Hoboken City Council Finance Subcommittee Responds To Proposed Budget

Press release from the Finance Subcommittee:

June 8, 2022

Dear Councilmembers Fisher and Ramos,

As members of the Finance Subcommittee, we have received your requests for budget amendments and suggestions for the upcoming 2022 municipal budget that you have presented for consideration.

We want to state plainly that we believe your suggested budget amendments that call for the elimination of several City Hall staff members to be clearly politically motivated. We are, however, supportive of some of the proposed additions to the budget that you have recommended including the addition of a social worker, funding for an Arts Master Plan, and funding for additional senior citizen programming. We respectfully oppose your proposed budget cuts, and wish to share the rationale for our opposition to your proposed amendments, as follows:

Fisher/Ramos proposal to eliminate Ken Ferrante/Director of Public Safety: We are very glad to see one of the most well-respected public servants in Hoboken, former Police Chief Ken Ferrante, rejoin the City’s staff earlier this year. We have been in constant communication with Director Ferrante and his team, who are working tirelessly with the Fire and Police Chiefs to improve services, increase transparency and communication, and identify cost saving measures in both departments. Additionally, Director Ferrante has joined the board of the Hoboken Volunteer Ambulance Corps to support their expansion and offer guidance on maintaining and executing their mission to provide uninterrupted EMS service. Targeting Director Ferrante’s employment and tarnishing his name by eliminating his title/department would be a disservice to Director Ferrante and his service to our City. Unfortunately, this is a familiar approach from Councilwoman Fisher who, in 2020, initially refused to renew and extend then Chief Ferrante’s contract.

Fisher/Ramos proposal to eliminate Constituent Services Office: Since taking over as the Head of the Office of Constituent Services, we can let you know, first-hand, that Nora Martinez DeBenedetto has done a yeoman’s job of assisting hundreds of constituents. As you know, many of those seeking assistance are low-income residents and seniors, who very much appreciate a personal touch from City Hall. The work Nora has done in just a few short months has been nothing short of outstanding, and she is in the process of overseeing the transition to a new constituent services platform that will replace Hoboken 311. As you recall, Councilmembers Cohen and Jabbour strongly disagreed with your push to eliminate the Constituent Services Office (and the former head, Caroline Caulfield’s position) during the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, a move that Monsignor Andreano called an “abomination” that would be a “denigrating act and shameful mark” because of its detrimental effect on our most vulnerable residents. We were glad to reinstate this office last year (a move that Councilmember Ramos voted against, and Councilmember Fisher abstained on), and strongly believe it would be counterproductive to once again eliminate funding to this office. Although not stated directly in her recommendations, Councilmember Fisher has suggested eliminating an additional position from the Mayor’s Office - which again seems clear to be politically motivated given that the Mayor’s Office staff headcount remains at the same level as it was during the Zimmer Administration, which Councilmember Fisher never previously contested.


Fisher proposal to eliminate the Head of the Housing Division: Currently, the Head of the Housing Division has been occupied by former Councilmember Vanessa Falco, another lifelong Hoboken resident and the first African-American elected to the City Council. Over the past several months, Ms. Falco has been dedicated to revamping the City’s rent control office and identifying properties that should be, by law, identified as falling under rent-control, which are not currently. This endeavor is projected to increase revenue moving forward, and more than pay for her salary while also bolstering our rent control stock. We find it hypocritical that after allocating $100,000 for additional staff for the rent control office last year, Councilmember Fisher is now attempting to claw it back. We cannot help but to assume that this is an attempt to punish an individual who used to be her political ally.

Fisher proposal to eliminate staff in the Department of Environmental Services: We are extremely proud of the work of the hardworking members of the Department of Environmental Services, who were some of the most critical frontline workers throughout the pandemic – going above and beyond to support initiatives such as the Hoboken Food Pantry. We find it grossly irresponsible to target these frontline workers, which would have the effect of reducing maintenance in our City parks, reduced plowing operations during snow storms, less efficient street sweeping, and more. With City services projected to expand with new parks coming online imminently, cutting these vital workers and stopping the City’s ability to hire additional part-time workers would have major, consequential impacts across the City.

Ramos proposal to eliminate the new Head of Recreation: We have heard from countless residents the dire need to bolster our recreation opportunities for children, as well as our elderly population – especially with a booming young family population. We are confident that Jessica Lezcano, an accomplished professional who occupied similar roles in Passaic and Rutherford, will help our City keep up with the demand for new and expanded recreation programming. Councilmember Ramos may believe that the status quo in our recreation department is acceptable – we strongly disagree and believe there is much more that can be done with the right team.

Ramos proposal to eliminate the Deputy Parking Director: While our City population continues to grow, the number of staff in the parking utility has actually decreased. The new Deputy Director of Parking, Diana Aviles, occupies a position that we understand has been sorely needed and actually has been budgeted for, but unfilled, for the last two years. Further, this role will help provide more efficient enforcement, revenue collection, and will – like the Head of the Housing Division – in all likelihood more than pay for the cost of her salary through these increased revenues.

Fisher proposal to eliminate a member of the Office of Corporation Counsel: Over the past four years, we have been glad to see the Bhalla Administration reduce outside legal spending by several hundreds of thousands of dollars. This reduction was accomplished by adding an additional staff member in the legal department and bringing more work in-house, as opposed to retaining more costly outside law firms. Eliminating a position in the law department (there are three attorneys currently on staff) would have the effect of adding costs that would burden the Hoboken taxpayer with legal services that could have been provided by the City’s own staff.

Finally, we want to express our surprise that Councilmember Ramos has attempted to introduce budget amendments of any kind, considering he did not participate in a single budget hearing hosted by our Subcommittee, which were attended by all City Directors. In addition, we understand that neither Councilmember Ramos nor Councilmember Fisher attempted to contact any City Director to understand the impact of these proposed severe cuts — either on our City workforce or on the level of services that would be provided to Hoboken residents as a result. Our budget hearing process exists to allow for streamlined information to move between the Administration and the City Council - your choice to not meaningfully engage in that process is surprising and disappointing.

We remain ready to work with you in collaborative conversations on amendments to the current proposed budget, but for the above reasons, we simply cannot support the current proposed amendments that are both politically and personally motivated, while eliminating vital services and valued professionals who work for the City of Hoboken. The budget process is not an opportunity to settle scores. It is the time where we come together and find ways to address the needs of Hoboken residents in a fiscally responsible manner. We hope you will take these considerations seriously and reach out to us with more thoughtful proposals that support our community.

This subcommittee has been having extensive conversations with the Administration to see if there are places in the budget to reduce the impact on taxpayers. We have already identified $300,000 in budget cuts that are supported by the Administration and will be presenting these amendments to the City Council by the end of this week.

Many thanks,

Emily Jabbour, Chair
Phil Cohen
Joe Quintero

This press release was produced by the Finance Subcommittee. The views expressed here are the author's own.