The unintended consequence of Wednesday's crass debate over Hoboken Charter's lease renewal (with bonus attacks on Easterseals) is this teaching moment.
If you have time, please watch the above short video about Otis, a physically and spiritually ill nursing home resident, who rescued himself from homelessness with the help of Easterseals, the charity that Hoboken is proud to host.
Unfortunately, members of the City Council continue to bash Easterseals. On Wednesday, Council President Jen Giattino led some massive dissembling on the merits of hosting Easterseals; the charity pays $1 rent in a large room donated to the City by the developer of The Harlow. You ask: what the heck does Easterseals have to do with a Hoboken Charter lease renewal? Nothing. But somehow, extreme, relentless animus toward Mayor Bhalla and his Chief of Staff, John Allen (who sits on the Board of NJ Easterseals) has made the charity a council punching bag.
Let's revisit what happened.
In 2017, Hoboken Charter contracted with the City of Hoboken for expansion space at Hoboken's Multi-service center: a large room, an office and a play room. Hoboken Charter pays the City an annual rent of $12.73 per sf. Their lease expires in June, and because Hoboken Charter still needs the space, they executed a renewal; Hoboken Charter's lease renewal was on Wednesday's City Council Agenda.
BOOM. POW.
This simple lease renewal for a Charter School paying modest rent to Hoboken unleashed 8-minutes of dissembling over the merits of Easterseals. Whaaaaaat?
Council Prez Giattino's remarks included: the claim that Easterseals "doesn't help homeless- unless they are elderly or disabled", an attack on the mayor ( "he mislead the council that Easterseals was part of the Homelessness Initiative"), an attack on Easterseals lease ("x, y and z charities weren't given a chance leasing the space), equating non-profit Hoboken Charter with Easterseals, a 501(c)3 charitable organization, proclaiming that Hoboken Charter should pay $1 rent like Easterseals, a suggestion to reverse engineer the Hoboken Charter's contract to be $1 only to have the B.A. explain there is a "material difference" between charities and not-for-profit charter schools.
Giattino wanted to table the lease but with no viable reason to, called the vote. All nine council members voted "yes" to approve Hoboken Charter's Lease. The sole "no" vote was Council President Jen Giattino. In an afterthought, she Changed her "no" to "abstain."
Council Prez Giattino's remarks included: the claim that Easterseals "doesn't help homeless- unless they are elderly or disabled", an attack on the mayor ( "he mislead the council that Easterseals was part of the Homelessness Initiative"), an attack on Easterseals lease ("x, y and z charities weren't given a chance leasing the space), equating non-profit Hoboken Charter with Easterseals, a 501(c)3 charitable organization, proclaiming that Hoboken Charter should pay $1 rent like Easterseals, a suggestion to reverse engineer the Hoboken Charter's contract to be $1 only to have the B.A. explain there is a "material difference" between charities and not-for-profit charter schools.
Giattino wanted to table the lease but with no viable reason to, called the vote. All nine council members voted "yes" to approve Hoboken Charter's Lease. The sole "no" vote was Council President Jen Giattino. In an afterthought, she Changed her "no" to "abstain."
THE VOTE: HOBOKEN CHARTER LEASE RENEWAL
Sounds crazy, right?
Crazy like a fox. Its clear to me that Giattino's shtick was a political two-fer: (1) diminish "John Allen's charity" Easterseals, (2) suck-up to charter parents, say that Hoboken Charter was equally worthy of "free" rent.
Time for facts.
EASTERSEALS IS IN THE "PREVENTION" COMPONENT OF HOBOKEN'S HOMELESSNESS INITIATIVE
Time for facts.
EASTERSEALS IS IN THE "PREVENTION" COMPONENT OF HOBOKEN'S HOMELESSNESS INITIATIVE
Easterseals, a charity which serves the most vulnerable populations in Hoboken: the elderly and disabled. Easterseals finds them jobs and/or provides job training to prevent homelessness. Easterseals mission is to pre-empt homelessness, but they serve elderly and disabled persons who already are homeless. This charity was brought to Hoboken as the preventive component of the City's Homelessness Initiative.
Contrary to statements by Giattino and cohorts, the council was NOT "mislead" by the Mayor about the role of Easterseals in Hoboken's Homelessness Initiative.
