Hold onto your hats, people! If you're not wearing one, put one on and hold it!
As mysteriously as the quorum to vote on NJ Transit's purchase of Hoboken property from NY Waterway disappeared, the NJ Transit meeting has reappeared this Friday, January 12, 2018!
But wait... What about New Jersey's Open Public Meetings Act?
That puts the NJ Transit Friday meeting schedule in apparent violation of NJ's Sunshine law.
Well, this sure is interesting.
According to sources, "Corporation Counsel is looking at the City's legal options and the Mayor's office is redoubling efforts with the senators and governor-elect to keep the pressure on."
GA is no lawyer but can't the courts do anything to stop an improperly noticed public meeting, on an emergency basis?
MAYOR BRINGS HUGE VICTORY FOR HOBOKEN!
YUGE.
As mysteriously as the quorum to vote on NJ Transit's purchase of Hoboken property from NY Waterway disappeared, the NJ Transit meeting has reappeared this Friday, January 12, 2018!
But wait... What about New Jersey's Open Public Meetings Act?
The rescheduled meeting needs at least 48 hours notice published in two newspapers of record, and notice must also be "prominently posted in a public place" (the Internet doesn't count)!
That puts the NJ Transit Friday meeting schedule in apparent violation of NJ's Sunshine law.
Well, this sure is interesting.
It looks to me like one cantankerous outgoing Governor Tubby wants to take one last shot at screwing Hoboken. Whatever spooked the NJ Transit Directors to bail out of today's meeting, the Gov seems to want this last zinger to go through, and his clock is ticking.
What can Hoboken do?
GA is no lawyer but can't the courts do anything to stop an improperly noticed public meeting, on an emergency basis?
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MAYOR BRINGS HUGE VICTORY FOR HOBOKEN!
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| Mayor Bhalla being interviewed at NJ Transit Headquarters this morning |
This morning, the NJ Transit Board was supposed to approve the purchase of the Union Dry Dock property from NY Waterway, and a re-lease back to them for $1!
The meeting was scheduled at NJ Transit's Newark headquarters at 9AM.
According to GA's source, last night Mayor Bhalla's office called Senator Bob Mendedez personally, and apparently his office "intervened" and "Senator Cory Boker and Governor Phil Murphy were cooperative."
Yes, Mayor Bhalla's office has been engaged in intense lobbying on behalf of Hoboken to STOP NJ Transit from buying the UUD site up through last night.
So what happened?
NJ Transit's Board of Directors meeting was supposed to start at 9 AM. At around that time, an announcement was made: "due to urgent matters, we do not have a quorum of Board members."
And so, the NJ Transit meeting was cancelled.
Yep, NJ Transit Board members salivating for this juicy waterfront property stayed home due to "urgent matters"- like phone calls from U.S. Senators and a future Governor?
IF the meeting had proceeded, the city would be legally barred from acquiring the UDD property by eminent domain (which cannot be used against publicly owned land).
This great result for Hoboken has everything to do with having a mayor who knows how to work the levers of government at all levels, and who has great relationships with Democratic Senators and our next Governor, a Democrat.
DOOR OPENED FOR HOBOKEN TO ACQUIRE UDD BY EMINENT DOMAIN
What this means is that the next NJ Transit meeting will happen in a very different political environment.
Well, Governor Murphy will be sworn in on January 16; he appoints the NJ Transit Board.
Hence, it will be a much more friendly environment for Hoboken, especially with the mayor's roster of Democratic friends.
Now the City has time to pursue eminent domain for the UDD site...
This is YUGE for Hoboken.
YUGE.
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| At NJ Transit HQ after the meeting was cancelled |
i'm sure the sellouts will claim credit. i think i saw tiff angling to get into the camera view behind ravi on the Facebook live feed. i wonder if she's staring to feel self-conscious about her behavior over the past six months...nah, honest self reflection doesn't seem to be in the cards for the sellouts.
ReplyDeleteThe meeting is postponed until Friday. If the minutes hit Murphy's desk after he takes the oath of office on Monday, he can veto the whole damn thing. If they hit Chrsitie's desk before noon, it'll be a done deal. It's beyond nauseating to see FBW there, when they sold us out on the Maxwell House site.
ReplyDeleteYes, I just heard that NJ Transit rescheduled for Friday. How can they do that without re-noticing the public? That would be no sooner than 5 business days from today. Sleazeballs!
DeleteWell folks, stay tuned... this is going to be a bumpy ride. I'll update the story when it's confirmed that NJ Transit is violating the Open Public Meetings Act!
Probably not a violation of the letter of the law, but certainly the spirit of the law. Hoboken does it all the time when it carries meetings that originally required public notice. Those in attendance are given notice in a sense, the rest of the public is shit out of luck. That's how many awful things went down in Hoboken, not the least of which is the Monarch. And now we have DeFiasco on the planning board, who never said no to an application before the ZBA, when he bothered to show up to a meeting in the first place.
DeleteThank you sellouts for potentially screwing the whole thing up for Hoboken. You folks suck. I am sure you will try and blame Zimmer, but in reality, this is your fault.
DeleteGov.-elect Phil Murphy sent a letter Tuesday to NJ Transit's executive director requesting the resignations of a number of senior employees by Thursday as part of the incoming administration's transition plan for the beleaguered agency.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.northjersey.com/story/news/watchdog/2018/01/10/murphy-asks-resignations-senior-nj-transit-employees-letter-says/1018417001/