On May 2, 2012, the Hoboken City Council passed an Ordinance amending Chapter 68 "Alcoholic Beverages" to change and update the hours of operation of licensed liquor establishments.

Viewing the City Council meeting video, one would tend to believe the City's reason for making the changes “the City Council wishes to more closely align the City's hours of operation for licensed establishments with the modern holidays recognized and celebrated by the City of Hoboken."

There were no public speakers and no substantive discussion among Council members.  Short, sweet, and the ordinance passed on the second reading.  

Upon closer examination of the “well intentioned changes,” Hoboken now has THREE late night bar closings!  Either by accident or design, Thursday night joins Friday and Saturday nights with lucrative 3:00a.m. closings.

There are rumors floating around City Hall again – and this time the FBI is involved.

Local blog Hoboken411.com posted information this morning that allege Mayor Zimmer is trying to hide information contained in email correspondence from two aides, Juan Melli and Dan Bryan.

There are allegations that the Zimmer aides used their positions in the office to direct Zimmer’s political activities with the press and other local blogs.

“A massive email dump was underway to hide evidence of wrongdoing,” said the bloggers.

There are rumors floating around City Hall again – and this time the FBI is involved.

Local blog Hoboken411.com posted information this morning that allege Mayor Zimmer is trying to hide information contained in email correspondence from two aides, Juan Melli and Dan Bryan.

There are allegations that the Zimmer aides used their positions in the office to direct Zimmer’s political activities with the press and other local blogs.

“A massive email dump was underway to hide evidence of wrongdoing,” said the bloggers.

Ken Ferrante left work at the Hoboken Police Department on Friday a lieutenant and returned today a sergeant.

"It feels awkward," said Ferrante who was formerly a commander of three community policing bureaus and is now a first line supervisor over one four-member unit.

Ferrante is one of nine senior officers who have been demoted effective today as part of Mayor Dawn Zimmer's police redeployment plan that she has said will save taxpayers on the city's high personnel costs.

The city recently reported over $2 million in savings through the plan.

In response, the PSOA - the senior police officers' union - is appealing the decision.

All of the past year’s political battles were on display again at a marathon City Council meeting Wednesday night. Among the biggest issues was a plan to demote 12 police officers – a number that was reduced to nine by the end of the week.

The council is often split 5-4 on controversial votes right now, with the majority voting against the policies of Mayor Dawn Zimmer.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Councilman Michael Russo, a sometime Zimmer critic, sported his yellow “Stop the Zimmer Police Layoffs” t-shirt. Demotions for 12 top officers in the Hoboken Police Department were scheduled to take effect the next day, and Zimmer confirmed her administration would carry out the demotion plan by issuing a press release around 10 p.m. while the meeting was in progress. (On Thursday evening, the mayor announced that another retirement had taken place, which limited the demotions to nine officers.)

Hudson County municipalities could get a chance to move non-partisan elections from May to November. Jersey City and Hoboken councilmen plan to introduce ordinances that would move the May non-partisan elections in those cities to November.

The Assembly approved a measure that would allow such a move yesterday sending it to the governor's desk to be signed into law. The Senate unanimously approved it Dec. 10. The Assembly voted 49 to 25 with two abstentions.

For Immediate Release: December 11, 2009

Office of The Attorney General
- Anne Milgram, Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
- Deborah L. Gramiccioni, Director

Former Director of Hoboken Parking Utility Charged with Conspiring with Contractor to Steal More than $600,000 in Parking Meter Funds from City of Hoboken Contractor from Toms River pleaded guilty to stealing more than $1.1 million

View indictment pdf

TRENTON – Attorney General Anne Milgram announced that John P. Corea, former director of the Hoboken Parking Utility, was indicted today on charges that he conspired to steal more than $600,000 in parking meter revenue that he allegedly split with a Toms River contractor whose company was hired by the City of Hoboken to collect coins from city parking meters.

oboken Mayor Dawn Zimmer has hired Michael Kates as the city's new corporation counsel, she announced today.

