvQP5DDFOoQsR7Hq04iaVm/s400/P1030731.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8kOr-viWphRWcXUcQnTekAfKKeXfb6uAS8dEh62g5RreqZKIm7fYDgs0JK1ckI9J0_rcNNUfZoxWuQfa2B-xvDxt1QyJQymfpm30AhjKwB5wxGhPa2nE2G4Dx1GALV6pg9eI5IuhFybxv/s1600/P1030730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8kOr-viWphRWcXUcQnTekAfKKeXfb6uAS8dEh62g5RreqZKIm7fYDgs0JK1ckI9J0_rcNNUfZoxWuQfa2B-xvDxt1QyJQymfpm30AhjKwB5wxGhPa2nE2G4Dx1GALV6pg9eI5IuhFybxv/s400/P1030730.jpg" /></a></div>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-73381595981864175362011-05-08T18:29:00.005-04:002011-05-09T11:23:03.654-04:00Three Students Severely Injured in Accident in Teacher's CarAlarming headline, right? Or how about this one: "Student Injured at Sleepover at Teacher's Home"? Sound like headlines from a bygone era, when the boundary between teachers and students wasn't encumbered by insurance and legal liabilities. Before parents sued school boards because their children were injured during informal outings with their teachers. <br />
<h3>Boundaries</h3>Today, school systems throughout the country have strict boundaries in place between teachers and students to ensure student safety. A teacher should not hold sleep overs with students at their home. A teacher should not drive students around in their car. A teacher may disagree, but this is how teachers should conduct themselves today. A teacher may view this as interfering with their ability to establish supportive relationships with their students. But these guidelines ultimately exist to protect the students, and teachers, from uncontrolled situations. Any parent whose child was injured in an uncontrolled situation with a teacher would demand that all the parties involved take responsibility: the teacher, the School Board, the Superintendent of Schools, the School District and the State. When a parent's child is injured, it doesn't matter that a teacher was well intentioned. What matters is that the child was injured.<br />
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Yet a small number of parents, and one School Board Trustee, Carmelo Garcia, are <a href="http://hoboken.patch.com/articles/hoboken-schools-theater-director-resigns-unexpectedly">irresponsibly rallying</a> to support a Hoboken teacher who is knowingly drawing children into uncontrolled situations. A teacher who is driving kids around in her own car. A teacher who is holding sleep-overs in her own home for over 20 students at a time. A teacher who is hiring adult workers who have not been cleared by the School Board to work with students without supervision. And what do you think these parents would do if their child was injured as a result of one of these indiscretions? Of course, it's predictable. They wouldn't wait a second to sue everyone, the teacher included, best intentions of the teacher be damned. But, thank goodness, no one has been injured to date. <br />
<h3>The Theater Teacher</h3>The teacher in question is none other than Hoboken High School's <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/05/nyregion/new-jersey/05paper.html">acclaimed theater teacher</a>, Paula Ohaus. Staging highly polished student productions, year after year, Ohaus and her talented students have brought national recognition to Hoboken High School's theater program. And all of these statements about Ohaus's conduct have been <a href="http://thehobokenjournal.blogspot.com/2011/04/superintendents-report-april-12th-ohaus.html">publicly discussed</a> by the current Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Mark Toback, with Ohaus's permission. <br />
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Based on her <a href="http://hoboken.patch.com/articles/hoboken-schools-theater-director-resigns-unexpectedly">public statements to date</a>, I expect Ohaus sees all of these rules as trivial annoyances that only serve to interfere with the more noble goal of inspiring kids to aspire to ever greater theatrical heights. And I would agree with this view. They are trivial annoyances. But where we diverge is that I recognize that these rules exist for a reason: for the safety and well-being of the very students Ohaus is trying to inspire, not to mention for Ohaus's own safety. Yes, they may interfere with, and perhaps inhibit, her ability to inspire, but this is the compromise one must agree to when working with high school students. Ohaus must know this and yet she continues to be defiant year after year. Why?<br />
<h3>Butting Heads</h3>Ohaus has a history of butting heads with Hoboken School Board Superintendents. It was Superintendent Jack Raslowsky who insisted that Ohaus finally get her teacher accreditation. Following Raslowsky's resignation in 2009, Superintendent Peter Carter insisted that Ohaus take on teacher's duties in accordance with her job description and New Jersey state rules. During Carter's term, the School Board Business Administrator also uncovered accounting irregularities with theater productions. Now, our newly hired Superintendent, Dr. Mark Toback, has identified a series of problems going beyond the student safety issues mentioned above. In <a href="http://thehobokenjournal.blogspot.com/2011/04/superintendents-report-april-12th-ohaus.html">Dr. Toback's report</a> at the April 12, 2011 School Board meeting, Dr. Toback stated that students with poor grades were permitted to participate in theater productions - a contravention of district policy. Ohaus is not helping kids by encouraging them to participate in time-consuming theater productions when they should be spending time raising their grades to acceptable levels.<br />
