Maybe I need to up my anti-cabal medicine, but when I read about the vote my first reaction was - another way to screw Fulop.

Can't say that I know that much about the inner workings of the EPC. But, I have always found representatives of the group to be outgoing concerned citizens working for everyone in JC.

I got a notice about the meeting from two local community groups, and JCList.

Perhaps they should have posted the letter on their website, too.

I think this group has worked extremely hard to make the public aware , and to get poltical and economic support for the embankment.

Someone said last night, people might be just tired of continuously fighting City Hall. Then again, it could have been the nice weather just made evryone lazy and they decided to stay at home.

When I called one of the council members yesterday, the person who took my call, said they weren't even asking for names anymore, just taking a count of the calls, because so many people called. So EPC must have done something right!

Let's work together. Offer your strategies for improvement in a collaborative manner and see what we can accomplish!

Dan L makes a crucial point.
If the stated policies of a given administration are not supported by the technical resolutions that would bring them to reality, then we truly do have a shadow government. A majority of the council voted to spend 20,000.00 of our money to pay for a lawyer to deal with the legal case for proper abandonment of the Embankment. By not supporting the technical resolution to follow through on that vote, they are wasting our time and our money.
This underscores how this administration operates autonomously as a political entity without accountability.

Problems with the Embankment Coalition

Sure, the no-vote at last night's council meeting was a reflection of our wonderful administration, but let's put it on the table, it also spoke volumes about the shortsightedness and managerial failures of the Embankment Preservation Coalition. It has to be said. Here's what's wrong with this group:

} Closed Doors. Who ever heard of a preservation group that REQUIRES membership for people to be in the know? I.E. if you're not a member you don't get emails and other forms of "alerts". Does this tactic get the word out to the larger Jersey City population??? This is a group that runs on secrets and emergency meetings. All adding up to low turn-outs and empty council chambers! Last night's lame embankment attendance should be a wake up call to the leaders running this group.

} Narrow vision for the site. Can those footbridge renderings get any older or more boring? Where's the excitement in vision? Has the High Line in NY taught nothing? If you have a new poster why isn't it on the website or here on jclist? Oh, yes, you have to be a MEMBER to have access to those types of things! Not to be cynical or anything.

} The embankment website is even worse than the new destinationjerseycity website. No updates, old news, slow loads, etc. Oh, yes, you have to be a MEMBER to have access to those types of things! Not to be cynical or anything.

} Bandwagon. Everyones amazed how quick the embankment group jumped on the back of the successful reservoir project. Desperation? Sour grapes? From what I gather the reservoir people opened their group to everyone, they had no secrets and reached out to ALL of Jersey City! The embankment in case you're wondering comes off as a downtown site. It shouldn't be that way! Lack of vision? Who knows anymore?

} From what I hear the embankment group has spent years "getting grants". (where's the proof of that? i keep hearing grants will be "available") when they should have been building up a strong constituancy across the city! This gets back to the closed-door, members-only policy they put in place.

} We're all tired of hearing "what you can do" for the embankment. What about what the embankment leaders can do for the embankment? How about starting with transparency? Dropping the REQUIRED membership to be in the know? Doing away with public meetings that promise "announcements" but really just waste peoples time? And what about becoming a citywide group rather than downtown? And studying how the reservoir people achieved success? The group leaders have to work smarter never mind harder.

} MAKE MY PARK? How about "Make My Group A Better Group" first?

Believe it or not this is offered as constructive crticism. Yes the embankment group has done great work but somewhere down the line they alienated themselves, dont you think??? The reservoir people brought out seniors and ansd kids and voters, didnt they? Thats what yanks the council off their bottoms, not the same downtown faces who in their eyes dont add up to many votes. If the embankment group opens its "membership" to everyone they'd get more people out to public meetings. Stop with the stupid "you have to be a member to receive notices" nonsense! The whole battle needs a make over. Again,, where's the excitement? The originality? The openness?

Sorry if this has hurt any feelings but it has to be said, maybe others will say more and try to make the group more effective.

I'm not surprised. I've written to the Mayor by way of post and email on serveral occassions, even correspondence which contains nothing but praise and have yet to receive a response. Healy will not be getting my vote next election. That's for sure.

Ah, missed that part on my read-through.

Fair enough, the second time there really was no excuse for him not to show up then. Either the scheduler should be canned/reprimanded ("Was not speaking for me"), or he should come out and apologize ("I made a mistake"). I somewhat doubt either would happen.

I still don't get why efforts ("spent on advertising this event for Feb 20th were wasted") were made prior to getting his commitment the first time around.

Somebody please clue me in. And no, I'm not trying to be a jackass about this, I'm really just curious about why this sequence of events happened this way.

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According to Yun's letter:

"At the suggestion of your scheduler, the meeting was postponed to March 7th for your convenience. Your scheduler accepted this invitation on your behalf and confirmed it by email.