Steve Kleinman, who has served as corporation counsel since April of 2007, has resigned as of Monday, to go into the private sector, but will serve in a transitional capacity as an assistant corporation counsel through Jan. 15, according to to a news release from Zimmer.

Kates, who is currently a partner at Kates Nussman Rapone Ellis & Farhi, will start the position Monday, according to Zimmer spokesman Daniel Bryan.

Four Hudson County municipalities - Harrison, Hoboken, Union City and West New York - got smacked in the State Commission of Investigation report on fiscal waste in municipal government that was released Tuesday.

Harrison took the biggest hit, with more than a half-dozen examples of spending and employee perks the report considers excessive - including the $241,851 paid to former Administrative Clerk/Deputy Municipal Clerk Marion Borek when she retired after 61 years with the town, the bulk of it for 881 days of accumulated unused sick leave.

Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano released the following letter to the people of Hoboken;

I hereby resign my position as Mayor of the City of Hoboken, effective 12:00 noon on this date.  It has been my has been my hope and expectation that I could remain in office and perform my official duties until I had the opportunity to resolve the legal charges against me in court. Regrettably, it has turned out that the controversy surrounding the charges against me has become a distraction to me and an impediment to the functioning of Hoboken government. This controversy has also been a terrible burden on my family. Accordingly it is in the best interest of the City and all concerned for me to resign.

I apologize to the residents of Hoboken for the disruption and disappointment this has caused. However I would like to reiterate that I am innocent of any criminal charges and I intend to fight the allegations against me.

Yours very truly,

Peter J. Cammarano III
Mayor

When it comes to big corruption busts -- like Thursday's arrest of 44 politicians, public employees and religious leaders -- the laws of nature are reversed.

The little fish will eat the big fish.

Or, at least, they'll try.

If it helps them get off the hook.

"I am sure some of these defendants will be clamoring to testify against others,'' says Alan Zegas of Chatham, one of the state's most prominent criminal defense attorneys who -- so far -- is not involved in the massive sting operation announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

"It's been true since time began -- or at least since John J. Kenny turned on John V. Kenny in the 1970s," says Larry Horn, a former assistant U.S. attorney who now is chief defense attorney for the financial section of the big Newark law firm, Sills Cummis.

Horn is referring to the good old days of political corruption trials when the feds would take down entire county and municipal governments, starting at the bottom with the little fish and flipping them -- or getting them to agree to testify against the bigger bottom feeders.

A day later, the shock still hadn't worn off in the Beth Mason camp.

The councilwoman, who expected to win the Hoboken mayoral race, or at least qualify for a runoff election, finished a distant third to fellow council members Peter Cammarano and Dawn Zimmer.

"We were completely blindsided," Mason's campaign manager, Jake Stuiver, said of the 1,000-vote loss to the two candidates who will vie for City Hall in the June 9 runoff. "We had polling as late as over the weekend that still had (Mason) as the frontrunner by a significant margin, so I can't tell you how much we were taken by surprise."

Stuiver attributed Mason's loss to two things: Not building up her base and not getting Mason's message across to voters.

"This election clearly demonstrates that those are two things we didn't do well enough," said Stuiver. "And as campaign manager that's something for which I have to take responsibility."

As many expected, Hoboken will have to wait until next month for its next mayor to be chosen. Council members Dawn Zimmer and Peter Cammarano will vie in a runoff June 9 to determine who will lead the city.

None of the six candidates running gained the 50 percent-plus-one votes needed to win the election, so the two top vote-getters, Cammarano, who came in first with 3,755 votes, and Zimmer with 3,671 will face off.

Zimmer said she was shocked she got into the runoff.

"I was feeling confident, but we hadn't done recent polling. People seemed supportive, but I wasn't sure," said the Fourth Ward councilwoman.

"We have accomplished our task - we are in the runoff election," Cammarano said to his supporters, which was met with cheers of "Peter, Peter!"

