I will do my best impersonation of GrovePath and post the link to my article related to this issue of forfeiture.

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?ne ... =461&dept_id=523586&rfi=6

I welcome any feedback or any questions. Thanks.

Ricardo

P.S. Thanks GrovePath for posting my articles, the JJ articles and others related to Jersey City that I read when I have some time.

I swear sometimes I feel like I'm going out of my mind with this City. One of these days I'm going to write a book titled, Dazed and Confused in Jersey City. I wonder who will play me in the movie version....

So there is no ordinance being proposed, no new proposal. The seizure of vehicles is already a police policy (general order) that has been in place for at least 5 years now.

After receiving feedback from his surveys, Councilman Fulop responded to the quality of life issues of residents in areas where there is a high volume of illegal drugs being sold and prostitution. These residents asked Fulop for help and named this one of their top problems with the City.

Fulop found out there was already a police policy that might remedy the situation, but it wasn't being enforced. I guess Fulop's message all along has been enforce the policy or remove it. My words would be more to the effect of crap or get off the pot... but I am a very blunt person.

So Fulop was asking the police chief to do his job, but not dictating to him how he should do it because this is already policy. This issue was brought before council in order to get a council wide recommendation that this policy be enforced.

I still don't like the policy, but I feel better knowing it didn't simply come from nowhere and that this is not and a proposed ordinance by Councilman Fulop.

Jersey Journal, you're on notice! Start reporting the facts and stop misleading readers!

Sincerely,

Althea

I'm looking to start up a line of t-shirts, along with hoodies, button ups, etc... does anyone know of a good company/person that does silk screening or graphic transfers on shirts - in the area?

I ate at Pho Thang Long when it was first opened. The food was alright, but I went back there on another occasion and the food was not as good. It was late in teh evening and maybe the chef has gone for the night! I like the Vietnamese restaurant downtown on Newark better. Hey, there's a new Vietnamese restaurant on Westside called Thanh Huong Restaurant. The place is nice and the food is ok. I notice the price changed a few times (gone up, of course) and sometimes's they would closed the restaurant without notice!! That's not good because I was in a craving for their soup one day and sure enough, they closed the store.

Received from SUZANNE MACK @ 9:20PM:

This is an important year for the Jersey City Board of Education. For the first time in many years I actually believe the State may return control of the Board to Local Control with a lot of caveats and continued monitoring. It that happens this or the next election may be the last Board election we participate in.

On going back to local control the citizens of Jersey City must have an election in one year to determine whether we will remain as an elected board or chose to be an appointed board. (Type I or Type II)

In prior years elections I have asked your consideration of Tim Stuckey,Peter Donnelly, Ed Cheatham. Jenny Campbell and Angel Valentin. Recommendations vary by the year with the pool of candidates that offer themselves for election.

I thought about this long and hard over the weekend and I will follow a long standing tradition and ask your consideration of four candidates for the three open seats.

I just wish I could vote for four individuals in this election " Namely Dehere, Garcia, Valentine and Lopez.

As the Hudson Reporter reported

I am endorsing Jenny Garcia 3A and Terry De Here 9A.

I also am putting forth Angel Valentin and Ben Lopez for your consideration.

My reasons are as follows Jenny Garcia ,a Latino parent, has been a hardworking advocate for all chidren in the JCPS.When things were wrong she successfully navigated a complex system calling state and local officials and kept us on our toes with a clear understanding of what were the childrens rights. She never backed down and I actually encouraged her to run.

Terry De Here. I first met Terry five years ago when a mutual friend Jack Beirne introduced us. He asked me to help him with a small project. We started talking about recreation programs and what we could do to help kids. As most of you know I never turn down a discussion of recreational sports or chess for our kids. I hadnt the foggiest idea who Terry De Here was or the his many accomplishments at St Anthony's, Seton Hall or the NBA. That came much later.

With Dr. Terance Curran's departure we need a young idealistic man on our Board who can relate to the kids who has an interest in wellness and recreation.

Terry De Here is a Jersey City legend. An AfroAmerican ,he grew up on Randolph Ave worked hard and made it. He chose to come back and to do affordable housing, he stayed to show kids that with hard work you can succeed. He will be such a role model for kids in our schools that I would be remiss if I passed him by.

