Police Audit is in! Read it here. Audit recommends a reduction in staff of 46 POs! $6.9 Million in waste every year that we were overstaffed.

I just took another look at the numbers and my number is reasonable.

In the report it says that we lose $1.746MM every year from having a 35 hour work week v. 40. And $2.25MM is the cost of the 46 extra Police officers (the other methodology recommends a reduction of 56 - most of which is using Civilians for work that is being done by sworn officers. I think we absolutely should use civilians where we can. There is no need to have anyone under collective bargaining where it's not essential to public safety)

1.746 + 2.25 = 3.996

For the city as a whole here are the ratios of enrollment in healthcare as a single, couple and family relatively with the cost of each premium:

single 132/456 = .2895 cost $455/month
couple 51/456 = .112 cost $918/month
family 273/456 = .5987 cost $1254/month

46 x .2895 = 13.317 13.317 x 455 x 12 = 72,710
46 x .112 = 5.152 5.152 x 918 x 12 = 56,754
46 x .5987 = 27.54 27.54 x 1254 x12 = 414,421

Total for medical only = $543,885 annually

Drug:
46 x .2895 x 175 x12 = $27,965
46 x 235 x .112 x 12 = $14,528
46 x 465 x .5987 x12 = $153,674

Total for drug $196,167

Total of salaries, healthcare and drug on reduction of 46 POs = $4,736,000

The pension formula is complicated and really needs an actuarial calculation that can only be done looking at each employee. It's dependent on age, years of service and salary history. For the purposes here I am going to have to make an assumption of 10% of total comp as an annual contribution or $473,600.

These calculations do not include Dental or Vision as I do have those premium numbers nor increases in premiums since the premium info I have is a year old now.

$4,736,000 + $473,600 = $5,209,600.

At a reduction of 56 running the same math the number is:

$1.746MM + $3.024MM + $662,126 (medical) + $238,813 (drug) = $5,670,939 + 10% for pension contributions = $6,238,032

Again these numbers do not include Dental or Vision and do not include healthcare cost increases.

My premium numbers are from an OPRA request from last February. We should have a new contract for healthcare for 2/1/2010 which undoubtedly has increases. The private sector experienced about 20% increases in healthcare costs last year. If that carries through these numbers are under by over $100K just for low premium numbers not withstanding the omission of Dental and Vision.

Net, net, conservatively, this overstaffing costs us $5.2 - $6.2MM annually. Including an estimate for increases in healthcare and additions for Dental and Vision, it's more like $5.5MM to $6.5MM every year.

It's also still unclear if the auditor used base pay -or- base pay + overtime -or- base pay + longevity + overtime. The Fiscal Monitor told me in the past they typically do NOT include longevity pay when doing this type of analysis. I have inquired but it's the state that has to answer so it can take quite some time to get an answer.

What a bunch of thieves!! This is why we have no money. We have outdated technology and infrastructure because we gave it all away in salaries in benefits to roles that we don't need.

It's robbery. We have been robbed. Arrest them.

Here is Mayor Zimmer's press release and the audits.

Statement from Mayor Zimmer on Receiving the Operational Audit of the Hoboken Police Department

On Friday at 5:00 PM, I received the long awaited Operation Audit of the Hoboken Police Department from Division of Local Government Services Director Susan Jacobucci.

I’d like to thank the Division of Local Government Services for all the hard work that went into producing this report. I’d also like to thank Lori Grifa, the new Commissioner of the State Department of Community Affairs, for giving this matter her personal attention to ensure this long awaited report is finally available to Hoboken’s government officials and to the public.

I look forward to working with the public safety committee of the City Council, Public Safety Director Angel Alicea, Police Chief Anthony Falco and the DLGS to determine the best course of action to implement the recommendations contained within the report.

Thank you,

Mayor Zimmer

Hoboken PD Report PDF

Read the 4 new State Pension and Benefits Bills Expected to pass by the end of Feb/1st week in March

At the bottom of this post are the 4 bills proposed by Christie that would:

• Require all state employees to contribute a MINIMUM  of 1.5% of their base salary to healthcare premiums - Let's make employees have some skin in the game
• Limits/caps the amount that any employee can take in unused sick time ($15K max)
• Recalculates how pension amounts are determined - over the last 5 years of service not the last 3.  Makes it more difficult to pad pensions by giving employees who have announced their retirement to get excessive overtime to pump up the annual pension amount
• Removes part-time employees from the state pension system.  Offers a fixed contribution plan for these employees
• Requires municipalities to fully fund pension contributions every year to ensure affordability.

