MSV posted our story and key video of the meeting last night:
http://hobokenhorse.com

Mile Square View

agreed

Yeah, Claire, stop covering up for the minority. They and only they are responsible for this nonsense.

I see it as the "majority's" job to convince or come to a compromise with the "minority" on this and every issue that is presented to the City Council.

...and vice versa.

how is the "minority" responsible for fire fighter overtime costs, and high legal fee's?

The minority approved having the lawyers keep working on the cases, they could have voted no. Don't you think it is completely hypocritical to vote yes to keep lawyers working on cases you have no intention of paying them for working on? I do.

Hospital:
cost: 500k legal,
saved 92mm.

Yeah, Russo and Mason are still mad at how good a job our lawyers did in selling that hospital and saving us all that scratch.

Not if you feel like there is indeed enough money.

Well the only people who feel there is enough money are the ones who can't do math like that fool Russo.

PeoplePlease,

Even if the Majority came to the Minority on bended knee, do you really think there would be anything they could offer that would get one of them to change their minds.

Frankly I'm affraid of what the Marjority would have to sacrifice to get one of the minority to flip

Disgusting and disgraceful behavior.

If Castellano runs for Mayor next year, as Da Horsey has speculated in his special column yesterday, it is clear that every Hoboken resident who cares about good government should come after her with both barrels. Castellano likes to say that Mayor Zimmer hates Hoboken, yet she has shown, through her voting record since Dawn Zimmer was elected Mayor, that she is about as hateful towards Hoboken as is humanely possible. The woman is a not-too-bright-shrew who, as Eric Kurta has pointed out, thinks that because she inherited some businesses and property in Hoboken she's a genius of a businesswoman. Castellano's a menace, like Mason, Russo and Occhipinti, and nothing positive of lasting value has ever or will ever be brought to the table by her. I vote to put her in Mr. Peabody's Way-Back Machine and turn the Dial to 1950. Buh-Bye, Terry!

@DH - In the MSV column yesterday, that Terry Castellano made the list for potential candidates running for mayor in spring 2013 was a surprise to us too. The source indicated she is being pushed to do so by the Russo family.

They can't run Michael Russo. MSV efforts leading to the FBI surveillance tape becoming public destroyed the prospects of "The Football Guy," as titled here on Patch.

It's not clear when Castellano makes a final decision on running for mayor. For the Russo's it's about them having their hands on the loot. At that point, no rules apply.

BTW, I want to see a separate resolution that holds back CC salaries whenever the city is in arrears on paying contractually owed OT to city workers. Completely inexcusable not paying the money we know we owe. WTF are those 4 idiots smoking?

I doubt even the teamsters would trust this guy. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge.

Russo said there IS enough money. Is he wrong?

Yes he is wrong. Why the hell do you think the city needs authority to make emergency expenditures?

Yes he is wrong. The budget required 350k, there is currentluy approx 99k and upcoming legal bills due from last month surpass the 99k.
After being told of the shortfall and inability to continue to finance legal cases/enter into contracts for the next few months, Russo and group demanded that corp counsel enter into legal contracts and continue to fight the cases without approval to pay for them.

You cant make this stuff up!

Meanwhile, his cousin is complaining about us not settling all the litigation which would cost a hell of a lot more than fighting these cases.

Puzzledone is correct! Think about it. You are Mikey Russo. You live in subsidized housing spending nothing on taxes and next to nothing on rent. Your only job is the city council and you get to pull 5 dollar towing bills out of Momma's mattress when you need to, yeah sure those bribes were lost in AC -Ha!!

Of course you would do nothing but make life hard for Zimmer. Your goal is to get back some level of zoning, housing or contractual oversight power. You need your greasy fingers back on the money train of bribes.

He knows no other wasy. It's his family business!!!!

It's always amusing watching Russo & Castellano pretend to be concerned about taxpayer $$ when the Russo Clan clan owes the city hundreds of thousands of $$$. There's the $300+K in restitution for the $$$ his father stole from the city and the $100+K his father just got caught taking in illegal health care benefits. Not to mention Russo and Castellano letting $600+K in missing quarters disappear from city coffers and then insisting it was all "cleared-up". What a clown show all that's missing is the clown car.

