HOBOKEN CITIZENS ORGANIZATION

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Thank You for Supporting
Hoboken Citizens Organization Candidates
for Hoboken Ward Council
in the May 13, 2003 Elections

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Under true democracy, group decisions are made by majority vote.  We seldom experience democracy in the United States, since few decisions are made this way.  Mostly "representatives" decide for us.  And often they do not represent us at all.

We have spent 20 years using referendum to give the citizens of Hoboken a direct democratic say on issues affecting their lives.

But those who run our city government have total contempt for the voters.  Despite thousands of signatures on petitions, they keep trying to take away our rights.  Despite the will of the majority, as expressed in two referendum elections, they have handed our waterfront over to developers.  The only way to deal with the crisis in our city is to elect people who respect democracy.

That is why we are running.
 

Platform of the Hoboken Citizens Organization
 
 

Biographical Information of HCO Candidates:

Daniel Tumpson -- Council Candidate, Ward 1

Alice C. Misiewicz -- Council Candidate, Ward 2

Cheryl Fallick -- Council Candidate, Ward 6
 
 
 
 

The Issues
 

Huge Contributions from Contractors and Developers Allow Incumbants to Buy Elections, Undermining Democratic Process of Choosing Our Representatives

Proliferation in Hoboken of Cell Phone Antenna (CPA) Sites and the Threat of CPA radiation to Human Health

Attempts to Undermine Tenants' Rent Control Rights and to Pass the Cost of Affordable Housing to the Taxpayer

The Undermining of Direct Democracy and the Giveaway of Public Property to Create a Waterfront Project that will Increase Property Taxes by 14.1 %

Pending Demolition of Functional Hoboken Schools and their Rebuilding in Polluted Northwest Hoboken at Enormous Cost to the Taxpayers and Children

Unregulated Overdevelopment is Destroying Hoboken's Quality of Life and Increasing Our Taxes

Gateway One Project Will Negatively Impact Hoboken and Jersey City and is Being Challenged by Hudson County Alliance

Redevelopment Undermines Zoning Protections, Forcibly Takes Private Property, and Increases Property Taxes
 

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Huge Contributions from Contractors and Developers Allow Incumbants to Buy Elections,
Undermining Democratic Process of Choosing Our Representatives

In our current election paradigm, candidate(s) who spend the most money on campaign advertising and branding often stand the best chance of winning.  Name recognition goes a long way toward winning elections.  Candidates with limited resources cannot adequately compete with the advertising blitz of well-funded candidates.

For example, HCO candidates could not afford the several thousand dollars cost to send out even one bulk mailing to all of our potential constituents.  We simply could not afford to get our message to every voter.  Since most voters lacked even a minimal idea of who we are, what we’ve done, or what we propose to do, few voters knew what their choices really were.

Clearly the playing field was not equal – some candidates had money to dominate the information flow, and some, like us, had little or no such forum for expression.  In this way, elections can be bought.

Our experience suggested a possible solution to this problem:  why not include with the sample ballot (that is mailed to each and every voter) a “candidate's statement” for each and every candidate?  This would insure that all candidate could communicate information to all voters, so that voters could make an informed choice on election day.  This was our suggestion to level the playing field and minimize the enormous money advantage that some candidates enjoy in order to permit a fair election.

The HCO suggested this new paradigm to the public, and recommended to the City Council that they implement it for the June 10, 2003  runoff election.   None of the Council showed any interest in pursuing it.

The HCO therefore provided a Candidates Forum for the runoff elections for City Council in Wards 1, 2, 3, and 6 on June 10, 2003.  The HCO Candidates' Forum, as was available to Hoboken's voters prior to the runoff, may be accessed at the  HCO Candidates' Forum Portal .
 

Proliferation in Hoboken of Cell Phone Antenna (CPA) Sites and the Threat of CPA radiation to Human Health

Beginning late in 2002, AT&T, Verizon, and other providers of cell phone service began to apply to the Hoboken Zoning Board for permission to install cell phone antenna (CPA) sites on rooftops in residential neighborhoods in Hoboken.  These were not the first CPA sites in Hoboken -- many had been installed with either no permission or with permission given by the Construction Official -- but it was eventually recognized that the "change of use" of the roof from residential to commercial (the CPA sites paid aroung $2000 to the owner of the residential building) required that CPA prividers apply to the Zoning Board for a "use variance".

Around the same time, protests from citizens in Harrison, Kearny, and East Newark concerning negative health effects of the electromagnetic (EM) radiation from CPA sites led these communities to adopt ordinances to regulate CPA site location (e.g. see articles from January, 2003).  This led us to investigate the possible health hazards of CPA radiation, which we attempted to report to the Hoboken Zoning Board at two different CPA hearings.  (See Statement to the Zoning Board re: Health Effects of Cell Phone Transmitters.)  The Hoboken Zoning Board seemed oblivious to the health effects issue, commenting only on the aesthetics of the rooftop installations, and when we raised the health issue, AT&T's lawyer told the Board that federal law pre-empts state and local regulation of CPA sites based on health effects, as long as Federal Communications Commission (FCC) exposure limits are not exceeded.  Unfortunately, these FCC limits are far too high, and negative health impacts have been reported for exposures far less than the FCC limits.

From that point on, the Zoning Board would not hear further testimony from us regarding health effects, so we appealed to the Hoboken City Council to amend the Zoning Ordinance to regulate the location of CPA sites, as had Harrison, Kearny, and East Newark.  (See April 16, 2003Statement to the Hoboken City Council.)  The Council eventually adopted an amendment to the Hoboken Zoning Ordinance to permit and regulate installation of wireless telecommunications equipment and facilities.