Last week, the state Local Finance Board put Hoboken under "supervision," a polite term that sounds better than a limited takeover. This comes two months after the city failed to approve a balanced municipal budget.

While the mayor and the City Council will be able to propose and vote on municipal business, Susan Jacobucci, director of the state Division of Local Government services, will have final approval on all fiscal matters (expenditures above $4,500), union contracts and the hiring and firing of employees.

Hoboken Democrats for Hudson County raised $28,000 for City Council candidates Michael Russo, Richard Tremetiedi, Chris Campos and Nino Giacchi

Hoboken Councilman-at-large Peter Cammarano is currently under review by the state Election Law Enforcement Commission for what some allege is improper activity in this past June's state Senate, Assembly and Hoboken municipal elections.

Eric Kurta, a Hoboken resident and president of the reform group People for Open Government, filed the complaint against Cammarano and received a letter from ELEC stating it is opening a review to determine if Cammarano violated election law as the chairman of Hoboken Democrats for Hudson County.

(left to right) Council members Terry LaBruno, Peter Cunningham, and Dawn Zimmer sit and watch as a crowd of cab drivers in the back of the room gets angry. The council decided to permit more cabs in town, and make it easier for drivers to lose their cab licenses.

In the knock down, drag out world of Hoboken Politics, nothing beats the free entertainment courtesy of the City of Hoboken.  The February 6, 2008 City Council Meeting was no exception when over 200 spectators packed the meeting with another large group lingering outside in the hallway.   A local newspaper, Hoboken Reporter, reported that a "majority of the audience was comprised of Hoboken taxicab drivers, owners, and supporters, who showed up to protest an ordinance that would allow the city to auction off seven more medallions, bringing the total number of taxis allowed in Hoboken to 65. This would increase the competition."  Although fares would be increased from $4 to $5, changes in the law would now allow for the suspension of a Hoboken taxi drivers permit if the driver accumulated 4 points on his state issued drivers license. 

Kenner, Louisiana Mayor Phil Capitano and representatives from his city were in Hoboken last week to express their appreciation for the residents' charitable donations in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Shortly after the hurricane hit in August, the Hoboken City Council voted to "adopt" Kenner, a town of about of 70,000, which is about 15 miles west of New Orleans.

Residents donated baby food, baby wipes, diapers, flashlights, batteries, and a multitude of other supplies. Enough items were collected to fill an 18-wheel tractor trailer.

Last month, Mayor David Roberts and Councilman Michael Russo were part of a large group that embarked on a 30-hour, 1,300-mile journey to Kenner.

Dear Editor:

I accepted Mayor David Robert's appointment as an Advisor for $1.00 per year to provide advice and suggestions to help with financial planning and quality of life issues important to the taxpayers and residents of the City of Hoboken. At that time I was not aware that the 2008 fiscal year budget (yet to submitted) would rise to $86 million from the current budget of $78 million.

Wednesday November 07, 2007, Jersey Journal

Just in case you didn't get enough election news last night, here's the breakdown of votes in the Fourth Ward by district, from Hoboken City Clerk Jimmy Farina:

1st District: 137 Campos; 265 Zimmer
2nd District: 49 Campos; 474 Zimmer
3rd District: 178 Campos; 131 Zimmer
4th District: 384 Campos; 56 Zimmer

So again, for machine votes, that's a total of 748 for Campos and 926 for Zimmer. In absentee ballots, Campos got 208 and Zimmer received 144, bringing the total votes to 956 for Campos and 1,070 for Zimmer. There were 41 provisional ballots - too small a number to have any effect.

So, Campos conceded, Gerry McCann called Dawn to say congrats, you know the story...This time around, Zimmah really is the winnah!

HOBOKEN - Dawn Zimmer was elected to the 4th Ward City Council seat in the "do-over" balloting last night, defeating Christopher Campos in a special election called after both candidates agreed to set aside the results of the June runoff.

