Quote:

Nah, the Democratic State Legislature won't go after one of two NJ counties that voted blue last election.

D'ya think they'll go after Zimmer and maybe Fulop? Nope. Same way that there hasn't been a peep about Booker and the Newark Watershed scandal after a few stories initially. Just imagine if a Republican had allowed a person to take a several hundred thousand dollar retirement payout, not retire, then get another several hundred thousand dollar retirement payout years later, which is what Booker authorized. All from public funds.

Quote:

Only if we, as voters, compel them to.

Good old fashioned Hudson County abuse of power and cash grab. Time for a state wide investigation, including other nearby towns, into these illegal practices. I wonder if the State Legislature will look into this?

Now it's time for the towing charges that were incorrectly charged in Jersey City to be refunded as well. Class action lawsuit, anyone?

Interesting article today from the Star Ledger about Hoboken's aggressive (and seemingly illegal) booting policy. Gives food for thought toward our own city's policy in aggressive ticketing where tickets were completely unwarranted:

The War on Drivers - Link to Article

"Bamboozled" Article About Hoboken Refunds

Paul Mulshine/The Star Ledger


In her ?Bamboozled? column last week, my Star-Ledger colleague Karin Price Mueller reported that the city of Hoboken will have to give refunds to 2,322 drivers who were victimized by the city?s over-aggressive policy of towing cars.

That should add up to a tidy sum. But it would amount to peanuts compared to what the town has taken from drivers whose cars have been booted in apparent violation of state law.

Drive into Hudson County and you risk having the boot put on your car by the money-seeking Democratic machine of Hudson pols like Dawn Zimmer.

Typical was Joby Warrick. He?s a Washington Post reporter who grew up in Ocean County. Warrick now lives in Virginia. His daughter goes to Rutgers.

One evening she visited friends in Hoboken. Driving into Hoboken was her first mistake; the city has declared a jihad on the infidels who drive. Her second mistake was parking in one of those ?residents-only? zones the city has set up to make life even more miserable for those who make the first mistake.

When she got back to her car at 3 a.m., Warrick said, she saw a ticket on the windshield. She threw it in the car and drove away, he said.

?She didn?t know a boot was on the car,? he said. ?She heard a clunk and there?s this piece of metal on the road. It?s Hoboken in the early hours of the morning and she just keeps going.?

When she got home and read the ticket, she found out the clunking sound had come from a boot put on her wheel by some deserving Democrat whose expertise must have not been in the automotive field.


Since Warrick owns the car, it was left to him to sort it out. He soon learned that Hoboken wanted to charge him a $500 ?runaway boot fee? as well as another $300 in assorted fees. After some negotiation, he ended up paying $468, ?all for parking for a couple of hours in a residential zone, with no prior tickets.?

No prior tickets? I had always thought the boot could only be used on the cars of scofflaws.

So did Declan O?Scanlon. That?s not the case. The Monmouth County Republican Assemblyman has been conducting a crusade for drivers? rights. He promptly emailed me a copy of state statute 39:4-139.13, which states that a town may immobilize or tow a car only ?if there are any outstanding warrants against the vehicle.?

When I called Hoboken?s public relations guy, Juan Melli, he told me the city routinely boots cars for parking offense even if there are no outstanding tickets. Melli said he?d get back to me with the number of the statute that permits this.

By day?s end, he had no statute to cite. Instead he sent a statement on behalf of Mayor Dawn Zimmer to the effect that ?The City of Hoboken is currently conducting a comprehensive review of our parking policies and procedures.?

So far, so good. But then Zimmer went on to say, ?I am not sure why a state legislator from South Jersey is providing commentary on issues unrelated to his position ??

"This is just a blatant abuse of motorists." - Assemblyman Declan O'Scanlon.

When I ran that by O?Scanlon, he told me that as a state lawmaker he considers himself fully qualified to comment on state laws. But even if Zimmer could come up with a statute that permits this, he said, she should still be ashamed of herself.

?This is just a blatant abuse of motorists,? he said. ?You?ve got handicapped people, senior citizens returning from dinner, single women, anybody really.?

O?Scanlon, who is the most vocal critic of those dreadful red-light cameras, said this is yet another attempt by towns to partner with private corporations to shake down motorists.

Booting victims in Hoboken are given a phone number to call to pay the ticket and booting fees by phone. They then get a code to release the boot. O?Scanlon said that when he called the number late at night, he got a woman named Tanya who worked in a call center in Seattle. She asked him for a credit card number.

?Let?s say you don?t have a credit card on you,? he said. ?What do you do, sleep on the street??

O?Scanlon said he will be calling on Hoboken and any other city running this scam to reimburse the victims for the booting costs.

That would be a good start. But the big question that needs to be answered is why the state government doesn?t keep an eye on local officials who prey on people.

Maybe Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno can ask the mayor about it next time they chat.

Zimmer seems to have quite a good memory ? except when she forgets to follow the law.

ADD: Declan's email describing his conversation with the woman in Seattle:



Just had a very nice conversation with Tanya - who works in a call center in Seattle Washington. I explained that my car has a boot on it - and then threw in a curve ball that struck me, so to speak. I said I don't have a credit or debit card on me. That led to a lengthy moment of silence - followed by a script that must have been written by a team of lawyers in the bowls of the Hoboken City Hall which explained my options regarding checking account routing numbers, bank names and phone numbers and the need for a live bank representative's sign-off for a third party check authorization. I'm pretty sure there was a mandated cavity check in there somewhere as well but by then my blood was boiling and I wasn't concentrating on the words.

This is outrageous! And what we all have to look forward to should we permit unethical, apparently completely oblivious - or completely unaware, not sure which is worse - elected officials have their way with us. People need to wake up - before it is they - or their daughters - facing the late night boot - or cavity search - for minor infractions. Incredible. And the "I wasn't aware of what my staff was doing or how they were enforcing these ordinances" is no defense. Either you knew about it and are disgusting for authorizing it, or you are the worst kind of pitifully incompetent elected official who doesn't pay attention. Regardless, the entire governing body should resign their seats.

Let me make clear - I completely condone TOWING cars parked in clearly marked fire zones or areas where one might fear something like a terrorist attack. I also condone ticketing cars in clearly marked areas within which the owners should have known they weren't permitted to park. But there is no middle ground where booting cars for minor infractions in order to extort money from the owners is acceptable. If you have critical areas where cars shouldn't be - you don't take action like booting them where you would be essentially guaranteeing the cars would remain in place for a longer period of time. There is just no way that this practice is anything but outrageous.



Also, here's the statute in question. See if you can find any wiggle room here for Zimmer's Hudson County Democratic machine (italics mine):

39:4-139.13. Impoundment or immobilization of vehicle with outstanding warrants; authorization by municipalities by ordinance; sale at auction; reclamation of possession prior to sale; disposition of proceeds.

a. The governing body of every municipality may make, amend, repeal and enforce an ordinance authorizing the impoundment or immobilization of a vehicle found within the jurisdiction of that municipality if there are any outstanding warrants against the vehicle.