Tim Occhipinti, Moving Hoboken Backward

Recently Tim Occhipinti was escorted out of a Housing Authority board meeting by a Hoboken Policeman as he rambled on about nothing to do with the resolution being discussed. This is not the first time this has occurred. Last year he barged into a Zoning Board meeting to stick up for a local developer who coincidently donated to Tim’s campaign. At that time he was informed that as a councilman it was a conflict of interest because Zoning Board decisions can be appealed to the council. Once again he ranted and showed his immaturity. This is fairly consistent for Tim. Watch it here:

http://grafixavenger.blogspot.com/2013/03/gas-raging-boob-cinema-presents.html

Take note of Tim’s opinion of Corporate Counsel Melissa Longo’s ruling on the HHA’s attorney’s contract. He states that she only has authority to make rulings at the direction of the City Council. This once again shows Tim’s incompetence. Melissa is employed by the City of Hoboken, not the City Council. As part of her job she does make rulings at the city council, but that is only part of her job. For a full description of her duties please watch her budget workshop presentation before the City Council this March 9th.

When it came to this year’s budget Tim once again made a fool out of himself. Listen for legally incompetent Tim droning on how to save money on redevelopment. If he would read the the legal ordinances he would discover that for redevelopment an entire law firm is hired, not just one lawyer and a paralegal assistant. The Reform City Council majority looked into this matter several years ago and discovered it would not save any money, but more likely increase costs. To save the money Tim speaks of a prominent and talented lawyer who would have to agree to a substantial pay cut, something that may occur in Tim’s World, but not in the real world:

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/29857631

Note that Tim is the only member of this council or anyone since Mayor Zimmer was elected to exhibit this type of uncalled for behavior. Many times at the council meetings Tim gets red faced and edgy whenever someone disagrees with him. He huffs and puffs acting like a child. He is also legally challenged such as when he tried to enact an ethics resolution in regards to Nancy Pincus ridiculing him. When Peter Cammarano was arrested I tried to do the same and with Tim in attendance I was informed by the Corporate Counsel that under NJ law a community must either accept weak state standards or the Mayor can appoint a 15 member citizens panel to adjudicate ethics challenges. While I support Mayor Zimmer, at that time I stated that that would give a mayor too much power. The City Council agreed with me and no action was taken. It is therefore puzzling that Tim would forget this and waste the public’s time. But heh, what’s the big deal about the 1st Amendment anyway? Watch it for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OYxlZp65YwQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1rlCO1h0rrs

As the budget workshop was concluding Tim also blurted out, “good luck passing the budget”. Please note that no formal council budget amendment has yet to be offered. This once again shows that Tim is more interested in obstruction than in moving Hoboken forward.

For example, when it came time for Corner Cars (now Hertz Connect) to be properly enacted by ordinance as required by NJ State law, Tim and the other members of the Beth Mason majority refused to follow the law, jeopardizing the legal status of this successful program.

Tim also voted to zero out the surplus, which if enacted would have caused a major tax rate hike when Sandy hit.

In summary Tim and his allies would move Hoboken backwards to the days of fiscal and legal incompetence and replace an outstanding Mayor who has allowed Hoboken to be number one in NJ in fiscally responsible budget cutting as opposed to a state takeover that was in Hoboken’s recent past.