Zimmer got 1,070 votes to Campos' 956, including absentee ballots. There are 41 so far uncounted provisional ballots, not enough to affect the outcome.

"I did it! I'm stunned," Zimmer said by cell phone last night on her way to her victory party. "I can say that I truly didn't know that this would happen when I gave up my seat. I'm grateful to my supporters, I'm overwhelmed by the amount of support I received by everyone in the 4th Ward and Hoboken."

Supreme Court of New Jersey

Top row, L to R: Justice Roberto A. Rivera-Soto; Justice Barry T. Albin; Justice John E. Wallace, Jr.; Justice Helen E. Hoens; Front row, L to R: Justice Virginia Long; Chief Justice Stuart Rabner; Justice Jaynee LaVecchia.

A New Jersey Supreme Court's ruling will be felt around the state because it is likely to give voters more opportunities to overthrow ordinances they oppose with properly certified petitions, officials say.

The ruling affects the 125 municipalities governed by the Faulkner Act, which includes all major cities such as Trenton and large urban and suburban areas like Hamilton and New Brunswick.  Hoboken is also governed by the Faulkner Act.

In 39 years of case law rulings, state courts have made a distinction between municipal ordinances that are administrative in nature and ones that are legislative.

Legislative ordinances that addressed more permanent issues were subject to voter referendum, but administrative ordinances that addressed more temporary or general issues were exempted from referendums.

Yesterday's high court ruling cleared that up, saying there was no distinction, and reverted to state statutes that say, "the voters shall also have the power of referendum which is the power to approve or reject at the polls any ordinance submitted by the council to the voters or any ordinance passed by the council, against which a referendum petition has been filed. ..." 

Hoboken City Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer has agreed to vacate the June election she won in the face of a court challenge to the results by Christopher Campos, whom she defeated, and the two will run against one another again in November.

The stunning announcement, made as both sides were gearing up for a trial, came today and leaves the Fourth Ward City Council seat vacant.

HOBOKEN - The first day of the new fiscal year began with three new City Council members - and a new council president and vice president.

The loudest cheers from the crowd of about 150 at yesterday's swearing-in ceremony at City Hall were reserved for the new members - Second Ward Councilwoman Elizabeth Mason, Fourth Ward Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer and Fifth Ward Councilman Peter Cunningham.

But applause also rang out as City Clerk Jimmy Farina swore in re-elected First Ward Councilwoman Theresa Castellano, Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo and Sixth Ward Councilman Angelo "Nino" Giacchi.

HOBOKEN - Councilman Chris Campos suffered another loss yesterday when a state Superior Court judge denied his request for an injunction to prevent Dawn Zimmer, who defeated him in the 4th Ward runoff, from taking office tomorrow.

Campos will challenge the results of the June 12 runoff in a trial set to begin July 30. He went to court yesterday hoping to keep Zimmer from being sworn in until the case is settled.

Campos's attorney, Alex Booth, argued that Zimmer's swearing in should be postponed because of an important July 18 council meeting, which cannot be pushed back. Decisions made at this meeting, Booth said, could not be changed even if Campos were to eventually be reinstated.

HOBOKEN - Standing in front of a mound of earth and plywood that now blocks the entrance to the historic Sybil's Cave, Mayor David Roberts announced that the first phase of the city's plan to reclaim the archeological site is back on course.

Progress on the project to restore the cave on Frank Sinatra Drive, at the foot of the cliff below Stevens Institute, has faced several glitches, including safety concerns, stop-work orders - issued by the city's own construction officials - and insurance concerns from the landowner.

The first phase is estimated to cost between $50,000 and $70,000 and includes 6-foot fencing, an iron gate at the mouth of the cave, a stone replica of the original gothic-style facade, landscaping, and four lights to match those across the street.

HOBOKEN, N.J., June 21 — The Cave of the Sibyl, where Virgil’s prophetess received Aeneas before leading him to the underworld, was a vast cavern in southern Italy with a hundred mouths. When the Sibyl spoke, her words came in a hundred voices.

