Changing of Hoboken Guard Now Complete

By Andrew Tavani

Correspondent

Before a standing-room only crowd in the council chambers at City Hall, Hoboken’s new leadership triumvirate was completed last Monday afternoon. Longtime Hoboken firefighter Richard Blohm was sworn in, officially making him the new Chief of the Hoboken Fire Department. Blohm, who had been serving as the active Fire Chief since December, 2007, was appointed by former Mayor David Roberts late last month.

Among the enthusiastic crowd was Mayor Peter Cammarano, former Mayor Roberts, Assemblyman Ruben Ramos, Police Chief Anthony Falco, several city council members, including Ravi Bhalla and Dawn Zimmer, numerous fire chiefs from surrounding municipalities and a bevy of Blohm’s friends, family, colleagues, and supporters. Hoboken Public Safety Director Bill Bergin, who has a long history with Blohm, emceed the ceremony and both Mayors Roberts and Cammarano spoke before City Clerk Jim Farina swore Blohm into office. Roberts and Cammarano both expressed confidence in Blohm and wished him well as the new chief.

Blohm took the Oath of Office surrounded by his family and with his hand placed on a copy of the Douay Bible. The crowd erupted in a thunderous round of applause following Blohm’s completion of the oath. Blohm, who joined the Hoboken Fire Department in 1977 and was promoted to Deputy Chief in 1992, took over as acting chief in 2007 following the retirement of John Cassesa.

After the swearing-in was official, Blohm addressed the crowd and used the opportunity to thank his wife, Joyce, his sons Adam and Ryan, and his mother, Ann, for their unwavering support and for understanding that the demands of the job often caused him to sacrifice time with his family over the years. Blohm also expressed gratitude to Bill Bergin, whom he hailed as the “moral compass” that’s kept him on “the straight-and-narrow” during his three decade-plus career. Moreover, he lauded the FDNY, several members of which were in attendance, for being “a big brother” to the Hoboken Fire Department during his time as the interim chief.

The installation of Blohm as Fire Chief rounds out what has been a recent changing of the guard in Hoboken leadership. Anthony Falco was sworn-in as the Police Chief on June 18^th, taking over an office that had been devoid of a permanent fixture for over a year. And, on July 1^st, Peter Cammarano was inaugurated Mayor after defeating Dawn Zimmer in a hotly-contested runoff election last month. Blohm takes office at an uncertain time for the department, which is facing the specter of layoffs.

Blohm went on to thank both Mayors Roberts and Cammarano for their support and the city council for showing confidence in him by attending the ceremony. He promised the mayor, city council and the residents of Hoboken that they would never be disappointed with the decision to appoint him to the top post. Finally, he praised the rank-and-file Hoboken firefighters and top officers who have assisted in making the department the successful organization that it is. To underscore the level of commitment he intends to bring to the job, Blohm invoked the oath he took moments earlier and reiterated that he would “faithfully execute those duties” that he is now tasked with carrying out.

Inauguration Day: Hoboken Style

BY ANDREW TAVANI
Correspondent

HOBOKEN - When Peter Cammarano was sworn in on Wednesday, he became Hoboken’s 37th mayor and the youngest man to hold the office, going all the way back to 1855 when the city’s first mayor, Cornelius V. Clickener, took office. Hoboken has never had a woman mayor. Now, some more inauguration day minutiae for Hobokenites who wonder how and why things happen they way they do.

Does the mayor take the same Oath of Office as the rest of the city council?

Yes. In fact, per New Jersey Law 41:1-1 through 41:1-3, the mayor and the city council members take the same oath as every elected official, every judge, every attorney and every other person that is "to give assurance of fidelity and attachment to" the state. The law that established oaths for New Jersey dates back to the 1800s, but it's unclear when it was first used in Hoboken, says Steven Kleinman, Hoboken’s Corporation Counsel.

In the first paragraph of the oath, the elected official reciting it pledges to perform the duties of the particular office to the best of the individual's ability. In the second paragraph, the elected official pledges to uphold the Constitutions of the United States and New Jersey.