Knowing the community issues that have been raised I also ask you to consider Angel Valentin and Ben Lopez.

I have backed Angel before and I never regretted it. A quiety man, a tireless advocate for parent rights, he fights for children both on the Board and in his workplace training and preparing children for the future. His efforts as Chair of our Policy Committee have been remarkable.

This year I wish we had a fourth opening. I thought Ben Lopez put forth a good effort in his campaign responses and had a comprehensive piece of literature. I have served on committees with Ben for many years and his devotion to the Working poor has been outstanding. If we were to have a fourth opening there is no doubt I would recommend him.

There are many other candidates some of whom I know well Jerry Mc Cann,Jenny Campbell, some whom I wish I knew more about Mike Esposito , William Frasca, Arnie Williams, Moses Ballon and some Ive only heard the name of Mrs Sanchez; some of whom in a different year I would have considered backing, some I have considered and endorsed before but am not this year, and some I would not endorse. I congratulate them all on taking the time to be involved.

This is Jersey City I expect the ticket to split all over the place for as many varied reasons as their are candidates, but in the end the top three will represent all of us for the next three years on the Jersey City Board of Education -

These will be important years when you vote think - Kids First.

Thank you.
Suzanne T. Mack, Member of the elected Jersey City Board
Facities Committee, Chair
Recreation Subcommittee
Special Education Committee, Chair
Finance Committee, Member
Policy Committee, Member
Former Board President, 2000-2002

Response from William Frasca PART II

Top Three Priorities,

1. End Corruption and increase accountability of all financial expenditures.
Did you
know part of the school budget goes to the monthly rental of (11) different facilities for various educational functions? Complete desk audits of all administrative personnel, proving their necessity to the Jersey City School
District. Unjustified high salary positions are choking the budget.

2. To remove the State of New Jersey from it's strangle hold on the children of Jersey City. Complete elimination of school lotteries.

3. Increasing school board/parent/guardian/child involvement and participation in the educational process by holding open school board meetings in central locations throughout the city, making the Board of Education meetings more accessible to the public. Limiting the amount of closed sessions. This will administer more pertinent information to parents and guardians, with nothing to hide.
Encouraging the establishment of information forums, groups and meetings in each of the Jersey City wards.

Again, I am deeply saddened and disappointed that I missed the candidates forum on April 5, 2007. My absence was unavoidable and I hope not insulting. If I sound a little winded, it's because I have so much to say with so
little time. Again I must stress, I lived in Jersey City all my life. I received no endorsements, I received no contributions, I had no money to spend, I made no pack with any other candidate, I am a member of no political organization or club, I am retired, I have no political
job, my loyalty is to the parents and especially to the children of Jersey City. I hope you will at least see it in your hearts to grant me a fair and equal
evaluation.

Thank You for your cooperation and patience

William P. Frasca

Response from William Frasca PART I

To: Jersey City Families For Better Schools

To the first question, Why am I running for the school board?

1. I am tired of the corruption.

2. I'm tired of the children of Jersey City being used as financial and
educational pawns.

3. I'm tired of individuals stepping on the backs of our children to advance
their own political agenda and selfishly using the board for their own
personal gain.

4. I'm tired of the State takeover of our school system.

5. I'm tired of the State hand picking the Jersey City school superintendent,
and giving him an outrageous salary and perks.

6. I'm tired of our school system being used as a political dumping ground to
repay individuals for political favors.

7. I'm tired of highly paid over crowded administrators, who milk the Jersey
City school budget dry.

8. I'm tired of the school board having no voice in the hiring, firing and
discipline of
employees.

9. I'm tired of the taxpayers and parents of Jersey City having no right to vote
on a school budget.

10. I'm tired of school lotteries, and parents waiting on long lines just to
take a number, for having their child attend the school of choice, with no
guarantees of selection.