February 12, 2007 - In addition to the email, a confirmation letter via certified mail (#7005 0390 0002 9278 5474) was delivered to your office confirming, yet again, your attendance to the rally on Wed. March 7th."

Try reading all the pretty words.

This vote is typically representative of politics as usual with the council and mayor stating support of a particular initiative, even making the policy decision, then not following through to make it happen.

Essentially, Mariano Vega also voted no. He is a three term councilman and council president. Council President Vega has alleged longtime support of the Embankment initiative. If he could not deliver the votes for this technical resolution, not policy, he should be held responsible for the rejection of the resolution.

For those questioning the efforts of those who pushed the initiative forward, keep in mind that over the past 10 years, they have built city-wide support, obtained the support and endorsement of federal, state and municipal officials, state, regional and national green space/parks organizations, obtained full funding of acquisition and development (and the bridge loan). Again, this vote was on a technical resolution to follow through on approved policy.

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In a lot of cases, Mommy and Daddy are in over their heads worse than the kids.

the interest rate on a fixed rate mortgage can not be changed for the duration of the mortgage. Thats why you pay a higher rate to begin with when compared to a variable rate or 30 year when compared to a 15 year.

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I would imagine that equation applys more in places like Williamsburg than JC but you have a valid point. What I want to know though, is that if you bought at a fixed-rate mortgage, are there circumstances under which the banks are allowed to increase that "fixed" rate when times get tough?

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I think the mayor had already agreed to attend (twice) before the meeting was advertised and re-advertised. it seems like the organisers of the meeting went out of their way to have accomodate the mayor only to have him bail at the last minute.

When is the next mayoral election again??

It certainly doesn't look like the mayor is placing this event high in his priorities, for whatever reason...

I'm a bit confused here... Not being involved in any of the JC politics, is there anything that says that the mayor *has* to attend this sort of rally? I could advertise all I wanted that Mayor Healy was coming over to my house for dinner, try inviting him, and be angry that he didn't show up. Is that reasonable? It doesn't make sense to me at all... if you plan to have certain people at your event, you have to invite them and confirm their attendance well in advance of associating their name with the event, or at least I would think so. I don't understand how the assumption is that without any answer to the negative or positive, that the mayor would come.

I have great faith in the National Bank of Mommy and Daddy bailing out many of the the kids who may get in over their heads. Credit ratings are to the 21st Century what virginity was to the 19th - to be preserved at all costs. I'd be curious how many mortgages in this area were taken out by child and parent together - can anyone hazard a guess? Or, how many parents provided the downpayments which would be lost in a default.

My fifth grade teacher had a long flat wooden paddle, shaped sort of like a cricket bat, hanging on the wall with the label "Board of Education".

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I'm appeasing everyone. Mine is more of a Thai curry than an Indian curry.

I run at LSP often and wondered what that odor has been. It has been in the air for a while now. I assumed the wind, from time to time, would change and we get a sampling of Newark's industry. How wrong I was! The photo in the Jersey Journal of the smoke coming off those piles is an outrage. I would be picketing down there today!!!! There must be houses close by that can't even open there windows.

This should have been listed under the 'Post a Joke' thread.

Just wondering, since the Villa Borinquen complex borders on the tail end of the Embankment, did the Preservation Coalition reach out to them or PACO http://www.getnj.com/jerseycity/paco.shtml ?

I think that it is a time for a coalition of all JC citizens. I would like to hear from Richardson's constituents who are now effectively deprived from having an open space they can enjoy when they are working or go shopping/ walking about downtown or when they go to the Newport Mall or the Waterfront.

Can't believe that all the people walking around the Mall, the shops, offices, businesses, etc are ALL downtown -Ward E residents.

My $.02

I also noticed that there was a second reading of the proposal to amend the Jersey Avenue Redevelopment Plan. I would have appreciated a little more information.
Is this what was described in the JC REporter:

The City Council introduced an ordinance at its meeting that would change the Jersey Avenue Redevelopment Plan, which governs over Jersey Avenue from Tenth Street to Eighteenth Street in downtown Jersey City.

"The change to the plan would break up the redevelopment area specified in the plan into three distinct areas with their own plans: the Jersey Avenue Tenth Street Redevelopment Plan, the Jersey Avenue Park Redevelopment Plan, and the Jersey Avenue Light Rail Redevelopment Plan.

The Jersey Avenue Tenth Street Redevelopment Plan includes Jersey Avenue north to south from 10th Street to 12th Street and west to east from Hoboken Avenue to Marin Boulevard.

The Jersey Avenue Park Redevelopment Plan runs from western portion of Hoboken Avenue to Jersey Avenue, and from 12th Street to a northern portion of Hoboken Avenue. And the Jersey Avenue Light Rail Redevelopment Plan extends from Jersey Avenue to Marin Boulevard and from Fourteenth Street to the Hoboken border."

http://www.hudsonreporter.com/site/ne ... =461&dept_id=523586&rfi=6


Does anyone know exactly what this was all about?

