Round 1: Last week the Mayor and the Hospital Authority snatched a $52 million dollar victory for Hoboken from the jaws of defeat. Meaning the last major hurdle in the sale of the hospital to HoldCo- the approval of the bankruptcy judge, which we got. The status today: we need the approval of the State Commissioner of Health (GA tells you we'll get it) and we're good to go.
Result: WIN
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If Approved (6 votes min): Hoboken saves $50,000
If Fails (Mason, Occhipinti, Russo, Terry C. (MORT) vote NO): Hoboken will have to pay back the $10 million bond within 90 days in order to avoid default. IRS fees estimated in the 1 million dollar range. Layoffs of City employees will begin immediately.
Result: LOSE ( GA prediction)
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The Tubby from Trenton won't save this one. He can't save us from MORT's determination to wreck a smooth, painless transition of the HUMC from public to private ownership. Because that would be good government and we can't have that.
No.
MORT wants chaos. MORT wants (your) pain. MORT wants (your) blame (directed at Zimmer).
That's their GAME. Playing politics with people's livelihoods.
MORT tried but couldn't crash the hospital sale; that would have been the truly big blow: a $52 million dollar debt to be paid by taxpayers this year, 1,200 hospital layoffs, massive city tax hikes, a precipitous drop in the City's credit rating, extreme cuts in City services and layoffs.
Instead MORT has to trade down to a $10 million garage payment default. Avoided if ONE of them votes "YES".
They won't. Bet on it.
Exactly why Reform had better start thinking about expanding our voter base NOW.
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| Let's GO, Boys and Girls of... um, Autumn. |
The Minority of No puppet, Tim was the only one to show up. Of course he voted no. MORT would rather see our safety personnel laid off and a 20% tax rise than to do what is best for Hoboken. I hope this wakes people up to the destructive nature of MORT.
ReplyDeleteMBB is a broken record on the chronic voter-apathy issue (remarks on "Boo" thread & elsewhere---admittedly ad nauseum). After decades+, not sure what will get the massively apathetic of Hoboken to sit up & take notice, register, & vote. And then there's the whole voter education task....
ReplyDeleteCivics is long-gone from regular high school curricula, yes? MBB's mother was recently given an award for voting in every election for over 50 years! (She might be PITA-Personified, but MBB gives her big props for that accomplishment.) "Civic duty" & the excercise in self-determination---even if ultimately empty---has become so irrelevant, it seems.
GA & MSV might consider having a prominent sidebar link to on-line voter registration. Something "flashy."
If MBB had a $1 for every time spurned while proffering a voter registration form on Washington Street or door-to-door.... Most times either treated as "invisible"---or some snide chide &/or, "I'm registered in [fill in the blank w/Mommy & Daddy's out-of-state locale]."
Perhaps, something more unconventional is needed now? For example, chat up folks in a bar, smartphone in hand, & register them on the spot. Ditto with "beauty parlors" (an old community organizing trick), manicure places, in line @ the grocery store, etc.
But get ready to be treated like an intrusive pariah for the effort.
No time like the present, though. Hoboken---like many, many municipalities---is in pretty dire straits. Heads need to come out of the sand, asses, etc. ASAP.
Good luck.
I agree with MBB.
ReplyDeleteI think we need a few grand gestures and then dedicated action.
With 2012 being a presidential election year, voter registration should be less of a pain in the ass to promote.
How about little tables all over town on 1/1/2012. Why?
Because it's a pain in the ass, and therefore shows we care enough to deal with some inconvenience.
Because it links getting registered to vote in the town you now live in to New Years resolutions and starting the year off right.
Reform must also embrace the VBM. Ideally most of the town would vote by VBM. We are all more than willing to go canvassing. Instead of ending the chat with "we hope you'll come out to vote" end it with arranging a VBM for the address.
It needs to be studied and strategized across the entire city, district by district (I recommend district captains). Regardless of cheating, reform has been soundly defeated 3 straight times. Last November, then school board and city council races this year.
When does it become time to re-think strategy? After the old guard has the school board and city council back in their grasping hands? Based on the election calendar and current pattern of results, they'll get half of that next spring and the rest the following May.