A cave today in Hoboken has a similar name, but lacks some of the grandeur. The prophetess is spelled “Sybil,” and the cave’s lone mouth was sealed shut this month with loose dirt.

Nearby, teenage skaters show off in a riverside park, and cars dash by on Sinatra Drive, mostly unaware that this 20-foot-deep cave has its own enthralling history, and possibly historical treasure waiting to be found. It was a 19th-century retreat for wealthy New Yorkers who drank from the fresh spring inside the cave, paying a penny a glass for water that was thought to be medicinal.

In 1841, the bloodied body of Mary Cecilia Rogers drifted to shore near the mouth of Sybil’s Cave, and into legend, the subject of a thriller by Edgar Allan Poe. By the late 1950s, the cave and its magnificent facade had disappeared into the rock and shrubbery.

HOBOKEN - A Hudson County judge has ordered a full recount of the votes from the 4th Ward runoff election that saw challenger Dawn Zimmer narrowly beat incumbent Hoboken City Councilman Christopher Campos.

State Superior Court Judge Maurice Gallipoli set the date for the full recount for tomorrow afternoon, officials said.

HOBOKEN - What happened to Mayor David Roberts' salary?

Last year, the independently wealthy mayor pledged that henceforth he would forgo most of his six-figure salary, and that the money should be used for city projects he holds dear.

He promised to shed 11 months of his annual $124,000 salary for the 2007 fiscal year and save the proceeds in an operational line item in the budget.

Since then, the Mayor's Office has made donations of around $36,000 - the equivalent of a third of his prorated salary - toward civic projects and events, according to accounts provided to The Jersey Journal.

But as for the rest of it? Though Roberts claims the money was spent on particular projects, it's impossible to be certain - the money that would have been his salary wasn't set aside, but rather was left in the general budget.

It looks like it's the Last Tango in Hoboken for Mayor Dave Roberts. Yesterday's City Council election results left Roberts without any real support on the municipal panel, a fatal diagnosis for the remainder of his lame duck term in office.

Monday, Roberts said it himself.

"If (Frank) Raia and (Ron) Rosenberg get blown away, I'd be disappointed," said the mayor of the races in the Third Ward and First Ward, respectively. It is safe to write that Roberts is very disappointed.

Dashing the mayor's hopes were the two incumbents - First Ward Councilwoman Theresa Castellano, a six-year tormentor of Roberts, and Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo. Russo is a member of the "Voice For All Hoboken" council members who joined together to battle the Roberts administration.

Russo and Castellano took the brunt of the campaign attacks by the administration. The literature's mantra was that the Russo family is corrupt and that they are part of a plan by Union City Mayor and Assemblyman Brian P. Stack to take over not only the Mile Square City but Hudson County.

HOBOKEN - The city's tax collector thumbed his nose at the City Council and mayor this week after refusing to file a financial disclosure form as required under a city law approved in March.

Louis Picardo, who makes roughly $112,000 a year as the city's tax collector, had previously refused to file a disclosure statement, which requires officials to list sources of income and interests in property.

A city code enacted in the 1980s specifically requires a tax collector to file, but Picardo and others said they received an opinion from then-city attorney Joseph Sherman stating the state's local government ethics law enacted a decade later had invalidated the local code.

The March ordinance was unanimously approved and specifically mentions 25 city positions that are required to file the statements, along with members of the city's various boards and committees already required to do so under state law. City Council members made it clear that the ordinance was intended to close that apparent loophole.

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Stripper Invades Hoboken City Hall

Election fever hits the mile square city

Its been a rough and tumble week for the Robert's administration. Following revelations that a pro-administration councilman was arrested in NYC for Driving Under the Influence, City Hall was once again rocked with allegations that "FEMALE STRIPPERS" entertained at a Friday afternoon birthday party in the City Hall Parking Utility Office.