The bills already have 23 sponsors a piece.  They only need 21 votes to pass.  At a minimum, we can expect all the sponsors to vote yes + other senators who will join the cause at the time of the vote.  There is no reason to believe these won't pass.  They are in sub-committee this week.  They are wordsmithing.  These will make the senate agenda for the vote either next week or the following.

Here are the Senators who sponsored one or more of the bills:  Thank you Senators for your swift and decisive attention. 

Sweeney, Stephen M.
Kean, Thomas H., Jr.
Van Drew, Jeff
Lesniak, Raymond J.
Oroho, Steven V.
Codey, Richard J.
Cunningham, Sandra B.
Beach, James
Gordon, Robert M.
Bateman, Christopher
Kevin J.
Bucco, Anthony R.
Cardinale, Gerald
Baroni, Bill
Stack, Brian P.
Doherty, Michael J.
Scutari, Nicholas P.
Madden, Fred H., Jr.
Buono, Barbara
Ruiz, M. Teresa
Sarlo, Paul A.
Gill, Nia H., Esq.
Pennacchio, Joseph
Kyrillos, Joseph M., Jr.
Beck, Jennifer
Smith, Bob
Whelan, Jim
Van Drew, Jeff
Weinberg, Loretta
Sarlo, Paul A.

 
Here are the documents for the details:

http://www.scribd.com/full/27065366?access_key=key-tkz9m2obibcdqv3z7d8 - Requires municipalities to fully fund pensions every year

http://www.scribd.com/full/27065221?access_key=key-197zco6ee8ps26xtow5z - sick leave payout changes/caps

http://www.scribd.com/full/27065194?access_key=key-1j7kzp0gpwzm1x7sbh4e  - contributing to healthcare premiums

http://www.scribd.com/full/27065172?access_key=key-nwynk9u2f1its8eogzl - pension eligibility and pension formula (over the last 5 yrs v last 3)

Tripodi Denies Mayor and Council's pleas for Inclusion in Contract Negotiations

Read from the bottom. I asked Tripodi if we should wait for the outcome of Christie's proposed pension and benefits changes and whether or not we should wait for the audits to advise the contract negotiations. She makes it clear that she has been negotiating these contracts long before Zimmer, Christie and the new Councilmembers were in office. Excuse me, but I think she is basically saying she doesn't care for their input despite that they were elected by the public to represent us.

It's pretty clear to me that she is behind the hold up to getting the Police audit from the DCA.  Read NJ.com. Susan Jacobucci was canned last Tuesday and the new head was hired by Christie. I wonder what the new Director will think of Tripodi's attitude towards her boss and will of the people. I conjecture that Tripodi was conspiring with Jacobucci to withhold those audits and I think this email shows her true colors.

We need those audits because I have a sinking suspicion that Tripodi's deal is meager at best.

What do you think? Think Tripodi said something like, "give me a concession on healthcare (5, 10, 10 - no contributions to premiums, get rid of contract days - keep your terminal pay, keep your ability to accrue vacation towards retirement, keep your unlimited sick time, get 3%+ raises year over year) and I will hide those audits so we can protect you from layoffs?"

It is a matter of debate whether or not Christie's proposed changes will trump current contracts. Typically, state statute overrides. I am sure the unions will contest this but it's not a closed matter as she presents it.

When she says, "Everyone has known about the police report for a very long time and it was agreed upon by all parties that the report would not have any impact on the negotiations.", was she talking about Mayor Zimmer and the current Council? It sounds like she is referring to the Roberts/Cammarano administration as if we care what those Corruptocrats think about what we should do. Roberts was inept and Cammarano is going to prison. They were in when Tripodi got the results of the audit and started the negotiations with Scarinci/Hollenbeck. Who cares if Roberts and Cammarano agreed along with the unions? Nice of her to decide to ignore the results of the audit. How could they not have an impact on the negotiations?