His concern for 4th ward residents disappeared the day after his "supporters" cashed those $40 checks. His only concern now is the wishes of those who gave him the funds for all those $40 checks.

There is 1 possibility. Over-budget line items the majority knows the minority will shoot down like OT & legal expenses & pre-commit the surplus to those line items with the expectation that a large percentage of the money would not be spent and could be used elsewhere. Personally I am not a fan of playing games like this with the budget and I'd much rather just see the minority stop acting like spoiled little shits and do their jobs.

It theory RR765 a plausible plan, in practice, I bet the minority would then go easy on those areas and make trouble in others that were not over-budget and they would not vote for the transfer of funds.

Sadly we can't trust the council minority to approve normal end of year budget line item transfers. Remember the circus the clown minority council gave us just this past December? It took three meetings.
http://hoboken.patch.com/articles/council-minority-not-sure-if-it-will-approve-line-item-transfers
http://www.hobokenhorse.com/2011/12/council-finally-passes-simple-budget.html

Well the only other option I see is to hold the paychecks of CC members until they appropriate $ for expenditures the CC has already approved. Because that seems to be the problem we have right now. They want the lawyers to do the work, they told them to keep doing the work and they refuse to appropriate the cash. So how about we just make sure the CC can't get paid until everyone else gets paid.

It's ridiculous that these types of measures need to be considered. What about other revenue sources? Is there any way that monies can applied to these expenditures without requiring a super majority vote?

The goal is to marginalize the 4 miscreants so that they realize their actions and votes have no effect on the progress of the city. That the remaining council members can come up with ways to conduct business without them may make them realize they have no choice to cooperate if they want their voice to be heard. Hopefully by pouring then into a corner they'll realize they have to playball if they want to be involved in the happenings of the town.

Holding the small paychecks of multi-milionaires Masom and Castellano along with taxpayer subsidized Russo might not be all that effective.

Tim Occhipinti maybe... as he has already balked at reaching into his own pocket to pay for anything. Word has it he was given a really great deal on a new condo and had been living above "his" old campaign HQ an "Old Guard" campaign doner rented to him. :-)

Well I believe it is Russo's only source of income so I am not sure the leverage is inconsequential to him or for that puppet Timmay.

I think Russo also has a massage business, which is ironic as he rubs so many people the wrong way. :-)

Re: extra revenue-Does anyone have any proof that the money owed to the city, by Russo, is being collected? Won't be much, but it's a start. Should the city contact a collection agency or do they ask the courts to intervene?

Between Russo's debt and the quarters scam debt, that would be about 1mm revenue.

Russo has a Physical Therapy Practice, or did.

Funny thing 4th Ward Councilman Occhipinti refused to vote for the appropriations necessary to pay for this necessary work at 1st and Jackson. Occhipinti is more interested with graffiti in Jersey City than interests of the 4th ward. Or maybe he's confused and thinks that work can be done for free since he also seems to think you don't have to pay lawyers either.

Occihpnti is certainly not confused as to who he works for and that is Mason.Russo & Co who paid over 500 hundred election day workers and gathered the votes to put him on the City Council to represent them and NOT the 4th Ward.

Any money expended legally by the City to clean up the properties on !st and Jackson would be placed as a lien on the property and recouped when sold.

The WIMPY economics of Mason, Russo & Co. of I will gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today will not get this problem fixed and is again hurting the people of Hoboken to play their obstuctionist political games.

Tim knows who pulls his strings, he is a good puppet.

My head literally exploded when I read that.

Would you rather they not defend the city against all those legal actions the CC voted to keep fighting? What the city can't afford is not to pay the lawyers that are fighting suits that could cost us many millions of dollars if we just stop working on altogether and lose by default.

red, it's about the vocabulary, not the vote.

proper: You have literally no clue what I am talking about.
improper: Councilman Bhalla's quote made him sound literally brainless.

"what the city CAN'T afford is NOT to pay the lawyers".... classic!