Cool Pool Becomes Heated Topic
Hoboken's pool is slated to open on July 19, but has become a campaign issue during the recent heatwave.
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During the past couple of scorching hot days, most Hobokenites must have wished they could have taken a dip in a cool pool. For Fourth Ward Council candidate Tim Occhipinti, this has become a campaign issue.
"Without any explanation to residents, The City of Hoboken will delay using the municipality's only community pool by two weeks," said Occhipinti in a statement sent out last week, "well after other 'Summer Fun' programs begin on Tuesday, July 6th."
The city's community pool, located at the Boys and Girls Club at 123 Jefferson St. is scheduled to open on July 19, and will be open daily between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. for six weeks, said Director of Health and Human Services Leo Pellegrini.
The date on which the pool opens was scheduled earlier in the spring and put on the calendar as such. The date (July 19) has not been changed since.
Occhipinti, in the press release he sent out through a spokesman, questioned why the "only community pool (is) opening nearly a month after school ended?" Occhipinti went on to say that "we all know that every summer we need to get this pool open on-time."
The pool is available for Hoboken's kids between the ages of five and 12.
Pellegrini said he chose the middle of the summer, because he figured that it would be hottest from mid-July through August. Last year, Pellegrini said, the pool opened on July 29. Pellegrini also said that the pool is open for six weeks. He said he wouldn't consider opening the pool longer, because he wants to stay within his budget.
"Can I predict the forecast? No," Pellegrini said in his office in City Hall on Thursday afternoon. "I don't think it was mismanaged at all."
Occhipinti said he called City Hall on the Friday before Independence Day Weekend. Pellegrini, reaching for a time sheet that showed he was in the office late that day, said he received no phone call or e-mail from Occhipinti.
The cost associated with opening the pool—between $15,000 and $16,000—are being paid with the help of a federal grant the city received in 2008. The money is mostly spent on personnel working the pool, such as a lifeguard and pool aides.
The $223,000 grant came from the Federal Office of Juvenile Justice Delinquency Prevention. The grant was about to run out, Pellegrini said, and needed to spend the money after asking for an extension.
hullabaloo
7:19 pm on Thursday, July 8, 2010
For someone who claims to be an active member of Hoboken’s Boys & Girls Club Advisory Board Occhipinti is curiously uninformed.
khoboken
7:55 pm on Thursday, July 8, 2010
Mr. O.
Hoboken is waiting for your retraction and an apology. Man up, show some "independence" and accept the fact that you laid a big, old rotten egg. How you handle this humiliating situation that your handlers got you into will clearly show whether you are "independent" or just an artificial candidate. A good first start would be to drop the "spokesperson" and just speak honestly and directly about how you could have made such a mess out of this.
HobokenDad
7:47 am on Friday, July 9, 2010
It looks like all the information was available to anyone looking to find the facts.
The question now becomes why it was twisted by Mr. Occhipinti and Hoboken411.
khoboken
8:57 am on Friday, July 9, 2010
It seems that Maurice and Crude have let the blogosphere pass them by and continue to operate in the dark ages of early interent communcations. Gone are the days when a consultant like Maurice could feed a story to a trusted journalist and dominate the weekly news cycle (HR only on Staurday and spot coverage from the JJ) without it being challenged or discredited in print. That is actualy ok with me, as they will continue to make the same mistakes, putting out easily discredited releases about "important" issues that are blown up within the first 18 hours of appearing. I specifically love the part of the article where Claire Moses actually talked to Pellegrini and blows up the fake claim that Tim called City Hall on Friday. Even Perry seems to be stuck in a time warp. Operating his site as a personal fiefdom is not conducive to trafic flow. Sites like Drudge and Huffington, with definite POVs, encourage wild debate and a free exchange of information. Can't wait for more "important" stories from Tim for Patch and the Hoboken blogosphere to surgically disect.
randyrandy
8:12 am on Friday, July 9, 2010
A spokesperson? Tim an underdog/activist/"speaking outer" needs a spokesperson?
Guess he can't speak for himself...
randyrandy
8:20 am on Friday, July 9, 2010
This sounds like another page out of the Ryan Yuccala and Maurice autopilot political playbook...
"Timmy if you'll be the front for developers and the profiteers, we'll be the brains that get you elected"
Why is Tim hiding Maurice? Everyone knows he's behind Tim.
khoboken
9:00 am on Friday, July 9, 2010
Where are Toomy Tune and the other vocies for Tim claiming that he is just a misunderstood good guy that is being picked on?
hobokenhorse.com
12:19 pm on Friday, July 9, 2010
This is just good, solid reporting. Linked to the effort from horseyland.
If Tim is independent, he's going to need to show it and not take the low road.
We've seen enough of this misinformation approach and its cynicism won't stand.
Hoboken won't stand for it.
khoboken
9:55 am on Saturday, July 10, 2010
It is now almost two full days since Mr. O's campaign ad masquerading as an important news story on Hate 411 was exposed, and the extent of the fraud clearly humilitated Mr. O. There has been nary a word from Mr. O. nor his spokesperson, about their idiocy in making up "facts" to be presented as "news". Tick, tock, Mr. O. The people of the 4th Ward are waiting for your explanation and apology.
HoBroken
12:56 pm on Saturday, July 10, 2010
Everyone is too busy arguing politics, bashing Occhipinti, and writing godawful poems, and not paying attention to OR questioning the issue at hand. Who gives a crap whether this issue is being used in a campaign? Maybe if everyone was getting as worked up over the kids of the 4th Ward not being cared about as they are about politics, the pool - something that exists to improve the welfare of OUR community - could've opened months ago.
-Why is it acceptable to open a community pool in JULY?! Who cares when it opened last year - that was unacceptable, too.