What happened to transparency? Is the Fiscal Monitor exempt?

from: jtripodi@hobokennj.org
To: donnaantonucci@gmail.com
Fri, Feb 12, 2010 at 10:05 AM

What happens in the State has absolutely nothing to do with the City's current contract negotiations. The proposals made by the governor for the State employees relate to all new hires, not current employees or retirees.

Besides, I began these negotiations long before Mayor Zimmer and the 4 new council members were elected and long before Governor Christie was elected.

Everyone has known about the police report for a very long time and it was agreed upon by all parties that the report would not have any impact on the negotiations. The results of the report would be handled by other actions undertaken by the City.


-----Original Message-----
From: Donna Antonucci [mailto:donnaantonucci@gmail.com]
Sent: Wednesday, February 10, 2010 1:01 PM
To: Judy Tripodi
Subject: contract question

Ms. Tripodi,

Given that the state is considering sweeping changes to pension and
healthcare benefits for all public employees that are currently
expected to go through by the end of February, do you not feel it's
prudent to wait for the outcome before pushing through our Police and
Fire contracts?

I don't know if the bills pass, do they supercede what's in a contract
or would the law say "as of the expiration of all contracts the new
law will take effect"?

For example, if the new law says that all employees must contribute to
healthcare premiums up to 1.5% of their incomes and if we signed a
contract the day before, would Hoboken preclude itself from taking
advantage of the new legislation until these contracts expired? Since
we have expired contracts, wouldn't it be prudent to wait for the
outcome of this most relevant legislation?

Wouldn't it be prudent to wait for the Police audits as well? Would
that information advise on whether or not the current deal is a good
one or not for Hoboken?

Thank you for your time.

--
Donna Antonucci

Why we should have furloughs.... How many days should we have?

Articles that talk about "real" unemployment adjusted for those that
are not longer on unemployment:

http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2010/01/unemployment_falls_percent_sho.html

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/12/unemployment_rate_hits_104_per.html
- This article makes comments on what the real unemployment rates is if we counted those who were no longer on unemployment. This has data through Oct. The article above states that NJ shed another 85,000 jobs in December alone. Official unemployment in NJ is 10% but adjusted for those who dropped off of unemployment roles it's greater than 20% - worst in the region (NY, NJ, CT &PA). We are about 40th out of 50 states. MI, Miss, Florida, Alabama are behind us.

Mortgage delinquencies higher than ever, increasing at an increasing
and precipitous rat:.

http://www.hobokenrealestatemonitor.com/ down - Look at the 3rd article graphs number 5. Notice the hockey stick. This graphs shows how mortgage delinquencies are through the roof this year. Not only are we hitting the peak, look at how fast they are going up over time.

Vacancies are high in Hoboken. Landlords have been hit both in terms of their income from lively hood and rental income. You cannot expect the people left here to pick up the tab.

I understand that Fiscal Monitor Tripodi is against furloughs because they only hurt the little guys and not those that have golden contracts that are draining the system. Police, Fire and Environmental services all showed incremental operating expenses. For the Police and Fire it was because of step raises and raises baked in for what they expect to get in these negotiations. What greed!!

However, The same "little people" A) are not subject to collective bargaining which is why their salaries are more in line with their jobs in the first place. B) They been insulated from this recession for the last year and a half.

Having furloughs even though they cannot effect the Police and Fire, will send a message to those under collective bargaining that they are hurting the public and their colleagues alike. The Police and Fire have lost and continue to lose public support. They are being looked as the pariahs of society.

One day a week until the end of the fiscal year is not a 20% decrease
in pay when you look at it on an annual basis. That is, if you
furlough someone for 12 days over 12 weeks it's 20% for those 12 weeks but it's 5% on an annual basis + they still get those unbelievable cadillac of all cadillac benefits which many in the private don't have at all. There are people who work for the city who make as little as $18K or $35K, have children. Some ask how can they sustain a furlough? Ask the same question to someone who has been out of work for over a year, can't survive on unemployment (~ $17K for those who worked in NY and ~$20K for those who worked for NJ companies) whether or not it's been extended or not and is losing their house? Those that were laid off in the first wave of this recession ie early to mid 2008 did not enjoy the extension that Obama put in place after the crash. Once you are off of unemployment your off.

