Last night: Giattino leaves meeting to linger in hall, missing "Tax Surcharge from Tenants" VOTE (screwing tenants BIGLY)

Last night, an uncontroversial, apolitical rent control ordinance written to correct excessive tax surcharges on tenants (to make them "less onerous and more fair") should have passed without a hitch.

So folks may have thought.

To summarize the issue: a tax surcharge is a fee that a landlord can charge a tenant, above and beyond rent control-allowed increases, when taxes go up to pass along that increase.  As of now, any landlord can charge any tenant all the tax increases that have occurred since 1988, regardless of how long the landlord has owned the property. The ordinance was going to change that dynamic such that, going forward, newly applying  landlords can only charge this fee for the period that they own the property (those already in the system are grandfathered).

Do prospective landlords of rent control buildings like this ordinance? Probably not. Because their anticipated rent roll will reflect tax surcharges only for the period which they have owned the building-- meaning lower rents. And fairness to tenants. 

So, last night when Hoboken's most prominent tenant-advocate, Rent Leveling Board Commissioner Cheryl Fallick, got up to speak on the ordinance, folks (including GA) presumed she would support it's passing.

But she didn't. 

RLB'S CHERYL FALLICK URGES COUNCIL TO "MAYBE NOT PASS THIS..."

Cheryl spoke for nearly 7 minutes, beginning with: "There's a flaw in it.. there's a problem with it..." and closing with "I don't actually have a recommendation for you guys. Because, literally this epiphany hit me at 6:15... I scrambled and tried to speak to Councilman Doyle... I don't even know the solution. What I'm gonna say to all of you is: I'm a little concerned... maybe we could talk about it a little more, and maybe not pass this." 

Not a ringing endorsement. Not even an endorsement. Not even a recommendation on a final vote, one way or the other. 

GA heard that after the rent control ordinance tanked (and it did) Cheryl was upset; she believed that her public comments did not oppose the ordinance, were meant to support it, and is "upset it failed now."  Too little, too late.  In a 7-minute soliloquy she did not voice support for it, nor recommend it--to the contrary.  To my eyes, Fallick handled the tax-surcharge ordinance like a flaming hot potato; she threw back at the Council leaving them with these words: " I leave it to you and your wisdom."

Big mistake. 

Because when a person with Fallick's stature and credibility as a rent control advocate does not explicitly endorse passage of a rent control legislation ("maybe not pass this"), she provides cover for landlord-friendly council members to screw tenants. 

And that folks, is exactly what happened.

Did Cheryl intend it that way? I don't believe so; I believe her heart is in the right place on this issue. But, she failed tenants last night; the saying "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good" comes to mind.  By her trepidation, she gave cover to landlord-friendly council members with a much different agenda, and they killed a good piece of legislation. 
  

Fallick's unedited comments:

"TAX SURCHARGE" ORDINANCE FAILS: GIATTINO HANGS OUT IN HALLWAY DURING THE VOTE, FISHER SPOUTS GIBBERISH ABOUT PROTECTING PROPERTY VALUES BY MAINTAINING LARGER TAX SURCHARGES ON TENANTS
GA is not sure how tenants in rent control buildings will react when they find out how badly Jen Giattino, Ruben Ramos, Tiffanie Fisher, Peter Cunningham and Mike DeFusco screwed them last night.  If Fallick's trepidation was sincere-- and I trust it was--then the City Council majority's response to this ordinance was not.   Here is the choreography, which they pulled off successfully.

• Giattino skipped the vote, guaranteeing the ordinance would fail. 
• Fisher provided a counter-narrative to give cover for the council developer-ho's and realtors with economic incentives to support property-buyers versus tenants.  Fisher spouted absolute gibberish how lowering rents for rent-control tenants (by limiting landlords' tax surcharges) would discourage buyers of those properties who depend on a higher rent roll.  Never mind the utter callousness of defending prospective landlords entitlement to overcharge rent control tenants with 'old' tax surcharges.   

Mission accomplished. They pulled it off without a hitch.

Giattino left the council chambers right after "Proclamations" missing the entire rent control ordinance hearing and vote; she returned after after the vote (somebody: OPRA her text messages). What was the 6th Ward Councilwoman doing? City Hall witnesses report she waited in the hall. One witness saw her at the security desk.

Then Fisher spouted her pro-landlord, anti-rent control gibberish. The "Tax Surcharge" ordinance failed. FOR: Doyle, Jabbour, Falco and Russo. AGAINST: Fisher,Ramos, DeFusco, Cunningham.

Watching at home, I was incredulous.  And almost immediately, 'unhappy' folks contacted me.

"the tax surcharge ordinance was purely to help cure a patently unfair situation that tenants are subjected to. Four council persons voted against it, two  developer whores (DeFusco and Ramos) who abandoned their tenant constituents, and two Republican elitists (Cunningham and Fisher) who abandoned their albeit marginalized principles. 

Then comes the biggest hypocrite of them all. Giattino slithered out into the hall and hid during the vote so as to not to have to defend her misguided, anti-tenant, pro-landlord views.  She effectively cast the deciding negative vote in hiding in the hallway.  I hope she is correct in her abject fear of a backlash from principled voters that she tried to avoid through deceit, that which she will likely receive."

Another one:

"Jen stayed out of the room for the tax surcharge vote on purpose So that it would fail. She had Tiffanie work her nonsense to substantiate her argument against it so it failed and then Jen magically reappeared Because Jen represents landlords. And landlords are against it. Cheryl Fallick claims to be the affordable housing advocate and then she doesnt back a rent surcharge fix. It's mind blowing."

There is no good reason I can see for voting this ordinance down, other than to currying favor with developer-investors and benefit realtors by maximize asking price for property (based on anticipated rent roll).  Jen Giattino has shown her true colors: a craven indifference to tenants unfairly facing bloated rent rolls permitted under the current law.

DOOMED ORDINANCE

(pages 1 and 2)

GA's 2 CENTS
Jen, the Republican party misses you. Bring your DINO pal with you.

WILL THE MAYOR VETO? 
Dunno. The pile of legislative trash crying out for his veto pen is piling up.