These zoning amendments require an inventory of existing CPA sites to be made before further CPA permits are issued and calls for minimizing the number of CPA sites, placing the CPA sites away from residential neighborhoods, and "colocating" CPA sites, i.e. forcing different cell phone providers to share the same CPA site.  Although the CPA amendments cannot regulate on the basis of health effects (instead "aesthetics" are used as a basis for regulation), we have done calculations that suggest that the CPA amendments can be used not only to effectively reduce the potential negative health impacts, but to reduce the cost to the cell phone provider of creating and maintaining the CPA sites.  (See "Minimizing Negative Health Health Effects of Cell Phone Antenna Radiation").

While we applaud the City of Hoboken in their adoption zoning amendments to regulate CPA sites, it remains to be seen whether the City will actually enforce these amendments to reduce harmful radiation effects on Hoboken's citizens.
 

Attempts to Undermine Tenants' Rent Control Rights and to Pass the Cost of Affordable Housing to the Taxpayer

In 1989, 1994, and 2000, the Mayor and Council attempted to undermine Rent Control with "vacancy decontrol" (VD) amendments.  VD is the decontrolling of rent on vacancy; it encourages landlords to get rid of their current tenants so that the new tenants will pay a much higher decontrolled rent.  On April 18, 2001, developer Frank Raia's application for a tax exemption amounting to $1.67 million was granted by the Council to provide 100 units of affordable housing.  This would allow Raia to obtain $2000 per month, full market rate, for each affordable unit, $1400 per month coming out of the taxpayers' pockets, costing each taxpayer $100 year.

Councilman and 2nd Ward Council candidate Richard Del Boccio and then Councilman David Roberts voted for the 1989 and 1994 VD amendments.  Del Boccio and fellow Hoboken United candidates Roseanne Andreulla (3rd Ward) and Michael Cricco (5th Ward) joined then Mayor (and now 3rd Ward candidate) Anthony Russo and 1st Ward Councilmember and candidate Theresa Castellano to approve the 2000 vacancy decontrol amendments and the Raia tax exemption.  More details from an April 29, 2001 letter to the Hoboken Reporter:

If You Pay Rent or Taxes, Be Careful How You Vote

Si Usted Paga Renta o Impuestos, Tenga Cuidado Como Va a Votar
 

The Undermining of Direct Democracy and the Giveaway of Public Property to Create a Waterfront Project that will Increase Property Taxes by 14.1 %

In 1990 and 1992, a majority of the voters of Hoboken rejected Port Authority waterfront development projects on the City owned property on Hoboken's southern waterfront.  In 1995, Mayor Anthony Russo and Councilmembers Theresa Castellano, Richard Del Boccio, Roseanne Andreulla, Michael Cricco, and David Roberts approved another Port Authority project, knowing that NJ state law had been changed to eliminate our right to vote on the project, betraying Hoboken's voting majority and showing their total contempt for democracy.   They are now asking the voters to return them to office.  The full story from an April 29, 2001 letter to the Hoboken Reporter by Sada Fretz:

Russo and Roberts Betray Voters on Waterfront Project
 

Pending Demolition of Functional Hoboken Schools and their Rebuilding in Polluted Northwest Hoboken at Enormous Cost to the Taxpayers and Children

Two fully functional schools, Demarest and Hoboken High, both recently renovated and centrally located beside public parks, are slated for elimination, to be replaced by a combined school in a remote and industrial northwest Hoboken location at a taxpayer cost of $100 million.  For more, see June 23, 2002 Hoboken Reporter:

Stop School Board from Demolishing Demarest and Hoboken High Schools

Unregulated Overdevelopment is Destroying Hoboken's Quality of Life and Increasing Our Taxes

Massive development continues to be approved by the Hoboken Zoning and Planning Boards.  This development threatens us in two ways: it destroys our qualty of life and it increases our taxes by forcing more frequent capital improvements and repairs of our infrastructure.  The Hoboken Citizens Organization advocates an immediate moratorium on development and the following 10-14-01 letter to the Hoboken Reporter from Mary Ondrejka and Daniel Tumpson discusses why:

IMPOSE DEVELOPMENT MORATORIUM NOW!
 

Gateway One Project Will Negatively Impact Hoboken and Jersey City and is Being Challenged by Hudson County Alliance

We have worked with the Hudson County Alliance (HCA) to stop the huge Gateway One project.  This project was not properly approved by the Hoboken Zoning Board, and its zoning variances and construction permits are being challenged in court.  Here's why:

HCA EXPLAINS SUIT TO STOP GATEWAY ONE TOWERS
 

Redevelopment Undermines Zoning Protections, Forcibly Takes Private Property, and Increases Property Taxes

Redevelopment in Northwest Hoboken and on Hoboken's southern waterfront is transferring citizens' tax dollars (through tax abatements), quality of life (through relaxation of zoning standards), and property (through eminent domain) to developers.  For example, under Payment In Lieu Of Tax (PILOT) agreements granted to the Port Authority, they (and their tenants) pay only 20% of their fair share of taxes. The rest of their tax obligation is passed onto other Hoboken and Hudson County taxpayers.  For more information see:

Port Authority Redevelopment PILOT Deal Adds 14.1% to Hoboken Taxes

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To contact us, please phone: 201-217-3456 or e-mail: symbitar@aol.com