Paddling the Center

When Kayaking the Hudson River, you always get pulled to the center channel. It’s not a bad thing. In fact, on a calm day, it can be quite nice to just float to the middle of the river and have a good look around.

Unfortunately, in the river of Hoboken politics, it is almost impossible to navigate the center channel.

The blogosphere is a wave of vitriol and a reminder of just how divided Hoboken politics are – on both sides.

On one side, you have the so-called “corrupt old guard” – Beth Mason, Mike Russo, Lane Bijardi, Frank Raia, Hoboken411, the “Born and Raised”. On the other you have the so-called “Zimmer Zombies” – Dawn Zimmer, Ravi Bhalla, Michael Lenz, Kid’s First, MileSquareView, 2/3rds of those who comment on HobokenPatch, Grafix Avenger, “the yuppies”.

This river gets narrower, shallower, and more polluted each day.

So here’s what I've seen while paddling the political center channel - and what I've learned from it.

Hoboken City Council – I know, and have had long conversations with, many people who serve on the current Hoboken City Council. And, I should add, there are many bright people on both banks of Hoboken’s political river. But, I am convinced that this city council cannot be fixed – so I have made a decision of how I will, in a small way, help change things. Plain and simple, I will not vote for anyone with direct ties to the blogs listed above. Further, I will only vote for those who do their best to distance themselves from those blogs. I suggest you join me.

Hoboken Schools – Let’s all say it together… “My kid will go to Hoboken’s Public Schools”. See, don’t you, as a young Hoboken parent, feel better. If we - all the parents at the playground - say it, and then follow through, our public schools will improve, and, one day, be great. And best of all, it will not matter who is elected to the school board. I know many of the teachers at these schools – and the ones I know are excellent. It is time to start supporting them. Let me start the movement… my daughter will attend Hoboken Public Schools. Again, I hope you join me.

See, it can be calm out here in the middle. Even peaceful. Happy paddling.

Paddler Politics

Lately, the only thing more unpredictable than the weather is politics. We have a liberal President who wants to drill off-shore, and a conservative governor who wants to protect our shore lines. Yes, you read that correctly.

Here’s my take on the drilling:
Our President is conceding to off shore drilling. This may be for multiple reasons. One, it is a gesture to reach across the aisle in an effort to drum up support for soon-to-be-released legislation on climate change. Face it, this keeps the “drill, baby, drill” conservatives happy. Two, Russia is already wild-catting our east coast and the Gulf of Mexico. Imagine a Russian version of Daniel Day Lewis' character in There Will Be Blood: “I drink your milkshake”! Although it will take years before any oil comes online from this endeavor, this is a huge environmental gamble for our president. There are millions of acres off our coastline and 130 more million acres of arctic land at stake. I’ve always been a supporter of Mr. Obama, but hope the decisions he makes today aren’t regrettable years from now.

How do you make a conservative governor an environmentalist? Simple, have the democrats propose off-shore drilling. Come on, Chris Christie, now isn’t the time to be a hypocrite.

I know I’m an environmentalist, and I know I lean slightly left, but remember, I also pay taxes (a lot of taxes) in this city and state. So here are a few opinions on the topic of spending:

On union contracts – both locally and state-wide:
I admire Chris Christie’s attempts to cut state spending. Our largest costs, simply, are our state and local workers – from teachers to fire fighters. Gov. Christie has been getting photo-ops in municipalities that have had their unions cut or freeze spending. I personally think that in this time of recession (which, in my opinion, would have been a depression if not for the actions of our president) the local labor unions should take pay freezes. Whenever times are tough, we expect our unions to take pay cuts, though I also believe that when times get good again, we should say these same people deserve increased pay. So that is what I am proposing. Unions should take the cuts now, but have an incentive for when the good times return. Is it that hard to have pay increases written into contracts that are equal to the rate of inflation?

On the Tea Party:
The tea party's arguments would hold more water if only they were throwing tea into rivers when the previous presidential administration was running up a seven trillion dollar debt. I'm all for fiscal responsibility, but the party's hypocrisy is laughable.

