The Hoboken Tax Reform Coalition
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO THE MAYOR & COUNCIL
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Andy Thompson on -
Hey Mayor Roberts do yourself a favor and resign !
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Permalink Reply by Steve Marino on
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Mayor David Roberts,
We just wanted to wish you Happy Holidays, Happy New Year and doing whatever is possible to providing a smaller budget and lower taxes for Hoboken.
You have gone above and beyond what any other Mayor has done for the town of Hoboken in the twenty years i have lived here!
There is nothing better for the Holiday Season to warm the cockles of your heart than out of control spending and high taxes. We couldn't be happier in your leadership, and choosing to stay the course, in your complacency, arrogance, and sheer incompetence.
Looking forward to another Four Years with you at the helm of the Titanic, ...er,... Hoboken. Actually, same thing.
Cheers!
Steve and Amy Marino
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Permalink Reply by Steve Marino on
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Dawn,
Glad to have you as a "vocal presence" on the City Council representing our ward!
I just wanted to wish you Happy Holidays, Happy New Year and doing whatever is possible to providing a smaller budget and lower taxes for Hoboken.
Keep up the Good Work!
Cheers!
Steve and Amy Marino
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Permalink Reply by NewsTracker on
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Dear Mayor and Council Members,
Best wishes for the holidays and a Happy New Year to you and your families.
Does the Mayor or any member of the Council have the ability to stop the finger-pointing, self-aggrandizing public relations stunts, and constant show-boating antics aimed at being elected the next Mayor? – and to focus instead on the current Tax Insanity!
Does the Mayor or any member of the Council have the character, courage, integrity and intellectual energy to offer a comprehensive plan to get Hoboken back on a sound fiscal track – even at the risk of being attacked by the status quo'ers at election time?
Hoboken is a great city!
But the polarization and paralysis in City Hall, and the fact that the State had to impose a Fiscal Monitor, is an embarassment to the City and a indictment of your collective lack of leadership.
The Hoboken Tax Reform Coalition (http://www.hobokenrevolt.com/) is a nonpartisan, a-political community based group. We are not affiliated with any political organization or individual.
The MISSION of HOBOKEN REVOLT is to ensure fiscal responsibility, accountability and transparency in Hoboken government, and the fair allocation of property taxes among all Hoboken property owners.
Our objectives are very straight forward:
- We want to drive the '09 budget down so we are at a spending rate of around $80,000,000 in FY '10.
- We are calling for immediate deep cuts in expenditures for municipal services.
- We are calling for a zero-based, FY '10 austerity budget with transparency, accountability and community participation in the budget development process.
- Home owners are encouraged, where appropriate, to appeal their assessments when they get the January '10 assessment postcard.
- We seek a moratorium on any new PILOTs, abatements or other actions which allow property owners to pay less than their fair share of municipal taxes.
- We ask the State Appointed Fiscal Monitor to address the property tax consequences if the city-owned hospital fails, since the city has guaranteed over $40 million in hospital bonds. We endorse prompt city action to revert the hospital from municipal ownership to a not-for-profit entity.
- The Revaluation process should be started immediately on a published fast-track timetable, and be unstoppable after the State Monitor leaves. The Reval must be conducted by a third party independent group selected by the State. We call on the State to investigate the reasons for the City’s failure to initiate a timely Reval as required by law.
Why are we bailing out City Hall’s incompetence? We expect the Mayor and each member of the City Council to fully cooperate in achieving these cuts in spending as their top priority. The Mayor and each member of the Council must be held accountable by the public for your individual roles in creating this impasse and correcting the situation. Candidates for city office in May '10 should articulate their positions on financial austerity, budget reduction targets, Reval, and the hospital.
We will keep budget austerity and Reval on the front burner:
- by constantly updating our Web site with information on past shenanigans which caused this crisis and make sure they are not repeated
- by monitoring Council meetings to make sure there is budget transparency and not middle-of-the night, under-the-radar deal-making
- by speaking to community groups about the problem and fair and appropriate solutions
- by making sure the Reval gets started with State oversight
- and by working with similar Clean-Up-The-Budget Good Government groups - Citizen's Finance Committee, Citizedns Against Mismanagement, LowerHobokenTaxes.com - so our joint membership swells to thousands making it certain we cannot be marginalized and ignored.
Respectfully,
Jonathan M. Metsch, Dr.P.H.
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Permalink Reply by Hemorrhaging Money on -
Dear Mayor and Council Members:
In these troubled financial times, raising taxes for already strapped Hoboken residents is a recipe for disaster. How can you expect us to pay higher taxes when we can barely afford our mortgage payments, utilities, and food bills? And at the same time, we can't get out of the downward spiral by selling our properties due to the credit crisis and the ridiculously high taxes in this City? Do you really want more foreclosures? Homelessness? Desperation?
And what do we get in exchange? Terrible schools? A police department that is corrupt and won't come to the aid of 9-1-1 callers? A mayor who encourages dangerous recreation conditions for our youth and residents? A hospital where children who are admitted are not seen by pediatricians for >48 hours? Shall I go on?
Enough is enough!
Stop the spending!
Tighten your belts!
Do more with less!
Otherwise, you will end up with a city full of empty dwellings and streets full of indigent people with only yourselves to blame. Shame on you!!!
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Permalink Reply by Adrienne Choma on
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Hi, Nino!
Wishing you and your family a wonderful Christmas. And, best wishes for 2009!
We look forward with much anticipation and with high expectations that our City Council will take the bull by the horns in the New Year to get our great town out of current mess we are in. We are particularly concerned with the viability of Hoboken University Hospital. Coming from the healthcare industry myself and having many friends and associates in the hospital industry, I can tell you that the opinion is unanimous – the hospital will not survive. This was clear even as the council approved the $50+ million bond over the knowledge-based protests of many Hoboken residents. The current economic crisis makes this even more of a certainty. What will the City Council do to get us out of this mess now, before it is too late???
Bo and I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you over some holiday cheer to better understand your position on this and other issues so critical to Hoboken in these troubled times.
All the best,
Adrienne Choma & Bo Dziman
732 Hudson Street
(201) 217-1707
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Permalink Reply by herman zykofsky on
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Dear Mayor and Council Members,
I think at this time of year we all think of giving. In that spirit I have something to give you.......advice.
First, stop looking at real estate taxes as a giant piggy bank.
Second, have the b**ls to stand up to the various civil servant unions and board of Ed and get salaries under control (I saw the list........janitors at $100K, what did I go to college for?).
Third, stop thinking of Hoboken as a metropolis.........it's just a small drinking town with a tax problem. We don't need mounted police, we don't need a $4 million dollar 9/11 memorial or any of the other crazy ideas that have been proposed over the last 6-8 years.
Fourth, remember that in reality it's all about us, the citizens and taxpayers of this town. Your job is actually pretty simple, spend the least necessary to deliver the best possible services. I've lived here 30 years and at election time it's the same clowns riding the same tricycles for office. I'm amazed it's taken people this long to get annoyed! In the 30 years I've lived in the 1st ward I've never seen my council person! She doesn't even campaign in the west end of her district!
I could go on but the long and short of it is that with only a couple of exceptions the government of this city has put self interest above the welfare of it's citizens and that is reprehensible.
When you all are celebrating the holidays and thinking about the new year I would take it as a personal favor it you reflected a little bit on your real contribution to this city and then consider another line of work.
All the best for a safe and happy holiday,
Old Geezer from the 1st Ward
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