11. I'm tired of children getting left behind and lost in the system

12. I'm tired of increasing truancy.

13. I'm tired of little or no accountability of expenditures.

14. I'm tired of seeing parents frantic in having to seek alternative
educational institutions, or home schooling, because they don't trust the
educational process of the Jersey City Public Schools

15. I'm tired of selfish political intervention.

This I pledge, I will remain as an independent voice to improve the Jersey
City educational system. If elected I will become easily accessible to all.
My total allegiance is to the parents and children of Jersey City. I'm not
afraid to fight against injustice. I'm not afraid to speak my mind. I'm not
afraid to go against the status quo. I am my own person. I will be a loud
voice for the children, I will keep all of you informed, especially of the
abuses. So together we will have strength in numbers. I will not seek any
other political offices. I will uphold my position with respect and dignity.
I will not disappoint and never falter. It is said individuals must know
their limitations, lucky for me, to this date, I haven't found my
limitation.

Response from Moses Ballon
Question 1.

I'm running for school board to be a voice for our children and community. As a Board Trustees I will bring oversight and accountability to Jersey City School District. The Abbott vs Burke ruling, began in Jersey City as Robinson &
Jersey City vs Cahill and resulted in a court order mandate. Jersey City stands to lose 100's of millions of dollars if we don't speak up and out as to our rights in this Abbott ruling; and I am up to this challenge.

Question 2.

1. I will initiate the development of a Focus Group (s)throughout the city, to include parents, teachers, students and local Officials that would seek positive and long-term solution for our failing school system.

2. There are currently billion of dollars in construction and road bill work in the NJ/NY area. I will go after the 7.5 million dollars of outreach and training Abbott funding (PL 1975/C127), that will be use to address the
concerns and needs of those young men and women who have fell threw the cracks of our failing school system.

3. I would work to ensure that the board meetings were being held more conveniently at a time and place when parents, teachers, student and Officials
could attend. Several of the current trustees are retired and are not available or unwilling to meet in the evening or some Saturday mornings.

Response from Jenny Garcia

Why are you running for the board?

I am running for the board to ensure that the voice of our parents is heard. As
a parent with five children in the system my husband and I like many families have a
vested interest that not only our children, but all children receive the best
education possible. I am running because if I did not then I would not be doing
what I believe I should do which is to help others in the community. We all have
to do our part in making where we live a better place.



What are your top three priorities if elected to the Board?

Early childhood education is fundamental to our children. It is imperative that
we begin a quality education, with a curriculum that supersedes our current
standards as early as possible. Our curriculum in our high schools is
antiquated as well, and needs to be modeled to present needs. We need to include
in all grade levels, music and the arts. Were students can be given the ability
to apply learned techniques and discipline into all areas of study. Extra
curricular areas of study are of great interest to me as well, with special
emphasis on science and mathematics. Our children score generally low in theses areas of study. As well as an
athletic program, were "all" of our students are allowed to excel in a
sport, which aides in building self esteem. Safety for all children is crucial,
especially in our high schools and is a major priority.


Sincerely,
Mrs. Jenny Garcia
Parent Advisory Council
Special Education
(201)386-9873

Response from Jenny Cambell

1. I am running for the school board to continue pursuing my efforts to provide
our children with a quality education. By empowering parents and the community
to help in this struggle, the prospect of our children?s educational success
becomes much brighter.

2. My first priority if elected to the school board will be to use my recent character smear to highlight
the destructive nature of politics. If politics continue to be mixed with
educational issues, our children and our school system will continue to suffer.
My second priority will be to be an avid student of state and city laws
regarding our school system and use that information to empower parents about
their power and influence in helping to create a successful school system. My
third priority will be to serve as a general conduit of information and support
for parents, teachers and concerned citizens so that I can help bridge the gap
of communication between the school board and our community.


Jenny E. Campbell
H - 201-309-1381
C - 201-208-4196

Questions asked by CJ FAMILIES FOR BETTER SCHOOLS
ANSWERS TO BE POSTED


Dear Candidate-

The Forum on April 5th has generated a tremendous amount of interest in the
Board of Education Elections on Tuesday. Many people in the community who could
not attend the Forum, or who are not members of JC Families For Better Schools,
are eager to hear your views on the following questions:

1. Why are you running for the Board of Education?

2. What are your top three priorities if elected to the Board?

I know this is very last minute but your participation in the Forum have
inspired many people in Jersey City to get out and vote.

