What are people saying about the vote for Open Space Trust Fund to add more ball fields and parks to Hoboken:
...I urge all residents of our town to care enough about our city's future to help preserve what precious open space there is left in our town, and vote Yes on November 6th to support the development and acquisition of Open Space. The little extra money spend by the caring members of our community will go a long way in preventing developers from gobbling up the rest our little undeveloped land!
Terry La Bruno; Hoboken Councilwoman-at-large (Hoboken Reporter - 9/30/2007)
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.
Dawn Zimmer; Hoboken 4th Ward Council Candidate (Hoboken Reporter - 9/23/2007)
Public Question #5 will assure that this portion of our local property taxes are set aside in an Open Space Trust Fund to be used only for acquiring land for public parks and creating new park facilities. These funds are separate from the general tax revenues and are prohibited by law from being used by the City for any other purpose.
According to urban park standards, Hoboken should have 112 acres of active recreational park for its population of 45,000 residents. We have a little more than 35 acres. We rank third in the country for density and last in the amount of parkland. How is this affecting our community?
1,300 school children cram into Church Square Park every day because few of our schools have playgrounds.
Young children practice soccer until 10 p.m. on school nights because we only have one soccer field.
Dog owners and parents of toddlers are battling because neither has enough space for basic needs.
Adult sports leagues are forced to leave town to play because there is no field space in Hoboken.
Parents spend their summers driving out of town to find a swimming pool.
Leah Healy; Hoboken resident (Hoboken Reporter - 10/28/2007)
[T]he $600,000 in estimated annual revenue to be generated for the Trust would service between $8-10M in debt and/or bonding... Hoboken, as an Urban Aid municipality, is eligible for 75 percent State matching grants for acquisition costs and 50 percent matching grants for park construction costs. These are grants not otherwise available if we merely seek funds and provide none of our own. The City's Urban Aid status also makes us eligible for significant interest-free loans from the State for these activities. So the $600,000 in annual revenues can actually result in $17.5M or more in available revenue for acquisition.
...
More disturbing is [the] tired mantra that "developers can be required to spend private money to create open space on their property." Despite the City's abysmal record of negotiating with developers (see the ShopRite "Park" or the non-existent community center), [the example given by opponents of the Open Space Trust Fund of] Maxwell Place, where the City has stepped in to relieve the developer of its open space obligation to the tune of an $8.4M windfall [is galling].
Jim Doyle; Hoboken resident (Hoboken Reporter - 10/28/2007)