Council Candidates Face Off in Round Two of Debates

Eight candidates for the Second and Fifth wards may have sat down together Wednesday night in the final round of the city council debates at Our Lady of Grace Church, but only seven participated.

Second Ward candidate Patricia Waiters used her opening statement to excuse herself from the debate.

"I refuse to participate tonight with two hours of my time with the same old corruption," Waiters said, adding she attended (part of) and found it to be a "waste of time."

Those who remained included Second Ward challengers and and incumbent Beth Mason, as well as fifth ward challengers Perry Belfiore, , and incumbent Peter Cunningham. While the other candidates identified themselves as independents, Greaney and Cunningham have been endorsed by Mayor Dawn Zimmer. Mason, one of the mayor's often harsh critics on the council, currently serves as council  president.

The debate was hosted by People for Open Government and the Quality of Life Coalition. For the second night in a row, moderator Bob Bowdon asked the candidates selected questions from the audience covering a range of typical Hoboken topics such as parks and open space, flooding, transportation, parking, and public safety.

As in the first round, the city's budget—more specifically the budget surplus—emerged as a sharp point of contention.

Mason maintained that the surplus is the result of overtaxation.

"If you leave money in the hands of politicians, they will spend it," she said. "You deserve your money back."

Delea agreed. "This budget has a huge $10 million one-shot revenue in it," he said. "It's called your tax dollars that they took from you two and a half years ago."

Paetzold, a bank auditor, said the city needs to reduce personnel costs. For instance, he said, the city should "call into question the need for a public safety director." (Former director , after revealing he met with FBI informant Solomon Dwek twice.)

Cunningham, Greaney and Paetzold said they support the notion of a 5 percent budget surplus as a "prudent" way to provide tax relief and improve Hoboken's bond rating. Improving the bond rating is important to secure funds to acquire more open space, for example.

The issue of open space is of particular significance in the Fifth Ward which all four candidates agreed is one of the least-developed in the city.

"We're sick of looking at empty lots with garbage in them," Delea said. "It's time to get moving."

Luizzi said he would like to see more mixed-use projects come to the ward.

"There has never been a neighborhood north of the (14th Street) viaduct in Hoboken, never," the city historian said. "And I want to se a neighborhood there."

Councilmembers were also called to give their thoughts of the mayor's recent after police .

Cunnhingham said he suggested the move to Zimmer shortly after the festivities.

"The parade rather has outgrown the city to the point where it's just become too increasingly expensive to manage with a tremendous amount of liability," he said.

"I don't like the way the parade was cancelled," Belfiore said. "There was no input. Nobody was brought into a room. Nobody talked about if we started the parade later, if we started openings of bars later, if we went to a 2 p.m. parade."

And while a civil tone was mostly kept among debaters and audience members alike throughout, the subject of corruption and personal ethics inspired the most mudslinging. Particularly between Second Ward candidates Greaney and Mason.

"Beth, you have turned yourself into the First Lady of Corruption in Hoboken," said Greany who criticized the merits of Mason's receving an award for her work on pay-to-play laws.

For Mason, it was a question about whom the candidates admired most that brought about the most heated of her 60-second remarks. After explaining her admiration for Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Mason brought up a controversial image that was posted on a local blog maintained by Zimmer ally and Zoning Board member Nancy Pincus.

"She (Giffords) stood and represented us in the United States and was threatened and actually ended up being shot," she said. "It's this kind of stuff that people should not stand by and be silent when people in our own community put out hatred.

"Also, responding to Mr. Greaney's accusations," Mason added, "actions speak louder than words."

While Mason and Greany's comments illicited the most audible responses from the audience, Belfiore often provided a bit of comic relief.

Among his one-liners: "Nothing happens in Hoboken quick except death and taxes."