First - reminder to change your clocks and change your batteries! (I am already late for something because I forgot to change my microwave clock...grrr...)
Three quick things on this mild (although started off as gorgeous) Sunday….one fairly urgent at the end:
TODAY - OPENING RECEPTION FOR JULIO SANTIAGO AT THE HOBOKEN HISTORICAL MUSEUM
I couldn’t be more excited for and proud of our 2nd Ward neighbor, Julio Santiago!
Today begins his first art exhibit in his life, at 73, at the Hoboken Historical Museum. The exhibit is called “Lugares de Mi Pueblito, Hoboken: Ayer y Hoy— a Spanish phrase translating to Places in My Little Town, Hoboken: Then and Now”. I hope you will join me between 2-5 at the museum today for the opening reception, but if you can’t please be sure to stop by sometime until April 21st to see he gorgeous paintings of our little town! Julio has been a resident of Hoboken since the 1970’s and if you frequent the uptown waterfront you have certainly seen Julio as he walks his chihuahua there every day. Hoboken Girl did a great article on him this week that I encourage you to read: 73-Year-Old Hoboken Resident’s Exhibit to Be Unveiled at Hoboken Historical Museum on 3/10 - Hoboken Girl. So let’s show Julio some Hoboken love today!
SAY. IT. ISN’T. SO. – NEW TRAFFIC LIGHTS AT 14TH & HUDSON!
Yes, what you saw is NOT a mirage! It is finally happening! After almost two years in the making, the final completion of the new intersection at 14th and Hudson is underway. As mentioned multiple times before, installing the new traffic lights was the critical path to the final work that needed to be done. Once the new traffic lights are installed, they will be electrified by PSEG, the old lights will then be taken down. At that point, the sidewalks will all be resurfaced and we will finally see landscaping in the planting beds. Keep me posted if you see anything that doesn’t look right while this work is being done. But I think we are probably just a month away from seeing this be finished!
URGENT: CALL TO ACTION: PROTECTING THE PUBLIC’S ACCESS TO PUBLIC RECORDS
The New Jersey legislature is once again looking to take anti-democracy steps by amending New Jersey’s “OPRA” laws that allow the public’s access to government records. I NEED EVERY ONE OF YOU TO SIGN THIS PETITION that is being hosted by the NJ League of Women Voter’s to tell our representatives to LEAVE OPRA ALONE!
OPRA – which stands for Open Public Records Act – is a tool that reporters, lawyers and every day residents use to access public records for information that may be used to defend someone's interests or for investigative purposes. Almost all articles about government corruption are founded on OPRA requests. And even information that is useful about our everyday quality of life is found in OPRA requests - like CitiBike bike trips and number of tickets given for running through stop signs.
There are two parallel bills in the NJ State Senate and State Assembly that are being fast tracked to GUT OPRA and effectively protect elected officials from being accountable to the public – and the hearings for these are TOMORROW, just 5 days after they were introduced. So the only way the public can really show their demand for transparency and opposition to these bills is by signing this petition. So what if you get added to the NJLWV distribution list – you can unsubscribe later. #MOREVOICESARENEEDED
This is déjà vu all over again.
Back in June, I co-sponsored along with CW Giattino and CM DeFusco an emergency City Council resolution that passed with 7 votes (Cohen and Quintero abstained) to help send a message to our state representatives to protect transparency and the public’s right to information. Hoboken was the first municipal government to do this, with Jersey City’s (among others) following shortly after.
The laws were ultimately pulled from committee due to the backlash. #MOREVOICESMATTER
This time, the proposed laws have slightly different provisions, but with the same goal of making it more difficult for the public to access government records. It provides biased oversight and a lot of discretion to those who will have the ultimate say in what documents will be made available. Not all electeds and goverments are corrupt, but this law will provide a lot more protection for the ones that are. It is that simple. So please add your name to the PETITION!
(photo credit: Pavel Sokolov)
A huge thank you to the 60 – yes 60 – neighbors as well as CP Giattino and CM Presinzano who came out to the “Let’s Get Re-acquainted with Rebuild By Design" meeting on Thursday night. It was a full hour of presentation and town hall style Q&A – a lost art in Hoboken that is sorely missed. We got a lot of great questions from people familiar with the project and those who were new to the project, and Caleb Stratton, Hoboken’s Director of Resiliency, who has been with the project since its inception, did an incredible job of fielding all of them. I will be sending a more substantive summary of our meeting later this week. Communication and community engagement will be the most critical components for this succesful project, so this was just a first step. If you have not already signed up for updates from the DEP, please do so here:
As always, please share this with everyone you know who may be interested and reach out any time on any issue important to you: 201-208-1764 or [email protected]. Click to subscribe to my newsletter.
Tiffanie Fisher
Hoboken City Council, 2nd Ward
Engage. Inform. Advocate.
“More Voices are Better”
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