06/11/2006
Hoboken Reporter

City Hall should not be in the hospital business 
 
Dear Editor: I thought it was great that the citizens of Hoboken organized a strenuous fight to save the venerable St. Mary Hospital. And it was sad when not a single other health-care company in the country wanted to buy the money-losing business from Bon Secours and it seemed destined to fade into Hoboken memory.

And that's where it should have ended.

But no, Mayor Dave Roberts knows better. He tells us - I didn't notice him ever asking - that we the taxpayers will take over St. Mary. Don't worry, it won't cost a dime! We new owners will get $26 million from the state to cover costs. Guaranteed money from the state? I've heard that one before. And what happens when the $26 million runs out? St. Mary is already $118 million in debt. Bon Secours will actually pay the city to take the hospital off its hands. And now the new administrator is talking about borrowing $65 million to upgrade the place. Do the math!

When state regulators stepped in to say that a city the size of Hoboken can't add such a big potential liability to its budget, Roberts' politico friends decided together in Trenton to rewrite the legislation. They are going to saddle us with this white elephant no matter what.

It's understandable that the politicians don't want to be the ones on duty when St. Mary closes. But they must stop listening just to the people who say save it at any cost because they have a job there, or five generations of their family were born there, or it's pricey to take a cab to Jersey City when your kid breaks his arm.

We are talking about the long-term financial health of Hoboken, and keeping taxes to a manageable level. We cannot have the city government take over every failing business, no matter how long and glorious a history it has. You don't have to be an economist to realize that the health-care industry is fraught with economic peril for anyone who dares to get involved. When indigent people come to St. Mary now and leave without paying, Bon Secours eats it. Next year, it will be the taxpayers of Hoboken eating the unpaid bills.

Let's get real. Too many people in Hoboken don't go there now to give birth, replace a hip, get a bypass operation. And now it's run by a reputable hospital chain. Will that change when City Hall takes over?

Mayor, you don't even send your children to public school here. When they need medical care will you send them to a "Hoboken General" administered by the friends and relatives of the Hudson Democratic machine?

Name withheld

By nature of our work and routine 24-hour vehicle patrol schedule, police officers are first to arrive on scene, especially on reports of working fires. The immediate duties of police officers on fire scene are to quickly assess the situation; immediately evacuate all people who might be at serious risk from within the burning building and those surrounding it; maintain traffic and crowd control. This allows for responding firefighters to focus attention on extinguishing the fire while utilizing their training, skills, equipment and advanced breathing apparatus to enter the burning structure to rescue those who may be trapped within.

Safety & Security of Hoboken at Risk
June 6, 2006

Dear Hoboken Reporter:

On behalf of the police officers of the Hoboken Police Department’s PBA, I am compelled to bring to your attention a serious public safety dilemma. At present Hoboken’s police force is dangerously deficient in patrol officer staffing. Mayor Roberts, all City Council members and the Public Safety Committee were made aware of this dire situation and placed on notice in recent communications from the PBA.

03/26/2006
Hoboken Reporter
 
Weehawken resident concerned about St. Mary
 

Dear Editor:

None of us can afford to ignore the dilemma St. Mary Hospital in Hoboken finds itself in with the threat of imminent closing. St. Mary is a community hospital - a place with a friendly staff where patients feel they are being treated not only medically, but also as a human being. During the past month my mother has received excellent care from this hospital. We found the doctors to be dedicated, capable and attentive. The nurses and nurse assistants were caring and responsible.

The combined population of Hoboken and bordering communities is large and depends upon the medical/surgical excellence, accessibility and overall quality of care provided by St. Mary Hospital.

We have two New Jersey governmental officials living in Hoboken who need to hear of our concern; i.e. Jon Corzine, Office of the Governor, P.O. Box 001, Trenton, NJ 08625, phone: 609-292-6000 and Senator Bernard F. Kenny, 235 Hudson St. Suite 1, Hoboken, NJ 07030, phone: 201-653-1466. Robert Menendez also resides in Hoboken, and although a U.S. Senator, we hope he is still interested in issues that affect his neighborhood. You can reach him at 502 Hart Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510, 202-224-4744. Don't delay; contact them as soon as possible. Tell them that, as their constituents, we depend upon their experience and ability to arrive at a solution that will ensure the continued service of St. Mary to the citizens of our communities, which have been well served by this hospital. 
 
Sincerely yours,
Evelyn M. Dette 

Dear Editor:
Does Councilman Cricco expect Hoboken residents to pick up the pom-poms and cheer along with him at the wonderful philanthropy being displayed by (surprise, surprise two of the mayor's biggest contributors) URSA/Tarragon? We finally have some developers giving back to the community that made them rich and now the city council wants us to believe that we are indebted to them? The band has been paid. Don't get me wrong, I applaud "givebacks" (not boondoggles) and consider them long overdue but how much money have the various developers made in our city? In addition, is this a display of pure altruism or just the mere fact that many residents are sick and tired of developers getting their way and giving back very little for the huge profits they make? Maybe URSA/Tarragon decided it would actually be cost effective to invest a small fraction of the money they have made back into the community. You know...good PR and all that. Oh, but let us all applaud and kowtow now along with the rest of the city council. Do they think us that inept?

Dear Editor:
Having just listened to a taped recording of the closed session of the Hoboken City Council meeting held back on March 1, 2006, I feel compelled to correct some misimpressions seemingly held by several council members.

Dear Editor:
 
Thank you for highlighting Hoboken's current eminent domain issue on the front page of last week's Reporter. While many homeowners (houses or condominium) may think that the issue of eminent domain does not affect them I am writing to say it does.

You may think your home is safe from eminent domain, but is it? Unless you live in a six-story building (five stories apts/condos over one story garage) with full or nearly full lot coverage, your home could be put in a redevelopment zone. According to Tom Jennemann's article (3/5/06), "Redevelopment, according to state law is a zoning term that means there is an area within the municipality that is not being used to its full potential." Your neighborhood is not zoned for five over one, not to worry.

Leave my peaceful and quiet block alone!
03/13/2006 Hoboken Reporter

Dear Editor:

I am a resident of 1021 Grand Street for eight years and during that time I have fallen in love not only with its quiet, quaint charm but also the industrial nature of its surroundings.

The serene, cobblestone street is an anomaly in Hoboken where almost every block is overcrowded with double-parked automobiles and luxury condominiums built partially to expand Hoboken's tax base while padding developers' pockets.

Dear Editor:

Robert Moses Eminent domained his way through New York City, doing "good" as he saw it, but the view of history is that he was a destructive force killing "living" neighborhoods, and if only some of his work could be undone. Even the loss of one street, built over by the WTC, was severely missed, and with the Towers gone, the local people want it back.

The people who would use "eminent domain", what with it being the irrevocable tool that it is, really should pay attention to the history of its use. The lesson being that you are never as smart as you think that you are. You can be utterly blind to something that you have undervalued.

Dear Editor:

What an utterly asinine thing for Councilman Michael Cricco to infer that "it's time to pay the band" by taking property from innocent owners through eminent domain. Why should these particular owners have to pay the piper for years of financial mismanagement by successive city administrations, administrations that Mr. Cricco has been a part of and has supported on almost every issue.