I think we should have a one day furlough for all non essential
services until the end of the fiscal year. Don't wait until we have spent more, things have gotten worse and we have to do it anyway.

If we do 12 days over 12 weeks (ie before the end of the fiscal year) we can save ~ $1MM dollars.

We get garbage pick-up 6 days a week. Many communities don't do that when things are good. We can have slightly dirtier streets.

Maybe we can have a community day in May or June where volunteers clean the parks themselves as a way to give back and save money. What do you do when you need to save money? You do it yourself.


Donna Antonucci
201-240-6832
www.hobokenrealestatemonitor.com

Budget Workshop Recap + Documents Online

Hello all,

First, I'd like to thank Council President Cunningham and Chair of the Finance Committee, Councilman Lenz and the rest of the City Council for putting on a comprehensive Public Budget Hearing. An 8 hour meeting on a Saturday allowed for a great deal of presentation and questions. There were a number of people from the public in attendance and the hearing was streaming live online which allowed many to watch from the comfort of their own homes.

We did not get through the entire agenda - only through Health and Human Services. The rest will be continued in sub-committee and the public will be invited to attend. Fiscal Monitor Judy Tripodi and Director Nick Trasente were both in attendance and I thank them both for attending such a long meeting on a Saturday. I, especially, thank Fiscal Monitor Tripodi as I know that she is not required to come to after hours meetings.

All of the documents submitted for today's meeting are available

http://www.scribd.com/full/26125791?access_key=key-20zv63lg8ooneny4... Letter from Mayor Zimmer

http://www.scribd.com/full/26125939?access_key=key-1cqi64083qy868f6... The Proposed Budget in the State Form

http://www.scribd.com/full/26125462?access_key=key-2a67uv8gpjnsc9vtonc - Agenda


http://www.scribd.com/full/26125620?access_key=key-3aopni5v7ad40hw67uh Fire Dept

http://www.scribd.com/full/26125384?access_key=key-23skj2y0zrt5fxf3... Police Dept PPT

http://www.scribd.com/full/26125413?access_key=key-2gr3v23urwcpux66... Police Dept Salary List

http://www.scribd.com/full/26125814?access_key=key-1ui7fqt20g5titxk... Fire Sick day and "Extra Day" usage

http://www.scribd.com/full/26125581?access_key=key-1vr6ck9o5kcxxj8c... Environmental Services

Here are my take aways:

Director Alicea was brought up first. He did not have a presentation. Councilwoman Mason asked him for metrics on crime rates over the last 5 - 10 years. Director Alicea explained that he did not have a secretary or staff to put these things together. After about 10 minutes of hemming and hawing, Councilman Ghiacchi pointed out that he could have asked the Chiefs to put together a report. They report to him and do have secretaries and staff to put those reports together. I find it astonishing that this was not obvious to him and makes me wonder if he has the skillset to be in a leadership position. If you don't know how to measure your department, you shouldn't be in charge of it.

Director Blohm was up next. He went over many things and reiterated that he was short staffed, needed to replace equipment and supplies. He should be able to analyze the depletion of his equipment. We should not have to have him come forward to the Council and ask for more money after a rig went out and couldn't be repaired. He is expected to know this. He told the story that he used to have a Captain and a Battalian Chief run training and now he only has a Battalian Chief. Under the Russo administration it was done by 1 Lieutenant so I don't buy that it's a strain. He complained that it's impossible to know exactly how much money he will need to run his department. I don't think anyone expects him to get it to the penny but within 5% is expected of someone who has been in the department for 25+ years. He pointed out the city is larger and has more people v when he started, higher buildings, the light rail, etc.. Since he started, they added two fire houses. What I didn't hear him acknowledge is that construction code has really improved in the same timeframe requiring sprinklers and such. It was emphasized by the Council that we really need to conduct an audit even if we have to pay for it (in the state takeover the state should have done the audit but it was never completed for the Fire Dept. For expediency and all that we can gain from an audit, we should just pay for it ourselves).