<h3>Defiance</h3>Why doesn't Ohaus try to work within the guidelines set by the district and state, while inspiring kids and staging outstanding productions at the same time? Perhaps she would have to make some compromises, but life is full of compromises. Just like life in theater. Launching a theater production outside the Hoboken School system involves working with unions, budgets, producers, investors and artists. A theater director has to be able to work with all of these people to bring a production to fruition, all while crafting it to meet their own artistic vision. But students at Hoboken High School aren't getting a lesson in working within constraints to achieve greatness. Instead, they're seeing their beloved theater teacher ignoring the rules. Worse, <a href="http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_story/12811164/article-Like-an-episode-of-‘Glee’-Students--alums-speak-out-for-‘harassed’-theater-director-">they're being encouraged to attend School Board meetings</a> to support her continued defiance of these rules, to their own potential detriment.<br />
<h3>Responsibility</h3>Ohaus has inspired many students over the years, and her productions have entertained many, including myself. However, Ohaus holds a position of great responsibility. Unlike Broadway theater directors, Ohaus is dealing with kids; kids who are growing up and learning how to enter the adult world. Like any good teacher, she is responsible for their safety, she is responsible for their grades, she is responsible for inspiring them. She is a role model. But, unfortunately for her students and the community, she is not behaving like one.Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-33386197344950939082011-01-12T13:17:00.000-05:002011-01-12T13:17:03.682-05:00Maureen First: She's Back for Revenge!Snow may cover the ground but Spring election season must be near because the rarely seen Liz Markevitch was spotted at last night's Hoboken Board of Education meeting after nearly a year's absence. Last Spring when Markevitch suddenly appeared at Board meetings, she was the headline candidate in a slate created and orchestrated by current School Board member Maureen Sullivan. The slate, dubbed "<a href="http://www.whatsupwithhoboken.com/2010/02/maureen-first.html">Maureen First</a>," failed miserably at the polls thanks to a platform that spoke incessantly about cutting the budget but never daring to propose what should be cut. Well, that's not quite true. There was the <a href="http://www.whatsupwithhoboken.com/2010/04/road-to-penn-relays.html">ill-considered promise to cut a school trip</a> for a handful of Hoboken High School student athletes who were invited to attend the prestigious Penn Relays track and field competition - a trip that the students had said they would raise funds for. And by washing cars on weekends, the students ended up covering almost all of their costs. The slate's complain-about-the-budget-but-don't-have-a-clue-how-to-fix-it platform was heard loud and clear by voters and <a href="http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2010/04/the_final_numbers_in_hoboken_s.html">not one member of the slate was elected</a>. After Markevitch lost in last Spring's election she disappeared from Board meetings but now, like clockwork, she has appeared again.<br />
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Not only was Markevitch sighted, but another clear sign of coming Spring elections was spotted: <a href="http://thehobokenjournal.blogspot.com/2011/01/maureen-sullivan-speaks-out-on-tonights.html">a traditional vitriolic message from Sullivan herself</a>, circulated far and wide by Markevitch. Judging by her message, Sullivan has learned nothing since last year's election. In her message, Sullivan comes out the gates with guns blazing, accusing the Board's respected Business Administrator of "creative accounting" with regards to the upcoming School Board Budget. And, just like all the unfounded claims that she originated for last Spring's campaign, her latest accusations were quickly exposed to be utterly false at last night's meeting.<br />
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If Sullivan had bothered to ask the Business Administrator to check her facts before she posted her inflammatory message she could have saved herself all the embarrassment she had to endure in front of her fellow board members, the administration and the public at last night's meeting. But she didn't check her facts beforehand because, presumably, she doesn't care about the facts. What she cares about is self-aggrandizing by way of irresponsibly undermining public confidence in Hoboken's public school system. A scurrilous message posted to local blogs and email boxes goes a long way towards achieving her goals.<br />
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The problems with Maureen's message aren't limited to her false claims about the budget. If you don't read the message carefully, you might get the impression that the Board had already approved the so-called "high-priced junket." In fact, no such approval had been given. In reality, it was an agenda item that was up for a vote by the Board at last night's meeting and, when it came time to vote, all Board members but one voted against funding the trip. Maureen would like everyone to think she is the only fiscally responsible Board member but all she is is the most vocal Board member. <br />
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Finally, there is Sullivan's claim regarding the hiring of <a href="http://thehobokenjournal.blogspot.com/2010/11/mark-r-toback-hobokens-next.html">Dr. Mark Toback, Hoboken's next Superintendent of Schools</a>. At last night's meeting the Board voted unanimously to approve Dr. Toback's contract, marking the end of an arduous hiring process but also marking the beginning of what I expect to be great things for Hoboken public schools. To understand why Sullivan's claim doesn't hold water here's a quick summary of what transpired between late November when Dr. Toback agreed to the contract offered to him by the Board, and last night's unanimous vote. <br />
