Whoa! Thanks Sepecat for sharing -- I have a friend on that street, that block across from the firehouse.

+1 regarding kudos to Mr. Byrne. I've found his office to be a well-run department at City Hall. This award is well-deserved, he's knowledgeable, approachable, fair & unbiased.

I'm curious to find out which diner in Newark they have. Tops is good but it's actually in East Newark (Hudson County). I liked the old Tops too, before they renovated it many, many years ago. The food remained consistently good, however. I do miss the Flamingo.

Bob, I respect your opinion & applaud your defense of your wife. I am not posting to attack Sue but simply to share my viewpoints consistent with the nature of this forum. I apologize if you or others misconstrue them as personal attacks; they aren't & it is not my intent. My question about her motivations is exactly that -- a question. She has years of service on her resume & yes, she should be proud of it, but why is she abandoning her BoE position at this crucial time when our school system is about to get a new superintendent? Reforming this city must be done on all fronts -- her experience & familiarity is needed at the BoE AND she worked to convince voters of that when she ran to win that seat. I would also like to add that in her years of service, I have had opportunities to meet her & the discussions we had inform my opinion.

To HCResident - That's exactly my sentiment. Sue Mack comes from the same mold as the politicians I would like out of office. Voting her in would give us a crony of the current "machine". She does not represent the change that will get Jersey City out of its muck. There is so much unrealized potential in this town & it?s primarily due to the dysfunction of our current leaders. It's time for real positive change, we need to wise up & ignore the empty rhetoric being offered by politicians like Sue. I urge folks to see Sue for what she really is -- if she cared enough for public service, she would not abandon her BoE position that she just won a few months ago. Her running in this election is suspect & I don't see that her real motivations -- whatever they may be -- will serve the public good.

Oh, I forgot to add: Good luck dealing with them!

Not sure, sorry. Your name MAY not yet be on the roster at your new polling station & you'd probably need to use a "provisional ballot" there. I believe the polls are open from 6am to 8pm, but I don't know when the Division of Election office opens. Calling them first, if it works with your schedule, is likely the best option & will probably save you a trip between your old & new polling places.

Daniel Levin is a different breed of politician, one who inspires & is able to show that public service is an honorable position of responsibility & respect. The question is if today's Jersey City is ready for this type of politics. I sure hope he gets voted in. Good luck Dan!

To FakeGreenDress: << I just moved five blocks. Yesterday I got the mailer about the elections folks having been informed of my address change, and that all I have to do to vote is mail the card back to confirm -- but it has to be at least 21 days before the next election. Obviously it's a bit late for that! Is there any way I can still vote? >> I assume you "moved five blocks" within the city. You should still be able to vote but you probably won't be allowed to use the machine & may have to use a "provisional ballot". You may confirm the procedure with the Hudson County Division of Elections tomorrow (201) 369-3470 Option 6. http://www.hudsoncountyclerk.org/elections/default.htm

With all due respect to BoE President Sterling Waterman whom I supported, why is it a good idea for Sue Mack to abandon her Board of Ed seat which she won only months ago? She knew full well that the commitment with the BoE is three years AND she should have also been aware of the upcoming Special Election for the JC Council. She convinced voters that she is the right person for the BoE while all along planning a run for a seat on the Council? She has a track record as a multiple term member of the BoE where she seems effective, why leave it now during this critical period of change? The JC public school system is up for a new superintendent soon, Sue Mack's experience & familiarity there does a better service for our city in the long run. And it's not like she is desperately needed in this election -- there are a number of good candidates on Tuesday's ballot. Her running in this Special Election is suspect & I wonder what her real motivations are. Could it be that the BoE is an unpaid position while the Council draws a salary? That's just a guess on my part but certainly plausible. But if true, it is another reason -- a compelling one -- why she is not a good choice for JC's legislative body. We need progressive reform from the old lingering politics of Jersey City & I don?t see how Sue Mack offers that.

From the JCI Mailbag:

In our opinion, Daniel Levin is the best choice to fill an at-large position on the municipal council. We hope that people all over Jersey City vote to bring his fresh voice, sensible ideas, strong skills, excellent values, and impeccable integrity to the council. He has demonstrated his commitment to making Jersey City a better place by devoting himself to many issues we care about. He is a solid family man with two children who attend their local public school, and he is a small-business owner. Although he has been active in our neighborhood for many years, we have seen that he has always looked at the bigger picture, at what is right for all the people of our city.