They also went over the sick leave list. The URL is above. The Police and Fire get an incentive (near $2,000 a year) if they don't call out sick. You can see that sick day usage is quite low - a total of 83 days. At the bottom of the sheet, Chief Blohm did not put in the sick days for Paul Kasley who is out on illness. Apparently, Mr. Kasley had a stroke. I think we need to know how many days he is out on sick leave. In our contracts we give employees unlimited sick time. Under the Americans with Disability Act, if an employee is out sick 180 consecutive days the organization has the right to replace him. Afterall, the department has to continue to run and while someone is out sick you can't backfill the position. Because we give our Police and Fire unlimited sick time, we have forfeited this ability to backfill this position. There were 2 people out for injury for an unstated number of days. There were 6 people who were out for surgery but unfortunately the number of days they took was omitted from the document. Why was this information omitted?

What's more interesting is looking at the "Extra Days". We give our Fire and Police employees the ability to take days off with pay for things like weddings and barmitzvah's and blood donation. The Fire Department took 44 days under this contract term. There are a whole series of FFs who took "extra days" but not sick days. Did they get the sick day incentive? What a rip off. Here is an example of how our contracts fleece the public. Chief Blohm mentioned that the "Extra Days" (they may call them "contract days") were on the table to be cut as part of the contract negotiations.

When Councilman Mello asked Chief Falco what happens when he feels that someone is abusing the unlimited sick day policy. Chief Blohm said that "we bring them in and talk to them". "We check to see if they are doing any outside work". Don't be fooled about 12 years ago, Lt. Andriani was out 111 days on sick time. The Corrigan report on the SWAT bus incident found this in his file, documented the steps his direct supervisor took, attempting to get him to come back to work to no avail. Sitting an Officer down and talking to him doesn't hold water. By giving them this contract term we giving away our ability to hold people accountable. I really think we need to limit sick time.

If someone is injured on the job they go out on workers comp and disability. Both of those avenues require certification where confidential medical records are submitted to the insurance company or the government and they certify that it's for due cause. I would really like Chief Blohm to complete the list of absences at the bottom of his report. Why would he just omit the longer term absences?

Director Pelligrini of Environmental Services was asked about whether or not we could use seasonal employees for the parks since there is less work in the winter than the Summer. He said that was a possibility although he didn't know if he would have difficulty getting someone to work seasonal. Do you think it would be hard to find people to work seasonally in this economy?

Director Pellegrini of Health and Human Resources talked about the rec program. Privately, he told me that require a utility bill or a driver's license to ascertain that a participant lives in Hoboken. I asked what happens when a child has a different surname from the parent, he says they can provide a birth certificate. Charging participation fees was brought up again as a possibility which I am surprised wasn't done already. He also mentioned that department was not good in the past in collecting equipment. We spend about $200/kid on football equipment that we have been lax in collecting. Councilman Lenz suggested that all kids are required to bring a change of close to the last game or they can't play and at the end they all hand in their uniforms and equipment.

This is all we got through in terms of departments. The overall budget is less than 2009 - $126MM down to $98MM. The 3 of the 4 departments that presented showed increases in operating spend largely due to increases in salary and wages.

Unbelievably the Police and Fire expect raises in this economy. And, please keep in mind, they still get raises because of the step system they have in holdover from the last contract. Councilman Mello explained how an officer or a firefighter gets an increase in steps as they have more time in the department. Some of these steps are enormous. For example all within the individual contributor ranks (FF or Patrolman), they can get an 18% increase from one step to another. What is being contemplated in the current contract negotiations is an increase in the amounts of each step.

The amount to be raised by taxes this year ie the tax levee is going down 8%. Let me repeat, your municipal tax bill will go down 8% this year. Mayor Zimmer's opponents will obviscate the truth and focus on how the operating expenses of 3 out of 4 departments presented today show increases not decreases. A) I think most people are worried about how much money they have to shell out while jobs are unsteady or when they are unemployed B) I hope with this hearing, those department heads will go back and sharpen their pencils. We absolutely have the ability to do more with Environmental Servcies because they are not subject to collective bargaining (they can strike where public safety cannot). Let Director Pope come up with a furrlough plan. One ideas was to pick up garbage 5 days instead of 6 to save some money. Director Pope tried to make the point that the tipping fees will be the same (dumping fees are based on weight). Yes, this is correct but it ignore that we will be saving the personnel costs. It's a way to force greater productivity for our personnel dollar.

