|

NEIGHBORHOOD BATTLES AGAINST THE POLS
Hoboken ----------
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 20th 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
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.
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
Eleanor
Capogrosso Esq.
Capogrosso@attglobal.net,
10/13/2005
VIEW FROM
MY APARTMENT WINDOW......
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 11th 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.
For
additional info:
http://newjerseyexposed.com/CERT.html
HOBOKEN -----
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
JERSEY
CITY..............
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
|