A city hall source reports that three female Parking Utility workers purchased a "stripper birthday-gram" for a male co-worker. Nothing more, nothing less. 

There is no doubt that ELECTION FEVER is alive and well in Hoboken where there are SIX Council seats up for grabs in the May, 2007 election.

Local government attorneys, who for decades have parlayed part-time political appointments into generous taxpayer-funded retirements, would be shut out of the state pension system under a variety of measures gaining momen tum in Trenton.

Trustees of the retirement system for state and local government workers have asked the Attorney General to review whether any part-time professionals should qualify for the state retirement program.

Hoboken Mayor David Roberts is inviting residents interested in the future of St. Mary Hospital to submit resumes to serve as community representatives on its Board of Advisors.

The Board will consist of 11 members, six of whom will be private citizens and four who must be Hoboken residents.

At least two of the Hoboken must have expertise in finance of private or non-profit organizations, or have extensive expertise in non-profit organizational management.

The other members will be formed of Hospital staff and the State of New Jersey.

Those interested should send their resume to the Mayor's office, City Hall, 94 Washington Street, Hoboken, NJ, 07030. For further information, contact 201-420-2000. 

See Political Commentary

According to New Jersey Business (July 2006), the state is ranked 44th out of 50 states in increasing its Gross Domestic State Product during 1st quarter 2006.  It seems that only West Virginia and the Great Lakes states (downturn in autos) performed worse.

Job growth over the past two yeats has been in the low paying retail and hospitality categories—with the loss of 125,000 high paying jobs.

Adding pressure to New Jersey’s mounting property tax bills, local government officials learned today they will have to fit more than a quarter-billion dollars in new pension payments into their budgets for the upcoming year.

Pension contributions are scheduled to total $650 million this year, for the local share of payments into the two retirement plans that cover retirement benefits for police officers, fire fighters and local government employees.

That’s an increase of $267 million over the pension payments included in this year’s local budgets, and is an expense that was not even included in local budgets before 2004.

To date, the Hoboken City Council has authorized via Resolution the payment of over ONE MILLION dollars to Robotic Parking, Inc. for management of the 916 Garden Street Automated parking Garage.

Here is a comprehensive listing of the City Council Resolutions authorizing the agreements and payment.

HOBOKEN - The battle between the Hoboken Parking Utility and the operators of the Garden Street automated garage broke into full-fledged war Tuesday night - and city taxpayers could be left picking up a multi-million tab.

Escorted by several Hoboken police officers, Parking Utility director John Corea entered the city-owned garage at 916 Garden St. just after 10 o'clock Tuesday night, and ordered an employee to leave the premises, according to Dennis Clarke, general manager of Robotics Parking Inc., the Clearwater, Fla.-based company that has operated the first-in-the-nation garage since it opened in 2002.

Faulkner Act (OMCL) Mayor-Council
NJSA:40:69A-31 et. seq.

Voters elect a nonpartisan Mayor and 9 Council members,  4 year  staggered terms.

MAYOR:
Four Year Term - Next election, May, 2009

COUNCIL MEMBERS:
3 at-large - next election, May 2009
6 ward councilpersons - next election, May, 2007

ORGANIZATION OF GOVERNING BODY:
Nonpartisan: July 1

MAYOR:
Exercises executive power of the municipality, appoints department heads with Council approval. Removes department heads subject to Council disapproval by 2/3 of all members. Prepares budget. Has veto over ordinances subject to override by 2/3 of all members of Council.

COUNCIL:
Exercises legislative power of municipality, approves appointment of department heads. Disapproves removal of department heads by 2/3 vote of all members. Overrides Mayor's veto by 2/3 of all members.

ADMINISTRATION:
Mayor exercises executive power of the municipality. Up to 10 departments under Mayor's direction. Business Administrator assists Mayor in budget preparation and administers purchasing and personnel systems. By ordinance, Business Administrator may supervise administration of departments, subject to Mayor's direction.