So much is riding on the Police and Fire contracts. I hope people realize how much the process is controlled by state statute. If it goes to arbitration we are in the hands of an arbitrator and we get what we get unless we are successful in appealing to the PERC Board. It's a gamble. The tide is turning ie, arbitrators have been awarding contracts with 0% increases. At the same time there are still some Locals who have gotten 4% increases year over year for the 4 year term of their contract. I looked at arbitration awards in the last 6 months only. There are some municipalities who have won the ability to charge union employees to contribute to healthcare premiums but they have been largely meaningless - $21 pay period for a single person, $25 for a couple and $29 for a family. Our health care premiums for a single person are little more than $400 a month. A family is over $1200. $21 v $25 v. $29 is meaningless and continues to isulate the employees for rising healthcare costs. They have no clue how burdensome it is and how fast they are rises. I strongly feel it has to be based on a portion of the premium. Because they are so high, I think it has to be different percentages based on how much the employee makes otherwise our lower level employees couldn't be by. Those that make greater than $100K a year should pay a larger portion of the premium.

Fiscal Monitor Tripodi has reiterated that she wants to close these contracts so that she can capture savings on what she has negotiated on health care benefits. She feels if we go for 0% raises we won't get the health care concession and she feels it's more important to lock that in.

I think it would be appalling if we hand out raises in this economy to this pubic service force. We have the highest paid police and fire in the country. Go to the US Bureau of Statistics and see for yourself. We have a collective bargaining process that doesn't allow for a swift and just adjustment. This recession really started in 2007 and giving them raises is insane. NJ has the highest unemployment in the region and by the way we rank about 40th out of 50 states. Yes, the likes of Michigan, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi are behind us. The Police and Fire supervisors should be giving us salary cuts in addition to a more reasonable healthcare plan, contributions to premiums, limited sick days, no "extra days", no more terminal pay and no more ability to accrue unused sick time.

The departments heads wanted to talk about operating expenses. We need to look there too but we aren't going to save the taxpayer by buying fewer paperclips.

That's my take....

Donna

Minutes for 1/20/2010 Council meeting

Zoning Board Expansion: The Council approved expanding the ZBA by 2 alternates to ensure timely votes on zoning appeals.

Handicap Parking:
Fourth Ward Councilman Mike supported the new policy on issuing handicap parking space because the policy is very clear on the criteria used to create new handicap spots.

The agenda mentioned an ordinance to amend and supplement Hoboken’s handicapped parking. It was proposed that the ordinance delete the parking at 503 Bloomfield St., 700 Park Ave., and 1032 Hudson St. as the residents for which these spots where created no longer live there. New parking at 713 Bloomfield St., 909 Hudson St., and 530 Adams St. for residents who applied per the stated criteria.

Transportation & Parking Utility Director Ian Sacs said that requests for handicapped spacing every year are renewed and this encompasses the removal and addition of spaces.


Municipal Governance:
Moving elections to November election to coincide with the general elections.
would save Hoboken about $300,000. Councilman-at-Large Ravi Bhalla, sponsored the resolution, said that is isn’t necessary saying we should move the elections but urges the sub-committee to analyze whether or not this makes sense giving the time it would take to implement the change before Hoboken’s next round of elections.

Hoboken resident Maurice "Moe" DeGennaro, who said he is concerned it will conflict with county and other elections, said, "We ought to think twice about this." He did not state how it would conflict with those other elections.

The council agreed to plan a meeting in the near future to discuss a switch more explicitly.

Hoboken University Medical Center: Steven Rofsky was appointed to the Hoboken Municipal Hospital Authority for a one-year term that would expire on June 30. Two of his commissioners, Toni Tomarrazzo and Jonathan Metsch were in attendance.

City owned Parking Lot Improvements:
A resolution for the resurfacing of the parking lot at 11th and Willow has been table pending the certification of funds. I along with the balance of the City Council decided to come up with a plan prior to awarding a contract to Marini Brothers Construction Co in light of the many dollars poor into the 9th street lot to no avail. The contract is for the parking lot improvements at the city-owned lot at 11th Street and Willow Avenue in accordance with the specifications in a bid, which were originally made by the city engineer.

