Hudson County commissioner candidate Ron Bautista (D-5) is calling for a public-facing county dashboard for residents to track the budget, along with other initiatives to bolster transparency and accountability.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“We deserve a government that is accountable to all of our neighbors, not just the insiders who know how the system works. My plan makes it easier for everyone to be informed about county decisions that impact their lives and their tax bills,” Bautista said in a statement.
“We should all be able to track where our tax dollars are going and trust that they’re being spent responsibly. These are basics that I believe every elected official owes to their constituents. Transparency is an issue that I will lead on as your commissioner.”
Bautista’s platform calls for a public-facing budget dashboard, similar to Gov. Mikie Sherrill’s (D) “New Jersey Report Card,” so residents can follow the money and easily track changes made to Hudson County’s over $700 million annual budget.
The plan also calls for expanding the number of public budget hearings, hiring an independent auditor to review the county budget, and establishing an independent board to review county hiring and awarding of public contracts to limit conflicts of interest.
Bautista also calls for streaming more meetings of the county commissioners and other county agencies, translating county forms and documents into more languages, and holding regular community accountability meetings.
Further, he is seeking to halt nepotism and double dipping at the county level.
“For far too long, our residents have been paying exorbitant taxes to foot the bill of nepotism, double-dipping, and poor decisions that the county has made with regard to our budget,” his website says.
“As your commissioner, Ron will end this. He will stop nepotism in hiring and public contracts at the county level, remove ‘no-show jobs’ and ‘double-dipping’ jobs that allow county officials to have multiple sources of income from the county, and create an independent board made up of county residents to review county hiring and public contract.”
While Bautista is running unopposed in the June 2nd Democratic primary, one of nine consensus commissioner picks by Hudson County Democrats, he is running under the banner “Working Families Democrat.”
He has been endorsed by the likes of the New Jersey Working Families Party and CWA District 1, both as HCV first reported.
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I don’t know why Bautista is putting out anything anymore. He joined the machine and that’s the end of the story as far as I’m concerned. His silence on Hoboken elected officials planning on legalizing airbnb tells us all we need to know about him.