1.Taxes

Hoboken, as a small city, has one of the highest tax rates in the USA. We can lower taxes if they are used efficiently. We do not want to decrease necessary social services, but our residents must see the direct benefits of our tax dollars. My administration will work with the city council to remove any ineffective or unnecessary programs.

2. Accountability and Transparency.

This issue ties in to issue #1 above. In order to lower taxes we need to know exactly where and how our tax dollars are spent and get a comparison of what our social services, infrastructure projects cost. We need to compare costs to other cities of our size.

3. Infrastructure

As a city, we have the second highest population density in the USA. We have to be very careful to manage our infrastructure and protect our lives, jobs and loved ones.

Most of the basements in Hoboken are below the river level. This means that in periods of heavy rainfall we must have efficient pumping stations to maintain proper drainage. There have been too many incidents of water damage and these require significant resources to repair.

As we grow as a city we will need to maintain open spaces. We need to ensure that the remaining open spaces are consumed – we have about 45,000 residents in just over one square mile!

4. Noise

Hoboken is considered a restaurant and bar town my many visitors and residents. We are proud to offer our diverse offerings to visitors and residents. But especially since the indoor smoking has been banned, there has been a lot of noise outside restaurants and bars late at night. Restaurants and bars need to take firmer measures to keep the outside noise down out of respect for Hoboken residents.

As a city we need to do more to fight the scourge of physical violence. We should sponsor occasional anger management and domestic violence counseling at bars, restaurants, and other public venues. It is unacceptable that police have to repeatedly break up fights and domestic disturbances.

5. Stevens Institute of Technology

Stevens Institute of Technology is one the top technology universities in the country. This fact is lost on many residents and visitors. Great minds such as Frederick Winslow Taylor, (considered the father of Scientific Management) studied at Stevens Institute of Technology.

http://www.forbes.com/2006/01/19/connected-campuses-princeton-review_06conncamp_land.html

Stevens was voted the top technologically connected campus in the country. It was also considered the most entrepreneurial university. Many states and foreign countries send their top scholars to Stevens.

6. Transportation

Hoboken is a key transportation hub and a key provider of professional resources for the New York City Metropolitan area. We cannot have people waiting for buses in line over two blocks long and then they are late for work – it happens almost every day!

The Ferry to Wall Street cannot accommodate the amount of passengers. Many times people have to wait for subsequent ferries – and see up to three ferries leave without them being able to board, even though they were there on time! (that’s half an hour the morning when going to work!)

We need an absolute zero-tolerance, no double parking rule for rush hour. It only takes one inconsiderate person to put on flashers on Washington Street to prevent 40 people from getting to work on time.

7. Homelessness

As a city we need to provide for the less fortunate, and we care about the homeless population. However, we need to do a better job to ensure that they are not peddling and harassing pedestrians. We can do more to direct them to homeless shelters like the one at Third and Bloomfield, where I donate food and clothes every year.