Hoboken Council members-at-Large Emily Jabbour and Joe Quintero have unveiled a housing platform focused on affordability, including a right-to-counsel, which was approved in Jersey City in June 2023.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“The work Hoboken’s tenant advocate has done has been truly significant in helping out a number of our current residents. But historically, the cost burden of this service has been on Hoboken taxpayers at large,” they said in a joint statement.
“Given the influx in the number of cases arising in the city, we think it is time to expand how we support tenants in need, and it is time to shift the cost burden away from just our taxpayers.”
Jabbour indicated she will be pressing forward with a plan that will focus on building workforce and affordable housing on city property slated for redevelopment.
To date, she has been working with the Administration on a proposal to add housing to existing properties, such as Municipal Garage B, slated for significant rehabilitation or development in the near future.
Jabbour is also seeking to leverage these sites for added recreation facilities, as demand for programming and enrollment has skyrocketed.
“We have a responsibility to look at existing City properties to address critical needs for the City – in particular, the need for additional workforce housing to support local families, and the need for additional facility space to keep up with increasing demand for recreational facilities for residents of all ages,” she added.
Although the city’s protections on rent increases for residents in rent-controlled apartment are well known, renters in non rent-controlled units often are unaware the state provides protections for them as well via a law prohibiting “unconscionable” rent increases.
However, the state law lacks clarity as to how “unconscionable” is defined, Quintero noted.
As a result, he will be seeking a local ordinance change which will define “unconscionable” locally as any rent increases 10 percent or higher.
The change would apply only to non rent-controlled units, with exemptions for smaller density buildings and for instances where a landlord can demonstrate increases in certain costs necessitate a rent increase over 10 percent.
“Over the past year we have heard multiple instances where landlords have been increasing rents on existing tenants but upwards of 20-30%. This is simply too much and akin to price gouging,” Quintero added, noting he hopes to have an ordinance ready by November.
“In an environment where certain unscrupulous landlords are taking advantage of rent setting algorithms to increase rents, it is time to put in common sense protections to keep increases reasonable.”
Finally, citing other cities such as Philadelphia, New York City, Jersey City, Newark, Jabbour and Quintero have initiated conversations with the Bhalla administration on bringing an RTC ordinance to Hoboken.
Generally, RTC laws guarantee eligible tenants a right to a lawyer when facing eviction and other significant landlord tenant issues. Typically, this is done through a fee assessment on residential development.
Acknowledging the significant complication in developing a comprehensive program, including the administering of it, Quintero and Jabbour have taken the lead in kicking off the policy development process with Mayor Ravi Bhalla administration.
They’re both said they have a goal of presenting a specific proposal to the council in early 2025.
For the moment, Jabbour appears poised for a mayoral run in 2025, with Quintero expected to seek re-election on her ticket in that scenario.
Good, more than ten percent is taking advantage,. should be lower
Jose, you ever find that evidence of voter fraud you claimed against Ravi’s first ward opponent – and thankfully for Hoboken victor – and a resident of MVT, publicly defaming them on PBS and in other “news” “media” outlets? You follow Ravi’s playbook and have your fed friend Jessica on speed dial actually copying her on your letter to the AG showcasing Ravi’s justice department weaponization? Shame his buddy is no longer AG and is even running from the SEC now that he testified against their buddy Bob to attempt to save himself.
And dearest Emily, when are you going to announce your mayoral candidacy? Did Rob make you wait until next week so you can claim you defeated the evil MSTA and represent the common Hoboken resident like you claim to do with the Mommies? It would be a shame if someone released the videos of you (HPD bodycam are public records, child).
Next week when you clowns no longer own the system and your metaphorical chief puppet of the evil empire is effectively and overwhelmingly ousted, run. Orange man and American justice cometh!
It amazing how you vile cockroaches project one “inclusivity” image to liberal Hoboken hive yet are ale quite the opposite behind-the-scenes. And it will be incredibly satisfying – I dare say hellaciously sadistic – to watch how the same weapons of media and American justice you so willingly used on your political opponents to not only defeat, but also attempt to devastate them criminally will be turned against you when 45 is back.
Run.
For now, great job with your little affordable housing PR stunt here – like the “book sanctuary city” – while behind the scenes you Bhalla puppets know full well your idiot policies both help to cause and facilitate keeping our increasing homeless population, including veterans, sleeping on our cold park benches while your two socialist worker trixies sleep in their warm beds at night. Gold star there, kids.
You know they make a decaf that tastes just as good as regular these days, right?
If you own a condo or any residential property in Hoboken it is in your best financial interest to vote YES on the public question on the Hoboken ballot
This is pretty sick and twisted
Jabbour and Quintero are spot on – there will be complications in developing this program and we should encourage them to look beyond Team Bhalla and it’s allies and patrons for solutions. We often launch or propose some great plans that fail because we seldom think through all the ways they might go wrong, instead operating within a self selected echo chamber. I also hope that we can do some of this work using existing resources from across the Administration – we keep adding Directors and overhead for 11 months, then appear surprised when the bills due in June. We may believe we are serving one part of our population- but if we do it at the expense of another segment through higher taxes – what have we accomplished?
I hope this works – it will come down to execution.