Hoboken Saved by... Stupid?

Folks, what if the lame duck Council of No were actually the Council of Stupid?

Meaning the wham-bam- thank-you-ma'am they gave Hoboken last night- a budget which cannibalized our entire surplus (a.k.a. Nino's new purse) was so incompetently drafted that it was... ILLEGAL?

Now, Mike Russo knows it's not illegal to propose a budget handwrittten on a sheet of toilet paper.  He's done it, folks!  And Beth Mason knows it's not illegal to obtain emails off City Hall servers... oh, wait a minute...  GA will get to that later.

An astute GA reader just sent me this:

It's unfortunate that the lame duck Council Majority passed a budget amendment that results in a 0% surplus when we have KNOWN expenses that will almost certainly cause a tax increase in the future -- expenses like retro-pay to the fire union and 4 other non-uniformed unions, tax appeals, waterfront repairs, etc.  This will also adversely impact our bond rating as best practices require municipalities to have a surplus of between 5% and 10%.

Significantly, the amendment may also be illegal because it failed it appears to have given away the $900,000 that was allocated to budget for police retirements.  This will result in another Roberts-style underfunded budget to the tune of almost $1million dollars.  

If this is the case, the amendment will not be approved by the NJ Department of Community of Affairs and they may tell us we need to go back to the drawing board.

Thanks, astute GA reader!  I'm telling you, GA readers are the cream of the crop.

So, do we feel a little better now, people?

Thanks goodness, Mason-Russo-Occhipinti-Castellano aren't half as smart as they are wicked.  Yes, wicked.  It's wicked to foist either a huge tax increase or layoffs upon Hoboken residents because this cold-blooded crew has blown our entire safety net on a gimmick. 

Throw us a bone now so you can f*ck us later.

I left out Giacchi because he's SMART.  The only one of that batch.  Shame on him.

Anyway, it looks like their best effort to screw our city in their final days will fail.  If the budget gets kicked back Nino will have surrendered his purse to Jen Giattino. 

And if I know anything about Jen Giattino it's this: she's smart, sensible and in politics for the right reason.

US.