Star Ledger Endorses the Release of Hoboken Audits

http://blog.nj.com/njv_editorial_page/2010/02/hoboken_public_safety...

Hoboken public safety audit: Release the findings immediately
By Star-Ledger Editorial Board/The Star-Led...
February 05, 2010, 5:58AM

If Gov. Chris Christie wants to put on a miner’s helmet and shine a light into the dark crevices of the state to expose corruption, waste and abuse of taxpayer millions, he should aim it at Hoboken.
And quickly, before taxpayers get the shaft again.
A top-to-bottom public safety audit of the police and fire departments is overdue from the state’s Division of Local Government. Christie should demand that its director, Susan Jacobucci, release its findings immediately.
Contract talks with the police and firefighters are mapping new, multiyear deals. A tell-all report might ignite taxpayer anger and short-circuit those negotiations. But so what? Christie should call for the audit to be made public before a new deal is signed. Taxpayers have a right to know where the waste is — and how it will be cut — before they ante up again. Former governor Jon Corzine went
to sleep on the report and left office without making sure it was
published. You would think as a Hoboken resident, he’d have extra
incentive to see the findings.
"We were told five months ago this was on the verge of being released," Mayor Dawn Zimmer said. "We’ve heard many different excuses, but they’re all unacceptable. We need this information."Given Hoboken’s long history of corruption and waste, if the investigation was thorough, it probably includes some doozies.
For instance, a 2007 audit of the Hoboken Parking Utility uncovered huge revenue shortfalls, and the company that collected change from the meters returned $575,000. Since then, the former parking utility director has been indicted for conspiring to steal a separate $600,000 with the company president, who pleaded guilty to theft.
Former police chief Carmen LaBruno recently left with a $147,000-a-year pension and a one-time termination payment of approximately $300,000. And two years ago, a new public safety director padlocked the retiring fire chief’s office because he feared for the safety of sick and vacation records.
Remember, too, that Peter Cammarano was mayor of Hoboken for 23 days before he was charged in a statewide corruption ring and forced to resign last fall.
The new mayor and council of Hoboken have pledged they’re ready to change the city’s culture of waste, abuse and excess. This report is a necessary tool.