New Jersey law permits modifications to the language of the oath in two cases: To denote which office the oath-taker is assuming and to allow for varying religious beliefs. For instance, the last phrase of each paragraph, "So help me God," can be modified to reflect the religious beliefs of the individual taking the oath or omitted to give the oath a secular flavor. However, changing or omitting that phrase has never been done in Hoboken. Councilman-at-Large Ravi Bhalla, a member of the Sikh faith, opted not to change the "So help me God" phrase on Wednesday.

The elected official taking the oath can't take any poetic license with the oath, either. In a 2000 presidential debate, George W. Bush famously declared that, if he were elected, he would also swear to "uphold the honor and the dignity of the office." He wasn't allowed to add that phrase to the presidential oath and, similarly, New Jersey state law prohibits anyone from adding or subtracting any language other than the aforementioned.

Also, oath-takers don't have to actually swear in taking the oath. The oath offers its takers the option to "solemnly swear" or "solemnly affirm."

What Bibles are used for elected officials to place their hands upon while taking the Oath of Office?

The city has two translations of the Bible on hand for the swearing-in ceremony. One version is the King James Bible and the other is the Douay Bible (pronounced: doo-ay). The Douay Bible is an English translation of the Latin Vulgate, which was published in two parts; the New Testament was published in 1582. The Old Testament wasn’t published until 1610. The original translation of the Douay is the basis for most English Catholic versions of the Bible read today.

Both of the city’s Bibles are old. Therefore, they're kept under the careful possession of City Clerk Jim Farina, who has presided over Hoboken inaugurations since 1984. He estimates that the two Bibles have been used at Hoboken inaugurations for about the last 70 to 80 years.

Elected officials don't have to use those Bibles, though. If they have a Bible or another religious book that’s especially significant to them, they are permitted to bring that to the ceremony and place their hand upon it while taking the oath. Instead of using a Bible, Ravi Bhalli took the oath while placing his hand on a copy of a Gutka (gooh-tka), an abbreviated version of the Guru Granth Sahib, Sikhism’s central holy text. The Guru Granth Sahib is a very large book and rather unwieldy for an event like a swearing-in ceremony, while the Gutka is roughly the size of a standard Bible.

Why is July 1st Inauguration Day, anyway?

Because Hoboken uses a nonpartisan, Mayor-Council form of government.

In 1950, New Jersey enacted the Optional Municipal Charter Law or Faulkner Act--named for former Montclair Mayor Bayard Faulkner--to provide four additional forms of governments for New Jersey municipalities. (New Jersey currently offers 12 forms of government.) In 1953, Hoboken abandoned the City form of government in favor of the Mayor-Council model, part of which involves a nonpartisan government. Nonpartisan simply means there are no primaries and several candidates from any party can run in one big election, like what was held in Hoboken on May 12th.

According to state law, nonpartisan governments are scheduled to hold elections in May and meetings to reorganize the government on July 1st, while partisan governments hold elections in November and reorganize on January 1st. No one knows exactly why this schedule was decided upon, but New Jersey League of Municipalities attorney Deborah Kole speculates that nonpartisan governments were put on the May-July schedule to avoid, as much as possible, overlap with the partisan government election cycles.

If July 1st falls on a Saturday or Sunday, it's up to individual municipalities to decide whether to hold the reorganization on the weekend, or wait until the first available weekday. But, the government must reorganize during the first week of July. According to Jerry Lore in the City Clerk's office, inauguration always takes place on July 1st in Hoboken, regardless of whether that day falls on a Saturday or a Sunday.

What's Mayor Cammarano's new salary?

Mayor Cammarano will earn $116,905 for each year of his term, unless the City Council decides to give him a raise at some point. Like all city employees, Mayor Cammarano will be given the choice between receiving his compensation in the form of a bank check or via direct deposit.

05/08/2009 - No real cuts to NJ Transit service

No real cuts to NJ Transit service
BY MICHELLE MERCURIO
Correspondent

HOBOKEN - There will not be cuts in NJ Transit service to and from Hoboken, despite reports in the press.

According to an article about the state's budget woes and their impact on NJ Transit in the May 6, 2009 The Record, "Cuts have already resulted in the cancellation of midday service to Hoboken on the Morris & Essex lines and 20 percent fewer printed timetables for commuters."