Charles and Annie Kessler
Harsimus Cove, Jersey City

http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/ ... jersey-city-council-seat/

The JC Community Playgroup at Resurrection Parish at St. Bridget's Church, 372 Montgomery Street (between Monmouth and Brunswick) may be able to use them. The basement where the kids play reportedly got flooded from Hurricane Irene & they lost toys. Perhaps you can contact the church directly.

A pumping station is slated to be built in Lafayette, at the south end of Pine Street (by the light rail tracks) to alleviate serious problems there; it is to be fully operational by November 2013. It's part of a number of things the JCMUA is obligated to do as part of a federal settlement because it was found in violation of the Clean Water Act. A link to the JCI coverage is below (though the article does not specifically mention the pump station).

http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/ ... ean-water-act-violations/

Good luck with the JC Building Dept. but I doubt if they can help you. You may have some record in the Tax Dept. -- specifically in the historic survey from the 1930's -- because the ones I've seen have a rough layout of the building in the lot. Unfortunately, it will likely not have sufficient data for what you need. And Zoning may require an actual survey by a Licensed Surveyor. Lafayette's idea re: property documents is a good one since it sounds like you already had one but only lost the copy.

"Sue Mack is a highly trained professional planner with a world of experience and a true record of accomplishment. "

In our neighborhood's experience with Sue Mack, she chose NOT to use her professional judgment as an urban planner but simply & blindly sided with the city supporters of a community center that was proposed in a residential zone where it is not permitted -- the Team Walker center. Sue Mack refused to listen to the neighbors' arguments that the city's land use regulations do not allow it, but instead she supported the center "regardless of location". It's disturbing to know that a "highly trained professional planner" could declare such a stance regarding land use matters. Her take on this issue suggested that she's a crony of the existing administration & would use her position to bow to the whims of people she favors, even if it means going against (trained) professional judgment, (inherent) logic and (personal) ethics.

Team Walker's center will eventually be built in an appropriately zoned lot within the same area, thanks to the many residents who fought tirelessly upstream to get the city to impose its own rules appropriately & fairly; the same group also facilitated for Team Walker to obtain a more accessible, already vacant, city-owned property resulting in a more efficient use of tax-supported resources & funds. Sue Mack could have positively weighed in on that struggle but her cronyism clouded her vision. Her getting in the Jersey City municipal council will NOT be good for those who truly want to reform this local government to better the city.

And she already has a position in the school board which she just fought for a few months ago. She ought to stay & fulfill the term she committed to do -- she already convinced voters that her experience is a benefit to that board. With the current composition of the school board, it seems that we can now anticipate reform for the schools, yet Sue Mack wants to compromise such critical dynamics.

+1 for Emma Holl Lam
http://www.asmallgreenspace.com

Here's a recent example why competent people are needed on the board. The simple mistake on the sample ballots indicates a careless & irresponsible use of our public money by the JC Board of Education.

We need get the incumbents out -- it's a step to change the course of this city for a much-better future. And we need to teach elected officials a lesson on accountability.

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerse ... 71399205306430.xml&coll=3

Error on Jersey City school budget question forces Hudson County to reprint sample and vote-by-mail ballots in advance of Tuesday's school board election
Friday, April 16, 2010
By MELISSA HAYES
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Hudson County officials were forced to reprint sample and vote-by-mail ballots for Tuesday's Jersey City school board election after catching a major typographical goof.

Budget questions are only supposed to ask voters whether they support the portion of the budget to be raised through taxation, which in this case is $102 million, an increase of $10 million over last year.

But the ballot was printed asking voters to decide whether they support spending $618 million, the total budget.

"When the school board certified the public question to us they misstated the number for the budget amount," said Hudson County Clerk Barbara Netchert.

She said her office sent out over 700 vote-by-mail ballots and was told the county Board of Elections already received about 350 of those ballots, which will have to be recast.

Netchert said Wednesday that new sample and vote-by-mail ballots were printed and were being sent out immediately. She said voters could get them as early as yesterday.