If you would like to write no more than five or six sentences for each question,
the answers will be posted on JC List, JC Families For Better Schools and Jersey City Family Alliance. If you are unable to do this, with your permission, we could post appropriate parts of your prior written statements.

We did not have current emails for all the candidates so several were contacted
by phone.

Thank you. Again our apologies for the short notice, we honestly didn?t expect
to have such a demand for more feed back from all of you.

With all good wishes,

Shelley Skinner
Founder JC Families For better Schools

what is also great, rush hour monday afternoon, while most of the cars and buses are off the road there are still blockades on center and merseles at montgomery and columbus.

there are no police to direct traffic leaving 3 lanes of traffic to try to weave between the bollards in 3 separate areas, and of course the flooding in the street had subsided by that time...

a funtime was had by all...

not.

In the rest of the state:
- NJ declares a state of emergency.
- Union City major asks people to call him or the police for assistance with housing or clean-up
- Hoboken mayor attempts to explain the flooding and when it will subside

Meanwhile in JC:
- 1,400 emergency calls are made
- JC Fire and Police report widespread flooding
- City responds next day by sweeeping the streets and ticketing cars many of which were caught in the flooding

However i think i might have seen a 747 circling the City today with the id JCAF1....

Saw him passing City Deli on Newark Between Jersey & Barrow around 11:30am on Wed 4/11 all dressed in power blue. My first sighting of him, my wife is mad she missed him.

DanL,
So who are you pushing for?

Quote:

I thought about this for a very long time and with a very torn heart, but I really am fully opposed to Terry Dehere as a member of the Board of Education. Many of you who know me, know that I am very active in my community, Jersey City Family Initiative, Jersey City Families for Better Schools, home schooling and natural birthing groups, etc. etc., I often show up at places that have nothing to do with me personally, like the Hamilton Park Renovation Planning meeting, in order to make sure that the needs of families are being heard and met. So when I speak it is usually for a community of people. This time I am speaking for the Hilltop Neighborhood Association, of which I am a core member and the very same neighborhood that Terry Dehere owns his business, the Blue Ribbon. This is my personal experience and feelings.

Below I have attached a letter from one of our community members. Before I wrote something to you all, I asked my neighborhood if anything had changed and how they felt having had a personal and community experience with Dehere. I'm afraid to state that nothing positive was reported.

Last fall Mr. Dehere approached our neighborhood in order to request that we support him in his endeavor to obtain a permit and entertainment license. He was very charming and very friendly. Our neighborhood took it as a great sign that he was willing to come and speak to us about the Blue Ribbon and we hoped this would be an opportunity to clean up a lot of the problems the neighborhood was having with his venue... the late nights of the restaurant/club greatly reduced the quality of life for those living in the immediate area and who felt their complaints went unheard.

However, when it came to the planning board meeting, Mr. Dehere brought his lawyers, security expert, and a hired city planner. Forty five members of our neighborhood came out to speak against the granting of this permit. All the while Dehere's supporters and friends called us liars and racists, even though our neighborhood is so culturally diverse and they don?t live next to the establishment.

Mr. Dehere, backed by Healy and other city politicians could not have conceived of losing this battle and therefore did nothing to ensure the quality of life in the neighborhood surrounding his establishment, except to say that we were lying. Time and again, the simple question was, "Did you ever perform a decibel test around the perimeter of your establishment?" Despite having hired a City Planner, the answer was no.

The planning board, minus one member, voted against the granting of the license. The head of the planning board is a member of JCFBS and might even vouch for the viciousness in which Dehere turned on our group after he lost. His family and friends called us racists and Dehere threatened to bring the Attorney General down upon us. Our neighborhood Association has had no further communication with him.

While there is no doubt the Dehere is and will always be a role model to the youth of JC, I feel his talents would be better served with actual interaction with the students of JC rather than as a Board member. I do not believe, just as he refused to listen to the community complaints surrounding his business, that he would be willing to listen to the parents of JC as a whole. I believe as an astute business man, who has entered into the lucrative business of affordable housing, his heart and knowledge are elsewhere

Sincerely,

Althea

> wrote:
Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2007 20:07:22 -0000
Subject: I do not support Terry Dehere for the Board of Ed

I do not support Terry Dehere for the Board of Education, or for any political or public office, for that matter.

