Sunday, January 19, 2014

The Tabloid Press, Dog each Dog Politics.

ByLARRY MCSHANE
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
JANUARY 19, 2014

The mayor of Hoboken (click here) accused a pair of top Gov. Chris Christie lieutenants of a “Sopranos”-style shakedown, denying the city hurricane aid over a delayed redevelopment plan.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer said New Jersey Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno and a second official warned her that millions in Hurricane Sandy relief for her city were tied to the approval of the Rockefeller Group’s proposal.

In classic Jersey style, the blunt conversation with former prosecutor Guadagno occurred on May 13 in the parking lot of a Hoboken ShopRite, Zimmer told MSNBC in a Saturday interview....

There is a lot to straighten out about his complaint by the Hoboken Mayor. Her complaint is not valid and she is attempting to rid her city of the responsibility of being accountable for the relief monies. She needs to reassess her accusations.

The Press doesn't do their homework and play their viewership and readership for ratings and sales of the tabloid rags. The Press doesn't care how this all washes out, they only care about the exploitation. "You go right ahead and hang yourselves." I warned about this getting out of hand and believe it or not when all is done, they won't be able to run Governor Christi out of office or out of politics. The Democrats on the other hand will appear to be unprepared to handle their disaster monies.

The money ALLOCATED out of the USA Fiscal Year 2013 budget is provided to States and not individuals or cities. The Governors are responsible for the method of the spending of these monies.

The Sandy Recovery Division (click here) manages the majority of the federal funds being used to assist the State in recovering from Superstorm Sandy. These funds come from the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Division is committed to efficiently and effectively addressing the long-term needs of New Jersey’s Sandy-impacted residents and communities through programs designed to help homeowners, tenants, landlords, developers and local governments....

New Jersey has build an electronic page for citizens and cities to provide information. Other called transparency. That isn't all of it. If the Press and the Mayor looked into the information provided on the New Jersey 'Sandy Page' they would find allies in finding the way to receive monies to rebuild.

There was $16 billion within the Sandy Funding for "Community Development Block Grants.

Each grantee is responsible for the design, (click here), implementation and oversight of its grant program, including the monitoring of subgrants and any activities undertaken through the grant. 

The GRANTEE is the State of New Jersey. Hoboken or any citizen in Hoboken or any other city involved in this horrid disaster are "Grantees". These block grants are especially focused on low income rehabilitation. 

The State of New Jersey carries the responsibility for accountability to these funds. When Hoboken's Mayor complains her city is being held responsible for submitting a redevelopment plan to the Governor's office, she isn't taking responsibility for accountability that the State has to maintain in their records for any audit. Given the hostile manner Governor Christie obtained these funds from Congress he knew people of all stripes would seek to audit these monies to find corruption. He is always touted as a potential candidate for US President and he always has problems because of the viciousness of the politics in the USA. Christi is used to this. I am not surprised he requires his staff to be careful about how they address others and the press. I imagine there are few that actually care to be loyal to Christi himself. 

So, in this particular instance, Governor Christi is not the problem. If the Hoboken Mayor contacts federal authorities in DC at HUD they will assist to provide guidance on how to build a block grant plan. It is not the Governor's responsibility to hold the hand of every mayor in the state to build their grants. 

This complaint is irrelevant.


(a) Cooperation and assistance. The Responsible Official and the
Award Official will provide assistance and guidance to Recipients to
help them comply voluntarily with this part
.
(b) Access to data and other sources of information. Each Recipient
shall permit access by authorized representatives of HUD to its
facilities, books, records, accounts, minutes and audio tapes of
meetings, personnel, computer disks and tapes, and other sources of
information as may be pertinent to a determination of whether the
Recipient is complying with this part. Where information required of a
Recipient is in the exclusive possession of any other agency,
institution, or person, and that agency, institution, or person fails or
refuses to furnish this information, the Recipient shall so certify in
any requested report and shall set forth what efforts it has made to
obtain the information. Failure or refusal to furnish pertinent
information (whether maintained by the Recipient or some other agency,
institution, or person) without a credible reason for the failure or
refusal will be considered to be noncompliance under this part.

(c) Compliance data. Each Recipient shall keep records and submit to
the Responsible Official, timely, complete, and accurate data at such
times and in such form as the Responsible Official may determine to be
necessary to ascertain whether the Recipient has complied or is
complying with this part.

(d) Notification to employees, beneficiaries, and participants. Each
Recipient shall make available to employees, participants,
beneficiaries, and other interested persons information regarding the
provisions of this part and its applicability to the program or activity
under which the Recipient receives Federal financial assistance and make
such information available to them in such manner as the Responsible
Official finds necessary to apprise such persons of the protections
against discrimination assured them by Section 109 and this part.


The FEDS mean it.

New Jersey Democrats don't like the Governor. I don't necessarily blame them. I think he is all to willing to spend fiscal RESERVES within the state to answer problems. He wants to dissolve unions. There are several aspects to his leadership I don't like and his communication style is one of them. But, I especially don't appreciate it when politicians use harsh communication with citizens. It serves to oppress any response, especially by women. In this instance, the mayor is wrong.


By: Andrew Miga | TWC
Published: January 28, 2013

WASHINGTON -- Congress is sending a $50.5 billion (click here) emergency relief measure for Superstorm Sandy victims to President Barack Obama for his signature.
The Senate on Monday cleared the bill, 62-36. Northeast lawmakers say the money is desperately needed to help recovery efforts from the one of the region's worst storms. The House passed the bill two weeks ago.
President Obama gave the following statement regarding the matter. 
"I am pleased that Congress took bipartisan action to provide funding for the communities in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, and other eastern states devastated by Hurricane Sandy.  For the families working to put their lives back together, every day without relief is one day too many.  So while I had hoped Congress would provide this aid sooner, I applaud the lawmakers from both parties who helped shepherd this important package though."...
New Jersey was given a great deal of help through the federal government, including waiving flood insurance until the communities are back on their feet. The flood insurance waiver cost almost $10 billion alone.
That fighting style of Governor Christi just may have been what New Jersey needed to get DC to respond given the current "Punish them" climate with the US House.