School district spokeswoman Paula Christen confirmed that the error was made by the district and that the district would have to reimburse the county for the cost of reprinting and mailing the ballots.

Netchert said she didn't know those costs yet.

Former Jersey City mayor and Board of Education member Gerry McCann - who is up for re-election to the board on Tuesday - went before Superior Court Assignment Judge Maurice Gallipoli yesterday asking for the election to be rescheduled because of the ballot issue.

Gallipoli dismissed McCann's request.

McCann, one of 16 candidates running for three seats on Tuesday, argued in court that military members serving oversees would not have a chance to get the new ballots and return them before Tuesday's school election.

"What I was trying to do was get them to recognize that some of the ballots may come in late and they shouldn't discount them," he said.

McCann said although he was unsuccessful in having the election postponed, he at least has on the record that military vote-by-mail ballots could be returned late.

"Now if in fact they come in late we can argue that those votes be counted," he said.

Flooding in JC is nothing new. It happens over & over again. How administration after administration got away without seriously tackling it is a mystery. All the development that has happened in the past two decades should have been coordinated with an effective flooding management plan. What have the city's planners & engineers been doing all these years? Yeah, that's a rhetorical question. For one, head city planner Bob Cotter has been in a high-ranking position for more than decade so he, of all people, could have done something about it already -- regardless of administration. And all the development means that money also poured in JC, like water during the rains. Why didn't the city target some of the PILOT moneys from all the tax abatements for this infrastructure improvement? The people who helm this city -- elected politicians or appointed officials -- do not have any excuse.

Mr. Waterman - Your response to Geoff's question brings a ray of sunshine to my outlook on JC's future. I agree that there isn't a magic bullet but we have to start somewhere & having competent board members who aren't scared to challenge the status quo is a good start. JC's business-as-usual attitude should be made a thing of the past. I appreciate what I perceive to be your sincere attempts to connect to the public, to whom the JCBOE (like any publicly elected body or official) must be accountable.

I do have a follow-up question: if/when elected, how would you approach working with the other remaining board members -- many of whom sit on the JCBOE for multiple terms -- to get your goals accomplished? Having a vision without a means to make it real is nothing but a dream. JC desperately needs REAL change for the better, not just election slogan BS.

A response to "Teacher" is this article from the Jersey City Independent, written by Jon Whiten (March 3, 2010):

"Monday was the deadline for prospective candidates to file their paperwork for the April 20 Board of Education election, which will fill three seats on the nine-seat board for a three-year term. A total of 16 candidates, including all three incumbents whose terms are up ? Terry Dehere, Gerry McCann and Angel Valentin ? are running.

Here are the names of the other 13 candidates that filed: Kevin Armstrong, Sebastian D?Amico, Evelyn Farmer, Carol Lester, Gerald Maurice Lyons, June Mulqueen, John Muniz, Marimer Navarrete, Aura Ordonez, Hiral Patel, Anthony Sharperson, Sterling Waterman and Arthur Zigman.

Like last year, we will run a series of Q&As with the candidates in the weeks leading up to the election. The last day to register to vote, or change your registration address, is March 30."

http://www.jerseycityindependent.com/ ... rd-of-education-election/

From Kabili Tayari's letter:
"Let us not forget that at least 1.5 million public school students from Abbott districts comprise at least one-third of the New Jersey public school students and are not receiving a 21st Century quality education and equitable funding."

Is he suggesting that Abbott District kids deserve MORE than what they actually already get in funds, compared to other students in the state?

Who is to blame for the Abbot kids' NOT getting "quality education"? If one is to take a look at the JC public school system, one can surmise that it is the bureaucracy & 'business-as-usual' politics that do it disservice. The bulk of the funds must not go to the kids & the teachers, because the results don't show the millions of dollars of public moneys getting spent on the system.

She should wish that it was only a nightmare & that she could wake up & shake it off.

She did nothing wrong? I guess lying is not considered wrong nowadays, among the many other things she reportedly did. By driving recklessly to get away, she put many other people in danger. That's a rather irresponsible action for a doctor. Her actions should be reviewed by the Board as I think it should be grounds for reprimand.