The Homelessness Initiative was rolled out with three programmatic elements: "Mitigation, Prevention and Compassion."
The Homelessness Initiative was rolled out with three programmatic elements: "Mitigation, Prevention and Compassion."
Media coverage about Easterseals' role in the City's homelessness prevention was extensive, including, but not limited to: The Jersey Journal, The Hudson Reporter, hMag, Patch, City of Hoboken website. Not to mention Council debate over the $1 lease.
Therefore, Jen Giattino, Tiffanie Fisher, Ruben Ramos, and others cannot credibly claim they were mislead by the mayor about Easterseals, the services it provides, and the reason it belongs in the Mayors Homelessness Initiative.
But Council President Giattino tried to do that last night, full-on dissembling about the charity. With back up from Fisher.
So, what's the teaching moment?
Hopefully putting Easterseals back in the spotlight will raise awareness in Hoboken about what they they do, what they can't do, their programs to keep elderly and disabled from becoming homeless through employment and job training.
From the political side, folks should be aware of members on the council who would make disingenuous attacks on a charity as a proxy for their political adversaries.
GA believes that words matter. Especially from our elected officials.
Hence, the public proclamation that Easterseals "doesn't help the homeless" shows contempt for the elderly and disabled populations they serve. Such indifference toward these at-risk populations is hurtful. They were treated like they don't matter, like they are invisible, even unwelcome here in Hoboken. The Council President even suggested names of better charities that Hoboken could hosted for $1 per year.
Fact: either she and the rest of the Council were oblivious to the vacant room in The Harlow, or never said a peep nor tried to help another charity acquire the space. Oh, but once the mayor welcomed Easterseals... BOOM. POW.
Finally, Giattino's cynical demand that Hoboken Charter's lease be re-done for $1/year, like Easterseals...
Hopefully putting Easterseals back in the spotlight will raise awareness in Hoboken about what they they do, what they can't do, their programs to keep elderly and disabled from becoming homeless through employment and job training.
From the political side, folks should be aware of members on the council who would make disingenuous attacks on a charity as a proxy for their political adversaries.
GA believes that words matter. Especially from our elected officials.
Hence, the public proclamation that Easterseals "doesn't help the homeless" shows contempt for the elderly and disabled populations they serve. Such indifference toward these at-risk populations is hurtful. They were treated like they don't matter, like they are invisible, even unwelcome here in Hoboken. The Council President even suggested names of better charities that Hoboken could hosted for $1 per year.
Fact: either she and the rest of the Council were oblivious to the vacant room in The Harlow, or never said a peep nor tried to help another charity acquire the space. Oh, but once the mayor welcomed Easterseals... BOOM. POW.
Finally, Giattino's cynical demand that Hoboken Charter's lease be re-done for $1/year, like Easterseals...
The Council President knows that Hoboken Charter school is not a charitable organization, like Easterseals. She knows that any school: charter or traditional public that needs expansion space has to pay rent-- unless, the Council drafts legislation to treat ALL schools the SAME, to offer free space to ALL schools.
Maybe the City can work out an equitable legislation to give ALL schools proportional free space, instead of trying to throw a freebie at one Hoboken school and not others.
For now, there is no such legislation and no reason to pretend that there is. ALL schools have to pay the City a reasonable rent.
So why the grandstanding, the "No" vote on a lease renewal predicated on an imaginary $1 lease for Hoboken Charter, a whole lot of mud thrown at Easterseals?
Teaching moment over.
Wait, this is another attempt to get at the mayor's staff? How petty can Jen get? I am so happy she is not mayor. I will be happier when a replacement is found and voted into her seat. She has no business being in public service. (yes, Jen, this isn't all about you and your dashed political aspirations, you are supposed to be serving the public)
ReplyDeleteThe false comparison between a charter school's rental agreement with a charity organization's reveals this was only ever about an attempt to chip away at the mayor and his staff, and like all their angry antics at the bi-monthly shit-show that they have made of our council meetings, this one backfired too.
ReplyDeleteOne of the more unhinged members of her fawning fan club was on Facebook harping on about her assistance in getting a homeless person an apartment. A laudable act, but maybe it's payback for sponsoring legislation that she never read, which resulted in people in basement apartments becoming displaced when. Just as her council cohort Mikey didn't help that veteran when he was being ousted by that creepy developer on Washington Street.