-Why is 'when it opened last year' being used a measure for this year?
-Why can't the city maintain enough budget to have the community pool open from Memorial Day to Labor Day as it should be?
-Why did a fundraiser have to be held to open the pool last year, when there was grant money in place?
-What does a timesheet have to do with a phone call? Maybe Pellegrini can come up with the phone records that show his phone was off the hook when several people (not just Occhipinti) tried to call?
-Why isn't someone trying to organize volunteers to help run the pool (i.e. lifeguards) so that the budget can be directed elsewhere and the pool can stay open longer?
You should all be ashamed of yourselves.
tburns
2:02 pm on Monday, July 12, 2010
Bravo Hobroken - this seems to be a disturbing trend. Kids don't CARE who sits on what dais, they just want a place to splash around with their friends when it is hot. If we lose sight of the best interests of the people who live in the community and continue to argue over petty differences for the sake of political one upmanship - the quality of lfe will continue to diminish. No doubt some raving hyena or another will attack me personally as usually happens. I'm soo over all the small mindedness.
Journey
4:20 pm on Monday, July 12, 2010
-Why is it acceptable to open a community pool in JULY?! Who cares when it opened last year - that was unacceptable, too.
Money does not grow on trees, what services would you cut to be able to open the pool for more than 6 weeks?
-Why is 'when it opened last year' being used a measure for this year?
Because it shows what has been normal in the past. Because it provides context to the issue. And while it is not great that the pool is only open for 6 weeks. It is also not great that it is only for children ages 5 to 12. The world is not fair, and money does not grow on trees. What would you cut to provide more pool time?
-Why can't the city maintain enough budget to have the community pool open from Memorial Day to Labor Day as it should be?
Have you been paying attention to the budget?
-Why did a fundraiser have to be held to open the pool last year, when there was grant money in place?
You have seen how this city's budget work (or more exactly does not work), have you not?
-What does a timesheet have to do with a phone call? Maybe Pellegrini can come up with the phone records that show his phone was off the hook when several people (not just Occhipinti) tried to call?
The timesheet shows Pellegrini was there. You are right anything else could have happened in that time.
-Why isn't someone trying to organize volunteers to help run the pool (i.e. lifeguards) so that the budget can be directed elsewhere and the pool can stay open longer?
Great question.
hobokenhorse.com
1:00 pm on Saturday, July 10, 2010
So what you are saying is the pool opening earlier this year over the past three is a crisis?
And we should be ashamed of ourselves for pointing out a political canard and destroying it out of the craddle?
Gee, the old guard takes the truth really hard.
Non-sequitir much?
HoBroken
1:11 pm on Saturday, July 10, 2010
It's 'non-sequitur' - if you're going to get defensive, at least try to spell right.
I think 'crisis' is a being a bit dramatic, well, so is 'canard', but whatever - I think I used the word 'issue'.
Can you answer my questions? No, you can't. More politics.
khoboken
1:13 pm on Saturday, July 10, 2010
HoBroken
Tsk, tsk. Are you the "somebody" volunteering for the fundraiser postiion? ........... Didn't think so. So if you don't want the job, why not ask Timmy to start now for next year - he has the crack volunteer organization, afterall and he is on the advisory Board. Pointing out the shameful, hypocritical and cynical use of children in this "important" story by a political candidate and his "handlers" is absolutely approrpirate. Have you not read the articles about Judy Tripodi deleting the city funding fromthe budget. This issue wiht the pool is part of the overall budgetary issues facing Hoboken, perhaps an issue too complicated for Mr. O to appreciate. Of course it is regretable that there isn't a great minicipal pool, but to distort facts and outright lie is equally deplorable.
hobokenhorse.com
1:15 pm on Saturday, July 10, 2010
Gee, a little typo sends you off the deep end? Don't get snippy with me.
Where were you oh in May on this "issue" as you call it?
Where were you on the "issue" last year?
Where were you two years ago on the "issue?"
Hey where were you at the Boys and Club meeting when the schedule was rolled out?
Advisory Board much?
Please continue, because I can go on busting you up all night.
hullabaloo
2:18 pm on Saturday, July 10, 2010
Occhipinti politicized the pool and now he finds himself in the deep end without a lifeguard. He can no longer claim to be committed to the highest standards of integrity or to running a clean campaign after this pathetic Occhipinti/H411 collaboration of mis-truths. Again how is it possible for Occhipinti to claim to be an active member of Hoboken’s Boys & Girls Club Advisory Board and be so curiously uniformed and so clearly uninvolved?
TaxMe2Death
3:44 pm on Tuesday, July 13, 2010
I'm with HoBroken. It's disgusting how much time is spent bashing anyone involved in politics. If the people in this town spent half as much time fixing the problems as they do writing letters to the editor about what each other said, we wouldn't be in this mess.
Regardless of whether or not I like the politics in this town, the delayed pool opening is a valid point to raise. We have money for everything else (nightly shows on Sinatra drive, painting a green line down Washington street) - we should be able to open this a few weeks earlier. Maybe cutting a storytime or two at the uptown Shipyard park would help.
jane
4:28 pm on Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Opening was never delayed.
FYI-Occhipinti sits on the club advisory board, he knew the opening date all along and now, seems to be stating as much. Apparently, he is splitting himself into Occhipinti, the resident and Occhipinti, the board member (check hoboken now).
hobokenhorse.com
4:31 pm on Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Janis is correct. There's some tortured logic going on here and it reeks of desperation.
We're not suppose to look now but who brought it up in the first place?
Word of caution: never perform a vivisection on yourself.
More at Mile Square View.
http://hobokenhorse.blogspot.com