Op-Ed: HHA Executive Director Promises Public Forums on Vision 20/20

Dear Editor,

As the Executive Director of the Hoboken Housing Authority, I wanted to highlight the recent positive steps we’ve achieved to help our residents attain a healthier lifestyle and become self-sufficient. I also want to extend an invitation to all Hobokenites to join us in our journey of revitalizing the housing authority community. I appreciate and welcome all dialogue and look forward to continuing the healthy, fruitful discourse as we’ve moved forward with phase one of Vision 2020 and its impact on the entire community.  We encourage everyone to work with this awesome opportunity of constructing a new Sandy-proof building that can replace the obsolete buildings currently located on our property.  Such an improvement can only result in enhancing all resident’s safety and quality of life. While offering the community at large amenities they too can benefit from like the Mama Johnson Field.

Under my leadership, we have been transparent as a public agency and have always welcomed our neighbors to be part of the authority’s transformation and sustainability process. Unfortunately, we’ve had to contend with the naysayers and detractors who attempt to distort the truth for political gain and cast negative aspersions on the HHA and its families.  However, I want to commend and thank our sponsors, community stakeholders, and our strategic partners for their involvement and donations to the recent successful events we've had.  First, we had an incredible health fair to raise awareness, educate and help residents live a healthier lifestyle. Secondly, we had our 2nd Annual Bike Rodeo Tour. This successful event allowed us to distribute 25 brand new bikes donated to our children who joined their fathers to bond while doing something healthy and fun like riding throughout the city to learn about our landmarks and waterfront.  I’m proud to congratulate our graduates of our excellent strengthening families program sponsored by partners in prevention,  where mothers and their children prepared presentations to exchange about love and values. Lastly, we unveiled and opened our new splash & spray water park. That was a great milestone for us and the children as it’s a continuation of building up our recreational spaces like the Mama Johnson Field to take something ordinary and make it extraordinary.  These are the wonderful activities happening and I’m proud to highlight them since misinformation on behalf of the HHA has been purported. 

We recently had our OIG audit report that we’ve administered our ARRA grant proficiently, which can be found on our website or HUD and our latest fiscal year audit which covers all of our grants that will show no findings. It will prove that we’re working diligently to combat the federal cuts and continuous affects we’ll be feeling from the ongoing sequestration.

As for the visioning, planning process and controversy with Vision 2020. I ask anyone who is genuinely interested to please e-mail me at director@myhhanj.org so you can get any questions answered or I can give you the facts on how we got here and where we would like to be. You can find the Vision 2020 plan, it’s amendment on our website at myhhanj.com Never once have we stated that we would not go before the planning board or any entity that is needed to be a partner in this process or have the public engaged. We were however moving ahead with phase 1 because Super-storm Sandy had accelerated the funding process for agency’s that were devastated like ours that had an application ready to apply.   All the data and professional assessments will show that our buildings need an overhaul and that based on their age we will continue to have issues. One value that we all can agree on is that if we can provide better housing, and more amenities for the future benefit of all residents, our children and the community at large then we should. I trust in this great community that it will demand of our leaders to reach the middle road of unity, to support and allow us to do the right things.   Let’s remove the politics, biases start focusing on the people and the progress of the HHA community as we are all in this together. I promise that before the end of the summer we will host a series of public forums and continue to set the record straight as I know there are many stakeholders whom have already reached out to band together in this endeavor. “We can, we will, watch us” unite Hoboken for a greater purpose.  

Sincerely,

Carmelo G. Garcia, MSIS, IM, SHRM, SPHM, FHO

Executive Director