Mean Girl is back, Bhalla veto

ALL A DREAM
The 'council majority's' spirit of cooperation with the Bhalla administration was all but a dream.

Hoboken residents awoke last Wednesday night to an unhappy City Council president; unhappy because she'd buckled to public pressure on reading 2 dozen letters supporting the Office of Constituent Services. And once they were read, that veneer of niceness dropped like old skin from a snake.

The 25 letters read into the public record showed the outcry against abolishing Constituent Services was widespread across Hoboken. Letter writers included residents, religious leaders (Father Alex Santora, Monsignor Michael Andreano) and public figures (President Hoboken Chapter of NAACP, Gene Drayton, Hudson County Alliance to End Homelessness Chair, Laura Fuentes).

Reading these letters aloud clearly infuriated Council President.  Once City Clerk Alyssa Bratolii had finished, Council President:

• accused Director Caufield of running an email lobbying campaign from her City Hall email account, violating her rights to a Rice Notice
• argued that reading page two of a priest's letter would break the "5 minute rule"
• claimed that reading the public testimonials was "unfair" to workers who "weren't afforded the same opportunity." 

Huh? Anyone can write a letter to the City Council.  Why didn't Council President "afford' others the opportunity to have their letters read into the public record?  Only she can answer herself. 

Check it out, transcribed below.

  

MEAN GIRL: "I wanna just say... could you imagine if [employee's name] was afforded the opportunity to mail, [Bobblehead bobs head in adjacent square] email, use his email from City Hall, for the past 26 years to email every family [Bobblehead ceases head-bobbing] that ever participated in rec we'd be on the phone, we would be listening to this for days, or [employee's name] for over 30 years, worked for the City of Hoboken emailed every person she'd ever helped, that would be weeks.  So though I do adore Caroline, using her City email to...

CORPORATION COUNSEL: Council President...

MEAN GIRL: One second... I just don't think it's fair to other employees who weren't afforded that same opportunity.

CORPORATION COUNSEL: Council President if I may just advise the Council no employees have been Riced for this meeting and therefore while...

MEAN GIRL: They aren't employees anymore!

CORPORATION COUNSEL:  Excuse me?

MEAN GIRL: They aren't employees anymore. Thank you.

CORPORATION COUNSEL:  Okay, no employees were Riced for this meeting and while the council might be tempted to try to respond with regard to the employees that were spoken about today, I'd advise the council not to do that, um, you can...

MEAN GIRL: That's fine.   

CORPORATION COUNSEL:  You can mention cost savings and what not, without mentioning the employees... but there are a bunch of employees in two offices which might be effected by an ordinance that you are thinking of today... that's it.

MEAN GIRL: Thank you. 

CORPORATION COUNSEL:  Thank you. 

MEAN GIRL: Motion to close the email section...

COHEN: Council President... point of Order Council President. 

MEAN GIRL: Yes, Councilman. 

COHEN:   Yes. I was following along with the letter that Alyssa read from Monsignor Andreano and it was actually a 2-page letter.   And she only read the first page of it.  I don't know if she understood that but I think that she inadvertently did not complete the letter so...

MEAN GIRL: Were the 5 minutes up? 

COHEN: Council President...  

MEAN GIRL: Alyssa?   

COHEN:   I think the spirit of the rule is that the letters would be read...

MEAN GIRL: NO. Actually it says right on there, on the... corporation counsel and I spoke about that this afternoon. Corporation Counsel?  

CORPORATION COUNSEL:   Yes even with the reading, there still is 5 minutes... council will obviously be provided with the full, but just because its a writing doesn't mean you can write a novel. 

MEAN GIRL: Phil, would it make you feel better if she read the second page? Alyssa, go for it to accommodate Phil. 

CRINGY
Oy. As Corporation Counsel pointed out, Caufield had not been given a Rice Notice (OPMA) prior to the meeting. Hence, Council President's public accusation that Caufield had run an email lobbying campaign from her City Hall email account was a violation of her civil rights. And false. For the record, Caufield's email notified residents, organizations- all persons affected-  that her office may soon be closed by ordinance, and closed immediately (council to waive "estoppel"). Director Caufield had a professional obligation to notice residents who may be forced to find alternative assistance.

CRINGIEST
The cringiest: Council President arguing with Cohen that reading the second page of Monsignor Andreano's letter broke the "5 minute rule."   I'm pretty sure that reading Monsignor's page one did not exhaust his allotted 5 minutes. 

But you know, that is how mean and petty this Council majority has become.

Arguing over the length of a priest's letter.  Violating an employee's Rice Notice rights. For anyone who watched the Council majority statements on abolishing Constituent Services, one thing is noticeably missing: empathy for  the hundreds of Hoboken residents who rely on constituent services. No empathy. No answers. Where will these residents go for help?

BHALLA VETO
Last but not least, this message from Mayor Bhalla states his intention to veto the Constituent Services shutdown:

[Wednesday] night, the Hoboken City Council voted to eliminate the Office of Constituent Services by a 6-3 vote. 

“The action taken by six City Councilmembers was, in the words of Monsignor Michael Andreano, is an ‘abomination’ that hurts the most vulnerable members of our community in the middle of a national pandemic,” said Mayor Ravi S. Bhalla. “At a time when residents need help more than ever, Caroline Caulfield and Migdalia Pagan-Milano have gone above and beyond to help the elderly, disabled, and those most in need due to COVID-19. This unfortunate ordinance, attempting to undermine City Hall’s assistance to those in need, will be vetoed so Caroline and Migdalia can continue serving as a vital resource for all Hoboken residents." 

Councilmembers Mike DeFusco, Vanessa Falco, Jen Giattino, Tiffanie Fisher, Michael Russo and Ruben Ramos voted to eliminate the office, while Councilmembers Emily Jabbour, Phil Cohen and Jim Doyle voted against it. 

Last night, over 25 letters of support from residents and and those assisted by the Office of Constituent Services, including Monsignor Andreano’s letter, were read into the record.

The Office of Constituent Services has assisted over 1,000 residents, many with critical issues, during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

 During the COVID-19 pandemic, Caroline Caulfield and Migdalia Pagan-Milano have:

• Built and deployed a team of 250 volunteers to feed 900 Hoboken seniors
• Connected 35 food-insecure families to critical grocery deliveries from the Hoboken Food Pantry
• Interfaced with federal and state agencies to expedite the cases of 50 residents and small businesses owners with their PPP applications and unemployment insurance claims 
• During the month of April 2019 alone, the Office of Constituent Services corresponded with approximately 700 residents to assist with COVID-related inquiries. 

In 2019, the Office of Constituent Affairs serviced approximately 2,500 requests from residents, assisted with 50 cases in coordination with the tenant advocate, oversaw 1,050 requests through the Hoboken 311 system, and sent over 6,000 emails on behalf of constituents. The office was re-opened by Mayor Bhalla and Ms. Caulfield in 2018 to better assist residents.