The ballot drawing was held for Hudson County Elections today at the Hudson County Clerk's Office. Predictably the Democratic machine drew column A. The Republicans are running on column B and Kurt Gardiner is on column C for Freeholder District 5.
Below are some photos of the rather unremarkable ballot drawing ceremony.
The device used to randomly select ballot positions.
Hudson County Clerk Barbara Netchert spins the drum.
The November 2011 Hudson County Ballot positions.
Kurt Gardiner runing independent located on column C.
This is part 2 of the Hudson County Freeholder meeting recap that was held on Thursday August 11th at the very inconvenient to the real taxpayer time of 1pm.
As stated before, Hoboken did get the $3 million for the SW Park but in my opinion the meeting was marred over petty bickering over two small contributions to two upcoming ethnic parades in Hudson County. The two resolutions in question were:
35) Resolution authorizing contribution to Jersey City Puerto Rican Heritage Festival and Parade, Inc. - $1,700.00 36) Resolution authorizing contribution to the Dominican American Parade of Hudson County, Inc. - $2,300.00
When this item came up it started a tiff between Tilo Rivas who is of Dominican heritage and Jose Munoz who is of Puerto Rican Heritage. Each one essentially criticized each other's political motivations behind how to fund these events. It got a bit ugly and the discussion was drawn out over a good half hour. See the video clip below below which does not even contain the most heated sections of the commentary. Bill O'Dea did try to smooth things over with a compromise. Anthony Romano actually looked good in this exchange by staying out of what appeared to be a Latino political turf war gone personal. That is because perhaps the bar is set pretty low to begin with. In the immortal words of Rodney King: "Can't we all just get along".
Here are some of the highlights of the lively banter which might remind some of a Hoboken City Council Meeting:
My Comment: Just take a look at some of the major money related ordinances that came up at this meeting either for first reading or final vote. Don't you think the Board would be better off spending time directing the appropriateness of the costs of these measures rather than starting some petty ethnic parade turf war? I sure do! My advice to the quite capable Chairman Bill O'Dea is use that gavel sir, and direct this petty bickering to subcommittee after 10 minutes of getting nowhere. It reflects poorly on the board of the whole and has me convinced that at least a few of the sitting Freeholders need to get their priorities in line.
1) $18,000,000!: An Ordinance of the County of Hudson, State of New Jersey authorizing the guaranty of the payment of the principal of and interest on not exceeding $18,000,000 aggregate principal amount of County-Guaranteed Special Acquisition Bonds issued by the Hudson County Improvement Authority for the purpose of providing additional security therefor, consenting to such financing and determining certain other matters in connection therewith.
2) $15,750,000!: Ordinance authorizing the acquisition of certain interests in real property located at 830 Bergen Avenue, Jersey City and the execution of installment purchase contracts in an aggregate amount not to exceed $15,750,000 to finance the cost thereof.
3) $12,000,000!: An Ordinance of the County of Hudson, State of New Jersey authorizing the guaranty of the payment of the principal of and interest on not exceeding $12,000,000 aggregate principal amount of County-Guaranteed Special Acquisition Bonds issued by the Hudson County Improvement Authority for the purpose of providing additional security therefor, consenting to such financing and determining certain other matters in connection therewith.
4) $10,500,000: Ordinance authorizing the acquisition of certain interests in real property located at 830 Bergen Avenue, Jersey City and the execution of installment purchase contracts in an aggregate amount not to exceed $10,500,000 to finance the cost thereof.
Below are some more photos from the meeting:
The Freeholder meeting started with Hoboken and Jersey City Heights Representative Anthony Romano not present. He also missed a good chunk of Tuesday's meeting due to a personal issue.
The Hudson County Board of Freeholders with Summer Youth Program donors and contributors.
Anthony Romano unlike his political pal Carmelo Garcia (infamous for skipping BOE meetings) at least shows up for meetings but was not on time for the Thursday meeting. On Tuesday he missed a key part of the meeting pertaining to Hoboken. Oops I already said that above. Kind of like Ground Hog Day over at MSV with respect to the FBI.
Hoboken City Councilman Dave Mello Attended yesterday's Hudson County Freeholder meeting and on the agenda was resolution 7 to re-allocate $11 million to various open space projects. Hoboken was originally granted $3 million to acquire the Henkel Site but conditions changed when BASF bought the site from Cognos. BASF will not sell that site until they remediate it themselves. The City of Hoboken as a result had requested Hudson County to re-allocate that money to the South West Park.
City Councilman Dave Mello Speaks up for SW Park
The Board unanimously approved the funding as part of the consent agenda for that meeting. Dave mentioned that he has been advocating for the South West Park for over 5 years and mentioned that flooding remediation is also part of the plan. He showed pictures of Hoboken's recent flooding to the Board. On a side note: shame on the Hudson County Freeholders for holding a meeting at 1pm. How did this time help maximize public participation? Dave was lucky since as a School teacher he was able to take time off. Most other working residents can not. Kudos to Dave Mello for taking the time speaking up on behalf of Hoboken, especially the 4th Ward.
It should be noted that self-professed "Mr. 4th Ward, I drink when Hoboken Floods" Tim Occhipinti didn't show up probably because he was at his day job. Was that fair to Tim to deny him his moment of glory fighting for 4th Ward residents? He should have at least sent one of his allies/handlers to read a statement. At least the 4th Ward has a real advocate for SW Park in Dave Mello. It should also be noted that Anthony Romano was not present at the meeting Caucus on Tuesday when this issue came up. Anthony did support the resolution in the end.
