Neighborhoods VS Pols

March 24, 2006

Hudson County Judge Shoots Down .75 Cent Copy Charge.

Provides increased access to public documents for the average person.

Hoboken, NJ—In a March 20^th decision that could have implications throughout the state, NJ Superior Court Judge Carmen Messano struck down a City ordinance that charged what has become the state-wide standard of $.75 a page^[1] for “routine requests”. The case brought by Hoboken resident, Elizabeth Mason, argued that the charges were excessive and “chilled” the public’s right to access public documents.

“In a time when we need the aid of the general public to help our public officials look for wasteful spending, root out corrupt practices and encourage government participation, this decision takes us one step closer”, said Mason. “The decision will significantly lessen the cost of the public’s documents. Documents that already have been paid for by the public. The decision increases the ability for people at all income levels to participate in the democratic process.” “Why shouldn’t everyone be able to get a copy of their local budget, Council minutes or city contracts without being financially barred?”

Mason in her certification said that she canvassed several photo-copying services where the price for regular copies ranged from $.06 in a local copy shop to $.09 at a Kinkos in New York City. By comparison, Hoboken’s recent budget was 61 pages under the City’s Ordinance the cost would be $22.75, a significant sum for those in the lower and middle income brackets; whereas, using the local Hoboken copy center the cost would be only $3.66. “These are commercial copy services, they know how to make money on $.06 a page. No wonder New Jersey is finding itself in such financial distress, it begins at the local level”, expressed Mason.

Judge Messano also threw out Hoboken’s $28 page charge for blueprints. “This provision is indeed troubling. Hoboken recognized that some requests would require duplication beyond the available resources of the City. That section permits the City to utilize an outside vendor to duplicate the record and charge the actual costs of duplication.

This is actually one of two decisions made this week in support of Open Government initiatives. On March 23, 2006, a three judge panel of the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division unanimously ruled that Edison's practice of charging $55 for copying public meeting minutes onto a 3.5 inch computer disk is "facially inordinate" and that "the only discernable rationale for the fee is to discourage the public from requesting the information in [computer readable] format."

The appellate court returned the case to the trial court for an evidentiary hearing "to determine the actual cost incurred by [Edison] in providing plaintiffs with copies of the minutes on computer diskette." The Open Public Records Act provides that "the actual cost of duplicating the record shall be the cost of materials and supplies used to make a copy of the record, but shall not include the cost of labor or other overhead expenses associated with making the copy except [if a special service charge is warranted.]" N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5b. Accordingly, the actual fee should be limited to cost of the disk, which should be well less than a dollar.

^[1] $.75 is for the first 10 pages, $.50 for next 10 pages, $.25 page for each page after.

Newport ------ See a related TP TV show with guest Eleanor Capogrosso - "Tenant win against Landlord ( Lefrak Organization ).... streams off this site...

Corzine no help in getting building plans for the East Hampton building to plan
in the event of an evacuation

In 1999, I moved into a rental building in the Newport section of Jersey City on the waterfront directly across from downtown Manhattan. The building was under construction at the time, and had been given a temporary certificate of occupancy. After the September 11^th terrorist attacks in New York City, Newport residents became concerned with the proximity of this area to the ventilation shaft of the Holland Tunnel, which you can see in the photo. This is a high-risk terrorist target which was guarded day and night by police boats and FBI agents.

In an effort to prepare ourselves for a possible attack, members of the joint tenants’ association for the Lefrak-owned buildings in the Newport area met and decided to prepare emergency evacuation plans for the buildings, as provided for under FEMA’s Community Emergency Response Team program. The federal government has allocated funds for the CERT program to train civilians about how to respond to terrorist attacks and to create an evaluation procedure that ensures that the maximum number of lives are saved in the event of an attack. Pursuant to the requirements of this program, the tenants’ association approached Michael Reegan, the former Jersey City construction code official, requesting building plans from which they could work to design an evacuation plan.

During Reegan's reign as Director of the Building Department, we were unable to secure the plans despite continuous efforts. Now that Reegan has retired due to a stroke obtaining a copy of the building plans may not be as difficult. Let's see. After getting no cooperation from Reegan’s office, I contacted Senator Corzine for assistance. Please click to see the attached letter sent to Senator Corzine's office, dated July 21, 2003, in which I requested his intervention, as well as coversheets confirming the receipt of multiple faxes I sent to the office. Though I had several conversations with his staff, the Senator did nothing to help.

In his press release dated September 30, 2005 , Senator Corzine praises his efforts in a "Homeland Security Victory for New Jersey. " This release introduces the funding bill for fiscal year 2006 which allocates a greater proportion of homeland security dollars based on risk that was the case in previous appropriation efforts. He states:
            We are pleased that House and Senate conferees have agreed to direct the majority of
            homeland security dollars for the first responders based on risk. In the face of a very real and very
            dangerous terrorist threat, the only responsible course of action for congress is to spend security
            dollars where they are most necessary.

Particularly ironic to me is his recognition of the squandering of homeland security funding for political purposes and his statement that "Congress has still failed to put politics fully aside to protect the American people."

Even after repeated faxes and phone calls, Senator Corzine’s staff failed to put politics aside when he ignored requests from constituents in a high-risk area of his district take measures to prepare themselves for an emergency evacuation. . He could not even go so far as to get building plans from the city to implement a federal program designed for the specific purpose of protecting residents of an area of high vulnerability to potential terrorist attacks, a failure which calls into doubt his ability to accomplish anything further.

