The Numbers Guy

Although Fourth Ward Councilman Michael Lenz has only been on the City Council for roughly three months, he is not at all new to Hoboken politics. 

Lenz sat on the School Board from 1991 to 1995 (he was not re-elected for a third term in '95), was former mayor Dave Roberts' campaign manager in 2001 and worked as interim chief financial officer for the City of Hoboken in 2002. 

And although Lenz seems to be used to the commotion that comes with Hoboken politics, he has never had his work cut out for him more. While during the day Lenz is the Meadowview Campus facility manager for Hudson County, overseeing 15 county buildings, in his capacity as councilman he is mostly worrying about passing the budget.

"Hoboken is in a very serious situation, and every council person knows it," Lenz said.

In 2002, then-mayor Roberts hired Lenz to be the interim CFO to fix the city's budget and make sure that there would be no overspending—something that is illegal in New Jersey municipalities. "It became clear that we were going to go over it," Lenz said, recalling the events of that time in great detail.  

In May 2003, however, Lenz was fired from the job by Roberts, who claimed that Lenz had been wrong about the fact that the city was running out of money. Later it became evident that bills and invoices had been hidden, and taken out of the budget, Lenz said. Lenz sued and said he received $183,000 in backpay from the city.

When former Fourth Ward Councilwoman and current Mayor Dawn Zimmer was elected in November 2009, Lenz was appointed to the vacant seat. The seat is up for election in November. 

I had lunch with Lenz, 53, in Coach House, a restaurant on John F. Kennedy Boulevard and one of his favorite places. Upon entering the restaurant, he immediately asked for a seat in the back. When our friendly waitress Nancy—whom Lenz amicably called "Nance"—came over, she didn't have to ask him for his order. 

"The usual?" asked Nancy, carrying two glasses of seltzer water with a slice of lemon. "He usually has two seltzers," she said as she turned to me. "What would you like to drink?" 

Lenz said he eats at the diner virtually every day. And believe it or not, it's how he lost 110 pounds. 

Lenz is the father of three sons (Ben, 17; Timmy, 15 and Jonny, 7) and has been married to Laura Keating since 1990. He grew up on Long Island and has been living in Hoboken continuously since 1987, but moved to town for the first time in 1981.

Over a salad with grilled chicken, some carrots on the side and two glasses of seltzer water, Lenz talked about the serious issues facing Hoboken. 

"Our piers are falling into the water," Lenz said. "The hospital may be about to close."

But the budget is most definitely the most important issue on Lenz' mind. During a recent City Council Meeting, Lenz said that the council is on track in the budget process and voted in favor of $9 million in emergency appropriations to help the city through this month and the next.

But, because he has been wrapped up in budget negotiations, fulfilling his usual role as "the numbers guy," Lenz said he has had no time to go into his ward and talk to his constituents.  

The budget is mostly made up out of personnel costs, such as salaries and benefits, Lenz said. Reducing spending, he continued, without laying people off or paying them less, is simply impossible.

"That's why for so many years our leaders have resorted to gimmicks," he said. 

The city of Hoboken is currently also on the hook for a $4.2 million penalty from the state for early implementation of city workers' retirements that proved to be part of an illegal buy-out scheme, Lenz explained. The City of Hoboken implemented the early retirement program in 2007, without permission from the state, according to newspaper articles from that time. The early retirements saved Hoboken money in the short term, but Hoboken is—quite literally—paying for it now.

The city is also negotiating new labor union contracts for the Fire and Police Departments. The old contracts expired in 2008, and the police and fire departments have had no contracts since then. This means that retro-active pay for salary increases that would have been in those contracts will have to be paid in the coming year. Negotiations have not yet come to an end.  

"But the question is: How much retro active pay can a city pay when the taxpayers as a whole saw their salaries go down?" Lenz said.

Another issue on the council's plate is the dire situation the Hoboken University Medical Center is in. The city guaranteed a $52 million bond under Mayor Roberts. A recent memorandum prepared for incoming N.J. Gov. Chris Christie predicted that the hospital would close in several months, something that has been denied by hospital officials. 

Lenz said his opinion about the city's role in the hospital is similar to the war in Iraq. "I think it was a bad idea to go into it in the first place," Lenz said, "but that doesn't help much."

This is the second in a series of interviews with Hoboken's City Council members. Councilman-at-large David Mello sat down with Hoboken Patch earlier.