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The contract required approval by the County Superintendent, but the County Superintendent had been directed by the State to not consider any new Superintendent contracts, effectively putting Hoboken's hiring process on hold. At that time there were rumors that the State intended to introduce legislation to cap Superintendent salaries sometime in the new year so it was inferred that the State's intent was to unlawfully postpone hiring any Superintendents until such time that the legislation was passed. This put the Hoboken Board in a bind: after a long, thorough search they had identified a candidate they unanimously agreed should be Hoboken's next Superintendent, they had a contract in hand that the candidate had agreed to, but the State was unwilling to consider the contract until sometime in the new year when the cap would become law. This state of affairs put the Board in jeopardy of not just losing their candidate, but also facing the prospect of embarking upon two more Superintendent searches: one for a new interim Superintendent to replace the current outgoing interim Superintendent, and one for a permanent Superintendent. And all of this after having just completed three Superintendent searches over the past two years: one for the previous interim Superintendent, one for a candidate who decided to take a Superintendent position in another district, and another that resulted in the selection of Dr. Toback. <br />
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Rather than lying down and letting the State walk all over Hoboken, all members of the Board, except Sullivan, <a href="http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2010/11/hoboken_board_of_education_to_4.html">voted to take legal action against the State</a> to force them to consider the contract. In short order, the State responded by reviewing the contract and saying that it would not be approved unless the offered salary was less than the proposed, yet to be legalized cap. With this, the Board renegotiated Dr. Toback's salary to satisfy this criteria and, fortunately, he agreed to the new terms even though his salary will be essentially the same as his current salary. <br />
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In her message, Sullivan contends that if only everyone on the Board had followed her advice last November to initially offer Dr. Toback a salary that was under the proposed salary cap then the Board would not have had to sue the State. Well, I have no doubt that Governor Christie would have approved of Sullivan's initial offer, but I question whether Dr. Toback would have approved. It is quite likely that Dr. Toback would have been insulted by an initial offer that was essentially the same as his current salary, especially in light of the fact that the cap was only a proposal at the time with no clear date set for its institution as law. As usual, in her zeal to cut costs Sullivan ignores other important factors; in this case, how to convince a top-notch candidate to consider taking on supervision of Hoboken's public school system. Sullivan's inability to consider Dr. Toback's role during the past 6 weeks of negotiations between the Board, the State and, yes, Dr. Toback himself, reveals her myopic perspective, only capable of seeing dollars and cents and incapable of seeing the bigger picture.<br />
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So it seems that we're in for a repeat performance this year. Steel yourself for more misleading missives, fallacious flyers and rancid robo-calls because Sullivan has only started to gear up. I'm guessing that Markevitch will once again feature prominently in a sequel slate hand-picked by Sullivan: "Maureen First: She's Back for Revenge!" And judging by Sullivan's opening salvo the slate will, once again, be all about nebulous, misleading, slash and burn budgeting with no regards for the kids or the facts. I have confidence that Hoboken voters will again see the slate for what they are.Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-14441316644731058592010-12-21T19:01:00.000-05:002010-12-21T19:01:37.585-05:00Winter SolsticeA spectacular full moon over New York as viewed from Hoboken's waterfront promenade.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9G_454ugEMf0Y2pxyVqt8KBbKdix9Cy8bbm_ZM_wSIQkdiOs7FIYpn_kqHAAjIm7eXT9ttr4CLPkhNDgmDW9M4GpnoaNd1XKKb9Ig1-ATc5b4Josh-E6OFwZCBXOQ3YVLn23XIAjhZjxk/s1600/FullMoon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="301" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9G_454ugEMf0Y2pxyVqt8KBbKdix9Cy8bbm_ZM_wSIQkdiOs7FIYpn_kqHAAjIm7eXT9ttr4CLPkhNDgmDW9M4GpnoaNd1XKKb9Ig1-ATc5b4Josh-E6OFwZCBXOQ3YVLn23XIAjhZjxk/s400/FullMoon.jpg" /></a></div>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3263448401740072124.post-10094828671629164342010-12-18T18:20:00.000-05:002010-12-18T18:20:03.410-05:00Snowy PromenadeFirst snow of the season on Hoboken's waterfront promenade.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9ATBRD6pyV3TABkMmXNi6JWHgCPZNycR9T1wNgsQFkF39pkCuMF-DotzYppr2A7ZM2j-yQAe2x7EtLVVDoZ1TubSTnFO45bYu7HP4IDTLO-r2oKOuQt7BS5eyDgjqasfrs9s-8HBSX0O/s1600/SnowyPromenade.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="300" width="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_9ATBRD6pyV3TABkMmXNi6JWHgCPZNycR9T1wNgsQFkF39pkCuMF-DotzYppr2A7ZM2j-yQAe2x7EtLVVDoZ1TubSTnFO45bYu7HP4IDTLO-r2oKOuQt7BS5eyDgjqasfrs9s-8HBSX0O/s400/SnowyPromenade.jpg" /></a></div>Greg Bondhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00934296487184997212noreply@blogger.com