Hoboken Set To Use Eminent Domain To Take Union Dry Dock From NY Waterway

HOBOKEN, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — There has been a new development in the fight over a prime piece of property on the Hudson River in New Jersey.

The City of Hoboken wants it to preserve its parkland, but NY Waterway says it needs it to provide reliable ferry service.

CBS2’s Lisa Rozner visited the property known as the Union Dry Dock on Wednesday. In Hoboken, many residents rely on the ferry to commute to Manhattan. To meet growing demand, NY Waterway previously purchased the property to use as a refueling station and maintenance depot. However, Hoboken is getting ready to use eminent domain because it wants it to be a park.

“I’m certainly concerned about the environmental impact,” Hoboken Councilwoman-At-Large Emily Jabbour added. “So it’s a really incredible place and there are so many animals and species that need to be continue to be protected there.”

Daniel Tumpson, who at one point started a group called the Coalition for a Better Waterfront, said he does not support the city’s plan.

“There are parks all through Hoboken. They’re even along the waterfront. There’s several parks, so there’s no necessity, and the cost to the city will be horrendous,” Tumpson said.

Gov. Phil Murphy and NJ Transit chimed in on the issue on Wednesday afternoon.

“We are working very hard to try and find common ground that addresses transportation matters, local community matters, environmental matters,” Murphy said.

“Our role isn’t to support or not support. Our role is from the transportation side, is to show all the options, the limitations and what’s required to provide transit throughout the region,” NJ Transit Executive Director Kevin Corbett said.

Last week, NJ Transit released a study that says the Union Dry Dock spot on the Hudson River waterfront is the best for the refueling station. The city has said sites near the Lackawanna train station, which is Hoboken’s main rail terminal, and in Bayonne would be better for the depot. The report says they aren’t better options because of location, cost or security concerns.

This battle could go on for years.

NJ Appellate Court Rules: Union Leaders Cannot be Paid by BOE to do Full-time Union Work

An August Night in Hoboken, NJ (August, 2019) 

A three-judge panel ruled high-ranking officials within Jersey City’s teacher’s union who spend the entirety of their working time to union matters cannot be paid by the city’s Board of Education, according to an August 21, 2019 story by John Hines of Hudson County View.

“Mindful of the principles of statutory construction, we conclude that N.J.S.A. 18A:30-7 does not empower the Board in this case to continue to pay the salaries and benefits of the president of the JCEA and his or her designee, while they devote their entire work-time to the business and affairs of the union,” Appellate Court Judges Jose L. Fuentes, Francis J. Vernoia and Scott J. Moynihan

The ruling affects the president of the Jersey City Education Association and his or her designee.

The appellate court decision reverses a previous superior court ruling that sided with the JCEA.

The court also says that the union president and his designee would not be able to be paid through sick or sabbatical leave, or a leave of absence, since they are still going to work on a regular basis

The ruling invalidates part of the JCEA’s bargaining agreement with Jersey City.

The initial suit was filed by the Goldwater Institute, a conservative think tank based in Arizona. That suit claimed two top JCEA officials were paid $1.2 million in public funds over a period of five years.

The Goldwater institute claimed the payments were made using release time. Wednesday’s ruling outlawed such payments, in addition to payments through sick time, leaves of absence and sabbaticals, on the basis that the officials are still working.

SUMMARY: New Jersey and Jersey City taxpayers filed the case to challenge release time—a practice that pays government employees to work exclusively for government unions, while still receiving their taxpayer-funded salaries and benefits. While on release time, taxpayer-funded union members engage in political activities, member recruitment, contract negotiations, grievance proceedings against their employer, and other activities that advance the purely private interests of the union.

The case challenged the collective bargaining agreement between the Jersey City School District and the Jersey City Education Association, which required the District to pay the salaries of two full-time teachers who did not spend their time educating Hudson County children, but rather performing full-time union work—costing taxpayers $1.1 million over the course of the agreement. Today, the New Jersey Court of Appeals sided with the taxpayers, saying that this practice meant that these teachers were “act[ing] exclusively as labor leaders,” rather than as “teachers who serve the day-to-day educational needs of the students of the district.” The court ruled that the practice in Jersey City is not authorized by statute, is “against public policy,” and that public funds can no longer be used for release time.

The union may decide to fight this ruling. 

  Rozenblit vs. Lyles JCBOE JCEA Et. Al Appellate by Tony Petrosino on Scribd