Transportation & Parking Utility Director Ian Sacs said he oversees the technical aspects and this is intentionally a short-term solution. It’s clear that Director Sacs has done a thorough job in vetting this vendor but given passed investment in our parking lots more due diligence is necessary.

The resurfacing is a short-term solution that will pay for itself within a year, Sacs told the council, and will buy time to consider a long-term plan.

Finance Director Nick Trasente is currently ill and therefore could not be in attendance to speak on this issue. The CFO was also not in attendance. The Council sent the resolution back looking for that certification of funds as soon as possible so this resolution could be approved.

Traffic safety improvements: Under Director Sac’s recommendation, the City Council approved making Sinatra Street and 2nd Street a two-way drive. This was done because commercial vehicles en route to a loading dock on 2nd street, currently have to go onto Sinatra Drive in order to get onto 2nd street in it’s current direction. The large trucks were having issues passing through this narrow section of Sinatra Drive at times clipping street signs. Considering this section of Sinatra Drive is not designed for commercial traffic, making this change is beneficial to pedestrians and the business in question.


H1N1: The city council announced a new flu clinic. Another free H1N1 flu shot clinic will take place on Feb. 3, from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Hoboken University Medical Center.


St. Paddy's Day

The Council had a quick discussion, led by Councilman Nico Giachhi, about the St. Patrick's Day Parade on March 6.

"The zero tolerance policy (on public intoxication) has been endorsed by Mayor Zimmer," Giacchi said. Zimmer is set to meet with the Hospitality Committee next week. Park of the new Ordinance will include community service. In order for it to be legal, the punishments cannot be for one event. Port-a-potties will be discussed at the meeting to curb public urination.

Mary Andreaca (sp?) voiced her concern that the discussion about moving the St. Patty’s Day parade to a week day occurred many months ago and there is really no excuse for having it on a Saturday this year. It benefits our bars but at what expense to other businesses and the quality of life of those that live in Hoboken??


Public Session:

Parking Signage Inconsistency: Jason ? brought up the need to clean up our street parking signage for consistency. He has been able to skirt a dozen tickets on what he openly called technicalities. Things such as conflicting signage, improperly painted street corners. Among the various items he pointed out, he made a very good suggestion to move parking tickets to administrative review with the ability to appeal to court. NYC does it this way and it saves the city a considerable amount of money.

Lt. Andriani – Mo DeGenero asked again for resolution on the Lt. Andriani personnel hearing. He expressed his disappointment that after a year and half, Lt. Andriani is still on paid leave. He pressed the Council to drive that to resolution and to bring forth some update to the public.


Closed Session: The Council went into closed session to discuss the status of the union contracts.

URGENT: Write a Letter to Corzine & Christie - Corzine is trying to sabotage the incoming administration. He is going against the will of the people.

See my post on Hoboken Revolt. http://www.hobokenrevolt.com/forum/topics/urgent-write-a-letter-to Corzine is trying to handcuff us to unreasonable contracts for the next 3 years of Christie's term. He is acting in poor form. 6 of the 7 people on the PERC are in hold over status. Some of their terms expired as far back and 2007. If he appointed them when those terms expired (they are 3 year terms), Corzine would only have been asserting his influence, his policy POV one year into Christie's term. By waiting to do this in the 11th hour he is assuring a PERC Commission that reflects Corzine's policy (and might I say failed policy) practices for the next 3 years.

The PERC hears appeals from arbitrated contracts so for example, if a municipality feels that an arbitrator ignores today's dire economic state, the municipality appeals the contract to this commission. If the commission were to side with the municipality it would change the burden of proof that all municipalities have to meet to make the case that today's environment requires change. The PERC has been labor friendly to the dire detriment of the taxpayer throughout Corzine's term. Have you seen the NJ Commissions of Investigations report dated December 2009? It's a scathing account of how these contracts are fleecing the state with excessive wages, benefits packages, deferred comp. It also talks about how they often lead to abuse.

The PERC commissioners must change and the people elected Christie to make those decisions. Corzine is undermining the will of the people by having left those positions in holdover status for so long. He is ensuring a labor friendly majority for the next 3 years. NJ cannot wait that long for change.

