It takes 59 seconds for the Hoboken City Council majority to disenfranchise residents from voting for or against e-scooters on the November ballot.
That's all. 59 seconds. With no real rhyme or reason other than the ordinance was proposed by Mayor Bhalla. Sure, Jen Giattino babbled about special interest money being the reason why she chose to deny the public's right to vote. That from the Council person who brought back run-off elections, otherwise known as a special-interest money swamp.
I want to know what Hoboken thinks. The Administration wants to know what Hoboken thinks. The Council has voted that they don't care. They'll think for us. Like autocrats.
I don't think an educated electorate should allow them to get away with this, including those who otherwise support this partisan cabal. The non-binding Public Question was for the Mayor and the Council to make an informed decision on whether to keep e-scooters going forward. Aside for Giattino's bullshit on "special interests", what is the real reason why the Council is denying the Public a voice?
Something smells. And it doesn't smell like democracy.
Attach wheels to the sticks they have up their asses and they won't need scooters.
ReplyDeletewell they haven't figured out a way to blame the mayor for the failure of the scooters, or to somehow seem like they are a reason for the success of the scooters. So they table it for now, then figure out which road to take......just not the designated bike lane.....
ReplyDeleteThere really is no need for a referendum. Hoboken has voted by scooter usage - the highest usage per lime scooter anywhere in the world. City residents aren't split on this any more than they were split on bikeshare.
ReplyDeleteThe Council should put on their big boy and big girl pants and vote.
But that vote should come by mid-october, with actual safety data made public at least a week in advance of the meeting. Any discussion of public safety should be informed by that data, not by anecdotes about "near misses."
The referendum can and should be the council races.
The Mayor can't make the council take a vote, but he can put the safety data out there, and negotiate and put a new contract on the agenda early enough for the voters to weigh in if they don't like what the council does.
If the City wants to be informed on public support for/against the e-scooter program, then a Public Question is far larger representative sample than a phone poll. There is absolutely no reason to deny the public a voice at the polls. Me personally, am ambivalent. Some love it, some hate it. Those are the loudest voices. How about giving all residents an equal voice at the polls?
DeleteThere is no reason to put the kibosh on the Public Question other than to suppress voter turnout. Listen, you may not agree it's necessary, but there is no good reason to STOP it.
Lime's numbers are unbelievable, which is to say, not true, as in a lie. It's implausible that they had as many trips taken on their scooters as they claim. So cut their number in half, add to that the fact that this is a novelty, so people will try it out and will taper off. The number of rides is not the same thing as the number of users - what's that figure? 1000, out of a population close to 60,000?
DeleteBut all that aside, why would the council be afraid of a vote? It seems like everything they do, even though they supported Lime, is now calculated to make the mayor look bad. They did the same thing with Zimmer, and it backfired. They're squandering what little time they have left to run legitimate campaigns, and DeFuckup is being managed like a product by his handlers. His is a very flawed brand, and he can only stay in the game if he delivers. That's not gonna happen.
Saw the blue ones with the baskets attached,
ReplyDeleteonly a few here, Jersey City is loaded with them.
I am incensed with GIATTINO/FISHER team. THEY
VOTED AGAINST THE FERRY FUEL ISSUE then went
down to the ferries downtown to pander for votes. They
are really busy exalting themselves and the untruths are
adding up fast.................Fisher bragged about being here
twenty years, now it is twenty five. EXALTATION
UNLIMITED...THE FAMOUS TAG TEAM OF GIA AND FISH.
I am also upset with the facebook print of FISHER taking a
ReplyDeletephoto of Washington Street with double parked cars at 11
P.M. with a caption underneath it saying CRUISING ON
Washington Street.....What did she mean?????????? M.
THIS TO ME IS TACKY......and upsetting...I made sure
FACEBOOK TOOK IT OFF....M.
Maybe it's a thinly veiled homophobic comment, which is consistent with their behavior. Driving or cruising around certain blocks was something men did before Grindr. She knows who to ask all about it.
DeleteI guess a vote is a vote, no matter how you get it...M.
ReplyDelete