Hoboken411 Smears Mayor Zimmer Again

1) Sinatra Field: The reason the field crumbled was because a prior administration failed to bring the concrete jackets below the waterline. It was Mayor Zimmer who had to clean up the mess. Originally there was much discussion in the community about whether to move to the field 100% on land or leave it as it was. I assume that Perry Klaussen would wish to have Hoboken taxpayers pay 100% of the cost rather than spending time to obtain grants for a partial offset. If that didn’t happen he would no doubt complain about the added costs to the Hoboken taxpayer. In other words he is a hypocrite.

2) New Parks:

The Henkel site was acquired by Cognis and was taken over by BASF in bankruptcy. Corporate bankruptcy is complicated and needs judicial approval. Any takeover takes time to merge the acquired company and that is their first priority.

The SW park is being held up because the owner wants much more than the property is worth as a park. The Zimmer administration is trying to find a compromise. I assume that if the mayor declared eminent domain today there would be another Hoboken411 article complaining about that. Also I guess that Hoboken411 wants the Hoboken taxpayer to pay money that is more excessive than necessary.

Western Edge: The Hoboken Police department never signed off of on the tax documents.

Mayor Zimmer has also reached an agreement to turn the Pino’s site into a 3rd ward park.

3) 1600 Park will open this year and would have opened sooner if his council allies had not blocked a traffic light needed for pedestrian safety.

4) Pier C was closed much longer than needed because the Beth Mason council members who he supports blocked the funds that were required. He recently had a letter from Theresa Castellano and I find it strange that he didn’t ask her about her no vote this matter.

5) Massive flooding: Pumps: It was Mayor Zimmer who cobbled the funding for a wet water pump system (4 pumps) that can be found on Observer Highway near the train station. Since opening, flooding has been dramatically reduced (nothing can handle a hurricane or a Superstorm) at no cost to the Hoboken taxpayer.

6) Water main breaks: It was fiscally incompetent Mayor Russo who sold the Water Utility to United Water. It was later extended in 2004 before Dawn Zimmer sat on the council. The agreement requires very little in capital improvements and will last for years to come. Hoboken has no legal right to unilaterally break the contract.

7) Sinkholes: If Perry Klaussen has a way to predict where the next sinkhole will appear I am all ears. I am not holding my breath. Try the magic 8 Ball Perry.

8) HUMC: It was Mayor Zimmer who completed the sale of HUMC to HoldCo, the only viable bidder. Perry’s Beth Mason allies tried to block it at every turn until the final moment. They wanted to renew the bidding process. Had that happened HUMC would have closed in bankruptcy, leaving Hoboken without a viable facility and our largest employer. The council minority almost had their wish until Gov. Christie came to the rescue.

9) Emergency appropriations: Again where is Perry’s crystal ball? No one except him can predict when a hurricane, Superstorm, massive snowfall, a sinkhole or any other unforeseen emergency will occur.

10) 25% tax break: When Candidate Zimmer made that promise the full effect of the Wall Street crash was not felt. After the effects in the runoff and special election she stopped using that estimate. Her allies did return 5% (one time) during the transitional year budget. Judy Tripodi proposed a $61.4 million budget which should come in around $54.7 million this year. This represents a 10.91% reduction. If Michael Russo had not berated Ian Sacs at every council meeting about overtime even more revenue would have come in.

There are many examples of their fiscally incompetent behavior. If you add the one-time reduction Mayor Zimmer has returned 17% to the Hoboken taxpayer. The tax levy would have declined for 4 straight budget cycles if the minority had followed the state recommendation. Instead they forced an unnecessary $700,000 increase, as opposed to following state recommendations and paying terminal pay over 5 years. Only 2 of New Jersey’s 585 municipalities have an equal record. Perry’s favorite Chicken Hawk Beth Mason promised a 20% tax cut and instead offered pennies and crumbs as opposed to Mayor Zimmer who has cut millions of dollars.

11)  Mayor Zimmer did not cancel the St. Patrick’s parade. In reality after increased mayhem and crime she proposed a Wednesday parade. It was the St Patrick’s committee who chose to cancel the event. Instead of mayhem Mayor Zimmer has offered an Irish celebration day which has attracted families instead of obnoxious drunken revelers.

12) According to NJ state law the City Council has the right to appoint a successor. Michael Lenz and Michael Russo were appointed in the same manner. This is similar to a Governor like Chris Christie who has appointed a caretaker until the next election when the people will choose a permanent individual.

13) The concept that Hoboken is filthy was started by Perry’s Old Guard allies. In reality Hoboken is not very different than any other urban city of 50,000 citizens. The only time Hoboken is truly filthy is during a St Patrick’s parade or around election time. During a school board election Perry was complaining about Kid’s First literature uptown. When I walked the area he complained about it was 95% filled with Old Guard midnight fliers and Carmelo Garcia’s palm cards.

14) Prior to Hurricane Irene and any other weather issue under Mayor Zimmer, the city’s garages offer $5 a day parking as well as Nixle messages. NJ.com posted updates as well. Many city officials were sleeping on cots at City Hall, especially emergency personnel. Did anyone see Perry helping Hoboken’s citizens in their time of need?

15) Hoboken’s streets are well marked. It is not Mayor Zimmer’s fault that some drivers and bike riders pay no attention to the rules. In fact Mayor Zimmer offered a plan to transform Washington Street into a much better pedestrian street, but it was his OG allies who voted it down. Mayor Zimmer is also offering a plan to transform Observer Highway and other streets into “complete streets” which would improve pedestrian safety. Bike lanes also slow traffic down making our streets safer.

16) Perhaps Mayor Zimmer should strap the stranded boat on her back and move it somewhere else. If this is a major issue why has no one else complained about it?

17) When it comes to litigation I am finally glad that Hoboken has a mayor who will not give in to developers and disgruntled employees who for too many years have been soaking up Hoboken’s gravy train at the taxpayer’s expense. He also conveniently ignores the fact that Hoboken has won or broke even on over 90% of the resolved litigation cases.

18) Under Mayor Zimmer, Hoboken has accomplished too much to mention it all here. Let us not forget how she came into office after the disgraced Peter Cammarano resigned after taking a bribe. She has cut the tax levy 3 times without harming city services and has appointed and hired qualified personnel instead of the usual patronage past, enacted Hertz Connect, established concerts like the NJ Symphony, Mumford & Sons and next Bob Dylan, begun repairing Hoboken’s crumbling infrastructure, a pharmaceutical discount that Perry hates, privatizing HUMC saving Hoboken taxpayers $60 million in principal and interest and $20-30 million in cleanup costs and has made Hoboken a Super Bowl destination, just to name a few of her many accomplishments.

Here is the link to the Hoboken411 story:

http://hoboken411.com/archives/93862