If these two former employees were that 'valuable', why doesn't the city make the case for it & convince the public that they really are THAT great with what they do? And if they are truly indispensable with their jobs not yet done, why did they retire, especially at this time of crisis?

And one of these experts (I use the term loosely), "worked on the budget, capital accounts and fiscal matters"? Hello! We're in fiscal distress & these former employees surely had a hand getting us all in this mess -- what an accomplishment to add on their resume. And for their expertise, they got compensated royally. Sweet.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out that these retirees wanted to further take advantage of the system, one that allowed them to take money the city doesn't have -- before the rules change. And for those elected officials who facilitated it & allowed it to happen, how have you served your constituents? That's a rhetorical question because we know you've never been accountable for your actions ... parasitic leeches all of you, one & all.

The public has lost its respect & trust for this administration. They've made a mess & each one responsible will leave a bigger mess behind them as they leave or die off.

A change for the better has to take shape & it's just a matter of time -- many people are working on this & we need that critical mass to make it happen.

And the general public should also know that public funding will be used for this project: the city has committed $822K for this project.

But the kicker is that the project's program, to date, is not yet defined -- Jerry Walker himself has not been consistent with his project description pertaining to the number of children to be served, hours of operation & activities anticipated in the center (these two are important from a land use perspective), etc. He even intends to put his Team Walker headquarters there -- that's an "office" use, i.e. private business, whether for profit or not (Note that "office" is also NOT a permitted use in the zone). His story seems to vary depending on who the audience is.

To add more info, the grant application is not even complete. How the city can commit nearly ONE MILLION DOLLARS for a project with an unarticulated function & purported benefit is incomprehensible. And, Czaplicki, as head of HEDC, also oversees the department that grants these public moneys.

A response to IWitness Perhaps these details could shed some light why a proposed "Childhood Development Center" should NOT be allowed at 183 Pine Street. Background Info: The developer described the project as an after school center where 15 students, age 11-15, would be tutored. The developer is Team Walker, a non-profit organization headed by Jerry Walker, a popular personality in Lafayette. The Site: 183 Pine Street, which is in the middle of a quaint, residential block & is NOT a corner property. It's in the Residential zone of the Morris Canal Redevelopment Plan. In this zone, these are the Permitted Principal uses, as listed in the Plan: << a. Artist studio workspace b. Community Facility (On parcels that abut Communipaw Avenue or Johnston Avenue) c. House of Worship d. Park e. Parking that serves a park that is contained within the Residential Zone, and is within 100 feet of the park. Overnight parking shall be by permit only. f. Residential g. Public Purpose h. Walkways and Bikeways >> The Plan defines "Community Facility" as: "Municipal, county, state, or not-for-profit enterprises that serve the public interest. Community facility shall include, but not be limited to the following services: adult day care, art education, child care, fire, health care, job training, library, police, recreation, school, or teen center. Community Facility shall not include prisons, or drug and narcotic rehabilitation centers. Community facilities are required to meet all Plan design standards and requirements and site development regulations." However, the Plan does not define "Public Purpose" and the term is also not defined in the Jersey City Land Use Ordinance. So, it left "Public Purpose" be open to interpretation. Jerry's application identified their project in the Planning Board application as "Public Purpose" despite the fact that it appears to fit a "Community Facility" use. Incredibly, the Planning Department DID NOT QUESTION the applicant's use classification, even after details were brought to their attention. Tony Lambiase, the city's Zoning Director, did NOT certify it to be a permitted use in the zone. This would normally have halted the application dead on its tracks (unless the Plan is amended because one cannot typically get a use variance/deviation from a Redevelopment Plan). BUT ... Carl Czaplicki, head of HEDC (yes, the same JC Official 3 from last summer's corruption sting), made the determination -- at the request of Team Walker's attorney, Connell Foley -- that the project is a "Public Purpose", therefore it's an allowed use at the site. The project application went ahead & was scheduled to go before the Planning Board ... ... UNTIL nine residents of Pine Street and Boltwood Street filed a formal appeal before the Zoning Board of Adjustment to contest the city's decision made by Czaplicki. The appeal stayed the Planning Board application which is still pending because the appeal case was adjourned 'til next month.