Dan Stessel, a spokesperson for NJ Transit, said the article is mistaken, and the reporter misunderstood routine schedule adjustments made periodically to the nation's largest public transit system.

"We make schedule changes at NJ Transit on an ongoing basis," he said. "We make minor changes in service to match minor changes in ridership demand."

If ridership grows on one line, service is increased, and if demand goes down, service is decreased, he said.

"This is an ongoing process that we undertake several times a year, going on 30 years for all of our bus, train and light rail lines. There's not some major budget issue that would prompt us to slash 20 percent of service."

05/15/2009 - Council hopes to crack down on social-networking site parties

BY DAN KAPLAN
Correspondent

HOBOKEN - The City Council is getting close to introducing a new law that would enable police and fire officials to better enforce quality-of-life issues at Hoboken homes.

Lawmakers are responding to events that took place during March’s annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, for which tens of thousands of people flocked to the city. This year, record numbers of revelers attended house parties, creating situations where overcrowded residences become unsafe and too rowdy, Second Ward Councilman Beth Mason said after last week’s meeting of the governing body.

As it stands now, police can give out warnings, but the city has no grounds to issue citations for certain code violations, Mason said.

“We’ve got a serious problem in private homes,” she said. “When do you start drawing the line that it’s too much?”

The popularity of social-networking sites drew more people to house parties during the parade than ever before, Mason said. Many tenants created Facebook pages to announce gatherings, which often became excessively crowded and disorderly.

“It’s something you can’t stop,” she said.

Mason said the city is going to model its codes after other municipalities, such as Belmar in Monmouth County, that have dealt with similar quality-of-life concerns.

In other news from the meeting, the council is considering an ordinance that would prohibit members from accepting gifts valued at $25 or more. The law, which was scheduled to be introduced but instead was tabled, is being refined in the ethics and administration subcommittee, headed by First Ward Councilwoman Theresa Castellano.

There is a similar statute on the books at the state level. New Jersey ethics law prohibits any state Legislature member from accepting gifts “which he knows or has reason to believe is offered to him with intent to influence him in the performance of his public duties and responsibilities.”

05/15/2009 - Power struggle over who can appoint police chief

Power struggle over who can appoint police chief
BY DAN KAPLAN
Correspondent
HOBOKEN -- The City Council is still not sure who is charged with making one of the most pressing personnel decisions since the municipality fell under state supervision last September.

Steve Kleinman, Hoboken corporation counsel, said during last week’s City Council meeting that Susan Jacobucci, a director in the state Department of Community Affairs, will be part of the process to appoint the new police chief. Before the state intervention, Mayor David Roberts retained final say on such appointments.

“(Jacobucci’s) going to be involved in this – we just don’t know how,” Kleinman said. “There’s not a lot of state law of what happens when you’re under state supervision. We’re kind of in uncharted waters.”

When Jacobucci’s office assumed control of Hoboken’s finances for at least one year – after the City Council was unable to pass a budget that contained a shortfall of more than $10 million – it also inherited ultimate power on hiring and firing employees and the issuance of contracts totaling more than $4,500.

But some council members said the appointment of police chief should be a choice that rests with the mayor, who reportedly wants to hire Capt. Anthony Falco for the job.
Councilman Michael Russo said having the state choose the police chief is taking its power “too far.”

“Again, love him or hate him, it’s still his decision,” Third Ward Councilman Michael Russo said of the mayor. “I think he’s entitled to that decision until the day he leaves office.”

Some local lawmakers had blamed Roberts, whose term expires July 1, for their inability to pass the spending plan, which ultimately led to the state takeover.

Councilman At-Large Peter Cammarano said the city and Jacobucci are locked in a power struggle over who has control over personnel decisions.

“That arm wrestling match is going on because the state takeover is something we’re all laboring under,” he said.

The former police chief, Carmen LaBruno, retired following a scandal involving SWAT team members during a trip to New Orleans for a Hurricane Katrina relief mission. Following the visit, photos emerged of the officers posing with waitresses at a Hooters restaurant.

