Housing Authority Appointment Causes Chaos at Council Meeting

Yelling, screaming and a near fight between two council members followed a heated debate on Wednesday night about filling an open seat on the Hoboken Housing Authority board. 

In a contentious 5-4 vote, following close to two hours of discussion, former council candidate and Fourth Ward resident Greg Lincoln was appointed to the HHA.

Lincoln, who ran for city council in 2010, will be, who joined the board in August 2010. Camporeale, 78, didn't finish the required courses all commissioners have to complete within 18 months of taking a seat on the board. 

Camporeale attended Wednesday night's meeting and pleaded to keep her seat, saying that she couldn't attend all the classes in a timely manner because she is disabled. Camporeale is a polio survivor and walks with a cane. 

A letter from the Division of Community Affairs sent to Camporeale (attached to this article) stated that officially she had to have completed her courses by January 2012, indicating that since then, technically her seat had technically been vacated. 

"There is no wiggle room in this letter at all," said Peter Cunningham, who is the councilman in the ward where Camporeale lives. Camporeale is a resident of Fox Hills, the HHA's senior citizens building.

Council members Michael Russo and Tim Occhipinti argued that the seat didn't need to be filled by the council immediately. 

"There is no flexibility at all," Cunningham said, "and I am very sorry that there isn't."

Occhipinti, who represents the area where most of the HHA buildings are located, vehemently opposed Camporeale's replacement. 

After the contentious vote, Occhipinti went up to Lincoln and asked him if he had "ever been to a Housing Authority meeting." In a phone interview on Thursday morning, Lincoln said he had attended an HHA meeting. 

When Council President Ravi Bhalla walked by after the vote, Occhipinti yelled after him: "are you proud of yourself council president?" Occhipinti also got into a near fight with Councilman David Mello afterward. 

Several residents of the HHA attended Wednesday's meeting, in support of Camporeale. "He knows nothing about Hoboken Housing," said long time HHA resident Arlette Braxton about the newly appointed Lincoln. "Is this man going to help me? Absolutely not." 

A re-organization of the Hoboken Housing Authority board will likely follow at the July 12 meeting, because Camporeale was vice president of the board, Lincoln said. Current Chairwoman of the board Jean Rodriguez also attended Wednesday's meeting, as did HHA commissioner Eduardo Gonzalez. 

Before the next meeting, Lincoln said he will contact other commissioners as well as Executive Director Carmelo Garcia to learn as much about the position as possible. Lincoln said he had planned to apply for the open seat last month, but deferred his application after finding out that Mello was interested in the seat. 

Garcia couldn't immediately be reached on Thursday. 

"I know it's going to take time and effort," Lincoln said about his seat on the board for the coming five years. He added that as he hopes that as he gets to know the residents of the HHA better, "they'll come to know me and trust me."