It doesn't matter that she went the extra mile for a homeless person once, she took an oath to do the right thing in her capacity as a councilmember every day, in every transaction.
I hope she and the council clowns keep taking potshots at charities. The optics will be very useful for their opponents.
242 more days till they're voted out.
Yeah, I was shocked to be told to stop "attacking" an elected official because she had helped a homeless person, that I was "mean and hurtful." Huh? So an elected official gets a pass for using her council authority for actual "mean" conduct against Easterseals, and constituents who voice discontent are "mean." I believe its called oversight. Not to mention the U.S. and N.J. Constitution. I felt like I was back in High School, confronted in the lunchroom: " Don't be mean to our friend!" But that's the mindset of a bubble of acolytes, who have never recovered from an election loss, and the fact a Republican was called a Republican. Disingenuous to be upset by that since her close advisor, a former NJ senator, warned her to change party registration to Dem before running-- as did I. Same mindset: Im too nice to get beaten up in an election! Surprise.
DeleteWhen Gianttino ran for mayor and lost she did not even get enough votes in her own Ward to win her own Ward. A large part of the 2nd Ward voters live in a Church Towers building, they already and justifiably do not support her and ago now attack an organization that could benefit some of them to pander to her small circle of rich, Republican, privileged friends will undoubtedly hurt her again in November.
DeleteA correction, she is currently the Councilperson from Hoboken's 6th Ward.
DeleteGA, I saw the Facebook exchange, and it was just another example of how Giattino's agitated allies did not help her win any votes. Plus, she seemed to be micro-managed by Fisher, who was the one that told me and others that Bhalla wasn't electable, and that handling continues on the council dais.
DeleteBut Giattino did finally switch parties, at least on paper, just like my councilman Peter "DINO" Cunningham did, but it was too little too late. At least when she was being honest about being a Republican she had integrity, even as she shied away from that truth, and her presidential voting record. But given where she spent her campaign funds, it's pretty clear she was a Trump supporter.
Maybe she and Fisher should swap addresses if she wants another go at a mayoral race. The 2nd ward has the greatest number of Republicans, but then again, Fisher behaves like a DINO too.
I can say, anecdotally, that her constant fighting against the mayor has hurt her in 6th ward Zimmer/Bhalla strongholds like in my neighborhood. Example, the last time my neighborhood (north and south streets) convened to discuss an issue where we really needed council input, the people who organized the meeting did not invite her. I asked at the meeting if she was coming, and folks just looked at each other. Uncomfortable silence. Then someone said "so-and-so speaks to her..." I kept my mouth shut.
DeleteSo, point being no one felt comfortable asking for help from our own Council rep. Its because folks are generally happy with Bhalla, and unhappy with the Councilwoman's continuous scorched earth anti-Administration council antics, and her political alliance with the Shady Bunch (Ruben Ramos, Mike DeFusco).
This is not a good situation for 6th ward residents. Everyone should feel comfortable that their council person will help them, no matter who they supported for mayor. Even Nino Giacci was invited to our meetings when we needed him-- Nino got us our street signs. Giattino won here in 2015, but a lot has changed.
She volunteered at a soup kitchen for years. Al couldn't see past the fact that she was a registered republican so she ended up proving it to him. The article appeared on the 1st page of the JC Reporter and was buried in the middle of the Hoboken edition. That's how they did it back then.
ReplyDeleteAnyway she wasn't volunteering to score points with anyone. Just who she was/is. So, I'm struggling to understand this meanness. I'd like to think it isn't about zinging John Allen yet again, but the whole episode reeks of deciding what she wants to do first and throwing together a rationalization for it after the fact.
I do not think Jenn actually comes up with these petty attacks and is having them spoon feed to her to recite at the City Council, which becomes clear when she can not defend her positions.
DeleteIf it is true she is being spoon fed this nonsense then I am even happier she is not mayor. Mayors shouldn't be dancing to someone else's tune. Perhaps the person spoon feeding this stupidity to her should run for mayor and see how well he or she does (my money is they lose badly).
Delete