05/08/2009 - Online scarlet letter for pooper-scooper violators?

Online scarlet letter for pooper-scooper violators?
BY BRYAN LA PLACA
Executive Editor
HOBOKEN -- Outside of novelty tourist attractions, the practice of publicly shaming people by locking them in a pillory in the center of town to be gawked at was outlawed in America in 1839. But under a proposal by Councilman-at-Large and mayoral candidate Peter Cammarano, dog owners who violate the local pooper-scooper law would face a new form of public humiliation.

If you let your doggie do his business on the city streets, and don’t pick it up and get caught, you would be publicly shamed on the city’s website -- in addition to a $2,000 fine -- if Cammarano’s proposal is implemented. When offenders go to court to answer pooper-scooper summonses, they would have a picture taken of their faces, like a mug shot, which would then be posted online for the world to see that they violated the local pooper-scooper ordinance.

Cammarano brought up a discussion of pooper-scooper violations and ways to deter them in the future during the April 15 City Council meeting.

Addressing Public Safety Director William Bergin, Cammarano stated, “If I had a nickel every time I received an e-mail or a phone call, or someone stopped me on the street about pooper-scooper violations… I never want to bring it up every meeting, but it reaches a critical mass of complaints and I’ve got to bring it up.”

“I think it was about two years ago that I drafted and sponsored an ordinance that brought those (pooper-scooper violation) fines up to the maximum allowable amount under state law. (City Attorney Steve) Kleinman gave me guidance in terms of how high we could make that fine, and we also drafted a law that would put violators of the pooper-scooper law up on the city website and we would require a mug shot or something, and put their face on the website with the idea that that kind of penalty would deter the behavior,” said Cammarano.

“I’m getting the feeling that the number of tickets being issued for this particular violation are in the neighborhood of zero,” said Cammarano. “I’m asking you, director, to find somebody and make an example out of them. Right? Get the picture, issue a ticket, put them up on the website and let’s see if it has that deterrent effect.”

Bergin said, “To clarify, I am involved with porta-johns for special events and that, but I think pooper-scoopers comes under somebody else.”

First Ward Councilwoman Theresa Castellano pointed out that pooper-scooper laws fall under the auspices of the Department of Human Services.

City Human Services Director John Pope addressed the council, saying, “About a year ago we had three employees giving summonses, (but now we’re) down to one employee. And we did give eight summonses in the month of February -- apparently not enough.”

“Is that it, for the whole year?” asked Council Vice President Terry LaBruno.

“I don’t know what the total is for the year, I’ll have to get back to you on that, but it’s averaging about that much (per month),” said Pope. “The court has been very strong about fining them. They’re not walking.”

“We do have an issue and I think you were hitting on something that I think is important, is that I have one health inspector that is accosted by the homeowners, and when that happens, he’s authorized to ask a patrolman to help him out,” said Pope.

You oughtta be in pictures
Addressing Cammarano’s public shaming proposal, Pope said, “That’s not easy. That’s not going to happen because people don’t just stand still for a poster shot.”

“When they appear before the judge, what choice do they have?” asked Cammarano. “That’s part of the penalty under the law.”

“We can’t have the answer be that we can’t sideline these people for a quick photograph. They’re required to have their photo taken and put on the city’s website. If somebody wants to challenge that as some kind of infringement on rights, then they can file a suit against the city, but that’s what the law says, and the idea is to deter the behavior, and I get the feeling that we’re not deterring the behavior yet,” said Cammarano.

“No, absolutely not. Certainly not with one inspector giving out eight tickets, there’s no doubt about that,” said Pope. “What we basically do is like a SWAT thing. We get a complaint on high activity and I send an individual out. We were just at 1500…”

“Don’t say 'SWAT thing,'” laughed Cammarano, referencing a controversy when members of the Hoboken SWAT team were photographed at a Hooters restaurant.

“I didn’t mean to,” said Pope, continuing, “1500 Park, we just did a little sting operation there just the other day because we had complaints about that. Allow me to spend some time with the cooperation of the council on this whole picture thing. While I understand it’s on the books, implementation may be something that we need to talk through, because I’m not sure how best to do that relative to the court appearance and things like that.”

