Thursday, March 14, 2013
The request for proposal process was "legally flawed," according to an earlier ruling from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
After multiple heated meetings and hours of discussion, the Hoboken Housing Authority now has to restart its search for a permanent counsel to the board and the authority. While Charlie Daglian was re-appointed in a meeting a few weeks ago, it has since become clear that the process followed was "legally flawed," according to a ruling from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Garcia said that the request for proposal needs revisions, because it didn't follow the exact guidelines as dictated by HUD. In an email earlier in the week, Chairman Jake Stuiver — who has been vocal in his objections to reappointing Daglian — wrote that "HUD ruled that the attempted appointment of Mr. Daglian was 'legally flawed' because of numerous …
The Hoboken Housing Authority Board of Commissioners is scheduled to meet on Thursday night.
Carmelo Garcia, the executive director of the Hoboken Housing Authority, has received a Rice notice in preparation for Thursday night’s board meeting. A Rice notice is usually given out to employees to discuss the terms of their employment. Such matters can be discussed in public or in private. In this case, that’s up to Garcia. According to the Open Public Meetings Act, a Rice notice can involve “the employment, appointment, termination of employment, terms and conditions of employment, evaluation of the performance of, promotion or disciplining of any specific prospective public officer or employee or current public officer or employee employed or appointed by the public body, unless all the individual employees or appointees whose …
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
An ongoing power struggle on the board could impact when the Housing Authority commissioners will vote on a developer for the first phase of vision 20/20.
An ongoing disagreement about a legal contract between the majority of the Housing Authority Board of Commissioners and Executive Director Carmelo Garcia is heating up again. The dispute could affect when the board votes on a developer to start the first phase of the Vision 20/20, a plan that looks to overhaul the entire housing authority. "We have other concerns that need to be resolved before we can take any other further steps on 20/20," Chairman Jake Stuiver said in an extensive phone interview on Tuesday. While a majority of the board voted to reappoint longtime board attorney Charles Daglian as the legal counsel at a recent heated meeting, Stuiver is now saying that vote — as well as the rest of the meeting — was invalid. A stale-…
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
The commissioner on last week' contentious Hoboken Housing Authority meeting.
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Wednesday, February 13
To the editor: Last week was a controversial Hoboken Housing Authority Board meeting to say the least. Since August, the HHA, under a new Chairman, has been reticent to select new legal counsel for the Board. Then, this week, the Board learned that the Chairman has been conducting a selection process for a new Counsel in secret, private meetings with little consideration for process or transparency. In fact, there is a good chance that the Chairman's selection process violated the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) guidelines for an ethical procurement process. The result of the Chairman’s "backroom" process? The selection of a politically connected law firm that submitted the highest bid as the HHA's new legal …
Friday, February 8, 2013
HHA Chairman Jake Stuiver responds to heavy criticism during Thursday night's special Hoboken Housing Authority meeting.
Hoboken Housing Authority Chairman Jake Stuiver said on Friday morning that he believes that it is "time for a pair of fresh eyes in the general counsel seat" at the housing authority. Stuiver said so in a phone interview following Thursday night's heated meeting — during which dozens of residents swung complaints and allegations at the chairman — during which attorney Charlie Daglian was reappointed as the board attorney in a contentious 4-3 vote. By reappointing Daglian, Stuiver said, the HHA is moving "back into the same direction." An apparent power struggle between Stuiver and HHA Executive Director Carmelo Garcia also surfaced on Thursday night, with the two raising their voices at each other at multiple occasions. "I have two …
After a bitter clash between the HHA Chairman and the HHA Director, Charlie Daglian was re-appointed as the housing authority's counsel.
The Hoboken Housing Authority Board of Commissioners reappointed longtime attorney Charlie Daglian in a 4-3 vote during a heated special meeting Thursday night. The tumultuous meeting, which lasted more than three hours, included a series of hostile exchanges between Housing Authority Chairman Jake Stuiver and Executive Director Carmelo Garcia. While a stale-mate early on in the evening failed to appoint Daglian in a 3-3 vote, he was later appointed when Vice Chairman Rob Davis came to the meeting to take a re-vote. Stuiver —who was verbally berated by members of the public several times Thursday night, some of whom called him a "backstabber" — had called for the special meeting, planning to act on a resolution to award the year-long …
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
The meeting will take place at 221 Jackson St. on Thursday Feb. 7.
The Hoboken Housing Authority is scheduled to hire a new attorney for the agency on February 7, in a special meeting, Chairman Jake Stuiver said on Tuesday. "The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss responses to the Request for Qualifications for general counsel to the Hoboken Housing Authority, whose bid deadline is Feb. 1," Stuiver wrote in a press release. "Action will likely be taken to make an appointment based on the responses." The regularly scheduled meeting will take place the following week, on February 14. Also on the agenda will be a discussion and review of the status of Phase 1 of the Vision 20/20 redevelopment project. During the last Hoboken Housing Authority meeting, the board proposed to hire a deputy director on …
Friday, January 18, 2013
Hoboken Housing Authority Chairman Jake Stuiver defends the process of hiring an auditor and an attorney for the authority.
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Friday, January 18
Dear Editor: I commend Hoboken Housing Authority Commissioner Eduardo Gonzalez for recognizing that it has taken an unconscionably long time to complete our process of hiring a general counsel and auditor. It has indeed taken more than five months to conclude what should have been standard, straightforward procedures under normal circumstances, and it is to my not inconsequential and frequently vocalized frustration that we have been unable to do so. However, I'd like to invite Commissioner Gonzalez to reevaluate the reasons these important and normally uneventful processes have become bogged down. As Commissioner Gonzalez should know, the Board of Commissioners is the appointing authority for all contractual vendors and contract …
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Hoboken Housing Authority Commissioner Eduardo Gonzalez defends his position, calls for leadership that builds consensus.
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Thursday, January 17
Dear Editor, Yesterday, Patch posted an open letter from Chairman Jake Stuiver, which among other things attacked my service on the Housing Authority. To set the record straight, I have been a member of the Housing Authority for four years. Mayor Zimmer, Councilman Cunningham, Councilman Bhalla, Councilman Mello and Councilwoman Mason appointed me. Over the past 4 years, I have justified the support of the Mayor and the Council by working with the other Housing Authority Commissioners, as well as the Authority's staff, to implement innovative programs and much needed reforms. Our accomplishments include resurfacing Mama Johnson Field, increasing the police presence in the Authority, and thus reducing crime. These changes have benefited …
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Hoboken Housing Authority Chairman Jake Stuiver asks for healthy debate and cooperation from a fellow board member.
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Wednesday, January 16
Dear Editor: As Chairman of the Hoboken Housing Authority, I am pleased to say that our past several board meetings have been filled with healthy debate and occasionally contentious discussion over a wide variety of important issues. I think I speak for the entire Reform majority when I say debate and even friction are positive attributes of a governing body that’s doing its job properly and digging into the hard work of hashing out the issues and making informed decisions. I do not wince at serious, meaty engagement with my fellow commissioners -- I welcome it. Unfortunately, at our last meeting, Housing Authority Commissioner Eduardo Gonzalez took an important discussion about an auditing proposal and digressed into what appeared to be …
demosthenes
3:42 pm on Friday, March 15, 2013
It does? i've been poring through it on MSV where its posted and I can find where it actually says that. It does list lots of illegalities by Carmelo and say that Daglian acted unethically and was illegally appointed, but I can't see where it says Garcia is the appointing authority. Can you provide the quote please? (cough, cough) more ›