"This is the birthplace of baseball, and we don't have enough places to play ball," Joe Petrillo of the Hoboken Recreation Dept. told me when I stopped by City Hall this week. As the center point for all of the great athletic programs provided by our City, I figured the recreation department knows best whether or not we need more field space in our town.
On November 6, the citizens of Hoboken will be given the opportunity to decide whether to give the City Council the authority to create an Open Space Fund, funded by a new "directed" open space tax. This fund would make it possible for Hoboken to actually acquire (rather than just talk about) the new ball fields that we need so badly. I'd like to take this opportunity to dispel some misconceptions, and to explain why this issue is so very important.
As our city develops, the opportunities to acquire land for parks are quickly disappearing. Hoboken's Master Plan recognizes our City's desperate need for more parks, and identifies specific properties that are suitable sites. Unfortunately, as time passes, many of these properties have become condos instead, leaving us with fewer and fewer options. We need to act now, before all of the best options are gone.
In general, the Mayor and the City Council can use our tax dollars for whatever priorities they deem appropriate. The purpose of this referendum is to allow the voters of Hoboken to let their elected representatives know that the acquisition of new open space is an important priority that must be funded. If the City Council then follows the will of the people and creates the Open Space Fund, the Council will give up its right to use that money for whatever it wants. It will agree to be legally bound to use that money only as directed by the voters.
The directed tax that would finance the Open Space Fund would be 20 cents per $1000 of assessed value. For a newly built condo sold today for $500,000, that tax would be approximately $50 per year. This seems like a small price to pay to help build new parks that will benefit Hoboken for generations. When there is no longer any land available for open space, the City Council can pay off the bond, and rescind the open space tax. I want to thank Mayor Roberts for proposing the Open Space Fund, and Council members Cunningham, Mason, LaBruno and Ramos for joining with me to put it on the November ballot. I urge the voters to support it on November 6.
Dawn Zimmer
59 Madison Street Apt. #2
Cell: 646.831.4890
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