The September press release states that "Congress must act with the seriousness that the threat demands." Senator Corzine certainly did not act with due diligence in my case. He completely ignored the seriousness of the threat my neighbors and I are facing and refused to help, even though his press release specifically recognizes "bridges and tunnels to New York City" as areas of critical vulnerability. The release further points out that "the FBI has cited an area in Northern New Jersey as particularly vulnerable -- calling the two-mile stretch the most dangerous two miles in

America

." This appears to be a reference to where I live, in a building on a pier adjacent to the Holland Tunnel ventilation shaft, where a police boat stands guard at all hours, every day and every night.

It should not be so difficult for a United States Senator who recognizes and expresses such concern for high risk areas such as mine to take such a simple step as securing building plans to ensure that residents of these areas are prepared if and when an emergency situation arises. As an elected official, it is his duty to respond to the grievances of the citizens he represents, despite any political difficulties that he might have to face. In allowing the residents of my building to be left open to a degree of risk that could be significantly lessened if we were able to take advantage of the measures provided for by the federal government for this exact purpose, Senator Corzine has completely failed to perform this duty.

800 Jackson walls off the Palisades, 9th Street light rail station

Urgent -- Public Hearing & Final Vote!
Hoboken City Council Meeting
Wednesday, March 2, 2005 @ 7 p.m.

This Wednesday night, the Hoboken City Council will vote on an amendment to the Northwest Redevelopment ordinance that would provide a 29% increase in density above what is permitted by this ordinance for Dean Geibel, the developer seeking to build the 800 Jackson Street project. Geibel's proposal is for a 300 foot long, 10-story building that would wall of the Palisades cliffs, one of region's natural treasures that defines the western border of Hoboken. The negative impacts of this project are many, a few of which are as follows:

Unsafe ticket to ride The Executive Director of New Jersey Transit, George Warrington has written to Mayor David Roberts stressing the need for the new 9th Street light rail station to "be perceived as safe and secure." Warrington, in his May 4, 2004 letter, states, "Unfortunately, the proposal at 800 Jackson threatens to visually and physically isolate the new station." Riders at this station would be hidden and wedged between the cliffs and this massive building with a multi-story parking deck at its base just a few feet from the station platform.

Master plan, master sham The 800 Jackson Street project flies in the face of Hoboken's master plan, newly adopted in April 2004. The master plan maps the 800 Jackson Street site as open space thus providing an open, safe and easily accessible light rail station. The master plan also stresses the need to "promote compatibility in scale, density, design and orientation between new and existing development." The 800 Jackson proposal is a high-rise monolith, grossly out of synch with this neighborhood of low-rise, human scale buildings. This project also subverts an additional goal of the master plan that is to "enhance physical and visual connections . . . between the Palisades and City."

Government of the developers, by the developers and for the developers The political campaigns of the Mayor and his council supporters are fueled with money from those with a vested economic interest in the City. Real estate developers have contributed an estimated $420,000 to the Mayor's political organizations over the past four years. Dean Geibel, the developer of 800 Jackson Street, is one of the leading contributors. He has given $24,200. So is it any wonder that proposals for high-rise towers are springing up in Hoboken like mushrooms? Developers have given and they are now looking for their payback. 800 Jackson, if approved, will be followed by high-rise projects all the way north to 14th Street along the base of the Palisades. According to the Redeveloper's Agreement for 800 Jackson, Geibel will also be able to apply for a tax abatement for this project, providing yet another payback, in addition to the 29% increase in permitted density.

FUND FOR A BETTER WATERFRONT
P.O. BOX 1965, HOBOKEN, NJ 07030
201-217-0500
betterwaterfront.org

Say NO to the proposed NEWPORT TAX ABATEMENT

Say NO to the LEFRAK ORGANIZATION and its BILLIONAIRES who demand that POLITICIANS GIVE LOWER TAXES TO LUXURY HOUSING PROJECTS.

Say NO to the "SHORE CLUB" in NEWPORT at the next council meeting.     ALL JERSEY CITY RESIDENTS ARE INVITED TO ATTEND AND SPEAK:
February 23, 2005 6:30PM at City Hall -    280 Grove Street; Jersey City, NJ 07302

Call Mayor Jerramiah Healy and your councilperson to SAY NO, 201-547-5000

NEWPORT plans to build 12 additional skyscrapers at the edge of the Hudson River on some of the most desirable land in the world, do they need a tax incentive from Jersey City? NO.

Say NO to Jersey City politicians who campaign against TAX ABATEMENTS yet approve them while this city goes bankrupt. Mayor Healy and other politicians are on record as being opposed to waterfront tax abatements but they are receiving campaign contributions and pressure from rich real estate developers. The public must be heard from at this meeting or greedy waterfront developers will continue to pay less while you pay more.

Take action now to END THIS RUBBER STAMP ABATEMENT PROCESS:
·           Write the Jersey Journal letters to the editor: E-mail to jjletters@jjournal.com
·           Call the Jersey Journal On Line message system, at (201) 217-2500
·           Write or call Mayor Jerremiah Healy and councilperson Junior Maldonado at   280 Grove Street     Jersey City, NJ 07302 - 201-547-5000.

For more info, click   TAX ABATEMENTS