No it's the same old Lame with a new name.

Well said Steve F. I have said often that, in many ways, the way the Zimmer/Kids First led Board of Education went about their accent to power and what they did when they got there was the canary in the birdcage for the rest of the city....be it City Hall, HHA, zoning, etc...same process, same procedure.

Congratulations to Commissioner Eduardo Gonzalez on a wonderful letter. As for Mr. Stuiver...he is obviously an accomplished and articulate writer who has a gift for strong rhetoric. Unfortunately, he is a little shallow on facts. Referencing the Board of Education as a place where "positive changes have occurred" challenges even the most generous definition of "positive" (i.e. District in Need of Improvement status; below average graduation rate; 90% of students attending a school that failed to meet federal and state minimum adequate yearly progress criteria; audit findings indicating excessive legal fees; audit findings indicating $700,000+ in food service debt; students leaving the district in droves; etc....) -- and as for City Hall...increased violent crime in the streets, infrastructure collapse, no follow through with promised parks, and failing to install the 3 other pumping stations speak for itself, as does the consequences of these failed promises. "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job" ;-)

Sad the Beth Mason has to surround herself with people like CuriousGal.

You should post under a screen name. Seriously. You come off like a loon.

Finally something we can agree on. I agree completely with the investigating agencies that the actions of "old" Al Arezzo, Patrick Ricciardi, and John Correa were illegal. I agree that what Mike Russo did with respect to agreeing to accept bribes was disgusting, and Angel Alicea's failing to report his meetings was similar. I believe the chutzpah that Beth Mason put in my mailbox was disgusting as well, completely mischaracterizing her legal cases and the money the city needs to spend to fight her.

As for "stealing people's land in eminent domain cases", that statement is just absurd, the fifth amendment of the constitution does not allow for taking of property without just compensation, yet eminent domain has been upheld by the supreme court in multiple cases.

The hospital debacle, in which the city council minority went outside their authority to "negotiate" as a unit shows who has made this an us vs. them scenario.

Good point about people's qualifications! Unlike all those unqualified zimmerites, your qualifications to be a political shill are unassailable. Too bad that unqualified twit of a woman mayor didn't know enough to hire you.

Correct me if I am wrong, but Jake as an MBA and is well versed in how to decipher and understand financial statements. His MBA I believe comes from a top tier business school. That right there makes him far more qualified than the person he replaced.

David, nobody who does a good job of running things should have anything to fear when it comes to an auditor coming in and taking a look. Auditors don't conjure their findings out of thin air. They only find what is there to find. So please do tell us what you are afraid of being found out and why you are freaking out of the routine matter of selecting an independent auditor.

Sad that Beth Mason has to surround herself with people like David A. Liebler to promote her regressive anti-reform agenda.

demosthenes' biased and skewed tirade against Commissioner Eduardo Gonzalez shows very clearly that you are a "reformer" only as long as you agree with Dawn and the bully bloggers. Once there is disagreement, you are a no good, degenerate thug "just like the others"-- witness what happened to BOE member Maureen Sullivan when she thought for herself and not part of Dawn's Kids First cabal. This case with Commissioner Eduardo Gonzalez is no different. Just see it for what it is.

Dawn has sophisticated bloggers who know how to spin and use very good techniques (just watch FoxNews one night). It's simple and effective: Target, Isolate, Ridicule, Remove--

Say it again, Target, Isolate, Ridicule, Remove-- , Target, Isolate, Ridicule, Remove-- , Target, Isolate, Ridicule, Remove-- , Target, Isolate, Ridicule, Remove--

Demosthenes I love how you reformers always try to come off that you are always right. Let me help you tonight. Please let me know if I can be any clearer. "Mello, Mason, Zimmer, Bhalla and Cunningham VOTED for Gonzalez.
Does this help?
http://www.nj.com/hobokennow/index.ssf/2009/09/eduardo_gonzlez_appointed_to_h.html
Eduardo Gonzalez, a 33-year-old asset management consultant at Deutsche Bank, was appointed to the Hoboken Housing Authority, replacing longtime member Perry Belfiore.
The vote was contentious with Acting Mayor Dawn Zimmer and Councilwoman Carol Marsh supporting HHA resident Lynda Walker, and Councilwoman Theresa Castellano and Nino Giacchi supporting Belfiore.
Several HHA members also spoke in favor of Belfiore and a few spoke in favor of Walker.
In the end, Councilmembers Dave Mello, Beth Mason, Zimmer, Ravi Bhalla and Peter Cunningham voted for Gonzalez and Giacchi, Castellano, Marsh and Russo voted no.
Gonzalez said he grew up with the understanding of the importance of public housing because his father is the CFO of the Union City Housing Authority.
"It was instilled in me that it's our civic duty to get involved," he said

Based on NJ.com I believe you are 100% wrong. Would you like to retract?

Sadly we again see that Beth Mason has dispached her cyber-attack people to make coordinated attacks on anyone who disagrees with her regressive anti-reform agenda.

David I can see that googling unimportant information is one of the attributes that caused you to be "overqualified" for the job you are bitter about not getting that you applied for even though you had no interest in getting it.
I mispoke when I said Zimmer had no role - I should have said she had no role as mayor only as a councilperson.