On local politics:
I did it. I watched all five hours of channel 78’s coverage of March 17’s city council meeting. I’m disgusted – and not just because the meeting went on until 2am. Dawn Zimmer and Beth Mason were supposed to be the type of politicians that would change Hoboken for the better. Instead they bicker and attack each other through talking heads like Michael Lenz, Hoboken Revolt, and Lane Bajardi.

The truth is, the budget couldn’t be fixed in a year. A 25% tax decrease was not only improbable, but impossible. Dawn Zimmer should never have promised such a decrease knowing full well it could not be delivered.

Believe it or not, I think the politicians of our city (Dawn Zimmer, Beth Mason, Michael Lenz, Michael Russo, Lane Bajardi [he's not an elected official - yet], in particular) are all very intelligent AND well intentioned. Further, I think the city is on the right track.

I hope that our elected officials can put their differences aside and get our taxes under control. Otherwise, I’ll be forced to move to another town - and paddle in rivers free of tea and oil!

Rainy Day Politics

Most predictions for our winter forecast are cold and snowy, but who knew it would come so soon? With a high temp. of 45 degrees and more rain on the way, my outdoor plans have been replaced with Netflix and the New York Times.

In the meantime I thought I might discuss what is happening politically in our city and state. After all, there is little else that I can do that will have a bigger impact on the Hoboken Waterfront than vote.

On the state level, the question I'm asking myself is does Corzine deserve another term? After all, it wasn't Corzine alone that put us in the quagmire that is New Jersey's economy (Or was it? He did work for Goldman!) Don't get me wrong, it is not like he cut state government size or spending, but he has made some of the right moves - finally funding pensions, rethinking school payment formulas, bringing businesses to our state that otherwise would've gone to NYC (again, read: Goldman) and flexing a lot of political muscle for our mile square city (of which he is a resident- a point that should not be overlooked).

Chris Christie wants to limit the size of NJ government, but also wants to give tax rebates and cuts at a time when state governments are teetering on the bankruptcy fence. Christie's campaign promise of cutting state government staff to make up for his tax cut and rebate plan simply doesn't add up.

Chris Daggett, the independent, is the most interesting candidate. An environmentalist endorsed by the Sierra Club, Daggett will be focused on what I care about most, New Jersey's watersheds. Further, he has a plan to restructure taxes and spending to shift burdens away from property taxes. The problem- can he take on such a lofty goal as an independent? I'm not sure independents have the political clout to get things done within our two party machine.

The race for Hoboken Mayor is back. After Cammarano sold his political career for $5000 in a paper bag, we Hobokenites find ourselves in familiar territory. By now, however, we are used to being pestered by Zimmerites in green T-shirts, the endless flyers in our mailbox with Mason's mug on the front, and the big truck that drives around with the words "Elect Pupie". Frankly, the election can't come soon enough. So who to vote for? For me, I always try to elect who I think is smartest. Mason had my vote last time around (or, at least, until the run-off). I liked the way she thinks outside the box in regards to our city. This time, however, I am leaning toward Kimberly Glatt. Who better to deal with Hoboken politicians (read: crooks) than a judge.

So here it is. Hoboken Paddler's first political endorsements:
For Governor: Chris Daggett
For Hoboken Mayor: Kimberly Glatt

Best of luck to both.

Hoboken is the Birthplace of Baseball

Although this fact is often disputed, it doesn't stop me from telling non-Hobokenite friends and relatives that Hoboken IS the birthplace of baseball. And it isn't stopping Hoboken councilwoman Beth Mason from trying to bring baseball back to the mile square city. Recently, she hired architects to re-imagine the northwest corner of Hoboken and envisioned, among other things, a minor league baseball field and greater park space (the above picture is what it currently looks like). Although I am not sure if all of her plans seem realistic in the current economy, I applaud her thinking outside the box. Or in this case, thinking outside the boxes that make up blocks and blocks of square condos to the south of this site.

While I am on the issue of local politics, I want to wish Peter Cammarano, Hoboken's youngest mayor in history, and Dawn Zimmer, our new Council President, all the best. I hope they all can put politics aside and do what is best for our waterfront and the residents of our great town.