At the previous caucus meeting on Tuesday Chairman Bill O'Dea had expressed his concern over having shovel ready projects in the future. Dave Mello had mentioned his concern over this as Hoboken needs funding for park acquisition and it was clarified by Mr. O'Dea that that was for future funding allocations. It was good that O'Dea was able to clarify that statement and support the resolution. Hoboken finally got a small piece of the park pie.
I will have a second update on other more trivial and unprofessional aspects of the meeting later today. And I thought City Council meetings were theatrical. Good grief!
My comment: Of course Hoboken should be happy about getting this funding extended but we are still under serviced in terms of parks and in general given that in 2010 Hoboken taxpayers shelled out $46 million to the County. Nice start, but Hoboken deserves more and that is one of the reasons why I am running for Freeholder, to ensure Hoboken gets its fair share of the pie.
Dave Mello Speaks on behalf of the SW Park Funding :
I attended the Hudson County Freeholder Caucus meeting on 8/9/2011 to get an idea of where all the spending is going besides Hoboken out of their nearly 1/2 billion dollar yearly budget. The Caucus is set up on the Tuesdays before the Thursday meeting where main votes are taken. The Freeholder meetings are held at 567 Pavonia Ave in Jersey City on the 3rd floor every other week except summers and holidays.
Freeholder Meeting 8/9/2011 Highlights:
Before the meeting various vendors were questioned over contracts for producing job placements for the County.
Chairman O' Dea asked many probing questions and as chair is the main source of commentary and seems to run a fair meeting and professional meeting from what I observed.
The board recognized Summer Youth Program contributors as the first item in the agenda. Photo is below.
Resolution against PATH fair increase. This passed 8-0. I don't know any local politicians that are for this.
Resolution 29 for construction in Kearney produced almost 20% savings vs. last meeting. It was discussed that there was a new procedure to handle change orders with pre-approvals. In the past pre-approvals were not always done. Well there you go. Maybe there is a little more minding of the store these days. About time.
Resolution 2- Anthony Romano sponsored bullet proof vests. Only $10k. Seems like a no brainer to me to protect County Police Officers.
Resolution 6 involved 750k grant from NJ Historic Trust for restoration of the Court House Mural. That is a lot of money for a work of art but history is important.
Resolution concerned 7- 11 million dollars open space fund or one year extension.The following points were raised: It can fund 100% projects and has in the past for small ones. Lower equalization rates in the County are lowering the available funds for this program. For consideration by Chairman O'Dea: more points for readiness in the evaluation process for these grants was recommended. He expressed concern over tying up funds in order to prime the job market and that there should be forward commitments.He brought up the $3 million awarded to Hoboken for the Henkel Site. Cognos was originally the owner but bought by BASF. Process started in 2008. Reprogram request by Hoboken was made to redirect to SW. I see where Chairman O'Dea is coming form but Hoboken gets very little from the County in terms of Parks.
Resolution 12- The contract to purchase is now 7.9 million. The purchase amount went up due to owner fixing roof.
There were also some big ordinances on the table introduced, one for $18,000,000 and the other for $15,570,000 which is for 830 Bergen Avenue purchase in Jersey City. Perhaps an operational audit is in order to ensure the building isn't too big with the amount of positions the County has created that I am not sure what purpose they all serve. But that is why I am running for Freeholder: to find out.
On Sunday August 7th, I decided to have a few campaign photos taken of a few of my favorite spots in Hoboken. I have to be honest with my audience though. One of the reasons I initially hesitated to run for office is that I am overweight. Make no doubt about it that it was a concern for me when I decided to run and still is both personally and potentially politically. I am hoping though that Hoboken can see beyond that fact and vote the issues and the candidate's potential in terms of competency and potential advocacy for the residents of District 5. Of course if the election were a 5K race I am sure my opponent would beat me quite soundly. But, fortunately for me it is not. It is actually a bit more like a marathon where I will be working hard to win over voters with my ideas and not a series of $40-$1000 checks funded by Beth Mason and/or Frank Raia.
Besides, with all that walking around I might just drop a few pounds. After all, if I am advocating for budget austerity I might start by trimming a bit of fat off myself. Wish me luck as I try for a little self-improvement. In the meantime let these photos serve as a reminder that the best politicians don't always come in the slickest packaging as the story of the rise and fall Peter Cammarano reminds Hoboken of from time to time. On the other hand my sheer size does have an advantage: people remember me. So here is my very first photo shoot that should serve as a reminder to residents that legitimate good governance candidates don't have to come with slickest packaging, or the big shot developer endorsements, they just need giant ideas with giant sized convictions and perseverance regardless of stature. We should never allow anyone to run unopposed in Hudson County. It encourages corruption. Here are some shots. Recognize any of these Hoboken Landmarks?
I attended the Hudson County Freeholder Caucus meeting on 8/9/2011 to get an idea of where all the spending is going besides Hoboken out of their nearly 1/2 billion dollar yearly budget. The Caucus is set up on the Tuesdays before the Thursday meeting where main votes are taken. The Freeholder meetings are held at 567 Pavonia Ave in Jersey City on the 3rd floor every other week except summers and holidays. 