My point was that Mr. Gonzalez was appointed with reform support despite a known track record as a mason operative, in what with hindsight appears to have been a naive and misguided attempt by reform to broaden their coalition. This is hardly indicative of an "us" vs. them" mentality on the part of reform. I refer to the attempt as naive and misguided because Mr. Gonzalez's vote against pay to play for the HHA made clear that he lacks both the ethical compass and the judgment to be able to make sound policy choices untainted by his own political ambitions which remain tied to his long time patrons.

We don't want a budget lawyer or budget auditor. We want a good lawyer and a good auditor. We want people who spend time being thorough, providing detailed information, who scrutinize ever detail and understand what is going on over at the HHA. Budget auditors like the ones used by the BOE for many years never find anything. A good auditor comes up w/ 200 pages worth of stuff the old BOE management & board members should be ashamed of like that BOE audit nobody on your side wants to admit exists.

Perry your history suggests you might not be familiar with financial best practices so please let me assist you.
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It's best practices to NOT use the same auditor for more than 3 or 4 years. Changing auditors periodically allows different auditors to catch any mistakes that prior auditors may have made, it could also yield new and helpful audit notes. As for the attorney it is very common to change lawyers every few years for similar reasons. In professional contracts being the lowest bidder is not always the deciding factor.
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As for City Hall I believe the City is now WINNING most of the cases it fights and long term this will dissuade ambulance chasers from taking cases on spec expecting a quick and easy payout. It's long past time Hoboken stopped being an easy mark for dishonest people.
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Happy new year.

Perry, I'd like to extend my services. Please have Carmelo eliminate any other potential bidders. Ego, I will be the lowest bidder, again, again and again.

Thank you very much Perry!

Hi Perry, Maybe you can explain something to me, If the best way to choose a lawyer is to hire the cheapest guy then how come Mrs. Mason will only let Steve Kleinman hold the New York hot shot's coat? Shouldn't she lose the overpriced NY hot shot and let "discount steve" handle everything using the superb skill set that cost Hoboken's taxpayers $4.2 million?

Of course given the performance of Mason's high priced legal team so far ypu may have a point. Kleinman is just as qualified to lose the case as the New York guy so maybe Mason should just have hired the cheapest guy, no matter how sleazy and incompetent.

But the residents of the Hoboken Housing Authority deserve better!

Would you rather we spend even more money settling every frivolous case that is filed against the city, let developers build whatever they want without a fight or let the hospital go bankrupt and have no legal representation what so ever and be on the hook for paying off something like a hundred million bucks in claims, bonds and liabilities without a fight? Sure you would b/c that would make Zimmer look bad and that is the only thing you care about.

Ojo Rojo, a frivolous case/lawsuit is one that lacks legal merit or has little to no chance of being won...NOT a case or lawsuit that you don't like or is filed against you (or in this case the city/Dawn, etc...).

A person or bully blogger may term a law suit to be frivolous if they don't agree with the claim but in legal terms "frivolous litigation" consists of a claim or defense where the party had reason to know that the claim or defense was insufficient or futile. Furthermore, the fact someone may lose a lawsuit does not mean that it was frivolous. In fact, there are legal safe guards against filing frivolous lawsuits as judges often must rule that a case has legal merit to advance OR the entity being sued has a responsibility to present evidence to the court that the case is frivolous and have the case dismissed. To date, neither has happened from any case against the current administration or its many tentacles. So either the administration is hiring lawyers that want to run up the bills on cases they KNOW are frivolous or the lawsuits are not frivolous.

BUT characterizing ANY and EVERY lawsuit against the current administration as frivolous serves a purpose for the bully bloggers, Dawn, the Council majority, the BOE majority, and the HHA majority because it helps to demonize anyone who disagrees with them and it helps to Target, Isolate, Ridicule, and Remove--

legal fees during the reaping years was in excess of 1mm. So yes, it was much better to go with a new firm.

Sadly we again see Beth Mason's cyber attacker target anyone who disagrees with her regressive anti-reform agenda.

You are arguing a legal definition. I am expressing an opinion as to what I consider to be a waste of taxpayer resources. And just so you know, people like me consider settling cases just to reduce legal bills a complete waste of money if the expected legal bills to fight the case are smaller than the cost of the settlement. The concept of the all-in cost of something might not mean much to people like you who work for someone who spends money like it is going out of fashion but it does to those of us who watch how much we spend and who care about the all in cost of dealing w/ things.

There was a negotiation. The property owner came up with a value, which was much higher than the cities. I believe the property owner had rezoning in mind in his value, which is not something you can get paid for. Hence the use of eminent domain.
An appraiser (and potentially the courts) can adjudicate. Now, as to what I said: No person shall be...deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. (Fifth Amendment, US constitution.) You can look up Kelo v. City of New London for eminent domain which allowed for commercial development, which is beyond the scope of what the city is doing.

Now, why am I 100% wrong and don't know what I'm talking about. BTW, you ignored all the thoughts about those from prior administrations who were arrested. Oooh, did I forget Peter Cammarano and Anthony Russo? thanks for the reminder.

