City Will Not Look for Parking Utility Software Vendors After Council Vote Fails

The process of retrieving one's car after it has been towed in Hoboken hasn't changed in many decades.

On Wednesday night, Assistant Business Administrator Stephen Marks explained to the city council that the current process is still done with "paper and pencil" and made the city's case for going out to bid to hire a company that will provide the parking utility with the necessary software to digitize the process.

"It's antiquated," Marks said. "This new system would make it 100 percent digital." 

Instead of going to three places  — city hall, the police station and the tow yard — people would be able to go to the tow yard directly, Marks said, if the software is installed.

A resolution during Wednesday's meeting asked the council to allow the city to use a competitive contracting process rather than a public bidding process, because "the cost of these services will exceed the City’s bid threshold."

"We need a vendor who can get the job done," said Fifth Ward Councilman Peter Cunningham.

The resolution ultimately failed in a 4-4 stalemate after council members Terry Castellano, Beth Mason, Michael Russo and Tim Occhipinti voted "no."