As most of you know already, Mr. Dehere verbally attacked a number of Hiilltop residents outside the courthouse after that hearing on the variance he wanted for The Blue Ribbon. During the meeting, I was kind to Mr. Dehere ? I said I did not support the nightclub, but that if he wanted to build a new apartment building or a nice grocery store or any number of other facilities which would actually improve
the neighborhood, I would be happy to come before the zoning board to speak on his behalf, and support him in those endeavors. I later regretted that statement, because of his behavior after the meeting.

After the meeting, he revealed his true personality. Apparently he did not want what was best for Hilltop but only what he felt was best for his own personal business and interests. He lashed out at all of us standing outside the courthouse, jabbing his finger in our faces, cursing us and calling us "you stupid people" and much nastier
epithets.

We had every right to not want a loud nightclub which already had a record of trouble (even murder, which occured in its parking lot) to expand its reach by extending its hours of operation to 2:00am or 3:00am even on weeknights. If Mr. Dehere had been a professional
about the hearing outcome, if he had accepted his defeat with dignity, I might have left that meeting with a different opinion of him. If he truly cared about the neighborhood, upon seeing how upset (and even frightened by the possibility of more shootings) that so many of the residents were during that meeting, he might have withdrawn his proposal.

His behavior after that hearing completely changed my view of him. He showed us that he is a person more interested in his own personal money-making endeavors (however dangerous or noise-pollution-
generating those endeavors might be), than a person who listens to the concerns of Journal Square and Hilltop area residents and who truly cares about backing commercial and residential development that will really improve the area. A loud, late-hours nightclub is a detriment, not an asset, to an area attempting to gentrify.

Because of his tirade after the hearing, Mr. Dehere came across as a person who is volatile, unprofessional, barely controlled, and who clearly cares not at all how residents feel. Because of this, I do not see how it is possible for Mr. Dehere to properly and professionally represent our neighborhood, or anyone for that matter, in any position as a public official.

The study area is downtown (traffic circulation) and regional access to downtown. The study is not evaluating improvements to ease traffic in Lafayette nor will it evalute impact on Liberty State Park (quality of park experience etc). There is modeling of volume if the new road is created and also its impact of other study points.

The study is considering (and likely to recommend) a two lane connector road (one way each direction) with bike lanes and ped sidewalks.

My concerns as others have

- will the additional capacity created by this connector road improve traffic flow or just "fill up" and create more traffic.

-the study is considering (and again likely recommending) a two lane connector road. However, on the north-side of the foot bridge passing by the hospital, the road is six lanes (correct me if wrong, its pretty wide).

Again while the study is considering a two lane road, it looks like the city (at some point) was planning to build a wider road. I trust the integrity of the study, however, it does not mean that the city is restricted to the two lane road.

The next / last pubic meeting for the study is Monday, April 30th

Quote:

It was Tom Gibbons who has dealt extensively with this issue, he posted on the subject here
previous flooding thread

This flooding of our homes is not an act of god or due to flaws in our basements, its a failure of the basic infrastructure of this city. The plumbing of 130 year old houses gets renovated, so too should the sewer system. But the city won't recognize the problem because that would correctly imply they're responsible for fixing it.

?? preserving historic homes and structures does not preclude maintenance or upgrading mechanicals, our old home has a toilet, running water, electrical and gas service....

while some due dilligence can forsee some problems, but who could imagine the poor state our city's infrastructure, dysfuntion and just flat out horrible governance. It is too unbelievable, until you live it. I couldn't.

There is an article posted on this site from USA Today calling JC as a model of the urban future, a "glowing" example of planning / smart growth, with no mention of the problems.

Should not broken sewers, schools, parks, streets, public processes be fixed? I do not see why not, if enough people care ..... vote...... participate ......