This body has been and would continue to be extremely labor friendly. Our labor contracts constitute 55% of our budgets. We are giving away golden packages with healthcare plans that cost >$20K per person, $150 - $250K checks at retirement for unused vacation and deferred comp while they have gotten "extra" days for bar mitzvah's, weddings and even shopping.

Please write a letter to Corzine, and the senators who can block these nominations. I have penned a sample letter and below are all the addresses you need. PLEASE HELP MAKE SURE WE GET THE ADMINISTRATION WE VOTED FOR. (some of the terms of these appointments are for 3 or more years!!! The PERC ones are for 3 years and it's a 7 panel board for 4 appointments = a labor friendly majority)

Here is what I penned and for your convenience
the list of addresses to copy. For Corzine, all we have is his home
address so you have to send it though the USPS.

govelect@govelect.state.nj.us,

Senstack@njleg.org, senbsmith@njleg.org,
senbuono@njleg.org, sensarlo@njleg.org, (these folks can block the
nominations)

donnaantonucci@gmail.com
(please copy me so I know how many people participated)

Copy the nominees:

aeeaton@rci.rutgers.edu (Adrienne Eaton) 216 Lawrence Ave, Highland
Park, NJ 08904
skrengel@edlawcenter.org (Sharon Krengel)
Local108yttw@msn.com (Ira Stern - Nominated for the Chair position)
pbvoos@rci.rutgers.edu (Paula Voos)

Governor Jon Corzine
1025 Maxwell Lane
P109/1200
Hoboken, NJ 07030

RE: 4 PERC Nominations

Governor Corzine,

I am writing to ask you to withdraw the 4 nominations for the PERC
Board. As you know, these 4 positions have been in hold over status
for quite some time. I believe one post expired at the end of 2007.
As such, you are creating a majority that will serve for the next 3
years rather one that would have been staggered out over one year of
the new administration. I believe NJ needs a new direction.

As I am sure you have read the NJ Commission of Investigations report
dated December 2009, our public employee contracts under the
collective bargaining process are fleecing the state. Most
embarrassing for Hoboken, Hoboken was cited as an example of how the
current collective bargaining process has condoned tremendous excesses
and abuse. The PERC board sets the tone and determines the burden of
proof in any appeal.

We sent former Police Chief LaBruno off into retirement with a
$525,000 payout on top of his 7 figure NPV retirement + health care
for life. We cannot get our public employees to contribute to
healthcare premiums or take a plan limited to a network or has a
deductible above $200 per family. In 2008/2009 we spent $23,000 per
employee because we have not been able to get them away from a very
expensive plan. Our contract has extra days for weddings, bar
mitzvahs, blood donation. As such, they accrue a tremendous amount of
vacation that they take at the retirement in addition to terminal
pay. We are paying out $150 to $250,000 per public safety employee
who retires with 25 years or more on top of their lucrative pension.

I have reviewed the PERC website and have looked at various appeals.
Many municipalities have tried to make the argument that these are
dire economic times. Our population is out of work, underemployed and
leaving the state. Hoboken's median age is 30 v the state average of
36. We have a disproportionate number of young people who are
experiencing much higher unemployment - as much as 50%. Personnel
costs represent 55% of our budget. We cannot afford to pay into the
pensions system to make good on these contracts. NJ comes in dead
last in terms of property taxes in the country based on the The Tax
Foundation - a non profit that looks at taxation across the nation.
We have the highest income tax rate in our upper income bands and many
of our wealthy are leaving the state and on a microcosm, Hoboken as
well. If we don't impact these contracts, we cannot bring relief to
the citizens of Hoboken.

The PERC Commissioners burden of proof that economic conditions are
severe enough to curtail increases much less wage and benefits cuts
never seem to be enough. We need a PERC board that thinks differently
and I think Governor-elect Christie will marshall in that group if you
let him.

We are in the middle of negotiating our public safety contracts. The
unions are well aware that the terms of 6 out of 7 PERC Commissioners
have expired. By putting forth these nominations at this time is
allowing them to continue to resist necessary and prudent benefits
cuts and wage freezes.

I urge you to rescind these 4 nominations and allow the new
administration to do so.

Sincerely,