Who Are 'People For Open Government'?

Walking into a meeting of the government watchdog group People For Open Government presents two intriguing images: The meeting's palatial venue and the eclectic mix of notable Hoboken policy makers and shapers in attendance.

If you're a real estate junkie, you might be more impressed with the setting—Helen Hirsch's sprawling and breathtakingly appointed downtown penthouse loft—than the social milieu. A fixture at city council meetings, the 89-year-old Hirsch is pretty much the sitting Buddha of Hoboken community activism and even ran for city council back in 2001.

But if you're a political junkie, you'd probably be taken with the group's diverse membership. 

Consider some of the notables in attendance at Wednesday night's POG meeting: Second Ward Councilwoman Beth Mason (one of POG's founding members); Fourth Ward Councilman Michael Lenz; Mayor Dawn Zimmer's husband Stan Grossbard; Hoboken Housing Authority commissioner Jake Stuiver; and repeat candidate for various offices Ines Garcia-Keim were among the approximately 30 people present, making for a well-rounded sampling of the viewpoints the Hoboken marketplace of ideas has to offer.

POG was founded in late 2003 and made its first imprint on city government the following year when city council passed POG's Electronic Access Ordinance in August, 2004. Since then, POG's chief achievement has been reforming the city's Pay-to-Play laws, which the group's vice president Eric Kurta said has dramatically affected how campaigns are funded. He said also that the ordinance saved Hoboken tax payers untold amounts of money and has helped make campaigns here more transparent. 

In 2008, as the result of a settlement of a 2005 lawsuit brought against Hoboken by POG, the city agreed to appoint a compliance officer to ensure Pay-to-Play laws aren't violated when municipal contracts are awarded for the rendering of professional services. The city assigned former assistant corporation counsel Joe Pojanowski the compliance officer responsibilities, but since Pojanowski left in late 2009, a replacement has not been named.

At the meeting, POG members voiced concerns that the city is operating without the oversight of a compliance officer and they discussed strategies for alerting the public to the fact that the position remains unfilled. Council members Mason and Lenz suggested drawing up a resolution to introduce at an upcoming city council meeting. 

Last week, the group thrust itself into the public dialogue surrounding Pay-to-Play allegations against councilman-at-large Ravinder Bhalla when POG President Alice Crozier issued a letter to the editor published on Patch and various other local media. While the group touched on various topics at last night's meeting and roundly agreed on the positive effect POG has had, for instance, on increasing the number of Hoboken candidates who file reports with ELEC, the lion's share of time was devoted to debating the strategy involved in issuing the letter that sharply criticized Bhalla.

Kurta, who served as the group's president from 2006 to 2009 suggested that POG should consider refraining from commenting on issues using letters to the editors of local media outlets going forward, but defended the letter saying he thought POG "needed to get on top of this issue more quickly than other issues" and that the letter "was a thoughtful approach to dealing with a Pay-to-Play issue."

While Bhalla's alleged transgressions were touched on several times, no one at the meeting outwardly addressed Bhalla's allegations against Beth Mason for improper distribution of street money during her 2009 mayoral campaign (which she later denied), even though the topic of street money was broached when Crozier declared that POG should try to "change the [campaign] culture in our own backyard."

David Dening, a software developer who says he was active as a campaign volunteer during the 2009 Hoboken election seasons, attended his first POG Tuesday night. Dening, 33, was one of several people making up a younger contingent, who looked to be in their early- to mid-thirties, at the meeting. Afterward, he said he had attended the meeting to "look into organizations that may promote good government."

When asked about his first impression, he responded, "From the meeting it was obvious the group needs to refocus. Much of their agenda has passed into law and currently the council has a majority that is very favorable to promoting open government and so is the mayor," said Dening, adding that he'd hoped to learn more about the group's outlook for the future. "I'd like to have heard about trying to work on the county issues, for instance," he said.

Despite leaving the meeting wanting more from POG, Dening was moved enough to pay the $25 annual fee to become a member.  

POG's achievements in fostering a more transparent political atmosphere in Hoboken are undeniable, but if the varying sentiments of its members are any indication, the group may be experiencing some growing pains and be struggling to define—or redefine—its role in Hoboken.

POG treasurer Ron Rosenberg, who's lived in Hoboken for almost three decades and is a co-founder of the Kaplan pre-school, acknowledges the group features a host of political and ideological viewpoints. 

"We're a group of ideas, not numbers," said Rosenberg of POG's 36 paying members and approximately 100 e-mail followers. "I think we changed politics forever in Hoboken."