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Well, that puts you in a tiny minority both in terms of memory and actually voting. In JC it seems a pol could crap on people front steps in broad daylight and they wouldn't bother to vote him out.

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One thing to consider is that, assuming the experts are right and all heck will really break loose later this year, when the ARMs do a lot more adjusting, serious problems in the mortgage market could cause all sorts of other problems.

Universities, pension plans, insurance companies could all run into problems, and, if they have to sell good assets to compensate for problems with bad assets, then the prices of good assets could also fall.

So, even if it seems pretty obvious today that the real estate market is going to run into problems, that doesn't necessarily mean it will fare all that much worse than other markets.

My impression is that, when all heck breaks loose in a market, the value of really bad stuff falls an average of about two-thirds, and the value of the good stuff falls an average of about one-third. Maybe a basket of mortgage-related stocks will fall two-thirds this year and the value of the most speculative types of real estate will be down one-third to one-half in a couple of years. But maybe the stock market will also be down one-third for a few months or so.

If a clueless newbie is using funny money to speculate on condos, that newbie is probably going to be toast. But someone with a decent job who uses a 30-year fixed mortgage to buy a modest, moderately priced home that he's going to live in for awhile will probably come out fine relative to a comparable guy who rents.

Say a very bearish bear runs away from all investment markets and puts his money in CDs. Then all investment markets tank, and the bear feels proud. Then the Federal Reserve starts printing money as fast as it can, and we get hyperinflation, and the value of the dollar falls 50 percent in a couple of years. In that case, the careful bear might do as badly as the foolish condo flipper.

It was moved to a better location and on the 27th at 7 pm. When the conflict was realized, due to your post here, the date is being changed. I believe it will be at the wee beginning of April. This information should be released very soon when plans are made solid.


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Well it's listed on the BOE site as this

Tuesday, 3/27 - NJQSAC Public Forum, PS #11, 6 p.m.

but last week, there was an entire paragraph explaining the event.

NJQSAC is NJ Quality Single Accountability Continuum
Does anyone know what this is?

I will call them and ask them how to get on their Speaker's list

Isn't the JC Family Schools Public Forum on Thursday, the 29th?

Pam

You wouldn't be saying that if he was telling you what you wanted to hear.

Look, I believe one should take EVERYTHING with a grain of salt, but this is a guy with quite a strong economics background.

If you'd like to cite some of these "credible financial journalists" who contradict what's being said here, go ahead.

No.
But I have a darn good memory at election time.

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-- there are plenty of financial journalists with more credibility than some former assistant professor who has a blog, while working at a self-created washington "think tank," in my opinion. my main point was to be wary of wall street analyst estimates, especially out of context.

Defeated 4-3 (2 absent)

For: Fulop, Flood, Vega
Against: Brennan, Richardson, Spinello, Sottolano
Absent: Lipski, Gaughan (I believe it was mentioned that Gaughan was ill)

The reasons for the negative votes included: (1) not wanting to increase the city's debt service (Spinello & Sottolano), even though it was clearly explained before the vote -- verbally and in writing -- by Tom McGlynn of the EPC that, being a bridge loan, the cost to the city would have been miniscule; and (2) perceived competition from other unfunded park projects in her ward (Richardson), even though it was made clear that the $3.7 million already secured for the Embankment's acquisition and additional funds to be raised are entirely separate and do not compete with other park projects.

There was also a sentiment that since there had been little movement on the project (here they were either being disingenuous or haven't been paying attention the last few years), a wait-and-see approach would be best in applying for the loan.

I got emails from HPNA, it was on 25mc.org, it was on the jclist calendar
and on this thread of jclist
http://jclist.com/modules/newbb/viewt ... id=100441#forumpost100441

and also in the JJ.

Where was everyone?

The two no-shows were Lipski and Gaughan.


The issues were not only the embankment but also :

----the change in zoning in a neighborhood near the Beacon to allow a new 15-story tower.

----The tabling of an apprenticeship program (to be fine-tuned) to allow unemployed JC residents to be trained in condstruction so that they can take part in the JC development boom. According to the public speakers, this measure has been under consideration in various forms for 10 years. Our representatives said the ordinance should be ready in about 6 months.

___Also the lack of residential preferences for construction workers resident in JC

---the lack of "affordable housing" even though so many developers are supposedly paying into an affordable housing plan when they get abatements ( at $1500 per unit unlike the $125,000 in NYC.)

I know politics is dirty, but shouldn't the representatives, our elected representatives, at least pretend that they are somehow interested in the lives and well-being of their constituents

DoIt is right, there could have been a street demonstration and the vote would still have gone the same way. Anyone who was present for the Pay to Play vote fiasco can attest to the general contempt that most of the city council has for its constituents. Vote them the hell out I say!