Quote:

Just be careful with the cheapest bid - quality of workmanship and raw materials is just as important.

just a reminder, i live in a flooded downtown brownstone too without hot water and who knows what else to look forward to when i get home.

but this is a dumbass place to live and have a city. its built over a swamp and it is your responsibility to protect yourself or deal with the consequences.

it is only going to get worse, and we're due for a big hurricane.

sure the sewers and a lot of other stuff could and should be better, but you knew what you were getting yourself into when you bought

you have nobody to blame but yourself for your situation today

when it happens next time, it'll still be your own damn fault.

vote for change. fix the sewers.

you're still going to be swimming in it if you choose to stay here and don't fix your house

I used Miller Roofing and have no problems for almost two years. Do NOT even consider Ned Stevens.

Having anything less than the best possible school system is unacceptable. One would think this to be important to everyone.

I find it is easier to decide who not to vote for rather than whom to vote. Perhaps most important is to increase voter turnout and look to the future.

The schools are a fast approaching $700m pie that everyone wants/ will want a piece of. We have many candidates and sitting board members that one way or another draw their income/family income from the city/county or related publicly funded agency, too many intertwined relationships with local governments. I cannot conclude that any of the candidates are truly independent employment or business-wise. I found none of the candidates articulated an understanding the recent third party audit of the schools at the Candidates Forum.

I guess this round I would go for parents with children in the public school system. Next time, maybe we can get a look at candidates with the financial and administrative skills and experience to set and enforce policies warranted by an organization of this ?staggering? size.

We will not get better until we start demanding it.

This can / should be an election issue. Getting the funding to study the sewer system city-wide and create a plan to fix/improve/meet future demand etc.

To start with, ask the questions.

Yes, a member of HPNA did a great deal of research on this issue and shared with others.

Seems to me that it is our municipal government's job/responsibility to keep sewer water out of our homes.

Quote:

There are several topic threads here at JCList with more detailed info on the problems downtown with flooding, sewage backup, etc, but you should start here at Mia Scanga's excellent backgrounder on the JCMUA:

JC Municipal Utilities Authority (JCMUA)

The Harsimus Cove Association had the most informed and thoughtful presentation on this subject several years ago by someone local that I will try to find the brochure and post here. Maybe Brewster knows who I'm talking about as he probably spoke at HPNA too.

ROFLMAO

I am not an immigrant, but I still have no clue what this means.

We had to close the restaurant. We have FOUR drains which backed up (even after we plugged them) and TWO sump pumps that were pumping the water out to the flooded streets which in turn was just coming back into the restaurant. So this Mr. X has no clue what he's talking about. Although it affected our business, what REALLY sucked was watching our neighbors homes flood. It rained pretty hard but not enough for all this. We have pictures of the street, the useless sewers, basement apartments flooded etc... Anybody want to go to City Hall with this count us in.

When I patronized the place with family, we had a 2.5 year old with us. We asked if we could be seated upstairs out of consideration for others. The waitress was most accommodating. We were the first to be seated upstairs that evening. The service was pleasant and attentive, nice atmosphere and the food was quite good.

Quote:

Correction: the OVERFLOW drains to the river. The catch basins are supposed to be pumped over the hill to the treatment plant, a system which totally fails in storms due to the antiquated and environmentally irresponsible combined sewer system. I don't buy the storm surge argument since the sewers flood in summer thunderstorms too, which arrive without a regional low pressure system. The system is simply inadequately sized and maintained.

At the very least a large catch pool and pumping station could be built to drain the system into the river rather than have it back up into the streets and homes of the city. But looking for solutions requires acknowledging there's a problem, a step our city won't take.

I was at O'Connell"s this saturday. The place was very quiet. My husband and I had some friends over from out of town. We wanted to sit upstairs,because it seemed to be more private, but the server downtown stairs said that the upstairs had two parties going on, well, when I went to uset he bathroom upstairs, the bartender on the upper level, looked like she wasn't very busy at all. I just think the communication amoungst the staff is not very good. The food however was medicore for it's price. The drinks were fairly priced. Basically, I'd call in advance to reserve a spot upstairs if I were to go there again, because the staff doesn't seem to know what's going on. I was also shocked by the fact that they don't have a host. But it's still a new place