“We don’t need another lawsuit, thank you,” said Castellano.

“Yeah, I just don’t know,” said Pope.

“A few years back we did stings at 6 a.m., because the perpetrators do it at 6 a.m. or 11 p.m. They don’t want to be seen, and it was very effective,” said Castellano. “I understand you only have one person, but if we could do a sting one morning and one evening…”

Pope said his department had just done a sting the month prior in the early morning.

“That’s when you get them. That’s great,” said Castellano.

“The sting operations are working,” said Fourth Ward Councilwoman and mayoral candidate Dawn Zimmer. “Some residents have called me and I sent them to (City Health Officer) Mr. (Frank) Sasso and they did a sting operation, and they caught the person and it worked. I think it’s a matter of also publicizing on our website who to call and how to get (a sting) scheduled.”

Pope asked if the existing pooper-scooper ordinance allows for the police to give tickets for violations in addition to the city health officer.

“That’s something else we changed a couple years ago,” said Cammarano. “We increased every one of the (fines for ordinance violations of) nuisance, noise, garbage, pooper scooper, sidewalks… We increased all those fines to the maximum allowable under state law. I think the language we used at the time, Mr. Kleinman, was ‘deputize.’"

“We wanted to make sure that everyone who is able to issue tickets under the authority of the city was deputized to do so for all of these violations. So my understanding is that yes, it could be done by police officers also,” said Cammarano.

“I’m for it,” said Pope. “We need to figure our how best to do it. I can guarantee that we can start with (posting the) name and address (of violators online). Picture? We have to work through that yet.”

05/01/2009 - Reports of school budget’s death greatly exaggerated

Reports of school budget’s death greatly exaggerated
BY BRYAN LA PLACA
Executive Editor
HOBOKEN – Despite early reports that voters rejected the Hoboken school budget on April 21, the majority of voters did, in fact, approve the school budget that includes an almost a three-percent reduction in school taxes.

A significantly higher percentage of school budgets failed in North Jersey this year than in years prior, and the current economic turmoil is being blamed, but the Hoboken school budget is safe from the City Council’s chopping block because it passed with a healthy majority.

The Hudson County Board of Elections initially reported that the school budget failed by over three percent of voters – with 51.55 percent of voters rejecting the budget and 48.45 percent voting for it – 1,834 to 1,724. But counting absentee ballots, the majority shifted to approve the school budget by a vote of 1,999 to 1,885.

Voter turnout was light this year, perhaps owing to the morning’s heavy rain and fog. Only about 3,500 out of the city’s 40,000 registered voters went to the polls.

Superintendent of Schools John Raslowsky, II said he stopped watching the numbers coming in around 10:30 p.m. that Tuesday night because he had received word that the budget had passed. He was surprised when he read reports of the budget’s failure in the local press the next day, and assumed it was reporter error, he told Hoboken Progress.

Raslowsky said he spoke with the office of County Clerk Barbara Netchert on April 22, who confirmed that the school budget had, indeed, passed.

The confusion apparently stemmed from early reports on unofficial tallies from voting machines, which did not include the absentee ballots that were more than enough to pass the school budget.
“There is a long tradition in Hoboken of a significant number of absentee ballots, so nothing is ever official until those are in,” said Raslowsky.

There are still about 60 provisional ballots being reviewed, but Raslowsky pointed out that even if all 60 of them vote against the budget, it would not be enough to overcome the amount of overall ballots that approved of the 2010-11 school budget that amounts to a local tax levy of $36.5 million.

“People in the district, both the school board and the staff, worked hard to give the public a good budget that reflects responsible cuts and responsible growth, as well as decreases the tax rate 2.81 percent,” said Raslowsky.

This translates to a reduction in school taxes for the average assessed home in Hoboken of about $300,000 of about $102 this year, he said.

Many area school districts were unable to prevent increases in their district school budgets this year, let alone present a decrease.

Raslowsky said it was preparation during last year’s budget cycle that enabled the school board to present a reduced school budget to the voters this year.

“Last year we made some substantial cuts, and this year we made substantial cuts, and we moved forward,” said Raslowsky.