Now, you say "Regardless is Carmelo is doing a good job or not, she wants him gone!" Do you think if he isn't doing a good job, or is found in an audit to be doing something unsavory that he still deserves his position? It's not the audit that's an issue, it's the fact that it is the same auditors. Note that even large audit firms require staff to roll off and be replaced after a given number of years, that way they can't be compromised over the long term.

Liebler, you sound kind of sour grapey to me.

I'm not sure whether you're over or underqualified for anything else but I think we can agree that you are highly qualified or your current position as a political shill.

I know I asked you this before, but for those of us less "overqualified" as you can you explain the term "without prejudice" and relate that to your assertion that "the city has already lost this case."

I know that you do your best to dumb things down for those not as"overqualified" as you but please slow things down and try to explain things more clearly so that you don't leave the rest of us who are at most "qualified" behind.

Perhaps Zimmer didn't give you an interview because she was intimidated by how overqualified you are. You really need to step back and try to see the world through the eyes of ordinary mortals who will never understand all that you "overqualified" people see so easily and clearly and who will always be blinded by jealousy of your "overqualifications."

It is sad that Beth Mason has to surround herself with crazy bloggers like David. A. Liebler.

Someone pointed out the drop in property value is connected to the lack of upzoning this land will get, whereas in 2008 with Roberts in charge & a ZB that was friendlier to upzoning, the land would have been more likely to get a variance.

Your point about legal fees is wrong. How much are we saving by not just negotiating/paying out everyone who brings a suit? This will discourage unscrupulous folks from being litigious. Look at how much the city used to spend in payouts vs how much we're paying lawyers and I think we're coming out ahead.

You sounded like a lunatic last night. At the very least, learn to modulate your voice so you're mistaken for a banshee.

Well, you said I was 100% wrong about eminent domain. I gave some sources to show that I wasn't.
Because you asked, I don't particularly like eminent domain, unless someone takes on an untenable bargaining position, such as their land is worth 4x a recent appraisal. Still, that doesn't mean the city doesn't have a right.
If I were you, I would look into what "dismissed without prejudice" means.
If the appraiser took into account any intentions, or was paid to come up with a value, that is against appraisal ethics, and his license should be revoked. Because it is commercial land, I assume they are using a different cap rate. I don't know what happened to cap rates in hoboken, but if an appraiser says the land is worth $2.3 million, that sounds like a better negotiation spot than $10 million. If the negotiation can be proven to be off by a factor of 200%, then I agree that it was a huge mistake. I'm sure your estimate of huge judgments is as good as all the other guesses we've heard of huge payouts coming from the city, which is to say, not good at all.

It is sad that Beth Mason has to surround herslef with people like David A. Liebler.
It is just not ridght.

You need to go look up what "dismissed without prejudice" means. It does not at all mean the city lost. A dismissal with prejudice would mean the city lost and that did not happen at all.

I looked it up. Dismissed without prejudice means it can be refiled or brought back. It's not the end of the line.

A city council member explained everything very clearly (much better than this rambling legal "theory" complete with allegations), including why the dismissal occurred on another board.

Perry I'm sure we can work this out. I guarantee to come in twenty-five cents lower than any other single bidder if Carmelo insists I must face one other bidder.

Ergo, I will win the bid again, again and again.

I love me some Old Guard contracts. Hook it up and let's get 20/20 with some wall to wall big a$$ buildings man. Time to hit the money train!

Perry, if the low bidder was required to be awarded a professional service contract then lawyers of the caliber of Steve Kleinman, whose representation resulted in a $4.2 million cost to City taxpayers, would receive every contract. Do you know what the word "fungible" means? Please look it up. It has 3 syllables so it qualifies to be worked in to your impressive vocabulary. Lawyers and auditors are not "fungible" so they cannot be responsibly selected on price alone. For example a competent lawyer might have cost Hoboken $10,000 more than Steve Kleinman did, but might also have protected the City from the $4.2 million mistake made by Mr. Kleinman.

Mrs. Mason understands this. That's why she pays Mr. Kleinman only to hold her fancy New York lawyer's coat. Maybe you should ask Mrs. Mason and her $1200/hour lawyer husband to explain it to you.

Is that what the executive director is doing over at the HHA?

All the hysterics over normal hiring of an auditor and attorney? Someone might not be getting their annual contract. Is that the issue? or Do you think different attorneys and auditors will find and report something that might be unsettling?

Something must be up with the HHA- They've got Perry posting, letters to the editor, branco with police involvement at the HHA meeting, all kinds of theories and accusations. Wow. I guess this HHA thing must have some kind of legs to it.

Now if we could only get a glance at those prior HHA audits, something tells me it might prove enlightening.

It is sad that Beth Mason has to surround herself with people like perrybeliore.

Hudson Street- what is sad is your use of the technique of Target, Isolate, Ridicule, and Remove when you cannot respond to a thoughtful post raising points you cannot defend.

Speaking of points you can't defend, don't you have a lot of reading to do?

Again we see Beth Mason's cyber-attack people in action.