Special City Council Meeting September 14th Recap

I attended the special City Council Meeting on the topic of the 2006 Hoboken Municipal budget.
All from City Council were in attendance except for City Councilman Chris Campos who had a death in the family and was not present. The 2005 Corrective action plan for the budget was not discussed even though it was on the Mayor's initial memo calling the meeting.

The meeting was short, about 30 minutes and sparsely attended. After a presentation by Mayor David Roberts the City Council approved 8-0 to present the budget at the October 19th City Council meeting. They said they would submit the budget to the Jersey Journal on October 3rd.

Highlights from the Mayor's presentation included the following statements in no particular order:

• W hotel to break ground in 2005.
• Budget will be 67 million down from 71 million.
• negotiating all 6 munipal union contracts to hold increases to 2%.
• Strong cost cutting measures for every department.
• Consolidation and Privatization of services without a reduction in services
• The Mayor Cited Senator Kenney as a key for Hoboken to get appropriations prioritized from Trenton
• Mayor listed Board of education Budget as a key concern.
• Other concerns were Health Care and Fuel costs.

Other notable comments from City Council:

Council woman Terry LaBruno suggested a Quality of Life Committee to be headed up by citizens.

Council man Mike Russo stated that while he had been a big critic of the Administration in the past, he was proud to see this Budget presented much earlier than the past and with the reduction in spending that was necessary. (Not an exact quote).

After the 8-0 vote to present the budget on 19th of October the meeting was adjourned.

Voting on engineer splits Hoboken Council

Tuesday, September 13, 2005
By BONNIE FRIEDMAN
JOURNAL STAFF WRITERHOBOKEN

The nine-member City Council narrowly agreed to appoint an engineer from the company Schoor DePalma Wednesday night, signaling the first rift in the newly elected council.The appointment of Robin Persad to serve as the city's engineer sparked criticism from members of People For Open Government, who accuse Mayor David Roberts of violating the city's pay-to-play ordinance banning companies who hold city contracts from donating to political campaigns.

Two Schoor DePalma employees contributed to the last election cycle, including Ralph Tango, who gave $1,600 to the Roberts Team, and William Kersey, who contributed $300 to the Hoboken Democratic Party."I hope you vote against this resolution," said Bob DuVal, a member of the grass-roots organization. "Once again this is pay-to-play, a practice that nine out of 10 people in Hoboken voted against, and I hope you reject the resolution."Council members Theresa Castellano, Michael Russo, Michael Cricco and Theresa LaBruno voted in favor of tabling the resolution in an effort to gain a more thorough legal opinion.

Remaining City Council meetings 2005

This was gathered from the City of Hoboken's Web Site:

Remaining City Council meetings 2005

Wednesday Sept 21, 2005
Wednesday Oct 5, 2005
Wednesday Oct 19, 2005
Wednesday Nov 2, 2005
Monday Nov 14, 2005
Wednesday Dec 7, 2005
Wednesday Dec 21, 2005

The City Council will caucus at 6:00 PM preceding each Council Meeting at 7:00 PM in Council Chambers, City Hall. All information pertaining to the Council agenda may be obtained from the City Clerk prior to each Council meeting.

Special City Council Meeting to be held September 14th

From the Desk of Mayor Roberts
The Honorable Christopher Campos
President, Hoboken City Council
94 Washington Street
Hoboken, NJ 07030
September 9th 2005

Dear Council President Campos:
I hereby call a Special Meeting of the Hoboken City Council for Wednesday, September 14, 2005 at 6:00pm in the City Council Chambers, 94 Washington Street, Hoboken, New Jersey for the following purposes:

- Introduction of the SFY 2006 Municipal Budget
- Presentation of the Corrective Action Plan for the 2005 Audit.

Very truly yours,
DAVID ROBERTS
MayorCity of Hoboken

Cc: City Council Members
Richard F. England, Business Administrator
Joseph J. Sherman, Corporation Counsel
James J. Farina, City Clerk
Jersey Journal/The Record/Star Ledger

Hoboken Goverment Web Sites

Here are some useful links for Hoboken's Government Services....

Hoboken City Hall Web Site:
http://www.hobokennj.org/

The 2004 Audit Report released in 2005 after the June 14th run-off election:
2004 Hoboken Audit Report

The Hoboken Board of Education Web Site:
http://www.hobokenk12.powertolearn.net/

Hoboken Pog Blog has been created

The Hoboken "Pog Blog" has been created to facilitate meaningful communication amoungst its members and any one else who is interested to follow the issues concerning this goal.

For any sugestions on content please email the acting Adminstrator at
kgardiner1@optonline.net.